Things to Do

In a few months I will be joining Flipkart as a Software Development Engineer. So there are things I must sort out now. Things I would like to do once I have money in my pockets:

• Volunteer for social services. This is something I have been thinking for many years now. I will see what I can do. Teaching children, helping out the elderly in old-age homes and feed the homeless and the poor. I must do it. Probably on the weekends after finishing week's job(s).
• Backpacking and travel places. Starting with India. I would really like to get a feel about traveling alone(maybe with one or two friends?). Two additional things I would like to do as well. Get a reel camera with photosensitive films. And get a small diary to write about my travels. I think I would ask my father to lend me his camera.
• Read a wide variety of things. There is just so much to read out there. I am really focusing on non-fiction as of now. Revolving around history, physics, medicine and social issues. I still haven't thought of a plan to manage my time here. I will have to be extremely disciplined with myself to do that which brings me to the next point.
• Exercise daily. Running and core-strength training. First one because I want to be a serious runner and begin participitating in marathons from 2016. Second one is to tone my body. Around 4 kilometers of jogging/running, 30 push-ups and pull-ups everyday. That should do it I think.
• As I will be exercising a lot, it makes sense that I consult a dietician/trainer who is going to supervise it. Food intake is going to be very crucial.

Ofcourse, this list is not exhaustive. But I think it is enough to guide me in the coming months. Wish me luck!

Thoughts on the Emperor

This is a review of The Emperor of All Maladies written by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

Before I write the review of this book, it would be justified to share the reasons of picking it up in the first place.

It was around 2010-11. The newspaper headlines showed that a non-residential Indian has won the Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction. The book was on cancer and the author was an oncologist. Impressed by the facts, I took a mental note of reading the book in future. Around four and a half years passes. On October 2015, I get a phone call from my mother. She is worried about her brother. He has been ill for sometime. The scans have showed that his intestines are lined with tumors. He has to undergo a major surgery. Though the diagnosis hasn't come yet, I already knew what was coming. A month later, the biopsy results came in. It is a Stage III colon cancer. The time to read the book has arrived. Cancer is now a personal crusade.

Before I pick up a book written on science, I first go through the qualifications of the author. Though a Pulitzer Prize winner, I still had to check. Siddhartha Mukherjee, in this case, is an assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University and practices at CU/NYU Presbyterian Hospital(additionally a Rhodes scholar; he has graduated from Stanford University, University of Oxford and Harvard Medical School). All my doubts were put to rest.

The book surely was intense. It starts with the story of one of the author's patients and ends with another. In between, he described the entire history of the disease - from its first mention in ancient manuscripts to Sidney Farber's "Jimmy" campaign to our current understanding of cancer genetics. It was a journey of hope and despair, fighting against a shape-shifting disease of enormous resourcefulness.

This book was strikingly readable and humane. Cancer is a master of destroying human dignity. And so its medicine. Radical surgery, invasive chemotherapy and the haunting feeling of death suck out the life from patients. But it also shows how people don't lose hope even in the toughest of times. For instance, chemotherapy(which is a treatment using cytotoxic chemicals; cytotoxic means "cell-killing") may result in asphyxiation through vomiting apart from hair loss, kidney failure or infertility. People still go through treatments boldly.

Herein lies also the stories of researchers who painstakingly found new ways of controlling the menace. From testing of thousands of toxic drugs to obsessive collection of tumor samples to recruitment of patients for randomized trials; biochemists, radiologists, hematologists, surgeons and medical students helped humanity in the race against itself.

Cancer - fundamentally as a disease of mutations and cellular pathways - is a corrupt version of ourselves. It is a cell which has evolved to get a maddening urge to divide(in a sample present in the author's lab, the leukemia cells still divided furiously; the blood cells belonged to a woman who has been dead for thirty years). All death signals have been switched off - resulting in a scary version of immortality. Cancer cells use tactics which were only used during our birth, when we were developing as foetuses in our mothers' wombs. The tumors also create their own blood vessels for oxygen supply.

Though it may seem daunting, medical researchers are finally getting a comprehensive picture of the disease. Cancer therapy is finally becoming targeted. More and more drugs are being developed which specifically aim only mutant cells. Hope still stands tall.

If you're reading this, then allow me to thank you. I have another thing to ask of you as well. If you aren't, then please start going for medical checkups on a periodic basis. Take your family or close ones too. The best way to defeat this disease is to detect it early.

Revving Up!

It has been really hard to learn astronomy without a teacher or a guide. I have managed to ace through a few introductory astrophysics courses by using whatever little physics I learned at school(luckily my physics doesn't suck as much). But sometimes, my lack of formal training shows bitterly at places.

 

Today, I was solving an exercise involving the radial velocities of stars in a hypothetical galaxy. I managed to solve some of the problems before getting stuck. The problem told me to identify a graph showing correlation between radial velocity and right ascension of the stars. Let’s not go into much details here.

 

Now that italicized term became a horror for me. I tried to learn about it(on my own) near the beginning of senior high school. I didn’t get it then. I couldn’t wrap my head around it today.

 

That's why I have decided to attend an astronomy camp in nearby future. I am looking for a great place with amazing enthusiasts. Do you have a suggestion?

 

Will write about the further developments.

Old Lanes Revisited

Today, I went to my uncle's home in Ranchi. He is not alive anymore. It has been three years. Since then, it is my first visit to the home where only my aunt lives now.

Let me clarify. He was not a blood relation. He was my father's friend. But anyway, he has been very close since the day I came to Ranchi for IIT-JEE preparation. A lot of things happened in between. I have a job now and will be graduating soon.

One thing that moved me was how the place has changed after my uncle's death. He has been a small businessman. After his untimely passing, his wife and son(who is in college) has been left with no income source. Therefore, his home has been transformed to provide accommodation for girls. The income source is humbly modest.

My aunt has to live alone now. She was telling how hard it is for her to do all the chores like shopping, paying taxes etc. She has no one to talk to. She passes her time by going to relatives, watching TV or reading religious books.

My uncle has been a jolly person. Extremely friendly and easy-going. The house was full of energy when he was there. Now, it seems dark and cold.

After the visit, I roamed through streets which I used as a senior high school student. It was nostalgic. Shops which were frequently visited by me and my friends still functioned the same way. But today, I was alone in a vast sea of people.

How time makes so little and yet so large a difference?

Feelings

People ask me to tell things about her. Tell how she is. How could one describe a person? I think I know her. But words don't make much sense as I begin to speak. It seems as if she is a experience. Bounded to a time and a place. And to a memory.

I was in a barren land. Frigid. Nothing grew there. And then. One day. It was a surprise. I felt a touch on my shoulder. A warm one. I looked up after a decade. There she was.

Her smile. Her scent. Things that I can never forget. The other details, I have long forgotten. As I looked around, my world was not barren anymore. Flowers were blooming. Birds were chirping. Streams flowed.

My life has never been the same anymore.

Suppressing Ego

I have been a fortunate person all through my life. I have had decent education, didn't face financial problems and have great parents. I am at a better position than lot many.

But, it has a side-effect. I have felt my ego increase with every step I took in my life. I get offended easily and judge people too often(I judge myself too).

Therefore, I have thought of a plan to control my sense of self-importance - learn things outside of my comfort zone. So that I feel humbled. Often.

The first step I took was to complete an online course on Cosmology. It is actually the last of four courses being offered by Australian National University on our Universe. It is being taught by Brian Schmidt, a Nobel laureate and Paul Francis, a distinguished educator.

Reasons for choosing cosmology are straightforward:

• The CS courses I took had very little to do with physics. So how I think is not in sync with how physicists think. Therefore I would be pushed a lot harder. And I was. It was one of the hardest courses I have been through. It was unbelievably fun too.
• Universe is beautiful. Period. As much is out there, astrophysicists and observational astronomers use "indirect" techniques to learn about things. I was curious about what these techniques were.
• You don't get many chances to learn from distinguished people.

That was it. I am still to complete the final exam(but have faired quite well on the Homework problems). It is much work and I can't spare my time as I would like to. But I will do so soon.

Next step? Learn another thing! I have procrastinated a lot on learning Neuroscience. Hopefully, now I will. Wish me luck!

As Good As Heaven!

Some experiences are unforgettable. Today, I visited Moti Mahal. Not a "palace of pearls" as the name suggests. More like of tandoor(sort of Indian barbecue but not really).

Growing up in India, I never got treated well for the money I paid. This fact changed today.  The duration I spent in the place was full of royalty, fragrance and awesome food. I never thought of seeing Rogan Josh in a menu while at Ranchi. This changed today as well.

Cooking is an art.  From actually making the dish to how you serve it, everything matters. The dining I experienced today, pushed the definition farther towards the sky.

I don't even words for praising the food that was served. As a non-expert, I will try to do justice in a best possible way. Chicken that melts in your mouth, finely chopped mutton that brings up childhood memories, vegetables mixed in thick creamy sauce which makes you smile; you will find everything. Served right from coal-ovens.

And, the music that made it all fall into place.

If you are looking to spend a fine evening with your friends or loved ones, I highly recommend this place.

P.S: I was grateful to meet the Chef too. He was deeply touched by our feedback.

Alvida Dr. Kalam!

It was a fine day at school. Unfortunately, I have forgotten which class it was. Our teacher wrote the following on the blackboard.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam

Missile Man of India

 That's how I came to know about a man who shaped so much of my aspirations and dreams. Who I wanted to become in life. From playing with seashells on the beaches of Rameshwaram to building missiles for India, his life touched millions. And will continue to do so.

I remember a time, when there was a rumor of him visiting my hometown. We were all excited. I spent hours interacting with my father about the questions I would ask him. I was so desperate that I kept pleading my father to arrange any means possible. But as most of the rumors go, it turned out to be false. That day, I experienced my first heartbreak. I matured a little that night - thinking about the cruel joke, fate played on me.

The same feeling is rushing into me as I write about him. Magnified. I will never meet him anymore. Yet another dream engulfed by the tides of time.

The only solace I have now is the fact that time itself couldn't defeat such men. 

They have the Wings of Fire afterall!

Dude, science?

My mother loves plants. She has quite a wide array of plants in the modest space of my home. 

Lately, she has been troubled by an increasing pest problem. An insect called Mealybug has infected trees of hibiscus, mango and guava resulting in heavy defoliation(loss of leaves). She has used many spraying insecticides to no avail(mealybug develops a waxy coating which doesn't let the poison sip in).

After quite a lot of thinking and administering the sprays myself, I decided that there must be some array of chemicals which can be administered from within the plants. The chemicals go with water at the root, the insects ingest it along with the sap and then, die. Quite obviously, the chemicals shouldn't disturb the metabolism of plants.

A single search query gave me the answer. Systemicides. One of them is called imidicholoropid. Shortly afterwards, I took my bicycle and reached the nearest agro shop. I began to describe what I wanted. Here is a snippet of the conversation with the shop attendant S.

Me: Do you have an insecticide which can be administered to the roots?

S: Huh? There is nothing such as that. Describe me your problem.

Me: <Description given>

S: Oh, you take this pesticide. Spray it all over the plants. It is enough.

Me: No, it isn't. It has already been tried.

S: Tell me again what you exactly want.

Me: Have you heard of imidicholoropid? It works by getting into plants along with the water. The insect dies after ingesting the sap.

S: (smiling mockingly) Is it even possible?

Me: Yes. It is science. You use internet? There are pages and pages on the agricultural websites.

S: Dude, I am a practical person. I am in this business for 22 years. Science has not yet developed enough. What will fancy degrees do? I know more stuff than a person at an agricultural institute. (he then went on to describe his success at various farms and how he taught various degree holders 'things')

I left the shop feeling weird. A man who runs his living by selling things made possible by science(fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified seeds) believes that science is a joke. What do you think is the condition at the level of farmers?

I don't know why science has such an outlook among the general public. Or why people tend to believe in religion or fantasies more often and far strongly than science. Forget those who never went to school - I have seen many educated people falling into the trap too. It is deeply troublesome that this question has not been sufficiently asked - what is the essential thing missing from science education?

I don't know the answers yet. But, I do know one thing as far as the human society is concerned.

Bullshit baffles brains.

One question

After coming through Storypicks from a TED talk, I decided to ask questions from my elders whenever I find time. The result has been amazing. I know more about my place, my parents and the arrow of life.

Yesterday, I went out with my father. In earlier days, there happened not many grocery shops in the town. As prosperity increases, so does the number of shops - I have seen it while I grew up. Naturally, it is going to be more evident in case of my father. So, I asked him: from where did he bought groceries back in his childhood?

He told me to tag along. He will show me the shop. I followed. It was quite a long walk. We entered a small shop facing the road. It was old - wooden doors, low banked doorway and consisted of two rooms. Luckily for me, there sat an old man. He recognized my father. After coming to know that I was his son, his joy knew no bounds. He told me how my grandfather, after getting his monthly salary, carried my father to the shop. How they had to have a short laugh. After a while, I bought two small copper plates. Before we left, he told me to keep visiting him and his shop.

It is an amazing feeling to hear about your father as a child. Hear about your grandfather - whom unfortunately I have never seen. All from someone living.

The wonderful experience originated from something very simple.

A single question.

A snap chat

Today, I was roaming with my father. After a while, a person called my dad from the other side of road. My father recognized him. While crossing, he told me that the person was one of his peers - who also topped the B.Com graduation exam in his time. I understood that this was going to be ugly.

So after a brief chat with my father, his attention turned to me. Let us denote this person by X. Here is the conversation that followed(recreated in English).

X: So, you study CS at BIT Mesra?
Me: Yes.
X: What about the semester exams? What is your GPA? Your rank?
Me: (Honestly) Not good. Just above 7. I don't study. Rank is nowhere. Virtually unknown.
X: What? My daughter studied IT from __ in Bangalore. She has a CGPA of 9.483. She happens to be a gold medalist. (To my father) What is your son doing? What has he achieved? Even if he hadn't told you, let me. Placements are going to be difficult for him.

(That was the blow.)

Me: Why are you asking my father? Ask me. I don't even know my CGPA to three decimal places. What have I achieved? Nothing significant. But as you will definitely misunderstand what I am trying to say, I would add one instance. Few days ago, I won a tablet from American Express. How? By actually writing code. As you seem the person who quantifies everything, let me tell its price. About Rs. 16,000.
X: Arey, why are you firing up? No company cares about whether you have won a tab or not. They care about your exams.
Me: With two sems left, I can't do much about my academics now. I am in no mood either. Just like you don't give any worth to my achievement, I don't give any to your daughter's. Afterall, this is a free country. But do expect me at your home someday. I will have a job then.

That was all. My father was actually laughing on the way to home. Told me, he never expected I would say something like that. For the very first time , he told me that I have grown much.

So much for an occasional chit-chat.

P.S: No offense to any highly 'ranked' scholar reading this. I am not glorifying low CGPA either. Just remember that whatever you do in life, you also have to pay the consequences. No hard feelings there.

Time for a reboot

I knew something was wrong. I was feeling too sad. I took my phone and searched through the contacts. One by one, the names of my 'friends' passed by. I reached the end. I couldn't call any of them or tell them to have a meetup. How could I? I haven't talked or met with them for two long years.

It was around October 2012. I let it go. Afterall, I have to focus on my career. Sadness is for the weak.

The years have went by. I have grown sadder. I find social interactions immensely awkward and troublesome. I haven't made any close friends - the type of friends I made in school, the friends who I could kill for, the friends whom I left - all because I had goals to fulfill.

My satisfaction levels are down too. I don't feel that good from my achievements. Take an example. Some days back I won a Samsung Galaxy Tab from American Express. It didn't feel like anything. People were congratulating me. I was thanking them and thinking why the hell are they doing that. Do they think that I am happy?
  
After some soul-searching since yesterday, it looks like I am stuck in Overkill Cult. I have become too goal oriented. So much that I find friends and families not worth my time. I have the next book to read, next contest to attend, next lecture to watch, next article to go through and so on. Incidentally, none of them revolves around friends or family members.

Why do we work? To make our lives better. To spend quality time with people who care for us and are close to us. What is the worth of our work, if it forces you to leave people in the sidelines?

It's time for some action.

A new book I found about total Solar Eclipses.

I am reading Totality: Eclipses of the Sun. Finely written book, if you're interested in why people around the world cross seas to view solar eclipses. Infact, this book has one of the finest first chapters.

I am going to end this post by adding a beautiful image of Baily's beads. The red paint you're seeing are called prominences which consists of very hot gases.

A Realization

Note to anyone interested: it is my first blog post written from a library. The library mentioned here is in BIT Mesra.

When I started using Facebook in 2011, things were a little bit different for me. I was surrounded by many friends, had shallow tastes and thought of myself as the greatest genius walking on the face of Earth. Things have probably changed for the better in all those years (atleast I like to think so).

I shouldn't bore with those uninteresting details of my life (or should I, Random Reader?). So, many things in short, I thought Facebook as something which was purely meant for entertainment. Entertainment for my previous self was goofing around practically doing nothing. So, I couldn't really understand why Mark Zuckerberg's motto for creating Facebook was to connect people. Or was there really a use for social networks?

But things changed when I started reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality(you should try it preferably after reading the original version by J.K. Rowling). As over the years, my interests have become increasingly unique and different(my friends say so), I found that no one in my batch or immediate circle of friends was reading it(as far as I know). But, as it was so beautifully written, I had to discuss it. With someone.

Within the last few days as HPMOR was ending, I have discussed the plot and the characters with people from Melbourne, Bangalore, Sydney, Boston, Chicago, Kharagpur, Warsaw and Mumbai. It didn't matter whether the person I was talking to was a guitar player or an AI researcher or a mother who recently gave birth to a son. We were in for a cause - to have a great time by discussing a thing that we loved.

It was such a great experience. Playing games like "Not Paranoid Enough" with people from opposite the globe, is a thing I seldom do - infact it was my first.

All because of Internet. All because of social networking sites like Facebook. And, most importantly because of people.

I am studying engineering now. One year left of my undergraduate studies. I sincerely hope that I am able to do justice here by creating something that makes someone's life a little bit better and happier.

Solar System: is it stable?

During my first year at BIT Mesra, at a C language workshop, I asked one of my seniors:

"Can I simulate the Solar System?"

He said that it was probably a hard problem, but you can try it if you want. As my attention span is low, I forgot about the problem till now. Two years later.

Here is the article I am referring to. It is still a hard problem.

Spelling Mistakes

You may remember all those books, we used to read in childhood. One of them was about common spelling mistakes.

As a child, I never had problems with spellings. I saw a word, memorized it and never committed mistakes while spelling it. I wondered what was the necessity of such books if I never committed mistakes. Till now.

I realized that the authors of those books were adults - not kids (how could adults know what were the common spelling mistakes done by kids?). And, it was not so long for me to reach the conclusion that it is the adults who committed those mistakes, they are teaching the kids not to do.

I can safely say that I am an adult. I was born in 1994. And, I commit spelling mistakes while writing - frighteningly close to all those given in the books. I should thank Google search and automatic spell-checkers for saving me from embarrassment. If you're wondering about which words am I talking about, here they are - achieve, receive, there, their, embarrassment, commitment and so on.

Now, when I reached that conclusion, I thought about why I was committing mistakes now when I was a spelling pro as a child.

I think it has something to do with how our brains process information. As children, our neurons were not overloaded with tons of information. We were new to world and were learning about our surroundings. Getting new information and storing/retrieving it was a fairly easy task. But, things changed as we grew. Our brains have soaked in years of articles, images, movies and sounds. It is natural that we sometimes commit mistakes in the most basic of tasks such as spelling.

P.S: I am no neuroscientist. I came up with a possible explanation. If you think it is incorrect, then do inform me.

Exactly why our world works in Maths?

It still seems quite mystical to me that mathematics can describe the world in which we live.

Some people (whom I have met online) have mentioned that there's no deep meaning to maths in sciences. Science is about rationalism and mathematics is the best tool for logic. Hence the correspondence.

But, I think it goes deeper than that. Wigner mentions in this article that Heisenberg's matrix mechanics worked for lowest energy level of helium atom. No one knows why - matrix mechanics was developed keeping hydrogen atom in mind.

No one knows why our universe follows mathematical rules. Who(or what) is behind them.

It might be the case that mathematics and physics are highly crafted bullshit. But as for now, this possibility is highly unlikely. Mathematical laws provide too accurate descriptions of the things we are able to observe.

So, I think the question is still in philosophical domain. Maybe many years from now, when humans have developed far better understanding of the universe, the questions will be answered. It might also be possible that the questions remain unanswered.

And, this brings us to another question. Will these questions ever stop? Can 'whys' and 'hows' stop someday?

If yes, then who or what is at the pinnacle of all knowledge and everything that is there to be known?

If no - well sorry, I don't even know what this situation means.

Both the possibilities are nerve-chilling.

The Pale Blue Dot

 The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of our planet  taken on February 14, 1990 by Voyager I from a distance of about 6 billion kilometers. It went to become one of the most powerful photographs in the history of mankind.

If you look closely at the yellow streak on the right side of the picture, you will notice a faint little blue speck. Yes, that's where we live. Our only home. Earth.

It is where we humans evolved. Where we created our civilization. Here is where we fought wars, sought love, wrote books, composed poems, created music, made friends, killed enemies and practiced religion. All of that in one tiny pixel.

Every human has lived and died on that tiny blue dot.

All those fighting done over lands, money or who is right appears senseless in the vast cosmic perspective. We can see no countries from over there. No boundaries. No religion. No caste. No gender. Not even a single human out of those 7 billion (and counting).

The photograph forces us to think where we are headed. Are we doing a good job as a civilization? Are we kind and respectful to each other? Are we moving towards making our world a better place?

It has been 25 years since that photograph was taken. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But, what is the word count of one containing all the humans who ever lived? And, that too at a single point?

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

What have you done to make our Earth a better place? How do you think we can become good human beings? Please share your answers and thoughts in the comments.

An Internet Rant - the first of many to come.

On the internet, I feel that majority of Indians are generally rude and incapable of "Be polite" and "Don't attack people" policies. 

I have discoursed with Slovakians, Israelis, Americans, Britishers and Russians. I found out that they were superbly nice even when they were opposed to what I was suggesting. Some of them were high school students, and their maturity floored me. They were always focused on ideas and not on the person who was expressing them.

And, their communicating style was radically different. They didn't use one-liners and stupid remarks which they thought were cool. They never let me feel that I was not wanted in the conversation and I was already wrong.

Even when I was not debating and wanted some information or clarification, they were quite forward(and nice!) in making me understand and providing me with references.

Maybe conformity bias and my online circle has forced me to draw this conclusion.

What are your thoughts?

Is it true - yes, then why ?
If no - then why I went through this experience?

The Dilemma Behind Rightness

For Potterheads: Do you think that providing wands to children of eleven is a good idea? Wands can do Avada Kedavra, Crucio, Sectumsempra and some pretty nasty stuff.

For Mistborn readers: Do you think that a group of Mistborns can take over the world? Don't forget that they can control kandra, the flesh-changers and the hemalurgical beasts, koloss.

For A Song of Ice and Fire readers: Do you think the Faceless Men of Braavos can do whatever nasty things they could and get away with it? They are already world-class assassins and let's assume that they can change their finger-prints and DNA too.

Let's come to real world. There are restrictions on weapons, laws specifying age limits and rules on nearly everything you can think of. But, still nasty things do happen everyday.

Why then the laws exist? Do the existence of laws contain a hidden assumption that humans are inherently bad and need to be carefully controlled?

What makes a person become a jerk? Why some people do wrong? Do the wrongdoers really know that what they are doing is wrong? Is punishment the right way to 'solve' the problem of crimes, whichever they may be?

Who is actually responsible for a wrongdoing - the person or the circumstances he grew up/found himself in ?

What would happen in a lawless world? Will people crumble or they will rise from the ashes?

What will it need to make a world where no laws are required?

Thanks for reading. If you have something to say, then please comment. If you have some books to recommend on this topic, then please do. You can bring anything from neuroscience to western philosophy.

The Flame Still Burns Bright

Today is the birthdate of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Though, India doesn't hold him as important as to grant a national holiday, he still burns like a fire in many hearts.

I first came to know about Netaji when I was a small child. My father has a portrait of him alongside Rabindranath Thakur at our home. My father - then 17 years old - bought the portrait from a road-side vendor. He never abandoned it though many things changed with time.

I still remember how I came to know about him. One day, I was quite bored while playing with a set of model airplanes. My father was reading his copy of Anandabazar Patrika at a chair nearby. My mind wandered off and I asked my father who the 'military man' is (Rabindranath Thakur as an old man with a long beard didn't interest me then...I was a child!). He kept his paper aside for a while and began explaining things I didn't know about. I came to know about how Britishers enslaved our country for a brutal 200 years. I was told about men and women who worked relentlessly against the oppression of the Imperialists. And, finally came the name of Subhas Chandra Bose.

I will not add endless details about Netaji here. I am no scholar in his life nor great enough to comment on his feats.

But, I am interested in other things - how could a man become such a figure? How men like him can do things other people can't? How could a boy interested in philosophy rose to such prominence against a colonialist superpower?

I guess we can't say for sure. But what we can learn from his story is that endless perseverance and a steadfast unwillingness to accept what is wrong, can move mountains.

118 years later, a person is writing about a child born on this day. The man knows in his heart that the flame still burns bright.....