The New Year

2012 is the year in which I intend to bring to an end most of my long standing work - the PhD, and other literary things that I have dabbled at. It is, without a question, going to be a busy year and there is certainly a promise of new and exciting beginnings. Therefore, let it happen!

Good for No Reason

Chapter 1. Atop the Roof

I waited patiently by the pearly gates, reading through an English translation of An Eastern Eulogy.

"There is peace here atop the roof."

What a remarkable opening line for a poem, how suitable for the occasion. I could not but help wonder what it would have read like in the original text. There is much lost in translation. A pity! I read on ...

Thirty lines of history and myth, of old and new, of children and yaks. Thirty lines of broken verse that, through the unassuming words printed on cheap paper, had brought to life a thousand memories. For such is the power of words. I could see, feel, smell and hear --- children running in frenzy, their school bags and water bottles swinging wildly, from side to side. Subdued smiles, silly giggles, a new dawn in an old land. The remains of a castle, beyond an aging landscape, relics of the bygone. Its crumbling walls, ornate with the Buddha in many forms, luring the traveler's gaze. A barren beauty pervades, undulating and plain. Buried in cold rubble, along the dirt tracks, are tales untold, unheard of. Trampled under yak hooves and mountain bikes, frozen, locked in time, like memories of a forlorn past, unworthy of attention. The spring rain, scanty, inadequate, stirs them occasionally from deep slumber. They rise with the smell of the wet earth seeking a new listener.

"Today it is I." declared the poet.

In the streets the umbrellas come out, their floral prints in stark contrast to the white backdrop, evidence of an ever changing present. A few lines remained, I continued in anticipation.


A drop falls into my cup making a splash.
They have my attention, at last.
For hours I listen, captivated, bemused,
Of the land of high passes, of Leh,
Atop the roof, in peace, in bliss.


And then it changed, abruptly. Something had disrupted my thoughts. The steady sound of approaching footsteps, the harsh, resounding, metal soles on the shiny alabaster floor. Annoyed, I looked up at the intruder. At once, rather cruelly, I had been drawn out from the pleasant to the present.

"It's time." I was told.

I acknowledged with a curt nod, marking the last line I had read --- Atop the roof, Chapter 1, verses 26:30. Then, with an assured air, I rose and followed the concierge into the unknown.

Installing Adobe Flash Player on X-64 Fedora core 12/13, CentOS 5.5 or Red-Hat Linux 5.5/6.0

If you are frustrated at the lack of support for Macromedia Flash Player plugin on 64-bit Fedora (read - if you want to watch YOUTUBE videos), follow the following three steps:

1. wget http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashplayer10/libflashplayer-10.0.45.2.linux-x86_64.so.tar.gz
2. tar -xvzf libflashplayer-10.0.45.2.linux-x86_64.so.tar.gz
3. mv libflashplayer.so ~/.mozilla/plugins/

Maupassant

From The Question of Latin, which takes him to Paris, through The Unknown, to the ageless Boule de Suif, Maupassant lives his own stories. In a smoking room, after an uneventful dinner, the author discovers his art. A fitting start to the tale of Maupassant, the artisan.

As a first step, I intend to combine thirty different stories written by Maupassant which involve a man-woman relationship of any kind. The dramatis personna of this work are all men of different vocation viz. a baron, a doctor, a lawyer, a priest, a colonel, a philosopher, a poet and, of course, our dear Maupassant. Laced with love, horror, grief, lust, intrigue and vengeance, this tale encompasses all that is there to human nature. Therefore, let it begin ...

1. The First Snowfall
2. A Meeting
3. Mother and Son
4. Farewell
5. Madame Parisse
6. In the Spring
7. All Over
8. Two Friends
9. A Family Affair
10. His Avenger

11. The Unknown
12. Timbuctoo
13. Forgiveness
14. Julie Romaine
15. The Corsican Bandit
16. The Wrong House
17. Our Letters
18. Found on a Drowned Man
19. Mademoiselle Pearl
20. A Tress of Hair

21. Father Milon
22. The Trip of the Horla
23. Friend Patience
24. The Gamekeeper
25. Fascination
26. The Terror
27. A Wedding Gift
28. That Costly Ride
29. The Question of Latin
30. Boule de Suif

A Complex Network of Intermarriages

... And now a taste of medieval European history. Consider the famous network of intermarriages, shown above, studied by Padgett and Ansell. It has been suggested that the Medici's dominance of the Florentine political set up, in the 15^th century, can be attributed in part to their skilful manipulation of this network of intermarriages. What if Don Castellani comissioned Sir Lock Horns and Dr. Whatsup, three centuries later, to foil a bid by Professor Medici to take over the mantle once again? More fiction than fact, indeed. But what an intriguing idea! I have even thought of a name - The Circulant Conundrum.