May 2009 – Page 2

Wolfram Alpa – Redefining Search

A new search engine, which they call Computational Knowledge Engine, is going to be launched tomorrow evening. Wolfram Alpha, built by mathematician Stephen Wolfram, will give you a single definitive answer for your queries instead of pointing you to a page of results with links which may or may not give you what you were looking for. Their demo looks very promising and I feel that it could give Google a challenge to re-define their search to include such a cool way of searching things. Although the Internet has talks about it that it will be a threat to Google, Mr. Wolfram doesn’t want to encourage such hype.

“I am not keen on the hype,” said Mr. Wolfram, a well-known scientist and entrepreneur and the founder of Wolfram Research, a company in Champaign, Ill., that has been quietly developing WolframAlpha.

Mr. Wolfram’s service does not search through Web pages, and it will not help with movie times or camera shopping. Instead it computes the answers to queries using enormous collections of data the company has amassed. It can quickly spit out facts like the average body mass index of a 40-year-old male, whether the Eiffel Tower is taller than Seattle’s Space Needle, and whether it is high tide in Miami right now. [Newyork Times: New Search Tool Aims at Answering Tough Queries, but Not at Taking on Google ]

Go ahead, check out their demo, blog and wait for the grand release which will be broadcasted live.

(Thanks to KK for the info)

What happens in the News Room

A video is doing the rounds in You Tube showing the funny moments from Asianet news room. The person in the video is a popular news reader of Asianet News channel (Malayalam) who hosts the show News Hour. He usually appears so serious, but now check out his funny side. 🙂

(Thanks to Karthik & Jyothish for the link)

What I have been listening

Thaalam
Artists: Job, Charan and Yakzan
Label: Manorama Music

This album comes as a welcoming change from run-off-the-mill “romantic” songs which dons the Malayalam music album scene these days. I can say that these youngsters have real talent in them. The major highlight of this album is a folk song with western sounds rendered by Malayalam actor Nedumudi Venu. This song also has Piano works by Stephen Devassy and guitar by “Avial” fame Rex. The entire album has been produced well, good compositions and orchestration. Check out one of their songs below:

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Swarathma
Artists/Band Members: Vasu Dixit, Pavan Kumar, Sanjeev Nayak, Monty Manuel, Jishnu Dasgupta and Varun
Label: Virgin Records

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Swarathma comes with a fresh fusion sound. A mix of Indian folk with western and Indian sounds. You will hear the sounds of Violin, Thavil etc mixed beautifully with guitars and drums. Probably the only other music band I can remember of with the same calibre is Silk Route and that reminds me of how long it has been since we have heard something good and original.

Listen to their tracks online from here.

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Mariam Matossian
Genre: Armenian Folk Songs

I recently stumbled upon Mariam’s website through Twitter and got addicted to her voice. Even though I did not understand a word of what she sings, her voice and the music brings in a soothing effect. Listen to the songs available on the top left side navigation bar in her website.

Remembering Maami

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(Photo courtesy: The Hindu)

Lakshmi Ammaal, who was fondly called Maami by Thrissurians, was a known figure in Thrissur city. You would see her walk behind her mentally ill son while he wandered around the city occasionally shouting. Laskhmi Ammal hails from a Tamil Brahmin family settled in Thrissur. After marriage she moved to Calcutta and was leading a happy life. Then Raju, her son, fell mentally sick at the age of 17. Then after her husband’s death and her daughter’s marriage, she moved back to Thrissur with her son.

But they did not have a house in Thrissur and thus began their tramp life in the bylanes of Thrissur city. The people of Thrissur became familiar with Raju and his mother. Raju wandered around shouting and blabbering something but he never hurt anyone. His mother followed him all around, to make sure that he would not hurt himself. It was a painful sight to see the old lady trying to follow up the pace of her son without any complaints. It was a wonderful example of the love of a mother. Raju passed away in 2004 at the age of 62. And After about an year, Laskhmy Ammal followed her son. She was found lying unconscious on the veranda of a shop by the police. Even though they soon shifted her to the district hospital, her life could not be saved. She was 80.

On this Mother’s Day, Lakshmi Ammal stands for the selfless love of a mother.

Other Mother’s Day posts:

The Old Woman in Chatta and Mundu

And here is a pencil sketch that I did last year.

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The Headpriest Speaks

And now comes another blow at the Sangh Parivar and BJP. Straight from the head priest of Ram Janmabhoomi, Satyendra Das.

But Babri Masjid was demolished so that Ram Mandir could be built.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid was an unfortunate incident. It was like a mandir only [sic]. It protected Ram Lalla and pujas were regularly organised there. Thousands of devotees thronged the place. After they destroyed the masjid, Ram Lalla stands unprotected in storm and rain. There’s only a makeshift structure. They said they would build a mandir; their intention was to grab power. Earlier, nobody had a problem with the fact that pujas were held inside the masjid, nobody protested. But all problems started after the Babri Masjid was demolished.

Local Muslims never had a problem with pujas being held inside the Babri Masjid?

Nobody had any problem. They even used to say that let us all sit together and find a solution to the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid issue. It was only when the BJP and the Bajrang Dal came and started the Ram Janmabhoomi movement that relations soured between the two communities. There was bloodshed, mandirs were destroyed. Now everything is normal again. It is not an issue in Ayodhya, never was. Hindus and Muslims have always lived in peace in Ayodhya. The BJP’s lust for power created all the problems.

Which Main? What Cross? – An exhibition

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Gopal is a known photoblogger in the online world and famous for his daily clicks of Bangalore. He shoots his pictures on his way to work with a Canon A530, a small compact camera that he carries in his pocket. For the last two years, Gopal has been clicking a photo of Bangalore everyday. Result is what you see in his photoblog.

Now he has an exhibition of his photos going on through out the month of May at F & B Restaurant, St Marks Road, Bangalore (on the right, soon after SBI). If you are in Bangalore, go ahead and check it out and own a copy if you would like.

Pictures of Thrissur Pooram

I just went to see the Pooram tonight with my friends. The city was still alive and filled with people. Families come to see the Pooram at night. There were small Poorams coming to the town from different Desams. We walked around, occassionally clicking the photos in our mobile phones. Here are the pictures that I took.

Panthal at Manikandanal (Kuruppam Road Junction)

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Panthal at Naduvilal (M G Road Junction)

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Panthal at Naikanal (Near Dhanalaxmi Bank)

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Elephants passing by

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Vadakkumnathan Temple at night

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Thrissur Pooram

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When the Goddesses of Paramekkavu and Thiruvambady meet in front of Vadakkumnathan, Thrissurians wake up to Thrissur Pooram, a festival filled with colors and music.

You have so much to see and hear in the two days of the festival. Start with the Panchavaadyam of Madathil Varavu. The heat would be so unbearable, but you would ignore it when you hear the legendary artists performing right in front of you (by the way, if you want to hear the best Melam artists performing, come to Thrissur Pooram). You will see many foreigners on the road but don’t be surprised if one of them told you that they came from BBC or a French or American television channel to cover the program. If you did not want to miss the Paandi Melam of Paramekkavu, walk past the cheering crowd to the Sreemoolasthaanam of Vadakkumnathan Temple. Pause a bit on the way to listen to a team performing Naadaswaram. Enjoy the music a little and if you are thirsty, have a glass of sambhaaram from the near by houses or stalls that supply it for free. Rush along to hear the Paandi Melam and on the way collect all the goodies you get for free – the newspaper, butter milk, a paper cap or a handheld paper fan to beat the heat. Watch around while you walk, you would see some of the famous elephants in Kerala (or perhaps in the whole of India). You might just want to stop and see their elegant look with all the ornaments.

Rush inside the Vadakkumnathan temple after you are done listening to the Paandi Melam at Sreemoolasthaanam. The Elanji tree awaits you to treat with the famous Elanjithara Melam. Sway along with the crowd and their waving hands in the air, cheer at the peak of pleasure that only music can bring. Then head on towards the Thekke Nada to watch Kudamaattam. Keep your heads up in the air, while you watch the beautiful umbrella exchange, or else you may not be able to breathe properly among the lakhs of people around you. Give a smile at the TV cameras in the area, your friends of family watching numerous TV channels which broadcast Pooram live may get to see you on TV.

It is not time to leave yet. There is a grand firework ceremony in the early morning next day which is a very famous part of Thrissur Pooram. So you can either hop over to a cinema theater nearby to watch a Pooram special midnight show or check out the Pooram Exhibition. I would suggest that you take a walk in the Swaraj Round though. To smell the pooram. The smell of Pooram consists of the Panthams (cloth lanterns) lit in the night and of the aana piNdam. 🙂 You would also get to see many small Poorams entering in the temple throughout the night. So don’t even think of sleeping at night. In the early morning, open your eyes and ears for the grand fireworks ceremony and then those of you who comes from outside Thrissur district may want to leave. Because the second day of Pooram is for Thrissurians to see.

People have different reasons to love Thrissur Pooram. Some people come to see the elephants (some would even call them by names. You will hear comments like “isn’t it Paramekkavu Rajasekharan?“, “Thiruvambadi Kannan looks elegant!“), some like the melams (orchestra), some people like the Kudamaattam, some prefer the fireworks etc. I love Pooram for the Melam part. And to see the strangers smiling at you and sharing what they saw in the festival city. That mixture of people from different parts of the world, celebrating pooram together is one thing that’s so special about Pooram.

PS: Take the necessary precautions like you would before going to any place in India were people gather in masses. Watchout for pick pocketers or eve-teasers and beware of sexual harassment (don’t even think about bringing your woman folk in to the crowd, unless you find a safe place to sit) .

(The photo at the top was taken in 2005)

The Dignity of Labor

It was many years ago. I had just upgraded myself from a goldsmith to web designer in my professional life. Once I met this old man, who is an elder cousin of my friend and part of a royal family in Kerala. He is a well read man and we had a lunch time conversation at my friend’s place. “What do you do?” he asked me. I told him that I was a goldsmith but now work in the IT sector. “Youngsters these days prefer only white collar jobs“, he told my friend. “They think lowly of the ordinary jobs. How is this world going to function if people do only white collar jobs?“. I wasn’t surprised but was angry on his statement. I told him that the only reason that I got out of my previous job myself was the lack of respect that people had towards the blue collar workers.

We say that every job has it’s dignity. We talk about it a lot. Yet we seldom practice it. I know how people treated me when I was just a goldsmith. People didn’t even recognize my presence let alone respect. You would feel the difference of attitude everywhere. Among your friends, cousins and in the neighborhood. I am not neglecting that there were some rare good souls who valued me for who I was, but mostly I was treated with low priority in these circles. I understood it only when I changed my job, got a good salary and spoke English (yes, that’s still believed to be part of the elitism in our society).

Coming back to the royal old man and the people he represent, I think there is a class of people who don’t want the working class to upgrade themselves to a better living condition. Take the old man for example. He used to air travel when even public road transport was a rare thing in India. He was part of the Royalty, so money and respect came easily. But he shrugged off the people who fought with their life and won themselves a good living without a glorified lineage or any Godfather to back them up. And people like him cleverly use the statements like “people don’t respect ordinary jobs” while they themselves wouldn’t do any of those jobs.

We complain too. That these days masons or carpenters have become very rare to find. “How are things going to work if everybody’s looking for white collar employment?“. But would we go ahead and do the work ourselves? No. Would we take it as our profession? Absolutely not. Because we know the wages it is going to bring and how the society would treat us with that. We complain about the wages too. “The mason charges Rs. 350 a day. If the charges are skyrocketing like this, how are we going to survive?“. 350 bucks a day brings a mason less than Rs. 15,000 a month. And in the monsoon season, many of them are left jobless for days. Plus he has his own family to take care of, perhaps a daughter to marry off with dowry, the price hike affects him, and he faces every single crisis that we face every day. Yet those of us who draw more than 30K, 50K or Lakhs of rupees every month complain about his charges, but we don’t forget to ask for our annual salary hikes, bonuses and other benefits.

On this May Day, I would like all of us to think about the dignity of labor. And the need to respect people for who they are, not based on what they do. We all preach loads. When do we start practising it?