Deepanjan Nag's Magnum Opus

I had to shave my head in December last year as part of a ritual I couldn't and wouldn't escape. I would like to believe that I did it not for religious but sentimental reasons. Perhaps I was too timid to unshackle myself from the very flawed customs I had so vehemently deplored. Anyway, I had my first haircut after that today. As the barber's practiced fingers did their job mechanically, my mind raced back in time. As a child, I always looked forward to my trips to the saloon. The barber would elevate me by placing a wooden plank on the arms of the chair so that I could admire my reflection. Dad's presence would be reassuring as I looked at his reflection on the mirror. What absolutely enthralled me was when the barber would use the spray bottle and phoosh-phoosh my hair! The spray would settle mostly on my hair and partly on my face. I would always look back at Dad in delight and unfailingly see him smiling back at me. He would stay there as the barber's scissors

Leaving for Kolkata today.

Stumbled across Suresh via Yahoo! IM. He's in Kerala.

Have u ever seen a fish that can't swim? Now, have u ever seen a techie who doesn't know HTML? Yup, that's me!

Added the Yahoo! Online Status Indicator to my blog.

A great site for all your IM related woes: WackyB

These pages may remain silent for the next few weeks. I have important issues to deal with. BTW, I intend to leave for Kolkata on the 31st.

Santosh's computer seems to have a great affinity for floppies. Pushing a floppy into the drive poses no difficulties. However, everytime you press the Eject button, the drive complies...but only just. Essentially, the floppy still remains lodged deep in the drive and even the nimblest of fingers will not be able to extricate it. The user then needs to go on an overdrive and use all sorts of equipments with NASA-styled precision movements to extract the prized object. However, after all those excruciating labour hours (OK, minutes!) one feels ecstatic when the floppy is finally culled out of the drive. It's like a doctor helping deliver an oversized but healthy baby, or an estranged father gaining custody of his child after a lengthy legal battle! I almost wish the floppy came out with an umbilical cord to snap! Maybe, there should have been a bar to raise a toast in!

Even radio stations with a bitrate of 24kbps are hard to play!

Bought it in Pune. Kept it hidden from Dad.

Thanks 2 Ankur for this one and some of the other links I've added.

Google must be mighty flattered! Yahoo! Mindset

Exalead

Google Fight

Ah, the sky is being denuded of its cloud cloak. Let us brace ourselves for yet another heat treatment! Come to think of it, people in some countries actually strive to get a sunbath!

I've always looked down upon Baroque period music. But one of Telemann 's concertos (that I'm listening to now) has been a pleasant revelation.

Arecibo Radio Telescope , Puerto Rico When I was a child (& long before I became aware of my abysmally poor IQ), I used to fantasize buying this telescope (the world's largest single dish radio telescope). That way, Dad & I could research outer space to our heart's content! However, since the dish was placed on the mouth of an extinct volcano, I was sometimes a bit uneasy about the idea. What if the volcano suddenly erupted? I had read about the telescope in Ian Ridpath 's Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Space . The two pages covering the telescope were yellowed by overexposure to daylight! What I liked most about radio telescopes was that they could be used even during daytime and in all weather conditions (unlike their optical cousins), so we wouldn't have to waste time even if meteorological forces played havoc or the Sun shone brightly on us! Alas, Arecibo was never up for sale and I never became a professional astronomer! But Astronomy still remains my first love.

If words are the instruments of thought, I must be mentally stunted.

The overcast sky has offered us some respite.

It has been drizzling since evening.

Santosh has sent his resume to Infosys .

The man with the world's richest baritone voice was known to me from the day I was born! Conover hosted Jazz Hour (& many other programs) on VOA for many years. He managed to build a very comprehensive Jazz archive and his radio programs were famous throughout the world excepting the US. VOA had once overarchived and needed to give out some of its vinyl records and invited requests from its listeners. Dad replied, and sure enough they sent him the promised record. The quality of recording was immaculate. However, Dad wasn't too fond of it since it featured the flute as the lead instrument. Conover's autographed photo was also sent. Dad and I were stunned when the usual familiar voice of Conover didn't greet us at the beginning of yet another Jazz Hour. I knew something was seriously wrong. The announcer then broke the sad news: Conover had died of lung cancer. It was 1996. BTW, VOA has an absolutely hideous website.

Q: Who set it to tune? A: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart .

I hate piano quintets. The piano simply doesn't amalgamate well with stringed instruments (except in concertos). The only exception has been Schubert 's famous Trout Quintet . Mrigayanka had insisted on me listening to it (when we were in Pune), but I was indisposed. I finally gave in...and was taken by surprise at how beautiful it sounded.

Santosh has got me addicted to icecreams! Having a cup or cone has become customary after dinner.

Yo-Yo Ma, The Greatest Cellist Does the Cello qualify for a musical instrument? Even Mozart (or was it Dvokar?) hated it! It may be the soul of an orchestra or a quartet, but that hardly impresses me. It indeed sounds like a bee trapped in a jar!

The scribe tribe in cyberspace is a fledgling lot. Netizens have taken to blogging with a fervor that doesn't seem to abate. Anonymity has added a new dimension to musings that would have otherwise never seen the light of day. Subjects touch everything ranging from political insights to warped paedophilia yearnings, soulful inditements of the self to the Aricibo telescope. People may even write slanderous remarks about adversaries...and get away with it; something that is bound to escalate in the coming years. While it's reassuring that commoners at last have a voice of their own, I am a tad sad that blogosphere is now being inundated with every Tom, Dick and Harry. That sheen of exclusivity is lost for good. I can't see the halo around my head! BTW, mainstream journalism may take a beating in the years to come.

God doesn't play dice with the Universe. He plays it exclusively with me. And the damned fellow cheats with alarming regularity. Well, if I'm the Chosen One, so be it! I was supposed to receive the original certificates I had submitted at BIT Mesra's office. I won't go into the gory details of what followed, but the harrowing experience left me feeling like a chicken being roasted alive in an oven. The erring officer(s) should be sent on a holiday tour of 100hrs to Venus. At least the jackass(es) will learn a thing or two about getting sunburnt. Thanks to his/their indifference, my journey back home has been put on hold. Adding a cruel irony to all my miseries was a light shower in the evening that was enough to drench me and add a few grams to my denim. I'm now soothing my frayed nerves with some Mozart over Shoutcast .

It seems the mosquitoes have taken offence to one of my previous posts. They have now outsourced their job during the day to the flies, which now pursue me with a zeal that has to be seen (or suffered) to be believed. So when it's sunlight, it's time for the flies to batter me. When it's moonlight, it's the turn of the mosquitoes to maul me. Kinda works for them!

I AM SAM (from the Hollywood stable) The only movie of commensurate quality India ever produced was Rabindranath Tagore's KABULIWALA, directed by Satyajit Ray. Personal Note :This was one of the last movies (I AM SAM) Dad & I had watched together. We thoroughly savoured it. MAIN AISA HI HOON (from the Bollywood stable) Bollywood has always been a non-entity in originality, but does it really have to be such a lousy copycat? Even watching this movie is an insult to the subtleties of the human emotion. Great minds are a rarity, but they are rarer still in India. Personal Note : Dad didn't live to suffer the torture this movie would have inflicted on him. Anyway, he never watched Bollywood flicks.

He deserves the Nobel Peace Prize! It's as big an achievement as the light bulb.

The guitar always plays spoilsport in Jazz...and so does the violin. It's like playing the harmonium in a symphony!

For once, my favorite has won! She's indeed a very talented country singer. But I think the title is a bit of a misnomer.

He's been ambivalent regarding going to Pune. However, he now tells me that he's definitely visiting the Oxford of the East before the 15th of June. However, I can still catch traces of uncertainty in his words.

My addiction to the Net is assuming alarming proportions. Are there any rehabilitation centres around?

Podcasting will be the next wave to hit the Net. A great site for the uninitiated is iPodder . BTW, Whisperings has stolen my heart!

Raut was supposed to show up today, but he didn't.

Santosh was all set to create a resumé. What was assumed to merit only a minor effort from him ultimately needed our combined efforts...and even that wasn't enough for its consummation. MS Word really spoils us for choice.

The daily digest from our group has got Santosh stumped. I'll have to revert his settings to its previous state. Are mailing lists really that tech heavy for people to fathom?

I've been listening 2 Net radio all morning. No better way 2 kill time. I could give an arm and a leg to learn the piano.

I would be a pianist. Chopin and Liszt would be my heroes. I would be tutored by Yanni.

Live365 is often the only choice.

It worked! BTW, I'm glorifying Blogger, not the Lord.

I'll be elated if it works. Previous attempts have failed.

I've exhausted the monthly quota of access to my personalized Yahoo! radio. I guess its time for me to stop accessing the Net. BTW, I've discovered Raaga . It's good.

If God (figmented though He may be) ever chose to sing, He would hire Julio 's rotund voice. Julio's son hardly measures up. BTW, I hope the Almighty can offer me clemency for all the copyrights that have been violated in my blog!

Ourmedia is nascent & going thru teething problems. I could easily forgive it for all its oddities.

Santosh and I are diametrically oriented. Yet, we've been the best of roomies. Some of the entries in my blog may have occasionally nettled him (like this one , where the passing reference to him evoked muffled protests!), but that never distanced us in any way. I wish him all the best in his endeavours.

I've acquiesced in making our group very restrictive...hoping to see it tide over the crises it has been facing. Its very survival is in question, thanks to a bunch of unscrupulous people. I just hope I don't inadvertently stifle the life out of the group.

The bandwidth in Zensar has apparently thinned to a trickle. Sabu will vouch for that.

The bandwidth is terrible today.

I put away the groceries And I take my daily bread I dream of your arms around me As I tuck the kids in bed I don't know what you're doin' And I don't know where you are But I look up at that great big sky And I hope you're wishin' on that same bright star I wonder, I pray [Chorus:] And I sleep alone I cry alone And it's so hard livin' here on my own So please, come home soon (Come home soon) I know that we're together Even though we're far apart And I'll wear our lucky penny 'round my neck Pressed to my heart I wonder, I pray [Repeat Chorus] [Bridge:] I still imagine your touch It's beautiful missing something that much But sometimes love needs a fighting chance So I'll wait my turn until it's our turn to dance I wonder, I pray [Second Chorus:] I sleep alone I cry alone Without you this house is not a home So please, come home soon [Third Chorus:] I walk alone I try alone I'll wait for you, don't want to die alone So

Bo Bice & Carrie Underwood r the 2 finalists.

This is how far we can go... ...& so is this!

This blog is only a façade. No one has the ghost of an idea what I'm going thru.

Ranchi is as hot as a blast furnace.

Am I treading a dangerous line by uploading the snaps? I hope not.

Is innovation the exclusive preserve of Google? It would seem so. The latest addition to Google Labs is its personalized homepages . Though it comes nowhere near My Yahoo!, it's a significant move nonetheless.

I'm in love with Mindy Smith ! Yahoo! is sometimes unable to cull album info while I'm listening to its music service. This is an anomaly that has increasingly become common of late.

The recognition was almost instantaneous. No sooner had I landed in Ranchi for project submission than my little buddies (mosquitoes) had started swarming from all over to poke their straws into me and steal my blood, which I'm pretty sure tastes like nectar to them. They must have dearly missed me during my absence. How did all the members of their fraternity come to know that I was in town? They don't have a Reuters or an AFP! I guess they use VoIP (Voice over Insect Protocol) to spread my fame far and wide. The penetrations were as deep and polydirectional as ever. I saw that our passionate relationship had not dimmed a bit during my hiatus! But an enigma had been shattered. Scotland Yard tells me that there was a stealth MoU signed between Santosh and my little buddies. So Santosh never comes to my rescue when I'm being pursued by them...and in return they never thirst for his blood! Repellants were totally ineffective as they must be having their own covert R&D lab

Just how low can people stoop? The semi-literate scumbag should learn some English before he posts under my name. I guess it's his genes that are 2 blame.

Site developed by Santosh, Antara, Jayesh and Manilal as part of their project. This site is still under construction, which explains why some of the links don't work. A very commendable effort.

Lots of paperwork have been accomplished since my arrival in BIT. Some more remain. Running from pillar 2 post for each frivelous purpose turns me off. Lots of my buddies leave for their respective places in a day or 2. I only wish I could go to the city of my dreams, Pune.

The project submission went without glitches. Frankly, I didn't give it a tiny rat's ass.

Reverting 2 the old signature. Some fugacious limelite hogging wouldn't hurt. It figures!

I've removed the mail signature that kept trumpeting my blog. Perhaps keeping things to myself is a safer policy.

Sorry, fella! I wasn't wrong about the menuet thing. Please upgrade yourself before dealing with demi-gods like me. BTW, there r bettter sources than Dictionary.com to correct yourself. My hallowed pages, for instance.

Ben Webster was one of the greatest Jazz saxophonists. I dearly wanted to learn the sax, but Jamshedpur being the hinterland that it was, I never got the opportunity. Dad loved the sax too, although he wasn't too fond of its Soprano incarnation.

Should cosmetic changes to Classical compositions be allowed to pass off as New Age music? I don't think so.

She sings like an angle.

The 4 finalists from this year's American Idol reality show. Carrie Underwood(extreme left) is my favorite.

...and I have to sheepishly agree. Those 3-months of constantly digging in on non-vegetarian culinary delights in Skytech have made me inflate alarmingly. My friends in BIT seem endlessly surprised!

One of the dingiest places in Kolkata.

Charley Pride, the only famous black American country singer. His sonorous voice reminds me of Jim Reeves.

Chae Rim, a South Korean actress. She's gorgeous!

I'm all revved up, thanks to Yahoo! Music.

I had bought it in '97, at around Christmas time. I was so enthused, I bunked classes the next day! Played a lot of classical CDs that night. Accidentally broke my glasses in the process!

I'm listening to Yahoo! Radio after a long while & it's music to my ears! Music is the only escape I have from all my miseries.

I'm back in BIT. Suddenly life seems sullen. The frenzied activities surrounding our project submission is a major irritant.

The much-awaited rendezvous finally happened, but not before the sweltering summer had baked me beyond repair. If Kolkata gets any hotter, I'll evaporate into thin air...and I'm not writing metaphorically.

I'm flattered that you've mirrored my musings via Atom.

She is fair, pretty, has the flawless skin of a baby and her dazzling smile could outshine a 1000w bulb. She sat on my lap and I won her over with kisses. She promised to give me everything she owned. She is the yet-to-be-3 daughter of Sangita didi, Tikli. In our 2hrs together, we spoke more than I had ever spoken to her mom in all these years. Tikli looks just like her mom.

I've just purchased the train ticket.

No date has been set as yet for our project submission. However, we have zeroed in on the 16th as the tentative date. Called up Santosh. It was nice to hear from him. Asked him to fill up my no-dues form, make an affidavit and create that @#$#@$# colored project cover paper.

I never told Dad about this CD-book combo...and another one by Mozart. I wish I had. It contains, among other things, a recording of Albert Schweitzer 's (the only professional musician to win a Nobel).

I've finally applied for a passport.

I wanted to gift this album to my Dad. I'll buy it someday from Amazon.

It rained cats & dogs and I was caught unawares in knee-deep water. The only thing Kolkata's drainage system manages to drain is our enthusiasm to live!

Filled up the passport form. Used my ration card. Ordered a few prints of my photo. Will get a few photocopies of relevant documents.

Splash Screen For My Project. I've lost count of the error messages dodged en route to the fruition of this project!