Sports and Drugs

Ever wondered why athletes indulge in taking performance enhancing drugs. I have always thought about their unethical indulgence, getting caught and then getting stripped off their medal or trophy. What do they gain by all this? This article sheds light on it. It is a very interesting article which tries to explain this behavior in a game theoretic sense.
It seems this is a dominant strategy for anyone competing. I highly recommend you to read other articles listed on the below page. I am fascinated by Game Theory and keep reading the applications of it. I hope you like it too.

Social Networking

Social Networking has caught on like wild fire. Everyone seems to be on one or the other networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin etc. I have still not understood how all these networking sites are different from one another. May be it is just about having options. I have till now kept myself out of all these networking. I some how have not bought into this whole idea of social networking.

The only advantage I see, is that through this, one can meet old friends or make new friends. But how many of us really make pen friends. But what is really the value of all this. Potentially it could be used to spread or share views on various topics, but at present it feels more like gossip and eavesdropping on someone else's private space. If it is all about chatting, then we already have messengers available.

May be social networking is the way to the future but I am still not up to it. I still prefer the traditional way of communicating, email.

Martin Gardner - A Non Mathematician par excellence in Mathematics

I still very vividly remember the place and time when I first heard about this great man. It was 1994 around 9 PM in Goa at my relative's place. My uncle very casually asked me if I knew about Martin Gardner or have read his books. Answer to both his questions was a big NO. He started this topic because I was telling him that I had enrolled in Mathematics Honors for my bachelor's degree. He immediately wrote down some books for me which might be interesting for me to read. He told me that Martin Gardner has written lots about mathematics. I didnot know that I was getting initiated into mathematics in a subtle way. Joining a degree course is one thing but getting addicted to it is another. I always liked mathematics no doubt, but never really ventured into the other side of it. I owe my addiction and passion towards mathematics to my uncle.
I have read lot of books written by Martin Gardner. He is such a genius when it comes to writing about mathematics. He is extremely articulate, clear and also very easy to read. He makes learning about mathematics fun. He could talk about difficult concepts with ease. Fun part is that he is not a trained mathematician. He started writing about mathematics as a regular column for Scientific American and then those were compiled as books. He wrote for almost 25 years. I am a big fan of Martin Gardner's books. I would highly recommend reading his books for anyone who wants to have fun with mathematics.

Highest form of pure thought is in mathematics - Plato

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

It all started one day when I went out with my office team for a team outing to a farm two years back. Everyone was talking about pumpkin carving, designs and the carving kit etc before the outing. I had no idea what it was. I asked around but still didnot get what it really was, may be I was not very serious about it.
When we reached the farm we split up in different teams and decided on the pattern to carve. We did some carving and the winner was chosen. The farm actually gave away some pumpkins, if anyone wanted it. I brought home two pumpkins to try out carving by myself.
I do not know what got into me but I took it up as a challenge. I immediately went and bought the pattern book along with the carving kit. I do not know when I started carving, probably 10-11 PM, I went on till 2-3 AM. My wife drew the pattern for me on the pumpkin. I didnot know at that point that we can trace the patterns on pumpkins and more over the pumpkin was so small that I anyways could not have traced it. I had selected very intricate patterns.
Next day when I was done carving both the pumpkins I felt really very happy about the result. After that time I have got hooked on to it and I carve pumpkins every year (till now two every year) without even knowing why halloween is celebrated (although I have tried to read about it, but there are different versions of it). In fact this time I got my mother involved in this and she helped me scrape the pumpkin. I feel it is real fun to do pumpkin carving although it could be strenous if the pattern is difficult but fun nevertheless. It gives me a kick when I look at the finished product. I hope to continue this in the coming years with the same enthusiasm. Happy Halloween !!

Abel Mathematician

If we are done criticizing, burning the effigies, feeling low and venting out our anger on the Indian Cricket team after the World Cup debacle. Here is something to cheer about. It may not mean much to very many people but at least we can feel proud that one of the Indians has contributed so much to the ocean of Mathematics. S.R.S. Varadhan has been awarded the Abel Prize for his contributions to probability theory http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20070420001909700.htm. This is the 5th Abel prize awarded since it was instituted in 2002. This prize is in the honor of the great mathematician, who unfortunately died very young at the age of 27, Niels Henrik Abel.
I feel proud to see an Indian getting this prize. It is in some sense equivalent to Nobel Prize. I feel very connected and am very fascinated by mathematics especially pure mathematics at that. I consider myself fortunate enough to get into mathematics, fortunate because I was not thinking mathematics to be the subject to pursue for my bachelor’s degree. I was looking for some science course like any other above average Indian student who had science stream in the 11th and 12th grade. I chose (rather got) mathematics honors for my bachelor’s degree because I was not getting any science courses, but little did I know at that time that I would be mesmerized by its beauty. I always liked mathematics and did pretty well in it but never thought that I would go on to pursue my degree in it. I was very fortunate to get some great teachers who instilled in me the passion for pure mathematics. I studied Abelian groups and functions while pursuing my degree in mathematics (makes me feel even more connected!!).
Even though I branched out of pure mathematics after my bachelor’s degree, but I remained very close to it. I still keep reading about the beauty that is mathematics. Even though I have not contributed anything to the mathematical world but I feel I am a part of that community. I feel bad sometimes that mathematics does not have a Nobel Prize (Field’s Medal is the closest) whereas it is the backbone for any research in any field. But then I console myself by feeling proud that mathematicians are a different breed and they are a cut above the rest and do not need any formal recognition. Pursuing mathematics is a gift in itself.

Zee Challenges BCCI

Wow! At last someone is challenging BCCI. I think that’s a great move forward for the future of cricket in the cricket-crazed country, India. According to ICL (Indian Cricket League) there will be 6 teams (which would grow to 16 in 3 years) who would compete against each other initially in a 20/20 format then might go on to include ODIs. Each team would have 2 Indian internationals, 4 overseas players and 8 juniors. BCCI has had the monopoly for too long and has ended up being just a money making machine. Hopefully the new system would put a new life into Indian Cricket. I do not know how this new ICL would finally shape up or whether it would shape up at all (we are all very familiar with the arm-twisting tactics in India). But I think it is a nice initiative.
Just a thought, the time and money we spend on Cricket, if only we spend the same amount of resources on so many other things we would have progressed in so many different fields. I just hope that such initiatives are taken up for other social issues that really need attention.

Mathematical Diversions - 3

There are three glasses on the table - 3, 5, and 8 oz. The first two are empty, the last contains 8 oz of water. By pouring water from one glass to another make at least one of them contain exactly 4 oz of water.

Mathematical Diversions - 2

There are 3 boxes. Each of the three boxes contains 2 balls. In one there are two white balls, in another two black balls, and in the third one ball is black, the other is white. Boxes have been labeled to indicate their contents. However, whoever did the job got all labels wrong. The task is to straighten things out. You may select 1 box and blindly pick up a ball out of it and then have to put the correct label on the boxes.

Who asked Himesh to sing?

I guess the answer is no one. He just sings by himself for himself and of himself (whatever that means). He has a big misconception that he can sing. Why can’t he just stick to composing music (without his voice, which is rare these days), which would be a little excusable? I just fail to understand how the producers put money on him. I am sure it is making business sense for them to do so. So if they are able to make money it means that people are buying his music and appreciating it. So ultimately it boils down to the common man.
Every time I hear him sing I cannot but feel sorry for his ignorance. I just cannot understand how he is surviving in the market. May be market just wants substandard quality of music. He behaves very weirdly whenever he talks to the media too. He talks as if he has done it all. Over and above he compares himself with other great singers. I cannot understand, on one side we have people like Amitabh who after achieving everything in life still remain humble and on the other we have people like Himesh who beat their own drum. It is very apt that empty vessels make lot of noise.
I am sure his music will not live for more than 2 years. Like many other things this is just a phase that will pass very soon but till that time I would just have to bear him or change the channel whenever possible.

India's 2007 Cricket World Cup Debacle

It was really a great “escape” I should say for India from the Cricket World Cup – 2007, because otherwise other teams would have mauled them anyway in the Super8. India was not even fit to go to the world cup in the first place. World Cup is a stage to showcase your talent not your shortcomings. Cricket should have a world cup for the team which exits first like the ignoble prize. India would win it all the time. Indian team’s performance was so pathetic that they deserve to be out of this world cup. It is time for the Indian team to do some reality check. This was the team, which every one said is the best it could get. If the best has performed like this then I think there is no future for Indian cricket. India has never ever been a powerhouse like Australia ever in its cricketing career. It has only gone from bad to worse where all other teams have grown from strength to strength.
India has never had a killer instinct, discipline on the field, or complete fitness. It has always been mired in some controversy or the other. It feels like players go out to play as a formality not because they have passion or the pride of playing for their country. Cricket is not their bread and butter because everything is taken care by their ads/endorsements. Cricket is just an extra income for them.
I understand that winning and losing is part of the game. But losing without a fight is called giving up. I have no hopes from any Indian team in future. 4 top players are going to retire soon and there is no succession plan. Cricket (in spite of not being a national game) gets all the limelight, money, status and facilities but still this bunch of 11 players cannot perform consistently (or rather they under perform consistently).
Australians and South Africans have taken the game to a different level. Indians cannot even conceive of it. It is like a 2-dimensional creature thinking about the 3rd dimension as being absurd or for us to be baffled by higher dimensions. What Indians play is not professional cricket it is leisure time pass. I feel the Indian team should be banned from playing any international matches till all the issues have been sorted out regarding talent search, management and such. The match money should be made performance based.