St. John times - 1

Ah! Finally, I'm writing about the good old times.Yes!

Ahem. Okay, so..

Two institutions have so far had a great impact on my life. My current college(Fr.CRIT) and my school - St. John the Baptist High School. All kinds of experiences and memories are attached to this place. Right from the uneventful KG years to the glorious 8th, 9th and 10th when we formed the F.F.E.

In many ways, St. John for me has been like the world in miniature. There were all kinds of people in there; and I'm not saying just students. Even the teachers were all one of a kind. There was this teacher in Sr. KG who threatened us by saying that she would take a pencil, put it in our mouths and remove it from the back of our necks. At five years old, I could simply not fathom how something put in the mouth could come out that way. Things you put in the mouth went down, right? And what was beyond the throat anyway?

Then there was a teacher in the 2nd std who would tell us she'd staple the lips of anyone who talked. This I understood perfectly, but I never had trouble keeping quiet and being inconspicuous. I did get punished for not doing homework though. Her conventional way of punishment was to take anything from two to four wooden foot rulers stacked one above the other and hit students on the shins and calfs. Every single person in the class cried, except one girl, who never showed any other sign of emotion either. And me. I don't remember ever crying in school.

If ever I crack a particularly stupid joke, this friend of mine makes a sad face and says very cautiously "Er.. were you abused as a child?". It's hilarious to see his expression when I tell him about all these things!

There are two times when I got into a little bad company, which is inevitable in St.John- once in 5th-6th and once in 9th after the start of the renaissance.

7th standard was the first time I made a concious decision about life. God knows what made me do it then, but things changed immediately. It was like going into high gear all of a sudden. I stood 4th in the class, won quizzes and even took part in a dance. 3 first times in one year; 4 considering my first crush.

So for me, life began at 12. In St.John.

It was in 8th std when I met most of the friends I still hang out with, and the remaining schooling years were spent in the forming of our group. There are so many things that I'd like to write about here, one post is too small. So let me start with a random event-

10th standard

Once my friend Aniket and I were sitting on the 1st bench in the english lecture when Mavis miss asked us to go to the library for some work. From what I heard, we were supposed to get a small poem for the KG students. It did sound odd but we didn't bother. It was good enough to be out of the class. So off we went and came down with 'pussycat pussycat' written neatly on a piece of paper. Mavis miss took the paper from us, watched our smug faces with what JK Rowling would call an 'unfathomable' expression, and went away without a word. In the recess on the next day, I ran into Aniket and Mavis miss in the corridor. And there was Jacinta miss too, all through utter coincidence. Now I remember Jacinta miss as an understanding, calm and soft spoken person. But then why was Mavis miss talking to her with an angry expression? And why were they both-one in shock, other in disbelief- looking down at the two of us? Before I could answer these questions, Jacinta miss had started to lecture us and Mavis miss had left, saying '...so I told them to bring a song to play in the school assembly and this is what they get..!'

Man, talk about miscommunication! What would it have taken us to confirm what we were actually supposed to do?! Why would a teacher ask 10th std students to get a nursery rhyme anyway?

Still, all in all, it was fun. Thank God we had always been in their good books. Turns out, you don't lose your reputation for taking the mickey out of the teachers, intentionally or unintentionally!

Heisenberg's Hand of God

The Uncertainty Principle

Thank God for Heisenberg! If it wasn't for him and his famous uncertainty principle, we-like Einstein-would forever think that everything in the world is predictable and knowable. The aim of science as I understand it, is to know how the universe works and use this knowledge to solve our problems by predicting the behavior of natural systems. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is something that would turn this kind of approach on its head.

Technically, the uncertainty principle is concerned with the kinetics of quantum particles, but let's see what it means to the layman. Suppose you throw a cricket ball into the air. Keeping with the aim of science, you want to know where the ball will land, when and at what speed. For this, you should be able to know the ball's speed, direction and position at any point in time. The most direct way to do this is simply to 'see' the ball, but that would mean you will have to illuminate it by throwing some light on it. Now in case of a ball this would be a pretty straightforward process, but when you consider a subatomic particle such as an electron, it is not so. Because an electron is so small and light, that throwing some light on it would disturb it enough to alter its velocity. Stronger the light, more will be the disturbance and less accurate would be the velocity measurement. A weaker light on the other hand, will give you a better idea of the velocity; but weaker light means bad resolution i.e., a bad measurement of position. So the overall effect is that you can not know both the position and velocity of the electron accurately at the same time. This is the main concept of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

Heisenberg's Hand of God

Although the uncertainty principle by itself looks dull, its implications in quantum mechanics make it truly fascinating. Because in quantum mechanics, small particles like electrons simply don't have fixed positions in space-time i.e, there is only a chance that a particle may be where it is supposed to be. And this chance, or probability, has a certain value which can be calculated. For example, if you calculate the position of an electron to be a particular point, there will be say, a 90% chance of it actually being there, but theoretically, for the remaining 10%, the electron can be anywhere in the universe! Of course, the probability of finding it at a certain place depends on how far the place is from the expected position. For example, an electron in one of the atoms in my brain cells would most probably be found orbiting that particular atom only. The chance of that same electron being found in your head is negligibly small and the chance of it ending up on Mars is still smaller. But the point is that the chance, however small, does exist. And the interesting thing is that although we can calculate the probability of a particle being somewhere, we can never say with certainty that it is there at a given point in time!

Magnification of Uncertainties

So in short, you can never really put a finger on something and say that it is definitely here or there, if that something is of the order of the size of a subatomic particle. Now consider you are playing a game of quantum billiards, which is billiards with quantum particles instead of cue balls. If you hit an electron with your cue stick, you would expect it to go ahead and hit another particle which will then hopefully sink into one of the pockets and get you a score. But what if the electron's position suddenly changes during its motion? What if it hits a different ball? And what if that other ball(particle) then moves in a still more unforeseen fashion? Remember that you can predict the probabilities of the different situations that may arise out of this, yet you have absolutely no way of knowing which of all the possible ones will actually take place. So in quantum pool, you would have no idea of what will happen each time your cue hits a ball!

Now as I said before, the chance of the individual particles ending up very far away from their expected positions is still very small, but when you consider the domino effect that could eventually take place even by small uncertainties, the end result could indeed be very surprising and unexpected. The possible combinations can be millions in number and you'd have no way of predicting exactly what will happen, when.

Miracle Mechanics

But then why isn't everything around us in a state of total chaos and unpredictability as I seem to suggest above? What has all this particle motion to do with the real world anyway? After all, we don't deal with electrons and photons everyday, do we? But of course we do! If you have seen The Matrix, you'll remember Morpheus saying this to Neo - "What is real? How do you define-real? If real is everything you can see, touch, hear and smell, then real is simply electrical impulses transmitted to your brain!" So in a way, everything you experience, feel, even imagine, has in fact everything to do with electrons! Now let's say if I, or someone else, could tamper with just a few of those electrons-change when and where they'll be- I could change the way you think, feel and react. I wouldn't have to do much, only a few electrons will be enough and the cascade that follows will take care of the rest; at least that's my theory. Tampering with electron motion would be an action at the micro level, but he effect on the macro level would be closer to being tangible- like say, inducing a thought or a sudden stroke of inspiration, perhaps. I don't know, I have never tried playing with electrons like that.

Or maybe I have. Maybe we all have. I mean, if it is true that electrons can affect thoughts, why can't the opposite also be true? Your brain is consuming 20 to 25 watts just to read this. With that kind of electrical activity, there would be millions of billions of electrons going here and there inside your skull. Now with such a huge number of particles, the probability of a large uncertainty taking place should increase to realistic or considerable levels; just like the chances of hitting a target will increase with the number of throws. More the number of particles, more the chances of occurrence of erratic behavior. So if one of those electrons indeed ends up in my brain and starts a cascade like a billiards ball, then would that mean that your thoughts are able to affect mine? Or if that electron goes some place else, could it affect the unfolding of an event - maybe one which you're thinking of right now?

Maybe God does not play dice after all. We do.

What I described above might one day show us how some unexplainable events we call 'miracles' and 'coincidences' actually happen. Or I might just be thinking too much, as usual. In any case, let me think and see if this takes us to a sensible conclusion. For now I think this much is enough. More of my strange ideas later.

Note: I have used a few analogies and approximations in this post, to make it easier to digest. For example, the uncertainty principle deals with position and momentum, unlike position and velocity as I have said. But a little consideration will show that it doesn't make a difference in the end. If you are new to the subject, rest assured that my explanation of the uncertainty principle is correct. The rest is as I said, a guess, although a well calculated one.

Global warming and the Kyoto Box

Covering Greenland's ice with reflective cloth, dumping iron compounds in the ocean to cause algae growth and reduce CO₂, putting thousands of small lenses into space to dim the sun's rays- these are few of the more radical ways that scientists have suggested to combat global warming. Impressive though they might seem, most of these ideas are just not feasible enough to be taken seriously.Yet the effects of global warming are increasing day by day, even as I write this. It is thus a situation where we are trying to clean up the mess we have made but seem to lack the tools for the job. And so, it's really heartening to see people coming up with simple little solutions to a problem which seems too large to contain. The Kyoto Box, developed by Jon Bohmer, is one such solution.

The Kyoto Box is probably the simplest, cheapest, most portable solar cooker ever.

It consists of 5 parts - two different sized cardboard boxes, aluminium foil, black paint and a transparent cover. The simplicity of its box-in-box construction can be clearly seen from the picture. The space between the two boxes may be filled with easily available insulating material like straw, and the cover helps trap the

heat inside(taste of your own medicine, Global Warming?!). The Kyoto Box can be used to purify water and cook food. It can be packed flat so that thousands can fit in the back of a truck, and given its low cost, might prove to be a boon to

millions who still use firewood for cooking.

The obvious advantages of using this innovative device include reduction in CO₂emissions and less deforestation, not to mention saving thousands who would otherwise succumb to smoke inhalation from indoor cooking( According to the WHO,1.6 million people die this way every year).

The manufacturers claim that temperatures inside the box can reach more than 150^oC on a sunny day, but even a temperature lower than 100^oC is enough to yield reasonably clean water and pasteurize food, as shown by the scale below.

Out of the box designs like the Kyoto Box are proof that we don't need to use cutting edge technology and spend millions to fight worldwide environmental crises. Of course, it is not a quick fix that will drastically reduce our impact on the planet, but it surely is one of the small but effective steps we can take to keep that impact in check.

About Me part II

A little piece I'd written as my 'about me' on orkut some time back-

Funny how your life gains meaning one moment and loses it the next.

And the more you dig, the harder and seemingly more pointless it gets. But its like Aragorn says,"There's always Hope". Because the time will come when you see the bigger picture-realize that in the end, everything always makes sense. You come to know that even the worst experiences have something to teach; and that the way you realize the true value of happiness is through pain,as of trust through betrayal, and of life through a brush with death. And slowly, very slowly,life begins to unfold, as you begin to see the world as a whole and not in parts- in countries, cultures, men, mentalities, and points of view...

I Have A Dream

Waise toh I have many dreams and aspirations, but the one I'm about to describe is among the more daring ones. It also has more to do with the world as a whole rather than with me personally.

Now then. Looking at the present condition of India and the world(terrorism, corruption, poverty, etc), it might seem easy - even natural, to believe that all this will continue the way it is; that no matter how much effort anyone puts, we cannot make any significant changes in a situation that's going from bad to worse. Even if you set about gathering all the facts and gave the matter some serious thought, chances are you might come to the same conclusion. It all seems like a hopelessly entangled ball of string.

But I don't see it that way. For me, the world is still a beautiful place. Yes, beautiful. I believe that if we as humans are foolish enough to spoil it, then we as humans are also wise enough and capable enough to rebuild, restore and re-purify it. I dream of a world without nuclear weapons and terrorists; without discrimination and bias. A world without pollution and environmental degradation. A place where every child has an education, every youth has a job and every family a home; where every individual is learning to tap into his/her physical, intellectual, and spiritual potential and become a productive part of society. Where criminals are being convicted without delay by courts that uphold justice and humanity rather than laws and legislation.

A world where education teaches us to live and create happiness, rather than to just survive and make money; where people are quickly running out of reasons to indulge in things like thievery, fraud, murder, rape, terrorism, and war. There's a lot more, but I can already imagine you saying "Oh come on! Stop being so..."- Unrealistic?Impractical?Childish?Naive? It's called optimism actually, and if you're rolling your eyes now, then you need a good dose of it.

In the past I was one of those people who make sad profound statements under the pretext of being 'realistic' and not pessimistic. But over the years I have learnt that seeing the good side and believing in it really does make things happen. But will it work in the collective lives all the people in the world? Will it help us climb out of the pit which we've dug for ourselves? Can we save the world with some Optimism? There are only two entities that can answer these questions. One is the ever advancing arrow of time. The other is us.

P.S.
1. The title is that of Martin Luther King's famous 1969 speech. I'd die to make that kind of difference he made in the world. Plagiarism is not my way of impressing people. I just borrowed a title.
2. I took the picture with my Nokia 6300 outside Thane railway station in Feb '08, around 7:40 AM.