Space Rocket First Stage - make it redundant !

or better this one

It's a treat to watch BlueOrigin and SpaceX above

Also chew this
https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/30/15117096/spacex-launch-reusable-rocket-success-falcon-9-landing

Makes me assume that technological innovation for the first stage of either the New Shepherd or Falcon 9 to be reused is entirely driven by the cost to lift the real payload or space-craft beyond around 100 kms from sea-level.

If you allow me to quote spacenewsOnThis SpaceX says it could result in 30% reduction in overall costs. The popularity provided for this kind of tech specially by SpaceX is really admirable, since the animated demonstration videos and then the real videos are so well documented that a non-physics layman too feels he understands it and how it's going to help us clone the rest of planets :) You may see crowd trading in space company stocks soon. The fact that the real profitability or environment friendliness due to such reusable tech for First Stage is far from being established, if I get the spacenews article right.


Join me to explore possibilities to make the First Stage of Space Rockets redundant; redundant from rocket engineers :

(1) 100 km high launch site
(2) Sling shot (bechki)

100 km high launch site

Riding on a superfast elevator to the 124th floor of Burj, wondered if there is anything impossible for Civil Engineers to achieve. Can a massive hollow column running to a length of 60 kms be built near a shore inside water. Remember Everest is just 8+kms above sea-level.

Sling shot

(this one is my favorite)
I see 3 steps :
(a) Build a large sling which can deliver Stage-2 and above (along with payload) to a height of 100 kms. Can it be feasible? what material?
(b) Find a place to deploy this sling, so the vibrations generated don't affect at-least the human population
(c) Explore energies that can stretch the sling

We will start from the bottom. Can we use a rocket upside-down(let's call it "Stage minus") and push the sling to it's farthest? By this the only advantage is the "Stage minus" can be reused, doesn't need complex automation/precision-guidance to come back like being done by the ones discussed above. Still you have all the burn, pollution, and ya rocket engineers coming into picture.

Space Exploration in context is not a war situation to be ever ready. Instead for Space Explorations we can choose the slogan 'When the sling's ready, let's GO'. Stretching the string to its threshold can be say a fortnight job for Ocean waves. So let's place our BIG sling in the high seas. A mechanism which directs every bit of Sea/Ocean water pressure to stretch the Sling. A flag turns Green every time it is ready for its next launch.

Five Striking Concepts for Harnessing the Sea's Power http://on.natgeo.com/1hkleBF via @NatGeo

Nice read on large rocket comparison via @elakdawalla @lorengrush

https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/10/14886570/nasa-space-launch-system-rocket-ula-blue-origin-spacex?utm_campaign=lorengrush&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Relaxed Sling

Ready Sling

Placing Stage2..N payload

Boom....Sling Released

Did you kmow....Team Indus, it's impressive... 

India @ 2014 elections : can we let think beyond democracy...

Thanks to the works of Naveen Jindal, the Flag Code of India went into amendments to allow Flag usage by Indian citizens. For records...Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation houses in it's campus India's tallest Flag Pole standing @ 225 feet. The sight more soothing post sun-set, where flood lights illuminate the fluttering National Flag, a distinct symbol of the country - first designed as the Swaraj flag(the charkha one) by Pingali Venkayya from Machilipatnam.

The largest electoral population goes for voting in the topic being en-cashed by the media barons... the mood is upbeat for the 2nd largest party welcome. All over, be it the oratory wars on rallies or astrologer predictions like this one; everyone's pointing to the man in the center of business & administrative appreciation closely followed by political criticism. The predictions in the link are charismatic....let's wait and watch for time to uncover the events in the largest democracy of the world.

Attempting to run through a few types of 'rule of the land' a bit here. So are we democratic :) The constitution gives direction on the state conduct. It easily let it slip into a 'Capitalistic Democracy'. Options please. 

Say Communism as in China (a friend of mine returned from Shanghai, the infra is just amazing. High speed trains as he says are giving 375kms/hr on avg) or say the form used in Russia or the democracy of Americas. See the democracy index here. The state of Kerala, another friend says is very well developed one. You hardly get to see state evils like non-accessible rurals or illiteracy or everyday survival amenities issues. Every node is connected, every node is breathing well and is rich in food & water. Basics for living are long done ! Highest literacy levels in the entire country. Has a good mix of various religious population healthily living together and enjoying own festivals in all it's fervor  Did communism achieve that milestone? Well West Bengal (another state) has an altogether different story even when ruled quite largely by Communist parties. Probably differing sub-sub-ideologies.Can a country under dictators show great guns? Germany under Hitler took about just a decade to turn around as a powerful state...Neighbors are another examples.

Or the Swiss form....where the wiki reads - "Any citizen may challenge a law that has been passed by parliament. If that person is able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days, a national vote has to be scheduled ..... Also, any citizen may seek a decision on an amendment they want to make to the constitution. For such a federal popular initiative to be organised, the signatures of 100,000 voters must be collected within 18 months....." Lot of power in citizens. With AAP & Anna campaigns during the last few years we would have seen an amendment every hour :)

So which one is the best form of RULE of LAND which provides & allows the entire population (without any reservations) :

• Peace of mind
• Security for living beings as well as nature at large
• Healthy Food (can i add tasty :))
• Shelter
• Health care
• Education which enriches wisdom and builds skills which are contextual
• Right work (not the ones where aeronautical engineers are coding scala for a living :)) 
• Power to challenge what is wrong without creating chaos (RTI is still cubersome for it's status is not visible, one needs to ask/challenge)
• Ideals for the generations to lookup to (for inspiration & motivation without the need of a competitor)
• Fosters innovation (there can be a world without mobile phones to carry with)
• Mandatory amenities for all
• Meritocracy
• Entertainment (need a party culture of sorts :))

What else do we need ? 'Security' in context of the human population should ensure such stringent laws that it's really dangerous for heinous minds to plant insecurity(gender harassment, terror, all covered). Can the law provision such ways that everyone owns everything and still doesn't own particularly anything.

'Education' - we have got RTE in enforcement. I liked the wiki on it which read World Bank's representative saying - "The RTE Act is the first legislation in the world that puts the responsibility .... on the Government. It is the parents' responsibility to send the children to schools in the US and other countries..."

Out of the box  :

Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT) seems interesting, for it seeks to deliver Governance which leap bounds progress in Human Civilization. Consider this : No boundaries, minimum requirements fulfilled for every body, Universe the new Country.... Economist Ravi Bhatra delivers Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar's philosophy in his books & speeches. Interesting to see someone saying there is a way out for all.

Well for now, very curious in testing the predictions of Mr. K. Gopalakrishnanji from the first link on this blog :)

Jan Lok Pal Bill : not holistic, but a good start, isn’t it?

 

For all those friends of mine who have been whole-heartedly supporting the current movement :

The urban middle-class is going to actually make use of its voting rights, had there been a General Elections scheduled this year end :) The joke of Democracy in India is largely due to this critical mass of educated population with a Chalta-hai attitude never having cared for who and what is running the country they are surviving in.

The Anna Hazare movement is changing this space very rapidly. At least the metropolitan middle-class is now AWARE of the politics around. Thanks to media, it can clearly see for itself why all Political Parties are opposing the proposed draft bill. And for the mass movement…. Anna’s aura has gone above Political System in India. WE, THE PEOPLE…. As one of the foremost legal fraternities spoke that “THE PEOPLE” comes ahead of anything else even in our CONSTITUTION. The PEOPLE(of course a scarce populace) are in fact driving the movement. There are various persons with various suggestions. When wrong output is coming out of a right system in place, it’s time to replace or correct the system.

I initially hesitated, but later completely agreed with Shri Nandan Nilekani when he replied Sagarika Ghose on CNN-IBN that a holistic approach has to be thought out and Jan Lok Pal is just one of them.

Jan Lok Pal will give the dragger in the common man’s hand, which is required for the expected services and in many cases for his/her survival. But at the same time does it save the non-corrupt govt official who is dragged into the net by his superiors? Can the draft-panel committee highlight these necessary appendices to the bill?

And of course we have the saintly people like @atul_kulkarni who want to point out that what we are proposing is to fix the output. The source is our mind.

The mood of frustration is right for all the parties; for the delay that the current Govt is costing itself. Delay dilutes the movement. Moreover Indian Masses are well-known for their forgiving & forgetting nature. A lull of 4 months from now and all the pressure will go to square one !

IAC has their rendering of the Comparitive Study between the Govt tabled Lok Pal and their ones at this place.

Got hold of a good article by Ashutosh Varshney in the Indian Express today where he is talking of how our cities have been estranged from the electoral space and under-served by politics. Though he recognizes the aftermath of such non-holistic and non-visionary movements which may ripple into a fascist and nazi like movement experienced by modern human civilizations in Europe. Loved to hear that our Country is almost the World’s first which has maintained Universal Franchise(right to vote for all adult homo sapiens) without an industrial revolution.

For all those who are yet to be aware of the RTI history, do read this article before crediting anyone for the same. The drafts by Aruna Roy and others can’t be discarded.

Have been always fascinated by the concept of a super council which governs the state. Rome & Yadavas are classic civilizations to be studied. Our local CHS functions more or less like a democratic system and we experience so many inefficiencies in such a system. No doubt the majority wins, but many times the minority has a good intellectual & visionary proposition which the short-sighted majority doesn’t care for.

Does the Urban Middle class have the guts to make it to the Parliament and handling the heavy job responsibility rather than thinking they are dreaming big keeping the ideals of either Ambani or a Narayan Murthy.

May Anna live long !

(Edited by kibin)

BICAR - Nemali

 

A day in this Monsoon !

9:30 am – Vashi – Raining heavily. The only 3/4ths I had is pushed in the sanitizing system popularly known as the erstwhile Siemens Washing Machine. The thought of getting out of PlatForm #1 at Kurla Station from the Dadar end and walking to bus stop # 313 and I contemplate. How much more of this Kurla stink prarabdha :)

10:00 am – I can’t wait more, decide fast – Go or No Go ? Ok Go but not Kurla for today. Caught the 505 AC BEST AC bus, hoping they too bent to the NMMT competition and made the Santacruz one too available.

10:31 am – Captured the time image in my mind (Very essential to remind you of how much time u waste during long bus journeys in Mumbai). Some P.R.Sarkar(Creator of Ananda Marg & also Subhash Chandra Bose’s Spiritual Guru) book to read on the go. A paragraph or so and my strong currents within are taking me away to the 4 wheelers on the road. Ghosh ! I need one, but who’s gonna drive in this traffic, chauffer of-course will do :)

IDEA !

Till we actually own a vehicle, let’s build the backlog for the car I want to drive on road. It can be classified in the category of a BICAR(Purely inspired from a Liger or a Tiglon). A 3 seater Bike which has the comfort of a Car for the passengers. Ok let me get going…..

1. Bicar category with code name – Nemali (Peacock in a the language most widely used in Carnatic music songs)

2. 3 seater. One behind the other. Each seat is as comfortable as a Sedan car seat (Mercedes Benz for instance)

3. Size half of a large hunch-back car of the order of Liva. 2 Bicars kept touching each other in a parking lot should take the same space as a Swift.

4. 2 Bicars can be attached to each other side by side and can travel together too. It should amalgamate and then look like a Innova-Type car with 6 seats.

5. 100% water submersible (Mumbai monsoon ready)

6. Amphibious (Flood affected Orissa districts ready)

7. Centre of Gravity like our BEST double-decker buses (haven’t heard any of them sliding during a turn or a speed over-drive)

8. Light weight (pt. 11 to clarify it further)

9. Manual Pedling over-ride. So the nature freaks can call it a day :)

10. Fuel neutral engine. Any fuel anytime.

11. Can be parked erect. Easy to get back straight. Looks like Space shuttle when it’s parked up erect.

12. Cheaper than regular bike.

13. Average better than the best commercially successful MOPED

14. Excellence in Design, oh ok agronomy, etc

15. Fastest ever motor on road with full load (3 ppl with avg wt. of 100kgs each)

16. Economy version has speed locks (RTO lock, Police lock & a Army lock). So while each of these lock depts can use the full speed, regular citizen cannot without having all the 3 keys (oh yes, Politician’s son can get all the 3 keys easily)

17. Suspension is better than the best (who is it BMW/Mercedes)

18. The circular glass door opens in a Semi Circle (secret design!)

19. Camera cover all over. Feeds processed and analytics streamed to an online portal to rank pilots on ethical driving :)

 

Stakeholders - any additions/editions? Agile fellows help me re-write the backlog appropriately.

It’s a text book success… :-)

GSAT-12 riding on PSLV-C17

 

ISRO press release states that the LAB has cleared the launch. The countdown began 53 hr before the scheduled launch ! No surprises for such a massive delivery. Let’s wait for the launch - 16:48 hrs (IST)

PSLV the work horse launch vehicle of ISRO was originally designed for, as it’s name suggests Polar Satellites which are generally low weight and put in low earth orbits. It’s 17 continuous successful flights have helped it mature to set Geo-Synchronous satellites too. Eagerly waiting for the GSLV to start carrying GSAT & heavier class satellites in future. It had failed last time around, still hunting for the post-mortem report :) Currently we mostly courier our fat satellites to get in orbits using Ariane launchers from Guiana.

Gajanan Maharaj of Shegoan

 

Kiran has heard pravachans directly from Prof. K V Belsareji who was a disciple of Shri Gondavalekar Maharaj. When he first introduced me to Shegaon’s Maharaj, it was more of his father’s yearly routine to take the whole family for the samadhi darshan. At one of the dutta mandirs, when I could read the name of the the saints linked to Dattatreya tradition, it was evident that Gajanan Maharaj of Shegaon is indeed very famous. Any one who has visited a sizeable no. of temples in around Maharashtra has seen the famous photo of Maharaj smoking a chillum(It’s said that once a devotee coming from far flug region gifted Maharaj the chillum and insisted HIM to smoke it, Maharaj as typical of HIS, obeyed to HIS bhakta). Most of the time it would be a Dattatreya temple with Shirdi Sai Baba, Akkalkot Maharaj in the vicinity.

This year’s March visit to Shegaon, Buldhana District, Maharashtra, was as if a prasad of some past life events which unknowingly gathered the required punyas for a successful darshan.

A magnificient Ram Mandir is built atop the Samadhi which is in the basement. The temple is built using stones typical of Rajasthan area. The carvings are blameless. There is a vent from outside (while you do pradikshina to the temple) which directly gives one the Samadhi darshan. Just stepping a few steps back after Ramji’s darshan one can find wall hangings. Each of them loudly depicting a particular story in the life of Maharaj.

There are no adhoc shops which are typical of such well-known pilgrimages. The flower/prasad vendors have their defined line of shops. There was another set of neatly defined shop-line for misc items. Chappal(footwear) stand has prominent placards requesting one to avoid tips to the sevaks. Hand/Feet washing area is sufficiently large. Donation counter has been neatly marked near the office premises. Plenty of area for large havans(team-exercises), bhajans, talks, etc. What I liked most apart from the actual Samadhi is that they have preserved the bed on which Maharaj used to rest. Its next to the temple a very large hall. (In the Ram Mandir, besides the idols on the left you will find an old photo depicting Maharaj reclining on the very same bed.) On one end is the Bed. The hall is neatly divided into sections for Sadhaks to study the pothi/meditate in the august presence of the Avadhoot. An Agnikund whose flame is still on from Maharaj’s times is very scientifically preserved to guard against any natural disturbance.

The ability of the sevaks of the sansthan to understand the purpose and needs of the visitor is amazing. This shows their dedication to serve Maharaj. I found on the left side shelves – lot of the pothi(s), in the meditation hall. There was one glass shelf which moved my attention while we were going out. It contained a series of spectacles. Each of the spectacle cases had a note of the optical number. In case someone forgets their glasses and is in urge to read Maharaj’s gathas, here they are. Kudos to the management there.

Pothi translated in English is available online here.

What I could prominently gather from the visit :

1. Gajanan Maharaj was a prominent Digambar Saint of recent times. One like the great Shuka Muni – son of Vyasa. Shuka Muni’s story relating to the bathing apsaras, help us understand the greatness of such Digambar saints in winning over their mind & senses.

2. No accounts of his early life, in the likes of Shirdi Sai Baba, Bhagawan, others.

3. The temple premises is cleanly maintained by the Sansthan. The sevaks are neatly dressed in white shirt/kurtas and pyjamas. Most of them wore the typical Maharashtrian cap(topi). Every 5 meters was manned by a sevak. The premises was broomed and mopped almost all the time, so that the flowing crowd doesn’t disturb the cleanliness. I still keep these hopes that pilgrimage locations (tirtha shals) like Pandharpur, Triyambakeshwar, Haridwar land up in such able Sansthans.

Gam Gam Ganat Bote !!!

Travel from Mumbai : Amravati express leaving CST around 8:05pm worked out well. It reaches Shegaon at around 5:30am the next morning. The return travel on the same train has a scheduled departure at around 7pm. One is back to mumbai in the wee hours around 4pm. Take the temple bus waiting outside for visitors like

you or an auto(~

20)

 Stay : The temple authorities have built a magnificent residential premises just 10 mins walking distance from the Samadhi. The Sansthan’s buses ply between the station and the premises regularly. The authorities are very strict while entertaining requests for stay. People coming without families need to take appropriate permissions from officers stationed in adjacent premises. These inspectors may check among other details, if you have any genuine excuse for not getting your family along specially if you are an adult. In case the temple rooms are full or one doesn’t get the requisite authorization to stay here, there are always private lodges available around as the last resort.

Sight Seeing : Visitors to Shegaon come from all corners of Maharashtra. The temple authorities have built a huge Park of interest for families. Suraj remembered his child hood trip where they enjoyed this Park visit. Buses are arranged by the temple authorities to tour the same. The fields flourishing just a mile away from our stay promised a wonderful scenery there in.

A new beginning…

 

A winter of mirth and glee,
Snow, hollies and esprit…
A breath of fresh air for a hollow soul,
She survived blues, blacks and a broken home…
Childhood gleeful never was,
Teenage colorful never could become…
Love satiating never was…
Why betrayal and abandonment did come, never could she fathom…
Life never is unjust though,
Time heals all blows,
The spirit of carrying on is what matters…
Come rain or hailstone…
A new found hope did come,
A seed yet to become…
A life to look forward, to live with aplomb,
With a new partner, who says “mom” 
In disguise do blessings come,
A new identity at every phase,
A work that treats her well,
A baby that kicks her every now and then…
A new love enters, a man with a heart and soul,
Tears of happiness do roll,
A father she never knew herself,
A Rambo, who protects and fills every loophole…
A new year, a new day,
A full sunny morning, and sunset evenings
With a new position and designation,
A mom-to-be , an ambitious manager she is!
Winter gave its chills,
Monsoon, the pills,
Summer took its toll,
Autumn, completed the whole…
Life afresh, with renewed zest,
A pain that gives joy, a new life who is an alloy,
Of love, of life, of bittersweet madness…
Of little hands that clamour for affection…
A creation of her blood and muscle…a tiny bundle of action!
A season, of joy,
A moment to cherish and enjoy,
Gave her wings of strength and laughter,
With a prayer of knowledge and empowerment for her duckling
Truly, the season of a new beginning…

- Rashi

MTDC Tarkarli Beach Resort – Must do…

 

I was in two minds for the title should have been - “Malvan just rocks…..”, but then without MTDC’s promise for a fulfilling vacation we wouldn’t have adventured this part of the Country-side.

Deserted looks on Tarkarli beach in the late afternoon

Para-Jeeping & Camel rides on the beach

The desire to visit south-Konkan was seeded in the wonderous description by our close college pals Niju & Harshada. They had visited Tarkarli in a big group about a year or so back. It’s so difficult to get the MTDC bookings for this very resort that me and my wife decided on it more because we had one done for us. The first timers are bound to enjoy every bit of a 2-4 day venture with parting promises to the blue sea there to return soon and tell the whole of your world that there’s paradise in Konkan.

My trekking expeditions in Sahayadri during QLC & Capgemini days, opened the doors to the greener pastures that are hidden in Maharashtra alone. Then one fine day Avaya, Me, Rajesh Hota & Hussain decided to try Ganapati Pule. At the end of 2 days @ MTDC’s beach tents we all were very disappointed. Disappointed for not planning a weeklong trip instead :) The tents were right over the beach and we were still not content with playing on the soft sand and getting ourselves drowned in the crystal clear waters. Before this, none of us believed there were absolutely clean beaches in our country. This Tarkarli trip completely tamed my mind in believing that except a few choosen well-known beaches which can be counted on our finger tips like Juhu, Alibaug, etc, all other beaches along side the Konkan are still untouched, unpolluted and the best part is most of them are unknown to a large extent and so unpopulated too….I am asking for too much if this blog is going to change this scene very soon :) :) The fact of the matter expressed by Siddu is all such paradises within the country are turned into flourishing tourist destinations in a mater of years and so it’s better to reach them and enjoy them while they are still raw. One who has been there and one it will very well resonate my condition when a bengali family(we met in our return journey by konkan rail) in a very excited mood to make their Mumbai visit memorable, were asking about Juhu beach.

Stay?

First things first – Get your bookings done. Visit this link on MTDC to check for Availability & Fare first. For a moment wonder how will a client demo go with such a date control on the website. Do all sorts of date permutations/combinations to arrive at what’s available. Best part of booking with MTDC online is that the link mentioned doesn’t lead you to the actual bookings :( One like me had to hunt the whole website on various accounts. This pain part is really worth the effort. Ok so the actual reservation is available on the home page, see the Online Booking section below on the left side. You need to register to login & book. The non-AC Konkani House which is the most economic in here too stands out very pleasant.

MTDC is considered to be the costliest along with another resort in this area. You go there once and you get to see cheaper options – some villagers rent out some portions of their large homes for tourists. The advantages of MTDC are the beach view, clean rooms, nice room-service, food within campus apart from others.

Travel?

By rail : Get down at Kudal station on Konkan railway. Rikshaw took the standard Rs.350/- for the almost one hr ride to the MTDC Tarkarli resort. (The Tar in Tarkarli is pronounced as Tar in the name Tara. Suggest me a better way of explaining pronunciations in future)

Site seeing?

You can book a car for your group. We both managed to get around using AutoRikshaws which were available on almost every known spot.

Day-I : Sindhudurg Fort, Snorkelling, Ganapati Mandir, Rock Garden(I fooled myself to expect more amazing than a standard Garden with flowery plants) & Chikula beach(sure have spelled it incorrectly)

Near the Jetty for the fort

Chikula beach

 

Day-II : Reach Tarkarli Jetty early morning 7am. Take the dolphin point ride for 2-3 hrs and get back to enjoy Tarkarli Beach whole day till sunset.

Too early

Windows blue

 

How to – Food?

Loved the food as a veggie. Mausaharis have a ball in Malvan. You get fresh sea-water delicacies, typically cooked & served in Konkan style with vadis and bhakris along them. The canteen/restaurant within the MTDC resort serves good food from morning till late nite. The thali seemed perfect for the first meal on the first day there. More over you can see my colleague Jayant & Kiran’s favourite Chitale stamped Amrakhand/Dahi/Srikhand available :)

 Best time to visit?

All year round. Though off-season is the best season to such places. Nov-Feb is best considering Snorkeling. May is worst considering whole of India with children in schools are planning holidays.

Sindhudurg Fort – The Chatrapati’s creation

The topic is worth a million books and a billion articles. One should listen to Shri Shankar Abhayankar’s talks on Maharaj to hear the plots that gave birth to this fort. The fort stands tall on the nearby island and the visit gives us a glimpse of Shivaji Maharaj’s foresight to secure an Independent state. The Architects requested for Maharaj’s Left Foot & Right Palm imprints which are preserved here. Right Palm was used to hold the sword that gained independence. The Left Foot is the first one used while climbing on the horse suggesting the swiftness in action. Bhavani Mandir is very natural on Maharaj’s forts. You will find Shiva Ling Temples for sure too.

Built on an existing island, using the existing land-mass. Maharaj employed some 3000 Mavlas with hundreds of boats working it out. It stands testimony to Maratha Architectural prowess in Fort Building.	The stones were carved out from the island itself. The cement used then was more natural consisting a mix of Jaggery, Chuna, etc. It survived centuries.
The well inside the Shiva Temple, has a tunnel just above the water level. The guide pointed that during the Maharaj’s regime it let two me to walk across the underground subway from within the island to the mainland to an outlet 8km away around another temple. Seismic activities and British officers made sure it’s closed.	The walls are thick and have watch-points every 100-200 meters. Some watch points are very large with a stone-seating suggesting command & discussion areas.
Inner view. Typical of Maharaj’s forts the entrance is curved so a frontal attack using fire-balls(toph) doesn’t destroy the main Gate.	Outer view of the same entrance.
Floral scientists must have had a fight to understand nature here. One storm blowed away the top of this normal coconut tree giving way to two branches, each giving way to branches and flowers. Another storm blowed away both the branch tops with such force that attempts from Pune Agricultural scientists to restore this beauty were crushed.	All freshwater wells are Shivalinga shaped suggesting Maharaj’s reverence to the diety. The wells are named after the panchamurtas (Dudh, Dahi, Sakhar, etc)

 

 Snorkeling – Amazing experience with the corals & Zebra fishes

Dr. Sarang Kulkarni from Solapur started this chapter of Snorkeling for the rich corals around Sindhudurg fort. The locals were and are trained to become guides. They also plan scuba diving in a couple of years. The equipment lying with the guides suggested they were being trained on the same.

Till Snorkeling started here, we had to go all the way to Andaman for a good coral view. First timers like me go all out for the well trained personnel giving you a guided tour among the very many species of fishes and the calcium rich corals of varying colors, in between we see the floura too flourishing in this sunlit shallow waters. One doesn’t need to know swimming to enjoy this sport. Carry a change, you will most likely want to have a bath after being in water for about an hr.

Hope a few of the vasanas created while we drowned watching National Geographic & later Animal Planet with tons of such underwater nature shoots, got exhausted.

YouTube search brought me to this one which is just glimpse of how it looks. We could see much larger fishes at some distance though. The guide uses some bread crump to attract hoards of smaller fishes around. The water is clear till around March. April/May the holiday season sees lots of tourists in this place and the water too is not very clear then.

Dolphin point ride

The waking up in this holiday mode was very easy considering the enticement to watch Dolphins during this time in deep sea :) But be aware there are no guarantees to watch them. The photos at tour operator offices suggest some one must have for sure sighted them. The Dolphins aren’t tamed and their hunting is banned. After the 3 hours fabulous ride in the sea which includes breakfast break on Tsunami island, one can choose to come back to Tarkarli beach to spend the whole afternoon(more on the beach a bit later).

Tsunami island	Most of the boats are supported by a float on the right hand side to keep it safe in high sea.
Seagulls migrate here every year in this season, travelling all the way across continents. They are seen devouring in this fish rich Karli river near DevBaug. Many varieties of sea-fishes swim here to lay their eggs.	Wild sea was scary. The water movement becomes larger and larger as we are leaving Karli river to where it merges with the Arabian sea.
The promises which were kept except the Crocodile point :)	One of the pics does show Dolphins :)

MTDC Resort on Tarkarli Beach

Around 5pm you will see some action packed seasoning on the beach. Para-sailing/jeeping was available(boat was replaced by jeep). Someone got a few camels in here for rides.

MTDC Office near the entrance is almost a large boat

The Konkani huts on the beach give very tempting looks

Br. Sattvik Chaitanyaji’s sms reminded of the great day. Vaikunta Ekadasi, Tapovan Jayanti & Geeta Jayanti what more to make up for a contemplative mood, which the Sea & the Sand very well respected. It was fulfilling to hear Swami Brahmanandji’s chanting on Geeta chapter-II. The magnificent Sun set, the great Sea still roaring….

Chandrayan-II on track despite crash on Christmas Eve

 

(Source : YouTube)

While I was still waiting to view the complete analysis of the failure last time around (Posted in April - “Cryogenic Cries”), this festive season at the end of the western calendar saw another glitch, this time in the first stage which is by far the most proven stage. What’s exciting to read in this article is that a 4 plus or minus degree of tilting due to unknown reasons is actually controllable.

ISRO chief U R Rao’s words confirm our moon commitments though.

Felonies of ignorance

Yet again the world faints,
Yet again I see nothing,
Yet again I open my eyes for a new view it paints,
And I see people and they all look the same…
But then it is beautiful , so gleam..
No doubt it could be just another dream.

Yet again I close my eye,
Yet again the senses fly,
Yet again I see people ,
Different faces , and the voices differ,
yet again they are not the same..
ohhh.. but it has to be an imagination…

Yet again I break a heart ,
Yet again I say something harsh,
Yet again I wait for the dew,
Yet again I am one of the few,
And yet I see , they are still the same,
The faces are same , the voices similar,
But then again could these be my blindness…

Yet again I feel sorry ,
Yet again they go for glory,
Yet again I drink the sweet ocean ,
Yet again the kiss is sour,
Yet again there flies a pigeon,
Yet again the death is gore,
The soil is moist and the water is dry,
Still I see the same eyes cry ,
I so wish I go numb and tranquil..

Yet again I see the world,
Yet again it ends up right there,
Yet again my hands reach out ,
Yet again the eyes are bright,
But the hands pull off,
Yet again the vision is blocked,
I guess , someone reset the sequence..
Yet again, I forgive myself of the felonies of ignorance !!!!!!!!!!!

(from the same guy who chose to be anonymous)

The End of Stories

Smoking Kills , the devil drinks ,
With every breath  my life shrinks,
Still the belief within gets stronger ,
As it gets colder outside, the inner gets warmer ..
I look around and I see , and what I see are stories ,
The stories filled with joy , some with sorrows,
Characters flying high in the sky , other stuck in their own burrows …

I see a kid with all the beliefs knit close to its heart,
The pictures clear , the sketches neat and trying hard to pull its cart .
And he knows what he wants from life ,
And yet he believes his story has a different end.

Then there I see again, is this guy standing tall,
The man who thinks , he knows it all…
He doesn’t try it too hard , but still is clear in thoughts so far,
The world is beautiful and amazing is its hold ,
But somewhere he fears the god, who is fat, ugly and bald
He sure knows what he wants of life and what would be its end..

Then I see the birds , their eyes twinkling and wings flapping
I cannot see them separate as they wave in their collective halos ..
They figure out in every step , the moment is reaching when they would fly
Their folks beseech ,thinking of door which could be a gallows ..
They amuse me as I see the belief there is no end ..

Some tend their souls ,
others have their goal
They so believe in the means deciding the conclusion,
What else would it be if not hypnotism.
But then I sit back and see so many tales ,
they had the same start, and as I view them , they have the same ends,
It’s funny how we gather and the life bends,
How , then does it matter ,
If the smoking kills and the devils drink,
After all, with every breath our all lives have to shrink.

Play on Death

 

Chinmaya Yuva Kendra(CHYK) is organizing a very interesting play called – “Death” on 4^th Sept(Saturday) at Yashwant Natya Mandir, Matunga from 7pm to 8.30pm.  This 70 min play is about death, how great men faced death, how to prepare for the final journey, life after death, myths about death, re-incarnation and immortality.  Presented in a very light, humorous and  impactful manner it leaves a lasting impression while handling a subtle subject like this.  This show has been performed in Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Guwahati, kerala etc.  and has received overwhelming response. More details are provided in the enclosed pamphlet.

Or visit www.deaththeplay.com. 

Youth from Chennai CHYK are coming here to perform the show as their dedication to the cause of spreading the glorious knowledge of Vedanta and also help us to raise funds to support Chinmaya Vibhooti.  

Here’s an appeal to you to please take up the donor passes and support us in this noble endeavor.  Donor pass denominations are: Rs.5000, 3000, 2000, 1000, 500, 300 & 150.  Please procure the donor passes asap. 

An informative and inspiring souvenir on death, re-incarnation & afterlife is being brought out and will be distributed to the audience.  Enclosed is also an appeal for advertisements/sponsorship.  Please contact us if you would like to support us through either. 

If you would like us to block the passes, let us know by return email( mumbaicm@rediffmail.com ) or call 22884646 (1pm to 7pm)

Chinmaya Mission

Mumbai to get taller skyline :)

 

Delighted to apologize for my earlier post which stated Mumbai to be far behind in the race to touch the skies from ground-zero. My cousin studying civil engineering confirms Lodha Group as the builders planning the tallest residential tower in Lower Parel.

This article on FinancialExpress puts the height to 1450 feets for about 117 storeys. It’s going to be way far above any other residential building the world over. Check this out for comparison. After the greatest engineering feat in modern times, the Bandra-Worli sealink, guess students around here will be studying this one for sure.

As expected it’s going to be served at a premium for the buyers. It’s slated to be ready by 2014. Am not sure if it’s a long wait comparing the towering rises coming up in Dubai in matter of months. Hope it’s a good time estimate considering the first ever tall experiment over Mumbai land mass. Waiting to see innovations in energy conservation, wind/solar power utilization to call it a green building. If these flat’s can be pegged around 7-8 crores, guess there’s going to be ample opportunity to make it fully sustainable on all fronts.

Comparing book prices in India !

 

Paid almost INR 400/- more for Goldratt’s ‘Critical Chain’ @ one of the online bookstores. Vinil pointed this out and there was no magic. The price comparison on various famous online book stores can be found out in here - http://isbn.net.in/ - in a simple & elegant manner.

So say for example ISBN # for ‘Critical Chain’ (find it here) is 818598414X

http://isbn.net.in/818598414X  suggests me where to go from here :)

Kudos to the author whose invention @ IONLAB tempted me to buy the USB Charger !

Walk on water-Liquid Mountaineering

 

Yahoo! News published about the Latest YouTube hit - Liquid Mountaineering @ http://bit.ly/9juVoy recently.

Amazing to hear what the Adventure sport discoverer says about it. One of them talks of how this sport gives an experiential learning of being boxed in thinking. Even if a commoner cannot walk on water, the sport suggests one can at least attempt to run over it.

And it doesn’t talk of this work around available at all - http://bit.ly/a2QUWu :)

BATA sells a Weinbrenner brand of hiking shoes which are water resistant similar to one provided by Adidas about a few years back. It is netted over most of the visible area as shown in this video. These are very good for the monsoon treks on the Sahayadri. It’s good for temperatures above 10 degree Celsius. Lower temperatures will tempt you to wear woolen socks. ( http://bit.ly/cajrCN - closest shoe pic, that could be googled out for now)

Story of the Warrior Prince - II . . .(TEG on History Economics)

Read <this> first.

The Economics Guru(TEG), renowned for his practical solutions to dynamic issues spoke to the group of the FSU (Federal Support Unit) which is responsible for fueling the decision making capabilities of the democratic structure. The peninsula is the only know pure democratic structure in existence. All other age-old democracies have either been overpowered by NEGITRON forces or dismantled by them.

The stringent admission criteria made available the finest breed of Intellectuals from various fields to fill the class of 512 students. The topic for the day was to understand the Economics in History. Astro_Sahil_Malvankar_FSU_3010389(ASM-II) one of the students in here is in-charge for the protocol for the day. After a brief, crisp and clear introduction he passes on the <+vocabularyField-> to the Guru.

<More on the life and works of this TEG in another post. Interesting to know how he modified the economic fabric within the federation to accommodate all ventures keeping a healthy competition active so the common man gets the best of the times. He was instrumental in amending the constitution to be detrimental to monopolistic advances. Slowly Entrepreneurship was by passion and no way linked to a wealth amassing scheme.>

TEG starts with mathematics. FSU’s aren’t amazed, TEG respected for his use on unconventional teaching aids. He moves his hand to write in thin air. The index finger movements are diligently captured and zoomed out for the whole class to view it on the n-dimensional presentation platform (n-DPP, called as Sanjay in rural areas - refer Mahabharata). All 1024 eye-balls move in unison to where TEG points.

TODAY - 5

Question : How did this 5 arrive today?

TEG continues “I will tell you it’s history for a while. Yesterday it was 8 and before that it was 10 and before that it was 15 and before that it was 8 and before that it was 7 and before that it was 6 and then 4.

So the travel looked some thing like this : 4->6->7->8->15->10->8->5

There aren’t any prices to guess that tomorrow the value is going to be lesser than 5 in most probability. A strong will may move it back to a higher value say 6 or 7. But the trend shows the opposite. It always takes an herculean task to reverse a trend. Are you with me?”

Class of FSU_3010 in unison “Siiee”.

“When a bud is told that for the past 4 days in a row it’s been falling down, in most likely case the bud is going to fall on the next day. Compare this with the same bud about 5 days earlier when it is told that it’s on a rise, the bud will be enthusiastic, motivated and naturally move into a growth zone for the day and next. So we need to aid this natural progression for masses. Individual focused teams can be motivated irrespective of the past failures under vigilant leadership. But at times for the a long term goal the data could be tweaked. The assumption here is it will take a minimum time ‘T-min’ equivalent to make the trend archival ready (or useless) to discover the original trend.

And so we may want to say the trend was like this : 4->6->7->10->1->2->4->5”

FSUs quickly noted that the major dip trend was cloned. There was only a change in the last 3 day trend to make it as close to real History as possible.

“So we have a real History and a manipulated History. The manipulation needs to be done as per the need and the following arithmetics will deal with the basic laws in doing. The laws are in line with community psycology studies / reports which are being collected from ages. CA (Central Library/Archive dept) has been actively engaged in making the whole research available within the GC (gem cube - storage unit). The Puranas as known in the pre 22nd century were Manipulated Itihasas for the all-round development / Spiritual gain of the readers. The laws we prescribe here only consider the Administrative benefit for the finite distance intime. It’s an open problem statement to upgrade the laws to make them universal and benefitting to all.”

ASM-II was quick to note the problem statement. Enough material for the discussion group for the next day. The topic for today’s group discussion is ‘Should cutting edge research be cut-off just because it poses a high risk of overuse/misuse’. ASM-II plays the discussion coordinator. Before taking up the coordinator assignment, TPG (The Philosophy Guru) of FSU_3010 had advised to take a look at some archives. One of the randomly picked key on the n-DPP neutralized the resistance on a sealed leaf. He was thrilled to see the control of some member of an autonomous body of the 21st century, popularly then known as media. He could quickly add his <+touchNote-> improvement points as an appendix to the leaf data. It was the first one.

Java Basics # 002

 

Case :

Let’s handle concurrency while dealing with collections in of-course a multi-threaded environment. Vector is the chosen one here. Now the system is in action and a couple of threads are accessing the same Vector.

Q. Thread A and Thread B call different methods on the Vector? Any issues?

Java Basics #001

Case i	Case ii
try {         return 1; } catch (Exception ex) { return 2; } finally { return 3; }	try {        throw new exception(“test”); } catch (Exception ex) {        return 2; } finally {        return 3; }

Q. Consider the above block of code within a method. What will be returned in these cases?

Source : Avaya

Setting the right expectation is expected

 If Y knows what X expects from Y, then if capable Y delivers X’s expectation. But when Y doesn’t know what X expects, Y expects what he expects X to expect from Y. Thus Y expects X to expect what Y expected X to expect from Y. And if for God Sake X expected from Y what Y expected X to expect from Y then it looks like Y knows what X expected from Y which may not be always true, and in this case we may assume X & Y expected the same thing, but the matter of fact remains - X expected Y what Y exceptionally expected X to expect from Y. Since every Y expects X to expect from Y what Y expects X to expect from Y.

And so in our honest expectation....

Search for the Purpose!!!

The search was worthwhile till now and seeming to be fruitful ahead too. Tapovanji Maharaj gave a very simple rule to march ahead in life, to make the correct choice. Discard anything & everything that comes in the WAY of the PURPOSE OF LIFE. Accept only those which aids the PURSPOE OF LIFE (THE GOAL).
This soul has still not matured so as to not treat the PATH as a distance in TIME ( many thanx to the still immature modern scientific thinking). The soul is left with no choice but to believe in the Golden path to freedom. It still is very conscious of the present BMI and so of the variables like TIME, SPACE, RELATIONSHIPS. It ekes to transcend but is tied up with the vasanas with such sliding shipper-men knots which keep tightening on trying to pull away. The best way is to PLAN the journey. Don’t get Panicky or Paranoid about not being able to make the big LEAP, instead start preparing. Let the knots slide away to loosen yourself(unburden) by staying with the vasana. Let it flourish. Make herculean efforts to exhaust effectively so as to incur minimum new vasanas on the way. Exhaust in such a way that the side-effects or the new vasanas created are +ve in nature (+ve w.r.t. to you), which not only give an opportunity to expand the MIND but also, on exhaustion, create lesser and lesser vasanas but more and more of the positive type. The first step in breaking the cycle is to IDENTIFY it. And it’s always easy to identify your own conscious creation than the unconscious one.
Grihasta-ashrama in this KalaYuga gives a tremendous opportunity for millions of vasanas to exhibit their colors in a society friendly way. Staying constantly ALERT is the first KEY. Train the mind to keep at least one PHASE focused on the GOAL of LIFE, nothing short. All the other tiny GOALS IN LIFE can be accommodated in the other phases of the mind. For example, it takes a very little effort involving both intelligence and time to earn our basics like a descent living (healthy food, upright clothing and a comfortable shelter). Train the mind to break its shell. THINK BIG. Exert the BMI to its EDGE. Let it CRY for REST.  Force it to PLEAD Mercy for all the unwanted extravagances it hooked itself up to. Show NO MERCY.
To do all this, the second KEY is to Discipline the MIND. It starts with external disciplines. If a pure mind can exhibit pure actions through the Body, the vice-versa is also true. It seems that the reverse flow of the discipline might take a little longer. Efforts towards continuous repetition of these actions will aid in disciplining the MIND. Do it regularly, daily and always consciously. A simple exercise like PLANNING a day’s work and sticking to it, is one of the BIGGEST SADHANAS ever. No Pooja/Japa at that time can replace it’s power. Work out the day in the Yagna Spirit.

PLAN OUT THE WORK & WORK OUT THE PLAN – Swami Chinmayananda

Break routines to create new routines and when the mind gets used to its comfort, deliberately break them too. Take a break after the BMI cried for PEACE. Plan vacations to unknown places, where the MIND cannot connect with any Past Memory. Blank it out. Trick it. Let fresh pictures implant the raw memory being created. Fresh impressions on a purer mind are far better than the past memories implanted by the impure mind.
The third KEY is to EXPERIENCE every EXPERIENCE. Every bit of experience due to our Prarabdha has a POTENT SEED to flourish or give the next clue to the PATH taking to THE GOAL. Unleash the intellectual Power House to eek out that SEED from every experience (irrespective of it being GOOD, BAD OR just OK w.r.t. to your present Value system/society glasses)
The fourth KEY is to BELIEVE in yourself. Start with believing in your instincts, give it a chance. You will transcend to intuition(which is lighted by the FIRE of the ONE within you)  quickly.
The fifth KEY is to GO all OUT. Go all out to accomplish the GOALS IN LIFE. Think of the magnitude of empires built by the saintly kings like Janaka & Dasharatha. The splendid wealth and materials amassed/looted from around the universe by demons like Hiranyakashyapa & Ravana. Think deeply then on the Glorious rule of the invincible RAMA, his reverent, astonishing, flawless court of LAW, his all encompassing divine JUDGEMENT and the ZEAL to help all, in their own context to march for the GOAL OF LIFE. The GM, MS, GOOGLE, RELIANCE or the TATAs of today are not even Lilli puts compared to the massive kingdoms & surplus of everything in those mythical Golden eras of mankind, where humans from all walks were given platforms to flourish in their own unique way and direction. What all can be thought by the mind has a potential to materialize. All humanly possible arts/sciences/philosophies flourished under the distinguished administration. Here the rajasic forces took directions from the sattvik wisdom. Likewise in this economic world, the entrepreneurs need to take advice from the enlightened ones.
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj gave a splendid example in the modern times. His purpose got cleared when his ego was crushed by his Guru Samartha Ramdasji (Remember ‘Mana Sajjana Bhakti…..’). After listening to Ramdasji, Shivaji offered his kingdom to him  which the Great Saint accepted and then asked Shivaji to rule it duty-bound. This way the Maharaj was doing his duty as an appointed King rather than thinking himself as the Lord of the Land. The work was the same for the Maharaja, just the attitude shifted tangentially. Higher Dharma ruled out the lower Dharmas. Unshakable history got created which is used and many a times mis-used even today. The Vivekananda once spoke of the Maharaj - “Shame on you, Doctor. You are a Mahratta and still that is all you know of the greatest king that India had produced within the last three hundred years; one who was the very incarnation of Siva....Is there a greater hero, a greater saint, a greater bhakta and a greater king than Sivaji?”
And so goes the roar of the Sahayadri Lion,
Jai Bhavani !!!   Jai Shivaji !!!   Har Har Mahadev !!!