On this occassion of Gautum Buddha Jayanti, I would like to remind myself and the visitors of my blog with following quote by Gautum Buddha.

Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.

-Gautum Buddha

I hope I will be able to understand it and understanding it truely means, I should be able to implement it. I hope I will be able to do so. Likewise, I wish you will be able to understand it and implement it as well.

We, people are so busy thinking about ourselves and our own pain. Have we ever thought of others? How many of us might have done so? Living just for ourselves we have forgotten what humanity is. I am talking about cruelty by human towards animals. At every corner of the globe, we can find ample of such inhumane activities. Why are we doing so? If we consider ourselves to be superior form of all animals then why do we still have to depend on those inferior ones?

There are people who consider hunting and killing helpless animals as sports. I say they are bunch of cowards. Playing football is sports, playing chess is sports, skiing is sports but how come killing animals is a sport? Throughout the history, animal killing has been popular among several sections of human population. But isn’t today a time to reconsider that idea? Take for example, bullfighting. Wikipedia says,

 bullfighting or tauromachy (from Greek ταυρομαχία – tauromachia, “bull-fight”), is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, some cities in southern France, and several Latin American countries, in which one or more live bulls are ritually killed as a public spectacle … bullfight usually concludes with the death of the bull by a sword thrust.

The bull suffers severe stress and a slow painful death. And the cowards claim themselves to be heroes. What wrong has bull done to be faced with such suffering? Another example is dolphin hunting in Japan. The Japanese consider it to be their pride. There are numerous other examples of such killing.

Some other section of people torture animals for their skin, fur and several other animal parts. China, is very popular for this, isn’t it? They rip the skin and fur out of live animals. They do not even kill those animals before doing so. Peta says “Before they are skinned alive, animals are pulled from their cages and thrown to the ground; workers bludgeon them with metal rods or slam them on hard surfaces, causing broken bones and convulsions but not always immediate death. Animals watch helplessly as workers make their way down the row”. Not only china, many other Asian countries operate in similar manner. At least, they should provide an easy death to animals before skinning them or extracting fur out of them.

Transporting animals is also conducted in an inhumane way. A webpage at http://www.moggies.co.uk/articles/2003/china_cats.html shows some pictures. A line from this site reads

Chinese cats and rabbits awaiting sale as food.

Nepal is no exception to animal cruelty. Many Nepalese people find it exciting to watch animals getting sacrificed. They kill animals in the name of god. I sometimes find myself ashamed to call myself Nepali. Recently, a shocking image of wounded rhino made front-page news in Nepal. The so called National Park in a place called Chitwan in Nepal hosts few numbered rhinos. The poachers frequently kill rhinos for its horn. This wounded rhino was one among these unfortunates. I felt so emotional by looking at that the bleeding rhino. Issue with this rhino was different from other poached ones because this rhino did not die completely. It suffered a bullet injury. Perhaps, the pain of bullet made it unconscious and while it was unconscious the poachers dislodged it horn.

But later as it came to consciousness, it had to suffer for a whole week before it died. It died a long painful death.

In Nepal there are many examples of other ritualistic killings too. A festival called “Dashain” is very popular in the country. During this festival, a male buffalo is forcefully given alcohol and later killed in a cruel way. So called “Newar” people are mainly involved in this. Recently, government of Nepal decided not to fund animal sacrifices. Though the government made that decision as an effort to cut it’s spending and not with a heart for animals, the decision was very good.

But the thousands of people from Newar community took to the streets and protested the government decision.

Eventually, the decision was rolled back. I also belong to same Newar community. And the day that protest started, I felt ashamed of being Newar and being Nepali. But this is just one example. There are so many that if one tries to write them done, it will turn into a thick book.

Please, let us join hands against such animal cruelty. There are many other ways of making money and living life. We do not have to depend on animals in such a cruel way. And even if we need to depend, at least they deserve an easy death.

Other Sites:
http://www.peta.org/feat/chineseFurFarms/index.asp
http://www.moggies.co.uk/articles/2003/china_cats.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfighting
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/233153,government-decision-not-to-fund-animal-sacrifice-stops-festival.html

There are times when we know that we have learned everything and we have done everything. But the reality is actually something different. The truth is strikingly the opposite of what we have been thinking. It is just a matter of time that we come face to face with it and feel as if this truth has slapped us right in our face. Today, I happen to experience something similar.

Throughout my education I thought I had practical experience or say knowledge of a crucial topic of my area. I thought if I ever have to implement it professionally I would be able to do so just like that. And earlier today, completely forgetting that I was already introduced to similar methods, I was searching of ways to implement it. But now suddenly I happen to come to know about it and that I have already learned in the past. I have come to understand that I learned it theoretically but I never did it in practical. I realize that I was putting myself into an illusion of knowing everything about it. This is the result of too much theoretical learning and little practical. I think I do not want to reveal what that crucial topic is, but I will tell that it is a very important aspect of my education and my master’s degree.

Oh, I just said something that certainly sounds strange for anyone from my area and with background similar to mine. The term “too much theoretical learning and little practical” may sound awkward and hard to convince yourself. But for many people this, I believe, is true. Like I said, it is just a matter of time when you come to know this reality.

The protocol goes as below.

A: Please.
B: Please.
A: I insist.
B: So do I.
A: OK then, thank you.
B: You are most welcome.

The protocol is zero-knowledge because it can be simulated without knowing
any of the secrets of these Italians; in fact, the execution is independent of their
secrets as well as of anything else.

Loosely speaking, zero-knowledge proofs are proofs that yield nothing beyond
the validity of the assertion. That is, a verifier obtaining such a proof only
gains conviction in the validity of the assertion.

Source: Silvio Micali, 1985 and A Brief Introduction to Zero-Knowledge (by Oded Goldreich)

I don’t remember exactly, but the last time I watched X Files, I must have been in grade 6 or 7. Those days, an Indian channel called “Star TV” used to broadcast the series. Back then, I did not understand any episodes. Yet, I kept myself glued to the TV screen, each night the show was on the air. Without understanding, the story and characters in the series, I fell in love with it. I was not able to watch all the episodes and missed several episodes in between. Nonetheless, each episodes were/are different and as such that was not much of problem.

I think the first episode of X Files, that I watched, was called “Soft Light” from season 2. I can’t expressed how much I liked the episode. I think the reason, I like X Files and the reason millions of people out there like it, is that it deals with some of the most intricate topics that haunt us. It deals with the questions, of whose answers, we were also searching from a long time back. The alien invasion, bio weapons, supernatural are the topics that are yet unanswered. Many people do not even believe they exist. But deep down inside everybody, there is that something that makes people wander around searching answers, searching the proof of their existence.

I have watched all the episodes of X files from season 1 to 7. That will make around 150 episodes or more. There are eleven seasons altogether. I am looking out for DVD of rest of the seasons. But no matter how much I watch, I just can get enough of it.

For now thats it. I will post more on the X Files in days to come.

Meanwhile, you can enjoy some of the stills from different episodes of the series.

I am a big fan of sentimental songs, particularly those sung by Karna Das. I just love the way he sings. His singing style is really unique and heart touching. Many of his songs are so dear to me that I listen to them several times each week or sometimes everyday. Yet, I can’t get enough.

I have listed some of the best songs by him. I hope you will also like them.

1. Sunsan raat shital pawan

URL : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNSYsGEcjv4

सुनसान रात सितल पवन, साथी तिम्रो याद बिदेशी भुमी
बिती रहेछ जिवन यहाँ, माया तिम्रो हो पत्र चुमी
सुनसान रात ….
कहिले हाँस्छु कहिले रुन्छु, माया म है पागल सरी
तिम्रो तस्विर हेरी रहन्छु, तिम्रो पत्र है पढछु घरी
तिम्रो पत्र है पढछु घरी घरी ।
सुनसान रात ….
ला ला ला ला ला ला ला
हाम्रो मिलन को मधुर क्षण आउदै छ नजिक सुस्तरी
कसम छ है तिमी लाई नभयी निराश, माया बस है बाटो हेरी
माया बस है बाटो हेरी ।
सुनसान रात सितल पवन, साथी तिम्रो याद बिदेशी भुमी
बिती रहेछ जिवन यहाँ, माया तिम्रो हो पत्र चुमी
सुनसान रात ….

2. Ma mereko chaina aajhai

URL : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwMMn2RZPco

3. Hamro prem ko katha

URL : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5WRFEMtVtI

4. Kehi pal aaba baki cha

URL : http://www.pronepal.com/index.php?action=playwinfile&id=580

5. Tyo premko balidaan

URL : http://www.pronepal.com/index.php?action=playwinfile&id=429

6. Kati bibaas cha tyo jeevan

URL : http://www.pronepal.com/index.php?action=playwinfile&id=433

 7. Jindagi ko ke bharosa

URL : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4faF2L7hMo

8. Purano dunga, pani ko chaala

URL : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA_K8G0f5WE

9. Anautho betha bhayecha mero prem kahani

URL : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTrPf2X8Ofg

10. Timro mero sambandha ko

URL : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbC8PYTTD1c

If you have lyrics of these songs or any other songs by Karna Das,

then please send me or put them as comments.

I will apprecitate that a lot.

The other day I came across a site called MagMyPic. It is a very cool site where you can upload your picture and the site will do some processing by putting some text over it. Result is that your picture appears to be some kind of magazine cover. I thought to give a shot and here is what I got.

VAGUE Magazine Cover

Whoooo… So now I am a celebrity

Copenhegan is a very beautiful city and this was a nice opportunity for me to visit the city. The event was actually a conference organized by DTU (Technical University of Denmark) and was called Nordic Security Days 2008. It was 13th Nordic Workshop on Secure IT Systems held on October 8th-10th, 2008. You can go to offcial website by clicking here. Besides the conference, we manage sometime to roam around the city and visit some of the most popular tourist spots, including the lovely Mermaid.

Each day of conference was followed by expensive and lavish dinner. The best one was of course the conference dinner on October 9th, 2008.

Some of the pictures from the entire event are posted below.

Will you save someone risking your own life ?

You may answer yes, but will you really do it in some situation like that ?

Just take a look at what this dog did…

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/lifesaving-dog/2725276255

The question here is not just saving life, its more than that. It is about doing the right thing. We always have a choice to make the right decision. But quiet often we choose the wrong decision because that wrong decision seems to be beneficial for us. We happen to choose the wrong decision because our selfish needs are fulfilled with that wrong decision.

Just take a look at the dog’s eyes. They are so innocent. He saved the life of those kittens without thinking he is risking his own life. What might have been going through the mind of his as he stayed besides the kittens despite the fire ? He definitely must have had an option to run away or jump around making noises in anticipation of rescue. But he thought staying by the kittens and making sure they they don’t feel alone and don’t get scared is more important than saving his own life. And by the time fire fighters arrived he was unconscious due to excessive smoke inhalation. But he was alive and the reunion with the kittens must have been the reward for him. This is an example of condition-less affection and an act of making right decision.

This dog did something that a human would never do. Thus, shouldn’t human learn something from dogs ?

Looking at following pictures, Trondheim looks really beautiful. Outdoor pictures of NTNU are also equally good.

I will be taking more pictures and will soon post here. But for now, lets enjoy with these.

Please note that the pictures are randomly ordered.

Credit: My Canon Ixus 70