Back after almost a decade...

Hello dear reader...

It has been almost a decade since I wrote something in this space. As the cliche goes, life is now different (much so) since I wrote last (Jul 3, 2011 apparently - :O)

It has been a wild ride - and I am sure we are all much better for it - if you even remember the existence of this blog. :P

The last time I wrote here... 

India had just won the ICC World Cup. 

I was still struggling through my Masters' degree (I was just in my 2nd semester at that point, so pl. bear with me). 

I was still unemployed - it is funny, now that I think about it - the coincidence of my stopping to write with my starting to be gainfully employed (either part-time or full-time). It is almost as if my job(s) replaced my writing... Geez!

America was still presided over by Mr. Obama, so, for better or for worse, it was different.

I still had a non-smart phone (a bright red flip LG at that) and used to be edgy saying "I am not a big fan of touch-screens) *facepalm* - of course this quickly changed when I was able to buy my first Android (Samsung Galaxy Nexus - untainted by Samsung's bloatware yet)...

And in the meantime, the past 10 years have brought great things into my life, and I am sure all in all of yours too...

COVID-19 has to take the cake for the most influential thing in the past decade - hopefully, the vaccines will tame this beast soon!

He-who-must-not-be-named (or more aptly, Umbridge) being the president for one full term and seeing the horrid news cycles spewing out the craziness.

A stable career and work that I enjoy doing (of course there are ups and downs, but, for the most part it is great fun)

The experiences that are unique to being a first-generation immigrant in the US - especially practically starting from the scratch in a brand new place - One thing I plan to write more about

Getting married - best thing that I chose to do

Getting into photography - just enjoying a hobby the most I can - another thing I would like to write more about

Reading (and more importantly, re-reading) a lot - this is one other thing I plan to write about - sort of book reviews, I guess, especially about things I have learned and understood better from it.

So, here's the lowdown - I just read something excellent about a gentleman's journey through his life from Hyderabad to the USA (spanning some 30 years so far) and this has sparked me to get back onto this pursuit of mine - link in comments.

Not going to make lofty promises of posts everyday, but may be once every few weeks about the things that have shaped me (esp. in the past decade) when I have been mute on this platform..

So, yeah - thanks for coming back to Musings with Munaf! Hope you read along and contribute when/where you can!

 

7 Fictional Characters that changed my life! :)

The title says it all. This apens to everyone. Sometimes, fictional characters are more influencing to your life than actual people. It is especially true when you can connect to the situations the character has been in. Well, this is list is about some of the major of my influences. The list goes as below: (this is exactly how I write my exams :))


1. Barney Stinson: For the obvious reasons. He is simply legen-wait for it-dary! Be it the coolness with which he handles problems, the impeccable suiting-up or the mysterious story-line about his job, Barney simply rocks! If you've never come across Barney, go for any episode of How I Met Your Mother. The kind of gentle comedy (yeah! ;)) and mystery behind his work makes him a sort of idol for me :). And of course not to mention The Bro Code - awesome book. I was rolling on the floor laughing when I first read the book. Rock on, Barney!


2. Eric Cartman: Eric Cartman, the douche-bag from South Park, yes! I know, Eric represents everything that is wrong with the world, for academic purposes, this is probably the most influential of all my influences. I have learnt a lot about the world and people especially from this show and especially Cartman. The "Screw you guys, I'm going home."s and "But, Moooom"s definitely make him the best characters in the show. In spite of being a racist and a pretentious douche, he has touched my life and affected my thinking patterns a lot. Hats-off to Trey Parker and Matt Stone for thinking him up! \m/


3. Holden Caulfield: The protagonist of the popular "The Catcher in the Rye", probably my most favorite book. Well, the informal tone of the narration and the beauty with which he talks about the things around him makes him the frankest character in any book, movie or series I have ever seen. The best part - "All I want to be is a catcher in the rye and not just another phony like everyone else" like Holden says to his sister Phoebe. Awesome!


4. Tyler Durden: Brad Pitt at his perfection, but Pitt isn't why Durden is an important influence to me. The stoicism and philosophy Tyler represents what I would like to be. "This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time." is what sticks. I would highly recommend you watch Fight Club for a better understanding. :)


5. Ross Geller: The geek from Friends. No descriptions, but he has affected me quite a bit. And of course, Science Boy! \m/


6. Bruce Wayne: Typical super-hero inspiration, you might say. But then, there is something very different from any other super-hero. Ever realized that Wayne had no super-powers like the other super-heroes?? All Wayne does is making use of science and technology to get his powers. Wayne teaches me that hard-work and innovation can get you accolades which are usually assumed.


7. Severus Snape: Forget the superb revelations of the real role of Snape in the Deathly Hallows, he was my all time favorite right from the first book. His stoic attitude and the best part, keeping secrets is what touches me :).


List out yours too! :)


P.S.: Feels good to have nothing blabbered at the beginning and the end, right? :)

The Uncertainty Principle

Now, this is physics. The Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. Speaking with respect to Physics, this is possibly the most basic and un-foolable principle. It's simple to understand. The gist of the principle is that, it is not possible to measure any property of a system without changing the condition of the system. Let me define some terms here first, "System" is the body or group of bodies or practically anything which is being observed. "Observer" is the person or thing or machine that calculates any or all properties of the "System". Now, why am I freaking you out about Physics? I recently realized a certain way to put the Uncertainty Principle. The wording is something to this effect:

You cannot observe anything without changing it.

Sounds weird, right? I thought so too, until, of course, I tried to apply this. This is creepily true, believe me! Never thought Physics could touch lives in such simple ways (knew the complex ways, of course..).I'm sure you might have noticed too. Let me give an example. Now, a couple of weeks back, I was gloating about my book reading. This is something I totally do :P. Here, the "System" is my reading books. The "Observer", my friends. Next thing I know, I suddenly lose interest in books. I must have read like about 10 pages since that happened. It beat me at first, then, I realized the severe repercussions of the Uncertainty Principle. What happens is, you try to "measure" the future, by guessing or imagining. By the basic Uncertainty Principle, you change the future by moving into a little, if not totally, different Multiverse. Er, I just got lost, getting back to the topic. Another example, I have this friend of mine who was bragging about his date and indeed, we were envious :P. In just a few days, what we come to know is he's broken up. This is creepy indeed.

So, why am I telling this now? Well, I just want to see if this stands with the Principle itself as the "System" and the readers (must be a million by now, of which about 999,995 are from other Universes...) as the "Observers". Must be fun to watch the Uncertainty principle face itself!!

Finally, to all the readers, try to see if the Uncertainty principle is true for y'all as it is for me!! And yes, try and tell me about the experience!!

P.S. : By this post, I might make your life tough (believe me, it is tough to face it when it is right into your face...) but, it is a simple science experiment and I hope you help me out with this...and for more explicit examples, contact me personally...

Keep Running..

I was looking through this great work of Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass". It's a sequel to "Alice in Wonderland". There I noticed the observation of the Red Queen..

"In this place, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."

It struck to me, how true it is even in today's lifestyle. Seriously, guys, that supposedly is actually a theory (from what I gathered over the Internet.). It's called the "Red Queen Hypothesis", though it is completely a different perspective that it deals with. I'll try and keep it as simple as possible.. I'm certainly not dealing with what's in that article now.

Let's discuss this from our own perspective, most of us being students...

What we usually do is - study, study and more study... More so if you don't live in a hostel :). Why do we study? Simple, we've got a reputation to keep. There were time when we were in school and our grades were out o this universe (Face it, we actually used to get 95% or sometimes even 98% :), our happiest hours :)). Now, this false rep, sets your parents', friends and acquaintances minds in such a way that, any grade that you get less than 90% looks like blasphemy. So, what we try is "keep running". This happens especially when you grow up and are doing your bachelors or something... It's pretty much evident to most of us.

Let's go into the reasons... We face this ruthless competitive world around us. And we simply have gotta keep up with it (sounds like Taare Zameen Par, right? I feel the same too :)). For example, if you stand at a certain place in your class (whichever class, math, guitar or whatever), you gotta work hard to keep that place - you can run but you can't hide - see. So, you keep running, you stay where you are (you start wondering if you are on a treadmill :)). Eventually, what happens is, you are depressed like anyone would be - c'mon guys, your hard work doesn't seem to be paying, right? So, here's my message, don't be disheartened, period. See, look at it this way, if it's taking you so much hard work to stay where you are, what might it take to improve? Just keep that in mind, and work for it. Like Joel Hawes says,

Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it; but your 

arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a 

level with yourself.

So, it makes sense really to keep running to stay there, yes, it certainly is worth the trouble guys. But running faster gets you to be the best, or at least better than yourself. Set aims for yourself, actually, don't let others put words in your mouth. It's as simple as that!

That's all... Keep Running :)

P.S. : Thanks for your response to this blog, guys. :). Means a lot to me, really.

RIP - Michael Crichton, We'll miss you..

A set of scientists, a lawyer and an enterprenuer visionary  getting down from an SUV...

The scene is set in a lonesome looking not-so-special island, with everyone wondering what the trip is all about..

Then comes the surprise, beginning with a set of thumping sounds...

All the group looks up, their hearts skip a beat... They are actually witnessing a Dinosaur!!

I simply cannot forget the delightful feeling I had when I first saw this scene, and I'm sure none of us can. In case you haven't guessed yet, this is from the legendary movie "Jurassic Park". Combined with the excellent skills of Speilberg, the plot of the story doesn't fail to capture anyone's imagination..

Few people know that, behind such a great movie, there is an author, who single-handedly was responsible for such a beautiful plot and characters...

A giver of many such thrills and original, ingenious plots, Michael Crichton, is no more. I, for one, am a big fan of his works, right from his first novel "The Andromeda Strain". I've followed virtually every book he's written. This post is dedicated to the creativity, ingenuity and moral values of such a great author.

Going through some of his Obits on the internet, I found this very fitting phrase... 

"America loses its moral technologist: Michael Crichton."

I, personally, owe a lot to this author. He (along with Richard Feynman, of course) was responsible for my interests in Quantum Mechanics. He also broadened my horizons to every field, right from biology, biometrics, genetics and what not? Even environmentalism...

The major distinguishing thing in all his books is the fast pace, sci-fi themes, human errors in technology and moral issues of science and research..

I've noticed that, in all his books, there a exists a central figure - a visionary genius, who drives the world around him with his unique vision. Be it, John Hammond from Jurassic Park, Harry Adams of Sphere, Dr.Jeremy Stone of The Andromeda Strain, Robert Doniger of Timeline or Richard Levine of The Lost World.. I have drawn inspiration from every one of them and thank Crichton a lot for all the insights he provided.

Actually, I've been nursing a dream eversince I heard the story of how Arthur Clarke inspired Tim Berners-Lee to invent the Internet through his short story. I wanted my name to be taken that way with Michael Crichton. Indeed, he inspired me a lot through his works... especially Timeline.

I just wanna say that, wherever you are, sir, you will be remembered forever for your great imaginative works and your moral philosophies... I will miss you, though you;ll live on through your works...

May Your Soul Rest in Peace...