Sip of a Very Beautiful Dream

The smell of the fresh chilling breeze, and the smoothing veil of the morning sunshine,
The mystic mountains afar gleaming every moment like bricks numerous, and some blush wine,
The wavering branches, the chirping birds, the rustling leaves: all making me soar on cloud nine,
But deep down some corner; some memories riding fast the winding roads in thoughts of mine.

The first pretty Winter blossom still desirous of standing amidst the blowing wind,
The dark shadow on the rustic walls of the parched paint in the walls that lean,
A blazing blue ray of hope shining at every nook and corner of the next passerby thinking it would someday win,
I sit here, peeping out of the window, witnessing a beautiful world with a sip of a very beautiful dream!

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These days my schedule has been fortunate enough to allow me stay awake through the morning sunrise. A rare and mystical event that periodically showcases itself everyday, I am glad to enjoy different aspects of mother Nature in all its breadth. The mildly chilly Winter, and the advent of the comfortable times in Arizona has made me cherish Nature and life at large in a different way which I probably haven't had the opportunity to do in all the times in grad. school. Likely the last academic year here at ASU, this poem tries to captures the breezes and the storms in my mind---with a pinch of the bad times, the much-cherished good times and the uncertainty and the hope for the near future ahead. Many cheers, nevertheless, to the beautiful world we all are a part of!

Nostalgia

Since my childhood, I always hated rains. It used to (and I guess it still does!) rain a lot in my hometown Agartala, and it meant being at home, possibly study those boring subjects in a bad education system (as a matter of fact, the Indian education system is effective often, but not very scientific and well-structured - but discussing education system needs a separate blog post sometime!), and life in a small city like Agartala would often come to a standstill being handicapped by temporary floods in several areas, and along with that would come accompanying a profuse flurry of dirt in and around nearby swamps.

There goes the myriad reasons of my dislike for rains. Even when I was in New Jersey the summer before last one (2006), I never liked the rains there; it would rain so abruptly and anytime! That way, I like Arizona a lot! It is technically a desert, and raining in Arizona is an event! And my love of mountains and rocks and surreal Nature is best satiated by Arizona's landscape - lest the summer here is real bad. But all in all I like Arizona: the icing on the cake being, no rains!

It has been raining quite a lot though, surprisingly, in Tempe since past one week! Apart from coming a big relief to the scorching heat, it is being history here - raining twice in less than a week's time! Though I am not loving it, yet somehow this weather makes me go back 10-15 years to the days of my childhood - to Agartala- nostalgia which makes me like these rains somehow because of the several colorful memories I have associated with them! The walks I used to take with Mom, the rain-soaked flowers in the garden in front of our house, the small ally in front of the house - with several puddles of rain-water etc etc. Everything seems so green even now; though numerically life has come a long-long way! Time flies - it really does!

Rains are now a storehouse of very, very sweet memories for me - it is like entering that "rabbit hole" and going back to the days of innocence, a segment of life which was (and still is) painted all green with the raindrops. Even some of the bittersweet memories seem so rosy - the charisma of nostalgia about childhood ...

Our Global Concerns

It was $ 2.60 a gallon only last summer; and now it is quickly going to touch $ 5-6 a gallon by Fall. The airlines now don't allow anymore two free check-in baggage, rather some of them are asking for $ 15 for even the first checked-in one. Prices of grocery items, starting from milk to fruits and vegetables are on an ever-increasing hike. Inflation is on the rise each new day. Investments in stocks seem a bad idea. The future of start-ups don't look very rosy.

I am talking of the issues the world is going to see soon in every walk of life due to the exponentially increasing price of oil. The paucity of this exhaustive source is inflicting serious damage and inviting new problems which we have neither seen, nor expected to occur this soon.

The oil problem is serious and knocking right at the door. The grandeur of electricity (many times mineral oil generated) we enjoy today right from streamlining our work in the kitchen, to climbing the 80th floor, to sitting at 60 F when outside is -20 F or 120 F would soon seemingly become a dream. Our Nature driven lifestyle does not seem to last long.

All this has made the job of the environmentalists and power scientists even tougher. Doing research, writing path-breaking papers, getting hundreds of patents is one thing; and devising some technology from scratch to fight a myriad of problems in the world is another. And what adds salt to the would is having stringent time and resource constraints on devising that technology. Apart from the prices, the icing to the cake comes with the horrors of global warming.

We need efficient, aware and committed scientists to quickly come up with alternative sources of power. But that is not enough. In these days of strict government funding (e.g. NSF - National Science Foundation), only smart and hard-working researchers won't suffice. We need efficient leadership in the leading nations like US, as well as development budding grounds like China and India.

The new US President, whoever it is going to be, Barack Obama or John McCain, has a very big responsibility, not only to this country, but several global issues. And one of them definitely is the power crisis. It is an issue of grave nature that can decide the fate of our civilization in the next five years!

A young, visionary President is what America needs right now, for its own good, like issues of health care, immigration, education and Iraq war; as well as multi-faceted global problems, examples being global warming and power crisis.

Obama is the best choice, according to polls, but fingers crossed till late this year. The Illinois Senator apart from creating history in the annals of US Presidential legacy, has tons of variegated responsibilties to cater to. However, a guy only 46 who has come this far, has to have something about him - the question is, given the expectations of most of the aware non-civilians of this country, can he answer all or not of them? Can he live up to the image of being the most powerful person in the world, in the true sense? Only time will tell, before it's too late.

Pittsburgh trip

However much I deny, I have to admit I had a very adventurous but scary trip to HyperText 08 in Pittsburgh and my subsequent travel detour to Niagara Falls, NY! Some of the highlights are here.

I was staying in the nice dorm accommodation of the conference people at University of Pittsburgh campus. Everything was nice and cozy, with a perfect view of part of the downtown from my 16th floor room. But the one week before the conference was so busy for me that I didn't get a chance to sign up for the Internet access in the dorm. The result being, the day I got done with my presentations and wanted to leave for Niagara the morning after, I found out I don't have a print out of the directions. It was late and I was tired enough not to motivate me to go back to the conference hotel for the directions either! Hence I called this friend up and noted down the directions to Niagara.

But I have noticed, driving alone always gives me ideas to be adventurous. So while coming back, I took a detour somewhere in upstate NY off I-90 and drove into the countryside with vast vineyards. It was so pretty, and the lush green and the serene environment with people using big machine to maintain their lawns was amazing! The countryside of this country is so very different from India, but yeah I loved it!

Now the big task was how to get back on I-90 from those country roads! And given that I had a car with no GPS and neither written directions. The best bet was a gas station. But unknown city with lots of unfamiliar and unfriendly people. And then no one with me, topped with the fact that no one would possibly know if something would happen to me! But yeah, with all that I managed to reach Pittsburgh.

Also got this opportunity to drive in heavy rain - with about 10 feet of visibility. Yeah, it doesn't rain in Arizona, so I am not familiar with the rain-driving at all! And guess what happened as the final end of the trip! I got lost in Pitt downtown only to reach airport so late, that I missed my flight to Phoenix. Lucky me, the guy at the Continental counter was nice enough to book me on the next flight :)

All in all, the trip was quite an experience! I am pensive at the end, but I learned several things. First, get directions well enough. Second, be prepared for driving in any weather. And third, keep enough time buffer before driving to airport when boarding a flight!

Utah Trip

Please also check my Flickr here. Monument valley, Utah was awesome fun. Ever since I came to Arizona, I always wanted to check out Utah. And so this is almost like fulfilling a long cherished dream of travel!

One insight I have gained for the breadth of traveling I have done since I came to US. And the insight is that the most famous tourist places like Grand Canyon, Statue of Liberty or Niagara Falls are not the best places where you will enjoy in the deepest core of your heart. It is rather these less known places like Monument Valley or Horseshoe bend where you can vent out your heart to accept all the visual pleasure.

After all, life is full of surprises. And traveling is no exception! Mother Nature is the most mysterious and amazing thing in the Universe, and then she unfolds her inexplicable beauty and grandeur in the most unexpected places on Earth!

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder; but surely, you need to have the knack and eye for it!

Why Religion? Why Not Science?

If you have been following the democratic presidential candidates and the programs and bills they seem to be approving, debating on or thinking to work upon, you will see most of them are things like health care, immigration problems, religion, terrorism, education etc. These are definitely the burning issues for elections in any country today, and the politicians need to have clarity in their policies towards tackling these problems; more so, because they connect directly to any commonplace person in the country - these define the basis of our existence and society today. However it is very interesting to note their inclination towards exploiting the issue of religion, often to their own benefit, than participation in a science debate! Is it because people are more sensitive to religious issues than science? Is it because people connect to religion more, and take science rather for granted, or to be something which only a handful of people take interest in?

If you would take a peek into the Wired blog to keep yourself up-to-date with the latest technological endeavors, you will notice that as reported here, the two most promising candidates for the 2008 presidential elections, Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama, refused to attend a science debate, whereas in their other debates they would directly or indirectly always pull up the issue of religion.

It is unfortunate that the politicians who are going to spearhead a nation for probably the next two tenures are turning a deaf ear to scientific issues. Scientists and environmentalists from round the globe are worried about global warming and energy crises, and a nation where power is dissipated almost next to wastage, a nation whose main backbone runs on power mostly derived from non-renewable exhaustive sources, these two issues are customary to be considered for a whole next generation's survival. The count of deadly challenging diseases are not on a dip, rather everyday reaching newer heights beyond the expertise our current technology possesses. Under such situations, America needs probably a more scientifically-conscious candidate. Despite the fact that both Obama and Clinton have their own set of skills in certain policies, and they have huge public thronging behind them, their outlook towards scientific issues are rather disappointing.

The question remains, how is America's next President going to define the fate of this country or the ones associated, about issues that are currently being pushed back so much...

The Five Things I Admire...

Five things which I have always admired, and things which will always keep on revealing newer shades to me every morning and every night.

1. Art: The heart of the world since time immemorial. Something I have admired since I can recall my conscience. I still remember one of the dinner table talks with Dad when he said, "If it was some super-power which or who created the world, it is the artists who are closest to that power- a writer can create a character, a painter can imagine and build a landscape, a musician can develop a melody and a craftsman can carve out an object. All these creations are unique and are not limited by the constraints of the world created by that super power: they transcend all boundaries."

2. Nature: The most amazing of everything in the world. Mother Nature unveils itself with its vermilion sunrises, the shiny water droplets, the flaky snow which tingles your skin, the bountiful oceans always aspiring you to hope for, the golden desert sands and the leaflets of rainbow. People say, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. To Nature, every beholder perceives her beauty, delving into colors like a painter's palate, like a chef's new recipe and like an athlete's vigor.

3. Creativity: One of the most precious qualities of the civilized man; the reason behind where we stand today in the twenty first century. Thanks to men who could nurture it in themselves: Galileo's relentless faith in his theory of the Earth's revolution, Newton's connection with the falling apple, Wright brothers' realization of man's desire to fly, or Leonardo's creation of the eternal beauty of Monalisa. No one is born gifted, creativity is a quality inherent in all of us; we need to nurture it till the right trigger comes at the right opportunity.

4. Sincerity: The other quality I have always admired in men. There is no secret password to success after all: it has been people's perseverance and tenacity that has paid off: today we bear the fruits' of their toil and sincerity, through things that have streamlined our existence in every walk of life.

5. Parents: The other name for faith, trust and reliance. The whole world can fall apart, but there is one place you can always go back to: to mother's lap or father's arms. The relationships which I have valued most in my life, and would continue to do so forever. Right from my first step to walk, to the first spoonful of rice, to the first alphabet I learned, to the day and the place where I am today, I credit them. Whatever little I am able to think, do and cherish, it was none other than them always standing behind. Be the days be merry, be the nights be dark, they are the people whom you can always fall back upon: to the cave of recluse, hope and peace forever.

And my belief in these five things and the appreciation for them oozes from my desire for being a better human being tomorrow than what I was yesterday...