Is India the numero uno in cricket now?

With the historic series win of 2-0 thus winning back the Border-Gavaskar trophy, India now stands no. 2 in the ICC test rankings. But perhaps it is the numero uno now. We will miss Dada as this Nagpur test was his last one. Nonetheless, it is high time we groomed a new team keeping 2011 world Cup in mind and few seniores have to give way respectfully. Time and tide wait for none. It is Dhoni's Midas touch generating a lot of ripples in the Indian cricket nowadays. So many icons are justifiably entitled to enjoy their heydays and his test now begins and most of sure are not naysayers and believe 'Yes, we can!' under Dhoni's able leadership and leading by example. Sachin, Laxman and Dravid still remain out of the Fab Five to guide the youngsters and make the transition smooth.
And what a series this was! Team India won truly as a team with majority coming out in flying colours! Hail Team India!

Is love a child?

I sometimes doubt if a child ever becomes desperate in any feeling as it is ever engrossed in other passions related more to serendipities and less to any pristine emotion. Which is why, when sometimes when you feel the pang of separation in love, you fancy that you are an adult now even if you have crossed the middle age mark or more. How sad it is that we realize anyone's importance in life only after one is gone even if it is for a brief history of time!...
Why can't we have the same intensity of love when the object of love is physically present? The psychic distance really does not matter much in love and is not always a function of the physical distance. It does have its maxima's and minima's but how good it would have been had it been a constant graph trajectory in life!
Hoping that it is again a transition, albeit a shorter one perchance! Hoping that migraine and other health worries would get the upper of any kind of heartache!

Happy Diwali

Shubh Diwali to all and sundry!
Hope it is free from the ripple effects of a possible recession and impending slowdown. Hope that Mata Lakshmi pleases you in ways more than one! Have a cracker of the day and try to become a light yourself from this day onwards at least so as to serve as a beacon of goodness in the cosmos!

Sachin becomes the highest run-getter in the Test and ODI formats of Cricket!

Another milestone for Sachin 'Record' Tendulkar to whom records get smitten as naturally as a bee takes itself to honey! At a very young age of 16 years and 206 days, making his debut on 15th Nov, 1989 against Pakistan, it has been a long and satisfying cricketing journey for the 'little master blaster'. Almost two decades later so much has changed in India but what remains unchanged is the amazing genius and humility of this great man. Obviously, someone will break Sachin's records one day as they are meant to be broken but at least for a year there is no doubt that he will reign as the undisputed king of cricket in both the called 'pure' formats viz ODIs and the Test cricket. He might as well silence the critics and appease the purists by excelling in the TT format too in the coming years. Nothing is too big for Sachin to dream if he wishes to set the records straight, something which he does not believe in as he plays for the amazing love and passion-driven zeal for the game and not to satisfy anyone else but himself the most.
The year when he made his debut, the 17-year old was interviewed about his fears in playing against the likes of greats like Marshall, Qadir, Akram etc and he replied wih a quiet confidence that he wil lface no problems at all. The skinny lad and a precocious talent that he was, it took few months for the greats like Border to realize that he will be setting many milestones in his future cricketing career. The centurion at Perth test match in 1991 and being the lone ranger in that inning dispelled any doubts regarding his genius. He contributed 118 out of India's paltry score of 240 in that inning and was dismissed as the ninth batter. Border predicted seeing his fearlessness, aggro, technique and technique that he will be a legend by the time he sees 25 summers. He has by now seen 35 summers ans is enjoying a demi-god status in India now. Sachinism is now almost a newfound religion for his die-hard fans. He remains revered and adored al across the globe and it was evident in the tears of the rookie Cameron White when he got the prized scalp of Sachin as his first Test victim. The huge crackers bursting at Mohali when he broke Lara's record to become the highest run-getter in test cricket and the standing ovation that he received after his scintillating knock of 88 of 111 balls bear a testimony to the fact that he is one of the most admired icons that India has ever produced. Almost all the big shots including the Big B, Lata Mangeshkar, President, PM etc. have congratulated this maestro on his latest record-breaking and another match-saving feat. He is now the first person to reach the 12000 plus runs milestone in the Test cricket in his 152nd test match. His 16,380 plus runs in ODI in 410 plus someone matches is already a big record by a huge magin. Obviously, he cannot be running after every record and maybe Ponting or someone else will break his record one day very soon. All said and done, the genius perhaps lives on till eternity in the cosmic resonances. The old order always giveth place to the younger ones. However, for the time being let all the cricket lovers celebrate this momentous occasion with full delight. I want to write more and more about Sachin but time constraint does not allow me. Sachin, you are simply non-pareil!

Awesome list of unputdownable books or Just Books

Most of the time an educationist is asked, "What should I read to get started with?" This is not an ice-breaker question and often befuddles even few who are in the higher echelons. We take full advantage of the medium of Internet to bring forth information that is of good use for any enthusiast. I found a list of good books on a webpage and it seems very comprehensive. This alone can take good care of the Reading Comprehension stuff that oft pesters the MBA or other exams' aspirants. I mean it is simply too good and it will simply suffice. It has no relation with the fact that 1001=7*11*13. Forgive a bit of math in the title.

"1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die"

2000s
Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
Saturday – Ian McEwan
On Beauty – Zadie Smith
Slow Man – J.M. Coetzee
Adjunct: An Undigest – Peter Manson
The Sea – John Banville
The Red Queen – Margaret Drabble
The Plot Against America – Philip Roth
The Master – Colm Tóibín
Vanishing Point – David Markson
The Lambs of London – Peter Ackroyd
Dining on Stones – Iain Sinclair
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
Drop City – T. Coraghessan Boyle
The Colour – Rose Tremain
Thursbitch – Alan Garner
The Light of Day – Graham Swift
What I Loved – Siri Hustvedt
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
Islands – Dan Sleigh
Elizabeth Costello – J.M. Coetzee
London Orbital – Iain Sinclair
Family Matters – Rohinton Mistry
Fingersmith – Sarah Waters
The Double – José Saramago
Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer
Unless – Carol Shields
Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami
The Story of Lucy Gault – William Trevor
That They May Face the Rising Sun – John McGahern
In the Forest – Edna O’Brien
Shroud – John Banville
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
Youth – J.M. Coetzee
Dead Air – Iain Banks
Nowhere Man – Aleksandar Hemon
The Book of Illusions – Paul Auster
Gabriel’s Gift – Hanif Kureishi
Austerlitz – W.G. Sebald
Platform – Michael Houellebecq
Schooling – Heather McGowan
Atonement – Ian McEwan
The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen
Don’t Move – Margaret Mazzantini
The Body Artist – Don DeLillo
Fury – Salman Rushdie
At Swim, Two Boys – Jamie O’Neill
Choke – Chuck Palahniuk
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
The Feast of the Goat – Mario Vargos Llosa
An Obedient Father – Akhil Sharma
The Devil and Miss Prym – Paulo Coelho
Spring Flowers, Spring Frost – Ismail Kadare
White Teeth – Zadie Smith
The Heart of Redness – Zakes Mda
Under the Skin – Michel Faber
Ignorance – Milan Kundera
Nineteen Seventy Seven – David Peace
Celestial Harmonies – Péter Esterházy
City of God – E.L. Doctorow
How the Dead Live – Will Self
The Human Stain – Philip Roth
The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood
After the Quake – Haruki Murakami
Small Remedies – Shashi Deshpande
Super-Cannes – J.G. Ballard
House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielewski
Blonde – Joyce Carol Oates
Pastoralia – George Saunders

1900s
Timbuktu – Paul Auster
The Romantics – Pankaj Mishra
Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson
As If I Am Not There – Slavenka Drakuli?
Everything You Need – A.L. Kennedy
Fear and Trembling – Amélie Nothomb
The Ground Beneath Her Feet – Salman Rushdie
Disgrace – J.M. Coetzee
Sputnik Sweetheart – Haruki Murakami
Elementary Particles – Michel Houellebecq
Intimacy – Hanif Kureishi
Amsterdam – Ian McEwan
Cloudsplitter – Russell Banks
All Souls Day – Cees Nooteboom
The Talk of the Town – Ardal O’Hanlon
Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters
The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
Glamorama – Bret Easton Ellis
Another World – Pat Barker
The Hours – Michael Cunningham
Veronika Decides to Die – Paulo Coelho
Mason & Dixon – Thomas Pynchon
The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
Great Apes – Will Self
Enduring Love – Ian McEwan
Underworld – Don DeLillo
Jack Maggs – Peter Carey
The Life of Insects – Victor Pelevin
American Pastoral – Philip Roth
The Untouchable – John Banville
Silk – Alessandro Baricco
Cocaine Nights – J.G. Ballard
Hallucinating Foucault – Patricia Duncker
Fugitive Pieces – Anne Michaels
The Ghost Road – Pat Barker
Forever a Stranger – Hella Haasse
Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace
The Clay Machine-Gun – Victor Pelevin
Alias Grace – Margaret Atwood
The Unconsoled – Kazuo Ishiguro
Morvern Callar – Alan Warner
The Information – Martin Amis
The Moor’s Last Sigh – Salman Rushdie
Sabbath’s Theater – Philip Roth
The Rings of Saturn – W.G. Sebald
The Reader – Bernhard Schlink
A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
Love’s Work – Gillian Rose
The End of the Story – Lydia Davis
Mr. Vertigo – Paul Auster
The Folding Star – Alan Hollinghurst
Whatever – Michel Houellebecq
Land – Park Kyong-ni
The Master of Petersburg – J.M. Coetzee
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami
Pereira Declares: A Testimony – Antonio Tabucchi
City Sister Silver – Jàchym Topol
How Late It Was, How Late – James Kelman
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis de Bernieres
Felicia’s Journey – William Trevor
Disappearance – David Dabydeen
The Invention of Curried Sausage – Uwe Timm
The Shipping News – E. Annie Proulx
Trainspotting – Irvine Welsh
Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
Looking for the Possible Dance – A.L. Kennedy
Operation Shylock – Philip Roth
Complicity – Iain Banks
On Love – Alain de Botton
What a Carve Up! – Jonathan Coe
A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
The Stone Diaries – Carol Shields
The Virgin Suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides
The House of Doctor Dee – Peter Ackroyd
The Robber Bride – Margaret Atwood
The Emigrants – W.G. Sebald
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
Life is a Caravanserai – Emine Özdamar
The Discovery of Heaven – Harry Mulisch
A Heart So White – Javier Marias
Possessing the Secret of Joy – Alice Walker
Indigo – Marina Warner
The Crow Road – Iain Banks
Written on the Body – Jeanette Winterson
Jazz – Toni Morrison
The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje
Smilla’s Sense of Snow – Peter Høeg
The Butcher Boy – Patrick McCabe
Black Water – Joyce Carol Oates
The Heather Blazing – Colm Tóibín
Asphodel – H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)
Black Dogs – Ian McEwan
Hideous Kinky – Esther Freud
Arcadia – Jim Crace
Wild Swans – Jung Chang
American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis
Time’s Arrow – Martin Amis
Mao II – Don DeLillo
Typical – Padgett Powell
Regeneration – Pat Barker
Downriver – Iain Sinclair
Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord – Louis de Bernieres
Wise Children – Angela Carter
Get Shorty – Elmore Leonard
Amongst Women – John McGahern
Vineland – Thomas Pynchon
Vertigo – W.G. Sebald
Stone Junction – Jim Dodge
The Music of Chance – Paul Auster
The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien
A Home at the End of the World – Michael Cunningham
Like Life – Lorrie Moore
Possession – A.S. Byatt
The Buddha of Suburbia – Hanif Kureishi
The Midnight Examiner – William Kotzwinkle
A Disaffection – James Kelman
Sexing the Cherry – Jeanette Winterson
Moon Palace – Paul Auster
Billy Bathgate – E.L. Doctorow
Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
The Melancholy of Resistance – László Krasznahorkai
The Temple of My Familiar – Alice Walker
The Trick is to Keep Breathing – Janice Galloway
The History of the Siege of Lisbon – José Saramago
Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel
A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
London Fields – Martin Amis
The Book of Evidence – John Banville
Cat’s Eye – Margaret Atwood
Foucault’s Pendulum – Umberto Eco
The Beautiful Room is Empty – Edmund White
Wittgenstein’s Mistress – David Markson
The Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie
The Swimming-Pool Library – Alan Hollinghurst
Oscar and Lucinda – Peter Carey
Libra – Don DeLillo
The Player of Games – Iain M. Banks
Nervous Conditions – Tsitsi Dangarembga
The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul – Douglas Adams
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency – Douglas Adams
The Radiant Way – Margaret Drabble
The Afternoon of a Writer – Peter Handke
The Black Dahlia – James Ellroy
The Passion – Jeanette Winterson
The Pigeon – Patrick Süskind
The Child in Time – Ian McEwan
Cigarettes – Harry Mathews
The Bonfire of the Vanities – Tom Wolfe
The New York Trilogy – Paul Auster
World’s End – T. Coraghessan Boyle
Enigma of Arrival – V.S. Naipaul
The Taebek Mountains – Jo Jung-rae
Beloved – Toni Morrison
Anagrams – Lorrie Moore
Matigari – Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
Marya – Joyce Carol Oates
Watchmen – Alan Moore & David Gibbons
The Old Devils – Kingsley Amis
Lost Language of Cranes – David Leavitt
An Artist of the Floating World – Kazuo Ishiguro
Extinction – Thomas Bernhard
Foe – J.M. Coetzee
The Drowned and the Saved – Primo Levi
Reasons to Live – Amy Hempel
The Parable of the Blind – Gert Hofmann
Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel García Márquez
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit – Jeanette Winterson
The Cider House Rules – John Irving
A Maggot – John Fowles
Less Than Zero – Bret Easton Ellis
Contact – Carl Sagan
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Perfume – Patrick Süskind
Old Masters – Thomas Bernhard
White Noise – Don DeLillo
Queer – William Burroughs
Hawksmoor – Peter Ackroyd
Legend – David Gemmell
Dictionary of the Khazars – Milorad Pavi?
The Bus Conductor Hines – James Kelman
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis – José Saramago
The Lover – Marguerite Duras
Empire of the Sun – J.G. Ballard
The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
Nights at the Circus – Angela Carter
The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera
Blood and Guts in High School – Kathy Acker
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Flaubert’s Parrot – Julian Barnes
Money: A Suicide Note – Martin Amis
Shame – Salman Rushdie
Worstward Ho – Samuel Beckett
Fools of Fortune – William Trevor
La Brava – Elmore Leonard
Waterland – Graham Swift
The Life and Times of Michael K – J.M. Coetzee
The Diary of Jane Somers – Doris Lessing
The Piano Teacher – Elfriede Jelinek
The Sorrow of Belgium – Hugo Claus
If Not Now, When? – Primo Levi
A Boy’s Own Story – Edmund White
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
Wittgenstein’s Nephew – Thomas Bernhard
A Pale View of Hills – Kazuo Ishiguro
Schindler’s Ark – Thomas Keneally
The House of the Spirits – Isabel Allende
The Newton Letter – John Banville
On the Black Hill – Bruce Chatwin
Concrete – Thomas Bernhard
The Names – Don DeLillo
Rabbit is Rich – John Updike
Lanark: A Life in Four Books – Alasdair Gray
The Comfort of Strangers – Ian McEwan
July’s People – Nadine Gordimer
Summer in Baden-Baden – Leonid Tsypkin
Broken April – Ismail Kadare
Waiting for the Barbarians – J.M. Coetzee
Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
Rites of Passage – William Golding
Rituals – Cees Nooteboom
Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
City Primeval – Elmore Leonard
The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting – Milan Kundera
Smiley’s People – John Le Carré
Shikasta – Doris Lessing
A Bend in the River – V.S. Naipaul
Burger’s Daughter - Nadine Gordimer
The Safety Net – Heinrich Böll
If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler – Italo Calvino
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
The Cement Garden – Ian McEwan
The World According to Garp – John Irving
Life: A User’s Manual – Georges Perec
The Sea, The Sea – Iris Murdoch
The Singapore Grip – J.G. Farrell
Yes – Thomas Bernhard
The Virgin in the Garden – A.S. Byatt
In the Heart of the Country – J.M. Coetzee
The Passion of New Eve – Angela Carter
Delta of Venus – Anaïs Nin
The Shining – Stephen King
Dispatches – Michael Herr
Petals of Blood – Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison
The Hour of the Star – Clarice Lispector
The Left-Handed Woman – Peter Handke
Ratner’s Star – Don DeLillo
The Public Burning – Robert Coover
Interview With the Vampire – Anne Rice
Cutter and Bone – Newton Thornburg
Amateurs – Donald Barthelme
Patterns of Childhood – Christa Wolf
Autumn of the Patriarch – Gabriel García Márquez
W, or the Memory of Childhood – Georges Perec
A Dance to the Music of Time – Anthony Powell
Grimus – Salman Rushdie
The Dead Father – Donald Barthelme
Fateless – Imre Kertész
Willard and His Bowling Trophies – Richard Brautigan
High Rise – J.G. Ballard
Humboldt’s Gift – Saul Bellow
Dead Babies – Martin Amis
Correction – Thomas Bernhard
Ragtime – E.L. Doctorow
The Fan Man – William Kotzwinkle
Dusklands – J.M. Coetzee
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum – Heinrich Böll
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – John Le Carré
Breakfast of Champions – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Fear of Flying – Erica Jong
A Question of Power – Bessie Head
The Siege of Krishnapur – J.G. Farrell
The Castle of Crossed Destinies – Italo Calvino
Crash – J.G. Ballard
The Honorary Consul – Graham Greene
Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
The Black Prince – Iris Murdoch
Sula – Toni Morrison
Invisible Cities – Italo Calvino
The Breast – Philip Roth
The Summer Book – Tove Jansson
G – John Berger
Surfacing – Margaret Atwood
House Mother Normal – B.S. Johnson
In A Free State – V.S. Naipaul
The Book of Daniel – E.L. Doctorow
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson
Group Portrait With Lady – Heinrich Böll
The Wild Boys – William Burroughs
Rabbit Redux – John Updike
The Sea of Fertility – Yukio Mishima
The Driver’s Seat – Muriel Spark
The Ogre – Michael Tournier
The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison
Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick – Peter Handke
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
Mercier et Camier – Samuel Beckett
Troubles – J.G. Farrell
Jahrestage – Uwe Johnson
The Atrocity Exhibition – J.G. Ballard
Tent of Miracles – Jorge Amado
Pricksongs and Descants – Robert Coover
Blind Man With a Pistol – Chester Hines
Slaughterhouse-five – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman – John Fowles
The Green Man – Kingsley Amis
Portnoy’s Complaint – Philip Roth
The Godfather – Mario Puzo
Ada – Vladimir Nabokov
Them – Joyce Carol Oates
A Void/Avoid – Georges Perec
Eva Trout – Elizabeth Bowen
Myra Breckinridge – Gore Vidal
The Nice and the Good – Iris Murdoch
Belle du Seigneur – Albert Cohen
Cancer Ward – Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
The First Circle – Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
2001: A Space Odyssey – Arthur C. Clarke
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend is Laid – Malcolm Lowry
The German Lesson – Siegfried Lenz
In Watermelon Sugar – Richard Brautigan
A Kestrel for a Knave – Barry Hines
The Quest for Christa T. – Christa Wolf
Chocky – John Wyndham
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test – Tom Wolfe
The Cubs and Other Stories – Mario Vargas Llosa
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez
The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov
Pilgrimage – Dorothy Richardson
The Joke – Milan Kundera
No Laughing Matter – Angus Wilson
The Third Policeman – Flann O’Brien
A Man Asleep – Georges Perec
The Birds Fall Down – Rebecca West
Trawl – B.S. Johnson
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
The Magus – John Fowles
The Vice-Consul – Marguerite Duras
Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys
Giles Goat-Boy – John Barth
The Crying of Lot 49 – Thomas Pynchon
Things – Georges Perec
The River Between – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
August is a Wicked Month – Edna O’Brien
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater – Kurt Vonnegut
Everything That Rises Must Converge – Flannery O’Connor
The Passion According to G.H. – Clarice Lispector
Sometimes a Great Notion – Ken Kesey
Come Back, Dr. Caligari – Donald Bartholme
Albert Angelo – B.S. Johnson
Arrow of God – Chinua Achebe
The Ravishing of Lol V. Stein – Marguerite Duras
Herzog – Saul Bellow
V. – Thomas Pynchon
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
The Graduate – Charles Webb
Manon des Sources – Marcel Pagnol
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – John Le Carré
The Girls of Slender Means – Muriel Spark
Inside Mr. Enderby – Anthony Burgess
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
The Collector – John Fowles
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Pale Fire – Vladimir Nabokov
The Drowned World – J.G. Ballard
The Golden Notebook – Doris Lessing
Labyrinths – Jorg Luis Borges
Girl With Green Eyes – Edna O’Brien
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis – Giorgio Bassani
Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
Franny and Zooey – J.D. Salinger
A Severed Head – Iris Murdoch
Faces in the Water – Janet Frame
Solaris – Stanislaw Lem
Cat and Mouse – Günter Grass
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
The Violent Bear it Away – Flannery O’Connor
How It Is – Samuel Beckett
Our Ancestors – Italo Calvino
The Country Girls – Edna O’Brien
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Rabbit, Run – John Updike
Promise at Dawn – Romain Gary
Cider With Rosie – Laurie Lee
Billy Liar – Keith Waterhouse
Naked Lunch – William Burroughs
The Tin Drum – Günter Grass
Absolute Beginners – Colin MacInnes
Henderson the Rain King – Saul Bellow
Memento Mori – Muriel Spark
Billiards at Half-Past Nine – Heinrich Böll
Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Capote
The Leopard – Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
Pluck the Bud and Destroy the Offspring – Kenzaburo Oe
A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
The Bitter Glass – Eilís Dillon
Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning – Alan Sillitoe
Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris – Paul Gallico
Borstal Boy – Brendan Behan
The End of the Road – John Barth
The Once and Future King – T.H. White
The Bell – Iris Murdoch
Jealousy – Alain Robbe-Grillet
Voss – Patrick White
The Midwich Cuckoos – John Wyndham
Blue Noon – Georges Bataille
Homo Faber – Max Frisch
On the Road – Jack Kerouac
Pnin – Vladimir Nabokov
Doctor Zhivago – Boris Pasternak
The Wonderful “O” – James Thurber
Justine – Lawrence Durrell
Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin
The Lonely Londoners – Sam Selvon
The Roots of Heaven – Romain Gary
Seize the Day – Saul Bellow
The Floating Opera – John Barth
The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
The Talented Mr. Ripley – Patricia Highsmith
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
A World of Love – Elizabeth Bowen
The Trusting and the Maimed – James Plunkett
The Quiet American – Graham Greene
The Last Temptation of Christ – Nikos Kazantzákis
The Recognitions – William Gaddis
The Ragazzi – Pier Paulo Pasolini
Bonjour Tristesse – Françoise Sagan
I’m Not Stiller – Max Frisch
Self Condemned – Wyndham Lewis
The Story of O – Pauline Réage
A Ghost at Noon – Alberto Moravia
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Under the Net – Iris Murdoch
The Go-Between – L.P. Hartley
The Long Goodbye – Raymond Chandler
The Unnamable – Samuel Beckett
Watt – Samuel Beckett
Lucky Jim – Kingsley Amis
Junkie – William Burroughs
The Adventures of Augie March – Saul Bellow
Go Tell It on the Mountain – James Baldwin
Casino Royale – Ian Fleming
The Judge and His Hangman – Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
Wise Blood – Flannery O’Connor
The Killer Inside Me – Jim Thompson
Memoirs of Hadrian – Marguerite Yourcenar
Malone Dies – Samuel Beckett
Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham
Foundation – Isaac Asimov
The Opposing Shore – Julien Gracq
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
The Rebel – Albert Camus
Molloy – Samuel Beckett
The End of the Affair – Graham Greene
The Abbot C – Georges Bataille
The Labyrinth of Solitude – Octavio Paz
The Third Man – Graham Greene
The 13 Clocks – James Thurber
Gormenghast – Mervyn Peake
The Grass is Singing – Doris Lessing
I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
The Moon and the Bonfires – Cesare Pavese
The Garden Where the Brass Band Played – Simon Vestdijk
Love in a Cold Climate – Nancy Mitford
The Case of Comrade Tulayev – Victor Serge
The Heat of the Day – Elizabeth Bowen
Kingdom of This World – Alejo Carpentier
The Man With the Golden Arm – Nelson Algren
Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
All About H. Hatterr – G.V. Desani
Disobedience – Alberto Moravia
Death Sentence – Maurice Blanchot
The Heart of the Matter – Graham Greene
Cry, the Beloved Country – Alan Paton
Doctor Faustus – Thomas Mann
The Victim – Saul Bellow
Exercises in Style – Raymond Queneau
If This Is a Man – Primo Levi
Under the Volcano – Malcolm Lowry
The Path to the Nest of Spiders – Italo Calvino
The Plague – Albert Camus
Back – Henry Green
Titus Groan – Mervyn Peake
The Bridge on the Drina – Ivo Andri?
Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
Animal Farm – George Orwell
Cannery Row – John Steinbeck
The Pursuit of Love – Nancy Mitford
Loving – Henry Green
Arcanum 17 – André Breton
Christ Stopped at Eboli – Carlo Levi
The Razor’s Edge – William Somerset Maugham
Transit – Anna Seghers
Ficciones – Jorge Luis Borges
Dangling Man – Saul Bellow
The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Caught – Henry Green
The Glass Bead Game – Herman Hesse
Embers – Sandor Marai
Go Down, Moses – William Faulkner
The Outsider – Albert Camus
In Sicily – Elio Vittorini
The Poor Mouth – Flann O’Brien
The Living and the Dead – Patrick White
Hangover Square – Patrick Hamilton
Between the Acts – Virginia Woolf
The Hamlet – William Faulkner
Farewell My Lovely – Raymond Chandler
For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway
Native Son – Richard Wright
The Power and the Glory – Graham Greene
The Tartar Steppe – Dino Buzzati
Party Going – Henry Green
The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
Finnegans Wake – James Joyce
At Swim-Two-Birds – Flann O’Brien
Coming Up for Air – George Orwell
Goodbye to Berlin – Christopher Isherwood
Tropic of Capricorn – Henry Miller
Good Morning, Midnight – Jean Rhys
The Big Sleep – Raymond Chandler
After the Death of Don Juan – Sylvie Townsend Warner
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – Winifred Watson
Nausea – Jean-Paul Sartre
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
Cause for Alarm – Eric Ambler
Brighton Rock – Graham Greene
U.S.A. – John Dos Passos
Murphy – Samuel Beckett
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
The Years – Virginia Woolf
In Parenthesis – David Jones
The Revenge for Love – Wyndham Lewis
Out of Africa – Isak Dineson (Karen Blixen)
To Have and Have Not – Ernest Hemingway
Summer Will Show – Sylvia Townsend Warner
Eyeless in Gaza – Aldous Huxley
The Thinking Reed – Rebecca West
Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
Keep the Aspidistra Flying – George Orwell
Wild Harbour – Ian MacPherson
Absalom, Absalom! – William Faulkner
At the Mountains of Madness – H.P. Lovecraft
Nightwood – Djuna Barnes
Independent People – Halldór Laxness
Auto-da-Fé – Elias Canetti
The Last of Mr. Norris – Christopher Isherwood
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? – Horace McCoy
The House in Paris – Elizabeth Bowen
England Made Me – Graham Greene
Burmese Days – George Orwell
The Nine Tailors – Dorothy L. Sayers
Threepenny Novel – Bertolt Brecht
Novel With Cocaine – M. Ageyev
The Postman Always Rings Twice – James M. Cain
Tropic of Cancer – Henry Miller
A Handful of Dust – Evelyn Waugh
Tender is the Night – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Thank You, Jeeves – P.G. Wodehouse
Call it Sleep – Henry Roth
Miss Lonelyhearts – Nathanael West
Murder Must Advertise – Dorothy L. Sayers
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas – Gertrude Stein
Testament of Youth – Vera Brittain
A Day Off – Storm Jameson
The Man Without Qualities – Robert Musil
A Scots Quair (Sunset Song) – Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Journey to the End of the Night – Louis-Ferdinand Céline
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
To the North – Elizabeth Bowen
The Thin Man – Dashiell Hammett
The Radetzky March – Joseph Roth
The Waves – Virginia Woolf
The Glass Key – Dashiell Hammett
Cakes and Ale – W. Somerset Maugham
The Apes of God – Wyndham Lewis
Her Privates We – Frederic Manning
Vile Bodies – Evelyn Waugh
The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett
Hebdomeros – Giorgio de Chirico
Passing – Nella Larsen
A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
Red Harvest – Dashiell Hammett
Living – Henry Green
The Time of Indifference – Alberto Moravia
All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
Berlin Alexanderplatz – Alfred Döblin
The Last September – Elizabeth Bowen
Harriet Hume – Rebecca West
The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner
Les Enfants Terribles – Jean Cocteau
Look Homeward, Angel – Thomas Wolfe
Story of the Eye – Georges Bataille
Orlando – Virginia Woolf
Lady Chatterley’s Lover – D.H. Lawrence
The Well of Loneliness – Radclyffe Hall
The Childermass – Wyndham Lewis
Quartet – Jean Rhys
Decline and Fall – Evelyn Waugh
Quicksand – Nella Larsen
Parade’s End – Ford Madox Ford
Nadja – André Breton
Steppenwolf – Herman Hesse
Remembrance of Things Past – Marcel Proust
To The Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf
Tarka the Otter – Henry Williamson
Amerika – Franz Kafka
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
Blindness – Henry Green
The Castle – Franz Kafka
The Good Soldier Švejk – Jaroslav Hašek
The Plumed Serpent – D.H. Lawrence
One, None and a Hundred Thousand – Luigi Pirandello
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie
The Making of Americans – Gertrude Stein
Manhattan Transfer – John Dos Passos
Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Counterfeiters – André Gide
The Trial – Franz Kafka
The Artamonov Business – Maxim Gorky
The Professor’s House – Willa Cather
Billy Budd, Foretopman – Herman Melville
The Green Hat – Michael Arlen
The Magic Mountain – Thomas Mann
We – Yevgeny Zamyatin
A Passage to India – E.M. Forster
The Devil in the Flesh – Raymond Radiguet
Zeno’s Conscience – Italo Svevo
Cane – Jean Toomer
Antic Hay – Aldous Huxley
Amok – Stefan Zweig
The Garden Party – Katherine Mansfield
The Enormous Room – E.E. Cummings
Jacob’s Room – Virginia Woolf
Siddhartha – Herman Hesse
The Glimpses of the Moon – Edith Wharton
Life and Death of Harriett Frean – May Sinclair
The Last Days of Humanity – Karl Kraus
Aaron’s Rod – D.H. Lawrence
Babbitt – Sinclair Lewis
Ulysses – James Joyce
The Fox – D.H. Lawrence
Crome Yellow – Aldous Huxley
The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton
Main Street – Sinclair Lewis
Women in Love – D.H. Lawrence
Night and Day – Virginia Woolf
Tarr – Wyndham Lewis
The Return of the Soldier – Rebecca West
The Shadow Line – Joseph Conrad
Summer – Edith Wharton
Growth of the Soil – Knut Hamsen
Bunner Sisters – Edith Wharton
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce
Under Fire – Henri Barbusse
Rashomon – Akutagawa Ryunosuke
The Good Soldier – Ford Madox Ford
The Voyage Out – Virginia Woolf
Of Human Bondage – William Somerset Maugham
The Rainbow – D.H. Lawrence
The Thirty-Nine Steps – John Buchan
Kokoro – Natsume Soseki
Locus Solus – Raymond Roussel
Rosshalde – Herman Hesse
Tarzan of the Apes – Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – Robert Tressell
Sons and Lovers – D.H. Lawrence
Death in Venice – Thomas Mann
The Charwoman’s Daughter – James Stephens
Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
Fantômas – Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre
Howards End – E.M. Forster
Impressions of Africa – Raymond Roussel
Three Lives – Gertrude Stein
Martin Eden – Jack London
Strait is the Gate – André Gide
Tono-Bungay – H.G. Wells
The Inferno – Henri Barbusse
A Room With a View – E.M. Forster
The Iron Heel – Jack London
The Old Wives’ Tale – Arnold Bennett
The House on the Borderland – William Hope Hodgson
Mother – Maxim Gorky
The Secret Agent – Joseph Conrad
The Jungle – Upton Sinclair
Young Törless – Robert Musil
The Forsyte Sage – John Galsworthy
The House of Mirth – Edith Wharton
Professor Unrat – Heinrich Mann
Where Angels Fear to Tread – E.M. Forster
Nostromo – Joseph Conrad
Hadrian the Seventh – Frederick Rolfe
The Golden Bowl – Henry James
The Ambassadors – Henry James
The Riddle of the Sands – Erskine Childers
The Immoralist – André Gide
The Wings of the Dove – Henry James
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Buddenbrooks – Thomas Mann
Kim – Rudyard Kipling
Sister Carrie – Theodore Dreiser
Lord Jim – Joseph Conrad

1800s
Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. – Somerville and Ross
The Stechlin – Theodore Fontane
The Awakening – Kate Chopin
The Turn of the Screw – Henry James
The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells
The Invisible Man – H.G. Wells
What Maisie Knew – Henry James
Fruits of the Earth – André Gide
Dracula – Bram Stoker
Quo Vadis – Henryk Sienkiewicz
The Island of Dr. Moreau – H.G. Wells
The Time Machine – H.G. Wells
Effi Briest – Theodore Fontane
Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
The Real Charlotte – Somerville and Ross
The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Born in Exile – George Gissing
Diary of a Nobody – George & Weedon Grossmith
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
News from Nowhere – William Morris
New Grub Street – George Gissing
Gösta Berling’s Saga – Selma Lagerlöf
Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
The Kreutzer Sonata – Leo Tolstoy
La Bête Humaine – Émile Zola
By the Open Sea – August Strindberg
Hunger – Knut Hamsun
The Master of Ballantrae – Robert Louis Stevenson
Pierre and Jean – Guy de Maupassant
Fortunata and Jacinta – Benito Pérez Galdés
The People of Hemsö – August Strindberg
The Woodlanders – Thomas Hardy
She – H. Rider Haggard
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
The Mayor of Casterbridge – Thomas Hardy
Kidnapped – Robert Louis Stevenson
King Solomon’s Mines – H. Rider Haggard
Germinal – Émile Zola
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
Bel-Ami – Guy de Maupassant
Marius the Epicurean – Walter Pater
Against the Grain – Joris-Karl Huysmans
The Death of Ivan Ilyich – Leo Tolstoy
A Woman’s Life – Guy de Maupassant
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
The House by the Medlar Tree – Giovanni Verga
The Portrait of a Lady – Henry James
Bouvard and Pécuchet – Gustave Flaubert
Ben-Hur – Lew Wallace
Nana – Émile Zola
The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Red Room – August Strindberg
Return of the Native – Thomas Hardy
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
Drunkard – Émile Zola
Virgin Soil – Ivan Turgenev
Daniel Deronda – George Eliot
The Hand of Ethelberta – Thomas Hardy
The Temptation of Saint Anthony – Gustave Flaubert
Far from the Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
The Enchanted Wanderer – Nicolai Leskov
Around the World in Eighty Days – Jules Verne
In a Glass Darkly – Sheridan Le Fanu
The Devils – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Erewhon – Samuel Butler
Spring Torrents – Ivan Turgenev
Middlemarch – George Eliot
Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There – Lewis Carroll
King Lear of the Steppes – Ivan Turgenev
He Knew He Was Right – Anthony Trollope
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
Sentimental Education – Gustave Flaubert
Phineas Finn – Anthony Trollope
Maldoror – Comte de Lautréaumont
The Idiot – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Moonstone – Wilkie Collins
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
Thérèse Raquin – Émile Zola
The Last Chronicle of Barset – Anthony Trollope
Journey to the Centre of the Earth – Jules Verne
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens
Uncle Silas – Sheridan Le Fanu
Notes from the Underground – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Water-Babies – Charles Kingsley
Les Misérables – Victor Hugo
Fathers and Sons – Ivan Turgenev
Silas Marner – George Eliot
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
On the Eve – Ivan Turgenev
Castle Richmond – Anthony Trollope
The Mill on the Floss – George Eliot
The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
The Marble Faun – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Max Havelaar – Multatuli
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Oblomovka – Ivan Goncharov
Adam Bede – George Eliot
Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
North and South – Elizabeth Gaskell
Hard Times – Charles Dickens
Walden – Henry David Thoreau
Bleak House – Charles Dickens
Villette – Charlotte Brontë
Cranford – Elizabeth Gaskell
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lonely – Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Blithedale Romance – Nathaniel Hawthorne
The House of the Seven Gables – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Moby-Dick – Herman Melville
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
Shirley – Charlotte Brontë
Mary Barton – Elizabeth Gaskell
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Brontë
Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë
Agnes Grey – Anne Brontë
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
The Count of Monte-Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
La Reine Margot – Alexandre Dumas
The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
The Purloined Letter – Edgar Allan Poe
Martin Chuzzlewit – Charles Dickens
The Pit and the Pendulum – Edgar Allan Poe
Lost Illusions – Honoré de Balzac
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
Dead Souls – Nikolay Gogol
The Charterhouse of Parma – Stendhal
The Fall of the House of Usher – Edgar Allan Poe
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
The Nose – Nikolay Gogol
Le Père Goriot – Honoré de Balzac
Eugénie Grandet – Honoré de Balzac
The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Victor Hugo
The Red and the Black – Stendhal
The Betrothed – Alessandro Manzoni
Last of the Mohicans – James Fenimore Cooper
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner – James Hogg
The Albigenses – Charles Robert Maturin
Melmoth the Wanderer – Charles Robert Maturin
The Monastery – Sir Walter Scott
Ivanhoe – Sir Walter Scott
Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
Persuasion – Jane Austen
Ormond – Maria Edgeworth
Rob Roy – Sir Walter Scott
Emma – Jane Austen
Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
The Absentee – Maria Edgeworth
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
Elective Affinities – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Castle Rackrent – Maria Edgeworth

1700s
Hyperion – Friedrich Hölderlin
The Nun – Denis Diderot
Camilla – Fanny Burney
The Monk – M.G. Lewis
Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Mysteries of Udolpho – Ann Radcliffe
The Interesting Narrative – Olaudah Equiano
The Adventures of Caleb Williams – William Godwin
Justine – Marquis de Sade
Vathek – William Beckford
The 120 Days of Sodom – Marquis de Sade
Cecilia – Fanny Burney
Confessions – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Dangerous Liaisons – Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Reveries of a Solitary Walker – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Evelina – Fanny Burney
The Sorrows of Young Werther – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Humphrey Clinker – Tobias George Smollett
The Man of Feeling – Henry Mackenzie
A Sentimental Journey – Laurence Sterne
Tristram Shandy – Laurence Sterne
The Vicar of Wakefield – Oliver Goldsmith
The Castle of Otranto – Horace Walpole
Émile; or, On Education – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rameau’s Nephew – Denis Diderot
Julie; or, the New Eloise – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rasselas – Samuel Johnson
Candide – Voltaire
The Female Quixote – Charlotte Lennox
Amelia – Henry Fielding
Peregrine Pickle – Tobias George Smollett
Fanny Hill – John Cleland
Tom Jones – Henry Fielding
Roderick Random – Tobias George Smollett
Clarissa – Samuel Richardson
Pamela – Samuel Richardson
Jacques the Fatalist – Denis Diderot
Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus – J. Arbuthnot, J. Gay, T. Parnell, A. Pope, J. Swift
Joseph Andrews – Henry Fielding
A Modest Proposal – Jonathan Swift
Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift
Roxana – Daniel Defoe
Moll Flanders – Daniel Defoe
Love in Excess – Eliza Haywood
Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe
A Tale of a Tub – Jonathan Swift

Pre-1700
Oroonoko – Aphra Behn
The Princess of Clèves – Marie-Madelaine Pioche de Lavergne, Comtesse de La Fayette
The Pilgrim’s Progress – John Bunyan
Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
The Unfortunate Traveller – Thomas Nashe
Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit – John Lyly
Gargantua and Pantagruel – Françoise Rabelais
The Thousand and One Nights – Anonymous
The Golden Ass – Lucius Apuleius
Aithiopika – Heliodorus
Chaireas and Kallirhoe – Chariton
Metamorphoses – Ovid
Aesop’s Fables – Aesopus

Killer headache

I never knew headache can kill to thrill! Head is so important and we know of it only when it gets congested and impairs even the normal things like speaking. Jesus!
Only last night, I was watching the alerts on the impending financial crises that have sent the stock markets in a tizzy. The turmoil does not relate to my life in any way as I never had any finance to lose my sleep over. But it does appeal to the gray matter at times.
The flip side of elating at the viccissitudes of wherewithals is the concomitant headache!
Damn the prime or sub-prime! I do not get the heads and tails of it and think smart that I know something of it and it that process pecipitate migraine in my already overly damaged brain. I have applied Art of living oil on my prized scalp, done a wee bit of bhastrika pranayama since I woke up very late in the afternoon, stopped watching Ponting reach his century, stopped reading about cues of any kind, switched off HBO showing Alec Baldwin stuff etc. etc., but to no avail. I have resolved not the take the pill but it is not a steely one. Wonder what smart alec has to say in this!
Hoping against hope that we can breathe some enjoymemnt in headaches too! Nothing to Lose But Your Headache!

Sinus congestion

Battling daily sinus congestion is baptism by fire. Crores worldwide and approximately 4 crore persons in the US of A are afllicted with it. Sinuses are air packets in the cranial bones especially near the nose, which when infected lead to Sinusitis and result in congestion in the respiratory tract and when it becomes chronic it often leads to migraine. Symptoms can be nasal congestion, facila pain, headache, blurred vision, running nose, vertigo, diminished sense of smell and others. Chronic sinusitis is a complicated spectrum of diseases that share chronic inflammation of the sinuses in common. The causes are multifold and may be precipitated by allergy, environmental factors such as dust or pollution, bacterial infection, or fungus (either allergic, infective, or reactive). Non allergic factors such as vasomotor rhinitis can also cause chronic sinus problems. Another factor can be the abnormally narrow sinus passages, which can impede drainage from the sinus cavities.
Antibiotics or antihistamines in viral congestions can be a cure-all in acute sinusitis and warm moist air, nasal spray drops alleviate it.
Few diagnostic tests may be a study of a mucous culture, endoscopy, x-rays, allergy testing, or CT scan of the sinuses. An endoscope is a special fiber optic instrument for the examination of the interior of a canal or hollow viscus. In nasal endoscopy, it allows a visual examination of the nose and sinus drainage areas. It can reveal pus or polyps that trigger sinusitis. Smoking aggravates it.Ergo, it cannot be condoned especially in this case.

Mucus is developed by the body to act as a lubricant. In the sinus cavities, the lubricant is moved across mucous membrane linings toward the opening of each sinus by millions of cilia (a mobile extension of a cell). Inflammation from allergy causes membrane swelling and the sinus opening to narrow, thereby blocking mucus movement. If antibiotics are not effective, sinus surgery can correct the problem. The basic endoscopic surgical procedure is performed under local or general anesthesia. The final return to normal health can take about four weeks.

The surgery should enlarge the natural opening to the sinuses, leaving as many cilia in place as possible. Otolaryngologist--head and neck surgeons have found endoscopic surgery to be highly effective in restoring normal function to the sinuses. The procedure removes areas of obstruction, resulting in the normal flow of mucus.

Though a rarity, neglecting chroic sinsusitis can be fatal and lead to meningitis or brain abscess and infection of the bone or bone marrow can occur.

Gibberish and let go

It is a scientific method that Osho describes as one of the best ways to feel destressed through gibberish. "Gibberish is to get rid of the active mind, silence to get rid of the inactive mind and let-go is to enter into the transcendental." says Osho.
Gibbersih is a must to through away all the garbage that has piled up in the minds of men for centuries and is gathering dust since then. It is important to offload the garbage by doing all things crazy in pragmatic sense for few minutes. That will be purgatory and will give you a levity that is required to behave normally. It is a soul cleansing exercise and then you will feel like a child who Wordsworth said is the father of man. It does not require training and will lead you an inner silence, which will become a one-way traffic for your betterment. Become of meaningless existence for two minutes. And you will be immensely shocked to know that just within two minutes you become so light, so ready to enter into silence. This is what the Master says.
It is strange how oaf gathers all negativities and tries to infect others with his own ones. Ergo, it is important not to be indoctrinated by any hypocrite who is pretending to worry of your stability when on the other hand your instability will give him the raison'd etre. The road less travelled is fraught with challanges and one has to add a few aces up the sleeves to win over them. Try to let go and levitate in the inner cosmos for it is the ultimate reality of Universal Consciousness. Sooner or later, one does wake up to the reality and that cannot be lablled fatalistic. That is a fact as true as the fact that Sun rises in the East. God give all of us peace and unselfishness to fight the sinister designs of the nemesis. For this it is good to go for gibberish and let go methos once in a while.

Mamma Mia!

What a song by the successful pop group ABBA released in the album 'Waterloo' in April 1974! Mamma Mia is an Italian expression and it means surprise or anguish. I have uploaded the song on Orkut as a token of a poor fan's appreciation and I could not resist posting on the song Honey Honey..., which found a place in the 2008 movie Mamma Mia!, a stage-to-film adaptation the 1999 West End musical also titled Mamma Mia!, based on the ABBA, with additional music also composed by ABBA member Benny Andersson. Mamma Mia! features Amanda Seyfied (the actress singing this song in the movie), Pierce Brosnan, Meryl Streep etc. Mamma Mia! is a lighthearted comedy, subsuming events around the eight main characters and trying to untangle the not-so-serious complicity, which will decide the fate of each: young Sophie, her fiance Sky, her mother Donna with two lady friends (who sang together years ago as Donna and the Dynamos ), plus the three men Donna had been with in midsummer 21 years ago (Sam, Harry and Bill). Each of them has been concealing secrets from the others, and the frantic pace of wedding preparations will lead to further miscommunications.Oblivious to all, no one is who they at first appear to be, and a divine intervention might reveal the truth. Fortunately, all are about to meet together, on a Greek island dedicated to the ancient goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite.
The Hindi movie 'Dil Ashna Hai''s plot bore a tad of verisimilitude, if i am perceiving both correctly.

"Honey, Honey" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA and included on their Waterloo album. It was the 2nd single to be released from the album after the success of the title track winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

"Honey, Honey" was written by Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Stig Anderson, with shared vocals by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

The lyrics are:
Honey honey, how you thrill me, ah-hah, honey honey Honey honey, nearly kill me, ah-hah, honey honey I'd heard about you before I wanted to know some more And now I know what they mean, you're a love machine Oh, you make me dizzy Honey honey, let me feel it, ah-hah, honey honey Honey honey, don't co ... Honey honey, how you thrill me, ah-hah, honey honey Honey honey, nearly kill me, ah-hah, honey honey I'd heard about you before I wanted to know some more And now I know what they mean, you're a love machine Oh, you make me dizzy Honey honey, let me feel it, ah-hah, honey honey Honey honey, don't conceal it, ah-hah, honey honey The way that you kiss goodnight (The way that you kiss me goodnight) The way that you hold me tight (The way that you're holding me tight) I feel like I wanna sing when you do your thing I don't wanna hurt you, baby, I don't wanna see you cry So stay on the ground, girl, you better not get too high But I'm gonna stick to you, boy, you'll never get rid of me There's no other place in this world where I rather would be Honey honey, touch me, baby, ah-hah, honey honey Honey honey, hold me, baby, ah-hah, honey honey You look like a movie star (You look like a movie star) But I know just who you are (I know just who you are) And, honey, to say the least, you're a dog-gone beast So stay on the ground, girl, you better not get too high There's no other place in this world where I rather would be Honey honey, how you thrill me, ah-hah, honey honey Honey honey, nearly kill me, ah-hah, honey honey I heard about you before I wanted to know some more And now I know what they mean, you're a love machine.

Oh, this song is sooooooooooooo melodious! It gives me a real high!

Shakespeare in Love

The contribution of William Shakespeare can be gauged from the fact that he added 1700 plus words in the English lexicon. I read one of the words, 'tetchy', perhaps coined by Shakepeare. His works have heightened state of emotions and his characters are largely passion-driven. Any tome comrising stuffs like these can be melodramatic for a staid guy. For example, for a nerd who prefers being number-crunching geek it can be mawkish. But for a heathen, those emotions were as true as their existence because they were largely id driven.
Shakespeare's dramatic and scornful lack of formulaic contruct, especially by the use of transitory effects as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of subplots to embellish the story, has been hailed as being the genesis of great drama in the years to come. His tomes ascribed to a different realistic philosophy that talks many a times of accepting one's status with full raw ferocity and there was nothing collusive about his plot even in the factions that he decribed. His plays give different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes morphing the the form with the progression of the character. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet form over the course of the play. Othello became "egotistical" in jealousy but William Hazlitt. Hazlitt makes a statement saying that "the nature of the Moor is noble...but his blood is of the most inflameable kind".
Hamlet is experienced in polemic. He uses highly developed metaphors, stichomythia, and in nine memorable words deploys both anaphora (as in example of Lincoln's “we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground” and asyndeton(as in example of “I came, I saw, I conquered”): "to die: to sleep— / To sleep, perchance to dream". on the other hand when need be arises, he is succint and forthright, as when he explains his inward emotion to his mother: "But I have that within which passes show, / These but the trappings and the suits of woe". Who can forget Lear declaring 'Never, never, never, never,.....'.
Perhaps Macbeth, 'the son of life' begins the play as a "nice guy." Unlike Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear, no one seems to genuinely admire or love him except as a warlord. Lady Macbeth dislikes him being full of the milk of human kindness. In reckoning the murder, Macbeth seems most worried about the perils and disadvantages to himself. You may enjoy listing these. ("Maybe destiny will make me king without murdering anyone." "It would be more fun to enjoy my current success and popularity for a while." "I'll go to hell." "Duncan is a good man and people won't like his killer." "I might get caught red-handed." "Somebody will assassinate me in turn.") Do you think he's also considering that his what he's doing is wrong? Different people will reach different conclusions.
All said and done, Shakespeare's unputdownable scripts still remain a favourite movie making stuff. Our very own percocious Bollywood moviemaker Vishal Bhardwaj has taken a cue from his novels and made Macbeth and Othello meet a tad east in movies like Maqbool and Onkara. Bollywood's "Last Lear" a treat for Shakespeare lovers by not about Shakespeare and is not based on "King Lear," but fans of the Bard may find traces of both in a new Bollywood film set in conetemporary India.
Amitabh Bachchan, Bollywood's biggest star, plays a reclusive stage actor in "The Last Lear," one who quotes Shakespeare with relish and is making his movie debut at an old age.
Passages from some of Shakespeare's best known works are sprinkled into the film's dialogues.
"Shakespeare almost becomes a character in the film," director Rituparno Ghosh says,"and metaphorically, the vulnerability of old age, an old man who is taken advantage of, is represented in the film,"
For Amitabh Bachchan, the role of Harry and the way he used Shakespeare's language to illustrate his points brought back memories of his own early acting days. It is almost as if Shakespeare himself is the central character of the movie.
Let us not bother about the borrowed rehashings for someting artistically good. After all, it art-for-art's-sake that we are aiming for in the truest of spirits!

An author's blog on the recent financial falls

It was interesting to get it on the rediff homepage. The questions can be: Who will bail-out if the Fed goes bust? Why did it chose AIG over Lehman? How about the Indian decoupling phenomenon? Who is to be held responsible-Allan Greenspan for once or a systemic failure per se? What is in Bernarke's mind nowadays? Has the Wall Street been greedy in recent past? What unprecedented sequence of happenings led to this colossal financial catastrophe? And so on and so forth...
Coming back to the title of the post, which talks of an interesting blog for finance novices like me- "The United States is so broke, its people at every level -- from the Federal Reserve on down -- don't know whether to shit or go blind," wrote James Howard Kunstler an American author and social critic - in one of his blogs.

As an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal puts it, "With the benefit of hindsight, everyone can see that the US economy built up an enormous credit bubble that has now popped. . . this bubble was created principally by a Federal Reserve that kept real interest rates too low for too long. In doing so the Fed created a subsidy for debt and a commodity price spike."
The crash has led few of the experts to philosophize by saying c'est la vie or 'That is life'! Some become rich and vice versa. Socialism crumled decades before and capitalism has not perhaps delivered 100 per cent. But do we have an alternative?
It is ironical that China, India or Russia are opting more for the capitalistic model whereas The US of A is adopting a modicum of socialism. Or can we dream of a third alternative, which will be very realistic and not utopian to start with?
The flip side of rising crude prices and Fed funneling approx 700 bn dollars to sort of mitigate the impending finacial crisis has been that dollar has taken flight from emerging markets like India resulting in rupee's exchange rate has depreciated dramatically during this period whereas the sudden and colossal demand for the US greenback has seen it strengthen.
On the other hand, India's ivy-league B-schools are still going gung-ho on day zero placements. Last year, IIM-A had scapped GD as a part of the selection process for full time PGP(MBA) selection. This year it has come up with more electives. Premier B-Schools are not bothered much. Consultancy is one of the hot favourites with the top students of IIMs and more than 3-4th have opted to work in India. Can we still say that the world is flat? It can be depending on the stakes.

Sachin opts out of the upcoming Irani trophy

Bad news for all the die-hard Sachin fans who indefatigably love to watch him play in the park. However, he has been rested as per BCCI keeping the upcoming Aussie tour in mind. Tis surprising how much zing is attached still to any test format. That ratifies the holiness of this format. Despite cricketing legends lamenting the loss of sheen in Indo-Pak rivalry,(more so because of Pakistan cricketing side being a depleted one now), Indo-Aussie rivalry still enthuses a few cricket fans. You need quality bowling attack to challenge Sachin, Dhoni or any other veteran batter. Kumble might just gradually give way to Dhoni for the test captaincy but 'Jumbo'will always be remembered for his amazing consistency all these years. I saw his 8-wicket haul againt Australia in an inning in a test series in Jan, 2004. The match also saw India crossing 700 plus runs with Sachin top-scoring with 241* runs in the first innings and 60* in the second one. However, 'Jumbo' has been magical many times, especially in Kotla, Delhi, where he took all the ten wickets in an inning, if I am getting it correctly. Then again not being given captaincy in the lengthier format has perhaps eased off things for Dhoni as of now who seems to a cool customer in the faster formats. Ponting has a point to set the records straight this series and erase all doubts regarding his shoddy performance in India and he has the calibre to achieve any milestone. Forget his 12 plus average in test cricket on the Indian soil. He can be a masterclass act anyday. He is more restrained in his speech these days and Clarke, the new face of the future Aussie leadership brigade has cautioned the Aussie batsmen to be wary of Indian spinners. Similarly, Kapil has cautioned India against complacency. Gilchrist and Sachin have called any Indo-Aussie series as 'iconic'. We cricket lovers are eagerly awaiting the start of the series in October and let us hope that Sachin will get the 77 plus runs need to become the highest run-getter even in the Test cricket. Even if he does not, he will remain the best after calling it quits. I am sure Lara, another legend, will not rest in peace if it happens very soon. Another legend Viv Richards was able to grab 30 odd man of the match awards in almost half the matches vis-vis other greats. Sachin has been over 50 plus times the man of the match recipient. Ganguly is not very far behind either in that. But time has come for him perhaps to quit gracefully and remain in good memories in the minds of all the cricket fans and not just the bengali cricket fans. He has contributed a lot to India and pioneered the now famous 'aggro' quotient in the team.
In the end, let us hope again that Sachin will bounce back again and critics will not make him a punching bag again for any normal 'human' failure. Border-Gavaskar series, please get started ASAP!

Hurricane Lehman and Delhi blasts

Lehman gone bust, Merill Lynch sold and Fed bailing out AIG. Global cues are very disappointing. In India, terror strikes are commoner and it has become a euphemism to say that the spirit of the target city is as vibrant as ever despite the attacks. If newly n-powered Indian capital is not safe, what to say of the rest? Government is still soft on everything and the politicians are behaving like selfish cowards interested only in vote banks. It's a truism that while tackling terrorism, the government always appears as either partisan or too soft. Shivraj Patil showed his sartorial elegance in full flow that evening(that of Delhi blasts) by changing clothes thrice within few hours for addressing the media to deliver soundbites on his take on the terror attacks in India. The minority community is not to be blamed for Islamist militancy because it has been at the receiving ends in most of the cases and it is only a misguided section in any community that is responsible. That actually does more harm to the reputation of their own community for which they are willing to lay down and take innocent lives. The victims in any terrorist activity do not belong to any faith. They are just human beings. But we are prejudiced to see only one side of the coin. The appeasement policies of the government have done little good to the minority community in any social sphere. They need better amenities and care in the real sense. Educate them more, give them better jobs and last but not least please trust their patriotism or allegiance. Let us not forget Abdul Hamid, Ashfaqullah Khan, Begum Hazrat, Annie Besant, Bhagat Singh and the rest who are the rolemodels for any Indian patriot. They did not belong to the dominant majority community. The same trust should be given to the Maoists, Naxalites, ULFA, LTTE or any other warring outfit. Meaningful dialogues might work wonders.
On-the-cricket-front, Ozs have full right to raise security concerns as Indian security scenario now seems no different from that in Pakistan, which has perhaps rightfully pointed out the discrimination carried on security pretexts. India is now on a similar path.
God knows who will take care of our materialistic accumulations when the security could be sabotaged as per the will of the terrorists. The economy is already in a jeopardy because of global slowdown and now our families are not safe too. What will we do with the dollars, yens, euros, or simply any other basket of currency? Amitabh Bacchan did not miss the opportunity to say in his blog that Abhishek Bacchan could have been the hapless victim of terror blasts in Delhi as he was in CP that evening. The poor have lost the will to say anything. They are much too bored now with the daily miseries.
However, love is even more required now to end hatred. Let everyone feel the peace within and outside. Amen!

phelps and bolt rule

Bindra is the new poster boy in Ind1a but itz Phelps and Bolt that have outshone the rest. Mark Spitz is not spitting but heaping encomiums on Phelps and Michael Johnson is acknowledging gleefully the bolt from the blue in the name of Usain Bolt. Beijing mandarins must be happier too after an all round execellent spectacle so far.

run-of-the-mill

The first million will perhaps come in the next janam but I am looking forward to have a good tryst with spirituality. Rehab is round the corner or at least an honest attempt is on for that.
Ratiocination leaves one high and dry and non-conformity is important at times. Osho says that do not follow the master just for the heck of it and it is tragic that majorly religious protagonists have tried to shoot two birds with one arrow. They killed the joy and gave stress just to ensure that their bastion remains secure. Indeed, it is foolhardy to run after a rigmarole. The world is illusory not because it is not real but because in a heightened state of self-centredness it remains forgotten. That can be called a form of infantile narcissism but it is the transcendence of the temporal. Enlightenment may come in a flash and may not come in the eons to come. But few icons scared the masses about it and could have done well to give false enchantment initially because the spiritual journey once started in the right direction would spontaneously make the disciple discard excess baggage who might not mind the initial fanciful presicience of the master.
The dogmas are fetters and that proves Marx right at places. There have been intellectuals but very few intelligent people, says the master. We learn from the simplest of things. A tea-shop owner daily opening his shop in the morning without fail might well set a touchstone of specs for the top executives. A green tree standing tall since years can inspire a virtuoso to paint a magnum opus. Mona Lisa was the center of the cosmos for Da Vinci when he painted the masterpiece and the world's greatest genius refused riches owing to his love for that.
The world is metamorphosing in something new and different and lot many spritual, artistic, literary things et al are becoming archaic but it soothes at times to return back to the basics.
Everything remains the same. Same curtains, flower pots and doors! But the flower becomes redolent in bliss. The walls reveal blithely inner secrets and the monsoon showers bring forth the child.
Happiness is the keynote of life perhaps. And thanks God that mankind finds ways more than one to remain happy even in the warp of prosperity and the woof of suffering!

Exacting faith

Emptiness is a negative connotation depending on the usage. Osho says that plain emptiness is negative but full of emptiness is positive. The insecurities abound as we pine too much for securities. Overemphasis always leads to a reaction. Let us be like a hollow pipe, which is blissfully unaware of the resources but still remains a good participant in the euphony of nature when required. The universal consiousness is all pervasive. Let us meditate to sing and dance and then a thousand orgasms might just burst forth and might recompense infinitely more for the materialistic losses. A yogi is a practical person as he believes first in keeping his body healthy. A stressed and burnt-out executive may not be that practical if the monetising circumstances are taking a toll on the body. A tree man knows the fragrance of the trees even as a die-hard agnostic cannot explain by dissecting a seed how the seed gives rise to the leaves, flowers, foliage, stem or any other living form. Similarly, infinite atoms comprising matter is reason enough to make us believe in a divine power who is now not lost after creating all these. The designs of the creator are abstruse but one can empathize with people like Thomas Hardy who wrote tomes on the world being full of sufferings and claimed in one of his writings that earth is a blighted planet. Perhaps, circumstances are stronger than faith at times. Facts supersede the truth at times.
Cautious optimism is good as a business jargon and optimism beomes a literary jargon at times.
However, it is good to try and have faith that only God will guide us through all these and we can say, "This too shall pass!"
And it is not that we mortals try to extract our pound of flesh in that! We are deperate without HIM!

a day without a high in the night!

It is different but how much it is, God knows!
In the morning itself, flashes of teenage affections started troubling and the mind started wondering how can one forget all these after all these!
Five years of unbridled affections and then a few cardinal sins and it is gone, all in a flash...
Ten years back, it was about the same and now also it is the same: memories that are haunting the soul. What has changed? The riches, achievements, hedonism, conscience, or plainly the circumstances?
God knows!
Sometimes it is best left unpondered. Let it go on like this. Let it flow uninterrupted like this. Let God be the saviour!
"Osho: Nothing to Lose But Your Head"

lovely love

Good to be full of love some times even if it is like the ephemeral flower of beauty that might wilt away very soon! The objective to exist is more pronounced in that. It is a blissful stupor and feeds the rest in the cosmos with an undefinable resonance.
This mixed with the feeling of becoming a 'chacha' has been great. I thank God for the great day today. Who knows if all the days do not remain similarly blissful? Hoping for the best for the entire humankind and praying to God for that!

night and morning anamoly

In the nights the resolve is steely that something extraordinary will happen the next morning...
In the morning, it becomes a dampener...
Psst...
It is wrong committing something without observing a pattern emerging out of the past few fortnights performance. Excusing oneself is the easy way out but that is the only way out in trying circumstances. This is amply clear to someone who bore the brunt on-the-business-front and even clearer to the other one who has suffered excruciationg mental agony of committment.
The back-up should be there in place before starting a venture.

What is the sum of 1/sqrt(n)?

just came across a question
What is the integral value of 1+1/sqrt(2)+1/sqrt(3)+1/sqrt(4)+.....1/sqrt(1000?
i am curious about the general formula till the nth term. This is what i could dig out in a limited timeline:

What's the formula for

n
SUM [1/sqrt(i)]?
i=1

The sum lies
between 2*sqrt(n)-2 and 2*sqrt(n). That is because what you have is
bounded above by

INT [1/sqrt(t) dt] from 0 to n

and below by

INT [1/sqrt(t) dt] from 1 to n

which have the values as indicated.

The formula for the sum is a bit difficult. It is:
n
SUM k^(-1/2) = 2*n^(1/2) - 3/2 + n^(-1/2)/2 -
k=1
n
(1/2)*INT (x-[x]-1/2)*x^(-3/2) dx)
1

Here [x] means the greatest integer less than x. This can be proved by Mathematical Induction.

Math Camp

I remember when I was in my 10+2 days it was rumoured that a student from a local school had proved Fermat's theorem. It is years later that I am reading about the theorem. The curiosity was immense in those days. Sometimes I miss those days when we used to be obsessed with Science and Math questions. I read a bit from the book Snapshots from Hell, which is a nice book talking about fun in Mathematics.

Something about Fermat's last theorem:
X^n+Y^n=Z^n is a diophantine equation, which has no nontrivial solutions for n>2 and x.y, z being non-zero. It has a long and fascinating history and is known as Fermat's last theorem.

Fermat first scribbled Fermat's last theorem in the margin of his copy of the ancient Greek text Arithmetica by Diophantus. The scribbled note was discovered posthumously, and the original is now lost. However, a copy was preserved in a book published by Fermat's son.

The full text of Fermat's statement, written in Latin, reads "Cubum autem in duos cubos, aut quadrato-quadratum in duos quadrato-quadratos, et generaliter nullam in infinitum ultra quadratum potestatem in duos eiusdem nominis fas est dividere cuius rei demonstrationem mirabilem sane detexi. Hanc marginis exiguitas non caperet" (Nagell 1951, p. 252). In translation, "It is impossible for a cube to be the sum of two cubes, a fourth power to be the sum of two fourth powers, or in general for any number that is a power greater than the second to be the sum of two like powers. I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition that this margin is too narrow to contain."

As a result of Fermat's marginal note, the proposition that the Diophantine equation
X^n+Y^n=Z^n
where x, y, z, and n are integers, has no nonzero solutions for n>2 has come to be known as Fermat's Last Theorem. It was called a "theorem" on the strength of Fermat's statement, despite the fact that no other mathematician was able to prove it for hundreds of years.

The restriction for n>2 is so because we have infinite value of Pythagorean triples satisfying the equation for x^2+y^2=z^2.

Ramanujan number

The number 1729 is indeed interesting. It is the smallest number that can be expressed as a sum of two cubes not once but twice.
1729=10^3+963
=12^3+1^3
It was discovered by Ramanujan who did extensive self-trained research on Mathematics.

This property of 1729 was mentioned by the character Robert the sometimes insane mathematician, played by Anthony Hopkins, in the 2005 film Proof. It was also part of the designation of the spaceship Nimbus BP-1729 appearing in Season 2 of the animated television series Futurama episode DVD 2ACV02, as well as the robot character Bender's serial number, as portrayed in a Christmas card in the episode Xmas Story.


I read an article online that reflected a wee bit of the genius of this man. The link is: http://www.durangobill.com/Ramanujan.html. I am able to comprehend a bit of the pattern. However, I believe thay since there is a program in C to generate Ramanujan numbers, the algorithm for the same can be understood with a bit of hard work. With my little comprehension, I am trying to give the key features of this. Here it goes:


Durango Bill’s
Ramanujan Numbers
and
The Taxicab Problem


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


If you mention the number “1729” or the phrase “Taxicab Problem” to any mathematician, it will immediately bring up the subject of the self-taught Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan. When Ramanujan was dying of tuberculosis in a hospital, G. H. Hardy would frequently visit him. It was on one of these visits that the following occurred according to C. P. Snow.


“Hardy used to visit him, as he lay dying in hospital at Putney. It was on one of those visits that there happened the incident of the taxicab number. Hardy had gone out to Putney by taxi, as usual his chosen method of conveyance. He went into the room where Ramanujan was lying. Hardy, always inept about introducing a conversation, said, probably without a greeting, and certainly as his first remark: ‘I thought the number of my taxicab was 1729. It seemed to me rather a dull number.’ To which Ramanujan replied: ‘No, Hardy! No, Hardy! It is a very interesting number. It is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.’”


Since then, integer solutions to:

I^3 + J^3 = K^3 + L^3

have been called “Ramanujan Numbers”.

The first five of these are:
Ramanujan Number
I J K L (No “,” With “,”)
----------------------------------------------
1 12 9 10 1729 1,729
2 16 9 15 4104 4,104
2 24 18 20 13832 13,832 (This is a multiple of Solution 1)
10 27 19 24 20683 20,683
4 32 18 30 32832 32,832 (This is a multiple of Solution 2)

The lowest solution to this “2-way” problem is also referred to as “Taxicab(2)”.



Ramanujan Triples

Next, we might ask if there are any triple pair solutions to I^3 + J^3 = K^3 + L^3 = M^3 + N^3 where all the numbers are integers. Again, there are an infinite number of solutions. The first 5 solutions are:

Ramanujan Triple
I J K L M N (No “,” With “,”)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
228 423 167 436 255 414 87539319 87,539,319
11 493 90 492 346 428 119824488 119,824,488
111 522 408 423 359 460 143604279 143,604,279
70 560 198 552 315 525 175959000 175,959,000
339 661 300 670 510 580 327763000 327,763,000

Solutions involving 3 pairs are also called 3-way solutions. The lowest solution to any “N-Way” problem is also called a “Taxicab Number”. Thus “Taxicab(3)” is 87539319.



Ramanujan Quadruples

The sequence can be extended through Ramanujan Quadruples. (There are 4 ways that the sum of two cubes can share a common sum.) The first five quadruple pairs (I^3 + J^3 = K^3 + L^3 = M^3 + N^3 = O^3 + P^3) are:

Ramanujan
I J K L M N O P Quadruple
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
13322 16630 10200 18072 5436 18948 2421 19083 6,963,472,309,248
12939 21869 10362 22580 7068 23066 4275 23237 12,625,136,269,928
17176 25232 11772 26916 8664 27360 1539 27645 21,131,226,514,944
21930 24940 14577 28423 12900 28810 4170 29620 26,059,452,841,000
26644 33260 20400 36144 10872 37896 4842 38166 55,707,778,473,984 (A multiple)

Taxicab(4) is thus 6963472309248.

Ramanujan Quintuples


If a number can be formed by the sum of 2 cubes in 5 different ways (5-way solution) it becomes a Ramanujan Quintuple. The 16 lowest primitive solutions are shown in the table below. The lowest is of course “Taxicab(5)” which has been found/verified by several sources. The ramanujans.c program took 3 hrs. 15 min. for Taxicab(5). (The current optimized version cuts this to less than 2 hours.)

(I^3 + J^3 = K^3 + L^3 = M^3 + N^3 = O^3 + P^3 = Q^3 + R^3)

I J K L M N O P Q R
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) 231518 331954 221424 336588 205292 342952 107839 362753 38787 365757
3) 579240 666630 543145 691295 285120 776070 233775 781785 48369 788631
8) 1462050 1478238 1150792 1690544 788724 1803372 580488 1833120 103113 1852215
13) 1872184 2750288 1283148 2933844 944376 2982240 265392 3012792 167751 3013305
16) 2808000 2953080 2384460 3250260 2025400 3408080 1041204 3602796 262665 3631095
19) 2273733 3527139 1941984 3642078 1654136 3711070 1329636 3762990 653022 3811152
22) 2615985 3692391 1839516 3958290 1164002 4054792 640500 4081266 120069 4086483
34) 4972160 5227585 3884265 5917170 2595033 6285342 2416890 6313545 1006145 6421240
35) 4542802 5670830 3478200 6162552 1853676 6461268 825561 6507303 581384 6510184
38) 3811712 6608416 3126048 6792768 2658867 6876621 1509320 6983224 1084848 6997968
39) 5486400 5769864 4658868 6350508 3957320 6658864 3325590 6843114 513207 7094601
46) 5966610 6293820 5348655 6758505 3469365 7488675 2641964 7624786 225810 7729020
50) 5708052 7282590 5384475 7465677 4989264 7651854 4016670 7976052 3179918 8143576
53) 5167575 8016225 4413600 8277450 4112052 8356698 3759400 8434250 3021900 8552250
57) 6461170 8065550 4947000 8764920 2636460 9189780 1405246 9250754 1174185 9255255
65) 8387550 8480418 6601912 9698384 3330168 10516320 935856 10624056 591543 10625865

Of interest is the increasing sparseness of numbers that can be formed by the sum of two cubes. At 1.0E+20, only one number in 16,000,000 is the sum of two cubes. The sparseness slowly gets worse with increasing number size. A Poisson Distribution calculation based on this “density” indicates a random number near 1.0E+20 should have only a 7.9E-39 probability of forming a 5-way solution. If numbers that can be formed by the sum of two cubes were distributed randomly, there probably wouldn’t be any 5-way or greater solutions. (This would be particularly true for primitive solutions beyond the first one or two.) Given that sporadic 5-way solutions exist, one can conclude that the distribution is not entirely random. (This extends beyond the known modulo 9 relationship.)

Ramanujan Sextuples


The process of “N-way” solutions can be extended to numbers that can be formed by the sum of 2 cubes in 6 different ways. There are several known solutions, but the search run by Uwe Hollerbach confirms that “Taxicab(6)” is the result shown below.

Taxicab(6) = 24153319581254312065344
= 28906206^3 + 582162^3
= 28894803^3 + 3064173^3
= 28657487^3 + 8519281^3
= 27093208^3 + 16218068^3
= 26590452^3 + 17492496^3
= 26224366^3 + 18289922^3


It is interesting to note that this candidate for Taxicab(6) is 79 times Taxicab(5). If you multiply the I, J, K, etc. components of Taxicab(5) by 79, you will get the last 5 pairs of Taxicab(6). (The actual resulting number is 79^3 times larger.)

One possible way of constructing “N” way solutions is to start with “N-1” way primitive solutions and generate/try all possible multiples to see if anything interesting happens. The author tried multiplying all the above primitive 5-way solutions by all integers such that the result was less than Taxicab(6). There were no new smaller 6-way solutions. (Note: All integer multiples have to be used for these trials and not just multiples using prime numbers. For example, the 5th primitive 5-way solution, “16)” above, is 65 times a primitive 4-way solution, and “65” is not a prime.)

Cabtaxi Numbers

While “Taxicab(N)” is defined as the lowest number that can be formed by the sum of two cubes in “N” different ways, Cabtaxi(N) is defined as the lowest number that can be formed by the sum and/or difference of two cubes in “N” different ways. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabtaxi_number for more information.)

Punter

I have found a daffy definition of punter. The punter is a result oriented person, who cares a damn for methods. He usually solves his problems from answer choices. I would love to be a punter in attitude. Will love to post a little about punter.

Doubtful USP!

If the USP becomes doubtful then what can be done? It causes an immense loss of self-belief when one's belief in one's core competence gets shattered. After being known for one particular domain and then being known for other can be okayish for most of us but is very painful for someone who had put his heart and soul into that. It is tough to reconcile with the loss of a particular skillset. Never mind. Every loss comes at the cost of a gain. Is it a zero sum game? Let me not rue over my brain shifting position from right to left. I always had a bit of lefist leanings.:)

planning to go to Noida

Hey,
just wanna desperately a drinks break...
letz c what noida pals have planned for the treat tonight!
i recall how a teacher chides a student for having correctly told the meaning of the word, "dipsomaniac"!
He said, "You were not supposed to know this!"
i also wanna a home trip very soon...
Do not want any of the, "been there, seen that" stuff for a bit of time!

Good Mourning

Good Morning!
What should be a 'Suprabhat' starting with a 'Surya Namaskar' is rarely like that. It rather starts with pair of cigarettes in a row. That is hazardous but is required to recover from the slumber. The feeling does not sink in initially that it is work time folks.
Looking for an alternate vista where the eyes are not wide shut like this. Instead, they will open naturally in response to an internal stimulus. I can recall how I used to wake up early in the morning in anticipation of publishing of my write-up in a local newspaper. Since then I have not moonlighted or worked as a freelancer but plan to dabble and not work full-time irrespective of what comes of it. Until then,
Good Mourning!

The familiar surroundings beckon!

Oh, I love the sticky leaves of my garden now when i am off it and stranded in a concrete jungle! How can one rue over the loss? I mean in what ways can one express the deepest desire to smell the breath of fresh air emanating from the familiar shores of my village! Every village has its own story. Forget about Kerela being God's own country. Probably god resides in villages more than in the cities or let us presume that god is in the cities only on weekends. Because God is simple and does not wish to take care of urban machinations at times.
Yeah, there is an intensity required to stand up to a cause. In my case it is rather simple as well as complicated as I prefer to listen to the heart and not much to the mind. It is strange why so much emphasis is given on sacrificing your instincts every now and then. Probably the rules to live have changed over a period of time and I am living eons away from the so called mainstream.
I can only say, "The heart has its own reasons whereof reason knows nothing"!
Donno know but somehow pantheism attracts now.Is God really found in nature? Life is life everywhere. I will try to find out life in the melee that upsets my conscience normally. It will be difficult but I will try.

The vernacular err domino effect

The local patoi is good for the ears but it can potentially damage your twang and might render you unfit for the corporate or any other chilled out metro ambiance. It is not a phoney talk but it is true. Ergo, watch out all you upcountry dudes aspiring a career in corporate sweepstakes! This does not take away your love for the hometown. It is important to take tough calls keeping in mind the bigger picture. It is not a loss to burn your fingers once or twice in a venture. You learn something good. But it is vital to realign the business models as per the trends. This realisation has come to me a bit late. But never mind. I will try not to embark on a journey through the road less travelled for a while.:)

Sadist says, " Power trip again due to inefficient administration."

As I make up my mind to write something about the screwed days, light has gone off adding to my mental woes. Load shedding has become the order of the day and ten hours of power cut in UP is a de riguer. Aj behenji ki maya hai. Kal kisi aur ki hogi.
But do I need more than ten hours of electricity? Someone rightly pointed out whether I do something for the system. Verily, I do not exercise my franchise and am anti-suffragist. Too bad. We must practice what we preach.

Nowadays it is becoming increasingly difficult to acclimatize with the flora and fauna of a place because the mind has become quite complacent. Now this compacency is different from that within the soul of a supined seer. This is lethargy and I need to pull up the socks.
Now this write-up might invite comments as people are more happy when one is in distress over something. I heard the meaning of the word 'sadism' few years back. The denotation was clear. The connotation is now clearer.
There is a bit of sadist in me too. Let me see how I can try to curb my sadistic instincts. It is well nigh impossible. But I do have the guts to confess.

Inflation hits a 3-year high in India!

Inflation hit the 7% mark and the BSE sensex plummeted as the global cues were disappointing again. It was expected to snap a bit. The sentiments were negative as BSE witnessed nearly 3% fall of 483.92 points and ended at 15,343. Benchmarks ended their short run-up because of rise in commodity prices.
HDFC (down 6.57%), BHEL (6.55%), Mahindra & Mahindra (5.86%), Larsen & Toubro (5.58%) and Jaiprakash Associates (5.03%) were the biggest index losers.
Ranbaxy Laboratories, up 2.73 per cent, was the only Sensex gainer. Market breadth remained negative with 1,817 declines and 815 advances on the BSE.
So many stocks took the knock and the investors' faith remains shattered as of now.
The US government is under pressure to intevene in US housing market to mitigate the repurcussions of a possible economic slowdown.
“Given the magnitude of the systemic and macro­economic risks the US faces, there is a growing case for a finely calibrated public intervention, perhaps addressing both the demand-side as well as the supply-side of the problem,” the Institute of International Finance said.
Eulogising interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of America, it however added that closer co-operation between these banks and their European and Japanese counterparts was of “critical importance”.

Yesterday was a bad day for the stock market

Yesterday was not promising for the stock market after it showed signs of resilience last week. The BSE sensex shed 700 plus points and fell below 16k again. The large caps took the knock. Global cues were negative and inflationary concerns are impacting the market sentiments. India is likely to steel itself against inflation by asking domestic iron ore producers to lower prices as part of a range of emergency measures aimed at stemming an alarming jump in inflation.
The government is reducing import duties and scrapping some export incentives for steel producers in response to rising inflation, which hit a 13-month high of 6.68 per cent in the week ending March 15.
News is just in that Ketan Parekh has been sentenced to 1 year jail for the 1992 stocks scam.
Also, the Bombay Stock Exchange could list on its own market this year either through an initial public offering or a direct listing, Rajnikant Patel, the group's chief executive, said.

Pakistan on the road to recovery perhaps

Yesterday, I chanced to read again a bit from the novel 'Adha Gaon' by Rahi Masoom Reza.
Rahi Masoom Reza’s candid and controversial novel unfolds during the latter years of the Raj and the first decade of Independence and portrays the loves, fights and litigations of rival halves of a zamindar family. It attacks the creation of Pakistan and studies the abolition of the zamindari system and its repercussions at the village level. A semi-autobiographical tome set in the author’s village of Gangauli, in Ghazipur district on the fringes of Avadh, Adha Gaon, is full of passion and vibrancy, a powerful record of the meeting of Muslim and Hindu cultural traditions that bound Indian society together.
It is sad that we fight with each other in the garb of communalism. We are like siblings and still fight tooth and nail against each other. Those who love their villages can empathize with the sufferings in the novel. The writer says somewhere that he was happy to be known as the resident of Gangali village and was saddened when people started knowing each other as Shia, Sunni or Hindu.
On-the-neighbour's-front, I believe that India and Pakistan together can be a force to reckon with and this axis will upset the geopolitical balance in our favor perhaps.
With the restoration of democracy in Pakistan, there are chances that Pakistan will be able to overcome the challanges especially that of terrorism. The new PM Yousuf Raza Gilani has taken a very positive step of proposing to initiate dialogues with the militants so that they can lay down their arms and live peaceful lives. As per the new PM, 'war against terrorism' is Pakistan's own war as it has suffered a lot due to it. There has been an unprecedented increase in violence in Pakistan reently. The perils still exist. The PM has planned to reinstate the judges that were sacked by General Musharraf. This demacratically elected government has shown light at the end of tunnel and peace will perhaps return in Pakistan and elsewhere. We will perhaps experience a family reunion again.
Let us hope that India-Pakistan will forge warmer ties and will together grow in stature on all fronts.

The transit feeling of Love in a flash

Never thought how an old man suddenly discovers in a rare flash what it means to be in the reflection of love! It hurts when you had been feeling all along that you are beyond this feeling in these very modern times of ours and in the circumstance you are but suddenly you realize in a brief transit of time that you are just a human being prone to falling in an emotional trap despite all apalling contradictions. It all stems from continued interactions. The heart races off to a an alternative but not parallel world where you are content just with love and are willing to do or at least imagine things that are not sober enough for your profile. You feel a twinge of sadness.
Well, blame on gods or thank goodness, the vulgar reality gets the upper of the surreal and that darned practicality makes inroads to remind you of all sorts of mundane insecurities because one may not be content with the status of Giles Winterborne of Woodlanders whose muse Grace Mulbery had wronged him and had a never-ceasing pity for the man in the end and posits her feeling thus:
A man who had been unfortunate in his worldy transactions; who notwithstanding these things had, like Hamlet's friend, borne himself through all his scathings
As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing.

Dor

What a movie! Nagesh Kuknoor delivered an uncharacteristic genre of filmmaking. The young faces were absolutely awesome and showcased the nuances of acting. The plot did not have any masala but that did not take away the zing from it. It was perhaps the lack of climaxes that made the movie special and very very realistic.
Those who have the appetite for big-budgeted, opulent, star-studded, melodramatic Bollywood movies may not find pleasure in watching a relatively small-budget, realistic film with Ayesha Takia, Gul Panag and Shreyas Talpade in the lead roles.
The story majorly revolves around two women- Mira (Ayesha Takia) whose husband has been accidentally killed by the husband of Zeenat (Gul Panag) who wants her husband to be acquited by a 'mafinama' from Mira. Both have different personality types and complement each other. Zeenat is a headstrong woman who has always struggled to live life her way. Mira is a domesticated character who plays a meek, submissive widow with muffled desires but she is the one who choses a life of independence in the end. Behroopiya(Shreyas Tarpade) dupes people with his antics but helps Zeenat to find Mira. In the end Mira gives 'mafinama' to Zeenat and Zeenat finds a friend in her forever.
Music is fantabaulous and there is something nostalgic about the song 'Yeh hausla kaise jhuke...'
This movie is a cinematic treatise on how to realize that there is can be life beyond the metros without any antagonism intended. The happy dancing of the trio in the deserts on the song 'Kajrare..' was hilarious. It was delightful to find a docile widow breaking the shackles of widowhood by enjoying a bit. The message was good that loving someone after the lover's death is not lost because of a few happy moments.
The locales of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan have been picturised beautifully.
Hats off to Nagesh Kuknoor and the entire unit for 'Dor'!