Tourists and mad scientists

Everything about the Niagara Falls screams "TOURIST TRAP!". The teeming populations of Indian and Chinese tourists overrunning the area confirm that the trap is working perfectly. The Canadian side of the Indo-China Falls, as I call them, seems especially over-commercialized with ugly, garish casinos and hotels right on the water's edge.

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The area around the Falls has been developed so that everyone and their grandma can enjoy the grandeur of the views. Unfortunately for those seeking to enjoy the power of the Falls in the quiet and solitude it deserves, everyone and their grandma does.

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Despite this criticism, yours truly has been there 4 times (once to see it, the other 3 times to show it), and being a citizen of one of those countries accused of the tourist gluts, I shouldn't be casting aspersions on my fellow countrymen. I must add it's a 900 odd mile round trip from Boston, so not exactly a short drive either. 

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The incessant crowds might bother some people, but I don't feel as bothered myself. 

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Ignore minor bugaboos like a screaming toddler running rough-shod over your toes or having to shift a little every few seconds to stay out of someone's "Romantic gaze in front of a waterfall" photo-frame. Once the zen-like state of calm is acquired, it becomes fully possible to appreciate the scale of the show put on by nature. 
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In my mind's eyes, the majesty of the Falls overwhelms every other distraction. The sheer volume of water that the Niagara river carries over the plunging edge is impressive no doubt but even more so is the sound. The roar of the currents, understandably distressed at being tossed off a high cliff, dominates the soundscape. 
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The hundreds of birds circling through the spray, squawking and wheeling around in search of their next meal, are like mid-air whirlpools. The transient little rainbows that flicker to life through the mist only to disappear in a few milliseconds are more incentive to keep the memory film rolling. 
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There is another oft-ignored aspect to the American side of the Niagara Falls, which keeps bringing me back to visit it over and over again, nerd that I am. At this site of nature's grand spectacle, is also a monument to one of science's greatest innovations and its innovator.
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On Goat Island, near the elevator that plunges down to the Cave of the Winds section of the Falls, there happens to be a giant statue of a giant of a man. For this was a genius of such calibre that he could assemble complex machines within his mind and run accurate thought experiments to check their viability. The name of that genius was Nikola Tesla.
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Besides being the most popular destination within (too) easy reach of hordes of tourists, Niagara Falls is also the location of the world's first Alternating Current hydroelectric power plant. Inventing a way to transmit AC electricity over great distances was Tesla's greatest gift to the world. 
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All those devices that make us 'modern' - computers, TVs, artificial lighting and the industries that build every mass-manufactured product that sustain our existence would have never come to be if this man hadn't discovered a way to pump the energy that feeds them.
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Tesla, a once-in-a-species grade scientist would end up dying alone, broke and insane as some ill advised financial investments towards the end of his life would lead to his downfall. The world did appreciate him in retrospect, putting up his statue at the site of his greatest triumph but in his lifetime, it saw him off with cruel criticism and bitter ridicule.
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In the universe's weak attempt to address that sort of lingering injustice, today his statue seems to be quite popular. Children clamber onto his lap; adults pose in front flashing their pearly whites - with understanding I hope of who this person they are taking pictures in front of is.
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I realize popularity may not have been his thing - he was much too much of a geek to seek that. His likeness set amidst a sea of visitors from far off lands is a very well chosen one. All the fuss by these new-age admirers crowding around him, does not bother the metal Tesla. 
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He is too busy reading a book.
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[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2013/09/tourists-and-mad-scientists.html]

Tesla statue at Niagara Falls (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Big Easy

"Orleans, baby!"

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No one ever said that. No one will ever say that. Therein lies the charm of New Orleans.

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The streets are narrow. The pubs and restaurants are small. The live music scene is dominated by superbly talented but relatively unknown local bands belting out classic tunes. The milling crowds of revellers walking in and out from one fuel stop to the next seem strangely happy for people who don't seem to be the "Look how rich I am" type. Not having a Lamborghini is no problem in getting an entry into any popular place in this town. It's a party town all right, unlike any other, but more focused on enjoying the moment, less on boasting how much it cost.

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For the other half of the day when the sun is up, a warm sub-tropical cloak envelops the Crescent City. Walking past the vine covered houses with their wrought iron verandahs, some dilapidated, some bright and cheery, a trumpet chorus floats in from the distance. A little further down, the languid Mississippi runs through this town, a river both embodying its spirit and shaping it. For centuries, artists of all calibres - writers, painters, musicians have been drawn to the creative hum that fills this city. The cemeteries, the trams, the gardens, the varieties of neighbourhoods - all point to a past which refuses to leave and a future which will accommodate them at the cost of perfection.

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On that count, there is no conflict. This is the Big Easy. 
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More pictures @ http://tinyurl.com/n57cfvb

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[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-big-easy.html]

India first

English: India. Area controlled by India in dark green; Claimed but uncontrolled territories in light green. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An India  for all religions. An India  for all regions. An India for all cultures. An India for all philosophies. For if we fail to keep India a place of unprecedented integration and cultural intermingling, we have failed the idea of India, the history of India. Tolerance and peace are not a sign of weakness, they are a sign of strength and wisdom. The world needs to learn from us in that respect, not the other way around. India first.

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Tolerance and peace for the sake of our multicultural future but not for acts of evil. Passive acceptance of corruption and its extended family of evils must end. Wrong-doers need to be punished irrespective of any affiliations - religious, political or social and do-gooders encouraged. Accountability from the powers-that-be can only be achieved by their collective shaking up by an active citizenry. Our incessant complaints about how our democratic rights are being trampled upon are one half of the story. The real question is have we done enough to fulfill our collective responsibilities? India first.

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Confidence. In each individual about their ability to figure it out. Yes, there are problems. Political problems, social problems, economic problems, ecological problems, security problems - the list could be longer but you get the idea. None of them with a straightforward answer. No purpose is served in being terrified of 'foreign' culture to the point of blindness. There is much to be observed and admired in the world around us. What is to be learned must be learned without prejudice. Just another flower in our bouquet of knowledge. India first.

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"We will do it together" has a nice ring to it but is wishful thinking, wasting a lifetime waiting for the revolution. Every committed man or woman must be prepared to go it alone as many have done in the past. Self proclaimed God like iron men (not naming any names here) who will wave their magic wand of 'development' to 'fix' all of India's problems optional. India first.

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[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2013/08/india-first.html]

Destination driven destiny

Image via CrunchBase

I feel only one emotion towards Google and some German car manufacturers' research into self-driving cars. Hate. As someone obsessively fond of driving for hours through unknown roads, the idea of being only a passive passenger on a trip through the open road drives me bananas. When it comes to driving, I am a control freak.

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Sadly enough, I have to admit that this is an idea whose time has come. There is nothing more tragic than a death in a car accident, nothing more needless. The veteran of many a epic road-trip (often all by myself), I sorely accept that driving is mainly a mechanical task. Keep moving forward and avoid hitting anything encapsulates the basic logic of daily driving. Such cold, hard, simple logic is something a computer will always beat a human at. Always.

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In the early 20th century, when strange mechanical contraptions called automobiles first began clattering across carriage paths, I am sure they got murderous glares from men who loved riding their horses to their daily tasks. How can a nuts and bolts monster replace the emotional connection that a man has with his horse, they asked? 

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I find it distressing to think that the very next generation of humans will laugh at us, we who controlled the magic wheel of direction that took us down winding streets, using only the limited combination of our hands and heads and feet. Why did we trust our prone-to-fatigue human senses, they would wonder, when microprocessors can determine the right moves in pico-seconds every time without error?

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Basking in the bright lights of the future, the past seems odd-ball and needlessly 'inefficient'. I hear you now, Mr. Horseman, I feel your pain.

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[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2013/08/gps-driven-destiny.html]

Pappu-purush v/s Puppy-purush

English: Narendra Modi in Press Conference (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If the choice is between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi, it is fair to say it's not the best position to be in.

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Does Modi deserve to be the Prime Minister of India? Did Rajiv Gandhi deserve to become PM in 1984 right after his Congressi 'troops' had massacred innocent Sikhs by the hundreds in broad daylight? The answer, as they say, is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind. Since none of us speak wind, let's wait till the 2014 elections are done.

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Did Modi have any role in engineering the 2002 riots? The justice system said no but media reports said yes. Bear in mind that it's the same justice system that let Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler of the Congress walk scott free when the same media had reported them to be leading the mobs against their Sikh victims in 1984.

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Does India desperately need clean and strong governance, now more than ever before? That I can tell you without consulting the wind. YES. IT'S ABOUT TIME, I WOULD THINK. 66 YEARS OF WAITING WAS LONG ENOUGH. Of all the things that his rivals and biased 'press-titute' reports (as his less-than-diplomatic fans call the anti-Modi media) have accused Modi of, corruption is not one. I am sure they tried their damnedest to come up with something. That alone makes his candidature stand head and shoulder and Kolhapuri chappals above his rivals.

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His decisions in guiding Gujarat's march forward and the ringing endorsements by industrialists of his leadership were perfect launching pads. Unfortunately Mr. Future PM had to open his mouth just long enough to put his royal foot in his mouth. Regardless of media spin and 'misinterpretation', bringing up puppies accidentally crushed by a car you are not driving in context of mass mob rioting, rape and murder is just plain vanilla wrong. Then to follow it up with a 'burqa of secularism' comment at a subsequent meeting was double clicking on the self-destruct button just to make sure.

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India/Bharat/Hindustan is a nation just not designed to accept or survive such blind hatred, neither historically nor today. Get the Muslims first, they are the problem, right? Christians, aren't they secretly funded by the Vatican church to overthrow Hinduism? Everyone knows it's those SC/ST people who are the speed bumps on our road to progress, don't they? Oh no, wait, isn't it the North Indians who are dragging us down? Shut up, it's them, the non Hindi speaking ones who are causing this lack of 'unity', don't you see? Communists, God damn, those communists! Where does the finger pointing and divisiveness stop?

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Incredibly, only possible in incredible India, Modi still has a golden chance. Only because of the capabilities (or lack thereof) of his presumed rival to the top post. The blank page of 'http://rahulgandhiachievements.com/' says it all, which  is basically nothing. The Congress haven't announced Rahul Gandhi as their Prime Ministerial candidate yet. It is the smartest thing they have done so far on their campaign for 2014 and their only hope is in that they continue this smartness.

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I envision a third scenario too. Modi has a longer term plan than most would imagine. He, I believe, is looking at 2019 or beyond for his PM attempt. The Congress as of now is solely focused on bringing down the 'Modi for PM' bandwagon. Repeatedly calling him communal is all the pebbles they have in their arsenal drawing attention away from the mind-boggling number of scams and mis-governance that UPA-II has put our country through. 

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Modi, bear in mind, is just the BJP election campaign head as of now, not the PM candidate.  It's his first role at the national level and he may be learning the ropes on the big stage through every minute in the limelight. There is no viable BJP alternative to him in Gujarat who will become the Chief Minister, if Modi were to become PM in 2014. Making his crude aimed-at-a-particular-community headlines is only a way to consolidate his strongly right wing supporters even more. He keeps drawing the fire until it is very near Lok Sabha election time and then... he steps away.

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Someone more 'acceptable' to allies steps in for the PM post, maybe a Sushma Swaraj or a Arun Jaitley. Elections, as always in India are won or lost on local issues, not who is running for PM. BJP wins a decent number of seats. The allies like Nitish Kumar and BJD come safely rushing back, now that Modi is not a PM candidate. Lo and behold, the numbers add up and there is a BJP led government at the centre. Modi gets all the credit for running a successful campaign and his national stature grows exponentially.

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There will always be a next time, Modi, like all other smart politicians, knows, if you play your cards right. The fate of India hangs in balance on his actions and those of his political contemporaries who block his road to power. Is there some other dark horse, yet unnoticed, an exemplary leader who will trounce all others with his enthusiasm and energy, without bad-mouthing a section of Indian society or without the benefit of being political royalty, waiting to lead our country out of its current predicament? 
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The answers will start forming quite so very soon. Democracy can only give the people the leaders they deserve. 2014 will be a very interesting year, a very interesting year.

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[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2013/07/pappu-purush-vs-puppy-purush.html]

July the 13th

July 13th, 2002

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It was happening. Again. This aggressive new Indian team was about to be tripped once more at the final hurdle, for the unbelievable 10th time in a row. The smokin' opening partnership of a 107 runs between Ganguly and Sehwag was to no avail. At 146 for 5, chasing 325, here was India in its all too familiar "Quick! Collapse so that we don't actually win the match" mode.

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At the crease were two players by the names of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif who were only 3-4 years older than I was at the time. As an Indian cricket fan strangely fond of the pain that came with wholeheartedly supporting such a magnificently wayward team, I stopped wandering around the drawing room and sat down to watch the end, praying that it would come quickly and quietly. 

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It was a very turbulent and confusing phase of my life. The horrifying madness of the 2002 Gujarat riots was more than just newspaper headlines for me. That year I had given my 12th board exams, delayed by a month and a half in Gujarat, due to the violence and curfews, to determine which college I would join. Grappling with Gauss's law in physics while neighbourhood family heads met to discuss what to do if a rioting mob broke into our housing society was, should I say, a little complicated?

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I had lived in Gujarat since I was 3 and I greatly admired the efficient, peaceful and practical nature of the Gujarati people. My world was shaken up by the sudden violence and hatred in the air. Women and children murdered, burnt to death inside a train compartment and mass rape, robbery & murder on the streets - these were images I just could not associate with my adopted home state. But there they were, grim and true.

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And in this big picture dominated by conflicting thoughts about religion and unity and India's future was my own little picture. Which college was I headed to? Into which town and into the company of which new friends was my future taking me? I was happy to have something else to think about, in this case, the NatWest Trophy final between India and England. The thrill of the great unknown was on hold for the moment, as I waited for the remaining 5 Indian wickets to fall and then the customary 24-48 hours of depressed moping around to follow.

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I was kept waiting... for a very long time. Kaif and Yuvraj staked themselves in, stealing numerous singles, smashing the odd boundary or six, moving closer and closer to what was then a very very very tough target to even come close to, let alone overhaul. Most Indian fans can be forgiven for having foggy memories of this partnership. They were probably too drunk on their disbelief that these young lads were actually pulling this off, really doing this... for real. 

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And then, Yuvraj was dismissed. Tears streaming down his face as he walked back to the pavilion, the target still just far enough for all their hard work to fall short. Given what he had put into the partnership, his heart and his soul, surely this was the cruelest twist of fate. I remember commentator Harsha Bhogle's exact words "That's the problem with fairy tales. They rarely have happy endings."

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I thought to myself. Wait a minute, that's doesn't sound right, Mr. Bhogle. Fairytales almost always have happy endings. So it turned out. With the Turbanator's gutsy support, Mohammad Kaif stepped up to the challenge and in the final nerve wracking over, Zaheer Khan and Kaif scampered through for a couple putting India at 326/8 bringing them home.

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"India have won! India have won! India have won!" yelled Ravi Shastri on air as if he needed to absorb the fact himself first. The iconic scene of Ganguly whirling his shirt above his head and shouting unprintables from the Lords balcony forever stamped itself into Indian public memory. Rugby style take-downs ensued on the field between the members of the delirious Indian team and the joy, the sheer blinding disorienting rush of joy ran through a nation. 

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I may have standing on my head, or screaming from the verandah or high-fiving the drying papads on my building's rooftop, I frankly can't remember. What I do remember is that it was a significant day in my life as it was for millions of other Indian cricket fans, this one day 11 years ago. It will remain so for the rest of my life. Since then, the Indian cricket team has gone from strength to strength and the beginnings of its rise may soon be forgotten but it does not lessen the significance of those golden moments.

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That it can be done, because it has been done. Passion and grit driving imperfect dreams to epic conclusions. The secret to be able to is to be willing. All this re-inforced through the course of one life-changing, history changing match. For those who feel that cricket is just another game, I offer my sincere sympathies. To those that understand I say, happy July the 13th, happy July the 13th!

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[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2013/07/july-13th.html]

Verification

NBA player LeBron James answers questions during a press conference after a preseason practice session Sept. 28, 2010, at the Aderholt Fitness Center at Hurlburt Field, Fla. The Miami Heat used the fitness center for their week-long training camp. James is a forward for the Heat. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An ordinary Tuesday was drawing to a close and all I wanted was to make it a little more memorable by watching the feats of some extraordinary people. Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs was scheduled to begin at 21:00 and on the dot, I cranked on my X-Box 360.

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And of course, this was the exact moment that my identity needed to confirmed. Give me an e-mail address, demanded my X-Box and so I gave it my G-Mail ID. No, we have that on file, it said, give me an alternate e-mail address and so with a mild furrow on my eyebrow I punched in my Yahoo ID. Go check your e-mail, it then told me, that's where the pass code is.

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Off to my laptop then and into Yahoo mail I sign. But wait, I was signing in on a device from which I had never accessed my Yahoo ID before so now Yahoo demanded proof. Give me an e-mail address, an alternate one, Yahoo asked of me. So where else do I send my verification code, but to good ol' G-Mail. Into G-Mail then, for my Yahoo pass code which then enabled me to enter my Yahoo mail to see my X-Box Live pass code. Talk about complicated!

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But it's not over yet. Now the ESPN app on the X-Box demands a pass code. No basketball for you otherwise, it declares.  Back into the waiting arms of my laptop again to the URL given by the ESPN app. On ESPN.com, I hope to find my salvation. But no, I have to select my Internet service provider first and I select Comcast. Any guesses on which website I had to sign into now? Comcast login, here I come.

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I am good to go... finally says my Comcast screen. By the time I get back on my X-Box and the game starts streaming, LeBron James is looking seriously downbeat at the end of the first quarter. The Spurs under the leadership of Tim Duncan have clamped down on him hard. 

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Later in the game, the Heat come back spectacularly in the last quarter to squeak out as winners pushing the series to a 7th & final game on Thursday. LeBron proves that he is LeBron by defending like a demon and scoring 20 odd points in that 4th quarter. He needed to, with his fans rooting for him claiming him to be the GOAT and his critics waiting for him to screw up to call him the GLOAT. All that superhuman effort makes sense.

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What doesn't is why I have to work so hard to prove that I am me.

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[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2013/06/verification.html]