on speeches and speech writing

Theory:
Hear one speech.......and you have heard them all.

Evidence:

1. Award acceptance speeches and acknowledgements:
these are the worst of the lot:
everyone including me thank:
mother,father,uncle,aunt, my brother bunny, my sister billie, my freind funni ,my pet munni, my neighbourhood puncturewallah, my imaginary freind ingellford etc etc.
Some people also just might thank other random things:
a clever mouse researcher thanks his mice.

2.Speeches with political overtones:
These occupy a special place altogether.One would be forgiven to think that there has been no novel speech in a century.The last great political speeches were reserved to the Churchills and nehrus and hitlers and kennedys.One almost feels that all great speech writers after that seemed to have migrated to Sirius B.
Typical phrases: "Axis of Evil" !!! oooooooooooooooooooh! this is just so original. George Bush along with other mediocre non-sense seems to have accrued a speech writer who is no better than a novel writer from 1984.
Another great example is the almost exceptional speech is the one made by President Bill Pullman in Independence day- "we will not go into the night without a fight".Yeah! it might be goose-pimpling etc.However, it almost sounds like a prize poem in Class 4 where you predominantly predispose your poetry to rhyme. THis sounds like the "blood toil sweat" speech of Winston.(We will fight on the beaches, in the fields etc etc...but never surrender).A speech given by Gandalf in LOTR also sounds shadily like the "battle of britain" ( Gandalph: the battle for helm's deep is over and the battle for middle earth is about to begin. . . Churchill: The battle of france is over and the battle of britain is about to begin.)

However, all is not lost.Not all speech writers and speeches send you down drowsy lane.Some of the greatest speeches i have ever heard live- were from Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw.You know...that he is seen it all.
Giving due credit, Laloo's speeches are quite entertaining.Vajpayee....at times shows promise-before ofcourse you fall asleep.

I think i have proved to quite a reasonable extent that my hypothesis is right.Signing off before i sleep.

On liberals and liberalism

Liberals and Liberalism have been seen by many to be a case of the middle path:A path chosen by cowards and ambivalent individuals to run from either extreme. I agree, its true-that many a man have used this as a transition phase while moving from one wing of thought to another.I have seen more than one freind who has swung from left to centre to right and back again.

Their reactions seem to be dictated to some extent, by which wing of society is acting in a more extreme and irrational fashion.To this extent, they are niether of the wings nor are they liberals- but are humans driven by emotional instincts.

Liberals in essence, are those, who choose to solve problems-innovating solutions unhassled by dogma of either wing of thought. Liberals are driven not just by ideology or theory but by a synthesis of rational thought and the values of human society.Liberal societies are those- which embrace free thought and free action, but act responsibly -knowledgable of the value of both. A liberal society is capable of evolution-in a stable fashion- rather than through leaps and jumps of societies seen through large chunks of history. Liberalism is continuous evolution and not revolution.

Liberals need not be moderate. Liberals can be extremists.Extremists in a way, thats subtly different to the present day connotation of the world. An extremist can be defined as a person who chooses to make a statement or to propel an event rather forcefully. We have numerous examples of such people.They include a Medha Patkar, who agitates for the millions of te displaced in the Narmada Valley.They include a Joeseph Rotblat and a Robert Oppenheimer- who gave up a promising careers to speak out against the atom bomb and the arms race. They include a Mordechai Vanunu- who gave up most of his life- to expose the Israeli atom bomb program. They include a Gandhi,a lone man in front of the tank at Tiannanmen, a technicianin a Polish shipyard and a million other men-well known and unknown.

Liberals, today, have been masqueraded as apologists for the various "outlawed" societies in this world. In other places, they have been seen as preachers of the outlawed gospel.that assumed, I would be inclined to see a particularly misled man two thousand years ago also as a liberal.

Liberalism, as I have known, extends not just to political thought, but to all other areas to where the human mind may stretch its long reach.Science is a prime candidate.On many fronts, science has been obstructed by the lack of free thought. Dogma has prevented the advance of science at speeds it could have gone.Free thought, liberal thought- the foundation of science is always not as universal as one would have thought possible.Anyway,thats another issue.Frustration i suppose, something which every dreamer in science has complained about.

The description of liberalism may well sound like an ideal arm chair idea. However,unlike previous experiments, liberalism is not a pure mechanical machine run by a irrationally rational computer or a machine run by pure emotion. It is the ideal synthesis of both.Here in may lie hope- to make make the world leap longer, faster and higher.

-a hopeful liberal

Indian law makes an ass of itself

Indian law of teh same fame as:
Jessica Lal and a million different scams and scandals has fallen to a new low:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5128250.stm

A New World

I have always wondered about what made "people to go to new places, to find new worlds and civilisations-to boldly go where they have not gone before." I now think that there are atleast two reasons for it:
1. The Ideal One:
the human being wants to find out whats beyond the next hill. (early man stage)
the human being wants to find whats different between his valley and the next one.(Classical Greek)
the human being wants to come back, write a book on what was there beyond teh next hill and become rich. ( The age of empire and information).

The human being wants to leave a legacy-for blah-blah reasons.(ubiquitous)

2.The Real one:
The human being wants to start his own kingdom (stone age)
The human being wants glory for himself for blah-blah and blah reasons(Age of empires and empire builders,see Alexander and Livingstone)
The human being wants to make money in a land where honey flows free and not reserved( India Today)
The human being is pained by most other human beings around him (ubiquitous)


ps- i realised that the points regarding legacy and glory are both real and ideal-dependent on teh perspective in question.

BUSH TELEGRAPH

Bush says:

we believe in the equality of life.
"Killing" of embryos is not right. FINE!
Euthanasia is not right.FINE!
Three dead men,not proved guilty, are a PR stunt!
Some people are more equal than the others.

communique

its been sometime since i have written. so, there will hopefully be a completed version of all my recent entries.
to start with, i realised the following things:
-i dont particularly have an opinion. i take the most fashionable stand,
-i have attack of Obsessive compulsive disorders
-i have little work to do-my boss doesnt seem to care
-i am bored


-communique ends

miscellaneous things i like for no reason

Over the past few days,i have been going over all the things-which can at best be described as random and when in a pseude mood as 'surreal'.Some of the highest rated among them include:

1.Large areas- barren of human civilisation and presence.
2.Large areas which are devoid of any bright sources of light at night. I like it better when the darkness is peppered with small points of light.I liked it even more last night, when i managed to sit and stare at the flowers beneath one such small point of light.
3.Small trails going through the wilderness to nowhere in particular.
4.watching large stacks of photos(with people i recognise) with suiting music in the background.
5.jingoistic movies which i know are jingoistic
6. the idea that i am capable of independent thought.

the unknown scientist

Defenition: Behind every known scientist, are many students,who work on through the night,through boredom frustration and other negative emotions-work,so that the known scientist goes places-where no other of his kindred have gone before.This is a allegy for the unknown scientist, who lived, slaved and passed out.All the "Unknown Scientist" wants you to accept is that " he gave up his today so that his boss could get a grant tomorrow".(Disclaimer: He refers to all the existing sexes and is not indicative of a gender bias.Disclaimer 2: this is not exactly autobiographical, its the combined experiences of many a student)


He came one day to be interviewed, filled with overflowing enthu
The boss was there,mouth watering, to snap up this yummy tofu
Thus, he came to the land of microscope,micropipettes and nano-brain
While in search of a place where results rain

Days passed by,Dishes he washed and rooms he cleaned
Orders he chased and boss left him phased
Experiments he did, many a time he failed
Merry was he in the game, for masochist was his name

In dark corners he sat, burning oil made from his fat
Ideas he would pitch, but a thesis he couldnt stitch
Passing by was time, No one's life was worth a dime
In these lines, right now, i am running out of rhyme.

Postscript: if it sounds merry, then make merry! that was the effort, i am not sure that it came out that way.

Equality

Equality is a nice word.

I like to use it.My boss likes to use it.Activists like to use it.
My boss told me that there is no heirarchy in science.Everyone is equal in the western parts of this planet.Humanitarian aid is given, because we cannot let our equals starve.

As Orwell said, some equalities are more equal than the others.My boss is more equal than me.In the west, you are a defender of freedom and equality if you caricature one prophet and a villain if you caricature the other.

Equality is a myth.

freedom of expression

Freedom is a much bandied term in the western world.I ascribe to it as much as they do.Freedom of action,ofcourse is a reserved right-to be used justly, without harm to others. For me, the freedom of expression is no different.You are allowed to say whatever you want, but we have to realise that this freedom comes with a responsibility. Controversial expressions are just and acceptable as long as they are a just critic, serve a useful cause or provoke a debate and hopefully, positive change.However, the freedom of expression is not to be abused.

Expression should not just be a medium where one side of the world assails another.

Abridged Guide to poetry as a medium for rhyme,rhythm,philosophy and bullshit

(Disclaimer: I declare myself incapable of comprehending poetry and other pieces of writing implimented by certain enlightened individuals such as Sylvia Plath,James Joyce etc.No comment has been made on their collections of words.)


I was once a poet.I ready my poetry today.Most of it has the rhyme, the rhythm (the entire shake your booty mimicry).It also has lots of philosophy that I once pretended to understand.I, must however mention that I did like a couple of poems that I had written.Certain random combinations of words do make sense once in a while.Fortunately, the amount of poetry I pretended to write was in almost vanishingly low volumes.

I had a freind(name not mentioned), who could speak Spanish,English,Telugu,French and Hindi-all with the same amount of mastery.He ofcourse did publish in 'el pais' etc etc.He did ofcourse write poetry in all the languages.We were oft treated to these masterful works , crafted with all the emotion befitting a lost ant.My two favourite combinations of words from his poetic efforts were those written for a freind of mine-with whom our linguist freind was in love .
The efforts were as follows:
1. "You are my Love,You are my dove....."
2. "I like making love to you,While you are new( we never did figure out if it was
new or newd!)

As you may well have figured out by now, the linguist freind did make quite an impact on the female freind of mine with all his love ballads.
AS you may well have noticed, there is a spectacular run of rhyme and rhythm-which is so smooth that it doesnt even bother to stimulate any stimuli whatsoever.It has the feeling of a fly bored by the buzzing of a flea.
THis, is one extreme form of commonly written poetry.It proves that an immortal monkey with a typewriter and infinite time and banana supply will indeed type out Hamlet.


His poetry also alluded to several philosophical and phisiological paradoxes and conundrums-into which i would not like to go into.

If any volunteer actually wants to actually feel good about his or her own poetry, then you may indeed read my freind's poetry.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any after-effects of reading his poetry.

Research Blues

A long time ago, i decided to become a researcher in whichever science i would be permitted to do. I will not pretend, my initial fascination for science had nothing to do with feynamanish curiosity. It was more of the curiosity-such as what is there inside my toy piano that sounds out the not so melodious tunes. This unstructured curiosity led to the dismantling of many of my toys.

It might be of interest to mention that only a completely random set of events landed me in biology.The random set of events directly supports paradigms described by the butterfly effect.
My interest for science was in no less way kindled by accounts of heroism and romantic bravado- of scientists who found a way against all odds.

I am no less(!!!), after reasonable struggle(15 years of painful exams), i joined mainstream research-not that i do anything of purpose.

I joined, with dreams of hypotheses and cerebration, of intellectual brain storming and artistic creativity, of everything that would keep me happy.Those dreams seem to have been left behind on the loft.


THe first half of my course was spent in a place that was magnificent with all its malaise.There were lots of hypotheses,cerebration etc on how to outwit your fellow student whose adulation was gonna win over my supervisor-and make my life miserable ofcourse.My supervisor was one of those who hadnt read a paper which had come out after his phd,so he was quite well in touch with the times.


The first few days of my seconds half has seen me cleaning tissue culture rooms,glassware and other arbid things(such as filling forms draawn up by some gorm) which has nothing to do with science.

I am here right now, listening to a Blues station, trying to read brave accounts of scientists before me-to keep my flag flying.Will I stand and be counted as one more brave hero? I dont know, i dont want to particularly know the answer to that right now-the answer might be quite frightening-considering the fact that i am not sure if i am capable of doing the tasks i am assigned to do.

This entry, by the way, is dedicated to the seniormost Phd students in my lab-who for 4 years of madness have stood there- rocks of logic admist all teh misery-of cleaning rooms and bottles,fighting with brainless gorms and bring there for their juniors-just when they needed them the most.

intelligent design-2

In a lab, the only proof of the 'exciting' work that one does is a record of all the experiments that have failed. God, it seems has many of them.

Records recently dug up suggests that god and his better half were thoroughly average researcher with a below par integrity level. He had the required number of failures.(I refrain from speculating on the sucess of god's present experiment.)

So one half, the better half, tried sculpting creatures that would continuously keep praising and raising the ego.So, first were created the bacterium-all they did was to eat,grow and enjoy their immortality.God realised the folly(bad planning has made experiments useless many a time after that) and made the next layer mortal.

Meanwhile, the not so better half decided that the architecture of the world required a teeny-weeny change architectural changes ,air-conditioning and other such things.( lack of intra-departmental coordination).
The seas were flooded with slimy life and other yucky things. But they couldnt speak clearly enough for the gods to listen(see-bad planning again!).You, see-they needed someone else to invent the hydrophone and niether half was good at acoustics and electronics(lack of inter-disciplinary interaction.)

So, the better half sent them out onto dry land so that god could speak to them-without the use of a hydrophone. Thus were born the dinosaurs. God liked sculptures and mummies. So, god thought dinosuars both those arts. A miscaluclation by the better half messed the connections in the brain-so instead of learning both sculpture and mummification, they started making sculpted mummies.( Smart arse humanity calls them 'fossils'.)

The not so better half was too bugged by the better half's sucess. There was a large sized domestic squabble.Stones rained on earth. Burps and other sounds emanated from deep inside the earth.
Dinosaurs ended.(Conclusion: Intra-departmental squabbles are injurious to health.)



to be contd.....

intelligent design-2

In a lab, the only proof of the 'exciting' work that one does is a record of all the experiments that have failed. God, it seems has many of them.

Records recently dug up suggests that god and his better half were thoroughly average researcher with a below par integrity level. He had the required number of failures.(I refrain from speculating on the sucess of god's present experiment.)

So one half, the better half, tried sculpting creatures that would continuously keep praising and raising the ego.So, first were created the bacterium-all they did was to eat,grow and enjoy their immortality.God realised the folly(bad planning has made experiments useless many a time after that) and made the next layer mortal.

Meanwhile, the not so better half decided that the architecture of the world required a teeny-weeny change architectural changes ,air-conditioning and other such things.( lack of intra-departmental coordination).
The seas were flooded with slimy life and other yucky things. But they couldnt speak clearly enough for the gods to listen(see-bad planning again!).You, see-they needed someone else to invent the hydrophone and niether half was good at acoustics and electronics(lack of inter-disciplinary interaction.)

So, the better half sent them out onto dry land so that god could speak to them-without the use of a hydrophone. Thus were born the dinosaurs. God liked sculptures and mummies. So, god thought dinosuars both those arts. A miscaluclation by the better half messed the connections in the brain-so instead of learning both sculpture and mummification, they started making sculpted mummies.( Smart arse humanity calls them 'fossils'.)

The not so better half was too bugged by the better half's sucess. There was a large sized domestic squabble.Stones rained on earth. Burps and other sounds emanated from deep inside the earth.
Dinosaurs ended.(Conclusion: Intra-departmental squabbles are injurious to health.)



to be contd.....

intelligent design-1

I am a believer.
The world we see around us is the creation of god.
Being a student of science, all this is ofcourse is based on the unharnessed power of the almost mythical- cold logic.

THe past few months spent in research has led me to believe strongly that this world was created. In teh beginning, there sat a god-alone, on his mighty throne of nothingness. He was very bored and his solitude led him to create another part of himself.

One half had a very big ego and wanted to show the other half that it was the better half. So, to describe itself, it drew two plus signs at an oblique angle. The other half was doing the same thing, but then- its pencil point broke. It could draw only one and a half oblique plus signs.

So the first half had two oblique plus signs and gained ascendancy over the other-thus becoming the better half. the better half will now be reffered to as 'XX' and the not-so-better half will be reffered to as "XY".

XX then decided to create things around.XY just decided to hang around.

contd....