my first song on the guitar. (well actually its the second one; the very first one has the same tune, but slightly different lyrics) ps - its got only 4 lines.


<br /><bgsound src="http://www.rpi.edu/~tekir/Media%20Files/Heart%20Oh%20My%20Heart.mp3"><br />

two of my favorite movies. i highly recommend them.

BEFORE SUNRISE (1995): When a young American Jesse (Ethan Hawke) traveling through Europe by train meets a beautiful French student Celine (Julie Delpy), he convinces her to spend the day with him in Vienna so the two can get to know each other better. They spend their day exploring the city and before they know it, they find themselves falling in love. Richard Linklater's romantic daydream is a warm and witty comedy that uses the beautiful streets of Vienna as a perfect backdrop for the characters' youthful, budding romance.

BEFORE SUNSET (2004): This film picks up where the previous film left off. In Paris promoting a novel he has written about their one perfect night together, Jesse is dumbfounded when Celine shows up at his last bookstore interview. With just a few hours remaining before his flight back to the States, Jesse and Celine meander through Paris, returning in no time at all to their playful banter, flirtation, and intense conversations about life, love, and the state of the world. Are these thirty somethings really soul mates, or ships destined to keep passing in the night?

Before Sunset - Review
Before Sunrise - Review

PS - the above text is taken from www.rottentomatoes.com

interesting quiz: {the link is at the bottom}

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to good manners and elegance. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring. You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something you've always wanted... though you haven't really thought about it. In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

quotes for the week: (nisargadatta)

What was never lost can never be found. Your very search for safety and joy keeps you away from them. Stop searching, cease losing. The disease is simple and the remedy equally simple. It is your mind only that makes you insecure and unhappy. Anticipation makes you insecure; memory, unhappy. Stop misusing your mind and all will be well with you. You need not set it right, it will set itself right, as soon as you give up all concern with the past and the future and live entirely in the now.

You need not stop thinking. Just cease being interested. It is disinterestedness that liberates. Don't hold on, that is all.

Once you are in it [true awareness], you will find that you love what you see, whatever may be its nature. This choiceless love is the touchstone of awareness. If it is not there, you are merely interested, for some personal reasons.

The window is the absence of the wall, and it gives air and light because it is empty. Be empty of all mental content, of all imagination and effort, and the very absence of obstacles will cause reality to rush in.

one of my all time favorite songs: Landslide - Fleetwood Mac

I took my love and I took it down
I climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
'Till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life

Mmm Mmm...I don't know...Mmm Mmm...Mmm Mmm

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older too

So...
I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I, I´ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older too
I'm getting older too

So, take this love, take it down
Oh if you climb a mountain and you turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring you down, down

And If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well maybe the landslide will bring you down
Well well, the landslide will bring you down

got my hands on carole king's album "tapestry" (1971). melodic tunes combined with great songwriting really uplift the album to a classic. it was chosen as the 36th greatest album of all time by the editors of the rolling stones magazine in 2003. am posting the lyrics of one of the songs from the ablum.

Beautiful - Carole King (Tapestry)

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes you will
That you're beautiful as you feel.

Waiting at the station with a workday wind a-blowing
I've got nothing to do but watch the passers-by
Mirrored in their faces I see frustration growing
And they don't see it showing, why do I?

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes you will
That you're beautiful as you feel.

I have often asked my self the reason for the sadness
In a world where tears are just a lullabye
If there's any answer, maybe love can end the madness
Maybe not, oh, but we can only try.

2 asian movies i saw recently:

a) failan (korean)

this a sad and touching love story from korea starring cecillia cheung and min-sik choi. its the story of a petty small time gangster who wastes his time doing small errands for his boss; and a chinese immigrant girl who comes to korea searching for her only living relatives. she is unable to find them, and since she has no one to go back for, she decides to stay and work in korea. to arrange for that the hero "marries" her for some petty cash by basically signing a legal document. so she goes to another town and starts working in a laundry shop. she feels very lonesome and sad and keeps looking at the picture of her supposed husband and soon falls in love with him. she imagines him to a caring and generous person. soon she falls sick and dies. the hero then gets news of her death and has to go to her town to complete some official formalitites. then he sees her picture for the first time, and also reads a letter written by her, where she calls him the kindest man she's ever known. the hero finds himself changing and having feelings for her and towards the end falls in love with her. the story is told in flashbacks, moving between their respective tales. the only negative thing about the movie is that the first 20 or 30 minutes its a normal gangster movie and the heroine doesn't enter into the picture till then. overall the movie is well shot, the acting is good and you can't help feeling quite sad for the two lonely lovers who never even meet each other.

b) the road home (chinese)

another beautiful movie by the veteran director yimou zhang, starring zhang ziyi and honglei sun. this was before zhang ziyi shot to international stardom with "crouching tiger and hidden dragon". she was still quite young and had an innocent and angelic face. the story, told in flashback, is set in a small chinese village where a young teacher from the city comes to teach in the village school. zhang is the prettiest girl in the village and she instantly falls in love with the teacher on seeing him for the first time. the love between the two is told more through glances and gestures and not with so many words. then one day the teacher has to leave for the city and she waits longingly for him everyday on the only road leading to the village. before leaving they don't even fully express their love for each other, yet know that he's going to come back and she's going to wait for him. the locales in the movie are very beautiful, the camera moves lovingly through the scenes, and the background score is simple and apt. the story is very simply told, no exciting moments and stuff and still manages to capture the essence and depth of human love and emotion. zhang ziyi's effective portrayal of the character's innocence, simplicity, longing and love is the highlight of the film. highly recommended.

2 albums i've been listening to a lot in recent times are:

a) pink floyd - meddle
this was before their bestselling album "dark side of the moon" and contains the 23 minute epic "echoes". but my favorite songs are "a pillow of winds" and fearless". this album has a nice light acoustic feel to it, except for the dark and haunting "echoes". this is my second favorite floyd album, next only to "wish you were here".

b) alan parson's project - i robot
another 70s album, one of my favorites. the album was produced by the same guy who produced floyd's "dark side of the moon" and the album does have a floydish tinge to it, but i find the sound lighter and more varied. the album sounds quite futuristic, it is supposedly inspired by isaac asimov's novel of the same name. my favorite song in this album is "day after day (the show must go on)".

quote for the day: (sri sri)
all the problems that you face in life are because you attach too much importance to events. the events grow large while you remain small.
imagine you are riding a motorcycle on a busy road and in front of you there is a vehicle emitting noxious fumes. there are three options. you can remain behind the vehicle, complain and somehow bear it. you can slow down or wait, allowing the vehicle to move far ahead. or you can use your skill, overtake the vehicle and forget about it.
as in the first option, most of you get obsessed with the events and remain miserable, inhaling fumes throughout your journey. in the second option, you usually will not get permanent relief, as another vehicle is likely to move in front of you. shying away from events is not a permanent solution.
wise people use their skill and grow beyond the events. if your vehicle is in perfect condition, skill is effective. conditioning the vehicle is sadhana, or spiritual practices, and skill is the grace of the master.

quotes for the day: (nisargadatta)
Try to be, only to be. The all-important word is "try". Allow enough time daily for sitting quietly and trying, just trying, to go beyond the personality with its addictions and obsessions. Don't ask how, it cannot be explained. You just keep on trying until you succeed. If you persevere, there can be no failure. What matters supremely is sincerity, earnestness; you must really have had surfeit of being the person you are; now see the urgent need of being free of this unnecessary self-identification with a bundle of memories and habits. This steady resistance against the unnecessary is the secret of success.

There is trouble only when you cling to something. When you hold on to nothing, no trouble arises. The relinquishing of the lesser is the gaining of the greater. Give up all and you gain all. Then life becomes what it was meant to be: pure radiation from an inexhaustible source. In that light the world appears dimly like a dream.

hmm... nothing much to write about recently. wasn't well over the past week - sore throat, some fever etc. all thats gone now, but some dry cough is still persisting.
think i've almost perfected the art of making groundnut chutney, the second time it came almost like home. joined the karate classes, they are going fine. also started working towards being a radio jockey on the local rpi radio station. need to take 2 training classes, 2 exams & put in some work hours, before i can operate on my own. there is this indian show called "melodies of india" which airs every sunday morning at 10, i think. as for work, haven't got much work done in the lab, been procrastinating a lot.

seen a bunch of movies: the constant gardener (political thriller - touching), farewell my concubine [chinese] (epic scale - engaging), pieces of april (short sweet movie - nice), failan [korean] (a very sad love story - real tearjerker), a very long engagement [french] (from same guys as amelie - decent), facing windows [italian] (nice story, beautifully told - really liked it).

the purple dusk commandeth!

7 things that scare me

- dying a slow painful death
(think thats the only thing)

7 things i like the most

- hot tea on a cold evening
- listening to music
- tooling with QT, my powerbook
- online chatting with friends
- vanilla ice cream with choclate sauce
- aloo paratha with curd
- sunset/sunrise on a beach

7 important things in my room

- powerbook, QT
- sunlight
- empty space in the middle
- bed and pillow
- electric guitar
- bose multimedia speakers
- cell phone

seven random facts about me

- i prefer my own cooking
- i have long hair
- i am currently almost broke
- am a fan of illayaraja's music
- my nakshatra is swati
- am a lover of all things apple
- don't know what i want to do for a living

7 things to do before i die

- bungy jump or para glide
- stay for some days on a remote island
- scuba dive
- drive a formula 1 car or atleast a kart
- compose a song on the guitar
- take a ocean cruise
- go with a caravan in the desert

7 things i can do

- make dosa and chutney
- listen to music all day
- do nothing at all
- 25 push ups
- play "stairway to heaven" intro on the guitar
- swim, all styles
- "stand" upside down on my head

7 things i can't do

- figure out notes of songs
- sing in tune
- think of studying without music on
- have tea/coffee without sugar
- skate/ski
- paint or sketch from imagination
- imagine life without QT

7 things i say the most

- lets
- fruit
- warum (german for why)
- pseud (great, cool, of another level)
- whatta (my curse word)
- chumma (just like that)
- okey

7 celeb crushes

- madhuri dixit in "hum aapke hain kaun"
- zhang ziyi in "the road home"
- paz vega in "spanlish"
- winona ryder in "edward scissorhands"
- audrey tautou in "happenstance"
- ingrid bergman in "casablanca"
- gwyneth paltrow in "sliding doors"

didn't feel like working in the lab today. that is why have added so many posts today - about 7, which i think is a record till now. have an hour more to kill before the karate class. there is a isshinryu karate club in our university and i've decided to attend a trial class and see how it is.

by the way today is Ganesh Chaturthi.
Lord Ganesha represents Om or the Pranava, which is the chief Mantra among the Hindus. This explains the practice of invoking Ganesha before beginning any rite or undertaking any project. He is the Lord who removes all obstacles on the path of the spiritual aspirant, and bestows upon him worldly as well as spiritual success. Hence He is called Vigna Vinayaka.

Vaastu Shastra: The Basics

Vastu is the science of direction that combines all the five elements of nature and balance them with the man and the material. Vastu Shastra is creating a congenial settings or a place to live or work, in most scientific way taking advantages of the benefits bestowed by the five elements called "Paanchbhootas" of the nature thereby paving the way for enhanced health, wealth, prosperity and happiness in an enlightened environment. The world comprises of five basic elements, also known as the Paanchbhootas. They are Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Space. Out of the nine planets, our planet has life because of the presence of these five elements.

Vaastu believes that there are essentially two types of forces, which are equal and opposite in nature. The interaction of these two forces is cosmic ordained and produces a third type of force, which is called ‘bioforce’ or ‘PRANA’, needed for life to exist. One type of force is subtle and fine. The other is dark and dense. We can , for sake of understanding this subject, call the first one as 'positive' and the other as 'negative'. 'Prana' is liberated by the interaction of these forces. Over the surface of the globe these forces continuously interact releasing bio-energy. When a structure is built over the surface of the earth it comes in the way of a natural interaction. Both the forces enter the structure where the interaction continues. However, the intensity of forces that enter the structure need not be the same. Depending on various factors like levels, water bodies, door placement etc., either the positive or the negative can have stronger presence.

If the structure is so designed that the positive forces override the negative forces then there is a beneficial release of bio-energy, which helps all the inmates to be healthy. Even after such reaction with the negative forces a positive cosmic surplus is always present in such a structure, which is the Supreme Being Himself. In such an atmosphere life is smooth and happy with every thing in life coming your way without any great struggle. It is a happy and healthy life for all the inhabitants. If on the other hand the structure is built in such a manner that the negative forces override the positive then you have a weak bio-energy field which manifests as diseases in the occupants. The over bearing negative field makes your actions, efforts, thinking negative so that ultimately the whole life is ruined.

went for a short arial tour in a 4-seater Cessna glider some time ago. thought i'd post some of the pics taken.

blog comment spam:

since the last couple of posts i've been troubled with comment spams for my posts. as soon as i add a new post, i get 1 or 2 comments asking me to check out some stupid site. i looked up online and found out that blogspot has a feature of "word verification" when adding comments, ie anyone adding a comment has to type in a word for verification purposes. this can be enabled in the "comments" section in "settings". i've just enabled it and this post is basically a check to see if it works, ie to see if i still get automatic comment spam.
result: it works. haven't got the comment spam since i enabled it.

Ayurveda: Know Your Dosha

Ayurveda is the traditional holistic medical system of India, using a constitution based model for determining your state of health.

Ayurveda describes three fundamental mind/body types, or doshas, called Vata, Pitta and Kapha, which embody different combinations of the five elements : air, ether, fire, water and earth. Each of us contain all doshas to varying degrees, and their balance can be determined through examination of your eyes, nails, tongue, skin, voice, by pulse diagnosis, and through the insight of the Ayurvedic practitioner. Because the five elements exist in us and in nature, your doshas can become aggravated or imbalanced due to inappropriate or inadequate diet, change of seasons, climate or lifestyle, and result in disease in the body.

Rather than treating the symptoms of disease directly, Ayurvedic treatment aims to rebalance your doshas according to your constitution (also known as your Prakriti), resulting in a body and mind that is healthy and sound. By becoming familiar with your own unique dosha pattern you can lead a life that is more in harmony with your individual nature.
To roughly determine your ayurvedic dosha CLICK HERE.

Marriage Compatibility According to Indian Astrology:

Vivaha or Marriage, according to Indian ethos is a Samskara, a sacrament. The aims of Indian marriage are said to be Dharma (Virtuousness), Prapa (Progeny) and Rati (Pleasure). It is both a religious duty and a social obligation towards the family and the community.

The Indian method of comparisons is based on Nakshatras or "Lunar Mansions" which constitute a kind of lunar zodiac of 27 signs. To determine your marriage compatibility CLICK HERE.

Your dating personality profile:
Your Top Ten Traits 1. Big-Hearted 2. Liberal 3. Romantic 4. Stylish 5. Adventurous 6. Wealthy/Ambitious 7. Athletic 8. Intellectual 9. Sensual 10. Shy	Your Top Ten Match Traits 1. Shy 2. Practical 3. Big-Hearted 4. Adventurous 5. Athletic 6. Stylish 7. Conservative 8. Romantic 9. Intellectual 10. Religious

Take the Online Dating Profile Quiz at Dating Diversions

Loneliness Quotient: 42%

 

Your Personalized Assessment Report:

Your LQ score could be better, but you are certainly not in an unhealthy zone. You should take care, however, to resolve some of the issues that prevent you from achieving a lower score. You could help yourself by working on your relationships with friends. There is room for improvement in this area. Luckily in your case, your family situation is not causing you any troubles. A positive family situation is definitely helpful. Things look much more bleak in your romantic life. Making improvements here by finding a good girl can drastically cut your level of loneliness. Thankfully you do not have a problem with shyness, so pursuing romantic leads and finding friends will not be as difficult as it might have been. You definitely don't have any major insecurity issues holding you back, so your pursuit of elimating loneliness will not be held back by this potential pitfall.

Take the Loneliness Quotient Test at Dating Diversions

quote for the day: (nisargadatta)
The idea of enlightenment is of utmost importance. Just to know that there is such possibility changes one's entire outlook. It acts like a burning match in a heap of saw dust. A spark of truth can burn up a mountain of lies. The very hearing of it is a promise of enlightenment.

misty mountain view from top of cascade mountain signs of the onset of fall on the way up north

last week of one of the busiest weeks in the lab for me. had an important meeting on friday so had to complete certain experiments before that. luckily monday was off (labor day) and hence got a long weekend. so most of saturday and monday went in sleeping and lazing around. made dosa with groundnut chutney and sambar for dinner yesterday.

on sunday went for a trek to cascade mountain, a 2 hour drive directly up north from here. its very close to lake placid, made infamous by the hollywood movie. we started out at 5:30 in the morning, and as we reached the adirondacks we saw mist in some places. unfortunately we didn't then realize the significance of that. the hike up the mountain was rocky and more like climbing steps all the way up, about 4098 ft high. when we reached up, to our dismay, found that there was thick mist everywhere and we could not even look beyond 10 ft. we were certainly dissappointed since the mountain is supposed to provide a very good 360 degree panoramic view of nearby lakes and other mountains. so after spending about half an hour up there, braving the cold wind, and seeing no signs of the mist clearing, we hiked down. we then drove down to lake placid which was pretty crowded, considering it was long weekend. we didn't stop there, instead chose to stop by lake george which is about an hours drive south from there. we had lunch at lake george and returned home by 6. on the drive up north noticed the first signs of leaves changing color, marking the onset of fall.

movies seen: the 40 year old virgin, sliding doors, pirates of the caribbean.