Thoughts and Experiences

2008-09-13T22:35:00.004+01:00

I believe that no one is 'essential' on this planet - everyone will go one day and the earth will still rotate and the sun will still rise in the east and set in the west. People make and break relationships, intentionally or not, and believe it's the end of the world if that's happened....

So, a few thoughts on relationships - making and breaking them:

1. What do you talk about to strangers or friends if you don't like to talk about

other people
yourself
things that you've seen or done

tough one to answer right? well.. my answer is probably that you should just say something strange or stupid and see how people react then,

if they laugh in a dismissive way - no point making friends with these people
if they laugh in a friendly way - the conversation will start by itself
if they don't hear you ...just go away.

2. What are the characteristics of good housemates

They like to talk to each other
They like to make fun of each other
They want to do things together
They keep the house clean for you....

3. How to break up a relationship without breaking someone's heart? (Tough one again)

Take a break from each other and let things move on in their natural course
Talk about it and try to understand that it is the mutually beneficial thing to do ... of course you can only do that with someone rational enough. (does it make sense to talk about rationality when we are talking about emotions... i wonder..).
Act in a weird way such that the other person is disgusted...e.g. have a piece of garlic, drink a few cans of beer, burp, fart, and break everything in the house... should not break a heart but break a house maybe....

4. How do you make friends and keep your friends close? buy a mobile phone!

Relationships are just connections i guess - they need a medium to exist (phone, meetings, eye contact, body contact, etc...) - cut the medium and you cut off the relationship.... but can you really cut off a connection that transcends the physical links.... e.g. the connection between two minds, two thoughts, two hearts....? I think you can't.

The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Raja-Yoga/Prana - Wikisource

2008-08-18T00:16:00.000+01:00

The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Raja-Yoga/Prana - Wikisource

2008-08-01T21:49:00.002+01:00

I'm back to blogging - things have changed so much since I wrote a few words here and most of my 'fans' have left me anyway.... But for those who will come to this page by some luck here's an update on what's been happening in my life in the last few years:
1. My dad passed away on the 8th of October 2007 - the saddest and hardest part of my life. No one meant more to me than him.
2. I thought i'd get married end of 2008 but it was not meant to be.
3. I made some new friends, lost some new friends, and got some old friends back.

I'm going back to being the same person I was. So here are some of my rambles :-)

a. What is summer in Southampton ?? 21 degrees is warm.

b. How do you open a door that has been locked from inside - there's a simple trick but my housemate wasn't patient enough to let me do it completely - remove the strip that is aligned against the edge of the door, push a sharp knife through the part where the lock is and voila! - we eventually broke the door of course,.... but i knew how to do it...

c. What do you do when you don't feel like talking to someone:
- turn off your phone (why this one first?)
- not talk
- make sure you don't make eye contact
- make sure you are not around that someone

d. Try listening to Darren Hayes's last album (This delicate thing we've made) - some of you find it hard but it's really refreshing music and good lyrics - tracks 2, 6 and 9 (disc 1) are my favourites.

2006-04-06T20:27:00.000+01:00

Rambles of the day:

Been at home (home) for nearly a week now. Very warm and full of mosquitoes at night. Mosquito killing has become a big business in Mauritius now... Just wonder how many millions are being made just because of these insects... Just wonder how some people must be happy you are getting mosquito bites and that you will rush to buy their products...

Nothing feels better than being at home with family. For most people I asked about how good is staying at home with family the response was negative with a probability of 8/10.

Earlier this week i met 2 ex-classmates. What do Mauritians talk about when they meet after a while (nearly 3 years):
1. Work
2. Plans after work
3. Hours of work
Are we really off work if we are talking about it?

Today it's a bit cooler than usual... it rained a bit this afternoon. Mauritius is a nice place - forces you to enjoy the small things of a day... - warm & cold weather, rain & sun.

2006-03-23T13:22:00.000Z

Rambles for the week (up to today):

Things that prevent you from posting to your blog every day:
1. you couldn't be bothered
2. you didn't have time (a lame excuse)
3. no internet connection
4. you could not think of anything interesting to write about...

What is a Japanese room? a three-bed room apparently.

A friend told me he'd rather live his life as a Kobe bull - get drunk, have a massage ... and any cow he wants... every day .. until he ends up on someone's plate. Everyone has to die at some point anyway.

Liverpool won 7-0 - all strikers scored - even Morientes... Did i just see a pig shoot off?

2006-03-18T01:16:00.000Z

Rambles for the day:

We defected in a game today:
7 people go to a restaurant A- they are not guaranteed a table
4 people go to a restaurant A- they are nearly guaranteed a table
7 people go to restaurant B - they are all guaranteed a table

What do 3 people tell to 4 people when the latter invite the former for lunch to restaurant B? Well, the 3 said they would join the 4 later at B, but actually went to A.

Inviting friends over for dinner is great- good food & good talk - only now i have to do the washing up.

Japan is a strange place - you can buy a rail pass abroad but not inland...

With great responsibility comes great powers... only you have to realise them.

2006-03-15T22:49:00.000Z

Rambles for the day:

People can keep playing Pro-evolution soccer for ages - (try Greece against any team on Pro-evo 4) - life would be much better if everything you did was as interesting as Pro-soccer :P

I learnt a new expression today: 'Given them enough rope and they will hang themselves'

I was so keen to have everyone rely on skype/msn for all their communication needs - it would be great - until today - the network failed miserably throughout the whole uni and we were cut off completely from the web for about 30 mins - the geeks complained most of course... - people who wanted to organise a telecon had to go through the good old phone...

When do you say Spring has arrived? When flowers start blossoming or when it's between 8-15 degrees?

How do you diplomatically say that you need to do some work and that the person standing next to your table isn't sure whether he has to leave:
- you say 'ok let's see' (success: medium)
- you say 'i've got some work to do so let's talk later' (success: high)
- you say 'ok' (success: very low)
- you say 'right, you go and do that and i'll try to work on this' (success: low)
- you say nothing (success: very high)

2006-03-15T00:12:00.000Z

Rambles for the day:

Today there was a fire alarm in the dept - most people stayed in - those that left did so because of the noise rather than fear of fire... even though we had a big fire just a few months back.

Why do people not close their umbrella after it's stopped raining?
- it may pour in the next second..
- water drips from the edge of the umbrella giving the impression it's still raining..
- they simply forgot...

Does it matter if you don't understand the words in a song (e.g. if the song is written in another language you don't know or it's Michael Jackson singing)?

Swimming in a crowded pool can be so stressful - you have to make sure you don't touch anybody in front or hit anybody behind you with your feet.... all this without brakes and mirrors...

2006-03-14T00:26:00.000Z

Rambles for the day (and the wk end):

I went to an Indian restaurant the other day - the one thing i noticed from observing the people around me was that most customers had very chunky cheeks..... does that say anything about Indian food?

Liverpool deserved to lose to Arsenal on Sunday because of the way they played... and Gerrard made sure they did by giving the ball to the Henry - that Gerrard is such an honest man i tell you...

I practised economic driving this week end: 4th gear at 30 mph and 5th at 40 mph - but i think i wasted it all by accelerating a lot from start.

Why does a team member feel the need to criticise others:
- the others are not doing anything
- the others are not doing anything interesting
- the team member is not doing anything.

What NOT to say (as the only reply) when someone says 'how are you?' to you:
- Hi
- I'm fine
- How are you?
- Thanks
- See ya..

What to do when waiting for someone coming on a late plane:
- read a book
- talk to someone
- play phone games
- watch the exit in the hope that that someone is coming out...

Why don't cashiers give us the last remaining 5 pound note at the till (and give us so many coins instead):
- 5 pound notes make them feel safe
- the last 5 pound note is a special one (it's the last one!!)
- the 5 pound note is cute
- the coins make more noise.

2006-03-10T22:41:00.000Z

Rambles for the day:

Today was the first time i needed my PhD certificate for something: to show the Spanish govt that i had passed a PhD - to prove the usefulness of a collaboration that happened three years ago.... see.... that's what a PhD certificate gets you: proof

A friend of mine met the perfect one - question he keeps asking himself: What is wrong with her?

Today my friends helped me: pack up pdf files together, have a good time at lunch, talk to relax after work, help me correct a paper.
Today my friends didn't help me by: disturbing me during my conversations, preventing me from focusing on an important job, preventing me from watching Due South in peace.
Lesson learnt: Friendship makes life so fun :)

When do we decide to give up things in life for people we care for?
1. When career is less important
2. When money is less important
3. When fame is less important
4. When 'having fun' is less important (with friends or without)
5. When allegiance is less important
....or is it just about 'not being selfish'?

Why do people write things on their blog on a friday night:
1. They are lonely
2. They are sad
3. They like to write on their blog
4. They like to do anything possible with their computer
5. They like being considered geeks
6. It does not make any difference on which day they write it...

One thing i realised today- all the worries of the world stare at you when you walk and look down, and all the possibilities in this world stare at you when you look up in the skies.

2006-03-09T20:32:00.000Z

Rambles for the day:
Someone asks you to lend him your bike (which is parked somewhere) - things to tell him before he takes it: the bike's colour, the position of the bike in the parking lot, the bike's brand, and... maybe most importantly...how much taller you are than him.

Things not to do in a meeting: talk whenever your boss is talking, forget about that important thing you really should have talked about,.... said that you completely forgot about the meeting until someone called you to tell you that the meeting is starting.

How to avoid someone: look down, talk to someone else, tell him you don't want to talk to him, run away!

Why are animals better than humans: they don't lie.

2006-03-08T23:34:00.000Z

Rambles for the day:
International Women's day today. The women in my dept organised a get-together... brought food and everything... but the thing is... they could not eat everything by themselves and had to ask all the men to come and help out....

Questions not to ask a PhD student writing up: So how is the writeup going?, So when are you finishing it?, Why are you not writing up?

Skype is so great: let's you talk as much as you like, listen to songs together, see your correspondent, and chat... all for free.

Liverpool lost and are out of the Champions league - created about 20 chances and scored nothing. Benfica scored 2 with less than 5 chances in all. Lesson learnt? Liverpool needs a Ronaldinho...

What does a birthday equate to: 1 day older than you were yesterday, 1 more reminder that you are dying, 1 celebration of something that just depends on a calendar, 1 day to connect with people who really think of you (or have a reminder on the mobile phone/email), 1 or more cards you'll throw away at some point...

2005-11-14T19:09:00.000Z

Back to work, Fire, Linux...

Been back from home about three weeks ago and what three weeks these have been... Had to get back to work on the new project we are starting on Disaster Management (sounds quite relevant given the recent events around) and finish up stuff from my phd. Then, disaster struck... fire in our building.. I witnessed it first hand on Sunday the 2nd Nov. as I was driving to London... (see some pictures). Thank God our side of the building was not touched but still, we were not allowed in up till today... Up to now, we had been relocated in another building, all hotdesking.

The fact that i no pc to work on did not help... until i got my new Toshiba Portégé M300 last week. Things started getting better as i could work from home. I particularly wanted to see if i could install linux on it as we would have to work on that platform later on anyway. So i grabbed the Ubuntu distro, after reading some reviews, and installed it. Contrary to my previous experiences with Linux, the Ubuntu install went ahead without any hitches! All devices were recognised - from the wireless card to the bluetooth. Note, you need a utility called dambt to power the bluetooth device up. Tried to install toshiba utilities for linux but that did not work well.. so i left it for later. Also installed a web calendar software called Plans (free). It's very easy to install - was done in 10 mins.

On windows, i managed to sync my palm tungsten t2 and use the web browser on my palm through bluetooth with my pc (connected to a router) - used a nice piece of software called MochaPPP

Now all is well...

2005-07-04T20:26:00.000+01:00

The 'Alliance Sociale' wins the 2005 national elections in Mauritius. The alliance led by Dr. Navin Ramgoolam won 38 seats against 22 for the MMM-MSM alliance led by the outgoing PM Paul Berenger. The result was close in many areas (particularly nos 15,16,8,1,3,14). The overall result was kind of expected but this marks a change in politics (a 3 party system where an alliance of two of them would usually win) where a Labour led alliance won the election against 2 main political parties (with one of them having their leade voted out!).

The new PM announced that he will start working as from tomorrow on the the important dossiers. I do hope he selects the most competent people in his team of ministers and presses ahead with much needed changes.

I've been following this event on the following (mostly live) news channels (if you are interested in Mauritian radio/news):

1. www.servihoo.com (look for the section on national elections)
2. mbc.intnet.mu - the national tv and radio (look for a link to the general elections page). Here you'll get both the live evening news (video) and live radios (koolfm and taalfm).
3. www.r1.mu (the radio one web site with high quality audio LIVE)
4. www.topfmradio.com (another free radio with more music than news)

Other web sites worth noting (popular newspapers in Mauritius):
1. www.lexpress.mu (also provided news on the elections)
2. www.lematinal.com

Unfortunately there is no live broadcast from my favourite Mauritian radio broadcasting station - Radio Plus - which provides a really fair coverage of news/music/events. I'll put up a link if their web site ever come up.

For other sites relating to political parties in Mauritius:
Labour Party (and associates) -

MMM-MSM

http://www.mmmonline.org/ (not well maintained...)

2005-06-27T01:32:00.000+01:00

Mauritian Elections coming up in a week's time exactly. The Mauritian Labour Party/PMXD is facing tough competition against the MSM/MMM alliance (which form the current government). Today, there were the biggest rallies organised by both sides since the campaign started. Estimates of the crowds were 40K for the MLP/PMXD and 20K for the MSM/MMM but these do not guarantee anything on election day. I'm just hoping the population will vote for the government that will best serve their interests.

For the past 5 years, our economic stability has been undermined with increasing national debt and the loss of major assets to the private sector. Hopefully things will change when the new government comes in. They will obviously make mistakes (since there are bound to be some numb nuts who will become ministers) but at least i hope they will build the future of the country with serious and intelligent measures. Right now, Mauritius could become the most efficient ethanol producer in the area, the most sophisticated IT hub, and the most efficient freeport in the region. Also, we could become nearly self sufficient if sugar-cane land were properly converted to farmland or vegetable growing. Hopefully, some of these will happen.... let's see.

2005-06-04T10:49:00.000+01:00

Some good news to share with you! I passed my Driving Test last Thursday (2nd June 2005). Made 3 minor mistakes and got through. I did the test at Forest Hills test centre in Southampton. Claire was my examiner and we had a good 40 mins drive around the town. I kept winging about different things about the road and conditions of traffic all along (probably attracting some pity... :P). But in the end it was a great relief to know i had passed. I have to say i have a very good and experienced driving instructor (Colin Pritchard) from the AA.

So the next step is to get a Pass Plus certificate and buy a new car.... probably going for a low insurance car.

To those wanting to learn how to drive, I strongly recommend the AA driving school. It's not that much more expensive and you get really good advice. Also, for a good review and some driving tips - try www.2pass.co.uk. It's a great web site with lots of animations, tips about driving and other stuff, which you can use to revise before going to your practical or theory test!

2005-02-08T13:10:00.000Z

Technology - canada.com

Check this link for some info about the CELL... the latest computer chip that is supposed to revolutionise IT in the coming years... at least that's their prediction.

2005-01-31T16:49:00.000Z

Just been to Barcelona for a couple of weeks to work on a paper and what a great time we had... working of course. Thanks to Andrea and Juan.

2004-12-14T16:21:00.000Z

I just passed my PhD last week... so that's some good news. Going to EUMAS tomorrow. Should be good.

Technology Review: Digital Music's Next Big Battle

2004-09-07T09:35:00.000+01:00

This is an interesting article concerning the future of digital audio/video sharing... Downloading music (video) from the airwaves isn't a very far from being common place.... get your DAB now :-)

Technology Review: Digital Music's Next Big Battle

2004-09-03T10:37:00.000+01:00

In Acapulco sipping a tequila...

My first blog

2004-09-01T18:51:00.000+01:00

Well, i had heard about these blogs a while ago and i thought i'd give it a try just to see how much i'm able to share with everyone out there...

I hope to publish some of my own experiences in life/installing software/phones/research/writing paper etc....

Anyways,

For now, i'm writing my thesis.. so i'm a bit busy.

Gopal