I recently completed a poetry writing course at NYU. It was indeed an exciting eight week period for me. For a change, I had started looking forward to Thursday evenings.
I learnt a host of poetry terms and poetry forms, which is not what I am going to show off here. There was something much more fundamental missing in my earlier poems and my perception of the whole process of
writing was flawed. Here are a few things I learnt/ observed.
Read your poem aloud - I never used to do this, always muttering the lines under my breath. I never heard how the words sounded or whether they rhymed well. But this new habit gives me a completely different
perspective about my poems. Even by reading it aloud to the four walls, I've rid myself of the fear that someone may read what I write.
Be honest about why you wrote a poem - It's not that I wanted to be dishonest intentionally, but I always thought I should give very valid and concrete reasons as to why a poem came to my mind. What the heck.
It's just a poem and you could write it for any silly reason. I've written many poems only because there were certain words I wanted to use.
Every word is not the same - I am a strong believer in equality, but I have to admit that no two words are the same (even if they are synonyms). Some words are melodious and in harmony with others, while
some are not. For e.g., nozzle, fish are not beautiful words. There's something about them that's not pleasing to my ears. I've realized this and try to avoid using those words which I don't like.
That's all I have to say for now. Later.
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Violent peace
Over the last few months, I have been volunteering with this lady who conducts music workshops for children aged between ten and fifteen. She has a modest grant of $500 from Manhattan Cultural Council and is required to conduct workshops on peace. While it was real fun to work with kids and peek into their creative minds, it also brought forth a picture I had been missing – maybe because I seldom interact with children.
Some of the songs/ poems the groups of kids had come up with were amazing. There was home peace, animal peace, brain peace and so on. However, there was this group which came up with a song, whose first two lines ran thus –
When I think carefully, it’s not surprising they came up with a song like this. At this impressionable age, we are setting such a bad example for them. They have come to believe that violence uproots violence, death is paid back with death, and life is not valuable at all. And it’s not their fault. We need to pause and think what we’re doing. Besides ruining the present, we are sending terribly wrong signals to the next generation. If this goes on, in a few decades there will be nothing left to salvage. It is our responsibility to leave for them a world that is tolerant and peaceful. If you interact with children, I request you to take a few minutes to tell them what peace is, give them a broader picture of what’s going on in this world and why certain things are not right. I don’t have to elaborate and it’s never too late.
Some of the songs/ poems the groups of kids had come up with were amazing. There was home peace, animal peace, brain peace and so on. However, there was this group which came up with a song, whose first two lines ran thus –
This world will see peaceNeedless to say, I choose not to quote further. This is sample good enough. Obviously, we ended up not using the song for the concert. However, I kept thinking why they came up with this song, despite our repeated emphasis that this was a peace workshop. Do they not understand what peace is? Perhaps they don’t. The media blares from all fronts about the Iraq peace process, Middle East Peace process, South East Asian Peace Process and also attributes numerous deaths and civilian casualties to these. Thanks to the Internet, children have access to all news and events in their entirety.
when Bin Laden is beheaded
…
When I think carefully, it’s not surprising they came up with a song like this. At this impressionable age, we are setting such a bad example for them. They have come to believe that violence uproots violence, death is paid back with death, and life is not valuable at all. And it’s not their fault. We need to pause and think what we’re doing. Besides ruining the present, we are sending terribly wrong signals to the next generation. If this goes on, in a few decades there will be nothing left to salvage. It is our responsibility to leave for them a world that is tolerant and peaceful. If you interact with children, I request you to take a few minutes to tell them what peace is, give them a broader picture of what’s going on in this world and why certain things are not right. I don’t have to elaborate and it’s never too late.
Monday, March 27, 2006
What is more important – current social issue(s) or long-term research?
During my recent visit to the Kennedy Space Center at Florida, I gathered a lot of information about future Mars Missions, next trip to the moon, and sending essentials to the International Space Station. I could sense immense excitement among the employees as they outlined the plans and shared the history with pride.
Spread over an area of over five hundred sq. kilometers, the place itself seems to be totally cut-off from the rest of the world. It is a complex machinery with seventeen thousand employees working relentlessly towards the next launch. Despite all the doubts and uncertainities associated with these complex space programs, there was a current of optimism and accomplishment.
As I headed back from KSC, I had a feeling of returning to the real world. There were people returning from work, kids from school and vehicles rushing to their destinations. As one trail of thought led to another, I thought of all those people without a home, without education and other social ills plaguing this world. Should all the funds and energy that go into such a grand space program be re-channeled? Is it a waste of time and money to dream of settling down in Mars? The answer is a resounding NO.
Problems fall into different categories. Issues like population explosion, illiteracy, crime, and poverty are inter-related and have prevailed always. They have reduced/increased at different rates based on the inter-dependence amongst each other. There are governments, many NGOs, and non-profit organizations that are working towards decreasing these. Then there are man-made and natural calamities. Natural calamities like tsunamis, earthquakes etc are not totally foreseeable yet. However, there are scientists working round the clock to make them more predictable and hence less calamitous. Lastly, man has contributed his fair share in keeping terrorism and warfare prevalent on the face of earth.
Despite all this, one cannot dispute that life today is far better than it was a few decades ago. There are always two kinds of innovations or research that take place – One, addresses current problem(s) and second, in pursuit of a grander dream with no correlation to the current situation. However, on closer look, even the first category comes about due to the curiosity of human mind. Fleming’s discovery of penicillin and Pasteur’s discovery of vaccines were a direct result of mind’s inclination to explore and find new things. I would put Wright Brothers’ invention of airplanes into the second category. If they had been restricted to mitigating social problems, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Better still, there would be no KSC.
All the research that leads to these inventions and discoveries provides immense learning along the way, which is applied to making better, the present life. In the end, it’s not just the end, but the means too.
Human mind is too complex, and brilliant. To curtail its enthusiasm and arrest its wonder would be a bane to mankind. In research, it is amazing how grown up people can sustain the mind of an eight or nine year old. To ask them to go slow on grand projects and not tread un-chartered territories is to deny them freedom. I cannot emphasize the importance of research enough. Hats off to all those beautiful minds and good luck to all the research that is going on in this world.
Spread over an area of over five hundred sq. kilometers, the place itself seems to be totally cut-off from the rest of the world. It is a complex machinery with seventeen thousand employees working relentlessly towards the next launch. Despite all the doubts and uncertainities associated with these complex space programs, there was a current of optimism and accomplishment.
As I headed back from KSC, I had a feeling of returning to the real world. There were people returning from work, kids from school and vehicles rushing to their destinations. As one trail of thought led to another, I thought of all those people without a home, without education and other social ills plaguing this world. Should all the funds and energy that go into such a grand space program be re-channeled? Is it a waste of time and money to dream of settling down in Mars? The answer is a resounding NO.
Problems fall into different categories. Issues like population explosion, illiteracy, crime, and poverty are inter-related and have prevailed always. They have reduced/increased at different rates based on the inter-dependence amongst each other. There are governments, many NGOs, and non-profit organizations that are working towards decreasing these. Then there are man-made and natural calamities. Natural calamities like tsunamis, earthquakes etc are not totally foreseeable yet. However, there are scientists working round the clock to make them more predictable and hence less calamitous. Lastly, man has contributed his fair share in keeping terrorism and warfare prevalent on the face of earth.
Despite all this, one cannot dispute that life today is far better than it was a few decades ago. There are always two kinds of innovations or research that take place – One, addresses current problem(s) and second, in pursuit of a grander dream with no correlation to the current situation. However, on closer look, even the first category comes about due to the curiosity of human mind. Fleming’s discovery of penicillin and Pasteur’s discovery of vaccines were a direct result of mind’s inclination to explore and find new things. I would put Wright Brothers’ invention of airplanes into the second category. If they had been restricted to mitigating social problems, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Better still, there would be no KSC.
All the research that leads to these inventions and discoveries provides immense learning along the way, which is applied to making better, the present life. In the end, it’s not just the end, but the means too.
Human mind is too complex, and brilliant. To curtail its enthusiasm and arrest its wonder would be a bane to mankind. In research, it is amazing how grown up people can sustain the mind of an eight or nine year old. To ask them to go slow on grand projects and not tread un-chartered territories is to deny them freedom. I cannot emphasize the importance of research enough. Hats off to all those beautiful minds and good luck to all the research that is going on in this world.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Censorship
Censorship typically refers to deleting parts of a movie, play or written material to prevent it from reaching public eyes. Before going on to discuss if censorship in any form is justified or not, it helps to look at how the same has evolved over the last few decades.
During this period, censoring and censorship have continuously assumed new meanings. Roughly thirty years back, it was film censorship, which was predominant. There was occasionally a furor about editing or removing scenes from films. Or, sometimes the rating for the movie changed. When I think carefully, it was usually because of some sexual content that was inappropriate for the mass audience. The censor board must have felt that the material was not suited for children of certain ages. It was a straightforward case few years ago. I don't remember too many controversies about written material in papers or magazines.
In today's context, censorship is a complicated matter. It has assumed a new and more important role in print media, movies and plays and for that matter in any medium of expression. One has to admit that while globalization has brought us closer to diverse communities, it has also made us intolerant, oversensitive and critical. No community or country is isolated and hence is prone to comments and criticisms from all fronts. Having said that it is not hard to see why censorships today are not necessarily for explicit sexual content.
One cannot sufficiently emphasize the importance of the freedom of speech and expression. Any curb on this would reduce us to living corpses. I am almost tempted to say that censorship in any form, under any context and anywhere is totally unjustified. However, a second look at recent happenings over the cartoons of Prophet Mohammad published in a Danish daily makes me cautious. While this incident assumed global proportions, I know of numerous such incidents at regional and national levels. The loss of hundreds of innocent and intolerant lives over petty cartoons clearly shows that we as a society are still not mature to handle comments in a positive frame, and creative ideas in lighter vein. I do not know these people who called for processions or protested outside offices and embassies. Perhaps they were unemployed youth who had nothing worthwhile to do. They thought it was best to express their unhappiness and anger by torching lives. It's strange that something like a cartoon strip, which is meant to amuse people, becomes responsible for loss of lives.
Despite out tremendous advancements in science, education and technology, humans are still emotionally immature. We do not have the capacity to laugh at brickbats and thrusts. The lack of emotional maturity presents itself in the form of extremely volatile situations. A small group of immature rebels are able to mobilize individuals to form a gang, and fight for a completely trivial issue.
Unfortunately, censorship in some form is needed today. But only as a medium to evaluate and edit, if needed, contents that are provocative. The board should include representatives from diverse fields - writers, painters, movies, theater, and others. The board could work within a well-defined framework on how to handle contents that are provocative. This will ensure fairness because the board would be a balanced representation from all these fields and the members would be qualified enough to judge the content, while still ensuring freedom of speech and opinion.
During this period, censoring and censorship have continuously assumed new meanings. Roughly thirty years back, it was film censorship, which was predominant. There was occasionally a furor about editing or removing scenes from films. Or, sometimes the rating for the movie changed. When I think carefully, it was usually because of some sexual content that was inappropriate for the mass audience. The censor board must have felt that the material was not suited for children of certain ages. It was a straightforward case few years ago. I don't remember too many controversies about written material in papers or magazines.
In today's context, censorship is a complicated matter. It has assumed a new and more important role in print media, movies and plays and for that matter in any medium of expression. One has to admit that while globalization has brought us closer to diverse communities, it has also made us intolerant, oversensitive and critical. No community or country is isolated and hence is prone to comments and criticisms from all fronts. Having said that it is not hard to see why censorships today are not necessarily for explicit sexual content.
One cannot sufficiently emphasize the importance of the freedom of speech and expression. Any curb on this would reduce us to living corpses. I am almost tempted to say that censorship in any form, under any context and anywhere is totally unjustified. However, a second look at recent happenings over the cartoons of Prophet Mohammad published in a Danish daily makes me cautious. While this incident assumed global proportions, I know of numerous such incidents at regional and national levels. The loss of hundreds of innocent and intolerant lives over petty cartoons clearly shows that we as a society are still not mature to handle comments in a positive frame, and creative ideas in lighter vein. I do not know these people who called for processions or protested outside offices and embassies. Perhaps they were unemployed youth who had nothing worthwhile to do. They thought it was best to express their unhappiness and anger by torching lives. It's strange that something like a cartoon strip, which is meant to amuse people, becomes responsible for loss of lives.
Despite out tremendous advancements in science, education and technology, humans are still emotionally immature. We do not have the capacity to laugh at brickbats and thrusts. The lack of emotional maturity presents itself in the form of extremely volatile situations. A small group of immature rebels are able to mobilize individuals to form a gang, and fight for a completely trivial issue.
Unfortunately, censorship in some form is needed today. But only as a medium to evaluate and edit, if needed, contents that are provocative. The board should include representatives from diverse fields - writers, painters, movies, theater, and others. The board could work within a well-defined framework on how to handle contents that are provocative. This will ensure fairness because the board would be a balanced representation from all these fields and the members would be qualified enough to judge the content, while still ensuring freedom of speech and opinion.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Quantitative Finance
The field of quantitative finance is rich and interesting. When I mention the term "Financial Engineering" many people quip "Oh, now finance too has engineering..". Well, its aptly called that way because of the application of mathematical and engineering methods to problems in finance. But there is a lot of physics too. When I see Brownian Motion being applied to stock prices, there is a part of me thatsvery happy to use a tiny bit of the statistical physics that I learnt.
2005 is the world year of physics. Someone mentioned this is because, in 1905, Einstein published three most important papers in physics history - general relativity, photoelectric effect and brownian motion. Its surprising how a 100 years later brownian motion is applied in economics and finance to study stock prices like random motion of particles in a fluid. The famous black scholes model for option pricing uses quantum physics to make it simpler, unlike when it uses Ito's calculus.
Another important use of physics in finance is attributed to Feynman, for the sum-over-paths integral method (electromagnetic particles).
Econophysics is a relatively new branch, which lists a whole bunch of other applications of mathematical physics to finance. http://www.derivativesstrategy.com/ has some nice comic strips on trades, hedge funds and other aspects of finance.
2005 is the world year of physics. Someone mentioned this is because, in 1905, Einstein published three most important papers in physics history - general relativity, photoelectric effect and brownian motion. Its surprising how a 100 years later brownian motion is applied in economics and finance to study stock prices like random motion of particles in a fluid. The famous black scholes model for option pricing uses quantum physics to make it simpler, unlike when it uses Ito's calculus.
Another important use of physics in finance is attributed to Feynman, for the sum-over-paths integral method (electromagnetic particles).
Econophysics is a relatively new branch, which lists a whole bunch of other applications of mathematical physics to finance. http://www.derivativesstrategy.com/ has some nice comic strips on trades, hedge funds and other aspects of finance.
Physics
Physics is a beautiful subject. I was never an outstanding student, but I enjoyed every bit of what I learnt. Its amazing how it explains everything from the so big to the so small. Personally I feel that it forms a strong base for some of the engineering streams. Feynman Lectures on Physics is a treat to every student who likes physics or wants to know about physics. Sometimes, I feel too much of Mathematics just overshadows the physics behind. Nevertheless, from what I've observed, matrices and differential equations are a very integral part of physics.
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