Letter to Mr. Niels Bohr

Dear Mr. Niels Bohr,

 

On this tewlfty-seventh (read 127) anniversary of your birth, I want to wish you a very Happy Birthday wherever you may be. I feel obligated to write this as my thanks for your contributions to helping the world understand quantum mechanics. You see, without those contributions, quantum information and computing would not be concepts to contemplate about thereby making my current area of work for my doctorate non existent!

Of course, as I always wanted to be a Computer Scientist, I would be hacking away for my part in the forest of Classical Theoretical Computer Science problems. However, as you well know, the 'quantum' aspect adds so much spice, mystery and wonder  to those same problems, that I am thrilled to be working in the non-classical 'quantum' setting.

Reading your reply to EPR's 1935 paper on the completeness of the quantum view of reality, was an excellent exercise both to grow my depth of knowledge  and also ponder about it philosophically while trying to understand that 'intrinsic randomness' is here to stay and in fact has always been there waiting for us to discover it.

This may be an insignificant  drop of recognition amongst the sea of your prestigious awards and decorations but please do accept the heartfelt thanks of a wide-eyed-just-starting-on-her-PhD-journey student of science and let me conclude with: So long and thanks for all... your work, insight and fight to discover/prove the existence of quantum mechanics

Yours truly,

PS: Mr Bohr, Mr Einstein and any other readers of this letter are very welcome to correct/point out any errors in the scientific points/facts in this letter (Hopefully there are non).

If...

By Rudyard Kipling. My all-time favourite poem, secret to success and my current desktop wallpaper :). But this if, is inspired by the novel One, by Richard Bach. A novel about him and his wife meeting their selves in alternate universes. Seeing the right and wrong turns they took and how in each of them their meeting is very different.

A post written a long time ago that triggers some more thoughts to add but I'll leave that for a little into the future because right now… I am still looking forward and not back while embarking on the first step in my career :D

The calendar says June 3, 2010. The clock, 11:19pm. Location in a fellow Indian's house, a friend of a friend, in a country that is not my own - West Lafayette, USA - home to Purdue University, my place of internship for Summer 2010. The friend is actually my mentor's family. The friend of the friend is their neighbour - the people who have put me up for the night before my mentor's son's thread ceremony for which I have been invited (Yaay!).

Conversations here trigger a 'What If…' set of scenarios in my mind, maybe because a lot of people here are doing what I once dreamt of, still dream of, and might someday dream of doing. Funnily, most of it has to do with academic aspirations (just says how limited my scope has become I guess… but then if not now, then when would I think of this!). They gnaw at my mind enough to want to put these thoughts in writing. I don't think this would be posted immediately. I don’t think the people concerned should be made to face the scenarios put up. I am not holding anything against them. Of course, this is not done in a sense of regret but more in a sense of curiosity (at least that is how I want it to be viewed)...

The me that never left Bangalore because we didn't move. I would have continued in the same school, continued to do Bharatnatyam at the same place, stayed in the kresche for a few more years till I could be left alone at home. Watched some TV, had a few friends, been very very innocent, remembered and learnt Kannada very well (not the same with Hindi though). Then what? Probably continued to study hard but any other extra curriculars might not have had time.

The me that in Bombay did exceedingly well right from the beginning in school, jumped into all the extra-curriculars, got recognized in school - not passed over - that possibly became captain of the school house or even head girl!! Probably, basketball became a speciality, not a novice activity. Maybe dance went all the way into Arengatram. Maybe tennis became more than just a passion to watch or dream of to play. Maybe friends became too many to count. Maybe the nights were longer just because I stayed out with them.

The me that did not screw up the engineering exams. Maybe gotten into IIT after 2 years of hard work. Maybe gotten the course I wanted, been exposed to something very different from what I know today. Maybe preparing for GRE this year instead of next or would it have been CAT then? Maybe I didn't do well in IIT, maybe I did. Maybe got into IIST or IISER - the people who then gave me false hope - and done well there. Maybe got into Pilani, into a single degree course.

The me that got to write SAT. Maybe I be able to stay I came to Purdue or CMU or Harvard or MIT or Stanford or Berkley. Maybe I would have lived in the US here for 3 years, become very much a localite, not turned back to India only because home was there. Maybe I would have a scholarship, with extra curriculars not being affected. Maybe being a girl into sports would have actually turned out to be a good thing.

The me that didn't move out of Mumbai at all. Still called it home and went there for summer and winter, bonded more with everyone else from campus and everyone I left back there and stayed in touch with them. Still had no curfew and probably got a driving license too.  Got to hang out with all my friends there, occasionally got to see the club scene and check out many more of the cool places there.

The me who moved to US coz we all shifted there. Maybe became school valedictorian, maybe got a chance to pursue so many more things and become good at them. Maybe SAT would have worked out then too. Maybe developed an accent :P. Been a typical American teenager.

The me who said bye to science! Took up Law maybe. Moved into litigation, graduated to join a top notch firm in India and started putting in the hours for a run at being a partner there. The competitiveness still remains or does it worsen in that cutthroat world? Or decided to become a CA :)… Or would it be medical?  Maybe English or History where I can bury myself in dingy libraries poring over musty books to gather the secrets they hold and the stories they told...

The me who didn't take up studies very much at all! Learnt ballroom dancing and Indian dances and studied dance. Took off for a few months to back pack around in obscure places. Learnt too sing as well. Performed on stages and with troupes. Learnt to live the high life (as in Nicleback's 'Rockstar' :P)…

But then, none of these scenarios bring me here where I am today… With the people I know, doing what I am doing now…  Not one of them at all!! Life can always much better. But life could also be much much worse. One moves onto the next day sometimes with only that as the strength!!  One sleeps peacefully at night, thankful for what has happened so far with this in mind...

Pangong - Lakeside

I have developed a love for coffee shops apparently… Wonder when I'll find one like where I am sitting in right now, back home in India. The décor is perfect for me to work in or just relax with my laptop but more on that in subsequent posts (so keep watching this space… ;P). I do want to take you, my reader, on a trip to Heaven on Earth (nothing whatsoever to do with the movie namesake though!! Climactic with reference to it in fact…), across a few seas and way up in the sky. To My Paradise and one that definitely tops the Most Favourite Places in the Universe list. Among the highest lakes in the World nestled at a majestic 4350m (14200ft approx.). Its recent claim to fame being the stunning backdrop of the climax of 3 Idiots (Apparently the crew had just cleared out a week or so before we visited!! :O). Among God's greatest creations, yours truly introduces you to Pangong Tso.

Last time we were on the journey to Pangong having just left Chang La behind. The landscape was evolving with the barren lands suddenly sprouting shrubs and tiny streams as the road rushed down the mountain side hurrying with hairpin bends giving way to the expansive valleys I had seen there yet! In front, the view encompasses a tiny tar road about 1.5 car widths wide snaking its way on a carpet of brown highlighted with the occasional green of tundra growth and shrubs. One's ear is occasionally tickled with the gleeful chattering of a whimsical brook which decides to join the party for a while coming from a source unknown in the muscular mountains. Passing through another checkpost and military outpost /barracks later calls for more change in scenery.

The hues of brown in the vista before ones eyes is quite stunning to take in. However, one is sure that every remotely brown skinned person would find themselves represented be it in the mountains which have taken on an endlessly sweeping countenance seeming friendly and welcoming even in this new form or the sand which suddenly looks to have been imported from Rajasthan!' Cold Desert' does make sense after all! Turning ones head and a close scrutiny to the mountain we were driving on led to the development of a theory. Irrefutable proof almost of how India broke away from Gondwanaland and decided to 'nudge' the Asian landmass resulting in the greatest upheaval in Earth's history that has left the youngest mountain range on Earth with an ongoing growth spurt. The mountainside is punctuated with stones - correction, pebbles - like the ones that wash up on a sea shore… smoothed with the flow of countless waves of water over them. A great find - even if I say so myself.

One thing I did not expect find so far out in the middle of nowhere was a traffic jam which we found ourselves in due to construction work done by the Border Road Organisation also fondly known as 'Seema Sadak Sangathan' :P. Of course, we had to stop and wait at the edge of the road and our existence as a foot and a half further off was a steep drop to a muddy sludgy water (I think, couldn't be sure if it was just marsh though!!) body. Proof that home sentiments are a strong thing for sure… The overseeing officer who walked past our vehicle suddenly backtracked to us explaining that he heard Tamil and missed his own native Kerala. He was serving for a long stint there and didn’t expect to be back home very soon I believe. A pleasant chat later, he decided to open the road and let the workers take a lunch break and we were once more on our way!

The next guest into our inner circle was a rather rude entry known infamously as the Paagal Nala (The Mad Creak suits my sentiments more!). The result of snow melting under the wary eye of the sun, this Creak gains force as the day progresses reaching its peak jut around 2pm as the snow from 12pm finally winds down to meet its human friends. Our driver was apprehensive about crossing it as it was known for upturning many a 4 wheel drive not to mention bikes! A bridge was still being built so it was a gut wrenching few seconds which seemed like few hours trying to maneuver the vehicle on the bed of this Creak without getting waylaid by its 'wicked' intentions. After almost losing to the Creak, we finally made to the other side in one piece and a heartfelt sigh of relief later we were bouncing along getting ever closer to our destination. Of course, I was dying for the first glimpse of this lake not knowing what to expect as I don’t remember seeing any pictures of it before.

The first glimpse… Words escape me as all one could do was suck in breath after breath and stare at - no, feast on - the splendour called Tso Pangong. And it was just the beginning yet!! Nothing can prepare you for the feeling of looking upon this creation with your own eyes. The camera in the movie certainly didn't capture the half of it in my opinion! Anyways that was not their intention I guess… Wonder if NGC or Discovery made a documentary about this. I can imagine them having one heck of a field day with it. As soon as the car stopped, I could not wait to run in and taste the water and Boy! were they right about it being a salt water lake!! The spot we stopped at was getting crowded as all vehicles we came in with also stopped there.

So, it was lunch time as for one we were ravenous and secondly, wanted the view to ourselves for a few minutes at least! No restaurant I have ever eaten in or will ever eat in can compare in ambience to that backdrop that the Lord had provided! I don’t remember the lunch much though mostly because I was ravenous and wolfed it down and also the biting winds did numb the senses a little. And then we had the place to ourselves at last. Wiping off the last crumbs from lunch we decided to survey our luncheon room a little more closely. And does it hit you hard!

Ethereal! Surreal! Too good to be true! Use any superlative to whatever degree and it can't measure up to the feeling of the wind whipping around you and the beginning of the 138km long lake at your feet. I remember wanting to etch the vista in front of my disbelieving eyes into memory forever so fiercely that I didn’t want to blink! Hard to do when the sun is out and the winds all about. I wonder if any of you have seen those artists' renditions of alien lands and unknown planets in space museums or as stunning wallpapers. Well, imagine standing on those lands, in those paintings and you can imagine how standing in front of Pangong was… enough to make you forget to breathe! I could have lived there forever! Apparently there were fish in the lake as some birds were snooping for their own lunch diving into the lake occasionally. And some ducks too I think. Finally, we moved on to our campsite. A bumpy ride if there ever was one!

And then in the distance we could glimpse a cluster of tents, white as the snow on the mountains behind them, in a semicircle arrangement and then a few more closer to the lakeside. This was to be home for a night. After the tents at Uleytokpo, one knew what to expect. However, even giving leeway to the unreachable nature of the terrain and place, the tent was still a surprise! It was set up and opened only a week ago and we were the first set of people staying there. It was quaint with one single bulb hanging from wiring from the top of the tent and an attached bath and toilet area (considering how cold it was there, if I had to walk any distance for it, I would rather have forgone it altogether :P). We reached somewhere between lunch and snack time but had hot chai as soon as the bags came in and we were settled down. The tent opened to the rest of the camp area beyond which were the bluest waters and mountains in the most bewildering browns. It was a perfectly glorious evening with no clouds except those whiffs of white kissing the sky.

'It was chilly' would be a gross understatement thanks to the 'roaring' winds! We found the tent was heavily tethered to strong poles on closer examination otherwise, Dorothy might have found new company in the World of Oz without a tornado even! The people they have in charge for the camps seem to be the most interesting characters one can find I believe. The caretaker here was an ex-Army guy who had served in Siachen if memory serves right. Apparently, he was keen to start the tent system in Pangong and this was his pet project. It was the first of its kind there not being made of concrete structures and buildings. Among some interesting stats he mentioned was the fact that the lake would freeze only if temperatures went 40 below 0 and that the lake did freeze every single winter! Not too keen on living there then though it would be a really cool ski rink in your back - umm, front - yard. Moving on, we decided to explore the place and the small semblance of a village found further on.

The walk was a continuation of the same bumpy remnant of a road forged in the Dark Ages through which we reached the camp. We saw comfy Pashmina sheep whose wool is used to make the famous Pashmina shawls and houses made of sturdy stone rather than brick and cement. Running into a village girl, curiosity led to a mini Q&A. She was going to school (the village had a school I think) but was mentioning how fending off the winter was their own problem with no help from the authorities. It definitely strikes one of how lucky we are. I mean, here was the most beautiful vista in front of my eyes which I go on gushing about and for which every person on vacation is willing to pay pretty hefty prices and in my eyes is God's greatest gift to us. A place where I felt anyone could easily be inspired by the surroundings to become a poet or writer or any other romantic notion - maybe not quite everyone. In the eyes and words of that girl all one could sense was that the bluest waters, if salty, or the large brown snow topped mountains with no fertile soil were not really God's gift but the enemy to earning a decent livelihood. The loneliness that 'city' people crave for on these vacations was a big handicap for their survival for a large part of the year. Perspectives, different enough for some serious food for thought!

After walking through the village in the direction of the river, the other property allowing people to stay lakeside came into view albeit in concrete buildings, not tents. We snaked our way closer to the lake thinking of walking on water lapped shores back to our own camp. We ran into another tourist, European he was, I believe, in Wellington Boots who told us we could probably walk all the way back though there were some parts he had to walk through the water. Braving it then, we wanted to see just how far we could go. It turned out to be a good decision after all as we jumped across rivulets of water, saw the grass "breaking off" caked in salt from the lake and in general had a nice walk.

We did manage to reach the banks of our camp wetting nothing but our appetites (excuse the pun :D). The sun was just preparing to set and decided to paint a pretty farewell by turning the mountains orange and sending out pretty beams between the mountains to make the water sparkle like a bed of jewels. Once the sun went down, the Chill rushed in very eagerly, from the mountains behind us which were still sporting snow caps. The kitchen tent got busy with cooking hot food and I for one couldn't wait for it! Hot soup and some simple hot food was welcome with the caretaker calling us into the welcomingly warm dining tent. One can't appreciate the power of warm food unless you find it spreading deliciously through your insides when all else is freezing around you. Then we returned to our tents with the help of torch-lights as the paths did not have lamps along the way. I vaguely remember a conversation was struck up with some fellow travelers who were a bunch of bikers we had passed on the way. The were a few tents down ours.

Of course what stands out clearly etched was sitting outside our tent and staring into the deep. The background score of waves lapping at the shore very gently, and the light of hundreds of years ago blinking back from the infinite expanse of the sky. It is easy to get lost in the sensation of looking at particularly nothing at all and still everything when it's a sight one could never dare to imagine as it is so breathtakingly beautiful. The sky was more brilliant here and the Milky Way just could not be missed. The wonder is similar to a child which has just learned to stand and looks out of its crib to see a whole new world right there which it new nothing about. It seemed so much clearer as though being that high up brought you closer to the heavens too! I could have sat there all night but sleep and the warm tent were tempting in their own way too! So it was off to bed wrapped up in more layers than I could care to sleepily count. The warmer one is wrapped up while drifting of to dreamland, the more gargantuan the effort required to consciously get out of it in the morning. But, the day must go on so after a quick wash, we were ready for breakfast and to head back to the valley of Leh and that must wait till next time….

Chang La - 17586ft

I haven't written for so long!! Don't know where all the time went. In studying, running around to get projects for the next sem, working on my US visa (YES, finally!!!), cramming for the compres, completing more formalities and fighting with half of Bangalore (as usual x-(… ), packing and repacking to get everything less than 23 kilos and travelling ad settling down in nothing less than a new country and a new continent! Whew!! Experiences galore and no time to write. Well finally I'm going to catch up as much as I can since I promised to keep folks back home updated on what's happening so here goes. Last we left in Uleytokpo… Cut to 2 days later in a new hotel gobbling down breakfast to leave for Pangong!

This was the best ride I have had yet! We were so excited already as we would be going to the third highest pass in the world. So we start of early for the long ride and the sun and chill air greets us. The climb to the pass starts a little away from Leh in a new direction from the previous trip. We had an amazing melody of Hindi songs for company we blissfully started the climb. Then comes the checkpost at 15000-odd feet. Till now, note that the cars windows were open, we were enjoying the wind, with ears popping due to a steep climb. Of course, the layers Mom was weaing were growing every few thousand feet that we rose but Dad and I decided to wing it! Boy! was that crazy of us. We get down at the checkpost for a relief break and the chilness hit me full force. Goosebumps break out the shivers compared to the heebee-jeebies you get at the worst horror movies. Of course, that didn’t stop me from half trotting to the mobile restroom (The army guys are sweet enough to keep one for civillians and women too!). Then I felt the world go tipsy!! The oxygen is very low even at that altitude and I half jumped out of my skin which still didn’t help to set the world right! Then the advice to take medication for high altitudes made sense! We popped some as soon as we reached the car!!!

Then we moved on through quite treacherous roads. Simply because the snow on these levels erode the road put by the Army. It was extremely bumpy and slow and we could see snow peeking from crevices a little higher than us on our mountain! As we rode higher, it only got better. We could now see those crevices lower than us!! We were actually higher than some remnant snow!! To the amusement of our driver, we asked about snow (again!) at the passes and he coolly asked us to wait and watch or that he would get us some from near the pass :)… Then we approach near the pass and the saw the best was still to come! The peak right next to the road was a white carpet of snow we were really tempted to carry home! To ski on that slope would have been unimaginable wonderful.


Then we finally reached the pass - Chang La - 17586ft, the 3rd highest pass in the world! We had never been this high ever before in our lives. It was exhilarating to breath there. See and understand the achievement of our army to succeed in some awesome engineering and make road at this altitude. The army is very friendly to civilians here. They have a small stall where the keep hot, sweet, elaichi chai with dalchini. Its like elixir in the cold, gives your body the kick to breathe harder and deal with the altitude. There are also biscuits (Parle G of course) and raisins and cashews - free for all on the table. The army guys are also chatty here, happy to see other humans in a place with a population density of 2/km. One can't thank them enough! There is a temple at these passes, dedicated mostly to Shiva to guard everyone at the pass. And one is advised not to spend more than half an hour at these passes as the body is not trained to take it.

As we moved on, thoroughly satisfied, there was still more to come! Snow right by the road and in places, higher than the car (and this was a Sumo type car we are talking about). I could almost touch and the endless delight was just too much to contain so all I could do was whip out the camera and not stop clicking everything. Those images are burnt into my head now… so hard did I want to remember it! Imagine a small muddy bumpy curvy road, 1.5 car lengths wide with not much runoff. One side, the dark mountain's mud slopes and on the other, a steep drop into ravines. And on the mountain, snow, glistening in the sun, a shimmer here and then there all the way to the top. A carpet you could sink into sometimes covered with the dust blown from the mountains. And a carpet that has been left with the footprints of a herd of giants! Heaven couldn't get much more satisfying than what I felt then.

As we moved down the pass on the other side, the snow stuck on the flat part of the mountain was a likening to the Hanging gardens of Babylon. A beautiful sight, you couldn’t peel your ice from. Then more of nature's surprises come out from a frozen lake at a much lower altitude and even a half frozen one! Then it was all about going down, down and down some more till you suddenly hit the valleys seen from above. Then all you see is brown barren land and huge mountains rising from nowhere. Nestled among them further behind are white sheets of snow on which are delightful to spot for fleeting seconds as the car races on the plain flat roads. Another checkpost later, we realize the song collection had changed! The Australian group we had met at Uleytokpo were coming to Pangong too in a minibus. Our drivers had exchanged their collection to suit our needs. The collection was just superb! Made the ride all the more fun. The landscape was changing and the excitement to reach Pangong was
rising... More on that soon...

Of Cabbages-- and Kings--...

The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--

Of cabbages--and kings--

And why the sea is boiling hot--

And whether pigs have wings."

The above lines are from the poem "Walrus and the Carpenter" written by Lewis Carrol. A poem that always crack me up with its nonsensicalness. It is a wonderful tonic for anyone needing some cheering up. Its extremely frivolous and seems a world and a half away. Check out this link if you want a good laugh: http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/walrus.html. So the idea of cabbages and kings always reminds of randomness like nothing else. I mean, think about it, why in anyone's world will I talk of a cabbage and a King in the same conversation except to say what the King's menu for lunch was! So, I guess this also one of those random thoughts which I felt like putting down on paper (oops, on a computer screen).

First of all, the address of my blog is not gibberish at all! For those not familiar with the world of F1 Motor racing or Italian, Scuderia is term used by Italian teams in the sense of 'Team Ferrari' becoming 'Scuderia Ferrari'. Its translation effectively means 'from the stables of'. 'Tifosi' translates to 'fans' in F1 specifically indicating Ferrari's scarlet-crazy fans. That definitely clears up my loyalties in the sport. Till now, I have not commented on F1 and its gossip simply because a certain Mr. Schumacher, for whom I was mainly watching, had retired from it by then and my fanatic interest in the sport had somewhat gone down. Also hostel life and sports schedules, especially in a girl's hostel, don’t always go very well together. Now, however, with Schumi announcing his return back to F1... that too not with Ferrari… well what can I say?

First thought, and I was surprised it was publicly proclaimed by Ferrari in as many words as well, was actually a sense of betrayal that he wasn’t with Ferrari anymore. Ever since I have been watching it was more like Ferrari and Schumi were pretty much the same thing. Seeing him in non-Red overalls will take huge getting used to. Some of the Italian press even went as far as proclaiming him a traitor! I mean beat that! But, I guess the bottom line is that, at least for me, there's reason for F1 becoming exciting again. Of course, it might be too much to hope for the Championship Win but I believe a win or too and some podiums would be quite plausible and welcome. This is after all the more than 5 time Constructor and Driver Championship winning combo of Ross Brawn and Schumi. So actually now, I am super excited for 2010 Season and the vroom of F1 cars.

What is it about imminent separation that suddenly makes you want to appreciate people and the relationship they have with you? So, as per the BITS system, 4th Year is where people with a single B.E. degree choose to go on Practice School II (a 6 month internship chosen from a pool of companies and done to complete the requisite credits). Since, everyone cant disappear in one semester itself, students are asked to choose a semester to go for it. This means, the batch gets divided up into people going for the internship and those staying back for the particular semester. This generally breaks up friends (couples especially!!), groups and slightly messes up the social dynamic, making one hunt for a new one suddenly. That being the case, the 3rd Year 2nd Semester gains a huge sense of importance. All birthdays celebrated in the 3rd Year are quite special as it would be the 'last time we are all together'. Interestingly, it also strengthens the bond of friendship simply because a sense of finality hangs in the air. Next semester might not have the same people so nearby and so physically part of your life. So celebrations galore become more jovial and cherished than before, crazy photo sessions happen in an attempt to capture the 'littlest' things for posterity and nostalgia always managed to creep in. Like, "I remember the first semester… It seems so long ago na?", "It seems so long ago that I was friends with those people", "I cant believe it’s the last semester ALL of us are going to be together!!" and more in similar strains. The best part is all the preparation done from almost the previous year to decide on dresses for the farewell! Matching accessories, shoes, expensive, pretty clothing and the anticipation if one can carry it all off when D-Day arrives! All of it makes you value the time on has left with the little family you make in campus life. Who knows where we'll all end up scattered across the world's panorama? It changes perspectives more than you can imagine.

Birthdays come and... birthdays come :D. I always look forward to my birthday right from new years' coz March is pretty early in the year ain't it? So this time was my very first '12 O' clock' birthday and it was just awesome!!! The tradition on campus is to buy a b'day cake for the lucky one which is cut with all the friends around and some if not all of it is eaten n the rest finds its way on one's face and hair (if your not so lucky!!). Then of course, its time for presents. Only then, does one get to sleep. This time the celebrations seemed to be extended over the whole week (not counting the one I had in Feb end when I went home!!). Coz it was only the next day that I received bday cards and my passport!! (My heartfelt thanks to the Bombay Passport Office for clearing up my old passport and timing it so well after making me bite my nails about it!) Then of course, comes the treat phase. Luckily, I had two more victims for company to foot the bill of the treat.

That's not to say it turned out 'super' as well. We decided to go for a buffet at this 3-star with 17 people in total. We walk in to the garden set for the buffet and see it decked up more for a marriage reception. It was Indian Classical Nite apparently. This is the best part of all!!! We manage to work in a humungous discount on the buffet just because we were not told about the 'entertainment' for the night we would have to pay for as well. Boy! I love being a student. That seemed to have sealed the deal for us. So, 17 hungry people dug in to a very nice dinner with rather funny(not in the best possible way) depictions of Indian Classical dances for the foreigners to enjoy! On the whole, everyone was very happy including those who actually foot the bill. A near perfect way to enjoy a birthday after all I guess… Can't wait for the next one, though!!

On other things… Yours truly has been bowled over by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's novels. Found a collection of 5 novels of his and was completely into them. Excellent insight into human psychology and very mature story lines. One novel is interestingly narrated in the first person from the varying point of view of the main characters and is very refreshing to read. Of course, all of them are love stories and have too many sad guys falling for too many beautiful girls but, Bollywood storylines could definitely improve by taking a leaf out of his work! Well I guess that's the note I'll end this random thoughts session on. More to come later...

Uleytokpo - The Riverside

Howdy all! Its been Oh!... so long since this blog was updated but life decided to make us its ragdoll for quite some time. Schedules turned upside down, right side up, brought right down to a stop and accelerated before you could catch a breath… to make it a one liner. Its been a crazy few months!!! First of course was Test1always coming sooner than you want it too, still settling down with the new student council, etc. Then the bombshell of Jaundice spreading faster than gossip on campus, resulting in an unprecedented, not to mention historic, shut down of the campus for about 17 days. Everyone, scrambling asap to get away from the vicinity of the campus. And then coming back. However, unlike most others, of course, the devil in the formof Nettech, a certificate course on network security and management, was set to haunt me. This demon loved to eat away one's allocated time, exhaust them completely and still have them ask for more with enjoyment and the promise of knowledge as the bait! Of course, the lesser demon of project work grew threateningly large one weekend and it was all set for me to trip over them all and land flat on the face. Of course, with all this, you might understand why the blogging monster decided to sit out the free for all for my time and energy.

Coming back to the point though, its time we continued on the journey through my paradise, Ladakh… So after the acclimatization phase, it was time to start the actual journey. Destination - Uleytokpo (pronounced as Uley-top-ko), Banks of River Indus. The day dawned early and after breakfast we set off to Uleytokpo. For the first time ever, the road openedout ahead of us to reveal the cold beauty of this land. What you first experience as soon as Leh is left behind are the army lands. Home of battalions and regiments stretched for kilometres on both sides of the tiny road 2 and then some car widths wide.

Leaving human settlements behind, the loneliness engulfs you totally. Actually it overwhelms you. For as far as your eye can see, the grey snake of a road is laid out on extremely plain land. The sides however are a totally different story. For tens of kilometres its plain barren land and then… there lie the giants. They grab your attention quite forcefully. One of their own definitely caught our full attention when it tried to bend the movement of our over a ton vehicle with all of us sitting inside! Yes, the Magnetic Hill it was called and stayed true to its name. An absolutely still more than a few tons car with passengers inside (including yours truly) was slowly pulled when the car was left in gear with no accelerators or brakes!!! No other word for it but 'cooool!!' Moving on, we had some more breathtaking views of endless mountains and ranges.

First drive-by was the confluence of Zangskar and Indus. Incidentally, the Indus can be viewed throughout the country in an accessible manner only around Leh and then near Kargil before our namesake is lost to out neighbour, Pakistan. Then we stopped for the first stop at a ruined monastery the name of which fails me at the present time. One ends up seeing so many monasteries, that one loses track of all the Gompas and their names! Well, this was a ruin in the strictest sense of the word! Located on a small hill, parts of the monastery cum living quarter cum fort was in completely unconnected parts of the broken hill. Restoration work was on and the best view obtained comprised of how bamboo sticks are used for window sills in Ladakh.

Moving on, we were greeted graciously by capped mountains along the landscape peeking from behind their drier and shorter counterparts. This continued through the journey with the occasional (actually, only) river interrupting the landscape with a burst of green and a small town. After a stop of a few seconds at Uleytokpo for a recon of our campsite, we set off with a packed lunch to Alchi Monastery. That is a tradition it seems for the hotels and camps in Ladhakh - sending the tourists with packed lunches - a quaint one at that for taking care of guests. The location of the monastery was simply beautiful!

It was a small hill (compared to those around) and the valley below was filled with tiny farms and if I'm not wrong green meadows. As we were to learn, the monastery was splendidly colourful. The paintings on the walls were so bright and happy! We were greeted with a paintings was of the four heavenly kings (Lokapala in Sanskrit or guardians of the world), each of a different colour with different accompaniments ranging from a banjos and magic potions to swords! These heavenly kings are guardian gods. The Yellow hued one is Vaisravana (Kuber)meaning "He who hears everything" and protects the North holding an Umbrella. The Blue hued one is Virudhaka meaning "Patron of Growth" and protects the South holding a Sword. The White hued one is Dhrtarashtra meaning "Watcher of the Lands" and protects the East holding a Pipa (Sitar-esque instrument). The Red hued one is Virupaksa meaning "He who sees all" and protects the West holding a Serpent.

After visiting the shrine, we had lunch sitting on a roadside ledge with the whole hill and its vista stretched out below us. The major attraction near the monastery is this one hill which looks like the moon has been brought to ground. It is so unbelievable to observe a mountain whose colours and texture change from core Ladhakhi to the the core of the Moon! You have to see it to believe it! The rills on these 'moon-lands' - as they are referred to locally - are infinite and minute and the colour is that of cheese. This does lend to the theory that the moon is made of cheese (as per Jerry's fantasy!!). Our return route was a jolting shortcut that took us delightfully close to these moon-lands but rocked me (literally!!) to sleep. When I opened my eyes a good hour or so later we were back near Uleytokpo and it was time to settle into our tent.

Now, this tent was nothing short of 5 star in my opinion simply because to me tent has always been cramped space and sleepin bags with and the only attached toilet being the great outdoors. Here we had double sized bed with a space for a third and an attached bathroom complete with a prettily shaped wash basin and hand showers! The view, on walking a few steps out of the tent and peeking, entailed the flowing Indus as we were on her rather high banks. I instantly fell in love with the setting. The air about that place had something so lazy and relaxing about it and the mountains all around were like a protection from the everyday world. The few wisps of clouds in the sky threw a nice display of shadows on the ground with the mountains as a canvas as the river gushed down below. The caretaker was delightful Nepali whose energy at those altitudes was very amusing to watch. On talking to him later, we found that he was a sherpa who has climbed Mount Everest more number of times than I care to admit. He works as a guide in mountaineering expeditions in Nepal during winter. He half helped us plan a trip to Nepal too!

Warm food on a cold night was a welcoming sight not to mention a bonfire after that! The place had predominantly foreign families and a large group of youngsters who seemed to be from Australia and another group of three whom we were going to run into quite often. It was a night to relish. Cold and yet warm due to the bonfire and the sound of the river above it all. The cherry on the icing of this cake had to be the night sky! I never believed one could see the Milky Way in our sky when we were in it but its true! The faint and blink and you miss it band of white running across the sky made me happy enough to dance around in glee. Its impossible to ever imagine how infinite infinite really is until you look at the unhindered night sky. What more does one need for a peaceful night's rest...

10 Years Later...

As I watch the TV on 26th July, flipping channels, the headlines are the same, Remembering Kargil, the war that happened in my lifetime, affecting my country. The images shown now are of barren hills and clear skies, of forgotten heroes and forgotten times. However, over all the discussion of the current status of the army, its soldiers and machinery, what struck me more was the discussion of the terrain and weather there. Somehow, I could envision what Nature would have looked like then, mainly because of the holiday to Leh-Ladakh from which we had returned just a couple of days before. A life-changing and humbling experience that showed me that Nature just can't surprise one enough.

The last few days of Practice School were a whirlwind what with personal commitments and the trip to Leh looming faster than the comfortable pace. However, more than a few late nights went by and 16th July dawned. Rushing some 20-odd kilometres in the morning, I submitted my reports and the final documentation of my project to start packing for the evening flight to Delhi, our stopover on the way to Leh. I breathed easy only when we got to the airport, tight as the timeline was. The journey went without a hitch and Delhi welcomed us with a blast of hot air late in the night.

We must have taxied for about 15 minutes before coming to a final halt. An old friend, living in Shankar Vihar, the Army Housing Colony, nearby, put us up for the night. Interestingly, it might have been easier to have asked the pilot to drop us on the taxi-way as a jump of the airport compound would have brought us to our home for the night. We tried to get as much sleep as was possible as it was already past midnight and the flight to Leh was at 6:15 am. Don't ever think you're going to catch sleep on the Delhi-Leh flight. The tiniest clarity in viewing would just take one's breath away. One think I found out was the reason the crown of our country is called Himalaya - Abode of Snow. Some time into flight and food was served as usual. However, for the first time, no one seemed interested in eating. Anyone with a picture capturing device was too busy hogging windows and clicking away to glory. The perfect start to a holiday.



From perfect skiing slopes with zero access, to small deliciously green lakes, to chocolate brown cones with vanilla icing we saw them all. Waves and waves of endless mountains glinting in the sunlight and peeking from the foam factory created by the clouds. The flight sorely seemed to be too short. So, imagine my delight when the pilot announced that a defense aircraft was going to take priority in the landing order. By now, of course, the field of vision was consumed by the majestisity of the world's youngest ranges in all their glory, barren and brown, imposing themselves on the tiny white aircraft trying to reach the burst of green in the valley below - Leh. And I was already thanking my parents for getting me a camera of my own for my last birthday.



The one thing I had to thank God for though was the fact that, this day had the clearest skies I would see through all the days spent in Ladakh. Curiousity mounted as the plane descended, on how this new landscape - a cold desert - would look like, how the holiday would go and how well I would be able to handle the high altitude and low oxygen. As we deplaned, I took in deep gulps of refreshingly clean air but could find the slight light headedness. It disappeared almost as soon as it came, making me wonder if it was just imagined, who knows? As per medical advice, we each took half a Diamox pill used to treat altitude sickness. A car was waiting to take us to our hotel. The scenery around Leh was breathtaking considering we had Delhi to look at about 2 hrs ago. Leh, the valley, is surrounded on almost all sides by mountains, I mean mountains of mountains. They just don’t end and redefine how BIG big can really get.

Ten minutes later we drew upto a hotel built in a traditional style where the roof and windows are buffered with bamboo shoots between wooden/cement blocks. We were welcomed with the traditional silk scarf sacred to Buddhists and had some tea and cookies. Small talk with the manager and people working there revealed to us that almost all of them were non-natives. Just before Leh closes down, they move to Goa or Kerala to continue to work in restaurants and shacks there. Hence, they manage to work through off-season as well. As per advice we decided to rest for the better part of the day in an attempt to acclimatize to the altitude by sleeping it all off. The food at the hotel was predominantly vegetarian thankfully. We ventured out towards the evening.


First stop was the Shanti Stupa founded in 1985 by the Dalai Lama himself. It is located on the hilltop of Changspa and is one landmark seen even as a flight lands into Leh's airport. A short climb brings one to a small prayer hall flooded with colour. We were greeted with the monotonous thump of a drum and what I think is Japanese chanting that went like so: 'Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Gen Ke'. A further climb flattened out into a huge plane base for the statue. Endless climbing it seemed on that day, but the stupa structure was finally reached. Colourful pictures adorned the perimeter including one with the Buddha turning the Dhamma wheel and the symbol of the Ashoka Chakra. Coming down from the stupa, the panoramas afforded at the base were simply breathtaking. Almost all of Leh with the gorgeous mountains were laid out at our feet. From the stupa, we moved onto more worldy things like a tour of the market and some shopping and scouting of other items that could be brought after further comparisons. Tired, we soon returned back to the hotel and after a quaint dinner (the altitude succeeded in reducing my appetite quite a bit), we hit the sack. That day was just the trailer, the next day would be the start of the movie.