Anamika

koyek bochor cholar pore chena mukher michile,

bhalobasai, opekhhate amai chere gechile.


basto office moner fake kanna kichu lukiye rakhe;

bus-er bhire, nodir tire, akash chire dakche kake.

anmona mon amar shohor kon se tale dichhe tali -

shohor jora traffic, kebol obhimaner rasta khali.


udashi mon amar holeo noyko se je obhimani -

rasta jam thakle pore ajke ami hat-te jani.

tomar chokhe dekhuk loke rater tara, bhorer alo;

chawa-pawa, kanna-hashi, noile jibon shada-kalo.

Reflections

"Life is a journey, not a destination." - Ralph W. Emerson

There is a tragedy in every person's life. We experience heartbreaks, failures, remorse and pain. We experience the fleeting illusions of achievements and glory. The biggest tragedy, however, is death.

At the same time, there is a melancholic beauty in each one of us that transcends the mundane chores of our day to day lives. I feel this in times of happiness, friendship and love, and try to discover a sense of purpose behind my transient existence in this vast universe.

I listen to this song and the eternal truth dawns on me. This too shall pass.

Black, White and Gray

Today I went to Duke Library to check out John Rawls' "Justice as Fairness". Amusingly, there was a book by Ann Coulter right next to Rawls' masterpiece. I have never seen such a fine example of profundity and ignorance peacefully coexisting side by side.

I came to realize that US is a strange country: She has nurtured an extraordinary number of great scientists, philosophers, thinkers and political activists - Thomas Paine, Mark Twain, Richard Feynman, Martin Luther King Jr., Noam Chomsky - the list is endless. On the other hand, there are crackpots like Ann Coulter, Dinesh D'Souza and Rush Limbaugh. How astonishing it is that a significant proportion of US citizens still dispute Evolution by natural selection and believe that the earth is only ten thousand years old!

NDTV

I have deep respect for Pranoy Roy. He founded NDTV and was one of the figures who played a pivotal role in changing the landscape of Indian journalism.

As far as political ideology is concerned, the star anchors of NDTV purport to be secular liberals. This information, coupled with the fact that it is a channel founded and run by Pranoy Roy, should have been sufficient to convert me into a regular viewer. However, I stopped watching NDTV long time back, even before the Radia tapes broke out, for a simple reason.

Today I visited their website after at least a few months and this is what I found.

Top Videos:

1) Vikram Pandit on Citigroup turnaround.

2) Irish giant killers live up to reputation.

3) Vidya's SRK dream come true?

Top Photos:

1) Is Twinkle Khanna pregnant?

2) Spotted: Amir, SRK, Urmila

3) Oscar 2011: Red Carpet

4) Anushka, Ranveer at Shahid's birthday bash

And here comes the editor's video picks:

1) Desparately seeking attention.

2) Item numbers: kiss of life.

3) Oscar 2011: The hope and the glory.

Finally, the list of top stories include gems like "Dandi March in US against corruption in India".

Is this some kind of joke?

On a serious note, I will suggest anyone with a tiny little bit of interest in politics and society to subscribe to Economic and Political Weekly.

24

You know that you are growing up when

1) The last time you dreamed was one month back, and that too was about getting more citations for your previous research paper.

2) You prefer to read history and philosophy rather than detective or romantic novels.

3) Your favorite music is Rabindrasangeet (songs composed by Rabindranath Tagore).

4) All the problems in your life are related to Algorithms and Game Theory.

The journey continues :)

Pujibad

jok naki jonaki, ale-aar bati.

ke ashok borolok hoy ratarati.

bhalo-jone ano-mone kore becha-kena,

nei tar day-bhar, manobik dena.

amrai kore khai, amrai dami.

kono dosh, apshosh nei, achi ami.

koto shoto holo goto, shopner pur

roddure ache dure, ajo bohudur.

Kobita

kobita tomai dekhechi ami akash-sagor tire.

kobita tomar gaan shunechi hajar tarar bhire.

kobitar naam shalik pakhi, kobitar naam college faki,

kobitar naam prem,

kobitar naam golper boi, ochenar siren.

bikel-belar udash robi, chotto-belar mishti chobi -

kobita tomai ghire,

gobhir raate abchaya-te gopon alor nire.