Space: An interminable Energy source

Energy has become a basic necessity of humans as similar to food, shelter and clothing. It is really difficult to imagine our world without energy, be it in any form; Fuel or electricity. Scientists across the globe are continuously working to find out various sources of energy, more specifically an unlimited source which will generate electricity to fulfill our ever increasing need. Can we really have any such source which can be termed as “Unlimited”, perhaps the answer is yes.

Since long I was wondering if we can use the solar rays in the space to generate electricity using solar panels. But the main question was; how can we transmit the energy from space to the earth? Is there any such technology available, by which we can convert the electricity to micro waves and transmit wirelessly? Fortunately, the Japanese scientists have the answer. They have found out a technology through which they can transmit electricity wirelessly, which is off course in testing phase but they are hopeful about a successful testing of this technique in 2015. Japan is planning to place a solar-panel-equipped satellite in the orbit that would beam strong stream of power down to the power station on earth wirelessly. To iron out all the kinks and get a fully functional system set up would take a longer time. But if this testing of wireless transmission of electricity from space is successful, we can truly have an unlimited power source. Just not that, use of the technology will bring revolution in our day to day life as well. Our homes will have wireless electrification; no wiring will be required for supply of power from the power sub-station saving money and resource. Our vehicles will never have to stop at gas stations. Jet planes would fly without halting for refueling in between their destinations. As electricity will be available plentily and cheaply, it would replace all other traditional use of energy resulting in a pollution free earth. 

Who is “Bharata Bhagya Bidhata” in our national anthem?

We sing Jana Gana Mana, our national anthem in the glory of our motherland. How many of us know the exact meaning of the song? Let’s see, what it means. (Source- Wikipedia)

Oh! the ruler of the minds of people, Victory be to You,

Dispenser of the destiny of India!

Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Dravid (South India), Orissa, and Bengal,

The Vindhya, the Himalayas, the Yamuna, the Ganges,

and the oceans with foaming waves all around.

Wake up listening to Your auspicious name, Ask for Your auspicious blessings,

And sing to Your glorious victory.

Oh! You who impart well being to the people!

Victory be to You, dispenser of the destiny of India!

Victory to You!

I wonder, who is the “Dispenser of the destiny of India” or the Bhagya bidhata of Bharata? There has been a controversy as to in whose praise the song was written? Some sources claim that, the song was first sung during the session of the Indian National Congress held on 27 December 1911 which welcomed the King George V and the Queen of England upon their arrival to India. The sources say that, the “Dispenser of the destiny of India” is non-other than the King himself. However, Tagore proclaimed that the song was not in the praise of the king. Rather it was a prayer written for the religious movement called Bramhoism. Jana gana mana is the first stanza of the Bramho hymn. Which one is correct? I wish that, the first one should definitely not be correct.  

The Last Day on The Earth

Morning 6.35 am; a Friday. I was tucked in my bed. It was a little windier outside than usual. There seemed to be something abnormal about the weather. The temperature was constantly fluctuating. Suddenly there was an aloud thud outside my door which woke me up. Annoyed, I opened the door. I could not see anyone outside, no one even in the corridor. It annoyed me even more. I could not understand; who knocked on my door and why the hell somebody buzzed me like that. “Some silly prankster kid from the neighboring flats” I thought. Disgusted, I slammed the door and walked towards my bed. I took off the slippers and squeezed myself inside the blanket. 10 seconds later I woke up with a start. As my eyes opened, I remembered the star fish which I failed to notice when I opened the door. A Starfish outside my door!!! Where did it come from? My mind was tizzy by now. I rushed towards the door. I opened the door just to reconfirm the bizarre sight. There it was!! A big dead star fish!! I was even more surprised to see the corridor being completely wet as if someone has splashed few buckets of water there. But it was the sand mixed with the water that caught my attention. To understand what could have happened, I looked towards the balcony. I could not believe my eyes as I saw a big fishing trawler just few meters outside the balcony in very unstable condition as if it could hit the adjacent building any time!! What on earth is it! I realized my flat was on the 12th floor!!! A fishing trawler in air??? I dashed towards the balcony and looked down. My eyes almost popped out with horror. ”Oh My God”, I cried out loud I looked down to find water as high as 4 stories of my building. There was water everywhere. I reached out for the railing as I suddenly felt dizzy. I was stunned. My mind slowly started processing the information. Everything was inundated by water which was at least 4 stories high. The high wave was the reason for the star fish being thrown up to the 12th floor of my building. I was aghast! What should I do? What happened…. I thought it’s a good idea to get myself to a safer place before the water level rises up to my floor or the building collapses due to impact of the waves. I rushed inside and started packing the essential items in my back pack and left the flat. The lift was not working. I took the stairs and went down till the 5th floor. I found that the fifth floor was also inundated. The water was as high as half the floor level. “Now how do I get outside?” I wondered. "I don’t even know how to swim." I was trapped.. Suddenly I saw a floating dust bin which was kept on that floor for common use. ” My life saving boat” I thought. I pulled it towards me. Thankfully it was big enough to accommodate me. I could not see any other thing floating around. I did not wait any more and slipped myself into the drum (dust bin), it was empty but the stench was unbearable. Just cannot express the terribly nasty smell inside the drum, as if it had rotting meat in it. I felt really nauseatic. “Good that even with my weight, the drum is still floating” I thought. I found a small wooden plank and used it as an ore to paddle my lifeboat. It took me outside the building through the balcony exit. I desperately looked all around, trying to get some help. My life saving drum was now wobbling badly as the big waves shook it and it was not a pleasant experience I could see the floating debris everywhere, even saw a morning newspaper floating. The headline on the front page said: “Destruction on its way”. It reminded me of something. I immediately glanced at the date on my watch. It was 21st Dec 2012. Before I could think any more on the importance of the day, I saw a big wave heading towards me. Around 300 feet high, the monster wave , just swallowed a 20 story building and was heading towards me. A cold chill ran down my spine. Crap, I felt am dead already. I wished my drum had a speed motor fitted in it. I nervously looked around. My mouth was dry. My heart was throbbing. I had no clue how to escape the giant wave. It was getting darker as the deadly wave was getting closer. It raised its head like a giant serpent. The lights began to dim as it approached closer. I closed my eyes with fear…Suddenly I heard a beeping sound which was irritating. I tried to figure out from where the sound came. I opened my eyes. It was the alarm clock!! On the table near the bed. I was in my bedroom!! What a nightmare. I felt my forehead. I was covered with cold sweat. Thank God I am alive. The monstrous wave of the dream was still fresh in my mind. I checked the time. It was 7 am, “time to get ready for office” I thought. I felt like thanking my alarm clock to get me out of the deadly experience.

Well, forgive me my dear readers for giving such an awful start to this article, but this might had truly happened if the predicted “Dooms Day” as per the Maya long count calendar would have come true. Now that we are still alive post 21st December, 2012, we see the “Dooms Day” as a myth. But if this had truly happened, then what? Complete disorder…

Here it goes,

One fine day, it is declared that, after certain no. of days we would see the day and night for the last time on this earth. Dooms day is inevitable. From next morning onwards, there is no milk in the fridge as the milk man has left the city and decided to spend his last few days with his close ones in the village. No water to bathe as the staffs in the water supply department are not reporting to office. No electricity to switch on light, fan or TV as the staffs of electricity board are no exception. Mobile phone networks are down, even if they are functional, running huge congestion. No one reporting to office; you would not be surprised to see the empty bays on a regular working. The operations of big factories have stopped. The doctors are not available in the clinics or hospitals to treat patients. Children are not going to school as schools have been closed. The general stores have been shut by the shop owners in fear of possible vandalism; you have money but no shop is open to supply what you want. There is nothing to eat at home. Prisoners have broken the jails and escaped. There are incidents of robbery, theft, murder and criminal activities everywhere. The law and order has completely collapsed. One need not look any further. It seems like a scene straight from Hell.

Let’s stop here. We don’t have to think any more of such deleterious thoughts. We are safe as the marked day so called as the end of the world is a past now. But what is really meant by- “End of the world”?
Human race has existed on earth since more than 50000 years. Since the inception, the human race has evolved a lot in all aspects and has proved itself as the most advanced species of God’s creation. But perhaps now we are going in the reverse direction. We have started showing inhumanity as we have lost respect for each other. We have created differences by dividing ourselves into casts, creeds and religions. We fight with each other while trying to prove that our own religion, caste or creed is better than others. We have created boundaries and we have set our own acquaintances; we don’t mind arguing, insulting and if needed fighting with the rest. We have developed powerful weapons of destruction like the Nuclear bomb which can create havoc and bring nuclear winter on the planet. We take pride in developing and maintaining large stocks of such deadly weapons describing ourselves as advanced. We are spending a major portion of our revenue on defense systems as we have threats from own species; Humans, and we call ourselves civilized. Today, the ratio of instances of human killed by human beings is far higher than human killed by natural or any other disasters in some part of the world because of terrorism and continues wars. Humanity has been killed. Are we not heading towards the end of the world because of our own deeds? We don’t have to wait for a super natural act of nature for the destruction. Perhaps we ourselves will bring the destruction to this planet.
Will the idea of "One world" would ever become true? If not, removing all the boundaries but at least by reducing the distances between the hearts? Perhaps the answer is “No”, but had this been “Yes” we could have really proven ourselves to be God’s best creation.

The Mystery Man

The buzzing mosquitoes did not let my body rest in the late hours. The bizarre sound created by them was actually more infuriating than their bites as they kept on hovering near my ears. In closed eyes it sounded as if an old gramophone player is playing a 1940’s song in fast forward mode. Both my palms clashed with each other almost once in every ten seconds creating an applaud sound; someone observing me by now would have definitely taken me as a Kawali practitioner. The rascals had targeted me as their feast when I was trying to get a rest in the dark corner near F6 pillar resting on one chair and stretching my legs on another. I did not realize; when I caught a sleep. As I had just gone unconscious for some time, something quivered on my left thigh; my cell phone was vibrating. I gave an awful look to my cell phone for few seconds for disrupting my sleep. The person with a charming mustache from the US Operations desk had called me, asking me to authorize few payments. I checked my watch, it was 2.30 am. “I have to come back tomorrow at the most by 12 pm to start my day, so must take a short nap, atleast for 1 hour after authorizing the payments”, I thought. I Went up to work station 596 and authorized the payments. “Huh, Just for few authorizing the payments that too for some other desk I have to stay whole night in office. I cannot even sleep without a break without even having regular work, atleast these tiny carnivorous bugs won’t let me sleep”, I murmured myself squeezing a mosquito with anger that was hovering near my right ear.
I hurried back to my temporary sleeping platform with a desire to get back to an unconscious state till the next call. The two aligned chairs were so comfortable that I fell asleep very soon. After sometime, I got up and headed to the washroom. Just near the entrance of the washroom, something caught my attention. There was a note written on the notice board near the washroom which read as- “Be careful in the dark, you are never alone.” I was little astounded to see such a writing, “who posted this here? This was not there in the evening, where did it come from!!”? I did not engross my thoughts so much about it and entered the wash room. I did not want to splash water on my face, coz I did not want my drowsy eyes to get freshen up as I preferred to sleep for some more time. When I came out, I was stunned to see the changed color of the floor. The entire floor had been shaded with darkness as if someone has cloaked up the floor with a blanket. That view of the floor was fearsome, had never seen it like that before. Even the lights in the washroom started deeming. I was totally awake now as the drowsiness had faded out. I screeched at the top of my voice, Rajendraji. But I could not hear any voice. Tried calling Mukesh too, still there was no response. That terrified me. “I should better run to the reception”, I thought. The darkness had diffused its wings to each and every corner. “What happened to the people on night shift?”, I cried in despair. The entire floor including the reception had turned a no man’s land; I could not even see the security guard in night duty. “Am I the only creature left in this entire floor!!”, I wondered. I felt like a character in an old Bollywood horror movie held up in an abandoned palace with no one nearby. So I decided to get outside the building, on to the road, perhaps to catch some crowd. I dragged my feet faster on the stairs to get down to the ground floor as soon as possible. When I reached the ground floor, I thought of checking the lift area. Usually I see the lift man on night duty sleeping on the floor near the lift. So I checked there and found him in his usual position. I tried waking him up. But he was lying down as if he is dead, as usual. So I did not bother him and went outside. “Atleast now I have the lift man with me in this building” I assured myself with a relief.
The street lights had gone dead. I could not see a single vehicle on the road, there was complete silence, felt as if I am in a jungle. “Atleast if I can see a stray dog”, I thought. I walked a little ahead on the road. I saw something lying down on the footpath, around 30 feet’s from me. I went closer to see what it was and turned on the mobile flash light. Saw a dog on footpath, the head was missing. My eyes almost popped out seeing the vicious scene. It looked like some sharp weapon had been used to execute the dog. The sprouting of blood was still fresh. “Who did this to the dog, is that a man or….” In chilling cold of December night I started sweating. My throat almost dried up. I saw line of blood droplets near the dead dog. “This must give a clue to me where the assassin has gone after executing the dog, may be in search of his/her next target”, I thought. I could follow the droplets hardly till 20-25 feet’s after which I could not see any more blood drops. That spot was very close to the entrance of the Empire Industrial complex. “Has he gone inside empire complex?” I wondered. I thought of calling Rajendraji to check where he is. When I tried calling him, it got disconnected after 2-3 rings. I tried calling him again, but it got disconnected again. “Is everything all right?” Just that I thought this; I got an sms from him- “Come near pillar no E9.” It was a little unusual that he sent me an sms; he could have picked my call or called me back. But I did not think deep into it and headed towards 2nd floor. While I reached up till the CNBC office, I saw the black cat which normally inhabits nearby that office gazing at me with his tiny but scary gleaming eyes. It looked as if it was warning me about some upcoming danger. Looked at me quite a few seconds and then it mewed and crossed in front of me. I kept looking at the cat and started walking again. “Madam Curie must have had got inspired by the blushing eyes of cats which inspired her to invent Radium”, I added to my chain of thoughts. I wanted to keep my mind busy in motivational thoughts so that it does not get occupied in scary thoughts. I wanted to see my colleagues as soon as possible. I was walking very fast but still the distance from empire corridor till the 2nd floor looked like marathon distance. I was constantly looking back; my thoughts were “Is someone following me”? When I reached near the ground floor stairs, I thought of checking the lift area again, I would kick the liftman if I had to, if he would not get up by gentle shaking. When I reached near the lift, I could not see the liftman there. Instead I could only see his cap and chappal lying down on the floor. “Where he could have gone, leaving his chappal and cap?”, I wondered. Suddenly the picture of the beheaded dog flashed in my memory. I felt dizzy. I thought of reaching 2nd floor as soon as possible to get some gathering out there. I started taking the stairs. My memory played the flash back of all that happened starting from the black out on the floor till now in my thought as I was heading up.
It took half the time to step up roughly 40 stairs as it would take in normal course as I wanted to cross the staircase area as soon as possible. When I reached the reception of the 2nd floor; I found it the same way as I had left it before some time; dark and silent. I opened the door and started moving towards US Canada desk. As I was walking through the aphotic floor, I tried shrieking up- “Rajendraji”, there was no response. I tried even louder, no voice responded back following my scream. So I went till his row and saw there is no one. “Then why did he send me the text. Was that he or someone else sent the sms from his cell”, I pondered. Just that I turned thinking this; I saw lights from inside the dispatch section room that falls on the left side of US Canada desk. After the black out, that was the only light source I had come across. “May be all the people have gathered there”, I thought. I lugged myself towards the room; I wanted to see what is happening inside? As I came closer to the dispatch room I heard someone chanting something followed by a group of reciters. I could not guess what is happening in that room. I peeped into the room; to my surprise, all my fellow colleagues were sitting on the floor surrounding a havan fire. Among them I could see an unknown face wearing a wired outfit, something that will never come in the purview of corporate/modern attire. He was the one who was enchanting the mantras the rest were reciting the same in a frenzy. All the people were sitting on a parallel line on both the sides of that stranger. I preferred to stay in my position only and keep observing. The chanting of mantras final stopped after some time. “What is next?” I was curious. The stranger then handed over a sword to the person sitting to his right. He asked him to offer few drops of his blood to the fire incising his right thumb and to close his eyes. That person then slashed his right thumb against the sharp edge of the sword and offered his blood to the fire. He then closed his eyes and remained idle. Then I observed something strange in the lit up fire. The color of the fire was changing constantly. Suddenly a smoke exiled from the fire; it took the shape of a ghost and got inside that person who had offered blood. It shook him and his eyes turned blood red. A cold chill ran through my body seeing this spectral scene. My heart was throbbing. I still could not understand what is happening there. The mysterious man’s face was still not unveiled to me. He then asked rest of the people to follow the same process. Every time someone offered blood to the fire, a smoky ghost entered his/her body. When everyone finished their turns, the stranger said, “You all have offered your blood to the fire, now you have to obey my orders, and if you don’t, then the ghost inside you will reduce you to ashes.” It looked like; everyone indicated their acceptance by keeping quiet. By now I had understood; that why some people keeps on saying about sprits or ghosts. They probably would have seen some real ghosts like this. The mystery man then took a meditation pose and kept quiet for some time. “It is now your turn to offer blood to this Havan fire, Abhisek.” I felt like a landslide happening beneath my feet as I realized, there is only one person with the name Abhisek in my department, and that is me. He looked at me and indicated to sit beside him. His red and bold eyes had some magical power, I guess, because I lost control on me and started walking towards him. I think he had hypnotized me like he did to the rest. As I sat beside him, he closed his eyes and started chanting mantras. He stopped chanting after sometime and handed me over the sword. I took the sword in my hand and saw the edge of the sword had been covered with blood. “Perhaps this is the sword which executed the dog, and now it needs my blood too”, I thought. I was partly in my sense, I could understand something wrong happening with me, but my hypnotized mind had started obeying the orders of the mysterious man. I slashed my right thump against the aciculated surface of the sword. Blood gushed from my right thump and I offered it to the havan fire as the rest had done. My blood ignited some change in the fire and it stared changing colors. Suddenly a smoke exiled from the fire and started changing its shape. I saw it taking shape of a ghostly face. “I wish that I would have been watching a 3d show only, not the real ghost”, I cogitated. But I was wrong, it came closer to me. I was too scared that I closed my eyes. I felt a heat in my heart as the ghost entered my body. It shook me completely. Suddenly I heard someone saying “Default ho jayega, get up man”. My eyes opened, I saw Mukesh standing in front of me with a smile on his face. I tried to look for the mysterious man. I checked my right thumb, there was no bleeding. My forehead was covered with sweat. I saw the lights on the floor were back. “What a nightmare man”, I whispered to myself as I realized that all happened with me were not real, it was Mukesh who shook me, not the smoky ghost. Mukesh said “what?” I said nothing. “Authorise the last 2 fund transfers. Then you leave”, Mukesh said. I logged into swift and authorized the payments and left for home. I could not sleep in the cab on my way back home. I thought the mysterious man might return in my dream once again. So I preferred to stay awake for some more time atleast till the time the mystery man completely dissolves from my memory.
The stranger was still alive in my memory while started my day in the office next day. I thought of sharing the same with other colleagues, but later thought of not disclosing as they might think that I have a phobia towards darkness. But I could not forget the scene inside the dispatch section, even though the mystery man never existed, but his spooky appearance was still alive in my memory.