Don Quixote: an inspiration?

Old days should have been much better to live, I hope. Meanwhile, I know that this is a foolish hope. Yet, why I hope so is because of the kind of art that was produced in those lost times. Currently, this thought is inspired in me by the story of Don Quixote. I remember, as a small boy, as small as ten years old or so, reading an abridged comic book illustrating the story of Don Quixote, a person, thin and fragile, in his fifties, who, after reading so many heroic stories of knights, becomes insane and deluded to think that he was a knight, too. Perhaps, he must have been bored of the ordinary country life he used to be going through. He sets forth to travel around the world and foolishly reacts to everything he comes across. And, in all his thoughtless endeavours, he fails. But he believes that he succeeded in every situation and defeated everyone who fought with him. I am trying to recollect how my mind was reacting to this fabulous story. Interestingly, I was very confused; at that age, I was unable to make out why a person should behave like that. In the story, he sets forth to many heroic actions but ends up as a fool. I was confused if he was a hero or a comic character. Hero should not fail, right?

The following picture was included in the comic book I read. It illustrates Don Quixote, going mad, while reading a book. Look at the characters his imagination creates around him! In my childhood, my mind was stuck with it. Even now, looking at it, I feel some mystic sensation within.

Don Quixote going insane, by Gustave Doré. (The photo is from wikimedia
resources and is in the public domain.)

As a grown up, I understand what the author, Cervantes, was trying to tell us. Besides, particularly after joining for Ph.D., I feel like Don Quixote! Have I set myself to a task, without much thinking and preparation? Is this true in the case of my decision to get married before finishing my Ph.D.? Truly speaking, I want to find out if Don Quixote had inspired me and, if yes, how. I had procured the unabridged version (of course, translated to English from Spanish) of the book five years ago, but haven't started reading yet. It is very big, probably with 600 pages or more. I think I must read it in the near future.

Mathematics -- Pure and Applied -- and Engineering

I was trying to understand "what is mathematics" and how it differs from engineering (indeed, a stupid question to ask). I love mathematics, and I am fascinated by it, though I have no good mathematical talents. Furthermore, I know that engineering problems demand so much mathematical skills and knowledge. And many a time, my mind digress from  the simplicity of engineering to the wilderness of mathematics without my knowledge. This creates confusion as to what I am doing. A confused mind needs clarity. That is how I began to ask the above question.

I had heard that there is a difference between pure mathematics and applied mathematics. A notable mathematician of the last century, Paul R. Halmos gives clear distinction between them in his talks, interviews and books. According to him, mathematics is an intellectual discipline, done for its own sake. Though it is influenced by nature -- in the sense that a mathematician is a human being, who is a product of nature -- its objective is not the study of nature. In other words, its objective does not have to deal with any natural phenomena, or control of nature, or use of natural forces for humanity. Its objective is to play around clearly defined axioms -- which are often motivated by nature but generalized and expressed as abstract ideas so that its connection with nature has become irrelevant and invisible -- and to understand their implications completely. That is, mathematicians are after  the complete knowledge of an axiomatic system. Research in mathematics is to discover (note this: discover, not invent) any hidden knowledge in the abstract system, generated by axioms. And axioms are gods -- no questioning them, as long as they are clearly defined (there are debated axioms, too, e.g., axiom of choice -- if I am wrong tell me). On the contrary, the objective of applied mathematics is, using the Halmos' term, action; he implies physical action, or manipulating nature and its forces for some use. In other words, applied mathematics solves mathematical problems, which arise exclusively from applications. For example, suppose we arrive at a weird and so far unheard type of differential equation (I don't know if such an equation exists, but I contrive this as an illustrative example from my limited imagination) while trying to design a system. Finding out a method to solve such a problem means research in applied mathematics. Or else, it can be trying to find an efficient (fast or computationally light) method from the existing ones. Hence, applied mathematics heavily appears in physics, engineering and other applied sciences -- wherever there is action. To summarise, the pure mathematicians are after knowledge, whereas the applied mathematicians are after action.

Of course, an engineer can solve the kind of problems that an applied mathematician works on, but one must be very talented, having a good hold on mathematics. Rather, engineering is probably different. By and large, people say that an engineer is a problem solver. So, he may not really develop the mathematics required to solve a problem, but, rather, he may borrow the most appropriate concepts from mathematics to develop an efficient and practically realizable solution. This is my current thought on this.  However, I know that it is not complete. I am trying to understand this more. I guess that I should look into what the "engineers" have done in the past, especially, the greatest ones.

In the above effort, which was just an errand from my normal studies, I found a few interesting facts. I list them above, without organizing them well and without any purpose.

1. Paul R. Halmos is the first to use "iff" in the place of "if and only if" in mathematics literature (at least he claims so).
2. Paul Halmos is the first to use the small square to indicate the end of a proof in mathematics.
3. Josiaph Willard Gibbs is the first person who was awarded the first Ph.D. in the United States in engineering (strictly speaking, applied science and engineering); this happened in 1863, and he got the degree from Yale University. Why it is interesting to me is just because I, as a signal processing engineer, know Gibbs through Gibbs phenomenon. He is not a signal processing engineer, though.

When I leave this post, a few problems are lingering in my mind: What is engineering? What is a "fundamental" problem in engineering like? What can be considered as a seminal contribution in engineering:  solving a "problem" or inventing "something" new?

Stupid AMMA

Shameful, they call it AMMA -- a word that symbolizes love and unselfish service. By AMMA, I mean the "Association of Malayalam Movie Artists".  They embarrassed all the Malayalis by keeping themselves away from the ONAM celebration function organized by the Govt. of Kerala to honor the great actor Kamal Hassan [1].  AMMA says that Kamal is not a Malayali, and the Govt. of Kerala should choose a Malayali actor to honor rather than a Tamil actor.  This is a blunder -- a Himalayan blunder.  Fortunately, other associations in the Malayalam film industry did not subscribe to AMMA's views but actively participated in the program.

Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthananthan honoring Kamal Hassan on 22 Aug, 2010, at Thiruvananthapuram. (Photo courtesy Mathrubhumi Malayalam daily)

In a larger perspective, the AMMA's argument caters to nothing less but the narrow-minded regionalism, which is otherwise unheard in Kerala.  This attitude is always destructive.  The Chief Minister V.S. Achuthananthan may be right to say that the Malayali actors are coveting only fame and recognition; they have no respect for the true art.  We know this from the recent experience.  The golden age of Malayalam cinema was in the 80's and 90's.  Those days are gone.  To save Malayalam cinema from the grave peril of forgetfulness, new talents are to rise.  Then, the old, sterile idiots will be wiped out forever.  For the sake of the art I wish this happens soon.

[1] Mathrubhumi news -- 23/08/2010

A New Light

Yesterday, I saw a new light flashing in my mind --- a new light of knowledge:

"...have been working on this area for the past twenty years" may perhaps matter much less compared to "have been critically thinking on this topic for the past twenty minutes".

Reduced Activity in sandeeppalakkal.blogspot.com -- An Investigation Report

Reduced Activity in sandeeppalakkal.blogspot.com -- An Investigation Report

Staff Reporter,
July 7, 2010.
PALAKKAL TIMES.

Stupid and irrelevant, or just a waste of time -- these are the phrases that you would most likely utter about the posts that appear in www.sandeeppalakkal.blogspot.com.  However, you might have been surprised to see very less articles in that website recently. In fact, there was not a single post in April!  So what's going on? What happened to the writer? Has he stopped writing? In this issue, Palakkal Times brings you an exclusive report on this most astonishing and unprecedented phenomenon.

For our team it was very difficult to meet Sandeep Palakkal this time. We searched all his dwelling places inside and outside IITM, and just failed. Even his close associates in IITM could not answer our question -- where is Sandeep Palakkal? They faced our questions with bewilderment and they were quite helpless. However, they gave us some clues on this -- a very important one that would finally lead to find the man.

After hearing what happened to Sandeep Palakkal recently, we spotted a few places in IITM where Sandeep could possibly be. Though we would not reveal those places publicly, we would tell you how we found him. It was almost evening, close to 6 P.M., and we were almost going to give up our search for him. One of our last places to search for him was the IITM stadium. We went there, and it was almost dark. It should have been very hard to find him among the numerous health-conscious men and women who came for jogging in the ground. But not quite so! Our attention was immediately caught by the lean man lying on the ground, as if he had fallen, with his hand pressing on the right side of his head. We first thought he was injured on the head when he fell down. We went near him to help him out, and we found -- the man we were searching for! He was not injured; neither he had fallen. Rather he was speaking on the phone, keeping it against his ear. Seeing us he grinned; his smile had an unmistakable touch of shyness. He showed us to sit and told the person on the other end of the phone that he was going to disconnect. We bombarded him with questions. In brief words, he told us (emphasis added):

"Of course, blogging has been one of my mind-soothing activities. And I know that it has been reduced recently. This partly owes to my increased focus in research [ഓ, തന്നെ തന്നെ]; but a major reason is that I spent most of my free hours with the system packed in red shown in the photo [he showed us a photo, which, for the readers' aid, is attached below].  I am connected with this system through India's 3G GSM wireless network.  And my free hours -- i.e., freedom -- cripples [he was smiling].   But the overall performance of this new connection is extremely satisfactory."

 (Lakshmi and Sandeep; they got engaged on July 20, 2010.)

We would like to tell our dear readers that we pestered Sandeep to talk more, but the more we pestered the little he spoke. He just added that he has been engaged with Lakshmipriya, who is a doctor (one who can prescribe medicine) and lives in the city of Calicut. When we asked for more details he told us to wait and see. We know that the readers are more curious as we are. But for the time being, we stop here. Watch these pages -- we will be adding more details as our most skillful reporters dig them out.

Question to the reader: who do you think was Sandeep speaking to when we found him in the ground?
Send in your answers to us and receive gifts to the selected answers. Your answers should reach us before the sunrise on July 31, 2009.

Paradox in thought

What non-vegetarians think when they eat non-vegetarian food: "This contains a lot of proteins. This is good for my health".

What vegetarians think when they reject non-vegetarian food: "This contains a lot of proteins. Excess protein is bad for my health".

Did you see the paradox in thinking?

So, "eat if you like, or don't if you don't; and don't give me reasons".

Eternal Journey of Love: A story

Eternal Journey of Love

Sandeep Palakkal

The old man was reading in his study since morning. In fact, he had been reading for years, every day of his life. In the past he used to find time to read even during his busy work schedule. But now that he had been retired for years and he had nothing else to do, he was free to choose his favourite activity day and night. 

It was midday when his wife, an old woman herself, came and sat near him. She gazed at him with a face gleaming with joy from the thought how delightfully immersed was the old man in his reading. She always loved watching him this way. As though sensed her gaze and thoughts, the old man raised his eyelids around which there were thin white hairs, and looked at his wife, smiling. The wife read the title of the book – Love in the Time of Cholera. She exclaimed how many times she had seen him reading the same book again and again. He replied that he was always tormented by Marquez's this tale of love – a love that began quite innocently, unknowingly, and then waited for long years, from one century to the next, for its fulfilment. Like the love of Florentino Ariza for Fermina Daza, the entire novel had been disturbing him like a flame in his heart ever since he first read the book, he said. As Forentino and Fermina were on an eternal journey up and down the stream in the wild Magdalena river that passed through the Carribbean, the old man wanted to read the novel again and again, eternally. The woman saw the old man's eyes shining with joy as he spoke of the novel. There was another book, lying on the table, which she remembered buying a week ago, on an evening, when they went to the town. It was a recently published book, which the old man showed her as a masterpiece of a writer who won the Nobel prize last year. He wanted to start reading it immediately after finishing the present book. During the last one week, the woman had seen him many times taking that book, reading the reviews on the back, skimming through the pages, and smelling the leaves. And she knew how passionate he was about books and reading. She loved his passion, though she used to tease him that he was crazy.
 

“It is lunch time, and everything is ready,” she pointed out.

The old man put a marker on the page he was currently reading, kept the book on the table, and rose from his chair. The woman stood nearby. Placing his hand on her fragile shoulder, he told her that he  hoped he could finish the book by the evening, as there were only around forty pages left. She smiled and led him to the dining room.

The lunch was simple – a little brown rice, vegetable curry made of raw banana and fish curry with coconut; added to it was pappadam and mango pickle. Both the husband and wife enjoyed their meals; they served each other, and, telling a lot of jokes and stories from their old days, they laughed till the end. As he washed his hands, the wife asked if he was going back to his study to continue reading. But the old man wanted to catch some sleep. He knew the lady slept everyday through the afternoon. And he wanted to sleep with her.

As they were lying down on their backs on the soft cushion bed, he said he was going to dream waking up in the evening and resuming his reading, savouring a cup of black-tea made by her. Giggling, she turned her body to his side, put her hand on his chest, and sank into sound sleep. Feeling her warm breath on his neck, he also fell asleep when he could not tell. When she woke up, the sun had descended from his thrown, and the birds were welcoming a blissful evening with their songs. With a rested, serene mind, she went to the kitchen and prepared tea. She called him when she brought tea into the bedroom. He was still in the depth of his sleep. And the old woman tried to wake him up by shaking his arm which , suddenly, she felt frozen like ice. She sensed the coldness of his body entering hers through her fingers which held his arm for a long time, and flowing through her nerves to her heart. Suddenly she realized that the light of her life – the warmth of his love – was gone forever, and she was condemned to live in that cold loneliness the rest of her life.

She was not an avid reader like him. She used to read sometimes – that was all. But she continued reading Love in the Time of Cholera, again and again, until she died one day, again leaving a few pages unread. She wanted to be a part of that eternal journey of love, up and down the river through the jungle. In this way, she could feel his warm presence in her soul. She  read the other book, which the old man had left without reading on his table, with a sense of fulfilling her husband's unrealized dream. She kept that book always with her, and used to smell its leaves to inspire her memories of a lost, warm love....

Chennai,
May 24, 2010.

A Lesson on Discrimination and Education

Thanks to Swapna (visit her here: http://swapnaravindran.blogspot.com/) I went through the following website and gained some insights into a few things, especially, social discrimination and education.  The web-link is http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/.  The story is exciting: in 1968, after Martin Luther King was assassinated, Jane Elliott,a school teacher, finds it difficult to explain her third-grade students why a national hero was assassinated suddenly.  She does not know how to explain social discrimination to those small kids, but is inventive enough (very much!) to find a way out -- that is, to make them experience it.  She divides her class into two -- those with blue eyes and those with brown eyes.  Then she tells the class that the blue-eyed people are superior to the brown-eyed ones, and make rules to treat the students separately, where all the rules are advantageous to blue-eyed people.  She observes the students, their behaviour and reactions.  The next day she tells the class that in fact it was the brown-eyed people superior than the blue-eyed ones, and reverts all the rules.  The revelations of her study were startling.  Those who were treated as superior started to behave that way and performed well in the tasks assigned to them, while other group grew sad first, angry later, and performed poorly.  In this way, the teacher was trying to prove that (or learn that) social discrimination is evil and creates antagonism among people.  She also was successful to help the students experience the effects of discrimination themselves.  She was also successful in finishing this experiment peacefully, teaching the lesson to the students positively, and bringing back the harmony among the students that prevailed before the experiment started.

Her experiment is not only a lesson on social discrimination, but also in education: how to be a good teacher, how to focus on the lesson rather than emotion.  For example, she has repeated this experiment on several groups of students and adults, and once when applied on a group of inmates in a prison, the adults reacted very badly.  She maintained her composure, responded logically, without losing her focus on the subject -- that is, what she wanted to prove or teach.  These classes are recorded in video and are available in the website.  I suggest everyone watch these videos and take the lessons home.

A Personal Experience:
Regarding discrimination, after watching the videos I can recall how similar my feelings were when treated as inferior on a few situations earlier, especially as a boy.  I still remember an occasion when one of my family members compared me with some children who were around, during a party, citing they were more cheerful and smarter than me.  That person said it was because they were English medium students (I was doing my school in my mother tongue -- Malayalam).  Ever since, I thought I was inferior to every English medium student.  It was a really bad feeling, rather painful and shameful -- a feeling of inferiority.  Though I had long forgotten this incident, I remembered it two or three years ago when a person, after talking at length with me in English, asked which medium I finished my school in.  I said it was Malayalam.  And he was astonished and gave me a strange look, partly in doubt and partly in amazement.  I asked the reason.  He told me that I spoke good English, I finished my post-graduation in a top engineering college of India, and besides, I was planning for higher studies.  He continued that he could not believe that a person educated in vernacular language could do so.  These are his comments.  I'm not here to say that I am smart, but to point out a wrong belief prevailing among the people -- that people who are schooled in their local language are inferior to English medium students!  See how this belief becomes a source of social discrimination.  Just after writing this, I am reminded of our great former President: Dr. K. R. Narayanan, who struggled and made his way from the lowest strata of the society, finally to become the President of India; I used to admire him very much.

In this world there are more stupid reasons to discriminate people.  In India, they are religion, caste, colour, local language, and so on.  While religion, caste etc. are universal sources of discrimination, local language should be typically Indian, I feel.  Indians are not a single people; they are divided as Malayalis, Tamils, Kannadigas, Telugus, Marathis, Kashmiris, Panjabis, and so on. Or, even as North Indians and South Indians.  To handle the Indian situation, to impart knowledge to Indian students, to keep the harmony between our people, I think, we need thousands of teachers like Jane Elliott.

My Answer

It is needless to say that movies (I'm talking only about Malayalam movies) are becoming worse and worse in their artistic qualities these days.  "Art is the only justification to life," said Nietzsche.  Then, if art becomes just a money-making business, what does remain to be upheld as a justification to life?  My answer is this: Imagination.  The ability to imagine everything in my life, even impossible things!  When movies degrade I should acquire the ability to imagine my own life as a movie!  Or broadly, as a novel.  Of course, this is a reductionism -- reductionism of a complicated, non-interpretable life as a simple, integral story.  But, in this way, I can find some meaning... some justification.  What else is life but an interpretation?

After A Journey

April was a very dry month -- oh, I mean I had no post in my blog!  Otherwise, it was a very hot month.  And I was very much immersed in my work, I mean my research work.  My eyes were soaring by looking at the monitor; my fingers were almost broken by writing programs; and my brain almost ceased to work.  Then I took a journey to home -- a journey which was composed of a few short travels.  I had to attend two marriages and a family function, and had to travel to Mangalore.  All my travels were confined to the Indian west-coast, mainly within Kerala.  One thing is for sure -- Chennai is hotter than Kerala and Mangalore.  Indeed I was sweating in Kerala, but as soon as I got to Chennai, my body started taking bath in sweat.

Also, since I was making so many travels after a long time -- maybe, for the first time in this year, especially using the public transport system -- I felt very glad to see that the world is still out there: it exists naturally, normally, without my knowledge and involvement.  It is I who is away from the world, sitting in front of a computer, in an academic environment.  For me, this was a sweet reminder -- a reminder of life itself.

World, wait there for me,
I am coming to you....

Now, May is getting hotter and hotter.  And I am back at my desk, looking at the monitor, sitting muddle-headed, and writing functions after functions in MATLAB.

Sandeep Palakkal