Spring Time

Spring – a time which reminds me of Serenity, brightness, colours and greenery – has set in. I have never experienced what it is like living in Spring though. Pictures tell me that it must feel really awesome, somewhere close to how a first love feels like, how the first drop of rain on your face feels like or how relishing the first mango of the season feels like. If I understand it right, the Spring months are April-June (3 months basically) and many flower festivals are organized during this time of the year.

Here are some of the pictures my Superpartner has taken during Spring. He takes out his camera at least a couple of times every Spring. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

While we are still in that Imaginative mood, let’s read some of these Great Shers.

हो सके तो दिल के आले में हमें रख लीजिये
काम आयेंगे अँधेरों में जलाने के लिये

Ho sake to dil ke aale mein humein rakh lijiye
Kaam aayenge andhere mein jalaane ke liye

If it's possible, keep me in your heart's shelf
May come handy as burning fuel in darkness

–डॉ. संतोष कुमार पांडेय (Dr. Santosh Kumar Pandey)

Because you are still reading this post, I would like you to watch this video on time zones.

Complex yet simple

It is complicated but you realize the need for complexity. You will also understand that there is no strict rule when it comes to time zones and theoretically, each one of us can have our own!

Happy Spring!

Cortana

I was once interested in Artificial Intelligence (enjoyed I, Robot) but then I never really understood how can you program a machine to ‘learn’ so the interest sort of faded away. Then I took a Neuroscience course a couple of years ago and coded (to get a first-hand feel, not that I invented it!) something called a Perceptron, which can be ‘taught’ to do some binary operations. So it rekindled my interest in AI, though I guess I’ll never code one myself as was shown in the recent movie ‘Transcendence’. (Watch it if you’re interested in the portrayal of humans’ collective dumbness in action!) These were slight brushes on my arms of AI over the years but one that hit me right in the face was Cortana, the digital personal assistant in Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview. Following the demo video (linked above), I also played around with setting reminders, searching directions, calling people, playing music and most importantly, asking ‘funny’ questions. (The success rate of my ‘accent’ getting recognized seems to be slightly more than 50%, but whatever is recognized is ~100% accurate.) Here are the answers I received from Cortana (you can figure out the questions or just peek!):

For more interesting questions and answers, watch this video:

Now you know what to avoid :)

I haven’t tried ‘people reminder’, which is supposed to be the unique feature of Cortana but I did try (actual need!) ‘place reminder’. Here’s the story: I forgot to buy sugar when I went for grocery shopping last week so I asked Cortana to remind me when I next go for shopping. She inquired where do I go for shopping and gave options: Waldbaum’s was the second option. I chose it and the reminder was set; note that she didn’t ask about the time! I was at Waldbaum’s yesterday and lo & behold I saw a message on my Phone reminding me to buy sugar! (Not that I was going to forget again but it’s nice to know ‘geo-fencing’ works!)

As I have mentioned already, I watched ‘Transcendence’ yesterday and Cortana correctly identified the nearest theatre when I asked it to find one in the morning. She also showed me the driving details. I then asked her if I can walk there to which she replied, ‘Sure… here is the walking route’ and opened up the Windows Maps app. It would be better if in the final version of WP8.1, one could choose Here Maps as the default maps app.

With such a technology in place, all you need to do is ‘ask the right questions’ and ‘ask them clearly’. It doesn’t sound quite right listening to

‘Sorry, I didn’t get that.’

First look at Shayari…

… in this year. I really liked some of the Shers that came up on Anubhuti couple of weeks back so tried translating the Ghazal named “इरादों का”.

इरादों का बड़ा पक्का रहा हूँ
खुदा का नेक दिल बंदा रहा हूँ

Iraadon ka bada pakka raha hun
Khuda ka nek dil banda raha hun

Have been strong willed forever
Have been good hearted forever

मेरे घर फूल बरसाओ बहारों
कि खारों से बहुत ऊबा रहा हूँ

Mere ghar phool barsaao bahaaron
Ki khaaron se bahut ooba raha hun

Shower flowers on my house, O Spring
As I have been bored of thorns forever

तिज़ारत दिल का वो करने लगे हैं
हिसाबे-प्यार में कच्चा रहा हूँ

Tizaarat dil ka woh karne lage hain
Hisaabe-pyaar mein kachha raha hun

While he has indulged in trading hearts
I’ve been a bad love-accountant forever

सज़ा दे दी मुझे मेरे खुदा ने
कि तेरे बाद भी जिन्दा रहा हूँ

Saza de di mujhe mere khuda ne
Ki tere baad bhi zinda raha hun

My God has given me this punishment
Even after you, I’ve been alive forever

कि रिश्तों में नहीं है बात अब वो
लगा यों बोझ मैं ढोता रहा हूँ

Ki rishton mein nahin hai baat ab woh
Laga yon bojh main dhota raha hun

Relationships aren’t what they used to be
I have felt dragging them along forever

बगावत कर ली जो मैंने ही घर से
दुखा के माँ का दिल रोता रहा हूँ

Bagaawat kar lee jo maine hi ghar se
Dukha ke Ma ka dil rota raha hun

It is true that I have rebelled against my home but
Breaking mother’s heart has left me in tears forever

कहा उसने तो मैंने जान दे दी
बहुत वादे का मैं पक्का रहा हूँ

Kaha usne to maine jaan de di
Bahut vaade ka main pakka raha hun

I gave away my life when he asked for it
Have stayed firm on my promises forever

फ़साने याद फिर आने लगे वो
मुसलसल रात भर रोता रहा हूँ

Fasaane yaad phir aane lage woh
Musalsal raat bhar rota raha hun

Have started reminiscing about the past stories
Have been weeping through the nights forever

अज़ब ही बात थी उसकी गली में
अभी तक मैं वहाँ जाता रहा हूँ

Ajab hi baat thi uski gali mein
Abhi tak main vahan jata raha hun

There is a strange thing about his street
I have been roaming around it forever

बहुत प्यारी लगी हमको जो चीज़ें
उन्हें पाने को मैं तरसा रहा हूँ

Bahut pyaari lagi humko jo cheejen
Unhen paane ko main tarsa raha hun

Those things that I loved the most
Have longed to obtain them forever

चरागाँ कर लिया हमने भी घर को
अँधेरों में बहुत घुटता रहा हूँ

Charaagaan kar liya humne bhi ghar ko
Andhere mein bahut ghutta raha hun

I too have brightened up my house now
Have suffocated in the darkness forever

–अमित दुबे (Amit Dubey)

Read more of his works here.

What if…

… our Calendars looked different?

2014 seems to be flying and we are already past 2 months. One of my friends tells me that all her weekends till the end of April are planned to which I jokingly reply “well that is taking you closer to turning 30”. No more gossips now, here is something you should read first to understand what I’m going to talk about in this post.

Let’s say we had such a simple way to remember the calendar for 2014, then how many people would be celebrating their birthdays on the same date and month? Obvious are the birthdays from the 1st to the 28th of January but then any others? The answer is none!

I have made a sample Moses’ Calendar using Excel.

How many would have a difference by a day? The answer is again none! But there would be 28 cases where people would be celebrating their birthdays two days before their actual dates. The following table shows the pattern of absolute differences from 0–9 days:

This shows that the birthdays within 0–4 days of the ‘current’ dates constitute a total of 140 out of 365 (40%) days. We stop there because no one can celebrate 5 days before or after. But the important point is that it would simplify things – 4 weekends every month, the first day of every month starting with the same day, etc. There wouldn’t be a need for dividing by a 28/30/31, it would be always 28 and the ‘Year day’ (also a ‘Leap Day’ in the case of a leap year) could be made Universal Holiday(s)!

Happy Valentine Week

Well, whatever! You can’t say I didn’t write anything ‘romantic’ on this blog. Here goes a paragraph which could be recited in ~1 minute (you’ve been warned):

Have you slept or are you pretending to sleep? Either way, let me ask you 'How do you do?' and either way I won't get an answer. Because in one case you can't answer and in another, you won't! So let me muse and you be my silent audience. Or to put it another way, you're my muse and I am musing about you. Isn't that a cliché? If not, it should be and if it is, I'm sorry… I don't want to be remembered as someone who used clichés to get his points across. But either way, it's a beautiful phrase, isn't it? Please don't tax yourself to agree. I know your answer. Just thinking about how we think alike makes me quiver with delight! Another cliché but worth it I think. I've been thinking a lot lately which is weird because such things don't mean much. I mean will we remember this conversation when you wake up or when I'm sober next day? Probably not, but still it feels nice to let it all out. You've been my muse and I had mused a lot about you. It wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Someone else wouldn't have cut it… Another cliché but then 'Someone else wouldn't have understood or fit or worked' sounds so dumb. You were a perfect fit, you understood and you worked to cut it just right! That was almost like these words falling in place one after another without much effort… That's almost like you! I remember you, my …

Ignoring the mumbo-jumbo above, this post is basically to point you to this folder, which contains photos from our Jan’14 tour of India. Wait, don’t yet go there to glance at the photos! You can enjoy them after you finish this para… A ‘heart-felt’ appeal: Do share your comments about these photos (both likes & dislikes) with us below or any other channel of communication you find yourself gravitating towards. It will help us improve our photographic vision & techniques so that next time you’ll have less crappy photos to wade through!

On the other hand, hope you enjoyed

VW

Paper…

Before writing or saying ‘Happy New Year’ becomes old news for this year, here is a post to wish you the same. So HNY to you!

Starting the quota of this year’s post on our first (wedding) anniversary (yes, it’s been a year!) seems like a good idea. It is also practical because we have been travelling in India this whole month and there’s been not much time to do anything ‘extra’. Now that we are about to get back to our usual routine at our usual places, we thank and pray to those who deserve it:

Could you guess how were these shots taken? If yes, good for you. Otherwise, have a look at the following shot:

As you know now, the setup for shooting these pictures is pretty simple. We had seen pictures of heart formed by shadow of a (wedding) ring placed vertically on the seam of an open book. We would like to think of the trick presented here as ‘Our Discovery’ because we have not seen such pictures before. If you disagree, then you can tag these as ‘Our Rediscovery’.

…Anniversary

Last, not the least!

Presents are made for the pleasure of who gives them, not the merits of who receives them. ― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

As the year is coming to an end and the mood has already become festive, we have something here to liven up your mood too. Let’s look at some of the most-appearing themes on our blog this year (excluding the common ones such as TimePass, Reminiscences, Philosophy, Family, Comedy, etc.): Camera (12), Academia (9), Travel (9), Nature (8), Food (6), Nokia (5), Shayari (5), Music (4), Survey (4), Windows (4) and Sketchbook (3). So this last post of the year will be dedicated to reviewing some of these themes.

Enjoy the Shers by different poets first.

शायद डगर सरल हो, कुछ दूर चल के देखें
कुछ तुम बदल के देखो, कुछ हम बदल के देखें

Shaayad dagar saral ho kuch door chal ke dekhen
Kuch tum badal ke dekho, kuch ham badal ke dekhen

The path may be easier to tread, let’s walk along a bit
You change yourself a bit, I will change myself a bit

– डॉ. अनिल शर्मा (Dr. Anil Sharma)

उन्हे भूलना या उन्हे याद करना
वो बिछड़े है जब से यही मशगला है

Unhen bhoolna ya unhen yaad karna
Wo bichhde hain jab se yahi mashgala hai

To remember or to forget
Is the crisis since we parted

– ख़ुमार बाराबंकवी (Khumar Barabankvi)

बिछडते वक़्त उन आँखों में थी हमारी ग़ज़ल
ग़ज़ल भी वो जो कभी किसी को सुनाई न थी

Bichhadte waqt un aankhon mein thi hamaari ghazal
Ghazal bhi woh jo kabhi kisi ko sunaai na thi

There was my Ghazal in his eyes when he left
That too the Ghazal which was never recited

– नासीर तुराबी (Naseer Turabi)

कौन अपना या पराया नदीश छोड़ो भी
मिले इंसान जहाँ जब भी भले प्यार करें

Kaun apna ya paraaya Nadeesh chhodo bhi
Mile insaan jahan jab bhi bhale pyaar karen

Nadeesh, don’t worry about friends or strangers
Love those who seem to be benevolent characters

– लोकेश नदीश (Lokesh Nadeesh)

प्यार गर प्यार है तो उभरेगा
लाख उसके करो निशाँ गायब

Pyaar gar pyaar hai to ubhrega
Laakh uske karo nishaan gayab

Love, if it is true love, will persist and flourish
Even if its signs are erased a million times over

– सुल्तान अहमद (Sultan Ahmed)

Let me share some very old Sketchbook snippets next. These are amongst my favorite ones when I had just started reading Sketchbook. Enjoy while listening to this music.

Here Sora is trying to understand how a life event has changed the cat named ‘Grey’ and what are some of the characteristics of the cat ‘Mike’.Sora is feeling liberated by getting to use a Deskel in the following panels:

The following picture is one that my Superpartner made using ‘Photofunia’ app and her name is Kokage Kuga. The first time he asked me to guess, I called her Sora… He was disappointed! hehe

and this is her lovely and cute cat ‘Yutanpo’:

He has very recently bought a Panasonic’s GX7 and has finished reading its Manual (It was not a basic instruction manual, it was an advanced guide worth of 380 pages!). Who reads manuals, anyways? Somebody please explain that to him! If you wish to read a manual-like review of the camera, here is one. He kept talking about its weight, colour, body, design, art filters, lens, shutter button, manual focus adjustments, etc. almost everyday while reading that guide and some of those comments were:

• ‘GX7 did a great job at focusing on the right thing!’ (when a bird flew towards him out of nowhere and he blindly hit the shutter button!).
• ‘It's not heavier than E-PL1, maybe it's lighter. It feels solid too…’
• ‘Man, this camera gives hints to buttons or what could be next settings change... liking its attitude :)’ (Who says I’m the only funny person here? )

There was a time like this too before he bought the camera:

He: You're thinking of punching me, aren't you? :)

Me: I sure am, punches won’t suffice. I deserve more for hearing your camera stories everyday :P

But all the efforts seem worthwhile when I look at the pictures clicked from the camera. ‘All is well that ends well’.

People in Pilani taught me that confession sessions are a must before a new year starts. They say that it helps in having no regrets against someone. Should I be confessing then? O yes, I shouldn’t have gotten that passionate about a greeting card. I did not listen / watch closely to how he likes to keep things organized in the room and placed things in my own way. I did not catch the right train and was late for the trip to West Meadow Beach. I feel really sorry that I messed up with that plan. But at the end of the day, everything fitted perfectly like this fully solved crossword:

and it was all a lot of fun like this:

Or like this:

Keeping up with the program, here is something to cheer up this guy (have teased and laughed at him many times on the Blog, all for fun though).

Lastly, here’s the last ‘end-of-the-post-link’ for this year, which concerns photography from GX7

Merry Christmas and a very Happy new Year!!!

Slow & Steady

As this year slowly comes to an end, we celebrate the slow march towards oblivion by a similarly slow paced Ghazal. (Read the tab titled ‘Shayari’ above if you’ve not done that umpteenth number of times already!)

This Ghazal by poetess ‘Munni Sharma’ is simple but at the same time deep. It has a radif: धीरे धीरे (dheere dheere), which means ‘slowly slowly’. It’s very fitting for this Ghazal because all the Sher comprising it make the perception of time slow down as their meaning sinks in. I have (for the first time) tried not to be too literal in my translations so that even the translated version qualifies as a Ghazal. Here’s the checklist:

• Radif: I choose ‘surely’ instead of ‘slowly slowly’ because such blatant alliteration doesn’t sound nice in English. Also, the sense in which the original one is used suggests a resolve not laziness!
• Qaafiya: I choose adverbs (words ending with ‘–ly’ as far as I’m concerned) instead of the verbs in original rendition.
• Matla: The first Sher has both lines using the qaafiya & radif very much like the original.
• Bahar: All the Sher are supposed to be of ‘same length’, which is strictly speaking not true of the translation (4th Sher is a bit too long) but hey, it’s a translation and that also from me so enjoy while it’s here!

गूँगों की आवाज खुलेगी धीरे धीरे
संकोची कलियाँ चटकेंगी धीरे धीरे

Goongon ki awaaz khulegi dheere dheere
Sankochi kaliyaan chatkengi dheere dheere

Silent people will speak up openly, surely!
The hesitant buds will flower fully, surely!

रफ्ता रफ्ता हम भी चलना सीख गए
कदमों की रफ्तार बढ़ेगी धीरे धीरे

Rafta Rafta ham bhi chalna seekh gaye
Kadmon ki raftaar badhegi dheere dheere

Slowly & steadily I have learnt to walk
My pace will quicken gradually, surely!

जाँच रहा माझी लहरें मझधारों की
हाथों की पतवार चलेगी धीरे-धीरे

Jaanch raha maajhi lahren majhdhaaron ki
Haathon ki patwaar chalegi dheere dheere

The captain studies the midstream waves
Hands as oars move purposefully, surely!

सदियों से अड़े रहे अना के ये पर्वत
अहंकार की शिखा घिसेगी धीरे-धीरे

Sadiyon se ade rahe ana ke ye parwat
Ahankaar ki shikha ghisegi dheere dheere

These mountains of pride have stood up for centuries
These summits of ego will wither eventually, surely!

माँ भी है नाराज़ भटकते बच्चों पर
लेकिन अपनी बात कहेगी धीरे-धीरे

Maa bhi hai naaraaz bhatakte bachhon par
lekin apni baat kahegi dheere dheere

The mother is angry at her misguided kids
But she will let them know softly, surely!

उतर ज़मीं पर आएगी कमसिन पीढ़ी
पर ख्वाबों की उम्र ढलेगी धीरे-धीरे

Utar jameen par aayegi kamsin peedhi
Par khwaabon ki umra dhalegi dheere dheere

The youth will land on ground some day
But their dreams will age slowly, surely!

शोख बच्चियाँ खुद संजीदा हो जातीं
जब आँचल में हया पलेगी धीरे-धीरे

Shokh bachchiyaan khud sanjeeda ho jaateen
Jab aanchal mein haya palegi dheere dheere

Lively girls will become serious on their own
As modesty develops within gracefully, surely!

नंगे जज़्बे देख अदब शर्मिंदा है
लफ़्ज़ों की पोषाक सिलेगी धीरे-धीरे

Nange jazbe dekh adab sharminda hai
Lafjon ki poshaak silegi dheere dheere

Etiquette shies away from such raw passion
The words wait to be sewn tactfully, surely!

– मुन्नी शर्मा (Munni Sharma)

So that’s the end of one long Ghazal. Just a reminder: I know the last two Sher’s translation is not very faithful to the originals because it’s hard to convey words like ‘शोख बच्चियाँ’, ‘आँचल’, ‘हया’, ‘जज़्बे’ and ‘अदब’ in English properly!

Anyway, she has more Ghazal here and the last one of that lot reminds me of Sheen Kaaf Nizam’s very nice & simple Ghazal whose radif is the same (I translated it here). But for now, here’s the last punch-sher of that Ghazal of hers (‘Felt so good’ as a radif never did sound nice so here I change it slightly to ‘feels good’. Still I don’t think there’s a really nice translation that captures the essence of the original Hindi phrase ‘अच्छा लगा’):

उम्र भर ढोते रहे दामन के दाग
मौत पर उजला कफ़न अच्छा लगा

Umra bhar dhote rahe daaman ke daag
Maut par ujla kafan achchha laga

Life had made me drag those garments full of stains
Death presents me with a shiny shroud, feels good!

शायरी

Wait…

…till you hear this.

Is a common phrase.

Not that I use it myself… but it’s good to know it exists!

Anyway, 2013 is coming to an end so here’s something from Fujitsu to celebrate the year that could have been so much more

Given that it was not so, here are some wise words from someone off the web

Glad you read this post, didn’t you?

Be more so!