Day 18

Day 17

Day 16

Day 15

Day 14

Day 13

Day 12

Day 11

Day 10

Day 9

Day 8

Day 7

Day5

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1

Can we afford theft?

I do not know whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, but I was in a room where three stalwarts of my workplace were discussing something important. The discussion did diverge from the main topic when we had to seek the help of a computer of one of the stalwarts. They are stalwarts and an err such as forgetting a password could happen. So the point of discussion diverged to theft.

The news of hacking the salary accounts of policemen in Mumbai is trending the air. At this point, one of them narrated a story.

A young engineer has built a device which can download all the details of the plastic cards in your wallet the moment he walks past you. And the remaining story of swindling is known. Somehow, it seems, the police has been able to nab him and they are in a dilemma whether to put him behind bars or use him for solving cases. The engineer seems to have justified that if he does service he would earn some meagerly amount whereas in the present occupation he earns 20 lakhs per day. And, he is rated as the 36th ranked hacker in the world.

At this juncture, another stalwart says that he has kept the limit of my card to 20000 only. After a heated discussion about how to be safe from such activities, the 20000 stalwart said that after all, it is only 20000 and he can afford it.

Can we afford it?

Sights

"Where do  you want to go as part of the cultural programme?" I was asked

"Wherever you take me." 

The usual places were recited and I answered that all these had been through my eyes. 

My friend, who was going to take me around suggested the museums of Kremlin.  I was ready. 

Travel was by the metro and each station was a sight in itself. Each of them built in a different fashion, an idea which had appealed to me in my earlier visit also. 

As I was trying to read the Russian script everywhere, my friend with the help of his wife's Apple IPad and a series of phone calls announced that you should go around Moscow on any day except Thursday, as the museums were closed on Thursdays. He sighed. I did not lose hope. Moscow isn't that small. 

Sitting in a cafe in  Arbatskaya we charted out a plan for the day. It was already twelve noon and the next thing in our mind was lunch. So we decided that we will go to a mall for lunch, then to a art gallery, Gorky Park and a tower. He was very excited about the tower and said that we have to make it there even if we don't go to the other places.

By the time we completed our lunch it was two. My friend told me that we have to skip the art gallery or the Park. I told him to choose the one nearest to the tower. So, we went to the Tretyakov art gallery (http://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/en/). I wasn't much attracted to the paintings, though most of them were done with perfection and almost resembled the actual scenes. 

From there we again commuted in metro to a place called VDNKh. Coming out of the station, the first thing which caught my eye was this monument which was rising to the sky.

This towering structure which captured my attention and obviously inspired to move the shutter of my camera which had been idle so far, housed beneath it The Museum of Astronautics and Aeronautic.

 The rocket at the top is a memorial of the Sputnik. The silver rocket soars to a height of 100 meters and rests on a stream of titanium which has its foundation on granite. The granite foundation has carvings celebrating the efforts of the people, which gives the title "The People as Creator" to this monument.

 

I did want to visit the interior of the museum but then we had to move on, lest we miss the tower.

A short metro trip and as if the craning for the rocket was not enough, I stood underneath a tower which had held the title as the tallest monument for a good number of years.

The Moscow TV Centre or Ostankino TV Tower (http://www.tvtower.ru/2_Razdel_TotalInfo/eng/) scales 540 m and is quite a tall building. It held the tallest tower in the world title for nine years from 1967 and the second tallest tower after the CN Tower in Canada for 31 years. I had to really struggle to get a good photograph of this monument and this was the best I could manage.

There were guided excursions and we decided to go with them. At the base of the tower, the tower's history, the people behind it and some holographic images transmitted by it were exhibited. A guide came over and explained the same in Russian to our small group. I looked clueless as I made a mental note to read about it later.

Once the introduction was over, we were ushered into two lifts which took us to the 337th floor. I thought it would take some time but the lift zoomed at the rate of 7 m/s to reach the floor in a jiffy. We were able to witness the climb in a monitor which relayed the views from a camera fitted above the lift box. As we were climbing, I could feel my ears getting blocked.

The view from the top was simply amazing. I did not pay much heed to the guide's Russian description about the tower and the views, but went by the displays which had English words on them. 

Evening sky over Moscow City

Setting sun and looming rain, playing hide and seek

A view of the rocket

 Top view of a Metro station

A busy lane and a metro line

After spending about thirty minutes at the top we were brought down by the same lifts. It was nearing the end of the day and as we took the metro back to our rooms, I reminisced a day which started unsure but turned out to be well spent. 

A Board on which Stars are observed

I cannot say my left and right as fast as others do. I have been facing this problem as far as my memory can stretch. But when it becomes more complicated then I am really confused.

So, the question as to how does left and right become more complicated. The Indian Services are replete with Anglican terms left back by the British regime. According the floating services, port indicates the left of the floating vessel and starboard, the right of the floating vessel, when you are facing the front of the vessel. Hence, when I board a floating vessel and if I am told to go to the starboard side I should understand that I should go to the right side of the vessel. This increases the complexity for me.

For sometime now, I have been told that if we try to understand the actual meaning of words and facts then it will help us to keep the same in memory better. Going by this, I was thinking of finding out why exactly the terms starboard and port were coined, though I knew that such words were coined to maintain uniformity among the sailors. I couldn't go right away on this task as I had not befriended much of men onboard and those I knew couldn't give me a convincing answer. Recently, I had a quality inspector onboard a floating vessel with me who was also disturbed by the same question, though his objective was quench his thirst for knowledge. So, he without any hesitation asked a well ranked officer as to why right hand side should be called starboard and prompt came the answer. 

In olden days, people used to navigate in the seas observing the position of stars and this activity was carried on the right side of the vessel, which further went on to become starboard of thand so the terme vessel. The quality inspector was delighted and convinced, but I was not. I could not digest that stars would be observed from the right hand side of the vessel. But I argued that it was an answer from a ranked officer of the services.

I subdued the argument and searched the Internet. As always, Wikipedia starred as the first search result and the answer I got from them was not matching with what I have been told. I decided to take a second opinion and browsed at the other stars of the search. I hit upon the website of Royal Museums Greenwich which seconded Wiki's answer. You can read it for yourself at http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/facts/faqs/customs-and-origins/port-and-starboard

You may now ask me whether my confusion has been sorted out. Yes, the complexity of relating right to starboard and left to port has been evened out but the root problem of identifying left and right remains. And I believe, I will live with it my entire lifetime.

When Will I Lose It?

We all think when will I get it. But, of late, I have been thinking otherwise. I do not know whether it is the influence of the books I read. Nevertheless, I feel that the thinking is right. So what is it that I want to lose?

I want to lose fear. I found that it is not passion and enthusiasm that drives our ordinary lives. Nobody is devoid of fear. We fear each and every moment of our life. When do we not fear; during birth and death. 

Once common fear is the fear of losing what is dear to oneself. During the course of our life we accumulate facts which are dear to us. This fear remains as long as we live our ordinary lives. we fear whether our dear and near ones are safe. We fear whether our material possessions are safe. We fear whether we will lose our job. We fear taking risks and so on.

So what is the remedy. When I thought in these lines, I found that attachment to anything is the cause. Remove all attachment and you are free from all fears.

So what do I need to remove all attachments. The answer I found was to have confidence in oneself. Come what may, I will stand. So I understand that it is a staged process. Have confidence that nothing can make or break you except yourself. Then you do not need to depend and attach. And when you have no attachments you have no fears.

When will I lose fear?

Quote

The most common occurrence in this world of ours, in these days of stumbling blindly forwards, is to come across men and women mature in years and ripe in prosperity, who, at eighteen, were not just beaming beacons of style, but also and perhaps above all, bold revolutionaries determined to bring down the system supported by their parents and to replace it, at last, with a fraternal paradise, but who are now equally firmly attached to convictions and practices which, having warmed up and flexed their muscles on any of the many available versions of moderate conservatism, become in time, pure egotism of the most obscure and reactionary kind.

--- Jose Saramago