An astronomical affair

My first encounter with Astronomy took place sometime in my school days, when I bought a book on Astronomy from an exhibition at school. I do not remember what made me choose that particular book, but it happened to be so fascinating that I read the book in and out. The life cycle of stars was what I was mostly interested in, especially the nebulae. The nebulae being so visually appealing, I found simple breathtaking.

I couldn't pursue my hobby much during those days, as having my own telescope was not feasible and not much information was available at hand. So some time later this hobby took a back seat. But now a days with the advent of the Internet, the entire universe is at your fingertips. Since past few months, the once dormant astronomy bug, is back in action. I have been taking time-off for reading scores of material available on the net, especially the web sites of the observatories, my favorite being APOD[Astronomy picture of the day] which is being hosted by the Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA.

For those who don't know what a Nebula is, after millions to billions of years, depending on their initial masses, stars run out of their main fuel - hydrogen. Once the ready supply of hydrogen in the core is gone, nuclear processes occurring there cease. Without the outward pressure generated from these reactions to counteract the force of gravity, the outer layers of the star begin to collapse inward toward the core. When the material contracts, the temperature and pressure increase. This newly generated heat temporarily counteracts the force of gravity, and the outer layers of the star are now pushed outward. The star expands to larger than it ever was during its lifetime, a few to about a hundred times bigger. The star has now become a red giant. What happens next in the life of a star depends on its initial mass. Whether it was a “massive” star (some 5 or more times the mass of our Sun) or whether it was a “low or
medium mass” star (about 0.4 to 3.4 times the mass of our Sun), the next steps after the red
giant phase are very, very different.

Once a medium size star(such as our Sun) has reached the red giant phase, its outer layers continue to expand, the core contracts inward, and helium atoms in the core fuse together to form carbon. This fusion releases energy and the star gets a temporary reprieve. The atomic structure of carbon being too strong to be further compressed by the mass of the surrounding material. The core is thus stabilized.

The star will now begin to shed its outer layers as a diffuse cloud called a planetary nebula.
Eventually, only about 20% of the star’s initial mass remains and the star spends the rest of its days cooling and shrinking until it is only a few thousand miles in diameter. It has now become a white dwarf. White dwarfs are stable because the inward pull of gravity is balanced by the electrons in the core of the star repulsing each other. With no fuel left to burn, the hot star radiates its remaining heat into the coldness of space for many billions of years. In the end, it will just sit in space as a cold dark mass sometimes referred to as a black dwarf.



Featured above is a picture of the Helix Nebula[one of my favorites] from a galaxy about 650 light years away. This probably our sun would undergo a few million years from now. Spectacular isn't it. The irony of a nebula is, though it being the death of a star, its very fascinating.

A tribute to the Indian Soldiers

Vivek Pradhan wasn't a happy man. Even the plush comfort of the First Class air-conditioned compartment of the Shatabdi Express couldn't cool his frayed nerves. He was the Project Manager and entitled to air travel. It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the admin guy, it was the savings in time. A PM had so many things to do! He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to some good use.

"Are you from the software industry sir," the man beside him was staring appreciatively at the laptop. Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop now with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car. "You people have brought so much advancement to the country sir. Today everything is getting computerized". "Thanks", smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a detailed look. He always found it difficult to resist appreciation. The man was young and stocky like a sportsman. He looked simple and strangely out of place in that little lap of luxury like a small town boy in a prep school. He probably was a Railway sportsman making the most of his free traveling pass.
"You people always amaze me," the man continued, "You sit in an office and write something on a computer and it does so many big things outside".

Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naivety demanded reasoning not anger. "It is not as simple as that my friend. It is not just a question of writing a few lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it". For a moment he was tempted to explain the entire Software Development Lifecycle but restrained himself to a single statement. "It is complex, very complex." "It has to be. No wonder you people are so highly paid," came the reply. This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence came into his so far affable, persuasive tone. "Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we have to put in." "Hard work!" "Indians have such a narrow concept of hard work. Just because we sit in an air-conditioned office doesn't mean our brows don't sweat. You exercise the muscle; we exercise the mind and believe me that is no less taxing".

He had the man where he wanted him and it was time to drive home the point. "Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway reservation system is computerized. You can book a train ticket between any two stations from any of the hundreds of computerized booking centers across the country. Thousands of transactions accessing a single database at a given time; concurrency, data integrity, locking, data security. Do you understand the complexity in designing and coding such a system?" The man was stuck with amazement, like a child at a planetarium. This was something big and beyond his imagination. "You design and code such things". "I used to", Vivek paused for effect, "But now I am the project manager", "Oh!" sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over, "so your life is easy now".

It was like being told the fire was better than the frying pan. The man had to be given a feel of the heat. "Oh come on, does life ever get easy as you go up the ladder. Responsibility only brings more work. Design and coding! That is the easier part. Now I don't do it, but I am responsible for it and believe me, that is far more stressful. My job is to get the work done in time and with the highest quality. And to tell you about the pressures! There is the customer at one end always changing his requirements, the user wanting something else and your boss always expecting you to have finished it yesterday."

Vivek paused in his diatribe, his belligerence fading with self-realization. What he had said was not merely the outburst of a wronged man, it was the truth. And one need not get angry while defending the truth. "My friend," he concluded triumphantly, "you don't know what it is to be in the line of fire."
The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization. When he
spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that surprised Vivek.

"I know sir, I know what it is to be in the line of fire," He was staring blankly as if no passenger, no train existed, just a vast expanse of time.

"There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the cover of the night. The enemy was firing from the top. There was no knowing where the next bullet was going to come from and for whom. In the morning when we finally hoisted the tricolor at the top only 4 of us were alive."

"You are a..."

"I am Subedar Sushant Singh from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak 4875 in Kargil. They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a land assignment. But tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life easier. On the dawn of that capture one of my colleagues lay injured in the snow, open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker. It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety. But my captain refused me permission and went ahead himself. He said that the first pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to put the safety and welfare of the nation foremost followed by the safety and welfare of the men he commanded. His own personal safety came last, always and every time. He was killed as he shielded that
soldier into the bunker. Every morning now as I stand guard I can see him taking all those bullets, which were actually meant for me. I know sir, I know what it is to be in the line of fire." Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of his reply. Abruptly he switched off the laptop. It seemed trivial, even insulting to edit a word document in the presence of a man for whom valor and duty was a daily part of life; a valor and sense of duty which he had so far attributed only to epical heroes. The train slowed down as it pulled into the station and Subedar Sushant
Singh picked up his bags to alight. "It was nice meeting you sir." Vivek fumbled with the handshake. This was the hand that had climbed mountains, pressed the trigger and hoisted the tricolor. Suddenly as if by impulse he stood at attention, and his right hand went up in an impromptu salute. It was the least he felt he could do for the country.

PS:

The incident he narrates during the capture of Peak 4875 is a true life incident during the Kargil war. Major Vikram Batra sacrificed his life while trying to save one of the men he commanded, as victory was within sight. For this and his various other acts of bravery he was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra - the nation's highest military award

From Jassi:
This is the Credo given to Indian Military Academy Dehradun by Field marshal Sir Philp Chetwode and is inscribed in the famous Chetwode Building of IMA and reads: -

"The Safety, Honour and Welfare of your Country come first, always and every time.
The Honour, Welfare and Comfort of the Men you command come next.
Your Own ease, Comfort and Safety come last, always and every time."

Every gentlemen Cadet who passes out of academy takes this oath.

Tales from Old England

Tales from Old England...........Believe it or not

The next time you're washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.

Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they already started to stink so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women, and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

Houses had thatched roofs (thick straw piled high), with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals(mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it got slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying, It's raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house which posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirty. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying dirt poor.

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they would spread thresh(straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a thresh hold.

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been here for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England was old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to bone-house and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night(the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

Tryst with SCRABBLE

While shopping at WESTSIDE last weekend, we came across SCRABBLE in the TOYS section. Jassi seemed to be overwhelmed. He was interested in buying but was discouraged by the price tag, 600 bucks is pretty expensive for a board game. Realising this, I offered him to contribute half the amount, to which he agreed.

I had never played SRCABBLE in my entire life, but then theres always a first time. A new venture always excites me. After a exhausting day spent shopping and a miserable movie we reached our place at 2 a.m. in the morning. Though very tired, I still had the energy to have a look at our new venture, the excitement of doing something new is always energizing.

Three of us viz. myself, Jassi and Chhotu began playing. Jassi was pretty much conversant with the rules, he explained us the rules of the game and soon we were off the mark. Scrabble seems to be a very novel way of improving the vocabulary, if you play it in the sense of learning something new everyday. But for Chhotu it seemed a way to compete. His mindset was more on scoring points than learning, which I already made him clear with.

All of us were so engrossed in the game, that we hardly noticed the clock ticking by. It was 4:30 in the morning when the game got over.

Henceforth we have been playing the game daily. Ever since I have discoverd the new rules, learning has taken a backseat, scoring points has been the manifest.

This enthusiasm is always shortlived, it will subside at somepoint of time, then nobody will every be interested in even touching the SCRABBLE BOARD. The same happened with RUBIK's CUBE.

I was so enthralled by the game, the next day I went and bought another one from CROSSWORD's at PYRAMID. But this one for my father and sister.

When father had a stroke, he had faced temporary memory loss, though he has recovered, he still has problems recollecting words sometimes. Though I am not very much sure, but I had a strong feeling that SCRABBLE will help him in some sense and 600 bucks isn't much enough if hes getting some benefit from it. Well I haven't presented to him yet, but will do so when I go home for the weekend. This one would be a weekend surprise for him.

Bollywood Vamps

Since past few days people at my place have been smitten by the Bollywood vamps, especially the types of Lalita Pawar and Shashikala.

Not even a single chance has been left to imitate them. Their peculiar words are at the tip of everybody's tongue.

Dialogues like Kalmuhi, Kulta, kahan muh kala kar ke aayi are heard every now and then.

Though these lines have become the thing of the past, we make it a point to refresh them everytime, nostalgia you know.

Today morning Jassi said that the next generation may not even hear these, so I thought I should list them down for the benefit of our progeny, ofcourse with due regards to the vamps of the yesteryears.

Well in case if I have missed some you can post them in the comments.

Our favourites are:


- Kalmuhi
- Kamini
- Karam ki jali
- Kulta
- Kalmuhi, Kulta kahan muh kala kar ke ayi hai

Le Tour de France

Last saturday evening was completely dedicated to the Tour de France. It was in the 13th stage on saturday. The course in the Pyrenees was fantastic, the landscape absolutely mesmerizing.

All the cyclists were at their very best. The enthusiasm of the spectators there was simply incredible, around a million people came down to the course to witness the event and cheer their favourite team. My favourite is none other than Lance Armstrong, who leads the US Postal Serivce Pro Cycling Team.

For those who don't know Lance Armstrong, Lance was born on 18th September, 1971 at Plano, Texas. He began cycling at the age of 13 and was a professional cyclist by 16. By 1996, Lance was the No. 1 ranked cyclist in the world and competed as a member of the U.S. Cycling Team in the Atlanta Summer Olympic Games.

In 1996, when he was at the top of his cycling career, he was forced off his bike in excruciating pain. Here it was revealed that he had testicular cancer.
The tests further revealed that the cancer had spread to his lungs and brain. His chances of recovery were 50-50. He had to undergo surgery to remove the malignant testicle and the lesions in his brain plus a severe course of chemotherapy, after which he was declared cancer-free. This incidence changed his life for ever.

But then this did not deter him from starting again. After two years, he decided to make a comeback, but to his surprise, his Confids team had dropped him. Later he saw a ray of hope as the US Postal Serivce team showed faith in him and offered him a contract, which had him make a successful come back.

This wasn't an ordinary come back, he displayed his courage and determination by winning the Tour de France in 1999 and repeatedly won the same in the following four seasons too.

The Tour de France, claimed to be the toughest and the most gruelling of the cycling races, comprises of 21 stages which go on for 23 days. Winning doesn't seem to be important as you need to survive first and then win.

This season also saw a budding talent, the 25 year old Frenchman Thomas Voeckler. His technique and strategy didn't seem to be very superior, but then his determination should be seen to be believed. He really strived to keep the yellow jersey for the ninth day.

Lance Armstrong's team seemed to be very calm, they didn't seem to be competing at all. All five members together riding in unison, didn't loose their cool even as three riders were before them. Meanwhile Lance also had a flat tyre, but that didn't panick him at all, he got the tyres replaced in less than a minute, got back and took the lead and then went on to beat race leader Ivan Basso.

Its sheer courage and determination, that brings out these men here for the Tour de France.

But I still go with Lance Armstrong, hes the darling of the Tour de France, hats off to him. If given a chance I would like to live the life of Lance Armstrong at Tour de France for a day. I would like to experience his will, courage and determination, that has brought him from the death bed into the fore-front of his cycling career.

Well in this blog, I've written more of Lance Armstrong then the Tour de France, as hes much more like an idol to me.

For more details on Lance Armstrong and the Tour de France go through the following links:

Lance Armstrong >>
Tour de France >>

Neighbourhood Crush

Its 8 o'clock in the morning, we are just back from University where we go for a walk daily. Its time for breakfast, suddenly theres a knock on the door. It has to be the sweeping woman, she generally turns at this time. I'm usually waiting for this moment to come, not for the sweeper but for my neighbour, as she comes out to dispose garbage.

My neighbour, we call her BHABHI, ofcourse shes married and also has a kid. Shes tall, slim, has a wheatish complexion and seems to be a typical MAHARASHTRIAN types.

I have been noticing her for quite a while now. Though I'm not the kinds who run after married women, but then shes the one for whom I don't mind breaking the rules.
JUST KIDDING...!!!

I usually see her in the mornings. As shes just had a bath, her hair is all wet and that makes her look all the more GORGEOUS. Shes usually dressed in a SAREE. A pretty woman dressed in a saree aah!!! makes me go weak in my knees. Since shes slim and tall she looks simply great in a saree.

Many a times we also see her in the nights, coming down from shopping, with her hubby ofcourse. As she gets down from the bike, hurls her hair behind and gives a quick stare, which makes our hearts skip a beat.

Her hubby seems to be of the shrewd types, but then who cares.

We wish that someday she comes over and talks to us, but this hasn't happened so far. Till now we are just waiting for it to happen.

Well this is just a small write up on my LATEST CRUSH, theres more to come...

Mulshi Trip

Last weekend was a trip to Mulshi and the Tamhini ghats. Mulshi is about 40 Kms. from Pune city. There were thirteen of us on 7 bikes.

Our day started at 5:30 a.m. Pali was supposed to pick up Rashmi[the only woman with us]. Needless to say how excited he was. He invited me to go along with him to pick her up, at which I agreed leaving the others furious especially Jassi as he was supposed to accompany me.

Our meeting point was Chandni chowk, where we were supposed to take our first round of
breakfast. As soon as all of us gathered, we ordered for some POHA and TEA. You just had to see Pali there, extremely suave. His polite manners could bring any woman to her knees.

Thereafter begun our journey to Mulshi. It was a pretty long drive, but the landscape that emerged was exceptional. The greenery along the road, clouded skies made it look like we are enroute Heaven.

We took a short halt at a place. Here Pali had to take a leak, may be his bladder was full. Surprising it was, but it was only Pali who had to pee. It may have been embarrassing to the woman accompanying him, but then who cares, its a natures call, you gotta attend it. But then even surprising was, every halt we made, Pali had to take a leak.

We took our first break at a waterfall. I was totally astonished by the beauty of the falls. I couldn't wait to take a dip, but our people seemed to be bit reserved, but this couldn't dampen my spirits. I took the lead and plunged into the waters. This couldn't stop Jassi from taking snaps of the over-enthusiastic me. In no time rest of the Team was in the waters. You couldn't describe the enthusiasm of the team. People were so thrilled that they literally forgot that the ground below them is slippery, which had Jassi slipping while taking snaps.

Here you had to see Pali as well behaved as before, a perfect gentleman, who did not even pay heed to my calls to enter the waters. It seemed as if he was he woman's chaperone. But the things happening around him took the toll, which had Pali getting into the waters. Pali's suavity was washed by the virgin waters. Here started Pali's photo session, giving a variety of muscle flexing poses. As Pali was engrossed in the waters his companion was getting bored, she wanted to leave this place but Pali was not around, so Chhotu and Pali had to give her a hand for getting down at which once Pali seemed to be annoyed at Chhotu. My happiness soon came to an end as we had to leave the falls to see some other places.

The drive after this was a bit difficult, it was raining cats and dogs, I could barely open my eyes as the water was directly entering my eyes, drive was getting tough. I was desperately looking for a shelter. After sometime the rain took a break, soon we reached a small restaurant, which didn't seem to be one. Here we had a round of snacks with omelets, pakados, chaklis and tea. Here at one point of time in the conversation some one spoke of performing stunts on the bike, at which Pali willingly agreed. He had to perform the stunts on a Yamaha RX 135, as this was the only bike available on which such a stunt can be performed. After a few tries Pali could manage to do a wheelie and a wheel-spin later. There was a big applause after his show, at which I uttered IMPRESSED...!!!. Seeing this even Riyaz tried to attempt a similar stunt, but not sure to impress whom. Well but he didn't make it as successfully as Pali.

Here it started raining cats and dogs. It seemed difficult to drive, but then we had decided to leave the place. I borrowed glasses from Anand, so I could drive with ease.
The drive here after was awesome, the wet roads, the greenery, clouded skies and the mild drizzle, absolutely heaven! Here we had some exchange of drivers, with Pali offering Rashmi to take over and Uday trying his hands afresh. While Rashmi took over very well, the drive wasn't smooth enough for Uday. He had a bad fall something kind of a somersault. This could not stop our enthusiastic photographers from recording the replay incident, yes a replay, Uday had to lay the bike back on the ground and sit besides it for a photo shoot. Here we also saw a group of halfnaked drunkards dancing by the side of the road. The color undie of one of the guys was similar to his complexion, which made it appear as if he was naked. This is what actually what made Uday lose control of the bike and led to his fall.

We started again, taking small halts to see the scenic beauty of the place. The landscape was amazing. The Western ghats have always been appealing to me. But our happiness was short lived, one of the bikes developed a problem and another had to turned on the reserve fuel. So we took a decision to revert back.

We came down to a restaurant to have lunch after which we went on to Sagar's place. Here we had a round of snacks and tea and then back home.

The snaps are available here>>