Road to salvation

I've been reading Ankit's blog quite a bit recently and there is one post (called 911 vs 100) that really echoes my thoughts. It's the basic, simplest and minutest of differences between a developing nation (India) and a developed nation (USA). Say India is developed, it is not!

Infrastructure is the spine of a country. I had been to India recently and I know where we stand in terms of infrastructure. We will get there though, in a few years. I really don't know about the whole country, but the cities are developing. Rules and regulations are having some meaning. I'm not going to pretend to know too much. All I'm going to do is try and take a closer look at a developing India, through its developing cities.

Water and electricity, 2 of India's biggest problems have been banished from the cities. The BMC has very stringent rules on water these days and new constructions are encouraging rain water harvestation and/or bore wells.

Transportation is taking a new turn this decade. By 2020, the 4-5 metropolitan cities will have an excellent core network including monorails, metro systems. Roads and rails will be well maintained allowing better flow of traffic. Check out the various projects underway in Mumbai at the MMRDA website http://www.mmrdamumbai.org/ Here you can get details on all projects including skywalks, flyovers etc.

Politics, unfortunately, has not even managed to peek its head out the window to see the rising sun. Corruption, corruption and more corruption. I understand it completely, but with limits. If you are not corrupt in India, you will be killed by somebody one day for not being corrupt. But I'm happy to see the average age of the politician reducing. One thing I'm not happy about is the Shiv Sena thinking they have the biggest Maharashtrian brain possible.

We need a better educational system, something without the quota system. A place where students won't be ragged and a place where they won't hang themselves. It is improving, but at a snail's pace. We need more schools, colleges and universities. There are hardly any aviation schools and places to study astronomy, aerospace engineering. Not only that, I've heard that there are only 3 accredited institutes in the whole of India where one can learn marine biology.

Finally, more security. Something like 911. I don't think even 50% of the population knows about the 100 system. On most occasions, they feel that it is best not to dial that number. Myth or joke - India is a country where the pizza arrives faster than the police. I want to see the police deliver the pizza someday.

Brick in the wall

I recently visited Orlando, FL for the Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC) and I took my first step into the conference-world. I probably wouldn't have gone if I hadn't been presenting a paper. But the experience was amazing. Never had I thought that just sitting all day attending presentations, with lunch and coffee breaks in the middle, then talking to the presenters and researchers at the end of the day would be so much fun. I really felt like I wanted to be a bigger part of this world and venture deeper into the rabbit hole. It also made me want to go to such an event even if I wasn't publishing. I also realized how I'm just another brick in the wall, how tiny I was when all the industry professionals got together under one roof.

I did successfully present my paper and defend a few questions thrown towards me, met many different people from all over: Boeing, NASA, FAA, MITRE (CAASD), Eurocontrol, Lockheed Martin etc. Most of the people who attended my presentation really liked it, mainly because it was so relevant to their papers and/or everyday travel. My paper was titled "Impact of Critical Hub Airport Configurations in the Next Generation Air Transportation System". When I started talking about Chicago's O'Hare airport, I asked a question that told me the audience was really interested. The question was, "Has any of you been delayed for a long period on the tarmac at O'Hare?" Everyone just smiled.

The whole AIAA/IEEE community is so dedicated to finding solutions to such problems related to Air Traffic Management, safety issues, etc. It is just amazing! After all said and done, my flight from ORD to CMI took 35 minutes to taxi. It was taxiing longer than the flight time. That is just ridiculous. The guy next to me was speechless when I told him what my presentation in Orlando was all about. I think he felt like choking me because he wanted to get to his girlfriend quicker and the Chicago ATC just wouldn't let him.

I decided to celebrate this momentous trip to Orlando by starting by new professional blog: http://turbulenttarmacs.wordpress.com/ It will be my wordpad for everything related to the industry. I hope to integrate everything into my own website someday, hopefully in the next month ;)

Good calls

Yesterday, I went to Rantoul to play in a tournament. For the first time, I thought about playing with strangers and seeing how I fared. We were 5 of us, all put in $10 and started off with 10000 chips each. Winner takes $50.

I started off well, winning some small pots and quickly became the chip leader. Once I become chip leader, I hate to lose my position and the advantage. Two of the players went out gradually, one of them was eliminated by me, but he made a bad call with a mediocre hand.

The turning point came when the blind were 500/1000. I had about 20000 chips and the guy to the left of me had about 18000. That left the 3rd player, a woman across the table, with around 12000 chips.

I had 76 off suit and decided to go for it. I raised the big blind three times and bet 3000. I was the small blind and the guy to my left was the big blind. Having already put 500 in the pot, he decided to raise my bet. He made it 6000. This was a huge decision for me. I thought to myself, he won't risk so many of his chips on a bluff, coz he doesn't have that big a stack. If he does have AA, KK, QQ or any other pocket pair, I am in bad shape. But if he has AK, AQ etc then my odds are decent, coz low cards might just hit the deck in the flop. Another possibility was, he was bluffing and just trying to collect the money I had raised with. Well, if that was true, then I was in good shape. I decide to go for it. I called. The flop came 6 6 3. I had made a set (three of a kind). Now I knew this hand was mine. The action was on me and I bet 6000. Now he thought about it for a long time. And after a while, he pushed all-in, and I immediately called. He was shocked. He thought he had me beat, opening up 8 3 off suit. When he saw my set, he began cursing. I was immensely happy with the way I had played the hand and I won it. I now had close to 38000 chips vs the woman's 12000. Later the guy told me that he was really impressed when I called his re-raise, and that he was just trying to take the blinds and raised money.

I ended up winning the tournament and reflecting back at this moment as the turning point. It happens a lot, when you end a tournament, reflecting back on major decisions and cards. I'm just happy I made the right move at the right time.

Kabab or Haddi

Anubhav: Kiske saath jaa raha hai Philly?

Me: Ankit and Anjali ke saath.

Anubhav: Kyun kabab mein haddi ban raha hai be?

Me: Abbe, mujhe bhi toh kabab chahiye. Aur mera kabab toh Philly mein hai!!

The eclipse

And suddenly, anything is possible. Its power is undeniable; its beauty mesmerizing; its lure biblical; its meaning unknowable. And as quickly as it comes, it disappears, leaving us to dwell on our own insignificance, in the face of God.

- Mohinder Suresh (Heroes - Season 3 Chapter 9)

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

What the hell is wrong with directors these days? Watch this movie and you will scream out, "How is that possibly logical?" several times. Kevin James was probably doing this movie as a favor to someone otherwise I don't believe he is suicidal. 

I really don't understand how a little girl can enter a mall surrounded by cops and SWAT from all sides. Moreover, I don't understand how a man with a chilli ketchup bottle can defeat another man with a gun. Also, why the stupidest people on earth would rob a mall. 

This movie will make you wonder all of the above and more. 

My Rating: C

Terminator: Salvation

By the way, I got a call from John Connor himself from the future, and he says that there were 6 terminator movies made in all. The last two were called Terminator: Almost and Terminator: Finally. 

There is no real point in just stretching a particular storyline just because it makes money. I am a huge Terminator fan. I love the concept, it's so unique. Something that I love the Matrix for as well. But this movie doesn't really prove that progress is being made by mankind towards survival. Even the story of this movie kind of reminds you of the previous adventures of Connor. Same shit, new sequel. The special effects are A-grade. They won't disappoint you, and you might even enjoy the movie and say that its a nice, one-time watch. I would recommend changing the name of the movie in that case because I expect much much more from a Terminator film. 

Bale does fine as Connor. But what this movie needed was a Cameroon touch, desperately. Terminator 2 just had a touch of genius stamped all over it. T2 made 204 million at the box office. I think this one will scrape through and reach one hundred. 

And now, John Connor is having a baby... amazing! Elasticity at its best!! 

My Rating: B-

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The reason I thought that film-makers were willing to make X-Men Origin based movies was for the likes of Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman. After watching the movie, I realized that they actually wanted to tell their tales. Personally, I don't think anybody other than Wolverine or Jene Gray have stories worth telling. 

The movie blends in with the whole X-Men ensemble. But serious questions can be asked about the whereabouts of Magneto and/or why they had to use a double for Patrick Stewart. The flick is entertaining on the whole. Jackman and Schreiber do justice to Wolverine and Sabertooth respectively. 

Some alterations have been made to the script, so most X-Men fans will easily spot the useless pieces of junk added here and there. They've made a movie, not told the exact tale. The flick does a good job as a stand-alone film. 

My Rating: B+

He's just not that into you

Getting a huge star cast and trying to educate people about dating and love isn't the best way to make a successful film. I think the makers of He's just not that into you started seeing improvement in their love lives after they saw Love Actually or some other educational movie about love. I think so did the cast. You can see the cast make an effort though. The preformances by Bradley Cooper and Ginnifer Goodwin stand out the most.

Even the dumbest person on the planet has the scope to learn more from his or her own experiences than by watching this movie. The fact of the matter is that there is no triumph over cupid. Nothing can be figured out.

My Rating: C+

Angels and Demons

Being the movie buff that I am, I thought it would be a good idea to warn the movie-goers through this medium. I easily watch at least 20 movies in a month. So, I have decided to review each movie that I see via short-and-sweet summaries followed by a rating. 

Robert Langdon is the luckiest idiot on the planet. In Angels and Demons, whatever he looks at turns to clues. I liked Da Vinci Code more than this flick, coz this has been made more into a Hero-vs-Villian type saga. Ewan McGregor has done a phenomenal job. He is one of the rare chameleon actors that the industry has. The problem is that he doesn't get offered a decent number of good movies. I have full faith in Tom Hanks and Ron Howard. They are the top-draw. Their attempts are noteworthy, but cannot save this film from a mediocre script. 

I would spend 20 hours with Dan Brown rather than 2 hours with Howard for sure.

My Rating: B-