Lets Work For Humanity

Photographs flower show Delhi University

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:32:00 +0000

I own the copyright to these images. Copyright Free Images. You are free to use these images for free for legal usage.

Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:49:00 +0000

Ahh!!!! I hate getting up early in the morning, and by early I mean waking up from 5-9am on week days and before 10am on Sundays, but not today, at least my 20 day running practice will go in vain, if I am late today. If you know me, you know that I am not athlete but I do keep myself fit by working out once in a fortnight. It was the D-Day, Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, November 1, 2009, how can I miss that.

It was the last day of registration for Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2009, and afriend of mine (Dr. Prashant), askedme if I would like to run a marathon. I looked at him with curiosity for any hint of the joke, if he is trying on me, but could not find any.Though I was getting late for my lab, I thought, ah why not. I am fit, I can run, 21 km big deal!!! We directly went to the Reebok showroom at CP and got our self registered, big deal with the registration; it was as easy as giving Rupees 500 to an uninterested, rude Reebok fellow.

We started practicing, me and my friend, almost daily used to go for running in the morning. He was more prepared and only intensified his practice of running as he was already running few Kms daily. I only started any kind of workout after some 6 months, bit due to busy lab and a lot due to my laziness. Our practice was going on well; the only problem was we had only around 20 days of which I skipped some, due to late work nights and inability to miss my sleep oncozy “just before winters” morning, damn I love that sleep in the early morning hours. And guess what, I started keeping track of the distance and time we were jogging out daily (or almost daily). I am sure you are going to laugh if I give you the details (it was like day one – 3km, day two – 5km, day three – missed, day four – 5km, day five – missed, day six – missed again, after that many days of rest due to laziness), with my own explanation to myself for giving body proper rest for the missed days.

I was really excited about the race. It was all peaceful except few problems with the work in the lab. Big talks started among the friends, some believed that I won’t ever be able to complete the marathon, motivation from almost everyone else, I found it funny when I came to know someone even thinks that I don’t even need a practice to finish the race, though its an honor, ah people have so many false believes. The race was on Sunday, November 1, 2009, there were many other events. The HALF MARATHON started at 07:30 AM, the GREAT DELHI RUN started at 09:30 AM, SENIOR CITIZENS’ RUN at 07:10 AM, the WHEELCHAIR EVENT at 07:45 AM. And it was November, with Average Maximum Temperature 28.3° C, Average Minimum Temperature 12.8° C, Average Humidity at 0830 hrs IST 61%, Average Humidity at 1730 hrs IST 40%, and Normal rainfall during November 04.3 mm. All 4 races were to start and finish from outside the Central Civil Services Cultural & Sports Board grounds on Vinay Marg, Opp. Nehru Park, New Delhi. All participants had to assemble at these grounds at least one hour prior to the start time of the race they are participating in. One can enter the grounds from Gate No. 4 on Vinay Marg, of course I copied this data from event website.

How irresponsible can we be? We were late for this big event. On the event day, though alarm on my newly bought Nokia 5132 music express did its work properly and gave alarm at 5am in the morning,but when I peeped outside through the window I saw gradually sun moving out, but there was also a hint of fog and cozy and bit chilling Sunday morning. I gave my cell a glance with half open eyes and kept alarm to snooze, pulled my bed sheet and snuggled again and gradually drifted to my peaceful sleep, that I enjoy more then anything. I am not sure if my cell snoozed again, but after what I thought it to be 10min (which was actually more then 30min) my neighbor friend who was also was to run along with me, banged my doors with as much rage as he could, and I regretted registering for the race.

Anyways, I slowly got up and started to get ready for the event. Within half an hour I was ready but he was still getting ready. It is understandable when girl take time to get ready, I could never understand nor I will, why boys take so much time to get ready. Anyway, I waited outside my room for my both neighbors (one was just coming along to give us company and to cheer for us (Deepak)). We came out at 6:30am from our rooms. Not to mention that we were already late by one hourby our own plan that we decided a day before.

I kept reminding them and myself that race starts at 7:30am. Metro was a better option, I thanked E. Sreedharan. It was 7:10am when we reached Central Secretariat and wondered, what now. There was facility provided by the event organizers to take participants from there to the event venue. We got into it. It was interesting to know that many of them were first timers, except one girl that said she has experienced in half marathon in Singapore. She also scared us by saying that there were four causalities in Singapore race. Damn!!! Like everyone I thought to myself, these things happen to others and not me and convinced myself that I can make it.

We reached event venue at around 7:20am, my heart was beating much faster then any run could ever induce it to. I do not want to be late, damn it was embarrassing. And guess what, we did not know which way to go, no volunteers were at the sight, we ran along with the people in one direction to reach the start point. Finally, we reached to a place everyone was in line for the Half Marathon after asking some 5-6 fellows including few security personals that have no idea. We handed over our belonging to the friend (Deepak) who came along to cheer us up, he was a great help, at least to we can give him our belongings and run peacefully, moreover he is cheerful, I was glad to have him around.

Can you imagine, it took us more then 20min to reach to the starting point after running through a ground that was a holding area. I somehow did not understand why they have closed the doors for the entry area, just few meters away from the start line. There were barriers with the volunteers guarding them, it was already 7:45am and people were getting crazy and frustrated for not letting them onto the track, my neighbor jumped the barricade and I somehow manage to open and cross it. When we entered the track I was amazed to see how many people were around. Lots of media attention, few celebrities and a huge crowed to cheer up, and few runners in surprisingly interesting getups.

Anyways, I started first marathon run of my life with the clock on start line indicating 8:00am (huh? already 30 min late). I said to myself after glancing around people running with me, I can do it, and I will make it to the end.

I started with the slow pace and gradually increased my speed; I settled whe

n I was normal with my pace. I did not stop for water at the first stall when I saw, I kept running keeping in my mind that I have to do this, after some 20 minutes of run that looked like eternity, I saw another water stall coming, it was inevitable not to take water from there, I was too thirsty and exhausted, I took a bottle of water and asked the volunteer what is the distance I covered, I stopped myself from throwing water on him with the anger when he said its just 4km, for the fact that so much effort just for 4km, instead I thanked him for water and thought to myself what if he was not here. I left Prashant behind telling him that I am moving forward as I knew he will pick up later and will be well ahead of me, he nodded and I moved on. Soon after that I saw best of the runners coming back, dran, I am so behind, though I was happy to see some of the best world runners and thanked my friend for brining me to this event.

Rest of the run went uneventfully with my mind kept me reminding that I have to doit, there were various people performing on the stages on the way. The co-runners were doing all shorts of things, some were dancing, some were busy taking pictures of each other, some were walking slowly and few were still looking very determined, running with the peace, I said to myself, keep moving I have to make it.

Something around the mid of the race near Rajpath someone was performing on guitar, then I got a pad on my back, I realized Prashant was here and he moved ahead and I nodded him to go ahead. Somewhere around the 16^th km I was all exhausted and muscles in my leg started cramping, I wanted to walk out, go to my room and lie down on my bed to sleep, but I wished I could. Each km was taking a lot of toll on me and I took a water bottle each time I came across the stall.

When I was around 19^th km I thought to myself, I think I can do it easily now, then I saw another co-runner on running with scream mask, symbolizing something I feared a bit, symbolizing the inevitable, talk with the girl in bus from Central Secretariat came to my mind, but I ignored and I waved him and he waved back.

I took some rest by walking fast instead of running till I saw the 20^th km sign board. I started running again when I crossed it, it was only one more km to go and I was exhausted then ever before, I ran until it was just 100 meters left, then suddenly my eyes went to the clock just above finish line that said 10:27:46 am and I remembered that I read somewhere it was written that only those who could finish run before 10:30 am will get the certificate stating total time it took to finish the run, I did not want to go my efforts in vain, as every muscle in my body carved to rest, I gathered my all efforts and ran the finishing line with my hands in the air, ignoring all sounds, people moving around etc, and felt as if I have achieved my world, thinking that people are only cheering for me. Timing was recorded by interesting small chip timer tied to my shoe.

I have finished the marathon before time that took me around 2.5 hours, though I took a lot more time then Deriba Merga, who completed it within 59 min 54 seconds, it was my personal best and I was smiling inside for this achievement.

After collecting my finishing medal, I felt like I am the one who won the race. There was a sense of achievement, though it took me another one day to recover muscle cramps to be able to write this blog, but it was incidental and I think I am going to remember it as fresh as now for the rest of my life.

And this is what I got from Organizers "Congratulations Sanjiv on completing the 2009 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in a finish time of: 02:37:03".

And the certificate from ADHM 2009

Swine Flu

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:22:00 +0000

Swine Flu, Swine Flu everywhere, there seems no relief. Lets join hands in prevention. Following is some information that I thought would be helpful to someone in need, I got through it as forwarded mail, thanks to someone who compiled it. Do let me know if there's more information related to swine flue that could be helpful to others. Do let everyone know about it. The more people are aware the better are our chances. Get more information about Swine Flu HERE, I have not made the presentation, so credit entirely goes to the person who did it.

GOVERNMENT AUTHORIZED HOSPITALS FOR TREATMENT OF SWINE FLU

City	Hospital	Address	Contact
Chennai	King Institute of Preventive Medicine (24/7 Service)	Guindy, Chennai – 32	(044) 22501520, 22501521 & 22501522
	Communicable Diseases Hospital	Thondiarpet, Chennai	(044) 25912686/87/88, 9444459543
	Government General Hospital	Opp. Central Railway Station, Chennai – 03	(044) 25305000, 25305723, 25305721, 25330300
Pune	Naidu Hospital	Nr Le'Meridian, Raja Bahadur Mill, GPO, Pune - 01	(020) 26058243
Pune	National Institute of Virology	20A Ambedkar Road, Pune - 11	(020) 26006290
Kolkata	ID Hospital	57,Beliaghata, Beliaghata Road, Kolkata - 10‎	(033) 23701252
Coimbatore	Government General Hospital	Near Railway Station, Trichy Road, Coimbatore - 18	(0422) 2301393, 2301394, 2301395, 2301396
Hyderabad	Govt. General and Chest Diseases Hospital,	Erragadda, Hyderabad	(040) 23814939
Mumbai	Kasturba Gandhi Hospital	Arthur Road, N M Joshi Marg, Jacob Circle, Mumbai - 11	(022) 23083901, 23092458, 23004512
	Sir J J Hospital	J J Marg, Byculla, Mumbai - 08	(022) 23735555, 23739031, 23760943, 23768400 / 23731144 / 5555 / 23701393 / 1366
	Haffkine Institute	Acharya Donde Marg, Parel, Mumbai - 12	(022) 24160947, 24160961, 24160962
Kochi	Government Medical College	Gandhi Nagar P O, Kottayam - 08	(0481) 2597311,2597312
	Government Medical College	Vandanam P O, Allapuzha - 05	(0477) 2282015
	Taluk Hospital	Railway Station Road, Alwaye, Ernakulam	(0484) 2624040 Sathyajit - 09847840051
	Taluk Hospital	Perumbavoor PO, Ernakulam 542	(0484) 2523138 Vipin - 09447305200
Gurgaon & Delhi	All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)	Ansari Nagar, Aurobindo Marg Ring Road, New Delhi - 29	(011) 26594404, 26861698 Prof. R C Deka - 9868397464
	National Institute for Communicable Diseases	22, Sham Nath Marg, New Delhi - 54	(011) 23971272/060/344/524/449/326
	Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital	Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi - 01	(011) 23741640, 23741649, 23741639 Dr. N K Chaturvedi – 9811101704
	Vallabhai Patel Chest Institute	University Enclave, New Delhi- 07	(011) 27667102, 27667441, 27667667, 27666182
Bangalore	Victoria Hospital	K R Market, Kalasipalayam, Bangalore - 02	(080) 26703294 Dr. Gangadhar - 94480-49863
Bangalore	SDS Tuberculosis & Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases	Hosur Road, Hombegowda Nagar, Bangalore - 29	(080) 26631923 Dr. Shivaraj - 99801-48780

STAY ALERT! PREVENT SWINE FLU

Jaipur: The Pink City

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:45:00 +0000

Recently I had been to Jaipur (Rajasthan, India). I had been there once some 3-4 years back. But this time it was different. This time I had been there with my friends and I really had a great time. I hope you can find lots of write up on the beauty of this Pink City all over the internet. Despite the heat and all the sweating I think it was worth visiting Jaipur, not only it is beautiful, it is also visible that the amount of effort that would have taken to build this place. I just wish to show you few of the photographs clicked by my friend, Amit Mandal and me (All rights strictly reserved to us, kindly seek our permission before using these photographs, if you don't know how to contact him, ask me). I am sure you will enjoy the beauty of the city as much as we did while admiring and capturing it.

Albert Hall or, the City Museum.

Statue of Raja Maan Singh; the late husband of Smt. Gayatri Devi. The Albert Hall in the backdrop.

Front view of the Hawa Mahal

Albert Hall or, the City Museum.

Statue of Raja Maan Singh; the late husband of Smt. Gayatri Devi. The Albert Hall in the backdrop.

Inside the Hawa Mahal.

One of the many "jharokha" inside the Hawa mahal. it is said that the Mahal has 365 of them, one for each day of the year! The Mahal was built for the Queens and her aides as a place to watch the royal processions and yet be away from the public view.

Expanse of the Pink city viewed from the Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal

View of the Pink City from another angle.

Yet another angle. The main road passing the Pink City can be seen.

Front view of the Hawa Mahal

The Fort of Amer built as a massive expanse of royal splendor. Situated on the outskirt of the city.

Another shot from the city-bound road.

Yet again. This time one can see the protective fort waal snaking up the hill

The fort wall again.

Long view of the wall surrounding the Fort area

Plaque describing the once present lake (seen as the empty expanse of land in the first shot). Scarcity of rainfall has dried up the lake

A ruin in front of the entry gate to the Fort premise

Long view of the entry to the fort premise

Steps leading to the Gate of entry

The Gate

Inside the Fort premise restoration work in progress

Inside the Fort. Entry gate leading to Deewan-e-Khaas (place where the king and his consorts would meet)

The gate up close

Closer view of the wall murals

again

Inside the gate

Approaching Deewan-e-Khaas. Presently public access is restricted to the gallery surrounding the monument and not inside it. (Thanks to our habit of pilfering and distorting anything open to public access!)

Intricate murals on the ceiling

Close view of such a mural on the wall. (The shiny embedded things (glass or silver.. not sure) are the ones that attracted public attention and have paid price by being pilfered in many cases!)

Mural again

This time one can see the missing 'shiny-things'

Terrace tops

Works with colored stones (..?) on the wall

Further inside the Amer fort

Plaque self-explanatory

Wow! I guess that would be enterprising to have Cafe Coffee Day inside Amer Fort. Isn't it..

Same here. Nevertheless this is completely an utilitarian approach.

Inside view of the entry gate to Amer Fort

Canon flanking the Fort gate

Here one sees the once present lake (as the empty expanse of land) and the raised lawn is where the queens would dry their tresses.

The Jal Mahal. Said to have floors (water-proof) underground also which were connected by a secret tunnel to the Amer Fort. This Jal Mahal is about midway between the main city and the Amer Fort at the outskirts

Inside the Hawa Mahal.

Yet another view of inside of the Hawa Mahal.

One of the many "jharokha" inside the Hawa mahal.
It is said that the Mahal has 365 of them, one for each day of the year! The Mahal was built for the Queens and her aides as a place to watch the royal processions and yet be away from the public view.

Expanse of the Pink city viewed from the Hawa Mahal

Yet another view of Hawa Mehal from inside.

Yet another view of Hawa Mehal from inside.

Here are some more.

Work on progress, post is still under construction......................

Wolfram|Alpha: Future of search and analysis

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Sun, 17 May 2009 08:30:00 +0000

I came across this very good comic site by somone in PhD in maths and I liked it a lot. The site is ABSTRUSEGOOSE. My younger brother forwarded me this site. This led me to something more interesting. I have just seen the DEMO which is so mind blowing, actual site is located here Wolfram|Alpha. God!!! we are a growing species, I just have to say that it is just mind blowing....marvelous..yes we human ...mind is the speck over the hell to achieve unimaginable through the labyrinthine network of our neuronal circuit ..its evitable the more guttural pouch will emerge like this..which will be more useful in days to come...This is the future of the way we look at the internet today, the search we do over internet, The search results and their analysis, which otherwise takes us to 100s of pages with analysis for the required details over each page. Anyways, this Wolfram|Alpha looks so good and I am wondering that it came bit late. Very amazing piece of work, I am sure this is going to be very very useful to almost every internet user. I am also hopeful that as in comparison to the Google search results ,this gives more analyzed results. And no I am not comparing these two. Lots of mathematical calculation, lots of general work analysis. I am sure Wolfram|Alpha people are and will be having tough time maintaining such a brilliant technology.

Litti Made in Taiwan

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:30:00 +0000

I come across this interesting video by my friends who are at Taiwan. I know them; they are few of the good things that happened to me. Anyways, they made video of making Litti (Litti and Chokha) a very common and favorite dish from Bihar, India. Just they are having fun. Kind of being in touch with their country, taking time from their hectic research schedule and all lab works. Three of them are doctors and one is engineer. Kind of looks interesting.

And here it continues.........

Do we see the world properly?

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:28:00 +0000

Ok this had been in my mind since long, as long as I remember reading periodic table and I am very much moved by it. I am not much into chemistry; rather my knowledge in chemistry is very limited. I don’t know if I am going to make any sense here or not, but I am sure you are going to like it.

I sometime feel that I don’t see world clearly as it is. I am limited by my senses. So I am not seeing the world as a whole. Only that part of world I see which is limited by my senses. So the image is not complete. Can you imagine what how the world will look like when we can see it completely at the same time with all the senses we see in nature and all those that can be possible. Did not make sense?

Ok, close your eyes for sometime and imagine what if you also had senses to see the radio waves. Now, if you can see them with your open eyes everything along with the radio waves, can you imagine, the clarity with which you will be able to see things around. This may make things more cluttered, but the amount of data, the details will be enormous and what if all the senses that exist in nature and any more that we can imagine, can be used by human being, I am sure that is going to make real world more real. Like the ability to see beyond the visible range, the ability to hear beyond audible range, the sensitivity to smell, touch etc. I am sure the picture is going to be completely different if one person can have all those senses that already exist in nature. These will not only give a clear picture of the things we realize but it will also give us understanding and ability to analyze things better or at least if we could make such capable machines which could do us this help.

In the same way, this is just to give you the hint of what I have in mind. Coming to the periodic table, I believe Mendeleev did a great job. He not only found a lot many elements but also predicted many more. I was wondering if that is the number of elements that exist totally. I am more then convinced that universe is composed of more elements. I do understand that people are working towards discovery of new elements. I sometime think that what if the total number of elements that exist in universe is a lot more and we have idea only of a part of that total number. In case what I am thinking is true, then it’s a very scary picture. We have no idea what those elements are capable of, we have no idea what humanity will be capable of if we could find most of them and can know how to use them.

I don’t feel alone when I am alone. And this is not very good if one can understand. There’s a scary thought that I am being surrounded by so much unknown universe. There’s so much beyond imagination that could be going around. I just don’t know what to think and what not to. When no knowledge is complete, when no thoughts or believes are enough it becomes scary. What if I am surrounded by a whole different world and I don’t mean parallel universe here. It is that this universe is existing right here, right in front of me but I am limited by my knowledge and senses, to see it, to realize it. There could be “things” around me that could be just recording each and every event; say the energy in any form is being recorded and data could be reused if one knows how to. What if, all those “what ifs” are true or even a percentage of it is true, it is one scary thought.

Some Childhood Memories

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:45:00 +0000

Ok here is something we used to listen a lot long back in our childhood days. I will try to add as many things as I can with the videos, audios and other related things. Do remind me if I am missing something or if you think something you liked long back and I would try to add it here.

Ek Chidiya Anek Chidiya Doordarshan Video

Ek Chidiya Anek Chidiya was a lot common in those days, it was inspirational and as a kid we used to enjoy it a lot. No wonder it still remains in our memories as fresh as it was that time. It was the starting phase of Indian animation I think, though I am not very sure.

Jungle book ( Mowgli )

How can we forget this, waited every Sunday for The Jungle Book. We were so crazy for this that I don’t know somehow nothing used to look good in front of this cute little animation series. That was in fact a wonderful story, the way it was told, the amount of curiosity it used to arouse, that’s why it still remains so sweetly in our memories.

Talespin

Remember this.? God!!! Even the song is soo good. Ballu, Madam Mahalingam, Sherkhan and their adventures. I liked the cute little daughter of Madam Mahalingam. Wish I could see the whole series and stories again. It will be a difficult task to search all those.

Duck Tales

Uncle Scrooge, the boys, the Launchpad and his all time crash landing, awesome story, cool characters. It was one of few animations at least I used to wait.

He-Man

Of-course you can't forget the He-Man The masters of the Universe.

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

This was really good. Whenever I used to see this video, I used to be so proud. Somehow things have changed a lot. I wish the spirit could be revoked and people could be more close. Anyways, enjoy the video

Surabhi - Theme Song

This serial was soo popular at that time and I think Indian postal department brought the concept of completion post card due to this serial only. So many people used to watch and reply. If I remember correctly at that time the cost of a post card was 15 paisa and people used to use that for replying to the Surbhi, but they brought the concept of competition postcard soon after that. Anyways that was one good serial, reminds me of the old days.

Baje Sargam

Here's one more!!!!!!!!
Baje Sargam har disha se phool ban ker deshraj, another old video.

Purab Se Surya Uga

And another one!!!!!

School Chale Hum

And another one!!!!!!!!!!!

Amul The Taste of India Commercial

A very old Amul advertisement.

Jalebee - Dhara Advertisement.

This is so simple and cute advertisement, that everyone feels that he/she is the kid in the ad. Very touchy and lovely.

Doodh Doodh Doodh Doodh Doodh Doodh hai wonderful
Doodh Doodh Doodh Doodh Doodh Doodh hai wonderful pe saktahin hai roj glassful.

My search for old goodies led to this Doordarshan National blog, Oh God!!! someone has already worked hard on this. Ok I will add only those old memories which are difficult to find anywhere. You can see this blog Doordarshan National for some more old DD videos.

Kashmir

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:22:00 +0000

I have always heard that Kashmir is a beautiful place on the earth; unfortunately I never had an opportunity to visit this place. Recently, one of my friends Aditya Diwadi had an opportunity to visit it. He has shown me few photographs of their trip, and I was so amazed to see how pretty those places were. I got few photographs from his collection to put it on my blog. I am going to put few more from the collection on the sidebar. It’s so lovely. I am desperate to go this place.

What Goes Around Comes Around – Why Random Acts of Kindness Work

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:12:00 +0000

I’ve come across my share of good Samaritans, and I’ve also met more than my share of those who’re selfish and live only for themselves. I belong to neither category, but I’d like to think I have more of the good Samaritan in me than the selfish person. I think I belong to the majority of humankind – the ones who don’t go out of their way to harm anyone, but who also find it a little difficult to drop everything and go to the help of total strangers when they need help.

I’m reminded of an accident that my sister and her family were in a couple of months ago – their car overturned, and my sister, her 8-year-old, one-year-old and husband struggled to get out before anything worse happened. I think it was divine intervention that prevented any sort of injury to any of them – other than the fact that my sister was covered in cuts and bruises from the cracked windshield and that her husband had sprained his hand, none of them were visibly hurt.

The incident shook us all, but what really touched me was the fact that strangers stopped at once to help them out of the car, to see that they were provided first aid (from a passing doctor who was flagged down), to offer them warm and comforting drinks, and to offer them a ride back home.

I often wonder about the softer side of human nature that makes us want to help strangers, especially when they’re in need. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never done anything so profound for anyone; of course, I’ve never had the chance to till now, but I often wonder what I would do if I am put in such a position. Will I be strong enough to stop and help, or has this world jaded my thinking to such an extent that I’m always going to be suspicious of stopping to help strangers in the middle of nowhere?

I know there are other ways I can help – I was one of the first to raise money in my neighborhood for the victims of an earthquake in another country; it wasn’t a significant amount by any standards, but that was the best I could do then, since I was only 15 years old. A decade or so down the line, and I thought that nothing of that idealistic young girl was left in me, but I was wrong. My sister’s accident and the subsequent help rendered by strangers awoke the good Samaritan hibernating inside me, and I vowed to do what I could for anyone in need. Yes, I would do my best to prove that what goes around does indeed come around, and that random acts of kindness create a pattern that’s not so random after all.

By-line:
This article is contributed by Sarah Scrafford, who regularly writes on the topic of Radiology Technician Programs. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com. © Copyright to this article belongs to Sarah Scrafford.

You've got to find what you love

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 07:43:00 +0000

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots. I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out? It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college. And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK.

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting. It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example: Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating. None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss. I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating. I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down -that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love.

And so I decided to start over. I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together. I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death. When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes. I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now. This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades.

Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions. Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Chetan Bhagat's Speech @ Symbiosis

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:54:00 +0000

Chetan Bhagat is one of the Indian authors that I read; in fact I have read all the three books by him, namely The 3 Mistakes of my life, One Night @ Call Centre, Five Point Someone. I like the way he thinks, kind of like a common man, kind of like me. Here’s a speech given by him at Symbiosis a management institute in India for the students. I hope you will feel good after reading, that's the only intention I have.

Here it is:

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party â€" several months in advance â€" just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark? Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current level s feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design. Are you? Goals will help you do that. I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order. There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don't be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worke d up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I've told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades â€" how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.

Disappointment' s cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved â€" movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result â€" at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan â€" I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life- friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it â€" not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let's be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don't get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.

Thank You

It rained in Delhi.

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Fri, 23 May 2008 06:40:00 +0000

Thursday, May 22, 2008

I am loosing again. I am failing, but not only I am afraid to fail but I hate it too. I love myself and I can’t let myself fail or fall. It rained today; I was walking down from my lab to room, which is around kilometer and half. Something has happened to me, I was carrying an umbrella I did not feel like opening it. I wanted rain to wet me, my body, my mind, my soul. Water started dribbling from my hairs. I was a bit concerned about my laptop I was carrying in my backpack (which I must mention that I love), but I think it did not matter much at that time. I am searching for peace.

Why my mind is not at peace, am I missing something, someone. I am not very much sure of what I am doing to myself or what I want to. I have some dreams and ambitions and do not know how much they are going to cost me, do not know for sure if is that all I want from life. The whole life of mine is in front of me, crystal clear. From joining to a professional degree, to friends, time spent with them, fights, crushes, degrees, other degrees, relations, professional success and failures, family, village, all leading to a final questions, what I want from life. Why my mind is not at peace.

I joined gym again after some six years with the hope to get some mental peace from it; nothing seems to be working properly, the harder I workout, the harder it gets for me. I wanted to sit on a stairs of a park near metro station in the rain and dirt, watching every vehicle going, making splash in the water, watching rickshaw puller smoke half soaked in water chatting with friends; couples running holding hands together towards metro station for shelter; people standing in a queue awaiting for feeder bus, half with umbrella and half without; a women and her playful child holding her hand firmly, enjoying rain; bunch of friends enjoying ice-cream; professionally dressed fellows in a hurry to catch bus to home; many bikers and four wheelers very impatiently pushing horns; but the feeling of being mature and being grownup and being professional has suppressed the kid in me. I just couldn’t do it.

What I am searching for, where everything is leading, why I am not at peace. I don’t need life like this. I want to do what I wish to. I came to my room that is on top floor with an open space, kept my laptop on the bed and went out. Blessed are those having shoulder to cry on, I can’t, no matters what, I just can’t, I have to be tough, I don’t know why but I have to. I have to run, I have to work hard and I will. I have to reach personal goals set by me, no matters what. Now I am getting totally drenched, I want it to rain; I want it to rain as hard as it can. I am standing and I can stand everything. I am not going to fall, I am so invincible. I am kind of started loving it, the rain, the chill running through spine, the wind gushing through my body. I wish it to rain continuously, I wish to win over rain, win over myself.

It rained again in Delhi, making me look inward, helping me know myself better.

Digital diary – software

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:29:00 +0000

It’s nothing but a crazy idea of mine that I wish giving shape and due to lack of knowledge and resources I can’t make it into reality as of now. I have searched over the net for many of the diary writing software. There are few. I have used them. Some of them are quite ok, but none of them are currently in the state I want them to be. I am fond of diary writing. May be due to a bit laziness of mine I had been avoiding this habit currently. But I love to write. I love to write, not for others to read it, but for the feeling or the high I get from writing. I write for myself. Sometime it gives me finer details about my state of mind at the time of writing and helps me to analyze and improve myself. Sometime of-course it helps me to reach a nostalgic stage by my good and bad memorable experiences in life.

Coming to the software proper, I wish I had software that can help me with diary writing the way I want it. Microsoft word is good software, when you don’t know which writing software you need, just opens it and start using it. It has ease of usability. The software I wish to have should have most of the writing and associated capabilities Microsoft word has, but I want it to open and look like Adobe Acrobat. In which page by page opens. May be I am using too many co-relations and you might say that the product will form will nothing but mixture of many others especially designed for some other use. Mind you these associations help me to explain me what I want in my personal diary writing software. I wish it should be in ruled format with the changeable skins (that should be changeable i.e. for all pages in diary, day-wise, month-wise and depending on the mood of my writing. When it opens it should like a diary (classical hard bound, lather covered, black colored) is being opened. The calendar associated with it which changes days and months as actually time passes by. The top header should have the place for the calendar (a month previous and next month) as we commonly see in diaries. Most important part of diary I think is that it should allow me to paste any picture, video, audio and any other file format. Along with that it should also let me play these files as we can over HTML written WebPages. So that I can attach a picture file, video, audio and any other document at the time of writing that I think is important and it stays there. I think it will be childish if the product such created is not able to communicate with other crucial reading and writing software present today. That thing is not going to survive which could not communicate with other software like it should be able to directly import and export written materials. I should be able to open all .txt, .doc, .xls, .pdf, .jpeg, .mp3 and so on, in it. It should have provision for writing phone numbers, e-mail ids with photographs of individuals that should be in exchangeable formats with other commonly used ones. The dates of the inbuilt calendar should have provision for adding notes.

With my little of knowledge of internet and availability of softwares I think, there are no such available either free or paid that meets my and many other like me requirements. I will be thankful if someone can guide me to one if such software(s) is already available. I think most people who like diary writing do it because they like doing it, and not because they have to. So only a product that is made by self willingness is capable of meeting such requirement, as it’s not business (though it has potential for it). I wish such thing to be created.

A trip to Massoorie

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 10:05:00 +0000

After a long time and so many unsuccessful tries, finally we could plan a trip to Massoorie. Its always good to have a fun time once in a while. Lots of lab work, deadlines, fear of failure, competitiveness, this is soo.... killing. Mind is just full of things related to work, work and some more work. We have tried it before too, but as I said before, its difficult to gather everyone at the same time for a break trip. Anyway, I feel things go better when not planned. We agreed and went for it. We have chosen destination Massoorie. Just 5-6 hours drive from Delhi. It took us more as we got down at Har Ki Paudi ghat in Haridwar and even contrary to my believe I too took a dip in the river Ganga at 4:00 O' clock in the morning of January 20th 2008. Though it was chilling as hell, it was enjoyable, Yep as they say “Pain is GOD”. I enjoyed. From there after we went to Massoorie. And I must say what a beautiful place it is. As you can see in the pictures, the place is soo heavenly. Kempty falls are just eye catching. Moreover, chilly winds blowing through your body giving immense pleasure and of-course frost bites. Its not only buffet to eyes, its also soul soothing. Reminding me of my graduation days were we used to go to a lots of places. I really had a great time. Thanks for all my friends with whom I went and to those whom I remembered and missed on the trip.

It happens only in India

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 15:02:00 +0000

Delhi: how do I see it

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:17:00 +0000

Delhi is not such a bad place to live. Though, most of the people are money greedy, arrogant or cheat, it’s good to know that some are not. I would still say I am new to Delhi as everyday I see a new face of it. There are things I like and there are those I hate. (Post is incomplete, I will continue further)

My village

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 14:26:00 +0000

This time I went to my village after vary long time. Though I was missing it, somehow I was not able to go home. Everyone finds his home or village beautiful. So do I and I feel even if you see how my village looks like, you will also like it! Though there are some basic necessities that are missing like electricity, hospitals and good college, but the people and the place is one good thing to live for.

I belong to this village (which is also a post) called Paali, in Dist Unnao of U.P. I basically belong to a farmer’s family. I had ample opportunities to visit lots of places in India, reason being my dad in IAF. This is of my native home. The only place on earth I feel like living, leaving everything for it.

Though we are not having a lot of land but whatever we have is fairly good enough. My village as I said is really awesome, a place to visit. The landscape, the flora and fauna and the people, no matter what you see, you will appreciate it.

The nature has so profusely blessed or rather human beings have not destroyed it to the extent it’s seen in cities like Delhi. I took a real long time to take picture of this butterfly and that has come so beautifully. The real problem was not to disturb or make even a slightest sound or movement.
Key workds: Butterfly, Scenery, Village, Landscape,

Ordeal of Garbage Disposal

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 15:01:00 +0000

Disposal of garbage

Now this was funny I tell you. This incident happened when we were bit new to Delhi. We are staying on the third floor in Hakikat Nagar, Camp. We are four friends staying separately on third floor sharing a common extra space outside our rooms and a kitchen. We started having problem with the garbage disposal. Though at that time we were not started regularly cooking food at our place, we had that usual garbage stuff started accumulating at our place which I will attribute to some extent to the large amount of work we had and to some extent to our laziness, and mind it, it wasn’t looking good. The problem with the MCD guys who come to home to collect garbage at this place is that they charge a lot of money i.e. per head 30-50 bugs per months, and it’s not good to let someone else in whom we don’t trust, in our secure territory. Then we discovered that the house owner had a big tank, he kept that for water storage, big enough to hold a live human being inside. We got an idea that this could be used for storage of the garbage so generated. Of-course that was a good idea, but we were not ready for the amount of trouble that was about to give. Anyway, almost three months had passed without much botheration and we just were throwing almost everything into it. Three months is a long time. Gradually that started stinking. Every week we will plan to dispose it off to some MCD dustbins, but the plan could not be executed and it got delayed. After four months out dustbin started overflowing, stinking and by this time it became so heavy that it was almost impossible for even four of us to lift it above the ground.

Anyway one Saturday evening we decided finally to dispose it off (of course after convincing each and everyone, which was so difficult). Ok finally we agreed, canceling all our important plans for the evening (which included having fun at CP). As a test trial we all four friends have tried to lift the garbage bin as it was must since we need to carry it somehow to the ground floor and thereafter to say 200 meters away to a MCD dustbin. After practicing for few times we started believing that if and only if we put our whole effort together then only we would be able to dispose it off. First hurdle was to get the garbage tank down the staircase, which are so narrow that only one person can go through it at a time. Not only they are narrow, they are steep and few killing bends, with no sidebars (meaning thereby if anyone falls he will directly and to ground with perfectly with no intervention in between). Ok somehow we tried to bring it to the staircase. It was very difficult to make a balance as there wasn’t enough for even two of us to stand together and hold the bin. We could not have taken any chances as the owner was just staying on the second floor. If the bin spills or falls down, it would have made the place hell and it would have got us a real trouble. Somehow inches by inches we managed to bring it to the first deadly turn. One side there were glass windows and steep fall on the other side as there was nothing to hold on. Added to this, the intense smell emerging out of the bin was taking our breath away. If we would have pushed it bit to one side the window would have broken due to the weight of the bin, if to another side it would have fallen directly down. We manage somehow the sharp end, as soon as we reached to the second floor, house owners’ daughter (who looks good) was coming towards her home. We all were not only tired due to the work we did so far, but also not bothered about our looks. Suddenly we all became cautious seeing her. She got suspicious; she asked us what’s there in the bin. None of us replied at first. When we told her about it, she told that she thought it’s a dead body inside. We started grinning.

We were almost exhausted till the time we could bring the garbage bin down the stairs. The kid who uses to play daily suddenly became very much interested in us rather then concentrating on his game. And started roaming around and calling his mother that there is a dead body inside the bin. I was getting soo angry on him. I thought of putting him only inside the bin. But I controlled. There we took a rikshaw for taking bin further to the disposal yard that was around half a kilometer from there. After convincing the rikshawala for a long time, it was the bind which was not getting inside the rikshaw due to its huge size. Anyway we somehow pushed it inside and held it from both the sides. Rest of the ordeal went without much trouble. When we reached the disposal yard there were rag picker kids and were very happy to see soo much of the garbage. As we disposed the bin, they all came running to pick the bottles and other items which were of their use and simultaneously asking if we killed and kept someone in the bin for a long time. Anyway our ordeal ended and we came running to our rooms. I could feel my all energy drained. My friend told me that it’s not that u got tiered; it’s the negative energy of the garbage that’s making us feel tiered. After taking bath we ordered food from outside as none of us was in a position good enough too cook, which we usually do. Since that day we made a daily practice to discard the garbage as it accumulates on weekly basis. And now on wont let it be there for more then a week.

I got another article published.

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:20:00 +0000

I am happy to inform that I got another paper published in one of the reputed journal. I started working on this after coming to my present institute. More detail about the article are avalible HERE. The abstract is as follows.

Intrinsically disordered protein from a pathogenic mesophile Mycobacterium tuberculosis adopts structured conformation at high temperature.
Kumar N, Shukla S, Kumar S, Suryawanshi A, Chaudhry U, Ramachandran S, Maiti S.

Proteomics and Structural Biology Unit, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Mall Road, Delhi 110 007, India.

Compared to eukaryotes, the occurrence of "intrinsically disordered" or "natively unfolded" proteins in prokaryotes has not been explored extensively. Here, we report the occurrence of an intrinsically disordered protein from the mesophilic human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The Histidine-tagged recombinant Rv3221c biotin-binding protein is intrinsically disordered at ambient and physiological growth temperatures as revealed by circular dichroism and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic studies. However, an increase in temperature induces a transition from disordered to structured state with a folding temperature of approximately 53 degrees C. Addition of a structure inducing solvent trifluoroethanol (TFE) causes the protein to fold at lower temperatures suggesting that TFE fosters hydrophobic interactions, which drives protein folding. Differential Scanning Calorimetry studies revealed that folding is endothermic and the transition from a disordered to structured state is continuous (higher-order), implying existence of intermediates during folding process. Secondary structure analysis revealed that the protein has propensity to form beta-sheets. This is in conformity with FTIR spectrum that showed an absorption peak at wave number of 1636 cm(-1), indicative of disordered beta-sheet conformation in the native state. These data suggest that although Rv3221c may be disordered under ambient or optimal growth temperature conditions, it has the potential to fold into ordered structure at high temperature driven by increased hydrophobic interactions. In contrast to the generally known behavior of other intrinsically disordered proteins folding at high temperature, Rv3221c does not appear to oligomerize or aggregate as revealed through numerous experiments including Congo red binding, Thioflavin T-binding, turbidity measurements, and examining molar ellipticity as a function of protein concentration. The amino acid composition of Rv3221c reveals that it has 24% charged and 54.9% hydrophobic amino acid residues. In this respect, this protein, although belonging to the class of intrinsically disordered proteins, has distinct features. The intrinsically disordered state and the biotin-binding feature of this protein suggest that it may participate in many biochemical processes requiring biotin as a cofactor and adopt suitable conformations upon binding other folded targets. Proteins 2007. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PMID: 18004752 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

My Diary Entry Dated 24 July 2003

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:05:00 +0000

A story

I went to New Delhi for my Post-Graduation admission. Though I was not very much happy to get a seat in Veterinary Gynecology in Bikaner, Rajasthan (which I changed later to Veterinary Microbiology due to love for the subject) but I was excited a lot due to the fact that I will be free to be myself far away from my family. This incidence had happened on return journey from Delhi to Bangalore.

Another passenger who entered to our compartment was... I don't know, I was not feeling comfortable seeing him. He was just too cautious. I had some strange feeling for him, he could do harm (may not to us) but he could do some harm. In the morning we came to know from our co-traveler that he has lost his bag and someone has taken it away and the above mentioned passenger missing.

She is thin, she is not so beautiful, she is too fragile, her every movement is soo slow and carefully placed. But she looks cute. She wants to become a teacher when she is grown up. Navarangi (D/o Dharampal). She is TARA (her nick name). Studying in class VIII, She is studying in Punjab. Living with her father, native of Rajasthan.

When she was eight year old she suffered from fever and she had been given treatment, after which according to her father her condition worsened then she had been to hospital where she was also treated for tuberculosis. Later when they came to Bikaner doctors declared that is not tuberculosis but she is suffering from cardiac abnormality a valvular defect. She is on Digoxin, Lasix and Nemusulide.

One can easily see Jugular vein pulsating clearly coming from under the skin which I thought was not a good sing. Now they are moving from Delhi to Bangalore to go to Puttapatrhi Sai Baba Hospital for her surgery. Her father has already spend more then 10,000 rupees on diagnosis and treatment and he had this feeling that the doctor who treated her for tuberculosis responsible for her condition. She is having dyspnoea, problem in deglutation, occasional fever and pain. Its very painful see her in this condition. After inquiring her father has shown us her reports, they reveled CHF with Mitral valve prolapse and they had been given date of surgery two years earlier, on inquiring her father told that when they were coming to Sai Baba Hospital last time someone has stolen their money along with the train tickets, so they couldn't go on the prescribed date. And it tool them two years to save money for travel and other expenses.

I do not believe in God, for me God is Nature and I know Nature is very harsh and cruel when it comes to teach lesson. I sometime feel that nature should not be this cruel. What if there could be soft corner for people like Tara and Dharampal. Tara and Dharampal both are firm believer in God and that is why I do not believe on god, He could have taken care of someone who is in real need of help.

She is such a soft girl, it looks as if she will fall at anytime and break into pieces. She speak soo softly, it appears that she could just vanish at anytime.

They are the people living on the edge between life and death. They are fighting really hard to live, failing all adverse conditions and accepting what comes to them as their faith. Its not just the money they need (but yes its the first among all the other needs they have). They want someone strong enough to support. Someone, who can take care of them, one who expect nothing in return- An unconditional Love, a true love from someone who is THE Human being.

My Dairy entry dated March 26, 2000

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 10:48:00 +0000

Learning language

This is something that has happened when I was in my graduation in Bangalore. I went to meet one of my father’s friend family which is too close to our family that we conceder them as a part of our own family. At that time some another friend of theirs came to their home and I did not quite know them. I do not want to say that what has happened was right or wrong; I just want to share a feeling of being left alone, the pain to be more precise.

It’s a point of view of the mother as I just have met her only in her family. They came to the Bangalore some 6-7 years back. In the family there’s a father mother and four children, three brothers and a sister. When they came to Bangalore they did not know many things i.e. interactions with the people in the sense we see in do called metro. They were from U.P. and had a very little knowledge of the language English. Gradually the children grew, along with the knowledge of the world around then increased. The boys of the family still remained introvert but not the girl. I did not know precisely what had happened, but the girl fell in love with a native of the state. It seems that the girl just had asked her parents once to marry the boy but family did not agree (I am not much sure about this). The girl then went to one of their known relatives (uncles) house and then after few days she got married (registered). This had happened when the uncle was posted to and family was ready to go to Rajasthan. The girl got married and had not returned home.

I hope this is not something new you are reading for the first time. Everyone have dreams, the parents for their daughter marriage, girl for its hubby and married life. The lady was so disgusted by her daughter’s marriage. She says that people just listen to her and laughs; it’s just an amusement for them. They had a lot of dreams for their daughter’s marriage. They took care to grow her well. I don’t know how I felt. I just felt that something has gone wrong. I was feeling very happy that day. What are all the troubles they must have taken to grow her up in the dreams that one day they will happily arrange their marriage at some good place. But now she had been broken, her all dreams and wish too.

I just wanted to change the subject as the atmosphere therein was only getting heavier and I started feeling uneasy. I told that now a days its soo difficult to live in a place like Bangalore when you do not know the native language and the only mode left is to learn English, that being a common way of interacting. On that she said “yes when we came here our children knew little English and now they have left even their father behind in the knowledge if the subject”. I felt soo sorry about the lady when she told that. I felt soo much pain in her I just intuitively felt that she is saying that the daughter has left her father in agony and pain. There was a long silence and no one spoke for a long time. I felt sorry for hurting her feelings. She laughed and I could clearly see watery lines along her eyes.

Its not that what girl did was right or wrong, in fact girl is now settled USA and supposedly happy. It’s not about the family’s reaction. It’s about love and care of parents and the situation that made me feel sad. May be I was too touchy.

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Want to say something about blog, leave comment

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 15:17:00 +0000

I would appreciate if u can leave your comment about the Blog.

Journal of Biological Imagination

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 15:07:00 +0000

This is not a formal journal in print. However I am using it to write all those research I (or for the fact anyone else can) write, those I see have some future and are not bound by any limitations of Physical World limitation i.e. Money, Work Place, Skilled personals etc. These are my favoured research those I can do it in my Thaughts and Imagination. Leave Comment if you like the concept or even if you dislike.

Diagnosis of Brucella melitensis using PCR in sheep and goats

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjiv Kumar) — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 14:50:00 +0000

This is all about my Master's Work

I am working on Molecular diagnosis of Brucella melitensis from clinical samples that includes Uterine discharge, Milk and Blood. I have really cherished working on this bacteria as it is one of the most pathogenic bacteria for human beings and there is no treatment once the disease sets in, though you can get rid of the symptoms with medications. It is very different form other bacteria too as it is not having all the classical virulence factors that are commonly seen in most of the bacteria. The classification is also very complex in this species and off course the vaccination which is an immediate requirement makes this bacteria very potential candidate for research. Another important this is that this could be used as biological warfare agent. So I just love this bacteria and feel soo good to work on this organism. I am with HUMANS in fight against these MIGHTY creature. LETS WORK FOR HUMANITY.

Objectives:

Standardization of PCR as diagnostic tool from clinical samples
Comparison of PCR with conventional diagnostic tests for diagnostic efficacy of PCR from clinical samples from sheep

Materials and methods

Primers used

BCSP-31, 16S rRNA and Ribonuclease

Results: wait till publication
:)

Hi Friends,

I am soo glad to write this. This is my first article to be published ever, except for one in a training manual. I am happy that ultimately my efforts and work is paying back.

Journal of Immunology and Immunopathology
Year : 2006, Volume : 8, Issue : 2
Print ISSN : 0972-0561.

Molecular diagnosis of brucellosis using polymerase chain reaction

Kumar Sanjiv1,*, Chand Puran2

1Department of Veterinary Microbiology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004.

2College Central Laboratory, College of Veterinary Sciences, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana.

*E-mail: mailto:vetyccl@hau.ernet.in

Abstract

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the diagnosis of brucellosis in sheep was standardized using culture of Brucella melitensis biovar 1. Primers used were directed against the 31kDa Brucella cell surface protein (BCSP-31) gene which yields a product of 223bp. Standardization was done to optimize the Taq DNA polymerase, MgCl2, annealing temperature and template requirement for amplification. It was found that 1.25U of Taq, 1.5mM of MgCl2, 56°C annealing temperature and 2microlitre of template DNA were ample for amplification of B. melitensis DNA. Detection limit of the assay was found to be as low as 167.6fg of DNA from B. melitensis cells. Being rapid and specific this PCR assay has the potential to be used as a routine diagnostic assay for diagnosing brucellosis in sheep.

Key words

Diagnosis, Brucellosis, Sheep, PCR, BCSP-31.

The Problems I have encountered and their solutions:

This was the first problem I faces and I am happy that I could got through this

This is the posting I did at the start of my work Click Here.

Hi all I can now realize that how difficult and troublesome it can be to get rid of PCR contamination, I have read all the postings in this forum and tried most of the things but I couldn’t get rid if those contaminants, the bands I am getting in the contaminants is faint but visible, reducing the cycles will just be denying the fact that there is no contaminant, when there is. Two times I have thrown all the samples, and autoclaves everything possible but I failed to find the location of contamination, my results are coming like this positive is bright big band negative is faint but visible band. I am loosing enthusiasm of working, I am the only one working in my lab and my all reagents and pipettes are not handled by anyone other then me. I am working on BCSP31 region of Brucella melitensis for diagnosis of the disease. Any kind of slightest help will be a great help, I just wannna get out of this at any cost, I already lost my four months in this. Cant loose any more,