Designed Irrationally ..

How does it feel when a person whom you have known for years fails to understand you or worse still refuses to....? Hurt ,real hurt ...

Concern is only expressed when it is shown outwardly, or atleast for most people it is so.Again when we expect concern from somebody and its not expressed we get hurt...This hurt takes its form as anger, sadness, silence / indifference. Does logical justification /explanation or proving ones actions were of good intension help to pacify when people are hurt .. It mostly does not ..

People need understanding , people need space , people need time ..Not 100 odd reasons/proofs as to why you where right and how the other person dint sense their action in the way they expected. It hurts them more as it shows an indifference to the other persons emotions when justification is used immediately.While its always good to prove that you dint mean to hurt ,when to do this matters just as much as ...

Everybody has their right to have a notion about anybody else--its just like a basic right .Its best to leave not imagine or assume how other people perceive us when you are not sure about it (or good at it). Our actions / responses will vary we create a mental assumption that some one perceives in a particular way ...

We are all here to prove a point - why others were wrong , why we where right , why other person made us feel sad/upset etc etc..

How to and when to matters more than the point itself..We may be right but whats the point if it doesnt reach the other person ? Even if it does EGO stamps it and kills its brutally ..

Putting forward our views is difficult , more so when both sides are emotional .. Rationality just doesnt help here ... :( wonder why we were created this way , a VERY BAD DESIGN I guess...The world will be better off when people use their higher cognitive ability of reasoning all the time...

One needs to learn how to handle these situations .I need to learn for certain. Any suggestions?

PS- Random mood and hence such a random post ...

Rewind and rejoice ..

When I was a kid my daily night prayers was always the the same - let me wake up to brand new happy day in the world. World meaning MY small world ( quite a long list though ..family , extended family mostly and yeah "the rest of the world"). I used to run some kind of story in my head where I live with all these people who mean to me in secluded place which is very self sufficient and where there is only happiness.. imagining this little ideal world I used to just sleep..Fairytale like...!

Funny , thinking about this now for many reasons . These dreams ebbed away gradually with out any trace as reality sunk in .. So many questions in one little brain about the design of life..Why does everything have an end? Why do people just walk in and out of your life? Why happiness or sorrow? Why the disparities and differences ?Why do we live when we get out this world with nothing? Why is nothing permanent except change itself ?? ..

Probably life is just a crazy ride - with so many ups and downs, twists and turns; the actual purpose , path and destination really unknown; people come and go - some stay longer , some make more impact , some we forget.. We seek out reasons to explain everything around us or some just tag it as fate or whatever..Peoples priorities change with time ; we just move on busy with our own lives .. But there are moments when you just want to go back in time and re-live certain periods over and over again ..The best way to turn the silent tear to a joyful smile is by simple escapism into a dream land like a child or just freezing ; savoring the moments and replaying it as memories .. After all we do not posses anything excepts our own self

Long Time ,No Blog

Okay , Its been an year and no blog entries ! :P Just way too lazy to type what I had in my mind .. New year , new resolve to blog more regularly ! Lets see ;)

Now I do have a topic worthy enough of a debate.I had recently been to Indian Science Congress, the highlight of this mega event was the lectures by Nobel Laureates. It was very nice listening to Ada Yonath , Martin Chalfie , Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz.They shared their enthusiasm that they have towards their work and explanation of their research so that even a layman can understand something about it ! I liked Dr.Martins lecture most personally. Overall I liked the way it was organized except for fact that the whole of Chennai was full of banners- politicians who were attending with their flashy smiles everywhere.Somehow it irritates me too much when I think about how much money that's wasted on these and how it could be utilized in better way!

Okay, so much for introduction. The main spotlight was on "OUR OWN" Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan.I totally agree with him about how science is an international effort and nationality need not be associated with it ( Well, his comments about this is causing quite a stir.I dont find it reasonable to shout out that he was born here in Tamilnadu.. etc.. etc.. everytime when person doesnt like or enjoy being celebrated as a national pride or something)

Another issues was his stands on need for idols in science.To quote him , "Science needs ideas not idols".I partly agree and partly disagree (The ambivalent me :P ) While there is no need for idols in comparison to film star or sports personal , I guess it definitely helps to know what inspired them and how they were successful in doing good science ; what kind of questions they ask ; their thought process and way they approach a problem .

I had the opportunity to listen to Thomas Steitz and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan twice -once in ISC, once in IIT .I had no clue about it happening in IIT and it was much more fun !!

The difference's which made it more enjoyable-

1. The Talk itself - While ISC was like much more general one ,the lecture in IIT was much more technical yet simple enough to understand.Infact the whole PPT was different.There was more videos. One in Venki sirs lecture stole the show away ! The whole translation process and its molecular mechanisms with song clips finishing it with the song" We are the champions"..LOL crazy graduate student !! :) There was short clip in Thomas Steitz's lecure too for which he danced :D

2.The Organizers- There was almost 45 mins used up before the speakers got to speak in ISC.In contrast it was just 5 mins general intro, 2 mins about each speaker and then they spoke ! No restless audience shifting seats this way .. And even vote of thanks was short , the focus was only on the lecture not anything else.Another thing I noticed was that there was just one video camera for recording the lecture and one photographer clicking photos ( that too not when the speakers were speaking)

3.The Crowd- The crowd was much much better .Organizers instructed only once not to ask for autographs or photographs and the crowed obeyed . No ringing mobile phone , no loud chatting , no photograph sessions. There was even a question answer session at the end ! In contrast in ISC , people were more intent upon taking pictures with the laureates , getting the autographs without even listening to them ..With children its understandable but parents and elders pestering for autographs and messages to point of annoying the speakers is sad sight to see.

To discuss cool science , we need equally cool audience who are intent on content rather than just coming to lecture hall for " I met the laureate and got his/her autograph" attitude alone for show-off..!

Vitamin M

Fear not! No biochemistry here ;) :D The "M" i refer to here is money(and why I choose to do that you will know)..Well, i have been thinking about it just now and decided to pen (type :P) it down..

Now,is money essential? Oh,yes it is..It looks obvious isnt it,not a single day without it..in some form or the other.. But the best things that life offers us ,cannot be got by it (This is also obvious ..but may be not for all of us..) Be it fun,people,education,ambitions(and even sleep!) though it "seems" to be so..I don't understand why this fails some of us -people who are crazy about money,materialistic possessions.What do we need money for? to get "other things" in life..How can one buy these best things..they settle for something good (The toughest competition is between the good and the best --i guess whats good and what is best is very very relative) Desires leads to more desire ..oops ,did i get something wrong-Desires leads to more desire unless we desire to break free from it ! Money does give us a sense of independence or some sense of independence.It surely does for me (I guess its one of the very few things that can give me ...err..confusing..leave it :P)

Think about it,I have seen people say if only I was better financially placed i can live a better life,get better education,reach my goals etc etc etc...I does look seemingly right on the first look ,but on a little deeper thought it doesnt.Its just that our goals (personal , professional ,what so ever...) isnt strong enough.History has and the future will have people who have got what they wanted in their life,against all odds...Money gives us easier route (?!) ,but not the everlasting , satisfying one.

PS-vitamin becoz we definitely need them(essential) in the correct quantity !

Comments , suggestions ,arguments welcome as always :)

I guess it got more mokkai than i expected ,thanks for bearing with me! :)

The World As They See it....

Children are the most fascinating beings ! Recently my kutti cousins (mom's side,non identical twins, about two and half years old) visited my home..Lil mischievous rascals :) They raided the kitchen for spoons,the telephone and my room for pens stuff ,the computer..what not! Had a great time with them..

I was observing and admiring them - the way they look at us & the world.. Man,you should see the impact of media - they cant read or write..Still yet to know what words mean but you show them a hoarding -they can associate the music that comes with that particular ad (that even we may fail to notice).Great spacial and temporal memory.I guess its one of the most beautiful phase of childhood, where the child starts expressing its views ,starts asking questions in an earnest attempt to learn.The senses at its best! The instincts -the very root is quite explicit in them....

Well i can go on bragging about the kids :P ;) --but thats not what i intend to do here . What i observed was even at such young age ,the character & personality starts getting pronounced and its different for them both ,thought they are brought up in the same conditions (or "almost" same ) Though it maybe to young to predict - I found one was more much adamant than the other and stuff like that. So,I was wondering if some aspects of personality are hereditary ,what role does our genes play in it or the extent to which it does ...I did my lil bit of research .

Its a question of Nature Vs Nurture ,as it is referred to .The nature refers to the innate qualities -- genetic ,hereditary properties & nurture refers to the environment we are subjected to..These two are intertwined with each other, starting from the moment we were that single cell fusion product..It is very difficult for ppl to study the influence of genes or environment ,as it is difficult to separate one from other..The researchers create experimental conditions with twins (identical ,non identical ) and other cases like adopted children.

Genes contribute to rather than solely dictate our synaptic connectivity! Children have innate potential to learn ,to seek stimulation & to arrange experience into increasing order of complexity.It is the basis ,the potential or the risk they are bestowed with.... Environment plays a key role in establishing , strengthening and selecting the synaptic connections. Human brain is unfinished at birth ,the environment affects the unfolding of genetic programs ..The expression of genes & the phenotype ( expression-which genes are "on" and which are "off" ,phenotype--any observable trait ) depends on other genes (ie our genetic combination or genotype) and environment.Wow,such great plasticity!!And there is this new study of heritable change in genome other then the DNA sequence ,called the epigenome !! I am getting overly excited at this point :P Okay...So......

Whatever it is,the care-giver (primarily the parents ,siblings & probably even the kindergarten teacher)play such a major role in development of childs personality...Well,I know very little about parenting and all that...but it pains me when i see adults showing their anger , frustration to the kids & when they ignore or get irritated by the questions they ask...

Nurture them! :) is all I can say..

P.S- I am sorry for such a longgg post ,I am not sure if this sustained your interest .If you are more interested in this check out the book -Brain,attachment,personality :an introduction to neuroaffective development by Susan Hart (chk it out in google books ) ..I found it very good.

The (Not so ?!) Great thing called "Expectations"

Ok ,here is something which i have been wondering and thinking about for quite sometime..Expectation--we all have this mental notion about everything in our life ,the outcome of an action both from ourself's and from others. Expectation is basis of many emotion-sense of satisfaction, fulfillment or anger & disappointment.The latter ones arise especially when we expect something from others..

Its so common isnt it? Phrases like "I spoke to that person and he/she dint respond properly" Dint respond properly --> dint meet your expectation . Then we go on to assume things (Stuff like maybe that person is busy or preoccupied or whatever)..which i never prefer to do.There is another way out-Why expect in the first place?! 'Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed' was the ninth beatitude. -Alexander Pope.

Can anyone live with out expecting anything ? I dunno..maybe great saints (?) Probably if we condition our mind - our subconscious to expect any outcome or nothing at all.Just fulfill you duty as student, child,friend parent , whatever without expectation of anykind ... It sure doesnt sound easy (atleast for me!) but maybe not impossible..

PS-I do expect comments and your thoughts about it ;) :P :D