Machu Pichu, Tibetan Lamas And Parapsychology

I was alone and frustrated with the projection data when I heard this strange sound. My heart skipped a beat. Honestly, I am not the bravest of souls, and I don't feel a wee bit embarrassed to accept that I believe in certain things that science doesn't acknowledge. I often tell myself, that anything and everything that happens has logical reasoning. When one fails to explain an occurrence, either it didn't happen or one missed a detail, or worst still it's the mind playing games! Most of the time this explanation helps me. Other times my friends get a call at the oddest hours precisely after midnight:) or when I am walking towards the empty parking lot at 8 pm in the deserted downtown. Sometimes, I wonder what am I more scared of !?! The predator or the phantom! Well, there's no end to fears.

I visited a Psychic once! One of the many impulsive things that I have done in the 28 years of my existence! it started on a curious note and ended with goosebumps. The psychic seemed to have seen through me. Later I tried to reason it. Did I hear what I wanted to hear? Did I interpret her words as I wanted to interpret them? or did I hear her say things that I subconsciously thought about? Maybe this may be that! There might be a hundred ways to analyze my experience. In fact, I was so shaken that night and so desperate to convince myself that it was silly and superstitious, that I requested two of my friends to visit her. I had to prove that parapsychology is no science. It's just a hypnotic game! Unfortunately, things have happened since as she had predicted, I have been a student of science but sometimes science fails to provide answers. Sometimes I have to question things I have been taught or learned to believe!

Let me now digress to something entirely different -The Tibetan Lamas! Ma once read a Bangla detective story about a mystery in a Tibetan Monastery. I was intrigued by the details about the 200-year-old lama and all the mystical powers that he had. The fact that this 200-year-old man would die and be reborn in a distant land and his followers would begin a quest to find his successor thrilled me. I used to wonder what if it wasn't fiction. What if unknown to the scientific world in some corner of the universe such things happened. From the little that I know, eastern/oriental religions do talk about reincarnation and the transmigration of the soul from the body that you leave on dying to the body you are born into again. Complex but yes, Hindu and Buddhist texts talk about it. Occidental religions, I guess have not professed a lot about rebirths. Hmmm! haven't we heard our grandma say, "Do a bad deed today, and you will be born as a rat in ur next birth" Good karma is the road to nirvana, the end of the rebirth cycle? Interesting stuff, isn't it?

Talk about Digressing from a topic again!!:))...Machu Picchu...or the "lost world" The amazing Inca ruins in Peru (2430m above sea level) It's breathtakingly beautiful, and someday I hope to set foot on that mystery-shrouded land. It's considered one of the architectural wonders of the world and more so because no one knows why this fortification was built and how it was built! The entire citadel is built of stone, precisely cut, and so accurately placed that even a thin metal piece cannot be squeezed between the joints. There is no use of cementing anywhere. The 13th-century fort is still intact! I have been a student of Architecture and the pyramids, the Temple with the musical pillars., the whispering gallery, and many other such wonders never cease to amaze me.

7 years back I had been to Hampi on a college tour, I stood in that dance courtyard and traveled back 500 years to the court of Krishnadevaraya. There were the court dancers, the musicians, and the amazing musical pillars. Yes, I could faintly hear the swaras (notes) when I knocked on the pillars. It was very faint or maybe it was imagination but the feeling that once upon a time it happened for real gave me goosebumps.

Mysteries come in all forms. Some are fictitious while some are facts and some are mere manifestations of our fears or wishes! The curiosity about the unknown spices up our otherwise mundane lives, whether it's the ghost in the attic, the gypsy astrologer, the Buddhist monk, or the Inca architecture. They have all given us a reason to think that perhaps there might be things beyond logic, and deep down I want to believe that there are no answers. It keeps the mystery alive, it keeps the curiosity to know about it alive.  Isn't there an old saying 'No more a mystery becomes history'

Wrong Numbers And Science

Disclaimer: Resemblance to any person dead or ALIVE is purely coincidental;)

'Mota Bhai' is my next-door neighbor at work. His name is of course a misnomer! Mota (fat in Hindi) bhai is not the least bit "Mota". He happens to be a thin lanky man with an even thinner hairline who loves to talk and loves to eat. His appetite amazes me! His room is stacked with more foodies and goodies than my entire kitchen pantry! Well, he sure is the envy of all those who sort to starvation to shed a few measly pounds! Well "Mota bhai" can eat and eat and eat and still look like that he could eat even more.

A cell buzzed! I try hard to concentrate on the spreadsheet in front of me. I hate the timer in the corner of the computer, it keeps reminding me that I am late. Still stressed at the delay in submitting the finance sheets, I hear "Mota" bhai say, "Kemcho Bhayyaaa (how are you, bro)? No, this is not the Institute of Heart and Kidney Sciences for Home bred Canines and Felines"! 

Hmmm IHKSHBCF! goshhhhh!!! Is that for real??

Mota Bhai continues, "Bhaayaa (bro) this is not IHKSHBCF! You see my phone number is xxx-800-8666, maybe you meant to dial Yxx-800-8666, blah blah blah...." For the next 1 hour, he kept explaining, to the unsuspecting caller why he accidentally dialed the wrong number, and that there is a science behind people dialing wrong numbers! He went on to suggest, that, probably he has a case of early-stage dementia which results from the overuse of electronic gadgets, mobiles particularly! 

Seriously??!!

Curiosity took the better of me, and I walked into his cabin. Mota bhai was devouring a double burger, and explaining the address of a shrink to the caller before hanging up with a satisfied smirk on his face. I didn't have to ask him anything. He instinctively responded to my question mark face! 

"Just pranked a pranker, You think I am dumb enough to believe IHKSHBCF exists!"

PS: Names changed to protect privacy

Halloween, Floccinaucinihilipilification, and the Big Bang!

No! There's absolutely nothing in common between Halloween, floccinaucinihilipilification, and the Big Bang. It's Halloween today (the post was written on Halloween a few many years back)! Therefore, "the Halloween" and well I definitely do not intend to spend the next few precious minutes writing about the significance of the insignificant meaning of the longest word in the English dictionary! I meant to use it merely to describe my current state of mind, "The state of nothingness" and as I wrote, I realized, "valueless" has nothing to do with "nothingness". Perhaps a "black hole" is closer to the definition. Yes! 'A black hole' - an infinite mass of "nothing". A space scientist might sue me for using the word "nothing"! but for the sake of preserving my sanity, I would like to assume that it is indeed "nothing".

Isn't it sometimes just easier to overlook the details and realities of the complexities of life? No! I am not telling be an ostrich and duck your head down into the sand. It's just a thought! isn't it possible to understand the Big Bang theory without losing your head? Just overlook a few atoms and protons and it's much simpler.

I think about the man who created the word "floccinaucinihilipilification" Why did he? How worthless can anything be that one has to use the meaning of "trifle" four times to describe it! The trifle cannot be trifler than as trifle as it is!! The easiest would have been to call it just trifle! A 29-letter word can do no better.

Perhaps more sensible was the man who started Halloween because of the abundant harvest of "Pumpkins"(as I like to think it is!). Of course, the other reason was that pumpkins made the best jack-o-lanterns and that Halloween had something to do with souls and saints but details apart it made things much easier to think that someone was creative enough to start a festival because he didn't know what he should do with all the pumpkins he grew!!

Well! The moral of the blog? "Black holes, Floccinaucinihilipilification, and Pumpkins have nothing in common. They are mere examples of things that seem "nothing" but have a deeper reason to be, of things that seem "bigger" but have no reason to be, of things that are nice to have though "insensible" and have no rhyme or reason to be:)

Seasons, Shaw, And Shakespeare

It's snowing! Has been the whole day. Usually, I can see the blue sky, and a lone tv tower from the only window in my office room. Today it's more white than blue, the flurries look like tufts of silky cotton, and each time they hit the window pane they disappear, much like the cotton candy melting into the mouth!

Well, this is reminding me of the good old school days, the big hockey field surrounded by tall silk cotton trees, and every summer, the field would turn white with the soft tufts of cotton hair. I used to gaze out of the window, amazed at the way the tufts danced into the fields as the soft breeze swept them off the trees, waiting impatiently for the recess bell, waiting to run out, waiting to pick those nature's treats. Life couldn't have been simpler, and more fun. All my little innocent mind could think of was, "Only! If only the recess could last a day long"

I love snow. I love it anytime. In the morning when it dazzles with white purity, in the afternoon when it looks golden in the blazing bright sun, and at night when it glitters like numerous tiny crystals! Snow enchants me!

In Arlington, it used to snow once a year. If lucky perhaps twice. I remember one particular day,  almost four years back, at about 5:00 am in the morning, the phone rang! I tried to ignore it and tucked my ears under two layers of pillows but the phone kept ringing. Finally, I decided to get up from the bed, cursed graham bell for his invention, and walked to the phone. But by the time I reached the torture machine, the call had ended and a light blinked indicating a message had been left. I clicked the message tab and walked towards the window. I wanted to see the sunrise. Not many times had I taken the opportunity to admire the beauty of the rising sun. As I pulled the curtain, I heard the rustling sound of the wind. I looked out it was snowing. The white showers looked beautiful, and the sound came from the telephone. I realized it was the message. A prank at 5 am wasn't quite amusing. Perhaps a wrong call or perhaps, some well-wisher wanted to say, "Don't sleep out a beautiful day". well, I'll never know but yes if not for the call, I would have missed this beauty. At that moment the mind of mine thought, "Only! If only I can see this dawn every day"

Rain! I like it sometimes, I hate it sometimes. I like it when I am cozily sitting at home tucked inside a warm comforter, sipping hot chocolate, while watching Rock Hudson wooing Gina Lollobrigida. I hate it when I am in an unknown place, scared cold, and lost. The day when I first arrived in Fargo, it was raining heavily at 4:00 am in the morning. There was not a soul that I knew. A little scared, kind of cold, and very lost. oh! how I hated the rain that day! The station master had helped me carry my two huge bags into the tiny Fargo station cabin. It was just me, him, and his twin brother. I thought so because both were huge rolly polly kind-looking grandpa-ish men. while I sat there wondering what or where should I go, a man hurried into the cabin. He was a cab driver. He said, "I got a call for a passenger". the two men immediately looked at me. Well, can't blame them for the assumption - I was the only other living creature in that room. I shook my head, to express, 'No' it wasn't me but sure enough I did need a cab. Not finding the caller, the cab driver agreed to give me a ride. he took me to NDSU, dropped me there, and hurriedly disappeared just as he had come. He left without even taking the cab fare. Perhaps he was in a hurry! Heaven knows! It was strange, and I was tired. At that time all my tired mind could question, "Was Fargo the right decision?!"

I guess, Fargo was yet another impulsive decision like many others I made in the past. Kind of an escape from facing realities that I didn't want to accept. Happens! Sometimes life takes a course we reject but in time when things fall into place, we realize if things didn't happen the way they happened, it might have been a greater disaster! The biggest realization is that we can escape places, escape people, escape things, escape talks but it's hard to escape from ourselves. it's a seemingly tough job to escape our own mind. The only escape is to remove the darn memory bank called the cerebrum. Shakespeare was so right in The twelfth night, "In nature, there's no blemish but the mind".

Yes! as the days pass, as the seasons change

As the fleeting time adds another year to my age

I think about the carefree summer at the cotton field

The simple life a child could wield

 

The snow, I saw and sighed upon

There were dreams, no time for dawns

 

That rainy night, those weakened nerves

The road sometimes has its curves

 

Yes! As the seasons change, and the days pass on

There are shares of curves, shaky nerves, there are beautiful dawns in moments gone

There are rains there are snows

There are highs and there are lows!

As Shaw said
"Life isn't about finding urself - Life is about creating yourself"

"Life is about the changing seasons, the simple desires, the difficult choices and the unanswerable questions!"

The Missouri River

The Missouri River is the longest River in North America with a length of 3767 km. It joins the Mississippi in St Louis to form the fourth-longest water system in the world. The name Missouri was coined by French explorers to simplify the original Algonquian (A family of Native American language) term 8emessourit which means 'people with canoes'.  The Native Americans called the river Pekitanoui which means 'Muddy Waters'

Missouri flows through 7 states before merging with Mississippi in St. Louis

Missouri is formed by the confluence of the Jefferson River and the Madison River at the Headwaters State Park near Three Forks. It is joined by the Gallatin River near Ling Rock Ferry Crossing

Jefferson River originates from the Confluence of many rivers. The first spring starts in the Centennial Mountains and forms a creek called Hell Roaring Creek near Bower's spring

From St. Louis Missouri becomes a part of Mississippi and finally joins the Gulf of Mexico

California Highway 1

California Highway 1, is perhaps one of the most scenic highways in the world. This 656-mile-long road stretches across the Pacific Coastline from Leggett to Dana Point in California.

Historic Columbia River Highway And Multnomah Falls

I traveled to Portland during the Thanksgiving weekend. The flight from Fargo took me about 6 hours. Multnomah Falls is about 32 minutes from Portland. It's the tallest in Oregon and the drop is about 620 ft (upper fall is 542 ft,  lower fall is 69 ft and there is a gradual slope between the two of about 9 ft). The fall gets its name from the Multnomah tribe who lived around this area. The fall is fed by the springs of Larch Mountain, an extinct volcano. Legend has it, that a Multnomah woman sacrificed herself by jumping off the cliff of the mountain to save the tribal village from the plague. After the village was saved, it is said that water started to trickle down the cliff eventually forming the waterfall.

The Portland to Multnomah takes route 1-84, a part of which is the first planned scenic route in the US. It is called the Historic Columbia River Highway. The historic route spans between Troutdale and The Dalles

Google Earth aerial views of the waterfall

Upper and Lower Falls

Lower Falls

Multnomah Creek in the Columbia River Gorge

The Mississippi River

The second longest and second largest River in North America is The Mississippi. It is 3766 km long. Mississippi -Missouri water system is also the 4th longest water system in the world. This river flows across 10 states and there are at least 42 cities along its banks.

The origin of the name comes from the Native American name of the river Ojibwa-Misi-Sipi, The Great Waters. The river is said to have been formed some 70 million years old as per studies done on zircons found in the river. The river is supposed to have been formed from the Laurentide Ice Sheets (Large sheets of ice that covered parts of North America during the Ice Age). As it melted it formed lakes and surface springs. Today the river is fed by The Itasca Lake and the springs that form the lake.

Headwaters of the Mississippi are fed by this lake system

The Story of The Mississippi

We went on a camping trip to Itasca a few years back during the July 4th long weekend. Itasca Park is a state Park in Minnesota that is built around Lake Itasca. Lake Itasca is the source of North America's second-longest river, The Mississippi. Legend has it, that the lake was originally called Omashkoozo-zaaga’igan - The elk lake in the Native American language. Schoolkraft rechristened the lake as Itasca which meant 'True Head'! Other legends say, that the lake was formed by the tears of Hiawatha's daughter Iteska, hence the name Itasca.

Marker at the headwater

Headwaters

We, camping in the park

Fishing, boating, rafting, and multiple activities are allowed on the park premises. We rented a motor boat for a lake tour

110-foot tall Fire / Observation tower in the park. We climbed up to the top. The view is worth it. Shall look up the pics and update them here

A common whitetail male dragonfly / Long-tailed Skimmer. Though common all across North America, they are one of the oldest insects on this planet

The Mississippi Delta or Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Pillottown is the last town where the original pilots were built. After the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina, the pilots were rebuilt in Venice, a town up north 

5 Days Trip To Las Vegas, Zion National Park, And Grand Canyon

Getting to Vegas from Fargo was one of the easiest in 2008. There were quite a few low-cost deals to Vegas on the weekends - fly down on a Friday and head back on Sunday evening. Now, things have changed but you still do get pretty good deals once in a while. If I remember well I got an under-100 deal for a ticket. It was our grad school friend's meet and we planned 5 days at a rented Villa, located close to the Vegas downtown.

Day 1

The first day was much spent relaxing, hanging out in the villa, and catching up with everyone. The villa was well-equipped with a full pantry, a great bar, a pool room,  and a backyard swimming pool. The rooms were pretty, cozy and comfortable. 

Airbnb home we rented for our stay

Day 2

On the second day, we headed out for Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon. We took a tour bus. It was January but I thought, Vegas being a desert wouldn't get too cold. I was wrong! While I packed light clothes, good for summer, it turned out a miscalculation. My jacket from Fargo was my savior. In fact, it was snowing at Grand Canyon. The snow-covered Canyon looked gorgeous, a lot different from the usual pics I had seen of it. Trekking was not allowed due to bad weather conditions. We visited the viewpoints only.

The Hoover Dam, named after the 31st President of the USA, Herbert Hoover is counted as one of the 7 industrial wonders of the world. It provides water and electricity to many Cities in three states - California, Nevada, and Arizona

The Hoover Dam is considered a feat because of its scale, location, and the time it was built. It was a massive project for the time when the US was going through the great depression. Built on a rough terrain and the rough waters of the Colorado River which used to flood parts of Southern California and Arizona before the Dam was constructed

The Grand Canyon, covered in mist!

In winter, the snow-covered canyon has an entirely different aura

This canyon is a part of the Colorado River basin and is famous for its geological formation as a result of billions of years of arid-land erosion. The canyon explosion layers of soil strata that data back to Proterozoic and Paleozoic Era

Aerial View of Hoover Dam from Google Earth. It was the highest dam in the world when completed in 1935. Standing tall at 726 ft (221 m) almost 60 stories high above the Colorado River. It is still listed among the largest dams in the world though not the highest.

Aerial View of Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake (640 sq. km) in the US. It is the reservoir formed by building the Hoover Dam

Statistics of water and power distribution from Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. Southern California consumes a major chunk of the water and power allocated. In recent years, Lake Mead's water level has gone down drastically, probably due to temporary drought or more serious aridification. This alarming condition has led to reduced allocation of water to the three states

The course of the Colorado River Via the Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, and down south toward Mexico

Day 3

On the third day, we headed for Zion National Park. This time we rented cars. The drive to the park was beautiful.

Scenic drive on the way to Zion National Park

Checkerboard Mesa, Navajo Sandstone summit at a height of 6520 ft and above, in Zion. Zion National Park is a colorful geological formation of exposed layers of sedimentary rock dating back to as old as the Mesozoic era 

Checkerboard Mesa viewpoint. It was an interesting climb on layers of eroded mountain. It was named by Preston P. Patrow, the 3rd Superintendent of Zion. The name was coined because of the summit's 'checkerboard appearance formed by horizontal cross-bedding of ancient sand dunes and vertical cracking due to the expansion and contraction of sandstone in winter' - Source: information board in Zion

Fort Zion is a game and gift shop with a small petting zoo in the town of Virgin on the way to Zion

Day 4

On the fourth day, we hopped the casinos at the strip and downtown and some of my friends went for the Cirque-du-Soleil show at MGM Grand.

Map of the Las Vegas Strip along a stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard which has some of the biggest casinos and hotels in Las Vegas. About 14 hotels are among the top 30 largest hotels in the world.

Vegas Strip as seen from McCarran airport

Entrance of Luxor Hotel and Casino. It is designed in the form of a huge Pyramid and the interiors are designed with an Egyptian theme

Leo the Lion is the mascot of MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). In the past, MGM Grand was famous for its boxing matches and Lion habitat. When we visited Vegas in 2008, the Lions were still there. They were moved later to a ranch about 12 miles away. MGM Grand is the largest single-building hotel in the world and is the third largest hotel in the world with 6852 suites

With 7092 suites, The Venetian - Palazzo designated as the busiest hotel is the 2nd largest hotel in the world. It is designed like the City of Venice and much like the romantic city, exudes romanticism and luxuriance

Paris, Las Vegas is designed like Paris and has a half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower 

Roman-styled fountains in front of Caesar's Palace

Hard Rockers KISS at Hard Rock Cafe

The Colosseum at a restaurant in Ceasar's Palace which is designed after a Roman theme

Downtown Vegas' Fremont Experience along a stretch of Freemont Street which has the world's largest video screen

The 1375 ft long, 90 ft wide Viva Vision Canopy, is the world's largest LED canopy screen in Downtown Las Vegas with 16.4 million pixels. It is suspended 90 ft above Fremont Street.

Golden Nugget Casino has on its displays, the Hands of Faith golden nugget which is the largest, metal detected golden nugget. 

Freemont Street Experience Entrance

Day 5

On the fifth day, we lazed around at the Villa and packed up for the next day's early morning flight back.