Alive !

Yes, I am alive ! I hope that from now onwards I get back to normal blogging..Lets see!

Jaane Tu...

Had gone to see "Jaane Tu..Ya Jaane Na" on last weekend with few friends...I liked the movie, loved first part. Though I thought second half was a bit slow n really 'filmy'! I liked 2 things the most in this one - First u might have guessed, Yes. Its Music! Yet another facet of A R Rehman genius! Honestly, when i listened to the album i did not like more than 2 songs and felt that's all it is about it! But I guess that is the beauty of ARR music...His music just builds on you the more and more you listen to it. And when you listen to it in the movie, it gives a whole new experience!

Second thing is the acting of Prateik Babbar! Well, now for those who have not heard this name before, He is the son of Raj Babbar and Late Smita Patil! Yes, He is Smita Patil's Son! He plays the role of Genelia's brother in this film - Amit that is ! It wasnt a huge role, But I think he left a HUGE impact! Funny lines like "tera ghar tere bums.. jaha baithna hai baith"..he says it so dryly n nonchalantly.. yet it was screamingly funny.. hats off Pratiek ! Keep up the good work! Smitaji would have been really proud to have seen you on screen!

Keep the Spark - Chetan Bhagat

Inaugural Speech for the new batch at the Symbiosis BBA program 2008, Pune.. U can have a look at the original post on CB's blog here. I am pasting the same speech here.

Keep the Spark

Inaugural Speech for the new batch at the Symbiosis BBA program 2008

© Chetan Bhagat

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy is can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?

Imagine the spark to be a lamp’s flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn’t any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement.

But it isn’t the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won’t be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday?

They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature’s design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.

I must add, don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school. Where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don’t take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don’t be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I’ve told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don’t go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you.

But it’s life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that’s where you want to be.

Disappointment’s cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don’t know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release.

Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts , having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you.

In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty darn lucky by Indian standards. Let’s be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don’t. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don’t get literary praise. It’s ok. I don’t look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It’s ok. Don’t let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I’ve told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, you eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.

Thank You.

The Sultan of Software retires

Arguably the best businessman of our century, Bill Gates, retired from the day-to-today operations of the company he co-founded - Microsoft. Over a span of 33 years, this man has transformed an era. He has been 'The Hero' for millions of people worldwide !

When I look at his career overall, The way he built his whole empire, the chances that he took, the various battle that he played with the industry giants of that time such as IBM...It is just so mesmerizing and inspiring! I know, many people would say that Bill Gates was very lucky in a way to get to a position that he is today. I agree. Yes, Luck has played a very vital role in his initial career. But the important thing is He knows that! He knows he was lucky enough at the start of Microsoft. If we look at the industry scenario at the start of 1970s, PC wasn't a big market at that time. But Bill(along with few others like Steve Jobs) had a vision that PC is going to be THE market in the future. As Steve Jobs mentioned at the historic D5 meet, "Bill was the first person at that time who knew, it was Software that was going to be the next big thing" !

I would like to mention the history for the laymen about how Microsoft emerged as THE big company. During the late 70s, IBM was the Industry giant and they were mainly into the mainframes. But with the emergence of companies like Apple, Xerox, Digital Research etc in the PC market, IBM decided to capture this market as well! So they decided to make IBM PC. The way IBM worked, It would take at least 3 years for a new product to be launched. But with the rapid demand for the PCs... IBM decided to make an assembled PC in order to launch its PC within a year. So they decided to buy various parts from various vendors and assembled them. The only chip that was IBM's in that PC was ROM-BIOS, a chip that maintains what all parts are connected and how all are connected and how they would work together. They wanted OS for this machines. Now at that time, CP/M was the widely used OS, created by Gary Kildall of Digital Research Inc. IBM's discussion with Gary went poorly, so IBM turned their head to Bill Gates.(What a waste of opportunity Gary!) Now comes the interesting part! Microsoft was not into OS at that point of time. They didn't have their own OS. But, there was an OS similar to CP/M(In fact, a copy of CP/M literally) created by Tim Patterson called QDOS(Quick and Dirty OS !) Bill Gates bought it ! Microsoft delivered it to IBM as PC-DOS. Gates insisted that IBM let Microsoft keep the copyright on the operating system, because he believed that other hardware vendors would clone IBM's system (Wow, What a masterpiece of vision !)They did(thanks to the reverse engineering!), and the sales of MS-DOS made Microsoft a major player in the industry.

So it was just a share of luck that Bill needed and he just cashed onto that! The triumph was so huge that IBM had to fall down(due to their bad management mostly) and Microsoft emerged as the software giant in 80s and 90s and Bill Gates as the Sultan of the Software! He was good enough to notice the importance of GUI when he
started making Windows @ Microsoft. Though, It is mostly copied from Macintosh !(Mind you, The original GUI was a creation of Xerox PARC which Steve Jobs saw. and hence Macintosh itself is not original!)

He faced a lot of criticism and allegations about trying to create a monopoly in the business. The antitrust lawsuit that was filed against Microsoft, was I think one of the saddest phases in Gates's career. Gates is a kind of person who wants to win all the time, for him Winning is really really important. Later on, he started philanthropic work. Though Software still remains his first love, he has stepped down to devote full time for society and his philanthropy. I wish him all the best with his future and he will remain a HERO for many geeks worldwide, at least me!

I am giving some links really useful and one must have a look at them, trust me!
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Together - Historic discussion at D5
The Bill Gates story - aired on the Biography Channel
Triumph of the Nerds
The Pirates of the silicon valley
Fortune - Slideshow of Some rare photos

Tomato Story

Received this via an e-mail... :)

TOMATO STORY

A Jobless man applied for the position of 'office boy' at Microsoft.The HR manager interviewed him then watched him cleaning the floor as a test.

'You are employed' he said. Give me your e-mail address and I'll send you the application to fill in, as well as date when you may start.

The man replied 'But I don't have a computer, neither an email'.

'I'm sorry', said the HR manager. If you don't have an email, that means you do not exist. And who doesn't exist, cannot have the job.'

The man left with no hope at all. He didn't know what to do, with only $10 in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket and buy a 10Kg tomato crate. He then sold the tomatoes in a door to door round. In less than two hours,he succeeded to double his capital. He repeated the operation three times,and returned home with $60.

The man realized that he can survive by this way, and started to go everyday earlier, and return late. Thus, his money doubled or tripled everyday.

Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles.

5 years later, the man is one of the biggest food retailers in the US ...
He started to plan his family's future, and decided to have a life insurance.

He called an insurance broker, and chose a protection plan. When the conversation was concluded the broker asked him his email.

The man replied,'I don't have an email.'

The broker answered curiously, 'You don't have an email, and yet have succeeded to build an empire. Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e mail?!!' The man thought for a while and replied,
'Yes, I'd be an office boy at Microsoft!'

Nadvedh - नादवेध

12 June..The day many maharashtrians would remember! The memorial day of the idol - Pu la Deshpande! Swaranjali Pratishthan, Pune organized a program in his tribute! I was fortunate enough to attend!

Nadvedh is more of a mehfil! It is anchored by Mr Achyut S Godbole(ASG). What this man can do is a different topic all together, but this is just one of the many facets of his personality! I will have a blog post separately dedicated to him, sometime later!

Coming back to the topic, till this program, I was never fascinated by Classical Music. Maybe my ignorance about this thing being the prime reason! But I never really understood why would a someone go on singing one raag for 2 hours, 3 hours ! I used to see the so called 'learned' listeners and would get really irritated when they would show that they have a lot of knowledge in what is going on on the stage. I have no problem with people enjoying, but there has to be some limit. Why show world? Keep it with you! And people who believe they understand a thing or two about music, do have a tendency to show off - This is my personal opinion. Many can argue on that! To each its own!

Nadvedh changed my whole attitude towards Music. ASG explained raags like Bhimpalasi, Malhar, Yaman and their various other derivatives, the various hindi, marathi movie songs, non-movie songs, gazals, bandishis, various memories associated with those songs, few things about the lives of the music maestros - Bhimsen Joshi, Kishori Amonkar, Mehdi Hassan etc ! It was all just majestic!! One would like to just go on listening to ASG as he unfolds. The peculiar thing about him is that, at the start ASG makes you believe that he himself doesnt know a great deal about music..Just being like any other guy like you. But as he goes on n on n on.. You realize that you are being fooled... n this guy is really a father of many in this category. Such is the charisma of this program! He is equally supported on stage by his sister, Sulabha Pishawikar who happens to be a trained classical singer and some other singers to accompany the mehfil !

The program has installed some interest in me to start understanding Music in order to enjoy it more! I dont think Music is a thing to analyze..But it is something that you should enjoy. One should be able to feel Music. In Kishoritai's words, "Music musically leads to silence"! What say folks?

The 3 mistakes of my life

For all u Chetan Bhagat fans out there(i am surely being one), CB has come up wid his new book almost after a span of 3 years - the 3 mistakes of my life! Given the vast success his previous two books had achieved, this one is not going to disappoint you. Though many CB critics feel that his books do not fall into the literature category - I dont care, rather we all CB fans dont care! "The biggest-selling english language novelist in India's history" -- Chetan Bhagat covered by New York Times! This man is really making India read big in recent times. FPS, one night @ call center and now 3...The subjects are so close to the current generation..No wonder he strikes the chord with the indian youth in no time !

The 3 mistakes of my life is again a story of 3 friends..a story about business, cricket, and religion...I really enjoyed reading it. There are lots of incidents which are totally filmy..but isn't it a CB book speciality?..I would not go into the plot of the story..its better you go n read ! I recommend this book to all! You can also have a look at some of reviews here - Rashmi, livemint.

Some good management fundas

Achievers 08 - A salute to the torch bearers

Today i got a chance to attend a program organised by PUMBA called Achievers 08. The program was to felicitate some of the industry leaders and the achievers in their respective domains. The achievers list included some eminent personalities like -

Mr Dilip Chhabria, CEO and Chief Designer, DC Designs Pvt Ltd
Mr Achyut Godbole, MD, Softexcel Consultancy Services
Mr Ravi Pandit, Founder Chairman, KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd and
Mr Subhash Kapre, CEO, Serum Institute of India

Today was one of the most memorable days in my life that i got to listen to all those eminent personalities. To learn from their experiences was a great experience. To know more about the event - Click here for the PUMBA site.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke Dies

The visionary behind Communication Satellites Sir Arthur C. Clarke died today morning! He had always been ahead of his time. His vision of putting geostationary satellites in orbit totally changed our lives. It was Clarke who floated the idea of using geosynchronous satellites for communications long before such technology changed our world. Clarke's most important contribution to science may be in propagating the idea that geostationary satellites would be ideal telecommunications relays.

More on this - Here

Love means ...

This is really special -

Slow down for three minutes to read this.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?' The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shavingcologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'
Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'
Nikka - age 6 (We need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'
Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody . You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt.'
Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)
Karen - age 7

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.
The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

MBA in a Page...

A comprehensive list of management theories. Its 'MBA in a Page'. Check out guys ! Very Useful !

Success

The Ten Commandments of Success
1. Hard Work: Hard work is the best investment a man can make.
2. Study Hard: Knowledge enables a man to work more intelligently and effectively.
3. Have Initiative: Ruts often deepen into graves.
4. Love Your Work: Then you will find pleasure in mastering it.
5. Be Exact: Slipshod methods bring slipshod results.
6. Have the Spirit of Conquest: Thus you can successfully battle and overcome
difficulties.
7. Cultivate Personality: Personality is to a man what perfume is to the flower.
8. Help and Share with Others: The real test of business greatness lies in giving
opportunity to others.
9. Be Democratic: Unless you feel right toward your fellow men, you can never
be a successful leader of men.
10. In all Things Do Your Best: The man who has done his best has done everything.
The man who has done less than his best has done nothing.
—CHARLES M. SCHWAB

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There is a story about four men named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it,but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, and Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody, when actually Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
-- Anonymous

Meri Maa ...

A very heart touching song from Taare Zamin Par...

Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin
Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa
Yun To Main,Dikhlata Nahin
Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon Main Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Hain Na Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata,,Meri Maa

Bheed Mein Yun Na Chodo Mujhe
Ghar Laut Ke Bhi Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Bhej Na Itna Door Mujkko Tu
Yaad Bhi Tujhko Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Kya Itna Bura Hoon Main Maa
Kya Itna Bura Meri Maa

Jab Bhi Kabhi Papa Mujhe
Jo Zor Se Jhoola Jhulate Hain Maa
Meri Nazar Dhoondhe Tujhe
Sochu Yahi Tu Aa Ke Thaamegi Maa

Unse Main Yeh Kehta Nahin
Par Main Seham Jaata Hoon Maa
Chehre Pe Aana Deta Nahin
Dil Hi Dil Mein Ghabraata Hoon Maa
Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Hai Naa Maa
Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Meri Maa

Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin
Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa
Yun To Main,Dikhlata Nahin
Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon Main Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Hain Na Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata,,Meri Maa

For all those who do not understand Hindi ..Dont worry! There is a translation too .. just feel those words ...

I've never told you
How scared I am of the dark
I've never told you
How much I care for you
But you know, dont you, Ma?
You know everything, my Ma.

Dont leave me alone in crowds
I'll lose my way back home
Dont send me to places far away
Where you wont even remember me
Am I so bad, Ma?
Am I so bad, my Ma?

When sometimes Papa swings me
Too high in the air,
My eyes search for you, hoping
You'll come and hold me safe

I dont tell him
But I get petrified
I dont let it show
But my heart sinks
you know everything, dont you Ma?
You know everything, my Ma.

I've never told you
How scared I am of the dark
I've never told you
How much I care for you
But you know, dont you, Ma?
You know everything, my Ma.

Side Effetcs of Tata's Nano Car

Recieved this through an e-mail from one friend... could not resist but to post it :).. Hilarious ! Enjoy !

MYTODAY SMS

I dont know how many of you are already aware of this. MYTODAY SMS is a free service which provides you free SMS updates on the topic of your own choice. I got to know about this one through a friend. What you need to do is just send one SMS to 9845398453 for the subscription. You only pay two rupees once for sending the START / STOP sms(Charges applicable as per your operator). All daily incoming SMS thereafter are Free. The service is available only for the Indian residents.

There are a whole lot of topics available for updates such as - JOKES, QUIZ, NEWS, SENSEX, POEMS, TRAVEL, HOME, CAREER, QUOTES, WORD, BOLLYWOOD, PANCHANG, LOVE, PREM etc.
I feel this is a very helpful service and virtually free of cost!

The Man who Knew Infinity - Ramanujan

Yesterday I was watching a movie called - Good Will Hunting. There, a character makes reference to Ramanujan as the Mathematical Genius. I was amazed. Though i had heard of Ramanujan, it wasnt as much as the film refers. I left the movie in between and started googling about Ramanujan and i was startled by what i came to know about him. I have come to a conclusion that Ramanujan is the world's gratest unknown mathematician ! yes, i mean it! I know thats a pretty bold statement for me but i am sure that many of you would feel the same if you read about this legend.

The first thing that sruck me was that Ramanujan died at the age of 32! yes 32! A person who is regarded as the one of the greatest mathematical geniuses of the 20th century, died when he was 32, when he was at the peak of his talent! I know history doesnt believe in If ..then ...But i just wonder what this man could have achieved had he lived for 20 more years ! I dont understand why such things happen. Take the examples of Dnyaneshwara, Vivekanand - They all died at such an early age. Such a loss to the mankind!

Going back to Ramanujan, His passion for mathematics was combined with indifference to other subjects. He failed in most of his other subjects. In January 1913, when he was working as a clerk in Madras, he sent the Cambridge mathematician G.H. Hardy nine pages of closely written mathematical formulae, in a rounded schoolboy script. That letter, now a historic document, was the turning point in his career. At first Hardy thought the author might be a crank; but after studying the theorems he realised that they "could only be written down by a mathematician of the highest class... They must be true because, if they were not true, no one would have the imagination to invent them."

Hardy had developed a scale of mathematical ability on which he could place the mathematicians he knew. He assigned himself a modest 25, and Littlewood a 30. To the eminent David Hilbert(Remember Hilbert Transform?), he assigned an 80 and to Ramanujan, he gave a 100.

Attending his first Cambridge lecture and asked by a professor whether he wanted to add anything, Ramanujan went to the blackboard and wrote results the professor had not yet proved — and which he could not have known before. In one episode, Hardy visited him in a nursing home and commented that the license number of the cab he had come in, 1729, was "rather a dull number." Ramanujan reacted instantly. "No, Hardy. It is a very interesting number. It is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways." Wow ! Hats Off !

G. H. Hardy quotes: "The limitations of his knowledge were as startling as its profundity. Here was a man who could work out modular equations and theorems... to orders unheard of, whose mastery of continued fractions was... beyond that of any mathematician in the world, who had found for himself the functional equation of the zeta function and the dominant terms of many of the most famous problems in the analytic theory of numbers; and yet he had never heard of a doubly-periodic function or of Cauchy's theorem, and had indeed but the vaguest idea of what a function of a complex variable was..." Hardy went on to claim that his greatest contribution to mathematics was discovering Ramanujan.

No wonder a film is been made on the life of Ramanujan - Link.
I feel at least that will make people aware about the magical genius the world could see very little of. A good collection of Ramanujan papers, notebooks is available here - link. Even a biographical song has been made on the life of Ramanujan - http://www.archive.org/details/Ramanujan
There are some wonderful books been written on the life of Ramanujan -
The Man who Knew Infinity, Ramanujan, the Man and the Mathematician, Number Theory in the Spirit of Ramanujan etc. A few documentaries have also been made, i tried to search for that torrent but could not find. If any of you ever get that, please let me know.

I still have that question in my mind - what this man would have accomplished had he lived?

Homemade wooden binary adding machine

Welcome... Year 2008

Dream...
And as you dream,
Remember...
That only you can make
Your dreams come true.

Reach...
And as you reach,
Remember that...
Success takes time,
Devotion,
And sometimes a little
Disappointment.

Believe...
And as you believe,
You will find
Reaching gets easier,
Setbacks get
More manageable,
Life becomes
More meaningful.

There's a wonderful dream
Waiting just for you...
Very Happy and Prosperous New Year!