GEB, Properties of Natural Numbers and Chamakam

I had written previously about how good I find the book Godel, Escher and Bach: The Eternal Golden Baird. Last week, I read chapters 3 and 4 of the book. In these chapters, Dr. Douglas Hofstadter speaks of Figure-Ground and its prominence in formal systems. Dr. Douglas Hofstadter goes into great detail to explain Figure and Ground could not only be identified in Escher and others' paintings but also in music and formal systems. As an example of figure - ground, try this

From the first look, one would see two faces. But a few seconds of careful look would reveal a vase. The Figure and Ground are thus defined as negation of one another. More on figure and ground here. Now, if you take the square in which the whole diagram is present as the universe, then the vase forms the Figure while the faces form the ground. In sketching and painting this is the general way figure and ground are defined. Dr. Douglas Hofstadter takes this concept a little further and tells us about how Bach used the same concept in The Musical Offering.

Dr. Douglas Hofstadter then enters the formal systems domain and tries to explain how figure and ground could be established. More on that later in the post.

In one of the boring moments @ work, I started browsing through the text of Sri Rudram. As I started reading the eleventh anuvaka of Chamakam I found something very intersting. This was not the first time I was reading Chamakam. But somehow, I missed this point till today.

For those who dont know what Sri Rudram is,

Srirudram, also known as Rudraprasna, is a hymn devoted to lord Shiva. It is part of the Yajur Veda and one of the greatest of the Vedic hymns for all round benefits and to remove all doshas & difficulties. In most of the poojas and homas it recited by the Vedic pundits. Sri Rudram is in two parts. The first part, chapter 16 of the Yajurveda, is known as Namakam because of the repeated use of the word "Namo" in it. The second part, chapter 18 of the Yajurveda, is known as chamakam because of the repeated use of the words "Chame".
Rudram is divided into 11 sections called Anuvakas. In the first Anuvaka, Rudra is asked to turn away his Ghora rupa (fierce appearance) and to please keep his and his followers’ weapons at bay. Having been pacified, Rudra is requested to destroy the sins of those for whom it is being chanted.
Apart from being a hymn devoted Lord Shiva, Srirudram also contains may hidden secrets in coded format. For example the verses contain coded instructions for preparing various ayurvedic medicines.

In the eleventh Anuvaka of Chamakam, a series of numbers are chanted. It goes like this

ఏకాచమే తిస్రశ్చమే పంచ చమే సప్తచమే
నవచమ ఏకా దశచమే త్రయో దశచమే
పంచ దశచమే సప్త దశచమే నవ దశచమ
ఏక విగ్ం శతిశ్చమే త్రయో విగ్ం శతిశ్చమే
పంచ విగ్ం సతిశ్చమే సప్త విగ్ం శతిశ్చమే
నవ విగ్ం సతిశ్చమ ఏక-త్రిగ్ం శచ్చమే
త్రయస్-త్రిగ్ం శచ్చమే
చతస్-రశ్చమే உష్టౌచమే ద్వాదశ చమే
షోడశ చమే విగ్ం శతిశ్చమే
చతుర్-విగ్ం శతిశ్చమే உష్టావిగ్ం శతిశ్చమే
ద్వాత్రిగ్ం శచ్చమే షట్-త్రిగ్ం శచ్చమే
చత్వారిగ్ం శచ్చమే చతుశ్-చత్వారిగ్ం
శచ్చమే உష్టాచత్-వారిగ్ం శచ్చమే
వాజశ్చ ప్రసవశ్చా పిజశ్చ క్రతుశ్చ సువశ్చ
మూర్ధాచ వ్యశ్నియశ్చాన్‌-త్యాయన-శ్చాంత్యశ్చ
భౌవనశ్చ భువన-శ్చాధిపతిశ్చ

Transliteration in english:

Ekaa cha me tisrashcha me pajncha cha me sapta cha me nava cha ma ekadasha cha me trayodasha cha me pamchadasha cha me saptadasha cha me
navadasha cha ma eka vishatishcha me trayovishatishcha me
pamchavishatishcha me saptavishatishcha me navavishatishcha ma

ekatrishachcha me trayastrishachcha me chatasrashcha me
ashhtau cha me dvaadasha cha me shhodasha cha me
vishatishcha me chaturvishatishcha meashhtaavishatishcha me
vaatrishachcha me shhattrishachcha me chatvarishachcha me

chatushchatvaarishachcha meashhtaachatvaarishachcha me
vaajashcha prasavashchaapijashcha kratushcha suvashcha muurdhaa cha
vyashniyashcha antyaayanashcha antyashcha bhauvanashcha
bhuvanashchaadhipatishcha

The meaning of this anuvaka is (as translated by the great english mis-translators)

Let me be granted the uneven number one, three, five, seven, Nine, eleven, thirteen, fifteen, seventeen, Nineteen, twenty one, twenty three, twenty five, twenty seven, twenty Nine, and thirty one, thirty three, and even numbers four, eight, twelve, and sixteen, twenty, and twenty four, twenty eight, thirty two thirty six, and forty and forty four, forty eight to ensure food and its production, its continuity, and the urge to enjoy, the origin of all productions, the sun, the heaven, the head of all, the infinite, the all pervading like the sky, time and the like present at the end of total consummation exists at the end of it on the earth as universal form, the Antaryami the immortal, the inner ruler of every thing, the omni present and omni potent.

As a side note, I could never understand how and why Sri Rudram talks about sacrifices to Lord Shiva. I could never find a word meaning sacrifice in the whole of Sri Rudram. May be my Sanskrit knowledge is not as good.

Now a cursory look might suggest that it just as a series of numbers. Lets have a closer look.

The first series of numbers is

1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17,19,21,23,25,27,29,31,33

All odd numbers.

The second series of numbers is

4,8,12,16,20,24,28,32,36,40,44

All multiples of four. So what, you may ask. I am coming to that.

Lets for a moment concentrate on the numbers missing in the two series'. The missing numbers (I go till 34 only) are

2,6,10,14,18,22,26,30,34

Look at these numbers closely. If you divide these numbers by 2, you would get

1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17

You get back the odd numbers. Now I dont know and cant see why the first series is quoted til 33 only where as second series is quoted till 44 numbers. This needs to be investigated. But I am certain about one thing. With 2, 4 and series of odd numbers, you can define any number in the natural number system. How, you ask. This is how

If a set, X of all numbers {x}, such that x is divisble by 2 utmost once, forms a set of numbers

and

If a set, Y of all numbers {y}, such that y is divisible by 4 and y >=4, forms another set of numbers,

then

union of X and Y i.e., X U Y forms the set of natural numbers.

Dr. Douglas Hofstadter explains in Chapter 3 of GEB that you could construct Figure-Grounds in mathematics. He also explains us that it is even more interesting to construct Figure-Figures. He gives a variety of examples to explain this and finally comes to question "can theorems as well as non-theorems have a form?". Well my understanding is that if you take this anuvaka as an example, it is certain that theorems and non-theorems can have form and that too a very clearly defined form, just as the case is here. Make a note that X intersection Y is a null set here, which means X union Y covers the complete universe of natural numbers. This is the brilliance of this anuvaka. With two different forms (or Figures) we have a complete picture (natural numbers).

Coming back to Figure and Ground concept, we can identify two clear figures here - odd numbers + odd numbers multipled by 2 and multiples of four in this anuvaka. A clear example of Figure-Figure definition of formal system of natural numbers.

Unfortunately, Dr. Douglas Hofstadter doesnt discuss this anuvaka in GEB. I dont blame him. Obviously, the translations, like the one quoted above, concentrate on Vedas as a part of ritual of offering sacrifices to Lord Shiva but miss the point that after all, Vedas describe the nature. Numbers are as much part of nature as we are. This anuvaka is a clear example of how well Vedas define the nature.

One may disagree with me and say that I am being partial to Vedic knowledge but one cant say that this piece of information had been embedded in the Vedas by coincidence. It is there because it is supposed to be there. Many questions could be asked like

Why 33 and 44?

Why only odd numbers, 2 and multiples of 4?

Why only natural numbers?

and so on

Answers to these questions could be found by investigating into the Vedas with an open mind. A crooked and one sided analysis of Vedas would leave us with sacrificial procedures and pagan gods and godesses, whereas an open ended discussion on Vedas would lead to knowledge hitherto untouched by Science. Just imagine how many secrets of nature could be pried open if

a Sanskrit Scholar, who learnt Sanskrit from Vedic Pundits and not from western anti-Hindu pundits,

a mathematics Scholar, who can put aside the notion that Vedas are holy writ and God's word and look at Vedas as a mine of knowledge,

a geologist,

a biologist, and others from relevant fields work together, study and decipher the Vedas

The kind of knowledge represented in the Vedas not only gives out great philosophies for life, but also give us great knowledge on the nature of universe itself. If only, India after Independence took this with some pride and enthusiasm, mankind as a whole would have benefited from the study.

Post Script: It occured to me, as I almost finished this post, that to define the numbers in this anuvaka the way they have been, one would need to multiply all natural numbers by 4 (this is the definition of set of numbers represented by Y above). GEB as had been explained here previously, is about self-reference in general, and specifically in formal systems. This anuvaka is a brilliant example of definition of self-referential formal system. There you have. One more special case of Strange Loop. Can we say that this anuvaka is a special case to Godel's theorem? May be so. May be not. Only pure mathematicians can tell I guess.

Asamadeeyudu and Tasamadeeyudu - 1 - The Pooka

Tasamadeeyudu: Did you know, Osama Bin Laden is dead?
Asamadeeyudu: What? #$@# Who? @#$#$ Laden? $^&! Dead?
Tasamadeeyudu: Yeah drink this - Three pints.
Asamadeeyudu: Three pints! But why three pints?
Tasamadeeyudu: Muscle Relaxant. Havent you read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy yet?
Asamadeeyudu: But whats with the Laden guy.
Tasamadeeyudu: Yeah he is dead. I guess the world will relax now for a change.
Asamadeeyudu: But how do you know that he is dead?
Tasamadeeyudu: Well, Zardari tells us he is dead.
Asamadeeydu: But he also tells us that "It's still in between fiction and fact.".
Tasamadeeyudu: So you disagree again with me. Would we ever agree upon a thing? Why do always contradict me?
Asamadeeyudu: Listen, I am quoting the source! And moreover I think Osama can neither be alive nor dead!
Tasamadeeyudu: Aaa? What? How is that?
Asamadeeyudu: Did you watch this movie called Harvey?
Tasamadeeyudu: Yeah the James Stewart starrer. Harvey, the 6 feet gaint rabbit, Elwood.P.Dowd's friend in the movie, is a Pooka. Only Mr.Dowd can see and talk to Harvey. Yeah ofcourse one of my favourites.
Asamadeeyudu: Well, in my view Osama is also a pooka!! You know!!
Tasamadeeyudu: What? But what about all the videos?
Asamadeeyudu: Yeah he is a pooka. Videos are all fake, made up. I can prove it.
Tasamadeeyudu: Aaah Spare me!! My mistake to tell you about anything serious.
Asamadeeyudu: I am not joking...I can prove it (at the height of his voice)

Tasamadeeyudu walks off to find out in the next news update on his mobile that Zardari now claims that Osama never even existed and also that Osama was a myth created by India.

How to win a War of Words?

@Office, how to win a war of words? War of words normally involves taking down your opponent psychologically. It involves great deal of word churning and voice modulation. Here goes how.

• I am old, you are new. I am right, you are wrong. Stress every syllable in "Wrong". This principle comes from the notion - it is generally accepted that New is Wrong while Old is right.
• I am experienced, you are fresher. I am right, you are wrong. Stress every syllable in "Wrong". Add a dose of humbleness, if you like, at the end of the sentence by saying something like "I am just trying to make things clear to you that what you are doing might not be right!"
• Dont get excited. As soon as you say this, everybody in and around the cubicle would be looking at your opponent as if he/she is guilty. This is the first step to winning the war of words.
• Tell me (or Correct me) if I am wrong. Say it with an innocent look on the face. This is called acting-smart. Most of the time, people use the phrase on wrong occassions i.e., when you are actually telling the truth or a genuine feeling. But when you use it on these occassions deliberately, they agree with you and they also seem to invent logic to prove that you are right!!
• I did my job, you screwed it up. Whoever says it first would normally have the last laugh!! I happened to read this article on Plus Ultra blog, which tells us about Self-Serving Bias. Explicit use of self-serving bias here would be of great help.
• Your methods dont apply to the process followed here. Use as much authority and propriety as possible when you say this. This would put the idea across that you have a greater, even though it is not true, knowledge of the processes followed in the firm. This would also give you a better control on the argument, especially if your opponent is rather new in the office.
• Why are you shouting at me? Try to have a innocent kid look on your face when you say this. It will drive the point down the throat of your opponent in the best possible way. And by the way, your opponent need not be really shouting at you when you say this. He might well be talking slowly in a disappointed tone. Use of this principle on such occassions might fetch extra brownie points with your colleagues as Gandhiji of the group. Everybody loves a Gandhi, you know.

Note: These are some principles from some daily observations. Discretion in use of these principles must be execrised as need may be. The author is not responsible for any side effects of using these principles. Please relax if you have been on the loser's side previously and have not known of these principles at that time. If you have more observations/ideas, why dont you share them in the comments section? Share and Enjoy, Sirius Cybernetics Style! Apologies for copyright infrigement on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy.

Interesting Post of the Week - 5

This week's most interesting post comes from Offstumped on Indian National Interest. Yossarin who blogs at Offstumped on INI has triggered many discussions among individuals and bloggers alike in the past. One of his posts this week was an attempt to rebutt the arguments of Dr. Pratap Mehta that congress is a better option than BJP because of its longevity. Dr. Pratap Mehta commented on the post and subsequently a very interesting and pro-active discussion happened on the questions raised by him. Please do read the comments if you have time. In the ensuing chain of events, Dr. V Anantha Nageswaran, who also blogs at The Gold Standard on INI, asked some very important questions about Gujarat Model of development in an article on indiabanao web-site. Offstumped triggered a discussion on this question after giving a very neat analysis. This post deserves to be read and re-read as it is of great importance to shape our country's future in the right direction.

Gujarat, as we all know has been showing the way to development. Narendra Modi brought a paradigm shift in the way his performance is to be analysed. He infact is today dictating terms of the English media which led a campaign against him in the Gujarat state elections. He changed the battle ground of upcoming elections completely to developmental politics vs vote bank politics as he explains Arnab Goswami in this interview (1, 2, 3).

The idea that development should be a people's movement was hitherto a hypothesis left to academia in India till very recently. Narendra Modi has talked about "making development people's movement" in many speeches he has given on various occasions. This is the right time to ask the questions whether this theory can be improved upon and adapted by other states and for that matter by the nation as well. It is these important things that this Offstumped post is about. Offstumped gives us some pointers to decide - Nirmal Gujarat, land acquisition for Nano project, economic freedom in Gujarat. These pointers certainly open up many things about the subject.

Further into the post, Offstumped makes us think about Shivraj Chauhan in Madhya Pradesh, Dr. Raman Singh in Chattisgarh and Nitish Kumar in Bihar. The point seems to be that "what these CMs did in their respective states is not so different from what Modi in Gujarat". Aboslutely true. Thats one of the reasons why Shivraj Chauhan, Dr. Raman Singh and Narendra Modi had no effect of anti incumbancy what so ever in the state elections. They had emphatic victories. Thus Offstumped tries to point out that this replication is actually happening.

Offstumped goes on to emphasise that Gujarat Model is certainly institutional and replicable. Quoting Offstumped,

Coming back to Dr. VAN’s core question on whether Narendra Modi’s Gujarat Model is Instutional and is Replicable, this blogger thinks the answers is an emphatic yes provided we have a Strong Executive in the States that is not at the mercy of a fragmented legislature and is a victim to the vagaries of factional politics.

It remains to be seen if the indian intellectual class and main stream media take up this topic and come up with some more analysis and suggestions on improving the model.

The days of poverty politics and vote bank creation are over. Today India is seeing a great change in the way people think. We are about to see a great paradigm shift making development the main topic of political discussion. Narendra Modi, Shivraj Chauhan, Dr. Raman Singh, Nitish Kumar are the people who are in the fore-front embracing this change. BJP is certainly going to embrace it if voted to power. The question is "is the congress ready to change its ways and adapt itself to the upcoming change or is it going to litter the country with its poor policies and its shallow promises?" Time will only tell.

PS: As a side note, thanks to the media, these kind of important questions are not debated with zeal and enthusiasm. NDTV, TV18, TimesNow certainly had time, interest and enthusiasm to scroll the flash news whole day when Rahul Gandhi showed "the real india", according to him, to Miliband. Thanks to Offstumped for allowing us to have a debate on this subject. Please do go through the comments too. Some of them really are very much valid points.

BJP Manifesto Highlights

Vote for BJP. Why, you ask. Heres why.

BJP Manifesto Highlights

View more presentations from friendsofbjp.

Two things I am looking forward to:

• Embracing Open Source Software. I had previously written on why and how future looks to be open. BJP in my view is taking steps in the right direction. This move, if taken, would enable new start-ups to sprout in IT domain because OSS is free and is cutomizable to the needs, which means all one needs to spend is on infrastructure for the company and resources unlike with enterprise software which would need huge cost to be paid by the company in the form of licences for the enterprise software. These extra but huge costs would have to be finally paid by the ex-chequer. All these heavy costs could be avoided by embracing OSS.
• Tax exemption upto 3 Lakhs and scrapping Fringe Benefit Taxation. Working for an IT based semiconductor company I feel happy that BJP decided to move the 1 tax exemption cieling to 3 lakh. I happen to pay a large amount of tax to the government with the current 1 Lakh saving scheme. FBT has always been a confusion. Clauses and sub-clauses mean that you have to really work things out and plan your FBT for maximuim savings. To a person who doesnt own a car, FBT makes no sense. This move by BJP if seen closely is a very clever move. Scrapping FBT wouldnt allow people to save on the money spent on cars and their travel but since the exemption cieling is moved to 3 Lakhs, it balances out. This move would certainly discaurage people in using car for daily travel to work place, there by aiding the environmental cause. I have always believed that less tax would mean more power for people to purchase. Lesser the taxation, more the freedom. Today we pay tax when the employer credits salary to the our respective bank accounts. Still, we have to go out to again pay VAT for each and every product. VAT was introduced by BJP, yes but I see this move as correction of that mistake. Less Tax is good for the country and I am certainly looking forward to save more.

Not convinced? Look at the highlights of BJP Manifesto here and make an informed choice.

Interesting Post of the Week - 4

This week's most interesting post comes from Sandeep. In this post Sandeep literally rips apart Meera Nanda's ignorant rants. Meera Nanda gives an introduction to her upcoming book The God Market: How Globalization is making India more Hindu. Make no mistake. The very titles tells you what the book is about. Sandeep writes in great depth how inane Meera Nanda's argument is and how profoundly insane she might have already become. Sandeep's clinical analysis is a must read - in full, especially if you are one of those who work for an MNC.

The most interesting part of the whole analysis by Sandeep is at the point where he literally shows us how hell bent Meera Nanda is in proving that Marxist policies are the only way to go. With recession still wreckiong havoc the world over, it doesnt surprise me that she comes out with this book at this time. My doubt about Meera proved right when I visited here. Her "about me" page stinks of communism and anti-hinduism. Unfortunately, anti-hinduism is one of the evolutionary forms of Secularism and thus Meera Nanda - clearly a secular devi writes that globalization made India Hindu. Meera Nanda through her article abets this fundamentally marxist notion that anything which grows faster than anything else is against the system and thus it has to be cut off so every thing grows at the same pace. 

At one point Meera Nanda's introduction starts talking about yet-to-come-to-existance "State Temple Corporate Complex". Just look at the way she puts the words together!! State indicating Country. Temple indicating Hinduism. Corporate indicating the coporate world. The very phrase is supposed to convey to you the idea that all the three elements are in a collaboration to make India Hindu. Sandeep picks on this and explains to us

I’m unable to decide if this is Meera Nanda’s gift to the English dictionary or whether she has coined her own dictionary. This term reeks of the same stale stink of Marxism. In their heydays, Indian Marxists coined new terms to mostly denounce anybody who they couldn’t defeat logically. They invented new words to also explain what they couldn’t explain in English. Meera Nanda treads the same path. If anything, this STCC mumbo jumbo exists only in her imagination. But as we know, the reality is just the opposite: the state systematically loots Hindu temples, denigrates Hindu institutions, and Gods, and dozes as Hindu leaders are murdered, and issues fatwas to the corporate sector.

Arun Shourie too in various speeches mentions this verbal disease that Indian Marxists have. They create new phrases so they become jargon of the general public and some time down the line, they are assumed to be apparently real. Sandeep goes on to explain how a collaboration of this type is right now non-existant with a state by state analysis. I would be very glad if we do form such a unique collaboration.

In the later part of the post, Sandeep rebutts the arguments Meera Nanda made about Vedas. In my personal point of view, Sandeep writes his best about Sanatana Dharma, especially when it comes to argument with a-dharmics on Dharmic Thought. Please do read this post by Sandeep in full.

Parakala Prabhakar and Praja Rajyam Party

Today Mr. Parakala Prabhakar resigned from Praja Rajyam Party. The development is not surprising. There have been a lot of reports on the irregularities in giving tickets to the party members. The whole event went about in a dramatic way with Mr. Prabhakar holding a press meet in PRP office and then submiting his resignation letter at the empty reception desk of PRP.

For a background on Parakala Prabhakar,

Coming to Parakala Prabhakar, he completed graducation at london business school. He has excellent commitment and calliber over politics. So, these are going to be pillors of praja rajyam party

Anyone who watched Pratidhvani political discussion programme on ETV2 till a few months ago knows how deep Mr. Parakala Prabhakar's understanding is on political sphere of India, especially that of Andhra Pradesh. Mr. Parakala Prabhakar is undoubtedly one of the most learned men in Andhra today.

As far I have heard of him, he was a BJP worker until he joined PRP. My father tells me that he was associated with RSS for a brief period too. His wife Nirmala is also in BJP and she also has been associated with RSS for a long. People have different notions about him being with PRP while her being with BJP, as is shown in the video. It is incorrect to question this. After all, they are individuals. It is not necessary that every one in a family supports the same political party!! Suprisingly, the loathsome news channel TV9 doesnt seem to realize that the whole polit(r)ics in Andhra has been like this. For instance, NTR established TDP but his daughter Purandheeswari is with Congress!! There are examples outside AP too. Madhavarao Scindhia was with Congress while Rajamata Vijayraje Scindhia was with Jana Sangh till 1970 and since 1980 with BJP.

He also contested for Rajahmundry MLC seat in Andhra Pradesh. He lost to business man in educational sector Sesha Reddy. He has no mass following but MLC is only for graduate voters. Even with only graduate voters, he couldnt win the Rajahmundry MLC seat. Thus it was natural for BJP to think twice in encauraging him towards another stint at elections. However the whole thing fell apart when reportedly he insisted on a ticket. That was when he joined PRP.

In all this resignation episode, if one observes keenly, there is certainly a message about BJP. Learned and dedicated men like Parakala Prabhakar can only work and grow in a party like BJP. PRP is a party which grew overnight. It grew upon the shoulders of Chiranjeevi. The party has no democratic base. Their ideology stinks of vote banks becuase even in a nascent stage, the party equates Social Justice to BC rights. The way things are going, it seems we have another dynasty in the making i.e., if PRP does succeed in making inroads into Andhra Politics in a big way.

People like Mr. Prabhakar are one of the greatest strengths of India today. They shouldnt give into the desires and work with democratic parties like BJP in making the roots of democracy stronger.

Lastly, I wont be surprised if Mr. Prabhakar returns to BJP and if he does return, I think BJP will take him in without any problems. The reason is simple. By design, BJP is democratic and thus it provides the platform for the eligible person to serve in the right according to the his/her abilities and interests. This is also the reason why these learned men and women are naturally attracted towards BJP. For example, take the case of lead india finalists R.K.Misra and Devang Nanavati. They chose BJP even though along with Arun Jaitley, Amar Singh as well as Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in the final episode that they would be happy to have them with their respective parties. 

BJP is one of those few political parties today in India which encaurages enthusiastic individuals who can work from bottom to reach finally the point where they really get involved with the front line of political  stratagem.

दिल में गूंजे देश राग

अँधेरा छटेगा, सूरज निकलेगा, कमल खिलेगा!!



फौलादी बाजु
अटल इरादे,
दिल में गूंजे देश राग!!

Aam Aadmi's Analysis

Sudipto Das on Friends of BJP writes about a conversation he had with a driver, an Aam Aadmi, about the upcoming election. It comes as an eye-opener to put it in Sudipto's words and also frightens when I think what would happen if things go the same way!! This piece needs to be read in full.

I’m now travelling across Uttarakhand on a vacation. I wanted to be away from computers and emails for the entire duration of fourteen days. But then I’ve experienced something so interesting yesterday on my way from Delhi to Naukuchiatal, a place near Nainital in Uttarakhand, that I couldn’t resist sharing this with the readers of “Friends of BJP”.

Just after leaving Delhi on a hired car, I started talking to our driver for the entire trip. Each vacation that I take is something like a realization and learning experience for me. I always want to know more about the local culture, cuisine and the sentiments and emotions of the eople. Apart from seeing the new places I always feel enlightened to mix with the people around me. Our driver, Prakash, hailing from Himachal, seemed to be a very well informed and aware person. I can’t remember how exactly the discussions turned towards politics, but within the first hundred kilometres from Delhi we’re already discussing about Mayawati - might be because we’re travelling through UP. I asked him whether he likes Mayawati. Without giving a direct answer, he started saying that things seem to have deteriorated under Mayamati - cases of hooliganism (goondagarti) seems to have increased substantially, development seems to have ceased and many more things. But then he also mentioned that she does have a fair chance to become the next Prime Minister. That was quite a contradictory statement, provided the fact that he feels Mayamati hasn’t improved anything in UP. But then his explanation was an eye opener for me. It was quite surprising to have come from a driver. Had this kind of analysis come from Prannoy Roy or Barkha Dutt I won’t have been surprised. But coming from a driver, whom we might categorize as an ‘Aam Aadmi’ was indeed very interesting.

His analysis was very simple. Mayamati has understood the psyche of the people. She knows very well that illiterate people in UP won’t appreciate the long term impact of making roads, setting up industries or colleges. For a really poor villager all these things don’t have any meaning as long as they see a direct impact of these in their lives. On the contrary if a politician does a petty thing like getting a really low paying job even for one villager or help someone (even through illegally means) in constructing his house or getting a water line for someone, even that becomes more important than making roads and setting up of industries which can create employment for so many people. Out of 1000 people even if a single person is benefitted he can influence the remaining 999 people by arousing a false hope that the same politician might do the same for themselves. That’s exactly what keeps Mayawati winning - by giving a false sense of security and hope. I was already quite amazed with this level of analysis. But what came next from him just bowled me off. He kept on saying, “Just see how much work BJP does. Where ever they go they make roads, setup so many industries and most importantly they setup educational institutions. But common people in the villages never see the long term impact of this”. That’s what he feels is the main reason why in spite of doing so much development BJP still fails to win elections. It should be noted that his scope of knowledge is limited to Delhi, UP, Haryana, Punjab and, to some extent, Rajasthan.

We’d started from Delhi at around 11:30am and by 4:30pm we’d covered the entire stretch of route through UP and entered into Uttarakhand, a BJP ruled state. The first place was Udham Singh Nagar - the erstwhile Rudranagar which has been rechristened recently. The industrial town of Pantnagar is also nearby. Immediately after entering into Uttarakhand the condition of the roads improved. It was just a coincidence that, due to the proximity to Pantnagar, there were a number of industries all around us alongside the road. But our driver pointed to all those factories and told me, “That’s what BJP does where ever they go”. Well, I don’t want to elaborate anything more. I think I’m able to give the message that I wanted to give - well, not my message but the message from our driver, an ‘Aam Aadmi’.

He would be with me for the next 12 days and I hope to learn more from him.

Interesting Post of the Week - 3

Firstly, apologies!! Last week I was traveling and so couldnt plug-in to my blog to post the last week's interesting post.


This week's most interesting post comes from Food for Thought. A few days ago I mentioned about a good book by Dr. Douglas Hofstadter on Formal Systems and Strange Loops. The moment I saw this post on Food for Thought, I knew that this must be one of the things Dr. Douglas Hofstadter has written about in GEB. It is infact mentioned about in one of the chapters. Food for Thought is a quiz blog maintained by enthusiastic people. Food for thought gives a daily dose of one question and many questions lead me to hitherto unheard of stuff, which upon further digging lead to some new book or some article on internet enhancing the knowledge horizons into unknown knowledge co-ordinates.

They posted the answer in two days' time and the answer to the question is Klein's Bottle. Alas, if I had read GEB before, I would have answered this question. This post gave a good reason to go a little deeper into Klein's Bottle and then into Mobius Strip. Well you dont find this bottle intersting, do you? Well try this:

Klein's Bottle has basically got four dimensions. Yes, you cant see the fourth one. But you have to read this to understand more.

Klein's Bottle, when dissected gives Mobius Strip. So what is so special? - you ask. Let me tell you what is so special.

Assume a ribbon, yeah a cicular cloth ribbon i.e., a ribbon connected at the ends on the same side. If an ant starts walking at some random point along the ribbon, it would reach the point where it started after some time, but it has only walked one side of the ribbon. It has to flip over to walk the other side. If the same ant walks on the Mobius Strip (simply put, Mobius Strip is the same ribbon with both ends pasted to each other but with one side twisted by 180 degress and pasted to other side of the ribbon), it will reach the same point where it started only after walking both sides of the ribbon i.e., inside and outside of Mobius Strip are not disconnected. Mobius Strip might thus be looked at as a blurred demarcation of inside and outside. Check it out for yourself.

The same explanation holds for Klein's Bottle. There is no inside an outside of these objects. An ant which starts walking at a point inside the Klein's Bottle will have to eventually walk the outside as well as inside to reach the same point again.

Heres an animation describing how Klein's Bottle can be formed and from it, how to arrive at Mobius Strip. You can infact make a Mobius Strip yourself. Go ahead try it!

It is certainly a challeging task to describe such structures mathematically. The philosophical statament these algebraic topologies make is unmistakable. No wonder Douglas Hosftadter was amazed at strange loopiness many objects exhibit!!

PS: I am certainly going to write a lot about this Strange Loopines, especially from a Hindu Context!!

What question to ask?

4:00 AM. A train rushed by whisting its trademark horn and I woke up. The room was filled with bright light, as if some body was focusing a flash light right into my eyes. Involuntarily I covered my eyes. Slowly getting accustomed to the bright light, I started seeing through my fingers.There was somebody standing infront of me. Facing me. I couldnt see the face. I could only see the contour of a face with a bright aura in the background. I could also see that the shape infront of me was holding some kind of a glittering bow in the left hand. I couldnt believe it. It cant be!! Some kind of doubt started in my mind. It said "is the figure standing infront of me actually who I think it is?" Some chill ran down my spine. My forehead started to sweat. My palms were trembling and my mouth ran dry. I was in panic and looked around. My room mate was in sound sleep, as if in anasthesia. I thought of waking him up and just then, the figure infront of me said in a suprising pleasing and soft voice "నాయనా, వివేకానంద శర్మ నిద్రలేవవయ్యా!!"

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My mobile phone's alarm woke me up at 6:00 AM as usual and I woke up. It was a strange day. Everything was looking beautiful. There was some kind of positiveness in the air which was missing till yesterday. A soft voice echoed in my mind even as I started playing M.S.Subbalakshmi's Suprabhatam on my laptop. It said "ఈ రోజు నువ్వు అడిగిన ప్రతి ప్రశ్నకు సరి ఐన ఉత్తరువు దొరుకుతుంది". I vaguely remembered talking to a figure, whose face I couldnt make out due to a bright aura in the background. But remembering the way the figure looked holding a golden bow in the left hand, I was quite sure I dreamt that I talked to Srimad Ramachandra mahaprabhu himself!!! A kind of silly smile came up on my face and I went on with my daily Surya Namaskaram regime. 

Even as the clock stuck 8:00 and I finished my Sandhya Vandanam, the voice kept on echoing as if in the infinite loop "ఈ రోజు నువ్వు అడిగిన ప్రతి ప్రశ్నకు సరి ఐన ఉత్తరువు దొరుకుతుంది". I remember reading the profound effect some dreams could have on individuals. I smiled at myself again and again trying to explain silently to my sub-conscious self that it was just a dream. Even if Sri Rama himself were to come down and talk to a human soul, he wouldnt show up to me. I might well be the most ineligible person for such an honour and previlige!! However, my sub-conscious self was telling me again and again that it was going to be a great day and that all my queries were going to be answered today.

Clock ticked 8:30 AM when I reached traffic signal point at Kundanahalli gate. The voice was still echoing in my mind, while my sub-conscious self is almost singing "పాహి రామ ప్రభో" with almost meditative effect on me. I still couldnt figure out whether I was dreaming or if it was infact reality and just another working day? I tried to silence my sub-conscious self as I started driving my blue pulsar 150cc downtown on whitefield road. With all these thoughts in my mind, I was driving at a steady 40 kmph while others were rushing past me. 

A bedate started with the Him within me.

He said "why dont you believe that it is true? Why dont you believe that it is infact happening?". 

I tried to explain to Him.

"It cant be!! It is just impossible. I only remember snapshots of what happened last night. However, it is just impossible!!!" 

He said "ok, lets put it to test!!"

I told Him "ok, let me ask one question and see if I can get the right answer!!". After a moment's  pause "what am I going to eat for breakfast?"

There was laughter. I could feel that I myself was laughing out loud at myself for having such a discussion with myself. Somehow, there was no response from my sub-conscious self. It fell silent. I felt that I was going crazy or may be that I have some kind of multiple personality disorder or that I was growing Schizophernic. I suggested myself that I should consult a neuro-surgeon still laughing at the very thought of me doing an Anniyan!!!

Suddenly from no where a piece of bread fell right infront of me on my bike - on my petrol tank. Some crows were fighting for the bread piece and it fell on my bike. I threw it away and continued my ride. 

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It was 8:55 AM as I reached ITPB. I parked my bike and just as I was about to get inside Kadamba restaurant in ITPB mall area to have breakfast, I heard some body calling me loud. It was my colleague and cubicle-mate Aishwarya Singh. 

He said "Boss has just called me. He has been trying your cell phone for about 15 minutes now. We are going to his house. There is a function there. Lets go fast."

I said "But I havent had my breakfast yet!!" 

"Arey baba, did you ever see me in office so early. Its only 9:00 AM. Prashant called me some time back and asked me to collect some stuff from office. There was an announcement last night around 4:00 AM IST that our chip is going to be awarded the outstanding innovation of the year award by DSL forum. Prashant has called for a celebration as a personal gesture. Lets go now."

4:00 AM?? I was totally dumbstruck!! However, I told myself "it is just a coincidence"

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We started for Prashant's home. Prashant has been a great manager. He had been promoted as director some 8 months ago. Naturally he was jubiliant about the success of recent chip we designed and developed at Bangalore center. Infact we never expected this response for our chip although we were confident that it would fetch some money. Even with such a happy news, I was surprisingly not over-excited. I was glad. Infact I was jubiliant but both physically and mentally I was calm as if in meditation. Even as we reached Prashant's house in Pai Layout, the soft and pleasent voice was still echoing.

The whole team was already there when we entered Prashant's house. People just finished their breakfast. Prashant was giving a kind of thank-you speech. He welcomed me and Aishwarya in and said thanked us for our support. He then directed us towards the dining table where his wife was serving breakfast. Just as we were about to get seated at the dining table, Prashant said "Ohh and Sarma, sorry. In this hurry, I could only gather up bread for breakfast. I know that you love plain dosa more than anything else for breakfast. Please dont mind." There was laughter around. I was smiling but strangely there was frown on my forehead. Only I seemed to have observed it!!

"It is happening. See I told you" My sub-conscious self started again. I just couldnt believe it!! "No No No!! It cant be" I told Him. 

"Very rarely it happens that You eat bread for breakfast and You know very well that it seldom happens that crows fight dropping bread pieces on people going to office!!" He said.

I had no answer. I said "I dont agree. I will ask one more question. Prove it to me again!!"

He said "The stronger you try the harder it is to hold soft sand in your palm. Similarly, the more you test, the harder it is to accept the truth. Dont test the truth, just believe it" in almost Matrix's Oracle style philosophical tone!!

I ignored and asked Him "Ok, let me see....!! Hmmmm....Yeah who is going to win today's test match between India and Newzeland?"

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It was almost 10:30 AM by then. Just as before, my sub-conscious self fell silent to my question. I finished my breakfast and sat with the team listening to their speeches and thanks-givings. I was still jubiliant but there was certain sense of calm and stillness in my mind. I talked very less. Most of the little chat I had was about the award and how important it was to the chip's success. The response to my queries indicated that the award itself showed how great a success this chip had been already. 

Just as the clock ticked 11:00 AM, Prashant's 10 year old daughter Priyanaka brought out an beautiful oil paint of India, Bharata mata to be precise, and was positioning it on the nail in the left hand side corner of the  room. I went to help her put it properly in position. Prashant, who knows my affiliations to RSS and thus my motherly respect and love to Bharatha mata told me that Priyanaka made it herself. Priyanaka said "last night, I couldnt sleep and woke up at 4:00. My friend gave me a picture two days ago and started painting it". After a moment's pause, she continued smiling "the side-effect however is that I couldnt go to school to school" My eyes went wet out of sheer respect for her daughter. Even as I was trying to supress my amazement about 4:00 AM, I could hear one of my colleagues Sandeep asking Aishwarya about today's test match between India and Newzeland.

It was 11:30 AM. Prashant put on his television and every body was watching the match. Everybody was tense. So was I, though my reasons were different. Tendulkar glanced a volley from Daniel Vettori to score the last four runs which signalled an Indian victory!!! Every body was jubiliant. Sandeep, Aishwarya Singh, Arun and other almost went into a theen maar dance!! I was also equally jubiliant and my eyes were glowing bright like that of a kid yet there was a sense of "could-it-be"!!!

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It was 2:00 PM. We finished our breakfast. People started planning for long vacation with their families. In the background of all the talk that was going on, I could hear the soft and pleasent voice still echoing in my mind. 

"It must be true" I felt.

"It is true" my sub-conscious self said. He kept singing his peans to Sri Rama and suddenly started singing "Bhaja Govindam....Bhaja Govindam....Govindam Bhaja...Mudha Mathe!!". Yet the unabated Me within Me kept on trying to reject it. 

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It was 2:30 PM by the time we started back to our homes. Prashant gave us leave for the rest of the day. I reached home by 3:00 PM and went out to a nearby park. I was taking a walk, trying to make some sense of the course of events that happened through the day. The infighting was going on while the voice kept echoing in my mind. I had no other way to ascertain if it is actually happening but to keep asking questions!!

I asked "Would that squirrel playing around that tree come and play with me?"

An election publicity vehicle was passing by the park and some body was shouting loud in kannada using a public addressing system "Yes you can. Yes you can. Believe in Sri Rama. Believe in our movement. You can also be a part of it. Every squirel did its part in building the Rama Sethu. Just ask them in the right way, even they would gladly join our movement and you. They would join you and me to protect Rama Sethu." The voice slowly faded out into "Join us. Let us protect our national heritage". A kid selling boiled beans was passing by and I bought a small pack. I keep a few aside and made squeeching sound to attract the squirel nearby and after a moment, it was sitting in my palm enjoying the boiled beans. I was looking at it with a dropped-jaw!!!

I told myself "I should try again. That was not a very good question." I kept on thinking about a good question, whose answer is the most obvious one and cant be anything else unless some kind of miracle happens. However even after a lot of thought I couldnt frame one.

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It was 4:30 PM by the time I started back to home. I reached home by 5:30 PM. I couldnt frame any coherent picture. Some how, without my notice, the voice seemed to have to stopped echoing in my mind. I could only listen to my voice trying in vain to imitate that soft and pleasing voice. The infighting continued. I walked along the ring road for more than 2 hours. I couldnt figure out why and how it happened.

Nothing made sense. Nothing. Hearing voices at 4:00 AM? Crows fighting for bread piece? Priyanka waking up at 4:00 AM and as if out of a cosmic coincidence drawing Bharatha mata on oil paint, showing it to me just minutes before India won the match? Squirel playfully sitting in my palm eating boiled beans? Nothing made sense. I tried to assertain the fact that I was not dreaming but the signs were unmistakable.

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Even as I tried to sleep at 11:00 PM, I tried to think about it. It didnt make any sense. Just as I fell into a abysmal sleep, I heard my mobile's alarm ringing to wake me up at 6:00.

As I was getting ready for my surya namaskara regime, my room mate asked "ఏంట్రా? రాత్రి ఏంటి ఏదో నిద్రలో మాట్లాడుతున్నావు? ఏంటో రాముడు, భారత మాత, ఉడత, రామ సేతు ఏదేదో అరిచావు. లేపుదమనుకున్నాను కానీ మంచి నిద్దట్లో ఉన్నావు కదా అని లేప లేదు!!!"

Then I realised that it was all a dream. But a brief thought came to my mind. If it was all real, how stupid of me to ask all those stupid question instead of asking the right questions? I think it happens to each and every one of us. Even of Sri Rama himself stands infront of us today, we would keep on trying to ascertain that he is infact Sri Rama than believe and pay respects and seek blessings!! హాథ విధి!!