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Hello everyone, I think I must get transferred more often. The news of my transfer generated a lot of letters (from Prasad,Mukund,Jagan,Rahul,Raghu, Vidya, Aarthi, Mohan and Geetha) and phone-calls from all the other members of the family. As all of you have written, we are happy to go to Chennai. It is said about Indians that you can take an Indian out of India, but you can never take India out of an Indian. I think our feeling about Mumbai is same. The work culture, the life around us, the stations, taxis, afternoon papers, view from our flat, NCPA and many other memories of Mumbai will always be with us. Aarthi had her entire schooling and Junior college from KG to 12th Standard here. Harish also had the crucial bits of education, viz., 10th and 12th here. I had a variety of jobs here, BARC, KVIC, Western and Central Railways and even NF Railway (After all I was mentally in Mumbai even when I was in Tinsukia). But change has to come. I am happy that despite being in a transferable job, I was here for so long. Both Prasad and Rahul replied to my probability problem. Their answers are almost same (naturally). The difference is that Rahul has computed the probability as a multiple of 18, while Prasad, for whom logical rigor is more important than probability theory has computed that anybody who gets in at the ground-floor in an 18-storey building can go out only in the 17 other floors.I am reproducing my question with their answers. Last week, I was in the lift in our building which has 18 floors. Six of us got in at the ground floor and the buttons pressed were 4,6,8,10,12 and 14. That set me thinking. If the capacity is 6, what is the probability of all going to a) even/odd numbered floors b) consecutive floors c) same floor. The answer to a) by Rahul is 1/64. The answer to b) by Rahul is 13*120/18^6 The answer to c) by Rahul is 1/18^5, while Prasad says it is 1/17^5 In other words,Prasad says 'if six independent people got on your lift 10 million different times, only 6 times will they all end up actually going to the same floor, assuming that 1. All six passengers come independently (i.e. they have not arrived in groups going to, say, the same event.) 2. People are equally likely to go to Floor 2 as to Floor 18 or to any other floor 3. There are a large number of apartments in each floor. Also, I am assuming that there are only seventeen other possible floors to go to, since we are starting from the ground floor' I have provided the complete archives, 14 issues from December 2000 for which the link is available at the bottom of the opening page. Aarthi is very busy with theatre workshop and a lot of activities. She has, however, found some time to write a piece for the Newsletter.She has raised important questions and I hope many of you will respond. Mukund's award-winning story (which must have been read by most naunet members) is also published in this issue. The third contribution by relatives is yet another interesting contribution by Prasad, the ever-dependable. Parthasarathy |
GREETINGS BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY BIRTHDAY and MANY HAPPY RETURNS TO Urmila on 12th March NOSTALGIA For the fifth Birthday of Harish in Kota, I had arranged some live music and the party was quite grand. At the end of the party, I asked him,"Were you happy with the grand party?" He replied,"What grand? There was no PARADE at all". ANNOUNCEMENT From Chennai also I hope to upload the Newsletter by the Second Friday of every month, giving enough time to anybody who wants to contribute. Your contribution for April may be sent before 10th April. Parthasarathy As you scroll down, you will read a detailed write-up on our travels on Central Railway to Bhopal, Gwalior, Jhansi, Khajuraho,Orchha, Matheran, Solapur, Pune, Jabalpur and Kanha. Click here for viewing the photo album |
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Diary from 1st February to 3rd March I have travelled more in the last 20 days than at any previous period. There are a lot of places to see on Central Railway and we were keen to see as many as possible. we also have the advantage of travelling by special carriage here. Before I describe our tours, I must talk about one of the most moving speeches that Amritha and I attended. We normally have an outside speaker for our Alumni Association meeting, which is held every two months.This time we had a dancer by name Gauri Rao Mehta to give a lec-dem on Bharata Natyam. Her talk on her unknown illness and a miracle cure by Satya Sai Baba and the details of her training of handicapped children for Dance-drama were all very moving. Her demo of a Bharata Natyam number was also excellent. We really felt blessed to have attended the talk. Cricket mania continued in India with Zimbabwe following England. Australia whipped SA in the first test and England did quite well in NZ. The performance of the hockey team in Kuala Lampur was unfortunate. But I feel this team has potential and needs more matches abroad. Anand also seems to have got the same jinx as the hockey team. Now, to our travels. As I said earlier, we travelled a lot. When my transfer was known, Amritha said that we must definitely see a few places in Central Railway. Before starting on a CR Darshan, I had to go to Delhi for a day on 11th. On 12th Feb. , both of us left for Vadodara and returned on 13th. On 14th, we left for Bhopal, where we saw Rose Garden, Van Vihar (an animal park), Bharat Bhawan (an excellent Art Gallery and Cultural Center), Jain Mandir (which is approached thro' cable car), the big lake, Birla Mandir (all in Bhopal) and an ancient Shiva and Jain temple at Bhojpur, which is about 25 kms away. We also saw the Sanchi Stupa near Bhopal from the train (!). The next day afternoon, we reached Gwalior, where we first saw the Museum (which is perhaps better than Jaipur Museum). Later we went to Usha's (my niece) place and all of us went for the Sound & Light show in Gwalior fort. With the voice of Amitabh and Bhimsen Joshi, it was good. But I felt the show in Delhi fort (which I think I last saw with Prasad and Jagan. Was Mukund also there?) was better. The next day, all of us went to the fort, which apart from Museum, has a few nice temples (Saas-Bahu Mandir, Telia Mandir) and a Gurudwara. We also saw the Sun Temple built by the Scindias on the lines of Konark. The same night, we left for Jhansi by road. On the way we worshipped at a Devi Mandir in Dhatiya (which is supposed to give immunity from jail to Laloo Yadav). On 18th, we visited Khajuraho, which is about 180 kms from Jhansi. There are about 15 temples (out of the original 80 or so), some of which are architecturally very good. Though the place is famous for erotic sculptures, there are a number of other beautiful sculptures as well. On the way from Jhansi to Khajuraho, one crosses UP and MP three times. Surprisingly, UP roads are better. The next day, we went to Orchha, 20kms from Jhansi. This has a very nice fort with 200 rooms, built for Jehangir, who spent just a night there. The remnants of ancient paintings are still there in the harem. This is also distinguished by a combination of Muslim and Hindu architecture. There is also a temple for King Ram, for whom there is a guard of honour everyday. But the Temple Trust have spoilt it by painting the ancient stones in gaudy colours and fixing mosaic tiles everywhere. The second leg of our CR tour took us to Matheran. All three of us went there. The Narrow Gauge trip in a special carriage, which had three seats to view the track from the rear window was good. We had long walks in the evening on Saturday (23rd) and morning on Sunday before returning to Mumbai on Sunday evening. Matheran is about 3500 feet above sea level and is unspoilt, as no motorised vehicles (except train) are allowed within the town limits. The third and final leg of our CR tour took us to Solapur, Pune and Jabalpur. Amritha and I left on 26th. From Solapur we visited Pandarpur (Krishna temple, which is like Tirupati for Maharashtrians) and Akalkot (where the temple for Swami Samarth exists). That evening we saw a cultural programme in our honour. We reached Pune on Thursday morning, where we visited Harish's flat. All three of us left for Jabalpur. In Jabalpur, we saw the marble rocks on both sides of Narmada, for which you do boating in the river.There is also a nice waterfall nearby (appropriately called Duandhar). Friday evening, we went to Kanha national park, which is 165 kms from Jabalpur. We visited the park at 6.30 AM on Saturday in an open jeep. We saw a lot of barasingha,cheetal,wild bison, wild boar etc., but were told that sighting the tigers was a matter of luck. We were lucky as we could see a tiger from just 25 feet, when we were having the ride on elephant. The elephant ride in Kanha is more thrilling than Kaziranga, because of the more difficult terrain. We returned to Mumbai on 3rd evening after some more local sight-seeing in Jabalpur. Click here for viewing the photo album of my tours In between our tours, we were happy to have important guests. On the day prior to our departure for Matheran, Kausalya came for lunch on her way back from Jaipur. We took her to the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, where a few Arts exhibitions in Max Mueller Bhavan, Jahangir Arts Gallery etc. were going on, in addition to open air shows. On the day we came back from Matheran, Kannan, Rajeevi, her mother, sisters and niece were here for the niece's (Chitra alias Soumya) Nichayathartham on 25th. The function went off very well. They left on the same day that we left for Solapur. I am all set to leave from here. I am handing over charge on 8th and taking the morning flight on 11th to Chennai. I shall be staying in ICF rest house at Perambur on week days and with relatives for the week ends till I get a house. Parthasarathy |