he got Nobel for his most trivial work...

..that is what is commonly said about John Forbes Nash, Jr.

Came across an amazing, 17 years old, article from The New York Times about John Nash. The Lost Years of a Nobel Laureate. Despite of the fact that I have already watched A Beautiful Mind, it still managed to hold my attention till the end of 3821 words it has got. Do read it and you will realise what made me share this article.

PS: It is written by Sylvia Nasar, who is the author of his biography as well. I am completely tempted to read the book now :)

System is about to restart

So.. Its time to get back. As always, too much of stuff happening around. I feel like reporting most of them. Sometimes I am inexpressive, sometimes its my laziness..and at others I am stopped by a fear that I'll waste too much of time in posting. I wish I was like my little bro. I am really getting inspiration from him. It feels so good to read (as well as write) random posts, unlike usual me, who keeps on formulating each and every post.

Last evening as we came across few interesting though random observations, I felt a strong urge to random reporting :P Here is our brain storming from the last evening. Enjoy reading :) :)

So here I go with a random update. Few minutes back when I tried sharing the same post on FB. It reported the following error

click to enlarge and read the crap >.<

Lord only knows what was unsafe in our content :-|
Can anyone help or suggest??

PS: Hoping to be regular now onwards ...with new energy ;)

keeping track of the lineage

Long back, when I was in M.Sc, while performing the Google search for one of the professors, I came across Mathematics Genealogy Project. I searched for few teachers I used to idealize then and about whom not much was known (like GBM), but could not get fruitful results. Last year, when I was already more professional in browsing, I stumbled into the same place. This time I was with Akanksha.

The fact that, once you get in, you can go on and on looking at the academic families, made it a very appealing & captivating.  More than once we have had jaw dropping experiences looking at unexpected lineages. One feels a sense of proud, when he realizes, who is the great-grand-daddy of his own family. But to our surprise, after some in-depth re-search of website we realized that not many entries belonged to the University of Pune. Even amongst these (14), Statisticians were hardly able to make a significant contribution, despite of the fact that actually our department has nurtured so many, well known for their work. For those who were there, the information was incomplete. 

A screenshot of the record for Uni Pune as per on 5th Oct 2010

And as you might have already guessed, we got motivation for including our ancestors in this project. We started with collecting the information from departmental library and inflibnet centre about past Ph.D. students of the department. The data typically included name of the guide, year of award and thesis title. The website gives user friendly forms for entering (correcting/updating) new (existing) data. We started somewhere in October.  Data entry took quite longer than expected, because we had generations to enter; and we moved to next only when the previous was published, which generally took 2-3 weeks from the time of making entry.

It turned out to be such an interesting experience, that we not only made entries for the folks who did doctoral research from this department, but few more in the vicinity (like CUSAT, NMU etc.), who were related to dept in some or the other way. So now overall count of entries made, stays little more than 75 (initially the count we targeted at was simply 25), though information about GBM still remains unknown.

The Project is amazing place for minds, curious like ours. Nowadays whenever we hear any new name in the field similar to ours (could be author of a book/research paper or developer of an R package ), we cannot resist ourselves from having a look at his/her clan. It is so much fun to realize different academic relations; like Billingsley was Feller’s student (OMG one could never picture that, given the books each of them authored), never imagined that Krishanu could be Resnick’s (author of Adventures in Stochastic Processes) student, there is my favorite Alok Goswami as Feller’s grandson, the man (Athreya) who was explaining the extinction probabilities other day, is Karlin’s academic son…!!! Another remarkable feature of the project is the MathSciNet links it automatically provides for the people in database.

It was really an immense and very innovative effort by Harry Coonce. An effort that needed lot of courage in the situations in which he had made his brainchild sustain. I salute his spirits. To read more about the history have a look at this article. We should all contribute to the project, by submitting information. Here is a  video which could demonstrate you its massiveness just in few minutes.

Note: Sometimes the website is not accessible due to technical errors. In such a case one may get access through the mirror sites available. Like at this moment I am in through AMS.

PS: I will get back to you with another similar joint venture (by me & AK) accomplished during my hibernation. In the meanwhile, you may go ahead and sneak a peek about your to-be-clan.

PS to PS: Once again, it has been 21 days, since I blogged. Irregularity is becoming a habit. Its not that I don’t have things to talk about; I am not even blank or thoughtless this time; but I am post-less. For me writing involves two steps. Firstly the generation of thoughts in the mind and then the actual movement for annealing those thoughts into words. I guess nowadays the threshold level required for that movement has increased so much, that energy of my spirits is hardly able to intersect the threshold. Anyways for now it looks that I have managed a temporary victory over my indolent-procrastinatory-being.

So when I was out there in hibernation, I was not completely cozy sleeping. This was a glimpse of what was happening.

blank

sometimes why it is so messed up .. i mean everything around. Haven't been able to work even a pinch over my research problem, in this week. Sometimes its any other stupid discussion, at others it is something insightful on uniform convergence, or could be a seminar, tutorial, invigilation, sometimes irresistible internet re-search.. and what not. You name it and you will find it going on in our room (mine and AK's) at some or the other time point. I don't mean i am regretting any of these. But I am just wondering that where does the time flies.

Anyways, other than this, nothing much to update now. Felt little better after reading sometimes. Thanks bhai, for the perfect timing of your post.

PS: There is this another touching article, written to reflect the spirit of never let go your hopes (as I saw it). Do read, if you have few spare moments.

honoring the clan of uncertainty

Today, 20 October 2010, World is celebrating the first World Statistics Day.
.. an attempt to acknowledge services we get through Statistics which are innumerable and pay a tribute to Statisticians all over the world.

PS: I didn't write this as a statistician, but as a common man who accepts how the world is continuously benefited by this science; and how the functioning of everything, which means theres nothing that would be in the complement,  around will paralyze if even for a moment we lack its support.


I heard of this 3 days back, when a friend emailed me the information about a quiz and tech-talk scheduled for the day to celebrate the occasion. After subsequent search on internet we got to know more about it. United Nations has decided to celebrate this day as the World Statistics Day, starting from 2010. So today is the first of its kind.

To be very frank I am still not very sure why they chose this day. But it looks like whole world has accepted it, and celebrating it in their own ways. Here are some ideas to do that. SAS Research and Development has organized a tech-chat and a quiz on the occasion. Alas.. in the Worlwide Celebration Activities, for India, details are yet to be announced.

Last night one of the alumnus suggested to have a celebration in our department too, to mark this day. But it doesn't seem very much possible, with such a short notice. Still I hope, being an advanced entity in Statistics, from next year onwards we will have something to contribute to the celebrations of the day.


..and now in words of a non-statistician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who is immortalized because of his brain-child Sherlock Holmes,

While the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty. You can, for example, never foretell what any one man will be up to, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to. Individuals vary, but percentages remain constant. So says the statistician. 
                               

PS:  Sincere thanks to Akanksha and Saurabh, for the reasons they know.

forms of Nostalgia

..few days back I received a sms,
Always being nostalgic robs you of the moments, of which you can be nostalgic about in future..

Somehow I liked it .. and accepted it as a not-so-bad strategy of living. But we all know life doesn't go by strategies. Often we are stuck in at few places and not ready to move ahead or accept the change. I don't know whether this is making sense, but today I felt this for something where someone could never imagine of attaching this concept..

For last few months I have been observing many (blogger) friends switching to very attractive templates. Many times I felt tempted to do the same. Finally an hour back I started browsing some of them with an intention to have a change. After going through some 50 of them i actually liked only 4 or 5. And when I started applying them, to have an idea how my blog will look like, it was worse. I liked none of them. I had problem with each one of them. Either the headline wasn't clearly visible or the text or font... whatever!!!

Finally I switched to my original template, and you know what I felt like, as if I have come back home, after a very long and tiring journey. It was so relaxing and soothing, that I never imagined.
I think there is nothing special about it.. except for nostalgia.

In words of Ruskin Bond
'Nostalgia: A simple attempt to try and preserve that which was good in the past. The past has served us, why not serve the past in this way.'

..if you have problems, finishing things in time, and if you are in academics.

..here is something for you, to get encouragement ;)
cheer up!!!

in NY too..

Bed bugs aka Khatmal aka Dhekun or whatever sweet name u wanna call them with.. but the news is, they are not only bothering UniPune hostels.. but NY too!!

..have a look at this.
nice to see na, that even a developed country like US is struggling..

You might think what a big deal.. but ask me.. they are actually a big deal, when they are spending nights with you.
I can never forget 3rd semester, when they actually attacked our room. We always used to keep lights on, so that once anyone gets a bite, that particular piece of devil can be captured, and thrown into mug of water (FYI that is the best way to kill them). Sometimes when light was off, i actually remember one of my roommates. All of a sudden she used to get up from her sound sleep, scratching somewhere, and bravo!! that she used to find the culprit with the help torch in her mobile.

It was only at the end of semester when I was fed up of the mess, that i started a massive program to get my room cleaned. And unlike batch mates, i succeeded in the mission (up to some extent) .

Now also once in a while they visit me. But by God's grace, i have become quite a expert in handling them, so that their visits are never long and unbearable.

PS: Ever you need any tips about these creatures , you may contact me. My dissertation on them is almost half done :P ;)

PS to PS: what a nasty post na :D

sleep

He who sleeps in continual noise is wakened by silence.
                                         -William Dean Howells

2 from today's top stories

After a long time I was going through the top stories in one of the news websites. As always there is lot of things happening around, and out of those, lot of things catch our attention, just like infinite subtracted from infinite.

The two of them which caught me today, were quite diverse to each other
1)Literature fest opens in Jaipur
2)People homeless in Delhi winter

I felt something for both stories..

Reason for first is trivial. Presence of a few people there, whom I really wish to listen in live once. I am always amazed by their work, so..All across the globe admirers of these big people have assembled and celebrating a festival of art and literature in the city known for its own culture, history, and art.

For the second here it goes. Since I have myself experienced the winter in north of India for years, so I very well know what it means. But at the same time I still don't know what it means and how it feels to be at roadside, on the footpaths, for those who don't have enough woolens and blankets, who see their parents and kids loosing the struggle to survive. And even none of us could feel who have always had more than adequate resources, to fight against cold. And the interesting part of story is, they have been given two blankets each by government, and the response then is, "one we put on the bed, and the other over us, so how can be one sufficient for this cold?" :(

PS: By putting these two stories of celebration and pain together, in no way I am intending any sort of awakening in the society. Its just a reflex that the two things held me at the same time, and this place is for anything that holds me back for the moment.

wood

                There was never a sound beside the wood but one,

                And that was my long scythe whispering to the ground.
                                                                -Robert Frost

Shortcomings

We all have faults that we try to hide. But the problem arises when we don't acknowledge these troubles and faults even to ourselves and pretend to be what we are not. A peacock looks beautiful when it dances but it cannot it cannot sing. A cuckoo is dark but has a golden voice. That is why a cuckoo should never dance and peacock should not try to sing !

We can live our lives in happiness only when we acknowledge our difficulties and failures and try to overcome them with our strength of character.

-'Gently falls the Bakula' by Sudha Murthy

Sunday

"Can you tell me why people go to such lengths to hide their selves? Or why I always behave very differently when I'm in the company of others? Why do people have so little trust in one another? I know there must be a reason, but sometimes I think it's horrible that you can't ever confide in anyone, not even those closest to you."
-The Diary of a Young Girl

Its a bit hard to imagine how a girl who is just 13 years old thinks so much about human nature. May be these are circumstances, which are responsible for our emotional growth, and it is not directly related to physical growth.

Apart from reading Sunday was cool. It started with 3-4 hours of work, which i did to compile the details for discussion with Sir. Later was bit upset about not being able to go to Nanak Darbar.
But with F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and then a good sleep followed by evening walk in cool breeze, made my weekend to end nicely..

paper is more patient than people

In spite of the length of my to do list (which includes tasks from my research guide who keeps on increasing the length whenevr I see him.. and the project head who is adding to it, with latest one to make a annual report of project which I have joined just 50 days ago...) I have been reading lately Anne Frank's The Diary of a young Girl (title of this post comes from it). I personally feel that actually no one on earth has got patience for listening to someone when shes speaking out all her heart. Atleast when its a chatter box like me. Theres lot more freedom to write on paper. Freedom to say anything. But then why I found blogging as better option than writing on diary? May be after 4-5 failed attempts to start writing regularly I have lost all interest to try it once again.
And then when I write its me all alone. But this way I virtually feel that I am sorrounded by people.

To my irritation I have not been able to finish these 427 pages. Its almost a month since I started. Theres lot to do, and another reason to hurry is my plans for vacation in the next month.

Yesterday night while going through I liked these lines from the book,
"You can be lonely even when you're loved by many people, since you're still not anybody's 'one and only '",
and somehow I agreed.

Nothing

Nothing is going on.i mean nothing is happening...its all going on, as it should be except for few random events..which could not be called errors...apparently things seem to be alright. We want life to be like that, but it makes u feel blank. Life..is something that gives a experience each day..bt still some days though having their own importance go unnoticed...just like.....

A Page from the New Diary
The day changed only on the paper calendar;
the steel belted dial of time turned,
the clock-work doll stepped
beyond the threshold of its home & danced in circles.

Hands clapped,
Laughter crowned the scene.
A playful sun-deer panted & trembled,
Dashed into the black tyre
of the last bus,
fell, and went to pieces.
One more day
Turned away offended.

Exactly what I had feared
happened today.
Today, again,
nothing happened.
        -Nida Fazli

Khatam Afsana ho gaya

Anjane anddithe do dil mile, vaqat sohana ho gaya.
Karte mel milaya sacha, sada sama suhana ho gaya
Parwar khidiya naal khushiyan, ghar ashiyana ho gaya
Oh meri diwani ho gayi, mai uhda diwana ho gaya
Aayi bhi oh gayi vi oh, khatam afsana ho gaya

Kathe rehnde, dukh sukh sehnde, din change mande saath saal zamana ho gaya
Jis di pujje audh tise kaun rakhai, gurbani furmana ho gaya
Awan jaan ik khel rab da, bas bimari bahana ho gaya
Naal bimariyan darad de dukhi si, dillon sukhi ho chupke hi jana ho gaya
Aayi bhi oh gayi vi oh, khatam afsana ho gaya

Supne vich mai ayi vekhi, kaihendi sach sachi hamdardi
Piyare jiwan supna samjho, nale dithi akhiyan bhardi
Socha, chinta di chikha na saiheni paindi, nirbhau je kar mai na mardi
Chup kite hi mai sochan, oh vi soche, lekha jivan chukana ho gaya
Aayi bhi oh gayi vi oh, khatam afsana ho gaya

Simran path vich man nahi lagda, mushkil sama nibhana ho gaya
Dardi dil dukhan da bharya, dora-sharir-kapda purana ho gaya
Sabar piyala hajam nahi honda, vekh tamasha rab da mai diwana ho gaya
Uska raha na rab ka, nirbhau be thakana ho gaya
Aayi bhi oh gayi vi oh, khatam afsana ho gaya.
                                             -NIRBHAU

I was trying to find out this poem written by my grandpa since his birthday in February..atlast I got it so thought to share here. He wrote this after my grandma passed away.
As its in punjabi and written in gurmukhi script actually..so transliteration might make it bit difficult to understand.

A Butterfly

Some very beautiful and refreshing lines ...from RK narayan's English Teacher, portraying the love and affection between a man, who has become callous after death of his wife, and his daughter...

"The first thing that woke me in the morning was the cold hands of my daughter placed on my forehead and the shout "Appa" (father), or sometimes she just sat, with her elbows on the ground and her chin between the palms, gazing into my face as I lay asleep. Whenever I opened my eyes in the morning, I saw her face close to mine, and her eyes scrutinizing my face. I do not know what she found so fascinating there. Her eyes looked like a pair of dark butterflies dancing with independent life, at such close quarters.
"Oh father has woken up!" she cried happily. I looked at her with suspicion and asked: "What have you been trying to do so close to me?" " I only wanted to watch that is all. I didn't wake you up."
"Watch what?"
"I wanted to watch if any ant or fly was going to get into you through your nose, that is all..."
"Did any get in?"
"No. Because I was watching." There was a hint in her tone as if a sentry had mounted guard against a formidable enemy.
"What do you do when you sleep, father?" Once again a question that could not be asked by an adult; perhaps only another child could find an answer for it. " I was saying something close to you and yet you didn't reply."
"What were you saying?"
"I said: there is a peppermint, open your mouth!...