Void

Proxima Centauri, belonging to a small cluster of three stars, is the nearest star to the Sun. The distance between the two can be calculated in the following manner: Light travels 300,000 kms in one second. Hence in one minute it travels 300,000 x 60 kms. In an hour, 300,000 x 60 x 60 kms, and in a day 300,000 x 60 x 60 x 24 kms. Hence, given a normal non-leap year, a light year (i.e. the distance traveled by light in one year) amounts to 300,000 x 60 x 60 x 24 x 365 kms. Now, the distance between Sun and Proxima Centauri is 4.22 light years, which is therefore – 4.22 x 300,000 x 60 x 60 x 24 x 365 kms = 39,924,576,000,000 kms i.e. around 40 trillion kilometers. This is an overwhelming number, quite difficult to perceive, given normal scales of distance in human imagination. Till now, the fastest spacecraft ever having escaped from Earth’s surface is the Pluto-bound New Horizons (launched in January 2006), with a speed of around 75,000 km/hr. And with this speed, the time it would take to reach Proxima Centauri is – 40,000,000,000,000 / 75,000 = 533,333,333 hours, which is 533,333,333 / 24 = 22,222,222 days, which is 22,222,222 / 365 = 60,882 years. Voyager-I, which was launched in September 1977, has pushed into deep space, and with its current travel speed, would take 72,000 years to reach Proxima Centauri. Unfortunately, its machinery would continue to work only till 2020, i.e. a mere 12 years from now. Technically, it is impossible for any machinery or being to last for this period of over 60,000 years, and that’s the greatest difficulty faced by interstellar travel. (A number of faster travel mechanisms have been proposed here, although none of them could be tried out yet. ) However, rather more importantly, these figures give a fair idea of what a vast void exists between our Solar System and the one closest to it. We are talking about just two stars here, and that too, within the same Milky Way galaxy. The Universe consists of around a hundred billion (100,000,000,000) galaxies and a hundred billion stars within each of them. That’s ten billion trillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) stars. It’s hard, really hard, to think of such a vastness. The above facts give rise to varying thoughts – The most common one: on existence of life and intelligence elsewhere. I believe in the Supreme, but what exactly is it? How does it handle such a huge cosmos? How does it look after the billions times billions living beings (if not the ones living across all the planets in this Universe), and the factors, interconnections and inter-relationships that affect their lives? What’s Astrology, which is based upon the idea that planetary and stellar positions (all of which are hundreds, thousands or millions of light years apart) play a crucial role in determining the life of a human being living in a planet called Earth? Is this Universe real? Is it really the way as seen and perceived by us? Or is it just built on uncertainty, as happens when we go to the sub-atomic levels? What are the fourth or higher dimensions? How do they ‘look’? I’ll probably study more, and ponder more upon these in the days to come.

The last two months

Haven't been blogging for a while, so here's a quick-n-dirty synopsis of the last two months: I am no longer in Jakarta. Things were getting hazier around the beginning of September, and at the hint of a fade-out (which was made quite obvious one afternoon by SH), I decided to look out. Thankfully, recently the PTT contract had been signed, and my old-time buddy RS was looking for people to work in that project. So, took the plunge. It was not really a great feeling to leave Jakarta, but anyway... Packed my stuff on the weekend of 8th September, my 'Iron Maiden' E was kind enough to visit my apartment 10 o' clock at night, just the day before I was supposed to leave, and pressed tons of clothes for two long hours. Thank you, E; I won't forget this favor. MB was in town, he was a co-joinee in the new project as well, so we took him to visit Top Gun. By the way, since I were to leave Jakarta, I had been visiting TG more and more frequently those days. Also went to Jaya Pub for a few hours, they were celebrating their birthday that weekend. CANDLES & CAKE AT JAYA PUB, AND GANJIL, ROCKIN' THEIR WAY THRU THE NIGHT. IT'S THE SAME BAND THAT PLAYS AT OSCAR (jl. falatehan) ON FRIDAYS. We were supposed to leave for Makassar (or newly known as Ujung Pandang, situated in the Sulawesi island) on the evening of September 10th, so I transferred my baggage and all into SC's room, and just took one week's stuff with me. It was nice to visit a new place, a new island in this archipelago. Work-wise, it was an interesting start, full of workshops with the customer, but life-wise was a bit boring, since everything had closed down for Ramadan. And it would remain so for the following one month. It would be worthwhile to mention here that while we were in Makassar, there was yet another strong quake, rooted in Sumatra, but felt quite heavily in Jakarta. This was more intense than the previous one. ST, my colleague, who used to stay in the same hotel in Jakarta, had become so paranoid of higher floors, that he slept in a sofa (absolutely crunched up I believe) at the hotel restaurant for the next few days. We finished the workshops and returned to Jakarta after a week, spent the weekend in SC's apartment, watched the dusk setting down from his balcony (left), did the usual night-outs and set off for Bandung on the night of September 16th. The cab driver was a great Hindi-movie freak and continuously played Bollywood songs of the nineties. Have been in Bandung for a month now, and have started to like the town. Weather-wise its cooler than Jakarta, and hospitality-wise warm. No traffic jams, but sometimes it's a pain to get hold of a taxi. The bars had closed down for Ramadan, but have started to open now. The street just across the hotel is full of them, so probably I wouldn't have to hitch-hike to Jakarta on Fridays. It was Lebaran last weekend, and the newspapers say that a million people have traveled in to Bandung to spend their holidays. It's kids galore all over. And are they cute!! I wish I knew more people in Bandung, and hopefully I will, eventually.

7.5 on Richter Scale

Honestly speaking, I am a bit more excited and overwhelmed than most of my friends and colleagues, after undergoing the experience of "feeling" an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 on the Richter scale, thereby being classified as "Major". It struck around midnight, i.e. exactly this time yesterday, and I was sitting in the same manner, at the same place, looking at some website of least importance. All of a sudden the room started moving, not vigorously, however with considerable speed to make me realize after 3 or 4 seconds that it was an earthquake. Then it slowed down, but the movement continued, this time in a swaying fashion. And I could hear creaking noises from near the wall. Picked up the receiver and called up SC, and we both agreed to leave the apartment immediately. Probably this is called panic: I was not sure what all to take with me. So i just picked up my cell phone and the door key, wore my shoes and left my room, which is on the 20th floor of this building. There was some commotion outside, and I could see few people (probably belonging to the Middle East) who were not sure whether to take the elevator or where to go down from. Elevators were definitely to be avoided, so we took the stairs. There were people all over, and I was suddenly scared of a stampede. (Later I realized that lot many people are required for a stampede to happen). Anyway, strangely, there was no indication of the level number from the fifth floor onwards. I tried to make an exit from the staircase and saw that its level 1 above the ground, so one more floor to go. There were a bunch of people, with a dark man and his girl with a towel wrapped around her body. Finally, we reached the ground floor, and left the apartment. Found some of my friends there - SC, SKT, others. (Pic: Outside the building, at around 1215 hrs. Normally at this hour, no one is seen here, but yesterday was an exception.) All of us were pretty much overwhelmed. The next one hour was not of much consequence, except everyone narrating what he or she was doing when the earthquake happened. Now that we all were out, we were not sure when to go back, or whether to go back at all. There were loads of questions in my mind: What's the source of this earthquake? What's the magnitude? How are things elsewhere? Is there an aftershock coming? If yes, when? When would it be safe enough to go inside? The hotel authorities informed that they are in touch with the Meteorological department, and its still not safe to go inside. So we decided to play some pool, and walked down to Pasar Festival, only to find the pool bar closing down. Bought some bottles of water, and came back. Incidentally, no one there were aware that there had been an earthquake. That's the difference how things are felt at the ground floor (where the pool bar was) or at a height of above 15 floors (where I and my friends were). It was around 0130 hrs and the crowd had thinned down. The hotel authorities informed that the Met Dept had confirmed that there won't be any further tremors or quakes, atleast this night, hence it's safe to go back. Hence we came up, and I entered my room to find it exactly as I had left it, just with the clock which is placed on the top of my TV, displaced by around 4 inches to the left. I was inquisitive to find where the creaking noises came from, so checked up the walls and ceilings, but couldn't see anything. Even though I went to sleep at around 0200, subconsciously I kept thinking about another one coming. Later I heard that others have felt the same. (Pic: Crack in the wall, half covered by a torn wallpaper. Taken on the 18th floor of my office building, rumor has it that the crack was caused by yesterday's quake. However, no one knows for sure.) The following things to remember if it strikes again: - To carry my wallet with me. Otherwise I would be left with no money. - To carry my cell phone. - If time permits, to carry my passport. - Have an 'earthquake-buddy', who will be the first mutual point-of-contact if there's an earthquake. (So that both are aware, and not missing anything out. A 5 second call should be enough.)

Three weeks back

Captured these photos the night before leaving for India for a two-week vacation. It was a Saturday, and I was supposed to be stand-by at office for the night, which (quite fortunately!) was cut short by a few hours, so I was able to sign off at 01:00 AM. Dumped by stuff at the hotel, and headed to Top Gun for a few drinks. GO GET IT, C! IT'S THE LAST SHOT. THE INDONESIAN NEW-AGE ELVIS

Recent ventures

Have been frequenting two places lately: BuGils and Top Gun. I got introduced to BuGils via KK. It's situated at Taman Ria, Senayan, and is owned by a group of (mostly) Dutch men. Even though it's location, behind T.G.I Friday's, makes it obscured from the main road, the place seems to be quite popular with European and American expats. THE POOL TABLE AT BUGILS, AND ONE OF THE PRETTY BARMAIDS BEHIND THE BAR, SERVING HEINEKEN. The music is better than other places I have been to; sometimes they have live band playing Rolling Stones and stuff (though I am yet to visit on a live-band-night), and if, just in case, you don't like the music, or want to have a conversation with your friend or loved one, you have the option to sit outside in the open area with the pub on one side and a lake on the other. The food is good, alcohol is moderately priced and the bar-maids are cute. Top Gun, like its neighbors, is more of a pick-up joint, probably the most popular one in Jakarta. Located in the middle of Jalan Pelatehan, its always crowded and noisy. There are two pool tables, and have seen some really good pool players at this place. The girls are not really good looking (they charge accordingly), alcohol is moderately priced, and if you get bored, you can quickly hop down to My Bar, One Tree or Oscar, bars situated in the same lane. THE JIVING FRIDAY-NITE BAND AT TOP GUN.

SE K800i

A gift to myself, for no obvious reasons: SONY ERICSSON, K800i Camera resolution: 3.2 Megapixels Some cool features: auto-focus, 16x digital zoom (but gets choppy at that level), xenon flash, allows one to take pics in black&white mode, sepia tone.... and I can send the pics directly to my blog, provided I have a GPRS connection. Just an ordinary pic, will post more as and when I capture them. Pizza Hut at Plaza Semanggi just before closing time. The pizza arrived before I expected it to, and the vanilla milk-shake was fabulous.

Thanksgiving

MZ left last Tuesday. Normally we give farewell gifts to the one who leaves, but here it turned out to be otherwise. Before leaving, she handed over the following to me, which I truly cherish: Remainings from a Jack Daniel's and a Johnnie Walker Red Label Whisky. Kispray liquid required to iron clothes. A packet of ready to cook mushroom soup. A bunch of sachets containing tea, creamer, sugar, and don't know what. Few pages of a Bahasa Indonesia tutorial. Books: "Not a penny more, Not a penny less" by Jeffrey Archer "The Necklace and Other Short Stories" by Guy de Maupassant "Five Great Short Stories" by my favorite Anton Chekhov "The Overcoat and Other Short Stories" by Nikolai Gogol "The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories" by Mark Twain and the environment friendly Body Shop bag that contained it all with the following written at the back: "This bag won't be around forever... Unlike other plastic bags, which can take upto 500 years to degrade, this bag will have broken down within a year. And without harming the environment. Containing 30% Cassava starch, this bag consumes less petroleum too. But please reuse as much as like before it's gone...." Thank You MZ, and cheers. :-) _____________________________________ Good News: Got a broadband LAN connection in the hotel for all the office employees, so I'll be happily getting rid of my wireless Netzap soon (claims to be broadband, but gives 40Kbps on average). _____________________________________ To the short lady with spects who was being so patient in teaching my two left feet to dance salsa: Terima Kasih, Ibu. I'm sorry I couldn't go last week due to prior engagements, but would surely visit this week. _____________________________________ Knocked down the pins at SpinCity Bowling Alley, EX - Plaza Indonesia last night. It was a night-out for the project team members, and we (PL, SC, KT, me) got a box of chocolates for being the noisiest team. :-) Thanks, JS, for organizing this. Hit X-lounge in Plaza Semanggi after midnight together with KK, PL, SC, and it was good to catch up with GT who's been here for two weeks. It was ladies night, and the place was filled with near-high-school chics (and their boyfriends), the beer was OK, and SC & GT's table-top dance was overwhelming. _____________________________________

Amazing Grace

Had been to the church yesterday (thanks, MZ, for letting me go with you). Being born in a middle-class Bengali Hindu family, there's no reason why I would suddenly visit a church for the Saturday Mass, but anyway, I went. I went because I like the vastness of the hall, I went because I like to close my eyes and listen to the choir singing gospels, I went because I find peace in there, I went because it makes me remember my schooldays. And at night, looking up at the sky, I remembered... "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me.... I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see."

Congratulate me ...

... on my one month quit. I have been drinking occasionally, but was completely out of touch with cigarettes. And I congratulate my friends from Quitnet who reached this or some similar milestone today. And to those who blew it off, you can always give another try.

Riverside Walks

Traffic-wise, Sunday mornings are noticeably better than weekdays. Hence, speeding towards the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, somewhat light-headed, I was trying to gather my thoughts on the previous three days, which had been quite jolly and fun: MZ’s birthday on the 10th, performance by the local band in Planet Hollywood on the 11th, and the night-out in X2 on the 12th, the links above pointing to MZ’s page where we have more details. This was going to be my third visit to Singapore, for collecting my work visa for Indonesia, and possibly the last trip to take place in the foreseeable future. Just after checking in at the airport, I was stopped by a bunch of kids from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Indonesia, who mildly interrogated me on my whereabouts, expenditure statistics while I am here in Indonesia (interestingly), etc. Having asked for any suggestions I might have on the city and its infrastructure, I expressed my concerns on the surging traffic, and the need for underground or overhead trains. I also advised that there’s a need to focus more on spoken English to get into international markets. I haven’t got a clue on where this piece of paper containing my comments would eventually end up, but it was nice to meet up with this jovial bunch, with their smiles and rainbows. _____________________________________ My first destination after reaching Singapore was unplanned. It turned out to be Little India, down the neighborhood, which I had hardly explored in my previous trips. It’s a veritable Bonsai version of India. SLURRRRP ... SWEETS! UNBELIEVABLE! T'SHIRTS ROCKED WITH PICTURES OF HINDU DEITIES. Strange it was, and nostalgic too, to read the much coveted Bengali script in this faraway land, and listen to a female voice trying to promote the latest Singtel tariffs in that slight Bangladeshi accent. I started to think of the very few people from Bangladesh I’ve actually come to know in these three odd decades, even though my ancestors belonged to that land, and wondered how things would have been if outcomes from political decisions made around the late 1940s would have been different. MATRI-BHASHA, IN A STRANGE LAND. _____________________________________ My next destination was Esplanade, “theatres on the bay”, and to get there, I decided to take the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit: underground railway system commonly used to travel across Singapore). The basics are like any other metro railway system, but here they have a deposit charge which is refunded back once the destination station is reached. Traveling this way is cheap and convenient, hence, most of my subsequent hops were via the MRT. In fact, I also ended up helping a man and a woman to get back their refunded deposit: an achievement worth mentioning. WALK-WAY TO THE MRT STATION A SNAPSHOT OF THE ROUTE-CHART, COPIES OF WHICH ARE ALSO AVAILABLE AT THE INFORMATION COUNTER. It was 7 o’clock in the evening, and Esplanade was 5 minutes walk from the City Hall MRT station. The next show of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom of the Opera’ (much advertised) was at 8 PM, and I arrived at the ticket counter just to discover that all tickets were sold out three days ago. However, I witnessed a strange and beautiful form of art being exhibited in the theater lobby, called “Superstring”, which is a series of single continuous line drawings, by an engineer turned sculptor named Joshua Yang. A SUPERSTRING, DEPICTING THE CRUCIFIXION. THE CLOSE UP BELOW SHOWS THE CONTINUOUS LINE DRAWINGS. I started off to catch the next train to Clarke Quay. One has to pass through the Raffles City Shopping Centre to get to the City Hall MRT station, and I was happy to find a DVD of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” in the HMV music store. In the distant past, I had made two futile attempts to get this video, one in Bombay, back in 2005, where I purchased a 2-VCD pack, brought it home, and opened the seal to find one CD missing. The next one was in 2006 in Bangkok, where the catalog in one of the cheap DVD outlets in Pantip Plaza had the movie listed, but later the folks came back saying the DVD is not available. DISPLAY OF THE SEASON SCHEDULE OUTSIDE THE ESPLANADE _____________________________________ Reached Clarke Quay around 9:30 PM. In a milieu of colors, voices, boats, and lovers, this place was lively as ever. Sitting by the waterfront, or walking hand in hand, you may sing along your life’s verses to your lover. Or if you happen to be there alone, like me, you can just look at the dancing red and gold molecules on the water surface, in Brownian motion, make up a love song in your mind, and then looking up at the sky sing it to the one you love. CLARKE QUAY: COLORFUL AS EVER It was getting late, and as my last destination for the day, I ventured to a Bangladeshi restaurant in Little India, and whetted my appetite with dalpuri (yet one more variation of the Indian bread) and pathar mangsho (mutton). The dalpuri was cold, but tasted so heavenly. THE RESTAURANT SERVING INDIAN, PAKISTANI, BANGLADESHI CUISINE, SOMETHING WE WOULDN'T READILY SEE IN INDIA OR THE OTHER TWO COUNTRIES. ... DINNER SERVED. The shops were closing down, and it was time for the traveling hobos to return home. Singapore was clean, dustbins boasting of turning the city litter-free, but this place was a remake of “India”, in look and feel, with known dialects coming from a distance and hundreds of paper pamphlets lying scattered in the street, unwanted, aimless, wondering where to fly next when the wind blows strong. _____________________________________ Day two: Submitted the documents needed to obtain my working visa, and returned to the hotel to learn that they would not be able to extend my stay till the evening, as all rooms were fully booked in advance. That was 12 noon, the normal time for checking out, and my flight back to Jakarta was at 9:15 PM. So I threw back my bag behind the shoulders and walked up to the nearby Fragrance hotel. Dumped my stuff, and decided to pay a surprise visit to my colleagues in Singapore. It was good to see PP after almost one and a half years. She was full of smiles as ever, and suggested I have Singaporean Chicken Rice for lunch. Thanks, PP, it was delicious! Next, we were off for a cup of coffee, and it was difficult to find a place as it seemed a common norm for all to have a post-lunch coffee session. IT WAS RAINING WHEN I VISITED THE OFFICE FOLKS. AND LATER, SPOTTED THESE SINGAPOREAN T.V. CELEBRITIES OUTSIDE THE COFFEE SHOP. _____________________________________ By now I was quite adept in traveling by the MRT, so caught one and emerged at Orchard road. The next few hours were spent in walking down the road, sneaking into shops, taking photographs, getting astounded by the saxophone player by the roadside, taking more photographs, buying some stuff which are not readily available in Jakarta, (like an oil-control face wash for men from Bioré), and eventually getting a quick massage from a Chinese masseuse at Far East Plaza. MOMENTS AT ORCHARD ROAD 'HOUSE OF CONDOM' IS A MISNOMER FOR THIS SHOP SELLING SEX ACCESSORIES, AS WE CAN SEE (PIC ON THE RIGHT), THE STUFF THEY HAVE HERE IS PRIMARILY MEANT FOR WOMEN. _____________________________________ Sunset was nearing when I decided to pay a parting visit to Clark Quay, where the lovers had not yet arrived, and the boatmen were busy cleaning up their boats for the early evening tourists. My stay in Singapore had been satisfying. I looked at my watch, then at the river again for the last time, turned back, and started to walk.

Ctrl-A Ctrl-C Ctrl-V ... and a few tweaks to change the flavor

Here's an article from the "Opinion" page in today's Jakarta Post (May 7, 2007): And then once again in the front page of the "Business" section of the same edition: Some facts: The same article, word by word, appears twice in the same edition of the daily post. The title has been tweaked a little: In the "Opinion" page it is: "Does Asia need a euro? It's a laughing matter". Whereas in the "Business" page it is: "Asia needs a euro? It's still a laughing matter, for now". Certain words have been changed, for eg. "ASEAN" in one has been transformed to "Asean" in the other. Name of the author, William Pesek, is unchanged. (Would have been more dangerous otherwise.) However, one mentions "Bloomberg News" to be the source, whereas the other just says "Bloomberg". I could not find either of these in the online version of the newspaper. Neither of the titles are perfect copies of the original Bloomberg, which says "Asia Needs a Euro? It's Still a Laughing Matter".

Graffiti

Spotted near Plaza Indonesia... BLINK, WHOEVER YOU ARE, I AGREE WITH YOU MATE.