Tuesdays with Morrie

I am somewhat moved by this book. Morrie, a person on death bed told the world how to live. The closest book to this one was "The Last Lecture". I think both the books together shows how one can learn how to die and then can learn easily how to live. Apart from this, this is the kind of very rare, affectionate teacher-student relationship. Its just a chance, I read this book on 5th September.

Trying to paste some good text and some images of Morrie.

About the book: This true story about the love between a spiritual mentor and his pupil has soared to the bestseller list for many reasons. For starters: it reminds us of the affection and gratitude that many of us still feel for the significant mentors of our past. It also plays out a fantasy many of us have entertained: what would it be like to look those people up again, tell them how much they meant to us, maybe even resume the mentorship? Plus, we meet Morrie Schwartz--a one of a kind professor, whom the author describes as looking like a cross between a biblical prophet and Christmas elf. And finally we are privy to intimate moments of Morrie's final days as he lies dying from a terminal illness. Even on his deathbed, this twinkling-eyed mensch manages to teach us all about living robustly and fully. Kudos to author and acclaimed sports columnist Mitch Albom for telling this universally touching story with such grace and humility.

From Morrie

• So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.
  
  
• Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others.
  

• ... I embrace aging… It's very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you'd always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth. It's more than the negative that you're going to die, it's also the positive that you understand you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.
  

• ...There are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage: If you don't respect the other person, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. If you don't know how to compromise, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. If you can't talk openly about what goes on between you, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don't have a common set of values in life, you're gonna have a lot of trouble.
  

• Death ends a life, not a relationship.

--Morrie Schwartz

Mitch and Morrie after graduation.

Heart and Ring

One of my college mate, Partho took this one. Really liked the same :)

Linux Chaos

I just read abt the big news about Google Chrome OS yesterday. Not sure what Google wants to do and where they will place Android. Some time back I did read a news that Dell is planing to port Android on netbooks and now this comes. I think these are the reasons why Linux cud not make it to desktop market ever. The open source gives such troubles along with the the powers.

Why Google does not stick with android, create a bigger version for netbooks, what extra with this chrome OS will have than android. This is like Motorola, they had their hands in every OS be in Symbian, Linux, Windows CE, Android, UIQ. The customers got confused and gradually they dumbed the whole products. I still do not know why Ubuntu was not taken up by Google when they funded it and made two variations, they went to Android and now Chrome OS. They made Dalvik on Android now added Native SDK. I am not sure Google knows what to do apart from Search and Web.

Linux needs to be nurtured for Desktop market else it will be only for server class machines and not for the common user.

Thats the reason Apple stands so much ahead in such cases (actually in all cases). They have nurtured the Unix during last two decades and they have that on Mac and also on iPhones, they do not confuse users with 100 OS terms and UI.

Ethiopia is thirsty, diseased...

Qutub Minar

Qutub Minaar or Qutb Minar, I visited this place recently in the month of May 2009, when one of my friend wanted to see the place. I had visited the place when I was kid and I never included this place in my list to explore. When I went there and saw the place I wondered on my decusion. By chance that day was awesome, the temperature at May at Delhi was quite good. Very exceptional :)

This is worlds tallest brick Minaret. It is situated in the Qutb complex, amidst the ruins of ancient Jain temples which were destroyed & their stones used to build the Qutb complex & minar. [3] Constr uction commenced in 1193 under the orders of India's first Muslim ruler Qutb-ud-din Aibak, and the topmost storey of the minaret was completed in 1386 by Firuz Sha h Tughluq. The Qutb Minar is notable for being one of the earliest and most prominent examples of Indo-Islamic architecture.

The Qutb complex, also spelled Qutab or Qutub, is an array of monuments and buildings at Mehrauli in Delhi, India, the most famous of which is the Qutb Minar. It i nitially housed a complex of twenty-seven ancient Jain temples which were destroyed & their material used in the construction of the Qutb complex by Qutb-ud-din Ai bak, the first ruler of the Slave Dynasty, and his successor Iltutmish (aka Altmash) on the ruins of Lal Kot and Qila-Rai-Pithora (Prithivraj Chauhan's city). The complex was added to by many subsequent rulers, including Iltutmish and Ala ud din Khilji as well as the British.

Let me now try to paste some specs of Qutub Minar, followed by a good shot I was able to take :). The Qutab Minar is 72.5 metres (238 ft) tall with 379 steps leading to the top. The diameter of the base is 14.3 meters wide while the top floor measures 2.75 meters in diameter. Surrounding the building are many fine examples of Indian artwork from the time it was built in 1193. A second tower was in construction and planned to be taller than the Qutb Minar itself. Its construction ended abruptly when it was about 12 meters tall.The name of this tower is given as Alau Minar and construction of recent studies shows that this structure has been tilted in one direction. It is made of red sandstone all the way except for two stories at the top. This part is of white marble and was made by Firoz Shah Tughlaq.He had decided to put a more prominent finish to the magnificent minar.

This is the second tower mentioned above (Alai Minar). Its in ruins now. Here is the cool shot I was able to take. Its a cool comparative shot :) When I saw this one I just thought of a well known idiom. "Man Proposes, God Disposes".

Then we went to Jain Temple. A nice piece of architecture and a mixture of Aryan and Islamic art. Look at the image below. These pillars are from Jain Era and the persian work is much after. These looked very very gongeous in live!! These pillars from the Jain temples were actually reused in the Quwwat ul-Islam Mosque.

Here comes the famous iron pillar. The iron pillar is one of the world’s foremost metallurgical curiosities. The pillar, almost seven metres high and weighing more than six tonnes, was erected by Chandragupta II Vikramaditya (375–414 CE). It is the only piece of the Jain temple remaining, which stood there before being destroyed by Qutb-ud-din Aibak.

One more cool shot of Minar below. Its a must visit place and best ime is from September to March. Place for nice weekend :)

Stop flying by Air France !

I have myself felt this and here are some real stories which really disturb. Its a shame for such countries who claim to be developed and from first world and believing in racial discrimination. This is far worse from discrimination on the basis or religion or caste.

Racial bias: Air France says sorry to passengers

Puneet Bhatia,New delhi,says:I happen to be a "Platinum Member" of KLM/ Air France's frequent flyer program "Flying Blue" and I have to agree with what has happened. The airline especially their ground staff are highly racial and that is what I experienced last year in Amsterdam. I saw in front of me European passengers being treated preferentially, there was a couple who got an upgrade by KLM just because they happened to be Dutch (in front of me, without paying anything) while I was refused even an upgrade even though I was willing to pay up by my miles. I told the staff supervisor about my ill-health and that I was willing to redeem miles for an upgrade, but she was rude and threatened to remove me from the flight. I travelled without food on the flight because they had a non-veg meal and when i returned I had to spend 7 days recovering from the trauma. I have since ceased to fly with KLM. Due to their racial and biased attitude, I had to fly 10 hours without food and also basic amenities one would expect that can be extended to a frequent flyer. It is so frustrating that we dont have a forum in India to highlight the racial attitude of the European airlines. I wish there was a forum created by Govt. of India on prventing racial abuse of Indians outside of India. [14 May, 2009 1608hrs IST] Taposh Chatterjee,Boston,says:I am very frequent travel - travelling on an average 1 to 15 times world wide. I have been doing this for the last 22 years. I always make it a point NOT to travel by Air France no matter how inconvenient it is. I have had some very bitter experience with Air France thrice. In one case I flew from Braga, Portugal to Paris to take a connecting flight to Delhi - the inbound flight to Paris from Braga was delayed and consequently I missed my connecting flight to New Delhi. In Spite of having French Visa - Air France just did not care. I spent more then an hour running round trying to get them to give me hotel, transportation - all in vein. In the end I spent my own money to go to a hotel to stay for the night and then take the next morning flight to Delhi. This treatment was melted out to me in spite of being a Business Class passenger - I can well understand what must be happening to Economy Class. I suppose Air France believes in service on the basis of nationality and the colour of ones skin. It is high time DGCA or other authority take action. In the mean time I would appeal to all Indians worldwide including India to boycott all Air France flights [14 May, 2009 1606hrs IST] Vishal Shinde,London,says:I think Air France has habbit of doing mistakes and then saying sorry. The same incidence happened with me. I fought back and got 500 Euro as compensation after my complain(in 2004). In my case, Air France also provided me visa and arranged for a stay in Hotel. In this case there are 52 people who can fight back and claim for good compensation. Mere sorry will not do.... [14 May, 2009 1605hrs IST]

Leh and Pangong Lake

We had been there a bit months ago for some days. Had been a long time desire to be there and spend some days at Leh. After 30 minutes of flight, we began to realize that this trip is going to be different. We were amazed from the views we seeing from the window of our seat. Real Himalayan beauty. Unfortunately I could not take photos at that moment.

In 1 hr, we elevated to 12,000 ft of height !! The airport is controlled and maintained there by Indian army and its an Army Airport. No cameras etc are allowed inside so the airport. So It was different :)

Some background abt Leh. Leh was the capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh, now the Leh District in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The town is still dominated by the now ruined Leh Palace, former home of the royal family of Ladakh, which resembles a mini-Potala Palace. Leh is at an altitude of 3,500 meters.

Leh has a cold, arid climate with long, harsh winters from October to early March, with minimum temperatures well below freezing for most of the winter. The city gets occasional snowfall during winter. The weather in the remaining months is generally fine.

Some very unique census statistics. According to 1981 Census, 81.18 % of Leh District's population is Buddhist, 15.32 % Muslim, 2.99 % Hindus, 0.27 % Sikh and 0.23% Christians.

We went to stupa the same day. May be we shld not have gone the first day as its suggested to stay at hotel for the first day for good acclimatisation. I shld first paste a good photo of our resort . I shld say thats one on of the best resorts we could find there. Excellent food and good services. It was of wood and okay centrally heated. I liked all fod except the laddakhi tea. More of bad soup kind :(.

The stupa we saw was shanti stupa and was at a bit height from the city central. This was the second time I saw stupa after Sarnath.
We took rest that day and prepared for the big drive to Khardungla pass, highest motorable road. Khardung La (la means pass in Tibetan) (elevation 5359 m) is a high mountain pass located in the Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The international spelling is used here, but it is locally spelt "Khardong La".

The pass on the Ladakh Range lies north of Leh and is the gateway to the Shyok and Nubra valleys. The Siachen Glacier lies partway up the latter valley. Built in 1976, it was opened to motor vehicles in 1988 and has since seen many automobile, motorbike and mountain biking expeditions. Maintained by the Border Roads Organisation, the pass is strategically important to India as it is used to carry essential supplies to the Siachen.

Khardung La is situated 37 km by road from Leh. The first 24 km, as far as the South Pullu check point, are paved. From there to the North Pullu check point about 15 km beyond the pass the roadway is primarily loose rock, dirt, and occasional rivulets of snow melt.

We were not able to stay there longer as we felt we needed more oxygen. Thanks to the army medical officers for helping my mother and wife with oxygen supply. Yeah a bit risky. We went down withing 10 minutes. But not before taking some family pictures in front of this board :)

The same day we did some shopping in the evening and some really good tibetian food :)

The next day had a big aim. The place I wanted to see from many many years. Pangong lake. The images itself speak. I mean at first one can't realize that such place exists. So much near to the nature.

Pangong lake can be reached in a five-hour drive from Leh, most of it on a rough and dramatic mountain road. The road traverses the third-highest pass in the world, the Changla pass, where army sentries and a small teahouse greet visitors. The spectacular lakeside is open during the tourist season, from May to September. A special permit is required to visit the lake. While Indian nationals can obtain individual permits, others must have group permits (with a minimum of four persons) accompanied by an accredited guide; the tourist office in Leh issues the permits for a small fee. For security reasons, India does not permit boating. Now next just see the images. I mean amazing !!!!

I felt some one has made so live 3D paitings. I have never ever seen such a place in my all travel trips. We did face some health issues due to extreme height, less pressure and oxygen.
One more thing I shld mention here. Army there is extremely helpful. They live in such miserable conditions. Its not the resources, but the natural conditions are so harsh. But they are really very very helpful. A must visit place for anyone. Shld be in the list of "100 Places to visit before you die".