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12021-03-11T03:57:23+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2021/01/31/the-treasure-is-inside-the-fort/2021-03-11T03:05:14+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2021/03/09/written-on-rosetta-stone-15-summary/2021-03-10T02:55:13+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2021/03/07/written-on-rosetta-stone-13-strategic-questions-other-players-will-have-to-confront/2021-03-09T17:23:24+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2021/02/13/written-on-rosetta-stone-9-the-second-wall-breached/2021-03-09T14:42:55+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2021/02/13/written-in-rosetta-stone-7-arm-twisting-into-adjacencies/2021-03-09T14:38:53+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/contact/2020-11-20T16:37:17+00:00weekly0.6https://futurestartsmidweek.com/2020/06/10/look-straight-look-ahead-look-with-wisdom/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/spiralpicture-1.pngspiralPicture 12020-06-10T16:43:14+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2020/06/10/artificial-intelligence-singularity/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ai-sing.pngAI Sing2020-06-10T16:31:27+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2017/07/01/as-people-we-can/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/img_09743.jpgIMG_0974https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/19_1.jpg19_1https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/17_1.jpg17_1https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/16.jpg16https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/14_111.jpg14_111https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/14_11.jpg14_11https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/14.jpgFor there was trouble brewing. How can a new bridge divide people, you may ask?https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/13.jpg13https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/11.jpg11https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/10.jpg102017-07-01T19:49:27+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2015/09/13/100-oars-1-boat-1-mind/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/20.jpg20And the broad backwaters didnt take long to descend into a meaningful silence. 100 Oars. 1 boat. 1 mind. Visit the annual snake boat race in Kerala.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/19.jpg19Just as the winners were declared, a mad scramble ensued to navigate the way back home. Well before the prize ceremony. Just like people emptying the movie theatre before the credits. The celebration however, will continue in the villages late into the night.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/18.jpg18All India Radio declared the club as the winner! A lot of cheers. A few reluctant tears. More toddy. Later the club will face a huge controversy as they deployed ~10 Assamese/Meghalayan rowers. The winning team takes home around Rs. 11L - a fraction of the money they spent in getting in here.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/17.jpgand consolidates its position.and consolidates its position.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/16.jpg16And then with a surge of noise, will power, muscle power and technique, the Vembanad Kumarakom Race Club takes a lead...https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/15.jpg15The day long heats are done. The Top team in every heat gets to the finals of the Nehru Cup boat race. The crowd hysteria reaches a cresendo. The boats are nose to nose near the half way mark!https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/14.jpg14The Syrian Christians came to Kerala @3AD, the snake boats with them. For long it was a weapon of mass destruction. A silent and rapid means of transporting a 100 warriors in the dead of the night.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/13.jpg13The most experienced oarsmen are reserved for the Adanayampu – the rudder oar. The rear of the boat resembles a 20 feet snake with its hood raised – the four oarsmen set the direction of the boat with their 12 feet oars.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/12.jpg12Pompoms, rythmic drumming, team songs – the directors of the race stand in the middle and set up the rythm of the boat, progressively increasing the pace of the rowing. The oars strike in tandem and move the boat at incredible speed.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/11.jpg11The top speed is about 13kmph - compared to the Oxford-Cambridge boat race speed of ~23kmph.2015-09-13T12:46:33+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2015/07/24/the-winners-mindset/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/winnersway.jpgwinnerswayhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/shutterstock_99910499-e1437708464366.jpgshutterstock_999104992015-07-24T03:48:27+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2014/07/22/our-little-galaxy-was-well-lit-one-night-kabini/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/img_3878-copy.jpgIMG_3878 - CopyThe lights went on late evening, https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/img_3905.jpgIMG_3905And our little galaxy will be well lit tonight. 2014-07-26T17:30:45+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2014/05/30/tessellation-titillation-the-museum-of-mathematics/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_12781.jpgIMG_1278https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1302.jpgMove the lamps above and see metal grooves blaze with brilliance.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1298.jpgIMG_1298How could perfectly straight strings give a perfectly curved appearance... get onto the magic seat in the hyperboloid, you will see, and hence you will know. https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1296.jpgIMG_1296Let children see, feel, experience maths like never before @ Mueseum of Mathematics, NYC.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1295.jpgIMG_1295Can a shape fit into a set of identical shapes to form a plane - no overlaps, no gaps? That is floor tiles, I thought. That is Tessellation I am told. TESSELLATION.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1293.jpgIMG_1293Fit dinos into dinos. Play with tessellations of monkeys, horses. Or even make your own computer simulated tessellation.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1289.jpgIMG_1289Fractals, Strings, Rhythms all become arcade games - brave your brother, even better befuddle your father with it. https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1284.jpgIMG_1284Roll the odd shaped coaster, you think their movement is going to be random. Miracle! They follow these precise pre-determined paths. May be the world isn't all that unpredictable after all. You just need to know the shape of your ride!https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1281.jpgIMG_1281They don't make them that big any more: a 23 feet paraboloid that can help you calculate upto 10*10. So, if you keep forgetting your tables, set up one at home...https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1279.jpgHow about running around to do a little math and challenge your pal to it?2014-06-02T09:25:59+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2014/05/08/chisel-out-the-unbudda/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_18681.jpgIMG_1868https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1853.jpgIMG_1853https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_18811.jpgThe wise guy says, "It depends on who moves out"...https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1881.jpgThe biz guy knows. "He who moves out!". Inventory_Management#.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1875.jpg"Who comes out?" The Ishapathi doesn't know yet. https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1857.jpgA Budda. A Kali. A Ganesha. All hide inside the 4 feet block.2014-05-08T03:46:36+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2014/05/02/just-another-day-at-work-for-deviah-2/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_21341.jpgIMG_2134https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1976.jpgFriends. Laughter. Ritual mud baths.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1969.jpgIMG_1969May 1. Labourer's day. It is definitely on the holiday list of your office. A time to hit the beach.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1988.jpgFor the moment, Deviah has the freshest fish in town.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_1994.jpgIMG_1994Famous last thoughts: "Isnt it a holiday for humans today? I could venture around." Gasp.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_2012.jpgIMG_2012Fresh Fish. Brisk business. Instant cash. His customers: The fish fry vendors around the beach.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_2025.jpgIMG_2025But, Deviah has just come back from his second "field" trip of the day. An anxious crowd gathers around him.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_2058.jpgIMG_2058With his second trip to the sea earning him Rs. 350, it is time for Deviah to go back home. The commute is short - just a kilometer of rowing along the oceanfront to his village.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_2059.jpgCool breeze. Relaxing holiday. The smell of fresh fish fry is inviting.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/img_2071.jpg1st May 2014: Just another day at work for Deviah!2014-05-02T10:24:30+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2014/03/02/fruits-of-labour/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/img_0997.jpgIMG_09972014-03-02T09:00:23+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2014/02/24/sundarbana-sundari-smiling/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/img_0330-copy.jpgIMG_0330 - Copyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/img_0328.jpgAnd give her the right to smile. Sundarbana Sundari Smiling.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/img_0282.jpgIn another village, another girl was gang raped by 13 men in Jan'14 - a punishment as she met a guy outside her caste. Let us remove our blindfolds,https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/img_0271.jpgIMG_0271For crime against women is highest (in India) in rural West Bengal...all for a state with a woman chief minister.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/img_0268.jpgShe is the Sundari of the Sundarbans - but her future is not so sundar.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/img_0265.jpgYou find many contemplative of the difficult past. https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/img_0255.jpgIMG_0255You find them standing near the village road, giving loud instructions to the men at work.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/img_0150.jpgOn the face of it, they look happy. Empowered. In control.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/img_0353.jpgBut move a little, you find them hunched in a chore, that is but a way of life.2014-03-02T10:20:18+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2014/01/30/169/2014-02-03T15:22:58+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2014/01/15/phang-nga-bay-some-things-take-time-to-make/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/16.jpg16The hue of the sky, the gentle breeze, the ripple of the waves, the occasional call of a distant egret...https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/15.jpg15The landscape turns blue.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/14.jpg14Then a hush of brown descends, casting a pall of gloom. Your heart sinks. And then as if to satisfy your last whim...https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/13.jpg13...for sheer limestone karsts jut out vertically from calm waters.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/10.jpg10As the kayak-man maneuvers, you await the treasures in the bright end. The contrast in the landscape befuddles...https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/9.jpg9Suddenly you smell the bats. Now you can feel their flutter. Flinch. Hold. But never move. Or you will end up with a bloody nose.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/8.jpg8Lay low as the as you kayak and glide through another cavern.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/7.jpg7The emerald green water's thirst for Calcium is never quenched. It eats up the underbelly of the hills, creating a maze of foot high grotto.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/6.jpg6Million year old calcium oozes from the bowels, and it is white as a lilly in the rain.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/5.jpg5It merrily rained all year. The rain water took up its quota of calcium suppliments from the hills. Stalagmites they are.2014-01-17T17:14:11+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2014/01/17/cross-pollinator-series-imagining-a-universal-translator/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-film.jpgThe-Hitchhikers-Guide-To-The-Galaxy-filmhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hitchhiker-movie-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-543341_1280_1024.jpgHitchhiker-Movie-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-543341_1280_10242014-01-17T17:10:16+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2014/01/06/somewhere-near-natula-pass/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/img_91961.jpgIMG_9196Are oft recalled by stylish "yakboys".2014-01-06T18:57:08+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/2013/12/25/poojo-2013/https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/25.jpgTriumph of the Good over EvilAs you jostle, in a sublime second you eyes meet her reassuring eyes. The moment overwhelms you. With the evil annihilated, you believe that the world has become a better place. And hence it has become one. | Like. No. Other. Durga Pooja. Kolkata 2013. https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/24.jpgTriumph of the Good over EvilAnd then you come face to face with Durga Ma. In all her glory and splendor, riding her lion, killing evil with righteous rage. The evil is vanquished with one furious stroke of Ma's trident.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/20_2.jpgTriumph of the Good over EvilYou marvel the million lights. You think about the tribe that designs, invests in these Pandals. Manage it for 10 days? Dont even go there. Electricity for the visual splendor in a power starved state? God only knows how it gets done. Raising the funds? No rational ROI calculation will stand the scrutiny of CFOs.You find no logical answers. And then you realize the depth of the phenomena. It is fueled by social will power. This is no effort - this is desire. This is the overwhelming desire of the peoples to celebrate Durga Ma. https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/20_1.jpgTriumph of the Good over EvilYou lumber your way past and there is just one man between you and God. Suddenly, you hear drum beat and the Priest gets into a frenzied dance ringing the bell in rhythm.https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/19.jpgTriumph of the Good over EvilBy the 1800s it was a protest movement by the Bengalee Hindus against the traders who have now turned rulers. The Durga Poojo was seen as a symbol of awakening the national consciousness against the British rule. So, there are multiple dimensions weaved into it - music, dance, poem, art and of course, the Food! And the momentum only grows every passing year... https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/151.jpgTriumph of the Good over EvilYou get the first glimpse of Durga Ma and you realize why a million others thought it was a journey worthy of its effort. Durga Pooja has been a phenomena since 1650s - but the overwhelming British presence in India's capital of the yore, gave it the socio-cultural significance. In the 1700s it was a way of the British traders to say that they were "Indianised". https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/14_2.jpgYour JourneyAsk for the Asian Paints Pandal guide - they have plotted the most optimal path for you tonight - hopping onto may be 10 pandals over 4 hours and 6 kms... https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/14_1.jpgYour JourneyBrands have a field day. Sponsorship galore. And why not, there are ~30K Pandals and 3 million people... it is the greatest buying season. [Can you spot McDowells No. 1 on the screen... they are promoting Pure Aqua:)]https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/13_1.jpgYour JourneyEstimated to be a $6B (yes $, yes B) for 2015, the Durga Puja industry impacts many fortunes, including Chinese plastic makers who supply indescribable marquees... https://futurestartsmidweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/131.jpgYour JourneyAs the frenzied Danuchi dancers swirl around in Arthi for Durga Ma2013-12-28T01:43:56+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.com/about/2013-12-27T10:42:26+00:00weekly0.6https://futurestartsmidweek.com/2013/12/26/an-evening-in-the-sundarbans/2013-12-26T11:45:02+00:00monthlyhttps://futurestartsmidweek.comdaily1.02026-04-02T13:14:55+00:00