New Photo Blog

A few months back i along with my team who call ourselves the "Sharp Shooters" have created a photo blog called "nature smiles". Kindly have a look at it. The URL is 

http://naturesmiles.wordpress.com/

Is Media misguiding us or Is Media getting misguided?

As I was following the news on the current scarcity of fertilizers in Karnataka, the above question arose in my mind. It was just twenty one days before B S Yediurappa took is oath as CM of Karnataka after the people of Karnataka gave BJP a clear mandate to form the government along with the independents. Although Yediurappa became the first CM to take oath in the name of the farmer, the recent scarcity of fertilizers for farmers in Karnataka has become a serious problem which is facing Yediurappa’s government.

After the JD(S) – BJP coalition government fell, the governor’s rule was brought in Karnataka. During this tenure only 11% of required fertilizer stock was sent to Karnataka [click here]. This scarcity of fertilizers did hit the farmers of the state as soon as the new government took its office. It started of with agitation by farmers in various districts of Karnataka. The issue became more serious when a farmer was shot dead at Haveri. The government sent a request letter to send more stocks of fertilizers to the state to solve the problem [click here].

Meanwhile the media has been printing headlines everyday about the death of farmers through out Karnataka. Well although 1 or 2 died because they had to pay huge amounts for the banks where they had borrowed loans (because of lack of considerable returns in their agriculture), the other farmers had died to family issues. The media in spite of knowing these reasons behind the death are projecting these deaths as an act of mismanagement by the state government. This seems to be an act by the media to create a bad image for the new government just to show that this government is inefficient to govern the state.

Media being a responsible medium to uphold the democracy of the country has to carefully analyze the issues and effects of the information they present. They should not indulge in writing articles that will disturb peace. They should also be neutral in their approach of presenting information rather than being biased towards political parties just for the sake of publicity or money. Although this is not the only time the media has misguided people but there are many such scenarios where media has indulged in such activity.

Some of the newspapers like Kesari and Maratha started by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak (July 23, 1856 - August 1, 1920), who was an Indian nationalist, social reformer and independence fighter, should be a inspiration for the present media. Their editorials gave a vivid picture of the people's sufferings and of actual happenings. Tilak used to say to his colleagues that the media should imagine that they are talking to a villager and not to a university student. They should be sure of each and every fact. He used to expect each word to be clear as day light. He made his newspaper a medium to make his dream of “Swaraj India” a reality.

Probably the present media should rethink about their role in the society and should work hard in making Vision-2020 possible rather than concentrating towards making their media a business just to make name and fame.

The Rocket boys who made the ‘October Sky’ a ‘November Sky’

Well it is not the rocket boys of Coalwood but the rocket boys of Bangalore. Although people won’t call us that way we have called ourselves ‘Rocket Boys’ after our rocket was successfully launched on the auspicious day of Deepavali. The festival of lights stood as a witness for this launch and what better day could we have chosen for this.

Being a science enthusiast, I like experimenting and playing with science. Along with me Adithya, Kiran, Sathya and the most important of all, my uncle Murali Mohan (I call him Murali Chikappa) joined together to execute the experiment which I thought of doing. Well since younger days I was interested in rockets and wanted to experiment with one. Others who joined me were equally interested in this experiment.

People while referring to any easy work say ‘it is no rocket science!’ but does that mean rocket science is that difficult? But if it is challenging and exciting then who cares if it is difficult. I was browsing the web for help regarding making rockets. I found an interesting link which said Water bottle rockets. What else does one need to start of with when you want to build a low budget rocket? As I browsed through the link, I came to know there was a whole community behind it. In the west it is an undergraduate level science project where groups of students demonstrate their rockets by launching it. Lot of enthusiasts like us, have experimented with these rockets and there is a lot of information about it on the web. Well when I came to know about the building of the rocket, I discussed about it with my group. We started designing the rocket and its launch pad. As the name itself suggests, a water bottle is needed for the rocket. We also needed a parachute to recover the launched rocket and a launch pad to launch it.

We picked a big cool drink bottle which was sturdy and which could withstand the crash during fall in case the parachute fails. Murali Chikappa had brought special material to make the fins and nose of the rocket. The fins were attached to the inverted bottle and a nose was designed to create enough lung space to house the parachute. The nose was tied to the bottle and placed over the bottom of the inverted bottle. We prepared a nice big parachute of 32 inches and with the help of strings tied it to the bottle and placed it in the area below the nose cone (pay load area). The rocket was ready to some extent and now we had to prepare the launch pad. The design was finalized and Murali chikappa who was indeed our chief architect had asked a plumber to prepare it. Ah! When did plumbers get involved in rocket making? Don’t get surprised after all it is a water bottle rocket and who else can prepare the launch pad for it. Ya the lauch pad was made out of PVC pipes. They were arranged in an H-Shape framework in order to provide a firm base for the launch. The plumber got the launch pad ready in a couple of days and all we had to do was to fix some accessories to it to help the launch.

Provision for fixing a cycle pump to the launch pad was made, and clamps and other necessary accessories were mounted on the launch pad. Now it was time for some testing. We threw the rocket from top of the house and tested whether the parachute was opening. Adithya really helped us out in this testing. After a number of trials we fixed various defects in the parachute. The final touches were made to the apparatus before the launch.

The first test launch was exciting. We were nervous because all the work we had done before was theoretical. This was our first practical experience of flying our own rocket. The apparatus was assembled on top of our house. The bottle was filled with water till the half mark. The bottle was inverted over the launch pad and fixed tightly using the clamps so that the water inside should not leak. Air was pumped into the bottle using the cycle pump. This increased the pressure inside the bottle. After the pressure inside the bottle reached an optimum pressure (which we came to know from a meter attached to the pump) we stopped pumping air inside the bottle. Then we pulled the clamp that was holding the bottle. The water gushed out of the bottle opening, and drenched me completely. In no time the rocket was around 30 feet above our head. Wow it was an achievement. We jubilated with excitement and happiness. The first test launch was a real success and it was a source of inspiration for the rest of the launches we made. Well after this launch we celebrated a pollution free deepavali by launching our rocket as many times as it excited us.

This was not the end… The rocket went on for its display at two science exhibitions. While it became an inauguration event at the science exhibition in Sri Vani Education Institute, Subramanyanagara it won an award at the other science exhibition. We had named the rocket AZAD and it proved to its name. It was a colorful and wonderful November Sky for us when our hard work turned into reality when the rocket had kissed the sky. I would like to thank and congratulate all the team members who made the rocket a big success.

Travelogue

I have written a travelogue of my trip to Madurai - Rameshwaram - Dhanushkodi - Kanyakumari along with my family and friends. If you are interested please follow the link

Click Here

Hope you enjoy it!

Are we killing democracy?

It has been 60 years since we got our independence. The political system of our country (Democracy) has bestowed its citizens with the right to form their government. Recently on May 10th 2008, polling went on in 89 constituencies across 11 southern districts of Karnataka in the first phase of the assembly elections. 55 percent of 17.3 million eligible voters voted and Bangalore recorded the lowest with just 40 percent turn out.

I have heard many answers given by people when you ask why you didn’t vote. “I wanted to teach them a lesson!”, “If I vote or not vote how does it matter?”, “I do not have my name in the voter’s list”, “I do not have id proof to do the voting”, “All the candidates are corrupt and are power mongers who give least importance to development, so why should I vote them?” and many more. Since 60 years, many governments have been formed and in the future, continue to get formed. But what has been the difference! Most of the cabinet ministers in the formed government do not have a healthy history or they do not have the vision to lead India. Who is responsible for this?

The unethical act of a party which failed to keep up to its promise of transferring power, brought the necessity of elections in Karnataka. The people of Karnataka were given the responsibility to elect a stable government which would successfully run for its complete term (5 years) concentrating more on development rather than political instability. Did we execute our responsibility? The voting statistics says it all. A couple of days back I was travelling in a bus. There was a conversation between 2 people, one who had casted his vote and the other who did not. The person who had voted made a strong statement “People who did not vote are like people who are dead!” It was indeed correct. We are living in our country, we want good facilities, and we have been given the responsibility to elect a government which would give us what we want, and at the end of the day it is the same we who will blame the government for not doing any work. Is it ethical on our part to put any such blame on the government when we have not voted?

The election commission had given the opportunity to add your name to the voter’s list. They had published the information in papers and news channels. Did we take it seriously to register our names in the voters list? No we were least bothered about it. Probably we even expected the election commission to come to our door steps begging to add our names. I think if there was a rule in the constitution saying that you would be given remuneration for the month only if you show the proof that you have voted then probably we would have taken that extra pain of registering our names and execute our right of voting!

I agree with many people saying “All the candidates are corrupt and are power mongers who give least importance to development, so why should we vote them?” but is that a solution to prevent corrupt candidates from being elected. We have the right to elect and not to elect a person. If you do not want to vote then register your voting right, but say that you are not interested in voting anyone. This would probably give you chance to prevent the corrupt candidate from being elected.

Are we trying to forget our responsibilities as citizens? Are we taking voting, elections and hence democracy lightly? Do we need stringent rules to wake us up and remind us of our duties?

We should feel proud that we are born in India, the land of culture and diversity. As Indians it is our responsibility and duty to work towards country’s progress. Don’t you think your vote is precious? If you had never felt that India is your home and electing its leader is your responsibility, then you must rethink about calling yourself an Indian. Let us all vote and make democracy live longer.

A Colorful day at Anekal

Anekal is my Mother’s native and I have visited this place quite a few times. This place is very near to Bengaluru and can be reached via Hosur road or Bannerghatta road. Every year a festival is celebrated here in chaitra masa, sapthami tithi (you should know a bit of hindu calendar jargon to understand this). I had been to this festival on 12th of April. Before getting to my experience in this year’s festival let me explain what this festival is all about. This festival is generally termed as jatre in Kannada. All Kannadigas might know what that means. During the festival the idol of the god is placed in a teru (another kannada term!). Teru is nothing but a very tall chariot about 30ft high, decorated with colorful cloth, flowers, banana leaves, ornaments and so on and so forth…, it has 4 wheels made of stone and long iron chains to pull it! The people who come to jatre feel that they get blessings by pulling teru in which the idol of the god is placed. The people use the chains to pull the teru around the temple premises on that day.

I have been to the jatre held at Anekal a couple of times. It was a long time about 8-10yrs since I had been to the jatre held there. The jatre has been sacred to my mother’s family as they used to stay in Anekal when they grew up and used to visit the temple of Timmaraya Swamy (the name given to Lord Vishnu here) to get the blessings of the god. I thought of going to the festival along with my mother. It was a weekend holiday and an opportunity to witness this grand festival which I could not have missed.

It was a bright sunny Saturday morning, a typical bengaluru summer day with around 28 degree Celsius. I packed my camera, water bottles and got ready. It was around 9:45 AM when we reached KSRTC bus stand in Majestic. We came to know from the authorities that the next bus to Anekal was at 10:15 AM. We had to wait for half an hour to catch the bus. There were less number of commuters and the bus looked empty and the conductor took a nice nap till Anekal as no passengers boarded the bus on the way. We reached Anekal at around 12:00 PM (45 minutes late), because of the state of traffic on Hosur road as many of you know!

It was a colorful day at Anekal. Thousands of people from in and around Anekal had gathered to celebrate the festival. The street to the temple was jam packed and the street was invisible. We could see the temple tower from a far distance. The temple site looked colorful. As we walked through the jam packed crowd we could see on either side of the road, shop keepers selling eatables, toys, balloons and many more things. There were giant wheels and all sorts of viable amusement sports. All the people were enjoying the colorful environment and immersed in happiness even though it was scorching hot. I had to drink water often to beat the heat. As I neared the temple I could see the teru standing tall and very well decorated. A new temple of lord Rama was also built and its tower was shining as it was painted with gold shade. We entered the temple and had to join the end of queue to get inside the temple. During all my visits to Anekal I had never seen a queue here. This time the people had turned out in large numbers and we had to wait for almost an hour to see the god.

After having a chance to see the god we came out of the temple and went directly to the site where the teru was standing. The tradition is to throw bananas atop the teru when it is pulled. This is an amazing sight. We bought some bananas and were all waiting for teru to be pulled. The teru was surrounded by thousands of people chanting lord vishnus name. A few volunteers brought the idol of lord Vishnu, shouting and dancing and did the parikrama around the teru thrice, as per tradition. Then the idol was placed inside the teru and hundreds of people who were holding the iron chains of the teru started pulling it. The stone wheels started rolling making a rumbling noise. The people around started throwing the bananas atop the teru. The purohit who was inside the teru to perform the puja had a bad time. He was fired with lots and lots of bananas. The bananas which were ill aimed targeted the people around and it was a real pain after being hit by these bananas as they were traveling like bullets. The teru completed its parikrama around the temple.

It was after a long time I had witnessed a wonderful and amazing event like this. I probably cannot put the entire event in words here as it might take a few pages. I suggest you to visit such an event and enjoy the environment that the event sets in the minds of the people. You can see the happiness, enjoyment and the respect to the tradition that has been followed from decades. It creates a feeling of oneness. Don’t you think it’s amazing?

Trigonometry, Sine theta and Our India

This post is for those who didn't know that Indians were the first to use trigonometry. You might have learnt trigonometry during you younger days probably in your high school or college. Has anyone thought about why is there a sine of an angle (sin theta)? Why is it sine and not something else? How did it get its name and many more unanswered questions...? (But if you already know then this article is not for you!).

Trigonometry began with the chords. A chord is a straight line drawn between any 2 points on a circle. Later trigonometry was based on a concept which is a slight modification of chords called sines. A sine of an angle is half the length of the chord of twice that angle (Is your head turning? Don't worry a picture describes a thousand words).

Here sine of angle DAB is half the length of the chord BE which is a chord to the angle BAE which is twice angle DAB. Does it make sense?

But why is it called sine and not something else? Well we need to go back to history to find out why... As sine of an angle is half the length of the chord of twice the angle as seen above, Indians basically astronomers who used trigonometry extensively used to call it ardh-jiya in Sanskrit. If you know Sanskrit then you know ardh means half and jiya is chord. They even started calling it as ardh-jiva. Arabs who were interested and amused by the concept of trigonometry took the knowledge of trigonometry from Indians and called it as jiba. Well they probably won't use vowels in their language so they renamed it as jb. After many years Latin translators thought the word jb was acronym for jaib. But jaib in Arabic meant breast. In Latin sinus had breast and bay as two of its meanings. English translators took this word sinus and adapted it as sine to depict half the length of the chord of twice the angle...

Well this was just how sine got its name.. But if you are really interested in learning all (at least fundamentals) about trigonometry i.e. cosine, tangent, cotangent, secant, cosecant ... then just go through the link. It's worth reading

http://www.clarku.edu/~djoyce/trig/