A date with our galaxy

The over night study tour to a dark site for the night sky observation is a very important event in our school calendar. This year the excitement for the trip was at an all time high as the astronomy club membership is a whopping 63 comprising of 11 & 12 year old & their zest is far higher than the 16 or 17 year olds who take a casual interest in most things. So, it was quite a task to manage these young & eager kids during the full 14 -hour study tour.The site was a school in the small village called Jewar , which is around 100 kms from Noida. We took 2 1/2 hours to reach the site . As we stepped down from the warm comfort of the bus, we were greeted by a sharp nip in the air. After steaming cups of piping hot Chai, we started with our observations. The resource persons of S.P.A.C.E., who conduct these clubs in various schools, were all set with their powerful reflecting telescopes. The first study was of Venus & the craters of the moon. The image of the moon was so sharp that the bright speck was even visible when your eye is a foot away from the eyepiece. The image was so beautiful that I could not prevent myself from holding my cell-cam in front of the eyepiece to take a click. That is the image you see above this text. Beautiful!After a while we were treated to a tasty veggie dinner while the RPs(resource people) went about setting up their telescopes for the next round of observations. It was 9.30 pm & a sweater & jacket seemed inadequate for the falling Mercury. The children were now being taught how to use the latitude finder & planisphere( a chart that helps you get an idea of the night sky at a particular time of the day of the month/year). The senior kids, who are well versed in the usage of these devices were being shown deep sky objects-about him we read only in the science pages of the leading newspapers. Hold your breath!! The first objects that were focussed were star clusters located millions of light years away. Next on were the Nebulae(!!!!) Orion &Crab. It was a moment when we realised how miniscule we were in the larger scheme of things. While the kids were all excited at these sightings, my co-teacher & I were in deep discussion about how insignificant & small were we in this galaxy. As if these musings were not enough, the RP announced that he was ready with THE fuzzy object 0on this telescope. Can u guess what he focussed ? It was the ANDROMEDA galaxy, the farthest object visible to us, situated 2.5 million light years away & containing one trillion stars. So, on that cold December night of the year 2008, we were watching andromeda galaxy, the way it looked 2.5 million light years away!!! A humbling & spell binding experience.Meanwhile, the junior group were being taught to locate rare constellations like, Cassiopeia, Taurus, Aries, Cancer etc. Let me add, that in urban areas one can see only 30-40 stars with the naked eye. While, here, the sky was a black velvet banner with over 2000 twinkling stars!!

The chill in the air was causing shivers , after all its not everyday that you are out I the open at 1 am in the night with the mercury 4 deg Celsius. The salvation was another round of a hot cuppa strong ginger tea. The students , meanwhile, were sketching their observations under torch light. I must mention that it was pitch dark(hence the name dark site) which made it impossible to see a person who is sitting 5 feet away, The second study session came to a close at about 2.45 am .

The students were free to take a nap or watch a documentary on the International Space Station. While some sought refuge under blankets , others watched the documentary.

Soon it was time to get up for the last & final session. This time it was the beautiful Saturn. I have no words to describe the 1 millimeter sized image of the planet along with its ring. As the students took turn to watch the most beautiful member( I would say) of the solar system, the care takers had laid out our breakfast of hot puris with mixed vegetables. It was something out of the ordinary to have one’s breakfast at 5 am in the morning, outdoors when the temperature is 7 deg Celsius.

It had started to sink in that our date with our galaxy was over & it was time to return to the dust & smog of Dilli.

Mama Mia- is ‘ABBA’ once more!!

For all those fans of ‘ABBA’ & ‘Mery Streep, out there, here is a movie that you just cannot miss!!

Mery Streep is Donna, a single parent with a 20 something daughter Sophie(Amanda Seyfried) who is to tie the knot very soon. But Amanda is determined to find her father before her big day. But, she has a problem. After reading her mother’s private diaries, she discovers that he may be one of her three past loves. So, she invites all the three of them to her little Greek island home. And what ensues is confusion, fun, & a heady dose of dancing & laughter to the greatest hits of the & 70s band, ABBA.

It is s a movie to watch with friends & family & sing along to the foot tapping numbers!! And not to forget, the spirited show by an all star cast comprising of Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Dominic Cooper and Julie Walters.

The economic wasteland?

I am less worried these days. The headlines are not screaming figures of pink slip issues in thousands. And, if the 'pink slip pandemonium' is not a front page story but is now occupying a 2x2 space somewhere inside, I am not complaining. For a person like me, who is working in a sector which is least likely to be affected by economic tsunamis, I can only imagine the plight of the employees who have been at the receiving end. I really do not understand the dynamics of 'systems & operations' & 'finance' of the corporate sector but I do wonder if sacking was/is the only solution.
My very very limited entrepreneurship sense says that a more moderate approach could have been adopted.Instead of laying off 2000 employees, perks of say 5000, employees could have been scrapped, threreby covering part of the loss & cost.One does wonder, if the employees who managed to save their necks , do not mind the extra work that has ended up on their laps.Even if they are complaining, they dare not be vocal about it.Maybe , there is a paragraph somewhere (in some page of a thick book on Corporate law& finance) about a lower scale being offered in exchange of retaining one's position in case of an economic crisis..I am just wondering.
With each one of us burdened with mortgages & instalments, I can only hope that our economic pundits come up, fast & quick, with some plans of economic salvation.
Who said life is difficult outside the Earth?!! It isn't easy here, either.

Games Indians Play-A Book review

Games Indians Play, by V. Raghunathan ,explores the Indian mentality of being privately smart & collectively foolish.The author, a faculty at one of the IIMs, uses behavioural economics & game theory to explain why we do what we do & how acting in the common interest of everyone will do good to us in the long run.

The author uses prisoners' dilemma to explain why we Indians act selfish & go for short term gains. The book doesnt tell us anything new that we already dont know but the mode of putting across his point with a dash of humor ,makes it a very good read. I have never touched Economics even with a barge pole but his lucid explanation, with a good sprinkling of examples ,made the aforementioned theories qute simple to understand. Do grab a copy!!

Fwd: Your Smile for today...... - Inbox - Yahoo! Mail

Fwd: Your Smile for today...... - Inbox - Yahoo! Mail

Let Go !!!!!

How many times have we heard the phrase'learn to let go'?!!!!
recently learnt the phrase all over gain when I lost my cell phone.I still keep trying my old number to see if someone picks up.I still hope that some gentleman will return it!!
The world rides on hope!!!!
When I really think it over, we all are experts at letting go.
when we step into adolescence,we let go the age of innocence.when we step out from school into the gates of the college,we let go of the shelter that the school provides(though we mistake the shelter of school as college & the indifference of a college as independence)....
When we start looking for work,it is the security that our parents provide that we let go.when we get married , it is the 'I' that we let go.When we are blessed with our first child, we let go of our 'devil may care' attitude & start living for somebody else.
For each time we let go,we are blessed with something else.In adolescence, we are blessed with the first spring of youth.In college, we get the first whiff of independence. In our prfessional lives,we gain the 'justification of our faith in our abilities'.In our married life, we gain a 'we'.with our first child, we geta chance tio relive our childhood.
So, does every'letting go' herald the arrival of something better?
I will know when I replace the lost W700i phone with something else....
Thats the thrill....

I look forward to the few precious moments that I get to spend with you.When we are so caught up in the entries of the appointments in our diary, a few lines of snatched conversations here & there seem to be the highlight of the day.
In an era where everything is designed to make life simple for us, why a simple conversation with a loved one is so hard to manage? Why I cant just pick up the phone & talk to you ?Why I cant speak with you for three uninterrupted minutes? Why I need to cook up excuses to talk to you? Why cant you just speak a few more lines to me? Why cant you just talk to me?Or simply say that you want to talk to me? Why do I have to wait for something important to come up so that I can talk to you?
Why cant I just get to sit next to you for a few minutes & watch the crowd pass us by? Why are we like a crowd who are passing each other by in a busy subway? Why are we like the parallel tracks of a railway line which travel miles together but they meet only to go their separate ways? Why cant we just merge together so that you & I cant differentiate who is who? You say I understand whats in your mind. Then, why cant you understand whats in my mind?I want more of you, but if you cant give me, then let me have more of your time...