Glimpses of Boston

Raindrops on my face, gentle and refreshing - Boston welcomed us thus! I was there attending ISBI '09. The old-style streetlights, the pretty churches, the breezy banks of the Charles - I loved it all - the looks and the feel! Harvard Square was particularly fascinating - warm and busy, with a wealth of bookstores.

The rains haunted us every now and then. I loved it 'cause it got me reminiscent me of Calcutta monsoons, especially as we scampered toward the Metro hiding underneath umbrellas. :-) And when we were atop the 50th floor of the Prudential Tower for the conference reception, thanks to the thick clouds, we completely missed the city view! Alas, the caprices of Boston weather!
The Charles was magnificent, by day and by night. And, on the fourth of July, it was ablaze with many hues. The fireworks were splendid, and we went bonkers - the 9-year-old, the 17-year-old, and I. :-)
Newport, RI, was gorgeous with stately old mansions lining the shore and moving curtains of fog grazing the landscape. Together, we spent some quality family time and had some delectable Bengali food (thanks to Bandana Mashi.) And to top it off, I got to shop tax-free in NH and MA (ladies, are you listening?). :D
I'd like to share with all some of my favorite photos from the trip. To start off, here are my wonderful buddies from my lab - Brian, D, and Q, who made my trip so exciting.

That's me in front of the Trinity Church. (Photo courtesy: Q)

The Prudential Tower at night.

A lady playing our national anthem on Benjamin Franklin's glass harmonica on Harvard Square.

Fanboy, myself, and Papan (Good lord!) at Newport.

The foggy waters at Newport and the mansions along the shore.

Fanboy's masterpiece - his rendition of our Fourth of July experience (The artist himself being jetted out of a ship's chimney, his posterior in flames, "Good lord!" rowing a boat on the Charles, valiant and unperturbed, and yours truly, "a.k.a. I don't know her name," emerging from the fireworks.)

And, here's what it actually was like. ;-)

Also (courtesy: D), here's a video clip of the fireworks as seen from Cambridge.


And, finally, here's the full slideshow from my trip. Enjoy! :-)

Farm Tour

Last Sunday, we went on a cook-out tour to Tanaka farms, a treasure trove of the finest seasonal vegetables. We strolled through stretches of farmland picking veggies (spinach, cilantro, beans, carrots, radish, squash, and delicious maui onions) and then washed and chopped them ourselves and finally got them grilled (along with some tofu).

After a hearty meal, we picked strawberries for dessert. They were the freshest and most delectable strawberries I've ever had. A box-full of them sit in my fridge right now. Readers, you are most welcome to swing by my place and try them while they last!
Trivia from the tour:

• Scarecrows don't seem particularly effective at warding off pigeons.
  
• Purple green beans are purple on the outside and green on the inside.
• Radish leaves are quite prickly.
  

Grudges:

• I missed most of what the tour guide was explaining because (for whatever reason) I found myself lagging behind all the time!
  
• In spite of the mouthwatering smell of barbecued corn, we didn't get any as a part of the tour!

I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story (pic courtesies largely go to B, D, and Q).

Seal Wars: The Unsolved Indus Valley Mystery

Since the accidental discovery of the lost world of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, we have found ourselves beset by countless unanswered questions: Who were the people? Where did they come from? What language did they speak? Where did they disappear? Did they have anything to do with the Aryans? Some of these answers, if not all, can be hoped to be found by deciphering the numerous seals with engraved hieroglyphics excavated from the Indus Valley ruins. About 6 years back, a team of linguists/historians came up with the somewhat disappointing conclusion that the symbols did not represent any language at all and were merely a part of a "nonlinguistic sign system." Today, however, the media is abuzz with the work of Rao et al, which recently appeared in Science, where the team has sought mathematical justification based on an information theoretic approach to support their hypothesis that the Indus Valley hieroglyphics indeed represent a natural language!

The team looked at conditional entropies of 5 natural linguistic systems (including English, old Tamil, and Sumerian) and 4 nonlinguistic ones (including DNA and protein sequences!) They concluded that the conditional entropy of Indus Valley inscriptions is akin to those of the tested linguistic systems. The publication has sparked off a flurry of news reports with catchy headings (some of which seem to give off the impression that the script will be deciphered by early tomorrow morning!) Well, the results do kindle hope! Indeed I was quite excited about it until I came across this speedy rebuttal by Farmer et al, the persistent propounders of the earlier theory suggesting the nonlinguistic nature of the Indus Valley script! Farmer and his team cast doubt on the reliability of conditional entropy as a statistical measure in the world of linguistics. (Linguists, what say you all on that?) It appears that they will come up with a more detailed, full-length rebuttal some time in the near future. It does seem like this battle will wage on, and I'll stay tuned for further updates.
There was a time, many years ago, when my dream was to become an archeologist who would one day crack the Indus Valley code. (To be honest, back then I was terribly addicted to mystery novels. Archeology then seemed like the closest real-life approximation to a career as a detective! Well, Sherlock Holmes is fiction, Harappa ain't!) As you can see, that childhood dream was forgotten as I eventually chose a career in engineering. But this current series of events has reignited that spark. Well, I don't mean to say I'm going out for digs now! But I sure will keep looking out for what others have dugg instead. And somewhere inside I'll keep hoping that someday we too will find our Rosetta stone! :-)

The Hummingbird

A hummingbird came hovering near my window -
Cheerful, sprightly, free from cares and woes.
Enthralling me with merry midair antics,
He cured me of my Monday morning blues.

He spun and dove and smoothly somersaulted
With tremendous poise and figure-skating grace.
He finished with a bow so picture-perfect
As a disarming smile fleeted across his face.

He serenaded from outside my window.
Across the glass, I watched him pantomime.
It struck a dulcet chord in my heart that bred
The most perfect melody, meter, and rhyme.

Infected by the carefree, happy spirit
I looked into those inconspicuous eyes -
It sent me swirling down a magical vortex
Of glee, consternation, and surprise.

Suddenly I had learned to defy gravity.
Like my avian friend I too began to soar.
The pangs of a cold, humdrum existence
Seemed to afflict my humbled self no more.

Snapshots from the Trail

One of the things I love most about LA is that you don't have to travel too far to remind yourself how beautiful nature can be. Here are some snapshots from my hike on the Temescal Canyon Trail this morning. The arduous climb uphill and the never-ending walk back along Sunset (phew!!) were made worthwhile by the splendid views of the Pacific, the gorgeous flora, and finally the delectable desi food after the hike. :-)

The Ultimate Expressionist

Presenting... a fountainhead of full-blast entertainment, a bottomless reservoir of energy, and, of course, the coolest nephew ever... the immensely adorable Pogo!

An Ordeal

Damn those dark circles,
You're such a horrible sight!
But it makes your nose look extra pointy!
Isn't that a delight?
Home's dull and lonely
'Cause your roommate's away.
But it makes you stay in lab
And make use of your day.
So when going gets tough,
Don't ever start whining,
'Cause every dark cloud
Has a silver lining.

Your code runs forever
And gives bad results in the end.
But it's okay 'cause while you were waiting for it
A poem you have penned.
But what about the ordeal
Of reading stupid poems on a blog?
When you look for an upside,
Your mind just seems to clog.
Look again, you might find something,
And then you'll be opining,
That every dark cloud
Has a silver lining.