Berkeley campus..

Visited UC Berkeley campus last weekend. After visiting impressive Stanford or Princeton campus, I was really eager to see Berkeley campus. Standford campus is really beautiful.. full of palm trees and lush green lands... while Princeton campus is full of old architectures and somehow I saw too many things related with "theology" on Princeton campus :)..

The UC Berkeley school campus itself is really good.. next to mountain, with lush green land.. The campanile, a bell-tower, erecting from center of the campus. They have some interesting things on the campus. e.g. There is piece of circular land next to bookstore which says its not owned by any country :) OR they had all world newspapers headline page, in poster format, outside library..so it was fun standing there and reading some of them..from Indian newspaper DNA, they put up colorful advt of Jodha Akbar movie :) OR there were just too many Fraternities buildings on the campus.

There were few weird things also. When I visited auditorium, I saw a crowd of long-hair guys & gals in filthy appearances, attending a rock concert (Sector9). They seemed to be really young.. obviously being in Berkeley, I was expecting too many "geeks" around, but considering their appearances, I was really confused if they were really UC geeks or Hippies...They must be students.. But, when I was passing by football stadium, there were so many real hippies..some of them staying on the sidewalk.. that too next to a business & law school.. I was lil bit shocked.. Quick googling confirmed that Berkeley is indeed a hometown for hippies since 60's .. and students mentality is also changing into hippies :)

There is really something spooky abt Berkley..or probably..I am not used to it !!

Blackhole In The Sun..

Did u watch the solar eclipse? Obviously you didn't.. Me neither. I wish I would have been on north pole or in china atleast..

Here is the (live) webcast of the solar ecplise from China. Check the one with 60 minutes & the commentary. Start around time 35:00 and enjoy next 10 minutes.

The celestial event of 132 seconds is so impressive that the mere video of it poped up a "wow" factor in me!! The corona is fabulous... Its like... black-hole with wings :)

Have u seen movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, which mentions abt precise moment of planetary alignment, where all nine (?) planets line up perfectly... That must be the "greatest" view (really ??).. hssh.. but Angelina Jolie wastes time in the cave fighting with stupid people :)

Any way, any such nine(?) planetary alignment is never possible (stupid movies :D) so lets just enjoy our two neighbors aligned, atleast next time, on 22nd July 2009 from India.

The Red Pill..

...I wish it would have been as simple as taking a "red pill"..

The quest for matrix is hard.. Forget the realization.. Its hard to focus on it while "experiencing" it... there are so many "interesting" things within it, that an "abstract thought" of the "illusion" is really agonizing & piercing.. But.. the "red pill" is "probably" the right way, like warmhole in cosmos.. who knows... and quest for it, itself destroys all "practicality"... seems like, loosing both ends..

..Where the hell are you Morpheus??

Malhar..

San-diego weather is excellent these days.. summer time.. but occasionally going thru May gray.. June bloom period..

Any way, during my last india trip, 4 months back, I bought bunch of Indian classical records, but I didn't get a chance to listen to them all.. Yesterday I opened Sanjeev Abhyankar's Miyan Malhar.. ...and guess what... despite the clear sunny weather since last 3 days, it rained today.. heavily !! It didn't rain since last 3 moths and suddenly it poured today..

Its surprising.. possibly coincidental.. probably foolish to say, but... Malhar indeed brings rain :) !!

"Umad Ghumad Garaj Garaj Barsan Ko Aayo Meha"

Phoenix Touchdown..

Phoenix has landed.. This is first time I tracked Mars probe landing "Live".. NASA tv was broadcasting activities in JPL mission control room during phoenix landing... Commentator was mentioning the status of phoenix probe, its location, trajectory, signal strength continuously ... Tension in the control room and the excitement after flawless landing was indeed breathtaking..

This Hollywood style video shows the Phoenix landing drama !!

Phoenix is already active and sending photos.. Lets start digging.. let's quench our thirst, hope we will find "water" !!

नसतेस घरी तू जेव्हा..

One of the masterpieces by Salil Kulkarni and Sandeep Khare॥ The poem does magic with simple words.. music is fabulous.. and Salil's voice is indeed touching !!

Listen here..

नसतेस घरी तू जेव्हा..
जीव तुटका तुटका होतो
जगण्याचे वीरती धागे
संसार फाटका होतो

नभ फाटून वीज पडावी
कल्लोळ तसा ओढवतो
ही धरा दीशाहीन होते
अन्‌ चंद्र पोरका होतो

येतात उन्हे दाराशी
हीरामुसून जाती मागे
खीडकीशी थबकुन वारा
तव गंधावाचून जातो

तव मीठीत वीरघळणाऱ्या
मज स्मरती लाघववेळा
श्वासावीण ह्रुदय अडावे
मी तसाच अगतीक होतो

तू सांग सखे मज काय
मी सांगू या घरदारा ?
समईचा जीव उदास
माझ्यासह मीणमीण मीटतो

ना अजून झालो मोठा
ना स्वतंत्र अजुनी झालो
तुजवाचून उमगत जाते
तुजवाचून जन्मच अडतो !


- संदीप खरे, सलील कुलकर्णी
आयुष्यावर बोलू काही (२००३)

Into the wild

Into the wild.. The movie..story of Chris McCandeless indeed appeals to me.. not literally, but philosophically.. A wild landscape without traces of civilization are spiritually necessary, but Happiness is only real when shared.. so there should be balance of both isolation and society/relationships in human life..

I want to experience this "wilderness" by myself.. philosophically.. but I guess I am too weak to start my search.. Someday I will !!

Eddie Vedder's music & words precisely reflects this philosophy in the soundtrack..
"Don't come closer or I'll have to go
Holding me like gravity are places that pull
If ever there was someone to keep me at home
It would be you..."

Checkout the complete lyrics..

Also checkout the soundtrack.. Guitar piece is simply too good to touch your heart.. It won the Grammy !!

NY times review and "Chris's" character analysis is indeed thought provoking..