Gita and Oppenheimer

We all know of the of the famous Robert Oppenheimer when the first atomic bomb was exploded.

If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one. Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.

Obviously, there is a connection with the mechanics of an atomic bomb, and the destruction it leaves in its wake.

However, I think there is a deeper significance to the quote. In the epic Mahabharata, the Bhagvad Gita comes right before the battle as Arjuna, his charioteer Krishna and the Pandavas, face their cousins the Kauravas in battle. Arjuna has serious misgivings about the war - whats the point destroying one's own kith and kin for a kingdom? Of what value is a kingdom obtained by such means? Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, talks to him about the value of karma (or duty) and not getting swayed by attachments.

Oppenheimer, not being psychotic like Adolph Hitler, possibly had serious misgivings about the work he was doing. He in some ways felt like Arjuna, as he (rightly) felt that the result of his work could lead to untold death and destruction for years to come. Like Arjuna, he did his duty as a scientist.

Book Of The Month (BOTM)

Back in the 30's and 40's, the dance you did to 'swinging' jazz and big band music was the Lindy Hop. Jazz of course was the precursor to many of the musical forms that developed in the 70 years since.

Frankie Manning was born in the South but was part of the great migration, and settled down in Harlem in the 20's. He used to hang around and dance at the ballrooms there, which were the home to Count Base, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and pretty much every major African-American musician of that era. He sets off on a showbiz career though it takes a pause in the 40's as America goes to war. He fights in the Pacific, and when he returns to the US he sees the popularity of swing music decrease as other forms become more popular. He then takes up a job in a post office in Manhattan and works there for 30 years. All of a sudden, in the 1980's swing has a revival, and guess what he becomes one of the primary figures in it. He died a couple of months back at the young age of 95.

'Frankie Manning : Ambassador of Lindy Hop', is a wonderful autobiography. It feels almost like an history of blacks in 20th century America. Always cheerful and upbeat, despite all the racial bigotry he had to face early on in his life. If you enjoy a good story, you will enjoy this.

PS: If you are planning to read the Twilight series or Dan Brown, please consider reading this instead. :)

This and that

Has anyone read Nikolai Gogol? His short stories are phenomenal. Reminds one of Franz Kafka. Weird perspectives and surreal storylines, though Gogol is funny and Kafka depressing. It isn't surprising that they were more than a little nutty in real life!

Isn't the Blues awesome? Went to this event called Bluetopia, it was in a studio in the middle of nowhere (warehouse district in West Chicago, where you go to get robbed), but the music - intoxicating.

Holiday shopping. Nothing for me. 70% off still means you are paying the remaining 30%. Heh.

Why do people develop a patina of superciliousness? In some ways everyone wants to feel important, and this is a mechanism to assert that I suppose. See it in specific sections of the populace. In this Facebook for yuppies called ASW, which is so selective that you can join only by invitation from specific privileged members. Having finagled an invitation, the only 'benefit' from membership is that I get a weekly stream of emails trying to sell me overpriced watches and vacations. Another section is the newly anointed NYC/London set, who see themselves as the 'nouveau sophisticates' from their theatre/art/music soaked lives. Pah to the bumpkins.

DXB

Dubai, the Land of Dreams, goes up in smoke. (Photo courtesy : AP)

Oops! Somebody gonna get a hurt!

Beats

Do you know why Indian and Western music sound so different? You can instantaneously tell the difference, even if the instrument is the same. I could not nail it down to an exact reason, but I can now. Its the beat. Western music almost always runs on an 8-count beat cycle. Indian music is polyrythmic, which gives it the longer meandering sound. Sometimes 'phrases' are much much longer. Now you know.

Money, Models, and Marginal Cost

National Geographic has a 12 month subscription plan for 15$. Isn't that a deal or what? Why are they doing it? Lets see. We all know that newspaper circulation is on an inexorable ride down, except if you are a gossip mag like US Weekly or People. Anyway, as a magazine is confronted with declining circulation, it is going to see lower sales revenues as well as less advertising revenue as advertisers have more incentive to leave. One way to stem the circulation decline is to cut prices. Even if you keep circulation up by selling at cost, it has a nett positive benefit because you have higher advertising revenue. One could actually sell extra copies at a loss, if that additional circulation leads to sufficiently higher advertising revenue. Which is the business model for your commuter free papers like Red Eye (Chicago) or Metro (London). The online model is essentially the same thing, where content is free in order to attract viewership, and then advertising is where you try to make some money.

Coming back to my original point, 15$ sounds like a steal. $ 1.25 for an issue filled with gorgeous photos and beautiful essays on the wonders of this world. I can live with that. Hail Economics! Those who are about to get a deal salute thee! Ha ha.

Lakshmi and Saraswati

Growing up, my grandfather's little puja stand had two large prints of Lakshmi and Saraswati. I found them hauntingly beautiful, something about them I couldn't exactly pin down. Combine that with the smell of incense and freshly made dosa (the stand was in the kitchen), the cool morning, and my grandfather coming from his bath smelling of Hamam soap - it makes for a very fond childhood memory. Recently I found those same prints online.

It turned out that they were by Raja Ravi Verma. I wonder if art inspires religion or religion inspires art. I would think art inspires religion, though over the millenia, from the Egyptian Pyramids to the cathedrals of Europe to the paintings at Ajanta, religion has definitely been a topic of interest.

Bing

Microsoft has done a good job with Bing. Like the part where in the new IE you can highlight a word, right click and kick off a Bing search on a new tab. Nice presentation of results. Note that by supporting Microsoft you are supporting AIDs workers in Africa, as a decent chunk of the company's shares belong to a charity. Don't know why Microsoft doesn't play that up more?

 

Also, by purchasing insurance from Geico, you do the same because about half of Berkshire is also held by the same charity. Let the overpriced "Earth" water from Starbucks go to hell. Give the capitalist way.