A Moment of Silence

For all the colours you've brought into my life, for all the wonderful memories and in spite of all the tears, you will always be missed.

May your soul rest in peace, Punto.

My own little Italy (continued)

This is a continuation of an old post "My own little Italy". I cannot believe I missed mentioning something so close to my heart. My school - St. Gerosa High School - is named after an Italian saint, Vincenza Gerosa.

Vincenza Gerosa (born in the late 1700s), along with Bartolomea Capitanio, founded the Sisters of Charity of Lovere. Incidentally, Capitanio is another school a few kilometres from my own school. The buildings opposite to my school belong to the Sisters of Charity. They run an orphanage, a primary school for the financially weak and a day care centre, where I was sent for a short period, if I remember right.

I recall now, every once in 3-4 years, our teachers would announce the arrival of sisters from Italy, and when they arrived, we'd have a special assembly for them, with dances and songs and skits. It was a huge deal. We would go the chapel to pray (The chapel is inside the school campus. The building is out of bounds for students, per se, unless you say you want to go to the chapel to pray), but more importantly to greet the sisters from Italy. They were ever so sweet. The serenity and smile on their faces were only paralleled by Mother Superior who'd visit once in a while. I never missed an opportunity to greet her whenever I heard she was there. Her serene smile would make my day. The only other famous person with a smile like that is Mother Teresa. But, I digress.

I think my sister's school too - St. Agnes High School - is named after another Italian saint whom they call "Agnes of Rome", though it isn't run by the Sisters of Charity.

This Italian-ness of Mangalore intrigues me and makes me want to dig deeper into its history as to why so many places in and around Mangalore have Italian names. The Christians in Mangalore are from Goa and of Portuguese descent, not Italian. And as far as my knowledge on Indian history goes, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and the British arrived in India before the British Raj was set up. So now it's even more intriguing.

Bowled

Animation of just a second took me more than six hours to finish. I'm excited about tomorrow. I hope Team India wins the cup.

Free! Free! Free!

And I thought this day would never come. I finally finish the last interview for the MBA admission process. Started with SP Jain and ended with MDI, though I wish I get into NITIE. I loved the campus, the seniors, the atmosphere and what more? It's in Mumbai, the place to be!

But then there's a part of me that wants me to get a job, something inside my head that tells me that a job is the best way to go. The idea of getting paid doing what I love is very exciting; so exciting in fact that I've had thoughts of bunking a few interviews. I'm glad I didn't, because those interviews were a whole new experience of their own, each completely different from the other, but each one just as enriching as the other.

As of now, it's a huge relief to get the whole process over with. I can now read that book without thinking of that current affairs mag I haven't read. I can now watch a movie without worrying about wasting time. I can now take all day to finish my animation assignment. On the flipside, I can no longer give excuses for not finishing assignments. That reminds me, I have a very lengthy assignment to submit on Thursday which I lied about having started. So while I go start the assignment, I give this, for you to ROTFL -

emotion. brain. art

I've been wanting to share a few things over here for a long time now, but lethargy (and well, laziness too, to an extent) got the better of me. I cleared up my desktop today, finally, and was scouring the internet for wallpapers of the movie Tangled when this expression of Rapunzel caught my attention. The expression intrigued me so much I was compelled to share it immediately. What intrigued me so much about it is that the expression conveys three emotions - fear, wonder and intent - with hardly any noticeable muscle or eyebrow movement, unlike most other expressions which usually show dramatic movements of the eyebrows and muscles. I don't know much about the Facial Action Coding System yet, but the intensity score for the action units that make up the expression is probably an A or a B. Maybe even a C. Think about it that way and the expression doesn't seem so intriguing after all. But I still am very intrigued. I'd like to believe that it takes a certain amount of expertise to get such an emotion on an animated face.

Tangled reminds me of a book I finished reading a week ago. What happens when neurons in our brain get tangled and crosswired? Lots of interesting disorders ranging from the familiar to the unbelievable. Some disorders make us think, wonder and question our own sense of being and our perception of the world around us. The brain is the most complicated and fascinating organ of the human body. One small damage to a tiny part of it and it can make you think your left arm is your brother's and not yours. Dr. V. S. Ramachandran explains it all splendidly in his book "Phantoms in the Brain". I've never found a non-fiction book so riveting before. Here's a very interesting lecture he delivered at UCSD on what is it in his brain that makes him like a certain kind of art. The video is an hour and half, but very engaging. But, I speak for myself. I've always been interested in all things brain ever since the day my biology teacher in school made me draw a picture of the brain as homework that had me wonder, this yucky thing is the reason I can think and feel and reason? Wow! If you feel the way I do, then go ahead and watch it. You won't be disappointed.

Art Thou A Nerd

If you are, then you are probably already aware of what makes today so special. Today is Pi Day. Yes, today nerds celebrate the mathematical constant pi.

All non-nerds out there, you have another day to celebrate. July 22nd. Because, July 22nd is Pi Approximation Day. A day to celebrate the fraction 22/7.

Or does that make you a supernerd?

Out of harm's way

The Libyan unrest will forever be etched into my memory, because for me and my family it was personal. My dad was evacuated from Libya only two days ago. Thankfully, he left Zawiyah just before things got worse. Not that things were good before he left; in fact, when I called him up two days before he left Zawiyah he told me that he could hear gunshots outside his house. I was so scared I thought it was best if he just stayed inside the house; getting out of the house even for evacuation could be dangerous. But yesterday's news showed what would've happened if he had stayed there any longer - dozens of civilians were killed.

Dad's evacuation would've been painless if his bag wasn't stolen on his way to Tunisia. Dad and his Indian colleagues were to go to an airport in Tunisia to take a flight back to India. The Indian embassy sent buses and trucks to Zawiya. People would take the bus, and the luggage would be brought in trucks to Tunisia. At the Tunisian border, he had to give up his simcard and his phone! This meant he wouldn't be able to contact us until he reached India. On reaching Tunisia, he found one of his two bags missing -- the bag that had his laptop (months worth of research!) and all the cash. His bag was stolen. Dad was now rendered phone-less and penniless. Dad could manage just one call back home explaining his situation and that he had a few friends helping him out. He stayed in Tunisia for four days until his name turned up on the roster of evacuees. By then all his friends had already been evacuated. His stay at Tunisia, however, seemed pleasant because he and all the evacuees were accommodated at a three-star hotel and were provided with free and unlimited food (both veg and non-veg) throughout the day.

On the fourth day, he boarded EgyptAir (apparently Indian Airlines wasn't the only carrier bringing back Indians) which brought him to Mumbai with one stop at Cairo International airport for refuelling. At Mumbai, the embassy gave every evacuee a free air/rail ticket to anywhere in the country along with Rs.2000 so they could reach home comfortably. Dad was given a 3AC ticket to Chennai that evening. He reached Chennai the next evening. My mum, sis and I were at our native place (Berhampur, Orissa) for my cousin's wedding ceremony all this while which, of course, we couldn't attend. We reached the morning after dad reached, but boy were we relieved to have him back and safe.

Dad is very upset about losing his laptop and all his research work in it, but he sure has kind words for the way the Indian government handled the evacuation process. Mum also agrees that the officials were very supportive when she had called the control centre at Delhi to find out what and how things were being done.

Technopop, anyone?

Made another track. Not too bad I think. But it's ironic that I ended up making exactly the genre of music -- techno -- that I'm not really fond of.

Melody #3 by ManaMalipeddi

Phineas and Ferb

Cartoons are the best thing that happened to mankind. After music, of course.

"Mom! Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence"

Phineas and Ferb is the Tom and Jerry of my adulthood and I have every reason to believe it might soon be the Tom and Jerry of the new generation. I haven't seen a funnier and wittier animated series in recent times. Even the new Tom and Jerry series aren't as much fun. Quite frankly, I don't even like the new Tom and Jerry series. They've turned too violent for my taste. And that is true for most cartoons on TV today. Well, at least, the shows on the cartoon channels in India viz., Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Animax and Hungama. Pogo and Disney/Disney XD are probably the only channels that have good, healthy, fun and mentally stimulating shows for kids. I personally am of the opinion that there is a limit to schadenfreude even when it is a cartoon.

And that is why Phineas and Ferb is such a great show. There are lot of good things about the show, apart from the neat flash animation (If I'm not wrong I remember reading about the show winning an award for the best flash animation) and great comic timing. You see, Phineas and Ferb are step-brothers and they make a great team. The show takes place during their summer vacation and the duo wants to spend their vacation productively. Nothing is impossible, but nothing happens by magic either. And everything they do is for the benefit (or fun) of not just themselves but everybody in the neighbourhood. They don't cause harm to anyone, neither does Candace, nor Doofenschmirtz (thanks to Agent P aka Perry The Platypus). The dialogues are clever and witty. No lowbrow humour. It has also got catchy musical numbers, my favourite being Gitchee Gitchee Goo and Backyard Beach. So you see, it's the perfect show.

Perry The Platypus fights Doofenschmirtz, who wants to destroy the entire Tri-State area

Heinz Doofenschmirtz is my favourite character. His antics are so endearing, not to mention his accent (voiced by one of the creators, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh Dan Povenmire). Wait. I think I like Candace more. Especially that wicked laugh of hers when she thinks her brothers (Phineas and Ferb) are "busted" for sure. Or the cute little noise that Perry The Platypus makes. And the way Isabella says, "Hey Phineas, Whatcha doooin?". Ah well I can't decide who it is. The entire show is just so wonderful. 

So, go on then. If you aren't a fan of the series yet, watch the show and join the club.

Motion Graphics #1

First one. So don't be too harsh.

Double Trouble from Manasa Malipeddi on Vimeo.