A world cup too far...

So the party is about to begin in less than 24 hours, the greatest sporting event that takes place every 4 years is about to unravel. It truly is a world cup unlike the cricket one, where a handful nations are competitive enough. So what's different about this cup, brazil aren't the talented team they used to be. They seem more to be a well oiled machine rather than the flamboyant and brilliant team we all had recognised it to be in the past. Argentina is still an enigma..despite the forward lineup consisting of greats like messsi, tavez, higuain, tevez and milito..their temprament is a problem. Azzzurri have grown too old and england still suffer from the hype associated with EPL. Thus it would be like another cup except the "fact" that it's the first time that the dark continent is the host and what better place than south africa to host the cup.

World cup is expected to be different with the profound impact of the Vuvuzela on the players and visiting spectators. Some call it irritating, but then you have to accept it as part of the local culture. The success of the cup depends on the local population as much as it depends on spectators visiting from other countries. Unlike europe where there's equal participation among indiviiduals from different nations, the success of this cup depends upon the support of the local population.

Going by the response... the hype and enthusiasm seems to be missing. There could be many reasons for it...some find the tickets to be steeply priced or the mode of disbursement absurd where majority don't have access to credit cards and thus the online access to them. But aren't we missing the real fact... football traditionally game of blacks in south africa should have been welcomed with great enthusiasm which is missing. Flash back to 1996 when rugby a game considered to be of the elite population had such a profound impact on the population there. The country had recently come out of the apartheid when Nelson Mandela used the event to bring harmony among the black and white. He found it to be a instrument which could help overcome the racial divide among it's population. People were made part of the event, unlike the 2010 world cup where shanty's and local population have been forced to move out of their present locality for the cup.

One major factor which can be attributed to the difference between 1996 and 2010 is the leadership at the helm in South Africa. 1996 was when Mandela made an impact not only on the nation but a sporting event as a whole. His clean image and struggle to end years of discrimination had paid dividence and he used the rugby world cup to bring people close. Fast forward to 2010 when the man at the helm Jacob Zuma is the opposite of what mandela was, neither is he consdered honest nor his off the work news held him in the highest regards. He has failed to bring his population together for the cup. His appeal and charisma is pale when compared to madela. Sporting events are no showpieces, there influence on the population today and generations ahead can be profound if handled the right way. What's important is the after effect they leave behind on the people. Rugby world cup in 1996 helped remove the animosity among it's population. I am afraid too say this one would just pass as another sporting event leaving behind white elephants unless the local population is made part of the event.

Do we want africa to loose it's best chance to host a cup....which would have no impact... the question seems to worry me a lot...perhaps the start in another 24 hours could answer my worries....

Surreal.....

Rooh ka banjara re parinda
Chhad gaya dil ka re gharonda
Chhad gaya dil ka re gharonda todke
Re gharonda todke, gaya chhodke

Je naina karun band band
Beh jaye boond boond
Tadpaye re, kyun sunaye geet malhar de

Bemalang tera iktara

Not Connected...9920******

The decision came sooner than i had anticipated. The mobile companies just lost one subscriber...perhaps it does not matter to them when you have 600 million of them.

Designing and writing algos for them is different, still remember those my undergrad years when i was fascinated with the architecture of GSM...their data structures and how they manage to transfer calls from one Base Station to another...the security protocols and the encryption algos....

But the choice was rather personal..... have decided not to carry one for the foreseeable future...... hope to find more solace with my self.... hope i stick to it....

Deleted......

Today after much deliberation, i have finally deleted my facebook (suspended) , orkut and yahoo account (broke the final connection with my alma matter). These would remain cached as long as Google wants them, but some day they would disappear for good. I only have a google and a twitter account as of now.

Did some final weeding in my gmail...deleted my chat list, removed those fancy labels, filters are gone and i finally unsubscribed every damn magazine, newsletter and other event list. Pruned most of my cell contacts, created a backup of those silly photos and videos and archived them for good. The cell phone would be gone by sometime next week ( I am not ready for the 3G revolution!!!). I have a feeling that people would be better off without these distractions, as they were in the past.....and ya after backing up ....the blogger would also vanish....... and so would my footprint on the WWW.....

A Thought....

Today while returning back from work, i was thinking what lies ahead for me in the coming months. Either i can continue with the same routine or take a drastic step that can completely change my surroundings for the major chunk of my adulthood. Perhaps the decision involves many stakeholders, it's not always easy to only concentrate on yourselves, your desires and wishes... but feelings of others do matter.

I have always taken decisions which i felt were good for me..often shunning the criticism that i have faced about them. It's easy to take them while you are 18 something..but as you grow older decisions can have after effects which can be influential down the road. The though process has undergone a radical transformation over the past few days. The feeling to prove oneself has completely gone out of the window, because i have realized there are smarter asses than me all over the world and try as much, i can never be at par with them. So why not enjoy what you have got rather than go after something that's like chasing a mirage. Your core strength's determine your well being...some day i have to stop chasing goals. I know i am contradicting my self considering what i wrote in my last post, but the feeling to stop and enjoy my present state is stronger than it was ever before.

The eternal optimist in me is perhaps starting to betray me. It's part of the effort to change, that i am seriously contemplating to be more regular on my blog..I only wrote when i was frustrated, lonely and had to vent out my anger but one can easily express themselves on topics which have been always close to my heart but i never felt to talk about them. Writing helps me to put together my thoughts in a rational manner, be more articulate and perhaps improve my pathetic writing skills. It's not enough to be good at your own work, the power to express your self is important. In the past i have lost so many times with friends because i was not able to put down my problems in front of them. In the quest to achieve more and more i have failed to keep up with most of my old pals.

Conversations are important as they help you to put down your points, sitting alone can become frustrating after a while. They help you to discover parts of life that have been kept aside or lost in translation. The undiscovered or unprocessed side of your life can bring major surprises and shocks to oneself. It' no use of being timid and taking things as they come, one should be able to express his or her opinion about it. No one should take you for granted.

I have no idea where i started in this post or where i am going to end, perhaps it's the state of my mind. I agree the rant is still there though i have tried to suppress it... It's not easy doing that... perhaps things can and will change...

Magic and Reality....

It always has been the case that i put in my best efforts on things i love doing. Remarkably over the past eight months i have enjoyed each and every moment that i have spent at my workplace, having the privilege to interact with best of the brains that i have met. Though it's a different aspect that i never wanted be in this city as part of my assignment, mumbai still beckons me and hope i will be there one day.

Dreams are part of one's folklore, the struggles to achieve them and then aiming a tad higher. Perhaps I can never be satisfied in a state, transition is mandatory as in the case of automata theory :)... I dont have any hint regarding the decision with i have to take by April mid...but hell i am not worried about it at this juncture of life..because i have realised that i have never achieved my goals by thinking about them. I had the best time in my life when i stopped thinking about the outcomes of my decisions.

So whats fascinating about my work life, well i can go back to my home after work and read about child hood idols the poincare's, riemann's and abel's. Mathematics to me has been the essence of my survival over the most stormy passages that i have experienced. It took my concentration away from the troubles and problems that i had to face growing up. My parents are still worried about this wastage of my precious time, when i should be socializing and going out with my friends ...(i hardly have any in delhi)...In the hindsight this unnecessary reading about the great works have helped me to be more rational, and solve some of the toughest lemmas, conjectures and hypothesis in computer science. Theoretical CS is 99% maths to me. The magic of turning machines, P Space and PCP have always fascinated me, right from the time i had laid my hands on them.

As for the reality..... you can imagine that being lost in this world can have ramifications in other aspects of your life, perhaps none greater than expressing yourselves in front of others, socializing with them. Though i have never considered them to be that important but i have started to realize that its' essential for one to move out of his comfort zone and look at at the other side with open eyes. I have serious problems in speaking publicly in front of a bunch of people. I have tried to look into this aspect over the past few months but i always have a feeling that certain things are not necessary for your audience ...and a certain level of intelligence is expected...but perhaps the best speakers are the one that can take everyone along with them. It's very easy to speak in front of people whom you are comfortable with, but what counts is the first impression you leave on people that you don't know... It has always been easy for me to type pages and pages of what i wanted to express...but never had the confidence to express them in front of others... some thing or the other always ended my disastrous journey. Perhaps i am still overawed by the occasion.......

I guess being satisfied after reading and understanding roughly 200 pages of perelman's proof of poincare's conjecture it not that healthy..:)

rt