Friday, December 25, 2009
2009: Blogging et al
Friday, December 18, 2009
Trudging Unknown Waters: Image Registration
What is Image Registration?
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Classification of Teachers
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The Economics of Travel
Travelling involves a lot of preparation. More so, in Bengal.
As I was travelling from Burdwan to Kolkata by train, I was given some funda on travelling
- Board the last bogie (Reason? The last bogie turns out to be the first bogie when it arrives in Howrah)
- There won't be much space to stand. But do not sit.
F: Do not sit. Possibly, you may be called to sit.
As I linger about the empty seats, one of those sitting beckons me to sit. He removes a card and gives me a seat. I sit down skeptically.
In a while, the train fills up and the passengers seem to be seated comfortably.
Enter the Dalal.
Medium height, photocromatic eyeglasses and a thick shock of hair oiled in coconut oil. He comes and collects the cards. Counts them. 25 cards. One missing. Sits down besides me.
D: Dutta da, Maal ta din (Give me the goods!)
Dutta da: Diye debo. Apni tho amar bondhu (Will give you. You are my friend)
D: Jhule jhule jaaben, sheta ki bhalo lagbe? (Would you like to go standing in the crowded train?)
As I was about to doze off in the hubbub, what appears to be a 10 rupee note grazes past my shoulder. As I open my eyes, I can see the Dalal writing down carefully on a piece of paper Rs 10 against Dutta da.
Some Quick Calculations
I make some quick calculations. 26 people. Rs 10. That makes it Rs 260. Now if the Dalal loses a card daily. Then he has to buy a new deck every fortnight. Rs 260 minus Rs 20 / 2 = Rs 250. How much does the Dalal get? Rs 1000 every month (one way!). Not bad if it is weekly.
Now could this weekly or monthly? Would I be willing to pay Rs 10 for a seat if my ticket was for Rs 30 x 7 = Rs 210. How much was that? Roughly 5%. What if it was monthly? It would too low to be even significant. If it was weekly, the Dalal would be earning a handsome amount all for nothing! (If the Dalal earned Rs 15000/month at his office in Kolkata, this would contribute to roughly 10% of his income!). But what if it was monthly?
I was all confused and was about to doze off when it dawned on me that it wasn't 26 people. It was more than that. One couldn't have the same 26 people travel on all 30 days. He was reserving seats for more than 26 people. Maybe 50. Maybe 100. Couldn't tell where his boundaries ended and the next Dalal's boundaries started.
Some Open Questions
Suddenly, what appeared to be a mere gimmick for seats in a train looked like brisk business. And everybody paying/getting paid was equally culpable! Consider the number of Dalals one could have - If one had 2 Dalals per bogie and 15 bogies per train, the amount that went ??? was Rs 2000 x 30. And considering the number of local trains that crisscross the Indian railways daily, here are some questions I leave the reader to ponder upon
- Where do all these big numbers go when multiplied and added?
- Where do they come from? (My answer: The taxpayers)
- If you were a daily passenger, would you pay Rs 10 for a seat?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Military Brats: A Class Apart
- Military brats are outgoing? (I'll assume that actors/actresses are!)
- They are disciplined? (How else do you expect them to get to the top in the sporting world?)
- They had a lot of opportunity. (That I guess is a must - no matter how talented you are)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
#5 reasons to Chuck Windows and...
2000 bucks doesn't come easy. Atleast not in a country where people are struggling to earn that much in a year.
Why spend that much when you can have something better for nothing?
If you haven't found out already, let me tell you this. Windows is clumsy. Downright clumsy. Try doing something and it will take tons of time. It'll freeze. It'll report viruses. Tons of problems.
Million dollor question. Who is in control of your PC? You or Bill Gates?
Can you do what you want in your PC. Can you get your updates whenever you want? Can you get the simplest jobs done hassle free?
Windows isn't secure. It cannot be secure. Simple logic. Being the most popular operating system, all viruses are made for Windows. All Trojan Horses are made for Windows.
Viruses and Windows. Made for each other.
Everything is made for Windows. Can it be secure?
Yup. It is dumb. It is copied. Microsoft is business. Business by hook or by crook. Try something new and you'll know the difference.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Illumination and Rangoli: Day -1
The Results are Out
Diwali is over. Actually not. According to the lunar calander (or whatever), I am informed that Diwali would be till 4 o' clock in the morning. All of us go out to see how other halls had fared in the competition. Then we gathered at the Gymkhana where the results would be declared.
Post-Result Euphoria
RK bagged the gold in Illumination. RP bagged the gold. LLR and SN bagged the silver and bronze in both the categories. PAN loop had to be satisfied with nothing.
There was lot of talk about it. Some said the results had been rigged since all the GSecs were from LLR and RK/RP + SN was a girls hall - so they had to get something. Others argued that RK/RP/LLR have traditionally won this competition and they are really good at it.
Alternate Versions of Illuminations
After the accident, people started theorizing alternate versions of Illu (some really crazy ones though!).
- Instead of putting up tables to light the diyas, run a thread along all the diyas. At the right moment, burn the thread so that it would light up all the diyas. (Unreliable?)
- Put a cap on the height of the chatais. This will decrease the number of accidents that happen. (A cap on creativity too?!)
- Have a mirror chatai which will be lighted well in advance. This chatai can be used to light up the original chatai. (The budget would be doubled then!)
- Run a pipe of natural gas with openings at the right places. Ignite the thing when you have to light the diyas. (Budget?! Safe?)
The Rangoli was something that bowled me over. I had never expected something like that - near Paintings. And it wasn't just Nehru. Every hall I visited just made it look better and better.
The photographs have started pouring in. I'll keep updating this post to include more and more of them. In between, I'll try and manage a video of the split call, so that non-Kgpians can get a real idea what it is all about.
And oh! I had forgotten! Wishing my esteemed readers a very happy Diwali/Dhanteras/whatever.
@RK: Gold (Theme: Samudra Manthan)
@LLR: Silver
Rangoli: @RP (Gold)
Rangoli: @RK
Rangoli: @MMM
Rangoli @Azad
All for this:
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