must keep walking

din hai parbat jaise bhaari
raate bojhal bojhal saari
tu ye sochta hai raah kaise aasaan ho

saari anjaani hai raahein
jinme dhoondhen teri nigaahein
koi aisa pal jo aaj ya kal, meharbaan ho

ghoome kab se dagar dagar
tu mann ko ye samjhaave
raahi ka to kaam hai
chalta hi jaave
saayiaan ve saayiaan ve
saayiaan saayiaan ve
saayiaan ve saayiaan ve

ik banjara iktaare par kab se gaave
jeevan hai ik dor dor uljhe hi jaave
aasaani se hai girehain khulti nahi hain
mann vo hatheela hai jo fir bhi suljhave
rahi ka to kaam hai chalta hi jaave...
saayiaan ve saayiaan ve
sun sun saayiaan ve
saayiaan ve saayiaan ve
(lovely piano sequence...)

the woods are lovely dark and deep
but i have promises to keep
and miles to go before i sleep
and miles to go before i sleep

A fresh perspective on ‘reservation for women’ in relation to process scheduling in operating systems

There has been much debate about whether there should be 27% reservation for OBCs in professional educational institutions. Though this post should logically apply to the issue of reservations for OBCs too, I am not concentrating on that because in that case there are two distinct sub-issues of social and economic backwardness which need to be resolved first. This post is about reservation for women [girls included].

Those who have a knowledge of how process scheduling is done in computer operating systems [henceforth ill call them OS or OSes] are aware that there is a phenomenon called starvation that must be prevented to ensure that no process is made to wait for very long or infinitely long. The priority scheduling algorithm is one algorithm which can cause starvation of low priority processes, in case there are many higher priority [and possibly longer too] processes. Any scheduling algorithm chosen for process scheduling must ensure that starvation does not take place.

Considering an OS as a society, and a process in it as a human [in current case my focus is on females]. I believe that each process scheduling algorithm has its own disadvantages, and each of them must be tweaked so that starvation does not take place. An OS is an environment, in which there is possibility of starvation taking place. And if there is a possibility of some process being disfavored , then the OS must ensure that there is also a corresponding provision to ensure that that possibility is avoided [in case of priority scheduling algorithm, an added parameter of aging may be used to ensure that starvation does not take place].

My take is that if we do not have an ideal system [an environment] then we have possibility of disfavoring any element of the system. And if there is a possibility, then there must be a provision to ensure that the possibility is avoided. The words possibility and provision are central to this post.

Coming to real life, the current environment in India creates ample possibilities of women being disfavored. And it becomes a duty to create provisions that avoid them. Unless we conceive, implement, and uphold a system that is inherently ideal for all humans of the system, it becomes imperative that we do not let women be disadvantaged. In the light of above, I currently support reservations and other concessions for women.

As a side note, there was a debate in my class in english period on the same topic when I was in XI [maybe XII]. I remember that I was probably the only one on one side, with others on the opposite side [unfortunately I do not remember which side I was on]. I think I probably opposed reservations then; maybe that was without any logic. Today I support.

Finally, I should mention that I used the analogy of process scheduling not as a proof or justification of my stance on this issue [I am strictly against use of analogies as proofs/justifications], but as an aid to make one understand my concept.

Last but not the least, it must also be ensured that the provisions are implemented and enforced only to an extent that’s required. The provisions may lead to some undeserved advantages for women- which is okay, but must not lead to any undeserved advantages for women at the cost of the opposite sex.

Didi's new Sony Ericsson W300i :-)

Didi just got a shining new Sony Ericsson W300i (a nice respite from her Reliance phone).

Its gorgeous, and the cute little thing packs a lot of punch as well. What all can be done?

• Capture photos (up to 1.3 megapixel interpolated)
• Record sounds or videos (and play them all back- on the phone itself)
• Walkman branded- which means one can listen to music (in various formats) in pristine quality (on the inbuilt external speaker, or on the high quality bundled earphones, or even on an external audio system)
  
• FM radio with RDS (and preset channels)
  
• Playback MPEG-4 or 3GP videos on the phone itself (and watch streaming videos as well)
• Surf internet on the phone itself (using the inbuilt NetFront browser- I added Opera Mini) or on a computer using GPRS or EDGE
  
• Inbuilt RSS reader
• Inbuilt support for Email, Instant Messaging and MMS
  
• Bluetooth and Infrared support
• Memory Stick Micro slot (with 256 MB card bundled)
  
• USB 2.0 port
• Java MIDP 2.0 support (for applications and games)
  
• Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 Mhz support (for world roaming)
  
• View or edit music, photos or videos with the inbuilt MusicDJ, PhotoDJ and VideoDJ
• Setup animated wallpapers on the 256K TFT LCD display
• Polyphonic ringtones
  
• The second external display (orange) shows status of time, music or a call
  
• Finally, make and receive calls, and send and receive SMS messages (EMS/LMS is supported)
  
• The lightweight orange and black body, of course, is killer.

I am so happy that my all time favorite movie was released on my birthday :-)

To write the previous post about the movie Ta Ra Rum Pum, I had to go to Wikipedia to find out the exact name of the sequel to 'The Terminator'. and I felt so happy to see that the movie I deeply love from my heart- 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day', was released on 3rd July 1991- on my birthday :-)

I'm so happy. I love this movie (I love 'The Terminator' too nearly as much) and since it was released on my birthday, its closer to me now :-)

never judge a book (movie) by its cover (title). never.

i am just back after watching Ta Ra Rum Pum (it was a night show). me, my didi and my cousins went to watch any movie (we just wanted to watch a movie), and at the cinema, we were told that Ta Ra Rum Pum is about to start in 15 minutes. "yuk!", i said, for i did not like the name at all. i declared hastily that this movie is going to be unadulterated horse crap because its makers gave it such a cheap and inelegant name.

the story behind this feeling- my personal belief has been that when a single man makes an effort, then the output reflects that single man's character (quite naturally). and if this effort turns out to be good, then it has this goodness everywhere in it. 2 nicely fitting examples of this are the 2 wonderful programs- irfanview and editpad. both of them are great in all aspects of them- from installer to the program itself to speed to the text used in interface to stability and so on. i have always held this belief that something good, and done by a single man, shall be good in everything.

another example? james cameron's 2 wonderful movies- 'The Terminator', and 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day'- these movies are great in every aspect- from their names to special effects to storyline etc.

and hence i felt that a producer/director allowing a name as inelegant as Ta Ra Rum Pum (especially because it does not match the story of this movie- this is not a comedy movie) would not have made a good movie. i was sad that i shall be stranded in this hall for the next 3 hours, with a movie thats going to smell like horse crap.

and how did it turn out? awesome.
i enjoyed watching the movie. there were over 10 moments when i wanted to stand up, jump and clap loudly (i frequently do so while watching movies on my laptop in my hostel room). there were many emotional and touching moments, and many inspiring and motivating moments too. many scenes depicted real life, and many of them made one realise the importance of money. i could feel my increased heartbeat and some type of currents/waves flowing in my chest at the racing track scenes. i loved the theme music of this movie- ta ra ra ra rum, ta ra rum pum [especially its instrumental version which plays many times during movie].

and what was my first comment about the movie to my cousins when we came out of the hall? "naam bekar tha, par movie bahut achi thi:-)" (name was bad, but movie was very good:-)).

and i also realised, for the first time, the rightness of age-old adage- never judge a book by its cover. really never.

and finally, i am convinced that this movie is meant only for a cinema hall. watching it on a tv will be plain ruining the movie. it is meant for a cinema hall only. those who do not like it [or like it less] after watching it on a tv set have ruined the true effect this movie could have cast.

update- 2-5-07
i realised that i had forgot to write some qualms i had with the movie. it may have been because i was feeling quite good yesterday night when i was just back from cinema, and so poured only the goodness above. a few things i disliked about the movie were the occasional over-acting done by rani mukherjee, some [again] cheap and inelegant comedy scenes [personally i dislike any stupid comedy- i think 'hera pheri' is an example of a high quality comedy], and finally, some [only some] unnecessary and stupid scenes [i especially disliked the many non-serious actions during many serious situations]. i consider them as pimples on the face of this movie. overall, though the experience was great.

version 2
2-5-07