गोष्ट खासा-जीझोची - जपानी नववर्षाची

जपानच्या एका डोंगरावर एक आजी - आजोबा राहत होते.  खासा (वेताच्या टोप्या) विकून ते आपला उदरनिर्वाह करीत. नवीन वर्ष सुरु होण्याच्या आदल्या दिवशी घडलेली ही गोष्ट. आजी आजोबांना म्हणाली, "उद्या नवीन वर्ष सुरु होणार. केक बनवायला सामान आणायला हवं." आजोबा म्हणाले, "तू काळजी करू नकोस. मी बाजारात जाऊन  खासा  विकतो आणि मिळालेल्या पैशातून सामान घेऊन येतो."

पाच खासा घेऊन आजोबा बाजारात गेले. दिवसभर त्यांनी खूप प्रयत्न केला; पण त्या खासा कोणी घेतल्याच नाहीत. निराश होऊन आजोबा परतीच्या वाटेला लागले. थंडी वाढू लागली होती. हिमवृष्टीही सुरु झाली. अचानक आजोबांचा लक्ष एका जीझोकडे गेलं. गावाचं आणि विशेषतः लहान मुलांचं रक्षण करण्यासाठी असे जीझो  (पुतळे) असत. बघता बघता बर्फाने झाकले गेलेले सहा जीझो आजोबांना दिसले. आजोबांनी हात लावून पाहिलं. बिचारे जीझो चांगलेच गारठले होते. आजोबांना त्यांची दया आली. आपल्यासोबतच्या खासा काढून त्यांनी जीझोंना घालायला सुरुवात केली. पण त्यांच्याकडे पाचच खासा होत्या आणि जीझो तर सहा होते. इतक्यात आजोबांना काही तरी सुचलं. ते सहाव्या जीझोकडे गेले आणि आपल्या डोक्यावरची खासा काढून त्याला घालत म्हणाले, "ही काही तितकी नवी नाही, पण तरी थोडी थंडी तर नक्कीच कमी करेल ती." आणि समाधानाने आजोबा घरी परतले.
थंडीत कुडकुडणाऱ्या, बर्फानं माखलेल्या आजोबांना पाहून आजी म्हणाली, "अरे तुमची खासा कुठं गेली? ". आजोबांनी सारी गोष्ट आजीला सांगितली. केकचं सामान आणता आलं नाही म्हणून त्यांना वाईटही वाटत होतं. पण आजी त्यांना म्हणाली, "छानच केलंत तुम्ही. केक नाही केला तरी काही बिघडणार नाही." आणि दोघंही आनंदानं झोपी गेले.
रात्री अचानक मोठ्या आवाजानं आजी - आजोबा जागे झाले. कोणीतरी बर्फात चालत, गात येत असल्याचा आवाज येत होता.  आजी - आजोबा दोघे उठून बाहेर आले. जसजसं ते बाहेर येऊ लागले, तसे गाण्याचे बोल स्पष्टपणे ऐकू येऊ लागले.

"A kind old man walking in the snow
Gave all his hats to the stone Jizo.
So we bring him gifts with a yo-heave-ho!"

दार उघडून पाहतात तो काय, दारात सुंदरसा केक ठेवलेला होता आणि दूरवर ते खासा घातलेले सहा जीझो बर्फात आपल्या पाऊलखुणा ठेवत जात असलेले त्यांना दिसले.
मग काय मंडळी, कशी वाटली गोष्ट. एकूण काय तर जपान असो वा भारत वा आणखी कुठला देश ... सर्वांवर प्रेम करा आणि गरजूंना मदत  करा, असाच संदेश या साऱ्या लोककथा देतात.

Absent Mindedness

It's around 6 p.m.. I think I have almost finished my work in the department. So, I should update my antivirus and leave for the hostel. But OMG, where is the laptop? It's nowhere in the room. I am here since morning and how come I did not bother to check even once, if it was safe. But I can't think of the reason why it would vanish.  I haven't left the room unattended even for a while and anyways, today being holiday, not many people are there in the department.

Where have I left it. I am sure I had carried it with me to the department because initially, I had forgotten to take it and then when I realized, I unlocked the door again and went inside specially for picking up the laptop. I am trying to recall what had happened in the morning.  From hostel, I went to canteen for breakfast and reached department around 9.45. It means there are three possible places, where I could have forgotten it. Either I had kept it outside my hostel room while locking the door, secondly, I might have left it in the canteen and thirdly I may have kept it near the stairs while opening the side door of the department. None of them is a safe place for such things. Now, only God can take care of my laptop. And to add to the nightmare, today morning I had kept my hard disk in the same bag as laptop. It means, laptop is gone along with the data. There is no use of having a backup device... There is only one ray of hope... I have forgotten it in my room itself....

I have started praying, as I run towards the hostel. I open the room and am relieved to see the laptop resting on the bed. So, it means, in the morning I went inside specially to get the laptop, took it out from the cupboard, then, I kept it on the bed for locking the cupboard and came out completely forgetting, why I went inside. And then for the whole day, I didn't realize even once that I had done some such thing....

I don't know when I am going to change... Absent mindedness has been my long standing companion who seems to be in a no mood to betray me.....

Surprising Diversity

When you get an envelope, with a card in it, how do you open it? You may try and let us know the answer so that we get more data to test the null hypothesis

H0: The style of opening an envelope is independent of your native place. 

Vs. 

H1: The style of opening an envelope is influenced by your native place. 

Right now, the data at hand completely support the rejection of null hypothesis. It all started when Deep made an interesting observation, while giving her wedding cards. Being a north Indian by birth and having spent most part of her life there, she had placed the cards with their front facing the backside of the envelope. The reason is when you open an envelope by turning its backside to front (which we think is the easiest way to open, as you can see the flap and the opening) and take the card out, you should have the card’s front facing you. But, we Maharashtrians are used to seeing the cards with their front side touching the front side of the envelope (of course from inside), which means that the card’s backside faces you if you open the envelope from back. As a result, whenever we Maharashtrians get an envelope, we either try to take out the card without reversing it, (though, it’s a bit tedious), or unknowingly reverse the card, if we open the envelope from the backside (without even noticing that the card is already facing us).

Surprisingly, almost all the Maharashtrians and North Indians whom she handed over the cards followed their regional instincts. Now, considering the fact that no one teaches us how to open an envelope, and no traditions/rituals are involved, it’s really hard to believe that such regional diversity exists even in such small actions….

दोन पावलांच्या अंतरावर दोन स्मारकं....

आज ४ नोव्हेंबर, आद्य क्रांतिकारक वासुदेव बळवंत फडक्यांचा १६६ वा जन्मदिन... ब्रिटीश सरकार विरुद्ध सशस्त्र उठाव करण्याचा हा प्रयत्न लौकिकार्थानं फारसा यशस्वी झाला नसला तरी ब्रिटीशांना दहशत बसवण्यात फडके निश्चितपणे यशस्वी ठरले.

प्रसारमाध्यमे फारशी नसणाऱ्या १९ व्या शतकात देखील त्यांची कीर्ती केवळ महाराष्ट्रातच नव्हे तर देशाच्या कानाकोपऱ्यात पोचली होती. त्यामुळेच बंकिमचंद्र चट्टोपाध्यायांच्या आनंदमठ मध्येही फडक्यांचे कारनामे वाचण्यास मिळतात.

पकडले गेल्यानंतरही एडनच्या तुरुंगाचा दरवाजा उचकटून पळून जाण्याचा पराक्रम गाजवणारा 

 हा क्रांतिकारक. त्यांच्या या अचाट शक्तीचं मला लहानपणापासूनच आश्चर्य वाटत आलंय. पण नुकताच त्यांच्या शिरढोण येथील स्मारकाला भेट देण्याचायोग आला आणि मग त्यांच्या घरातला पाट पाहून त्यांची शरीरयष्टी किती भरभक्कम असेल याचा अंदाज आला. जोग परिवारानं ग्रामस्थांच्या सहकार्यानं अत्यंत उत्तमरीत्या घडवलेलं आणि जपलेलं हे स्मारक. फडक्यांच्या घरातील रवी, त्यांच्या आजोबांनी त्यांच्यासाठी खास बनवलेली बोकडाची गाडी अशा काही वस्तू आणि चित्र -शिल्पांनी युक्त असं हे स्मारक पाहून आम्ही धन्य झालो.

पण तिथून बाहेर पडताच समोर आलं ते फडक्यांचं घर... पुरातत्त्व खात्याच्या ताब्यात असणारी ही वास्तू .

"जो कोणी या वास्तूत फेरफार करील त्यास ५००० रु. दंड / ३ महिने कारावास" या स्वत:च्याच सूचनेला घाबरून बहुधा गवत नि कचरा काढण्याचं धाडस होत नसावं किंवा आत जाऊन कुणी काही फेरफार करू नये म्हणून वाटेवर गवत वाढवलेलं असावं....

दोन पावलांच्या अंतरावर दोन टोकाच्या स्थितीतली ही स्मारकं पाहून मनात शिरढोणवासियांबद्दल कृतज्ञता आणि सरकारी अनास्थेबद्दल विषण्णता दाटून आली....

Diwali with Some Unexpected Guests…

First of all Happy Diwali to the readers…. Hope you are enjoying this beautiful festival of lights…
This time we had a bunch of unexpected guests at our home for the Lakshmi Pujan. Here are their photographs…

I know our houses are always frequented by the mosquitoes; Yet I was surprised, due to their extended meeting time. Usually, it’s difficult to have them at a single spot for more than a few seconds, but this time almost 30 of them patiently seated on a wall for more than three hours… I wonder if they were enjoying their diwali get-together or were kind of hibernating to protect themselves from the smoke/noise of crackers…

Putting Chance to Work….

“Statistics and Truth – Putting Chance to work ” , a book which is on my “To be read ” list since long. Today is the day when world honours this chance for the work it has done for the betterment of the human race. Probably, the most widely discussed example of this leads us to Prof. Paul Meier, who died just two months ago. His randomization of trials was really a breakthrough in the way the treatments worked and has changed the lives of many terminally ill patients.

This science of uncertainty has conquered almost all the areas of our lives – from the proverbial rocket science to the daily chatter of a layman which involves many guesstimates. A look at the Google NGram shows how the usage of the word Statistics increased over the years… That’s mainly because of the vast amount of data we are continuously being bombarded with. In today’s age of information explosion, we have become more and more thirsty for the knowledge. This is because,

Knowledge is what we know
Also, what we know we do not know.
We discover what we do not know
Essentially by what we know.
Thus knowledge expands.
With more knowledge we come to know
More of what we do not know.
Thus knowledge expands endlessly. 

Moreover what we know is simply the data is not a knowledge. In fact ,

Uncertain knowledge + Knowledge of the amount of uncertainty in it = Usable knowledge 

That’s why the world has now started realizing the importance of this science of uncertainty. This tool, which once had a dubious distinction of giving fallacious conclusions is now an integral part of each and every field, as people have started believing in C R Rao’s words,

All knowledge is, in final analysis, history.
All sciences are, in the abstract, mathematics.
All judgments are, in their rationale, statistics. 

and without the judgments , we cannot move an inch further. Someone wisely anticipated this inevitable and ever growing need of Statistics and UN started celebration the 20th day of October as the World Statistics Day since 2010.

So, in the end my hearty wishes to the Statisticians, on the eve of 2nd World Statistics day. In fact all of us are statisticians as we are always trying to choose an optimal life-path by predicting the future outcomes on the basis of the past data, keeping in mind the constrains that we have. Still for the so-called nonstatisticians, what better day to start for the growth of the statistical component of your brain, so that the numbers can help us become efficient citizens because, as H G Wells has said,

“Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write”.

कोजागरीचा पाऊस

वाटलंही नव्हतं की एकाच पावसाळ्यात दोनदोनदा पावसावर post लिहावी लागेल म्हणून. पावसाच्या स्वागताला त्याच्या आठवणींची post लिहिली आणि आता आजच्या आठवणीची त्या पर्जन्यस्मृतीकोशात भर पडणार असं दिसतंय … आजकाल पावसाला माणसाशी मैत्री फारच आवडायला लागलीये असं दिसतंय …. मागच्या वर्षीही त्याचा पाय निघता निघत नव्हता… अगदी दिवाळीत फराळालाही तो आपल्यासोबत होताच … यंदाही एप्रिलमध्येच सुरु होऊनसुद्धा अजूनही तो रेंगाळतोय …

ऑक्टोबर महिना सुरु झालाय हे खरं गेल्या २ - ३ दिवसात चांगलंच जाणवायला लागलं होतं. ऑक्टोबर heat च्या प्रभावामुळे विद्यापीठातल्या रात्रीसुद्धा बोचऱ्या थंडीऐवजी घामेजलेल्या व्हायला लागलेल्या . आजचीही दुपार काही वेगळी नव्हती . वर्तमानपत्रात मात्र मॉन्सून परतला तरी आणखी २ - ३ दिवस पाऊस पडणार असं वेधशाळावाल्यांचं भाकीत आलेलं… पण अर्थात हवामान अंदाजात पाऊस पडणार असं सांगितलं की खुशाल छत्र्या / रेनकोट घरी ठेवायचे असं मानणारे आपण भारतीय . त्यामुळे पाऊस बिऊस येईल असं काही कुणाच्या गावीही नव्हतं …पण साऱ्यांना तोंडघशी पाडणार नाही तो पाऊस कसला …. गेल्या तीन वर्षात पुणेरी माणसांपेक्षाही पुणेरी पावसाचा विचित्र स्वभाव जास्त अनुभवायला मिळालाय . बहुदा शिवाजीमहाराजांच्या संगतीत त्यानं गनिमीकावा शिकलेला असावा . त्यामुळंच शत्रूला गाफील ठेवून मोक्याच्या क्षणी त्याच्यावर आक्रमण करून त्याला खिंडीत कसं गाठायचं हे त्याला पक्कं ठाऊक झालंय…

संध्याकाळी ४ ते ५ तर तो मनसोक्त बरसलाच , पण त्यानं पोट भरलं नाही म्हणून की काय … त्याची ७ च्या सुमारास सुरु झालेली 2nd inning अजूनही सुरूच आहे . आणि शिवाय त्याला साथ विजेची . खरं तर दोन्ही विजांची … मानवनिर्मित वीज जणू आपला पाठिंबा देण्यासाठी संपावर गेलीये तर त्याची सखी वीज त्याच्या इतक्याच जोरात प्रकट होऊन त्याला इमाने - इतबारे साथ देतीये . मेणबत्तीही आता संपत आलीये …. वीज चमकल्यानं क्षण्भरापुरती उजळून निघणारी झाडं , पाठोपाठ बहिरं करून सोडणारा ढगांचा गडगडाट , पावसाचा आणि वाऱ्याचा प्रचंड आवाज , हे सगळं अंधाऱ्या खोलीच्या खिडकीतून एकट्यानं अनुभवताना अगदी चित्रपटात किंवा कादंबरीत प्रवेश केल्यासारखं वाटतंय ….

आत्ताच आईच्या फोनमुळे मला असं कळलंय , की आज कोजागरी आहे . इतकावेळ ते मला माहीतही नव्हतं . चंद्र दिसला असता तर कदाचित आठवण झाली असती …. पण नभ मेघांनी आक्रमिल्यामुळे, शरदाच्या पिठूर चांदण्याऐवजी laptop च्याच प्रकाशात समाधान मानतीये. अनेकांच्या दुधाच्या आनंदावर विरजण घालायचं ठरवलेलं दिसतंय या पावसानं . hostel पासून चालायच्या अंतरात कुठंच आटवलेलं दूध न मिळाल्यानं रात्री बारा वाजता icecream खाऊन कोजागरी साजरी केल्याची आठवण आत्ताच एका मित्रानं फोनवर सांगितली , पण आज तर सगळ्याच नियोजित / उत्स्फूर्त कार्यक्रमांवर पावसाचं पाणी फिरणार असं वाटतंय … किंवा कदाचित यंदा त्यालाही लक्ष्मीला भेटायची इच्छा झाली असावी … म्हणून मग आज रात्री १२ पर्यंत कार्यरत राहून ‘को जागर्ति ?’ ला उत्तर द्यायचं ठरवलं असावं त्यानं …विजयादशमीला कुबेरानं रघुराजाच्या राज्यात पाडलेला सुवर्णमुद्रांचा पाऊस किंवा आजकाल माणसांच्या तोंडी असणारा पैशांचा पाऊस ह्या काय भानगडी आहेत ते बहुतेक लक्ष्मीकडून जाणून घ्यायचं असावं त्याला ….

Moment

Last week was a pretty hectic one. It all started last Friday. As I was working over a recently started problem, something struck my mind. There was a thing I could use to solve my long standing problem which I was about to wind up as it hadn’t moved an inch further in the last seven-eight months. This was a problem which we encountered in September 2010. We struggled over it for nearly three months but to no avail. We could neither prove nor disprove the result we were interested in. Finally, in December we decided to put it off indefinitely. But somewhere at the back of our mind, we had a feeling that the result must be true. So, I continued to have a look at it in-between. We were almost convinced that no existing techniques could solve this problem. So, I tried to develop something new to cater to this situation. But of course, it’s not a child’s play and that’s why I couldn’t progress much in that direction, though I used to work over it at least twice a week.

And then, last Friday the thought came that I could mould the things to fit in the existing setup. And on Sunday, the eureka moment came. I was thrilled to see the solution. Things fitted in so nicely as if it was just a jigsaw puzzle, made to give you a correct picture once you get a trick to fix it. I was experiencing something which Erdos would call a proof from THE BOOK; more elegant than we could have ever imagined. Over the next few days, the process of refining the arguments continued, to make the things more rigorous. And now, we have an almost surely correct proof for the almost sure convergence we were looking for.

That was a moment, when I could experience the joy of creation. Artistically, I have never been much creative nor do I have much of an aesthetic sense. But I used to enjoy making things when the directions were given. That’s why I think I love Mathematical things…. you can create something new even when you are restricted by the existing rules and regulations . Here’s the latest instance of my effort of creating something - the 3D model car made from the fevicol box (which contained the guidelines) with the measly accessories. (Blue and black pens to substitute for the colours. What else a doctoral student in Statistics can have, especially while staying in a hostel ? )

But now, I think I need to form a new set of rules for myself. I couldn’t resist the temptation of completing this car, when I saw the picture and wasted more than an hour in it. Right now also I am writing this post when I should have been working on the three assignments that I am expected to submit this week apart from my regular research work. Enough of the celebration for the newly discovered result; off to work now….

The Last Lecture

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand”.

 – Randy Pausch 

We cannot decide the length of our life, but surely, the height that we attain. This is exactly what Randy Pausch does and inspires us to do. For unacquainted, Randy Pausch was a professor in Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon. Born in a typical middle class family, this person went on to create an Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon, and later on became well-known for his legendary last lecture, which is available for future generations in the form of a video and a book.

Born with the winning ticket, as far as parents were concerned, he was lucky enough to live out his childhood dreams. Surely, he would love to cherish the dreams of his children and empower them to realize them, but for a terminal pancreatic cancer, which attacked him almost in the middle of his life. Then started the earnest attempts of a father, to give his children the fullest. The Last Lecture is also a part of this endeavor.

Most of the book is autobiographical, involving the incidents from his childhood to this last lecture, peppered with words of wisdom. But what I loved most is, this is not a traditional self-help stuff. This is a book which gives you insight into your life. Here is somebody with flesh and blood, giving down-to-earth tips to enrich your lives, though not in the materialistic sense. This journey of an inconsiderate but a passionate kid keeps us hooked till end. It’s just like one of us, narrating his experiences of fulfilling the dreams, some of which, even we have relished. And this journey is made more meaningful by the people who come across and leave their imprint.

From seemingly petty thing like answering “Park is open until 8 pm” to a question “When does the park close?”, Randy succeeds in changing our attitude. We are elated at the successes that he gets in achieving his dreams. Especially, his encounters with Disney World at various stages of his life are worth reading. The next in line is his gratitude towards the folks who shaped his life through their good deeds. And not to forget, that all this is written, when the death is waiting for you at the next turn.

He just sets an example, of how to live your life fully and enjoy every moment of whatever short span you are left with without whining about the fate. Then only you will be the richest one to die, as satisfaction is the wealth that you have with you on the deathbed.

So, get set go, on the life’s race, which is full of hurdles, waiting to be conquered, because, once again in Randy’s words, “Brick walls are there for a reason. ”

पाहुणा पाऊस

पाऊस! सगळ्याच लेखक - कवींचा आवडता विषय... मीही त्याला अपवाद नाही. पावसाच्या आठवणींचा जणू एक खजिनाच आपल्या पोतडीत असतो.

माझ्या आठवणीतला पहिला मुसळधार पाऊस पडला तेव्हा मी चार वर्षांची होते. माझ्या तर गुडघ्याच्याही वरपर्यंत पाणी आलेलं. त्यापूर्वी एकदा म्हणे आमची आख्खी बस पाण्यात वाहून जाता जाता वाचलेली असं आई-बाबा सांगतात. पण तेव्हा मी बहुदा फारच छोटी होते... नंतर तर नवा रेनकोट/ छत्री वापरायला मिळावं म्हणून पाऊस यावा असं वाटायचं...

नंतरचा आठवणारा पाऊस मी पाचवीत असतानाचा. आम्ही मैत्रिणी शाळेतून घरी येत होतो. वाटेत एक ओढा लागायचा. त्या पुलाच्या वरून पाणी वाहायला लागलेलं. तशा परिस्थितीत त्याच पुलावरून नाचत - उड्या मारत आम्ही घरी आलो. कारण रस्ता दिसत नाहीये तर आपण वाहून जाऊ शकू हा विचार तेव्हा डोक्यातच आला नव्हता. एक नवा thrilling experience एवढंच आमच्या लेखी त्याचं स्थान होतं.  एक दुसरा रस्ता पण होता, पण जरासा दूरचा. त्यामुळे घरी गेल्या गेल्या शिव्यांच्या पावसात भिजावं लागलं...

केवळ बाहेरच हा पाऊस भिजवतो असं नाही हं, आजवर दोन-तीनदा तर आमच्या घरातही त्यानं प्रवेश केलाय. एकदा खूप लहानपणी... आमचं घर एका उतरणीच्या पायथ्याशी होतं. त्यामुळे पाण्याचे लोंढेच्या लोंढे  घरात घुसले. अचानक झालेल्या या माऱ्यानं आम्ही गडबडलो. मला पलंगावर बसवून आईनं पाणी उपसायला सुरुवात केली.  रात्री ९ ते २-२.३०  हाच कार्यक्रम चालला होता. नंतर तर एका घरात दरवाजाखालच्या फटीत एक छोटासा धबधबाच तयार झाला होता. आणि मग घर म्हणजे त्या धबधब्यानं निर्माण झालेला जलाशय. मग दुसऱ्या दिवशीच त्या फटीचा बंदोबस्त केला गेला... त्या वर्षीचा पावसाळा मग निर्विघ्नपणे पार पडला. पुढल्या वर्षी मी एका खोलीत अभ्यासाला बसले होते. बाहेर पाऊस सुरु होता. पण यंदा तर काही कोणती फट मोकळी नाही अशा गोड गैरसमजात मी होते. थोड्या वेळानं फोन वाजला म्हणून मी बाहेरच्या खोलीत आले, तर "अवघा जीवनमय  संसार " अशी परिस्थिती होती.

आता मात्र बऱ्याच दिवसात हा पाहुणा आमच्या घरी आलेला नाही. आता आमची गाठ बाहेरच पडते आणि गप्पा होतात त्याही  खिडकीतूनच.... 

Lucky and Unlucky

It was Saturday. One of my friends had come to university to attend the weekend course work lectures. We are among the ones who are never short of a topic to discuss about. This has been the case since our M.Sc. days, when we used to stay in the same hostel. Now that we are at two different places, countless things are there to ponder about when we meet, because of two simple reasons – first, we meet once in a while and secondly, each one of us has her own set of incidents to narrate. As a result, when we are together, we are completely lost in our own world. This, clubbed with the absent mindedness, which both of us are gifted with (probably, being born Pisceans) leads to some unexpected events. The same thing happened that Saturday. We left the department and reached my room, with our hands full of our belongings. So, to open the lock I had to put her laptop near the door. We entered the room completely overlooking the laptop, latched the room from inside and continued with our chatter. After about 25 minutes, we came out of the room and were astounded at seeing the laptop there… The very first reaction was thanking the God… anybody could have easily stolen it… But thankfully, we were spared…

The similar kind of thing happened with my cell phone also. After having lunch, I forgot it in front of the department, went upstairs and got engaged in some work. Suddenly, my friend got a call from my mom. She informed me that someone from the Geography department had got my cell and called up my mom to inform about it. I was unaware of the fact that I had lost my cell when I got news of it being safe… Once again I thanked the God and this time saluted the honesty of that person as well…

But not on all days you are so lucky… Today, I was having a usual post-dinner stroll with my friend. Generally, we keep our water-bottles on the nearby katta. Because of rainy weather, today, the water bottles were replaced by umbrellas. It takes about two minutes to reach the other end of the hostel compound and then we turn around. During one such round, we realized that our umbrellas were missing. We searched for them, but couldn’t locate. Certainly, somebody had picked them up within the span of two minutes, when we were headed in the opposite direction. So, there are souls like these also…

But still, I am glad at the fact that it was just an umbrella… It’s unthinkable to imagine the appearance such a soul in the two prior incidences…


PS: This reminds me of a lesson in our 6th standard Marathi textbook “Pavsala”, which mentioned that the only reason that you have to buy a new umbrella is it’s lost (forgotten / stolen). You never buy a new one just because the old one is worn out. Mine was also pretty sick… with many aberrant bends, but I had no plans to part with it…But now, I am forced to buy a new one, considering the ceaseless showers and the fact that it’s just the beginning of this rainy season. L

Tribute to a Probabilist and an Actor

I was strolling in the cyber space just to get some inputs for our budding joint venture, when I stumbled upon the following news on the website of Bernoulli Society – “Prof. Patrick Billingsley passed away on April 22, 2011.” This was a single line, but it couldn’t leave me, as Billingsley occupies a significant place in my daily research work. Impulsively, I googled his name to get a glimpse of his life.  Unsurprisingly, the first result was from Amazon, as he has touched lives of many like me with his fundamental books on advanced probability theory.  The second result was from IMDb about some actor Pat Billingsley. I overlooked it as a mere coincidence, thinking - even the great “Billingsley” is not unique …Google has a name-alike for him too. So to get a relevant and reliable account of his life I started hunting for his Wikipedia entry, and to my surprise, the very first line was – “Patrick Billingsley was an American mathematician and stage and screen actor, noted for his books in advanced probability theory and statistics.”  I was rendered speechless. I couldn’t imagine that a person who wrote something so technical can be an actor as well…

This is not the first time that I am shocked after hearing something about Billingsley.  The first startling revelation was the fact that he is Feller’s student. Knowing that Feller is pretty sympathetic towards his readers, it’s very hard to believe that his student wrote such books. But considering his intellect, the gaps that he leaves for his readers to fill in must be really trivial for him.

The Princeton graduate was an accomplished actor with around 20 plays, 8 movies and 9 television shows to his credit. He had earned a black belt in judo. Besides occupying many important academic positions, he served on the athletic board of University of Chicago and even helped run the football scoreboard.  In words of his daughter Marty Billingsley - “A true Renaissance man, he also painted, did woodworking, read Beowulf in the original Old English. His interest in folk music led him to study the collection of ballads put together by Francis James Child in the late 19th century, which he sang as lullabies to his five children. Echoes of those ballads can be found in his daughter Franny Billingsley's young adult novels.”  (Source : UChicago News)

When asked about his equal interest in academics and acting, Billingsley replied  – “Teaching has a little bit of show biz. When you teach, you perform in front of an audience. That’s much like acting. As a teacher you’re used to being on stage”.

In short, if you are a genius, it doesn’t matter, which career path you have chosen. You can make a mark, in any field you like….

गंधर्वयुग

काल बऱ्याच दिवसांनंतर चित्रपटगृहात जाऊन चित्रपट पाहण्याचा योग आला. अर्थातच it was worth it…. आमच्या पिढीला गन्धर्वयुगाच्या सुवर्णकाळाची सफर घडवून आणण्याचा हा प्रयत्न निश्चितच स्तुत्य आहे ….

सकाळ मधल्या सुबोध भावेंच्या लेखनातून चित्रपट बघायची उत्सुकता निर्माण झाली होतीच; पण ती उत्सुकता शमवतानाच बालगन्धर्वांविषयी अधिक माहिती घ्यायलाही उद्युक्त करण्याचं काम या चित्रपटानं केलंय . एखाद्या विषयाचा ध्यास घेऊन त्याच्या पूर्ततेसाठी झटलं की कसा उत्तम कलाविष्कार साकार होतो , याचं उदाहरण म्हणून या कलाकृतीकडं पाहता येईल …

सुबोध भावेंचा राजस बालगंधर्व मनात घर करतोच , पण त्याचबरोबर “मामा , गंधर्व म्हणजे काय रे ?”, असं निरागसपणे विचारणारा अथर्व कर्वेही आपल्या छोट्याश्या भूमिकेत ठसा उमटवून जातो . बालगंधर्वांची रसिकता, विनम्रता , कर्तव्यनिष्ठा, देशभक्ती , उत्कृष्टतेचा ध्यास , अनेकानेक आघात पचवण्याचं धैर्य , रसिकांवरची श्रद्धा , तत्त्वनिष्ठा आणि “इदं न मम ” अशी निरासक्त वृत्ती , अशा बहुविध पैलूंचं इतक्या अल्प कालावधीत प्रत्ययकारी दर्शन घडवण्याचं शिवधनुष्य नितीन देसाईंच्या नेतृत्त्वाखाली या साऱ्या मंडळींनी अतिशय उत्तमरीत्या पेललंय . पण त्याचबरोबर त्यांच्या अव्यवहारीपणा सारख्या काही उण्या बाजूही अगदी सहजगत्या समोर आणल्यायेत . आणि हे सगळं केलंय ते कुठंही “judgmental ” न होता … कारण , चित्रपटात म्हटल्याप्रमाणं गंधर्वांच्या आयुष्याला लौकिक बंधनांमध्ये अडकवण्याचा प्रयत्न करणंही निष्फळ आहे …. . शिवाय , सहकाऱ्यांचं प्रेम आणि कळकळ, रसिकांचं प्रेम आणि त्यातूनच उमटणारी दानशूरता , सहचारिणीची सोशिकता या गोष्टी झाकोळल्या जाणार नाहीत याचीही पुरेपूर दक्षता दिग्दर्शकानं घेतलीये . 

मुलीच्या मृत्यूनंतर डोळ्यात आलेलं पाणी क्षणार्धात टिपून भूमिका रंगवणारे बालगंधर्व आपल्या डोळ्यात अश्रू उभे करतात , तर बोलपटाच्या चित्रीकरणाच्या वेळी होणारी एका सच्च्या रंगकर्मीची घुसमट आपल्यालाही अस्वस्थ करून सोडते . आणि हे सगळं पाहिलं की पटतं – “खरंच, आयुष्य हे तर एक नाटकच. त्याचे प्रवेश “त्यानं” आधीच लिहून ठेवलेत . फक्त आपल्या वाटेला आलेली भूमिका उत्तमरीत्या पार पाडणं हेच आपलं कर्तव्य”.

PS: १. आनंद भाटेंचा देखील विशेषत्त्वाने उल्लेख करायला हवा.
      २. आता कुठूनतरी “धर्मात्मा” मिळवायला हवा ….

Advaita: in my Ph.D. Problems

It has been a month since I wrote… Firstly, it was the effort to catch up with the running time, which had left me back (or may be I had let it run, as I was too inertiatic to catch up) and then, for a short while, blogger fuelled the lack of posts … I had a good excuse for not writing anything…

But now, some deep spiritual realization, urged me to write this…  Adi Shankaracharya proposed “Advaitawad” (nonduality) in his quest for understanding the Brahman. "Advaita" refers to the identity of the Self (Atman) and the Whole (Brahman). Seems pretty difficult to digest, isn’t it? But I hadn’t thought even in my dreams that my petty Ph.D. work  (It’s really petty compared to the problems he was thinking about, though for me it’s certainly worth more than that ) may make me a staunch follower of Advaitawad.  I was struggling for a while for getting uniform integrability of some particular class of functions. That seemed to be the biggest hurdle, which showed no signs of moving… We tried to bypass it in many ways, either trying to choose some completely different, well-trodden (and hence easier) path or even by devising escape routes… But,…. there was no way we could avoid it…Whatever may be the road, we were bound to stumble upon it sooner or later….

And now, finally, that is solved……I was very much relieved to see the solution. But my joy was short lived…As soon as I thought that I have crossed the so called biggest hurdle, another one was there to welcome me… Now, it is the situation where I am in search of something which Ramanujan had encountered when he was in school. I have to work out the limit of the type 0/0. Now, again the fruitless efforts of filling up the notebook pages for rearranging the things in a frail hope of landing on something  finite have started. But, whatever may be the shuffling, the terms tend to remain loyal to their original form…In fact once I came up with a limit, which involved some intricate mathematical expression with three different constants, and kept on simplifying it for about 10 minutes, only to discover that the most simplified version was 0.

In essence, even these problems deny dualism. All these problems have a single soul, though they may be having different external forms. And one more thing, avoiding a problem, is like simply avoiding an unwanted relative (some nosy aunty or meddlesome uncle, which all of us come across pretty often), who is sure to bump into us at the next crossing.

Procrastination…

Procrastination…. almost everyone has experienced it…I’m not an exception. But this time, it was heights of indolence. It has probably been a week since I spent my entire day prolifically. Initially, tried to work on some tedious, almost new topic “EM Algorithm”; so, could console myself about the sudden dip in the efficiency.  In fact, managed to convince my advisor, by giving the same excuse… how it’s inevitable to study this topic and at the same time it’s so time-consuming…. But, alas, even these excuses have their own “best before” date L.  Was thinking that it’s time to seriously get back to the work… but it’s difficult to get back on track, once you have derailed. Inertia makes its presence felt, every now and then… and as expected, before I could reach in the right gear, the excuse became outdated. Probably, for the first time during the past 7-8 months, I faltered over a seemingly innocuous question by my advisor, “What’s going on?”.  So now, it’s time to wake up, before it’s too late….. Will have to work really hard, to make up for this gap… off to work now…

केल्याने देशाटन - ३ ...

केल्याने देशाटन - भाग १ , भाग २ .

आजपर्यंत बोललो, ते आदर्शांबद्दल ... आज थोडं आपल्यासारख्यांकडून घेता येणाऱ्या गोष्टींबद्दल... 

गोव्यात जसा समुद्र पहिला, तशीच  आम्ही "मातृछाया " आणि "स्नेहमंदिर" या समाजमन्दिरांनाही भेट दिली. मातृछायातली निरागस मुलं आजही आठवतायत. स्नेहमन्दिरामधल्या आजी-आजोबांशी बोलताना जे समाधान मिळालं, ते अगदीच अवर्णनीय होतं. बा. भ. बोरकरांनी एका कवितेत म्हटलंय- 

" देखणी ती जीवने, जी तृप्तीची तीर्थोदके , चांदणे ज्यातून वाहे शुभ्र पाऱ्यासारखे " 

अशी अनेक तृप्त जीवनं तिथे पाहायला मिळाली. त्यांच्या आयुष्यातल्या कडू-गोड आठवणी ऐकताना जीवनाचे अनेक पैलू नव्यानं उलगडले गेले.


असंच, जीवनाचं एक नवं रूप बघायला मिळालं, ते जव्हार-देवबांधच्या आदिवासी वस्त्यांवर. जेव्हा  सूर्यमाळच्या पठारावर आमची गाडी थांबली, तेव्हा एस. टी. बघायला गोळा झालेली मुलं, त्यांच्या चेहऱ्यावरचं अप्रूप अजूनही डोळ्यांपुढे येतंय. एस. टी. बघून त्यांना झालेला आनंद पाहिला आणि मग आपण किती सुखी आयुष्य जगतो याचा प्रत्यय आला. "मला लाल डब्यानं जायला नाही आवडत, व्होल्वोनी जाऊ किंवा आपली कार नेऊ ", अशी फर्माईश करणाऱ्यांना, लाल डब्यात बसणं तर सोडाच, पण लाल डबा बघायला मिळणंच, काहींसाठी इतकं महद्भाग्य ठरतं हे कळलं, तेव्हा मिळालेलं शहाणपण हे बाकी कोणत्याही शाळा-कॉलेजच्या शिक्षणानं आलं नसतं.

"I had the blues, as I had no shoes, 

until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet." 

अशाच प्रकारची काहीशी आमची परिस्थिती होती. पुस्तकात, वर्तमानपत्रात वाचलेलं 'कुपोषण', तिथल्या मुलांमध्ये प्रत्यक्षात पाहिलं आणि मग आपले जेवतानाचे नखरे कमी करायला हवेत, हे मनोमन पटलं. आजही पानात काही शिल्लक उरेल असं वाटत असतानाच, त्या मुलांचे चेहेरे आठवतात आणि मग आपोआपच नावडते पदार्थदेखील संपवले जातात. दुरून , उन्हात अनवाणी पायांनी पाण्याचे हंडे भरून घेऊन येणाऱ्या छोट्या छोट्या मुली पाहिल्या आणि पाण्याचंही जीवनमूल्य पटलं. अशा परिस्थितीत जगत  असतानाही त्यांनी आनंदानं केलेली नृत्यं पाहिली आणि मग जाणवलं की सुख-समाधान हे बाह्य परिस्थितीवर नव्हे तर मनस्थितीवर अवलंबून असतं.

आणि हो, हे सारं आपण ज्यांच्यासोबत अनुभवतो, त्या सहप्रवाशांकडूनही खूप काही शिकायला मिळतं बरं का... घरात आपल्या सख्ख्या बहीण-भावांशी भांडणारेही तिथे आपलं आवरून झालं की अगदी उत्साहात  एखाद्या छोट्या दोस्ताची bag भरून द्यायला मदत करतात.  मोठ्या ताई-दादांना काम करताना पाहून, "काकू मी नाश्त्याच्या प्लेट्स गोळा करू का ?", असं स्वत:हून विचारणारे मित्रही भेटतात.  आपल्यापेक्षा लहान असून देखील सहलीतल्या प्रत्येक ठिकाणाची माहिती सांगू शकणारा एखादा मित्र आपल्यालाही अवांतर वाचनाला प्रवृत्त करतो. सहलीत मित्राच्या वाढदिवसासाठी दोन मिनिटात सुंदरशी रांगोळी काढणारी ताई किंवा रोज नवनवीन गाणी/स्तोत्रे सांगणारा दादा पाहिला की  आपणही एखादी कला जोपासली पाहिजे असं वाटायला लागतं. रात्री सगळ्यांच्या नंतर झोपून, सकाळी सगळ्यांच्या आधी उठणारे आणि तरीही दिवसभर सगळ्यांपेक्षा जास्त काम करणारे काका-काकू बघितले की - "मन उत्साही असेल तर शरीरही न थकता साथ देतं", हे पटतं, आणि मग हे सारं पाहिलं की आपल्याही नकळत बदल घडून येतात. 

"मला कोणीच माझ्या सामानाला हात लावलेलं आवडत नाही", असं म्हणणारी मुलगीच पुढच्या सहलीत स्वत:हून आपल्याकडचं जास्तीचं पांघरूण कोणाला हवंय का असं विचारते. यंदा आपण मला दोन ऐवजी एकच नवा ड्रेस घेऊन, उरलेले पैसे देवबांधच्या 'भाऊबीज निधी'ला पाठवूयात का, असं कोणीतरी आई-बाबांना सुचवतो. "काका, पुढची सहल कुठे जाणार ते सांगा, म्हणजे मी माहिती गोळा करून ठेवतो", असं कुणीतरी म्हणतं, तर "काकू, या वेळी रोज सकाळी सगळ्यांना बिस्किटे देण्याचं काम मी करणार हं", असंही कुणीतरी म्हणतं. 

हे सगळं घडतं याचं कारण - माणसाचं मन हे टीपकागदासारखं असतं. दिसतं ते टिपून घेणारं. म्हणूनच जर आपलं मन अधिकाधिक संवेदनशील बनवून, एक परिपूर्ण व्यक्ती बनायचं असेल, तर हा असा सहलीचा अनुभव हवाच...   

केल्याने देशाटन -२ ...

( केल्याने देशाटन -१  ...)

'स्वामी' कादंबरीत माधवराव रमाबाईंना म्हणतात - "ओहोटीच्या वेळी मोकळ्या पडलेल्या किनाऱ्यावर जेव्हा समुद्र-खेकडे रांगोळ्या घालू लागतील, तेव्हा तुझा अभिमान पार धुऊन जाईल आणि तू कौतुकानं त्यांनी रेखाटलेल्या कलाकृती बघत राहशील. " असंच आपलं  खुजेपण आणि निसर्गाचं श्रेष्ठत्व पदोपदी जाणवत राहतं. अथांग सागर अंत:करणाची विशालता देतो, तर डोंगरावरून कोसळणारा धबधबा इतरांसाठी जीव झोकून द्यायला शिकवतो. सूर्योदय आणि सूर्यास्त दोन्हीवेळेला सारखाच रंग धारण करणारा सूर्य "संपत्तौ च विपत्तौ च महताम् एकरूपता " हे दाखवून देतो. शिंपल्यातून अचानक बाहेर येणारी गोगलगाय जशी दचकायला लावते, तसाच समुद्रात लाटेमुळे "पायाखालची वाळू सरकणे", या वाक्प्रचाराचा प्रत्यक्ष येणारा अनुभव हृदयाचा ठोका चुकवतो. 

 इतिहासाच्या माध्यमातून भेटणारी माणसंही असंच खूप काही शिकवून जातात. हिरकणी बुरुजावरून खाली डोकावून पाहिलं की आजही आपले डोळे फिरतात. मग अशा जागेवरून अंधारात, जंगलात उतरण्याचं धाडस करणाऱ्या हिरकणीसमोर आपण आपोआपच नतमस्तक होतो. गड बांधण्याच्या कामगिरीवर खुश होऊन शिवाजी महाराजांनी बक्षीस देऊ केले असता, पायरीच्या दगडावर "सेवेचे ठायी तत्पर, हिराजी इंदूलकर ", असे लिहिण्याची परवानगी मागणारा हिराजी निरपेक्ष सेवेचा उत्तम आदर्श घालून देतो. "आधी लगीन कोंढाण्याचं मग माझ्या रायबाचं" असं सांगणारा तानाजी मालुसरे राष्ट्रहित महत्वाचे असल्याचा संदेश देतो, तर राजे सुखरूप गडावर पोचल्याची तोफ ऐकू येईपर्यंत सिद्दी जौहर आणि यमराज दोघांनाही घोडखिंडीत थोपवून धरणारे बाजीप्रभू देशपांडे असीम कर्तव्यनिष्ठेचं उदाहरण बनून राहतात. आणि हा असा  त्या त्या जागी जाऊन इतिहासाचा पुन:प्रत्यय घेण्याचा प्रयत्न केला की मग हे केवळ पुस्तकी दाखले न राहता, जीवनपथावर पदोपदी मार्गदर्शक ठरणारे प्रसंग बनतात. शिवाय पुस्तकातला इतिहास जणू सजीव झाल्याचा आनंद मिळतो तो वेगळाच.      
   

पण केवळ इतिहासातच चांगली माणसं होऊन गेलीत असं थोडंच आहे. आजही आपल्याभोवती अशी अनेक माणसं आहेत, की ज्यांच्याकडून आपल्याला खूप शिकायला मिळू शकतं. अशाच काहींच्या भेटीचा योग सहलीच्या निमित्तानं येतो - मग ते आयुकाचे विज्ञान प्रसार अधिकारी डॉ. अरविंद परांजपे असतील, वा आपल्या कथाकथनानं सर्वांना मंत्रमुग्ध करणारे सु. ह. जोशी असतील. श्रोत्यांना आपलंसं करून घेणं, छोट्यांपासून मोठ्यांपर्यंत सर्वांना सारखंच महत्त्व देणं, या अशांच्या वैशिष्ट्यांमुळे नकळत आपणही ते गुण उचलतो. आपलं पद, प्रतिष्ठा यांचा विचार न करता इतरांबरोबर समरस होऊन राहणारी माणसं सहलीत बघायला मिळतात. एकदा आम्ही कोकणातला एक कौलांचा कारखाना बघायला गेलो होतो. कारखाना बघताना एक काका  आम्हाला कारखान्याची माहिती देत होते. त्या कारखान्यात नोकरी करणाऱ्यांपैकीच  ते असावेत असा आमचा अंदाज होता. संपूर्ण कारखाना बघून झाल्यानंतर आम्हाला कळलं, की ते त्या कारखान्याचे मालक श्री. जोगळेकर होते. आता एवढ्या मोठ्या उद्योगाचा मालक दीड - दोन तास आपल्याशी गप्पा मारत फिरत होता, ही गोष्ट खूपच धक्कादायक होती. तशीच गोष्ट महाबळेश्वरच्या श्री. आगरकरांची. त्यांच्या मधुमक्षिका पालन केंद्रात आम्ही गेलो असता, मधमाश्यांच्या प्रकारांपासून ते मधाच्या प्रकारांपर्यंत साऱ्या प्रक्रियेची माहिती त्यांनी अतिशय साध्या शब्दांत आणि उत्साहानं दिली. ही अशी माणसं भेटली, की "विद्या विनयेन शोभते", या सुवचनाची सत्यता पटते. 

या थोरामोठ्या मंडळींप्रमाणेच, आजूबाजूची सामान्य माणसं आणि इतकंच नव्हे, तर आपली मित्रमंडळी देखील नकळतपणे खूप काही देऊन जातात. त्यांच्याबद्दल बोलूयात, पुढच्या भागात. 

Antarnaad

It was there again..., the long awaited event.... annual gathering; comes every year, in a new disguise… This time it was named “Infinity-2011”. But my mind drifted around the previous ones –“Antarnaad-2010” and the “Summer Zeal -2009”; the same hustle and bustle, the same anxiety, and in the end, the same sense of fulfillment. Though this time, I was only a silent spectator, I was trying to relive those golden moments… And the actual gathering day, was a climax… Along with the same feelings, I got to hear the same songs… I was totally in my own world. I could imagine Prajakta in “Chandu ke chachane…” (I know, others were there – but the cameraman caught only her actions :-) ) and visualize Richa and Chetan in place of this year’s Banasthallite and Puneite pair, on zoobi doobi . In fact the puneite here also was a Kulkarni. Instead of Anjana in Totakahini, I could see Swati revolving merrily in “khwabon ki galiyaan”, and how can I forget Nikhil, when confronted with “Pappu can’t dance sala”. 

In all, it was a good ruminating experience, which enthused me to have a short trip down the long memory lane….

A short update...

In marathi, there is a saying -
ऋषीचं कुळ आणि नदीचं मूळ शोधू नये..
But what about present generation scholars... I think many of us are interested in exploring about their ancestral roots, though not in the usual sense, but in the academic sense. It's a great feeling to realize that a teacher you adore most comes from a family which has produced many such erudite professors... and somewhere you are also going to be part of this bright academic clan.... The same feeling tempted us (me and deep) to invest our time in enriching an online database about the folks from our statistical clan....Just have a look at the complete account - keeping track of the lineage....

केल्याने देशाटन - १ ...

"केल्याने देशाटन , पंडित मैत्री, सभेत संचार,

मनुजा, ज्ञान येतसे फार ... "

लहानपणापासून अनेकदा ऐकलेली, वाचून - ऐकून अगदी पार गुळगुळीत झालेली ओळ. पण या ओळींची सत्यता अनुभवली ती मंगलमूर्ती संस्कार केंद्राच्या 'मातृभूमी दर्शन' उपक्रमातून. फ्रान्सीस बेकन देखील म्हणतो - 

"Travel in the younger sort , is a part of education ; in the elder, a part of experience ."  

म्हणूनच प्रवास, त्यातही समवयस्कांच्या समूहासोबत केलेला प्रवास हा शिक्षणाचा एक भागच आहे आणि त्याचबरोबर मोठ्यांनादेखील अनुभवसमृद्ध करणारा गुरु आहे.

अशा या नियोजनबद्ध सहलीचा सर्वात प्रमुख फायदा म्हणजे त्यातून लागणारी स्वयंशिस्त. एरवी घरात आईच्या प्रत्येक हाकेला, दोन मिनिटांत उठतो असं उत्तर देत उठायला अर्धा-अर्धा तास लावणारेही गाडी निघून जाईल या भीतीनं कोणीही हाक न मारताच साडेपाचलाच उठून बसतात. शिवाय उठल्यावर अंथरुणात रेंगाळत न बसता पटकन आवरायला सुरुवात करणं, अंघोळ लवकर उरकणं, या सवयी इथंच पहिल्यांदा जडतात. आपलं सर्व सामान रोजच्या रोज जागच्या जागी ठेवणं, वस्तू सांभाळून न हरवता वापरणं या छोट्या छोट्या सवयी पुढे खूप उपयोगी पडतात.

सहलीतनं अंगी बाणणारा आणखी एक गुण म्हणजे स्वावलंबन. आजच्या हम दो - हमारे दो / एक च्या  जमान्यात, शाळेत जाताना डबा- waterbag भरण्यापासून ते बुटाची लेस बांधून देण्यापर्यंत आई- बाबा मदतीला असतात.  त्यामुळे जेवण झाल्यावर आपलं ताट उचलून ठेवणं, आपल्या अंथरूण-पांघरुणाची घडी घालणं, या गोष्टीसुद्धा अनेकांना अवघड जातात. पुढच्या आयुष्यात होस्टेलवर राहायचं झालं की याच सवयी उपयोगी पडतात.

एवढंच नाही, तर बिना बोर्नविटाचे दूध पिणं, नावडती भाजी कुरकुर न करता खाणं, यासारख्या गोष्टी शिकायला तर सहलीशिवाय दुसरा पर्यायच नसतो. तीन तास सिंहगड चढून, फिरून कडकडून भूक लागली की मग पानातली कोणतीही भाजी अगदी अमृतासारखी गोड लागते. शिवाय मित्र-मैत्रिणींच्या गप्पांची जोड कोणत्याही पदार्थाची चव अधिकच रुचकर बनवते. त्यामुळेच साधी ग्लुकोजची  बिस्कीटेसुद्धा  आवडीनं खाल्ली जातात. अनेक नवनवे पदार्थ खायला मिळाल्यानं आपल्या खाद्यज्ञानात  भरपूरच भर पडते. रंगामुळे सुरुवातीला विचित्र वाटणारी सोलकढी किंवा नाचणीची भाकरी, यांनादेखील आपल्या मनात आवडीची जागा मिळते. मालवणी खाजा, कर्नाटकातला सेट डोसा असे वेगवेगळ्या प्रांतातले वैशिष्ट्यपूर्ण पदार्थ मनात कायमचे घर करून राहतात. रुमाली रोटी सारखा प्रकार अनेकांनी खाल्लाही नसेल, पण आम्हाला सहलीत तो खायला तर मिळालाच, पण त्याचबरोबर हवेत वरचेवर झेलत सुन्दरशी रुमाली रोटी बनवण्याचं बल्लावाचार्यांचं कौशल्यही  तिथं पाहायला मिळालं.

हे झालं खाद्यपदार्थांचं. पण त्याचबरोबर जी फळं आपण नेहमी खातो, जे जॅम वापरतो , त्या फळांची झाडं, फळप्रक्रिया केंद्रं बघण्याची मजा काही औरच असते. कोकणातल्या नारळी-पोफळींच्या बागांची वर्णनं, नेहमीच पुस्तकात वाचलेली असतात. फळाबाहेर बी असणारा एकमेव झाड म्हणजे काजू हे सामान्यज्ञानाच्या पुस्तकात असतं. ते बघायला मिळतं, ते कोकणच्या सहलीतच. करवंदांच्या जाळीत हात घालून करवंद तोडण्यात वेगळीच मजा असते. सागरगोटेसुद्धा झाडाला लागतात हे मला तर सहलीत गेल्यावरच कळलं. सिंधुदुर्ग किल्ल्यातलं फांदी असलेलं नारळाचं झाड, समुद्रात असूनसुद्धा गोड पाणी देणाऱ्या दूध, दही, साखर बाव या विहिरी अजूनही जशाच्या तशा आठवतात. रायगडावरून पहाटे पाहिलेलं इंद्रधनुष्य, धुक्यात लपेटलेला सह्याद्री पर्वत आणि हे सगळं बोचऱ्या थंडीत अनुभवताना मध्येच झालेला हलक्या सरींचा शिडकावा आठवला की आजही अंगावर रोमांच उभे राहतात.

हे सगळं झालं निसर्गानं दर्शन घडवलेल्या दृश्यांबद्दल. पण हा निसर्ग निर्जीव नाहीये. तो आपल्याला खूप काही शिकवतो. त्याबद्दल पुन्हा कधीतरी बोलू.... 

Reunion... in part

The day before yesterday was the convocation day. Finally, we graduated with master’s in Statistics. As the date of convocation was announced, the excitement mounted since it was meant to be a day to be spent with the good old buddies. (Not old exactly…it’s just eight months since we have parted, yet it seems to be a lengthy interlude of separation from the cronies (especially the hostel dwellers)). But, alas…not many of them were there. No prize for guessing reasons…because though graduation means passing the final exam i.e. the end of studies, it’s in fact like qualifying the entrance exam of real life; to decide whether you are fit to come out of the academic cocoon. And there come the difficulties associated with the real life like getting leave, securing tickets and so on… So were my friends pestered by these problems and couldn’t make it to the program. But still, there were quite a few lucky ones. To be precise, we, four project partners were able to meet as planned, after overcoming some petty obstacles.

It looked as if nothing had changed. The same meeting place: open canteen…, the same delay by one of us (though this time it was me who caused the hold up and not the ones who were known for getting delayed most of the times), irritated others bothering her by calling every minute…, everyone skipping lunch for making up this delay, the relentless chatter, the incessant photo session, …all these, unmindful of the other tasks seeking attention. And then abrupt goodbyes, once the deadlines were looming. The only difference was – we didn’t think twice, while hiring an auto to catch the running time, the reasons being: we are earning and now, missing deadlines would cost more than just a few grades here and there. 

After all, that’s life…smaller joys replaced by bigger ones at the cost of lesser sorrows being replaced by the larger ones…

We are not that bad…

(On the occasion of National Youth Day)

12th January, the birth anniversary of the great philosopher Swami Vivekananda. Our nation celebrates it as a national youth day. One of the major reasons, why the world expects India to be superpower is the “Youth Force” of our country. But the question always posed is – Are today’s youth really capable of shouldering this great responsibility? Intelligence, innovativeness we have, that everyone agrees. But the major concern is about our character, sensitivity towards fellow human beings, (in our terms “EQ”). The general picture portrayed is – We don’t want joint family system, we can’t tolerate others’ success, we can do anything for getting a fast success and so on… But is it always true? Have we really lost our emotions? Just a quick trip down my memory lane yielded some interesting incidents. None of them is really significant, but for me even these tiny things are no less imperative. So, here’s a small attempt to present some of the compassionate minds…

I was staying at a guest house of an educational institute for a summer workshop. We were two people in each room. Everyday a boy used to come to serve tea at 6 am. Our room was next to the stairs. So, we used to hear the footsteps of the boy as he approached. The very instant he started climbing, my roommate would jump out of her cozy bed to reach the door so that the boy wouldn’t have to do the circus of balancing the kettle, glasses to knock our door. The day before she left, she made it a point to inform him that he need not come to our room. In that way, she cared for both – the boy – for his waiting time at our door was saved and me- for my dreamy land tour was not hindered by the sudden “Chai”. So, there she was caring about a nameless chaiwala, doing her best to reduce his efforts.

Second incident is about a group of youngsters. 7-8 of them had embarked on their journey to visit the famous Ganapatis, in Pune during the annual Ganesh festival. After a bit of time, to brush off the weariness, they resorted to the usual energizer – Ice-cream. As usual, there was a lot of brain-storming (at least pretty enough to confuse the shopkeeper) before the final verdict about the flavors was announced. One of them paid the bill and they left. After 2-3 minutes, someone started calculations, to divide the bill, and it was realized that they had ended up paying Rs.40 less than what the actual bill should have been. Now, they had already left past the shop and could have merrily divided the profit among themselves. But, their subconscious mind did not let them proceed. They returned to the shop, handed over the forty rupees to the shopkeeper, who was obviously delighted at their act…

Thus, at the end, to all the elders…Sometimes, we may hurt/ignore you, sometimes we may be the most irresponsible lot in the world, sometimes we may be full of excuses to avoid work…But at the bottom of our heart, we care for everybody who is there for us, we like to be honest in our way towards our goal, we like to discover new ways of doing great things, however rugged the path of discovery may be…After all, we are your offspring, so we can’t be that bad….

Certain about Uncertainty

Last weekend was special in a sense; it was the last weekend of a month, year and a decade…But for us (me and deep), it was special in one more sense… a candlelit dinner with some of the brightest minds from the probabilistic world, the folks who are certain about uncertainty…

This opportunity was provided by LPS-V workshop, in ISI Bangalore. At the beginning itself, we were pretty excited, as some of the names in the list of participants, were eminent statisticians. But as the course progressed, we were simply dumbfounded, by the sharpness of the minds around us…Everyone here was simply a probabilist, other identities had vanished. It was just like a family gathering with people from almost three generations; veterans encouraging neophytes, by listening to their ideas. They were always there for the younger ones to help them convert their lumbering walk into an exciting hike, be it in the classroom or in the Makalidurga trek which was one of the social events in the workshop. And one more thing…Even this Makalidurga was not spared from the statistical lessons. The relaxation breaks were made lively by the interesting statistical puzzles regarding card magic, chessboards and exciting facts like how Diaconis (a magician turned mathematician) constructed a machine giving a desired outcome for a coin toss.

The nonstatistical joys included the special south Indian dinner served on the plantain leaves, which had almost 20 different delicacies. Apart from the two special dinners, there were other delectable treats like fruits and various kinds of cakes, which were made sweeter by the excellent hospitality of the canteen people and the individual attention by the organizers.

Last and the most important delight was the interaction with the students/alumni of many prestigious institutes all over the world including IITs, ISIs and Ivy League institutions. There we were among the gifted minds attaining zenith, but with their feet firmly rooted in the ground; some of them barely 7-8 years older than us. And thus we returned motivated, and at the same time wondering how people can achieve such great heights, in such a short span of life…