Allow me to make an auspicious start by wishing you all - Happy Ganesh Chaturthi. Dear parents flew back to India on August 24, to celebrate the yearly Ganesh puja at home. The most festive time of the year in my hometown, Mumbai. All those people, all the sonorous beating of drums, all that fun with friends and relatives! Sigh, I guess one cannot have everything at all times. The law of conservation of happiness (satisfaction) does exist after all. This post is a "mixture" of updates, thoughts and emotions. Hence, the title.
We had an interesting Labor day weekend. I will have to give you some background information to explain my first activity. So, here it goes. A few months ago, my alma mater, the Drexel Plasma Institute got more than just a facelift. It was re-established as the A. J. Drexel Plasma Institute (AJDPI, facelift) with an objective of (I quote) - "development of use-inspired research programs leading to the development of new technologies and applications in their designated areas that will contribute to the development of practical solutions to complex societal problems". I hear that they are planning to expand and move the lab to an independent research building in Camden, NJ. If you haven't been following, I would like to introduce AJDPI's major research initiative to you -- Plasma Medicine. DPI researchers (my former lab mates) have developed a floating electrode cold plasma device that can be used for several medical applications like rapid coagulation of blood on wounds and non-surgical treatment of skin conditions/cancers. The most intriguing part of the technology is that your body acts as the secondary electrode that comes in direct contact with plasma (see picture, ref.). For the ones interested, here is an excellent review paper related to development, discussion of possible mechanisms and applications of Plasma Medicine. This of course led to considerable media attention and licensing (another link) of this technology. Dr. Fridman (my Ph.D. research advisor and Director, AJDPI) even spoke to the French media about the wonders of Plasma Medicine in Orleans, France. I cannot explain enough, how proud I feel about being the first "official" Ph.D. student to graduate from the DPI. It is an honor that I will cherish all my life. By the way, here are some neat pictures (students with plasma technologies developed in the lab) taken at the AJDPI by a professional photographer, similar to the one selected for the Drexel Research Report 2005 with myself in it.
Alright, coming back to the point -- we had a nice get-together on August 30 at Dr. Fridman's home to celebrate the establishment of the AJDPI (see picture). As expected of most student attendees, I too was asked to prepare an act for the event. During our get-together in 2006, I sang "Mera Joota Hai Japani" from the movie Shri 420. I knew this would fly without a problem, because Raj Kapoor movies were quite popular in Russia in the 1950s. This time around I was asked to perform something with an alumni theme in it. The only song that struck me (you probably guessed it) was, "Papa Kehte Hain" from Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (my favorite movie as an 8 year old). A video of the event (and my act) is currently being uploaded, I will share it when I get hold of it (hopefully in my next post). I also came across the newest AJDPI anthem written by Dr. Fridman - check it out. Here is a video with Dr.Fridman and the DPI bandwagon singing it! Here are a whole lot of pictures from the event (courtesy Grisha Fridman).
On August 31, I partially fulfilled a longtime dream of mine -- to visit the US Open at Flushing, NY. I say partially, because it would have been complete if I had witnessed Andre Agassi play at the open. Argh, LCH strikes again! Anyway, we (the usual suspects) had a great time. We watched two matches, Elena Dementieva vs. Li Na and Novak Djokovic vs. Marin Cilic. The second match was an amazing one wherein Cilic (seeded 30, who we were supporting!) gave a tough fight to Djokovic (seeded 3) all the way to the end. Check out a panoramic snapshot (below) of insides of the Arthur Ashe Stadium. We took loads of pictures -- take a look (these are pictures compiled from 3 cameras, so you might see repeats. Apologies!). On the way to the open, we also had some fun with DF Swats' magnificent hair.
On Sept 1 (Labor day holiday), we shot a new home video (as expected of us). DF Ankit has promised to complete the editing over this weekend. I recommend that you bookmark this link, where I suppose he will release the final video. Else, be assured that it will show up in my next post. Just to give you a glimpse of what you can expect, check out a still taken from the raw video footage. I for one, cannot wait!
I love writing about my DFs on this blog (remember the intent?). This is simply because I'd like to share my joy of experiencing these wonderful personalities, with the rest of the world. Today, I would like to introduce to you, an interesting group of friends that I met during Drexel days. They arrived at Drexel in 2004 (an year after I did) and proclaimed themselves as "Drexel Warriors" (cheesy name, yes). They came and revolutionized the face of Indian cultural activities at Drexel. Such mass-enthusiasm to pursue all-things-fun was not something that Drexel Desis had experienced before. We often referred to them as the "Gujju Gang". Here are some innovative ways that this group came up with to celebrate birthdays. Freaking awesome!
Apparently, it all started at DF Tarak's birthday where they were fishing for an interesting party theme. They decided to relive their childhood memories and set up a "Kid's Birthday Party" theme. This included all elements of a kid's party - balloons, whistles, hats, ribbons, Sponge Bob Cake, pizza, soda, fun games, return gifts, magic show, etc. The special acts at the party were DFs Saurin as the clown, Viraj as a magician and Sherna played the mother. Check out all pictures here.
They then decided to surprize DF Saurin on his birthday. This time they took on the tourists at Central Park, NY with a "Greek Theme". Saurin was asked to come to park for a get-together and to his amazement, found the rest of them dressed as Greek mythical characters when he arrived -- DFs Palak as the Helen of Troy, Sherna as Hera the Queen of Heaven, Tarak as Hydra, Suchitra as Aphrodite, Ashish as Socrates, Ashmi as Dido, Viraj as Alexander, Kinjal as Zeus, Gaurang as Hercules, Heman as Achilles and of course, the star of the show Saurin as Apollo. I hear that the visitors at park began taking pictures of and with them enquiring about the details of the show. Hilarious! Check out all pictures here.
Most recently they took on a popular Bollywood movie -- "Sarkar Raj" at DF Kinjal's Birthday. The setup is that each one of them comes to Sarkar with a problem of theirs. Unlike the movie, inexperienced Sarkar Kinjal ended up with no solution to any of their hilarious problems. As usual, DF Sherna plays Mrs. Sarkar. Check out all pictures here. Hope you enjoyed these pictures. Thanks to DF Saurin for sharing them with us.
Three weeks ago (or so), a junior of mine from Manipal days (Undergrad), Naman initiated a yahoo group to promote networking amongst past and current MITians. If you are a DF from MIT Manipal, I strongly recommend that you join this group -- mit_alums@yahoogroups.com. A few days ago, a current MIT student sent an email to the group informing us about this new initiative, Formula Manipal. I can tell you (being one myself) that it is every MIT mechanical engineering student's dream (if not all of India) to put together something like this. What a tremendous effort?! I hear that they will be traveling to Marenello, Italy to compete at the FSAE Italy 2008. My congratulations to the team on their achievement. You know who I will be cheering for, right?!
Moving on to more serious issues that I would like to/you to pay attention to. On Aug 18, an embankment on the Kosi river was breached at the Indo-Nepal border that caused severe flooding in Bihar. I hear that this happened because Kosi changed its course following the breach. It now flows incessantly through several villages in Bihar, displacing millions of families, killing hundreds, destroying agricultural land and still worsening. It has been three weeks since the disaster, many people are still trapped in their homes with relief efforts slowly moving in. This is a time that the people of Bihar need your prayers and generous donations. Here is a link that enlists several ways that you can provide monetary contributions to the relief efforts. Also, last evening DW and I watched a show on NBC called "Stand Up to Cancer". Several Hollywood and television personalities came together to promote a "surge of humanity" towards Cancer research. I urge each one of you to donate. I hope we will see a cure for cancer in our lifetime.
Changing gear again. This according to me, is the most happening time of the year in the USA. The NFL season started on Thursday where NY Giants beat the Washington Redskins. Loved it. I cannot wait for Dear Team (DT) Philadelphia Eagles to take on the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. With several other events and occasions coming up like the MLB World Series (10/22), Halloween (10/31, DW and I are already planning after drawing inspiration from the "Gujju Gang"), Thanksgiving (11/26), Christmas Eve (12/24) and Day (12/25) and New Year's Eve (12/31), I sure will have a lot of stuff to write about in my upcoming posts. Stay tuned.
Early this week, DF Halim sent me a link via email of a shocking Indian reality show gone bad. It is called -- "Dadagiri - TV's meanest game show". This show took off in June this year wherein, four daring students are made to revisit the horrors of being bullied on the first day of college by surviving three "dadas" (big brothers) and compete against each other for a winning sum of Rs. 50,000 in cash. The very concept of this show pisses-me-off! As if "ragging" (called Hazing in the US) isn't already a rampant bane practiced at several colleges in India, these morons are promoting it on Indian television. I sincerely hope that the young upcoming generation do not emulate these stupid ideas from TV and end up thinking it is "cool" to abuse the human rights of incoming students. Anyway, coming back to the video. The character, Esha-The Goddess (cheesy) is one of the three dadas (hostess) of the show (in the 3rd round) who is supposed to be a foul-mouthed mean young lady. During the shoot, it turned out that a conversation between her and one of the contestants got ugly -- here it is. This is what I think of the entire situation. [1] It was absolutely unprofessional of the hostess to have physically abused a contestant on a show. [2] Before I go further, let me tell you that I have great respect for women and stand up for the equality of sexes. But, if a woman physically abuses a man without prior sexual, mental or physical provocation, it is absolutely fair that the man retaliates (DW agrees). I personally would not have hit her in return, probably sued her. [3] I hate men who try to portray that "they are trying to do the right thing" by beating up a man (in such a situation) without properly assessing the situation. [4] I absolutely hate (from the bottom of my heart), random people who take advantage of the pandemonium and launch freebie punches just for fun (check out the guy in pink tee and brown shorts who rushes to the scene at about 30 seconds in the video). I've seen something like this happen first hand in Mumbai, when a woman physically abused a man over an argument about who was first in line. When the man "pushed" the woman away (owing to self-defense) five other "righteous people" came to beat him up saying -- "Ladies ko haath lagata hai" (How dare you touch a lady?). Where was all of this "do the right thing attitude" when the dignity of a 13-year old mentally unstable girl was being mercilessly compromised at a knife edge in a Mumbai local train while other passengers watched (in 2002)?. Double standards. I believe, be it a man or a woman, one should carefully and objectively assess the situation before choosing the right course of action.
Finally, I come to one of my favorite sections of the blog: DWOM. Lately DW has been dancing big-time to this song -- "Disturbia" by Rihanna. She's been a fan of Rihanna songs for a while now, starting with "Umbrella". I did not like Umbrella as much (until Marie Digby sang it), but I think Disturbia is absolutely rocking. Must check out. Another video that DW has been all over in the past week or so is the Bashful Bazzard. Pretty funny. While driving back home from work last evening, I was reminded about Manipal days when I heard a blast-from-the-past - "I Disappear" by Metallica. Try this while driving. Its super.
Alrighty all, I'm done for today. I have to get going to DF Stephanie's place for a get-together with some office colleagues (this should also figure in my next post). I hope you enjoyed the update. Please do not hesitate to leave comments. In fact, I look forward to them. Have great upcoming fortnight! :)
