Why I like Simulations?

First of all, what are Simulations? They are just some hypothetical scenarios where we would like to test a particular thing. So, this is the bottom-line and also the top-line about Simulations – it is the one same thing or the same question that we want to answer, which means that the question remains the same. But the answers are very many because we change the situation (change the parameters) in which the question is being asked.

I had heard about them when I was in high school but got to do some when I went to do my Engineering in Pilani. It was part of the Optimizations course. I remember we did some Monte-Carlo simulations on Excel and that felt very good. It was as-if, all possible solutions were available and if there existed something like a safe bet, I would be prepared of doing that.

I have been working on Simulations recently – constructing 2 and 3 dimensional metrices and looking at the numbers to finally decide cuts on the basis of what I think is the most reasonable thing to do from an implementation point of view.

Excitement on a Chinese wedding

Our movies and TV shows display a lot of stuff that happens in the United States, for example  - how people live, how they behave, food habits, culture, festivals and of course weddings. When I was a teenager, I adored their two things the most - bow ties and long gowns. I even thought that when I meet the right man, we would plan two events – one the traditional way and one the “bow-tie” way.

The fact is that we don’t see much of a ‘How is a new year celebrated in China?’ or a ‘How is an Indonesian wedding like?’. I’m happening to attend a wedding of a dear friend tomorrow and I’m pretty excited about joining the same. So, I’m going to come back tomorrow and write about how it is like, what people do, what do they eat, what do they wear, what are the different events that make a wedding day ‘successfully complete’.

The day everyone fasts

Every year, around this time of the year, Jains all over the world fast for a day and we call it ‘Samvatsari’. The day is auspicious in many regards -  it’s the day when Lord Ganesha, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati was born, the 4th day of the lunar calendar in the Hindu month of Bhadra. So, the Hindus from India are celebrating this day with happiness as Ganesha is considered the God of wisdom, knowledge and all noble new beginnings.

So, you might be wondering if people don’t eat anything during the day and that’s right. The fast as per rules, starts the evening before the main day (after an early dinner that is) and breaks the day after (after sunrise), which is roughly around 36 hours or a little more. I said that I was fasting to a Chinese friend here and she told me that she has read several articles which claim that fasting a few days in a year cleanses the body.

I was running a fever for the last 4 days before this day and I sweated a lot during the course of the day and night and boom, the fever just vanished when I got up next morning. I was taking paracetamols 3 times a day before this.

I don’t claim anything but I do find some of our customs quite scientific in their own ways.

When I get up with a bad throat

Last night was cold. I could feel it on my legs. But I didn’t get up to cover them with something warmer. My bad. And what happens next morning. I get up with a fever. I get up with a bad throat. The throat aches as if there are thorns placed there. What do I do?

I sip 3 glasses of Chinese tea during the day. With each sip of warm tea reaching the throat, the thorns break. That’s how I feel. I start feeling much better.

Other than the usual black tea, green tea, oolong tea or white tea, there are the other simple kinds which are too beneficial as well. Example: a tea made of flowers – jasmine/chrysanthemum/rose or a tea made of carom seeds or a tea made of Fenugreek seeds.

I compete with myself..

.. In small little ways.

I generally have quicker baths. My recent challenge is if I can finish taking a bath before a Rahat Fateh Ali Khan song ends . And you know what, I can!!.. Hehe.

On that note, enjoy the song.

Indirectly..

.. Ignoring/Hurting others. And that’s an art.

As I grow, I realize more and more why it was worth being a kid. As a kid, I wouldn’t have understood certain things and that would have been good for my own self. Not that I can’t go back to being a kid, but it is a little more difficult. I’m more rationale now.

Suppose a six of us are sitting in a group, the group is not big enough that a person can be ignored. It’s also not small enough that one needs to constantly talk to keep the communication going (as there would be someone else doing it). And there comes a remark from one of the person, ‘We, A and B didn’t go to the movie last week’. Everyone in the group knew that 3 out of the 6 didn’t join the movie last week. Such an easy way to ignoring someone.

Using others as examples to exactly narrate someone else is an interesting technique. Recently, a colleague was describing about some acquaintance of his which seemed like he was talking about my best friend. He said how his acquaintance has never lived up to any expectations and I knew he was talking about my friend.

There are some intelligent ways in which people hurt others. I feel pity for these people because they waste so much of their time planning strategies or plots to hurt others. If they used this time learning skills and art, they could have turned out to be someone people would look up to.

How I end up having less time

Wherever I go and whatever I do, I have an urgent surge for taking pictures. I don’t know why. I don’t even know what’s this problem or disease or phobia is called. Not that I share each and every activity I do on the social media. Nor do I have a target of reporting to someone who will review my daily tasks. I still end up taking a lot of pictures.

And then comes the bigger problem. Too many albums on the phone. All of them get uploaded to Onedrive. I clean up my phone memory once in a while. Sometimes I’m scared if I would need some pictures to show people and hence I continue to keep them for years. But I hardly open my archive to share pictures with anyone. Once I spent a whole 2 hour journey from Guangzhou to Taipei cleaning up my phone, deleting only 50% of the albums.

There is an even bigger problem I haven’t talked about. Among the retained pictures on phone and Onedrive, I don’t know how to organize/store. I wonder what will enable for an easy search in the future.

Amidst all this mess, there are too many folders – sorted alphabetically, timely, categorically, artistically, etc. And whenever someone asks me, I remember from my memory that it does exist somewhere but hunting for the right folder or the photograph at least takes 10 mins.

Moral of the story: Technology is making me really dumb.

Life changes

Events happen. For the good. For the bad. Without making much of an impact. Sometimes causing a large impact both in terms of reasoning and thought process. People can be very pretentious.

The real-self comes out at different moments. More often than not at very unsuspected times. It doesn’t come out in the form of harsh words, generalizations or curt remarks. That would have been much more easier. More easy to judge. They come out quite subtly. And then.

People apologize. Forgiveness happens. People move away from each other. People continue to stay together. When they do, they become more cautious.  Everything looks the same. At least from outside. But something changes. Life changes. The meaning of it too. The respect for people too.

Cooking the Chinese way

And slowly I’m building the confidence to cook vegetables the Chinese way. It’s quite a simple preparation – we just have to boil the vegetables in a pan with sesame, garlic, oil and water. As people tell me, ‘you get to know the real taste of things when it is cooked this way’.

Some things are just perfect to eat with Chopsticks like dumplings, like green vegetables, like cut carrots and cucumber and many more. This video highlights the sentiments that I’m trying to understand.

I like Calcutta the way it is

Nothing happens to this city. Nothing can ever happen. It’s a lousy city. On top of everything, we have a foolish Government running the state. All the intellectual capital has flown out and no one wishes to come back.

The above are the points I repeatedly hear from people who are either born/brought-up in Calcutta or who have a deep [Emotional and Spiritual] connection like I do. But maybe I like the way it is. The narrow dark roads which make me nostalgic. The Ghats which make me poetic. The bridges which make me romantic. The vintage shops and coffee houses that keep me cheerful. I have a Chromosome from Calcutta running somewhere inside me which keeps the charm of the city always alive within me no matter what Critics say.

And when the universe loves you..

I was walking back from office today. There are actually many trees around my office. I must have walked some 200m when I felt leaves falling from trees and a few of them on my head and shoulders. This is definitely that time of the year [Autumn that is] when trees shed their leaves.

I saw people around, there were leaves falling here and there and mostly people didn’t bother and some of them who did were shrugging their shoulders. I personally think these are some of the many ways the universe makes you happy and I wonder how amazing it is.

Let’s not remember anything

Because everything that you can imagine is on the internet. The other day I couldn’t recall the name of a movie. All I knew was one of the HIMYM  [This popular sitcom called How I Met Your Mother] stars was an actor in the movie. I went to Wikipedia and searched for ‘HIMYM’ and the first actor on the list was ‘Josh Radson’. I clicked on his name and another Wikipedia page opened. I looked at the films he has acted and Bingo – I found the movie I was hunting for – Liberal Arts. In this age, all one needs to know is how to use the technology.

As if Internet was not sufficient, I have Cortana, a personal assistant on Windows10 to search things on my system. I can ask her anything – file, folder, music, app and she is ready with an answer. Are we making a fool out of ourselves? I’m not sure.

Recurrence

You defined to me what infinite love is. You taught me that love meant giving without expecting anything in return. That nothing is enough and can be enough. I’m proud to have your genes. Just the way people share happiness and sorrows, wish there was a scientific method to share age in this world, we could have made a solid exchange like donating blood or stem cells.

Life isn’t very smooth, just as I had expected. It is colourful for sure. You are not there to spoon feed or plan for me. But I do think how would you have thought in different situations. I do look at the moon and stars and think about you. When I come home in rains, I think of you. When people speak proudly about their children, I think of you. When I look at cottage cheese, I think of you. Sometimes I have an ache in my throat when I think of you. But then I breathe hard and things become okay.

On this important day, I cherish the sweet memories you and daddy shared. How he always came  home before the scheduled  time and when you said, ‘why are you always so early?’, he replied, ‘let the both of us have tea’ ..:)

The last word

Some people wish to just have the last word. An example is below:

X: So, where did you buy this from?

Me: I saw it on display outside a local store. It looked really cute, so I bought it.

X: I too have something similar. It is blue in colour.

Me: Nice

X: It has to be, my XX bought it from a popular city. I show it to all my relatives who come home. Everyone just loves it.

Me: Great. Do you use it?

X: No, I don’t. What’s the point? It would get dirty and it’s a gift.

Me: Ok.

X: I think you should do the same.

Me: Ok.

X: You need to learn how to organize your gifts, what is to be given to whom, who gave you gifts in the past, …

I stay silent after this.

These people are quite similar on e-mails too.

My e-mail:

Dear A, As discussed, kindly find attached the word document for your perusal. Thanks.

A’s reply:

Dear Me, Could you please forward it to Z.

Me: Dear A, I have done the needful. Thanks.

A’s reply: Thank you!

Me: You’re welcome.

A’s reply: No problem!

Sometimes it gets difficult handling such people. The toughest part is you can’t change them but still have to deal with them. The only thing that can make you happy is a smile.