Koi yeh kaise...

कोई यह कैसे बताये कि वह तनहा क्यूँ है ?
वह जो अपना था वही और किसी का क्यूँ है ?
यही दुनिया है तो फ़िर ऐसी यह दुनिया क्यूँ है ?
यही होता है तो आख़िर यही होता क्यूँ है ?

एक ज़रा हाथ बढ़ा दे तो, पकड़ ले दामन
उसके सीने में समां जाए, हमारी धड़कन
इतनी क़ुर्बत है तो फ़िर फ़ासला इतना क्यूँ है ?

दिल-ऐ-बरबाद से निकला नही अब तक कोई,
एक लुटे घर पर दिया करता है दस्तक कोई,
आस जो टूट गई, फ़िर से बंधाता क्यूँ है ?

तुम मस्सर्रत का कहो या इसे ग़म का रिश्ता,
कहते हैं प्यार का रिश्ता है, जनम का रिश्ता,
है जनम का जो यह रिश्ता तो, बदलता क्यूँ है ?

Spot the difference....

Was just flitting through facebook and people's al(l-)bums. Diwali's just gone, so a whole bunch of them have put up displays of what they were up to.
Even though I flip through photos of completely unrelated people, you really couldn't tell the difference. Just replace different heads on the same snaps and Voila! - You have a new album!
How predictable is everyone's life? And how similar?

One friend's apartment, became the common arena for a whole bunch of desis. It's the same apartment in all albums, characterised by a conspicuous absence of furniture substituted for, by people crammed in all nooks and corners.
Then there is the food. The take out from reasonably priced Indian Restaurants, drenched in oil and choked with spices. Or the infamous Pizza, from Pizza Hut - where else?
The ones who had enthu to make some sweets inevitably settled on gulab-jamuns. (I am seriously surprised at how many different bunches of people were struck by the exact same brainwave!)
Every group has an overflowing number of people from South India and not-really-an-assortment of traditional dresses all of which have deep creases from being kept in the suitcase for a year and a half!
A proud display of a preciously small number of diyas, that number being proportional to the number of PhD students in the group which in turn is proportional to the state of funded-ness.

Then of course the games. It strikes me how popular these group games have become! Back in Undegrad we never gathered a bunch of people to play mafia! We just sat pulled each other's legs, cribbed about courses, gossiped about objects of mutual hatred (which could be you if you were missing from that day's discussion! :P ) , had arguments, fights, make-ups & generall TP!
But now - no we don't discuss, we don't talk, instead all of us play board games, card games, guessing games, singing games... there's a whole range of these and still people end up playing the same stuff!

It's astonishing to realise how much I am not in control! How much I am not unique! How common place am I now!

Ghalib...

उनके देखे से जो आ जाती है मूह पर रौनक
वह समझते है कि बीमार का हाल अच्छा है !

देखिये पाते हैं उशाक बुतों से क्या फैज़
एक ब्राहमण ने कहा है कि ये साल अच्छा है

हमको मालूम है जन्नत की हकीक़त लेकिन
दिल के खुश रखने को ग़ालिब ये ख़याल अच्छा है

You never get over it.

You just get used to it.

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

Richard P. Feynman is my hero. There is nooooo field in Physics he has left untouched. I mean the guy is just about everywhere. All pervasive.
It all started with this crazy book my friend was reading, "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" I think it is called . My friend got obsessed with the man, going on to collect CDs of his lectures and forcing them down my throat too! And all this was when we were in school.
His fascination infected me and I started reading up on the fellow.
Life got serious but Feynman didn't. His lectures on basic Physics covering just about every topic exploded in my world in the 1st year of Undergraduate Studies and I laboured through the 3 volumes during my Summer hols.
I now work in a field far from Feynman's area of work, or so I thought.
Today, I was happily reading along some basic atomistic simulation quantum mechanics, having just stumbled across his name in the morning in the context of his work on QED, when out pops his name again and this time it is Quantum Statistical Mechanics and Many Body Physics. The area of work I desperately want to understand!
I mean come on!
Give the others a break!

Engliss

--All credits to my IIT friends, spc Utki n Poo :P

Diet Questions Answered

>
>
> Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life;
> is this true?
>
>
>
> A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't
> waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your
> heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the
> life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
>
> ------------------------------

---------------------------------------
>
> Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
>
> A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and
> corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an
> efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain?
> Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy
> vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily
> allowance of vegetable products.
>
> ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
>
> Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
>
> A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine,
> that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more
> of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
>
> A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one.
> If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise
> program?
>
> A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
>
> A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!!.... Foods are fried these days in vegetable
> oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be
> bad for you?
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the
> middle?
>
> A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should
> only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
>
> A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best
> feel-good food around!
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
>
> A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.
>
> - ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
>
> A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!
>
> ________________________________
>
>
> Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had
> about food and diets.
>
>
> And remember:
> 'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
> safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in
> sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body
> thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO! What a Ride'
>
> AND......
>
> For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on
nutrition and health.
>>

It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional
studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than
Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than
Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks
than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks
than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and
suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
> CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills
you.

LOTR!!

May it be an even star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh! How far you are from home

Mornie utúlië (darkness has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantië (darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now

May it be the shadows call
Will fly away
May it be you journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun

Mornie utúlië (darkness has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantië (darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now

A promise lives within you now