Sunday, August 25, 2013

ROcK StArS ! ! !

"What more can we require? Nothing but time."
-James Hutton, 
(considered as Father of Modern Geology).

Near Mukteshwar, Nainital, Uttarakhand

Every place has a story to tell. Look around. 
The little bumps on the Earth, the Hills. 
A  meandering stream with rounded pebbles alongside. 
The streams joining into river, finally merging into the sea. 
For a Holiday at the beach side? Writing your name on the sand, making sand castles and watching waves swash and backwash?
Or in the middle of a forest, trekking up a waterfall?
Visiting the majestic Himalayas this summer? Awed with the steep jagged slopes. 
Ever felt the trembles during an earthquake? 
Seen the black beauty, the rock beneath your feet? 

Typical landscape of the Deccan trap region
Well, all these speak volumes.

Take a breath. Look around again. All these are like pillars of history of the Earth. Engraved on it are beautiful and unimaginable concepts, taking you closer towards understanding our home, Home in a broader sense, our Planet Earth. They are like a photographic plate or a canvas where all is painted. 

Dare to find out these mysteries? 

Few rock stars do! They are called the GEOLOGISTS :) 

The hills may be formed by erosional processes, faulting, volcanoes, etc.
The Himalayas boast of being one of the highest (still growing higher) and youngest chain mountains in the world, formed by a mind boggling process of collision of plates (that's another story entirely)! The youthful river carving out V-shaped valleys. The sinuous river has come a long way and reached the gently sloping plains forming lovely meanders and oxbows. The black beauty (no I ain't talking about the horse, that's how I describe a rock!) you see all around in this Deccan trap region is Basalt. Though simple, unattractive, homogeneous  it looks splendid when a chip of it is seen under a petrographical microscope (Yes, geologists use microscopes too!). The tremors you must have experienced some time are earthquakes. A lot of rumble rumble is happening inside the Earth- movements, rupturing of faults, the rocks beneath may not be strong enough, etc. which may lead to an earthquake. The sandy beach that you thoroughly enjoy has taken thousands of years to form the way we see it today. 
This is how beautiful a basalt would look under a petrographical microscope!

Sandy beach, near Kanniyakumari


The Earth is around 4.6 billion years old, and a lot has happened (and happening) ever since. A wonderful science Geology tries to unravel some of the mysteries. Marbles and granites aren't the only rocks. Diamonds aren't the only gemstones. Dinosaurs aren't the only fossils. All rounded pebbles aren't from Narmada. 






Try to read the story. Its beautiful how so much has happened, and we still see it happening! The Present is indeed the key to the Past!

P.S: GEOLOGY IS NOT ZOOLOGY!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Black Tuesday

Yesterday, Pune woke up to the horror and shameful act of a gruesome incident. Activist, crusader, editor, doctor, rationalist Narendra Dabholkar shot dead. Though a medical doctor, he chose a different path to follow. He fought to eradicate false beliefs,  superstitions and black magic clad in the name of rituals and customs. The  Founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti he campaigned against superstitions and inhuman rituals.

The punishment for freedom of expression and believing in science is death in this Oxford of the East? We call ourselves rationalists, educated, progressive, broad minded citizens!

So will the anti-superstition bill proposed by him ever be passed?

Another voice goes silent. A wake up call. *May his soul RIP*



Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Freedom!

"At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance"
-Tryst with Destiny speech, Jawaharlal Nehru, 15 August 1947

Red Fort, Delhi

The 67th Independence Day of India is here. This day we all commemorate the political independence our country achieved from the British rule in 1947. We achieved freedom. Freedom that time meant India's free statehood. Full self governance. Free from British trials. A lot (probably our generation cannot imagine the magnitude) was sacrificed, lives lost, families separated. 

Are we free today 66 years later? Are the fundamental rights laid down merely confined to text books? What does freedom mean?Today?

Caught in bondages, restrictions, 'laws', governed by so-called-leaders (and electing them too), fighting against every small and big conflicts, we still are ruled by odds of all sorts. We fight to live a simple life of dignity.We fight to be free from poverty, injustice, honour killings, dowry, crimes against women, gender discrimination, etc. (the list can go on and on). We fight for freedom from inequality. We fight for freedom.The basic rights are curbed at all levels. Right to freedom (Articles 19-22, Constitution of India) form a vital part of Indian freedom. Are we truly protected by those in a transparent way? The 'modern' clauses and new-age obligations imposed by the rulers, religion, society and self, restrict so.

Are we still searching for that moment, that rare historic moment when we step out from old to new and new to newer age? 

What does freedom mean to you in 2013?

P.S: A salute to all the freedom fighters, martyrs, revolutionaries due to whose efforts and lives sacrificed we are privileged to be born in free India. Respect.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Optimism vs. Pessimism


"Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable" - Voltaire 



All of us have had our share of bad days. Yes, the worse ones too!
So what do you do during these times, turn to happy faces at work, have a chat with ever cheerful siblings or just a dose of pep talks (read crazy) with buddies?
Ever wondered why we consciously or unconciously choose so?

Its because these are the people who have the power to lighten up, boost up, spark up and spread some positivity! 

All you need is a little..little...bit of optimism. Thats it! 

Think a bit before you speak! It can brighten up some one's day :)

P.S.
Typical characterisitics of Pessimists are excessive usage of what if/no/but then/indecisive/inconclusive talks. Beware! They can cripple your system!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Adieu Ciao Sayonara

Just another beautiful evening!

Good-byes are agonizing. The heavy feeling they leave you with lasts quite a while. But the sooner you realize that they are an indispensable part happening every now and then, the better it is. We often leave behind many things and gain many more!


They are necessary to grow
And learn.
Necessary to know yourself
And search within.
Necessary to cope with detachments
And come out stronger.
Necessary to reach better places
And get you out of stagnancy.

Necessary for those in quest for more.

When was the last time you gave up on something big
for many small things that matter the most?

Goodbye!