A Leaf

A simple leaf depicts our life's journey very well. This is a poetic attempt to picture the life of...

A Leaf
By Ashish Joglekar

Delicate and refreshingly green,
A shy little leaf hides in its natural fold;
It quickly adapts to the bright gleam,
Thus begins the race to seek the ball of gold!

It can reach great heights
And survive a storm,
With roots that run deep and strong;

While colors reflect the many seasons that passed,
Now it slowly withers in its cold plight;
For winter always does come, alas
With a gush of wind that makes it take flight.

As it falls to the ground it reflects over a happy life gone by,
It will soon be assimilated back in the soil
And act as new life's nourishing energy supply!

Footsteps on the Sands of Time

Images are copyright of their respective owners. Music by Detektivbyrån.
Ashish Joglekar

Think!

Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all! - Hypatia of Alexandria

Each step you take should appeal to your curiosity,

Do not shy away from contradiction and ambiguity,

For your thoughful response in face of such a difficulty,

Will spur creativity!

Breakdown a tough problem into simpler pieces

Like white light a prism disperses,

Remember this is achieved as the prism has multiple facets,

So view a problem from different angles, be open, be deft!

The greatest evil is fear,

Think with a slate that is free from bias it's clear,

The solution is like a chain of gears,

Overcome the inertia and the goal is near!

- Ashish Joglekar

Vicious Circles

Corruption to wealth polarization,
to penury, to corruption,

to scams, to committees,
to bribe, to bail pleas,

to 2G, to 2.5G,
to 3G, to 4G.

Deforestation, to mines,
to metals, to assembly lines,
to cars, to roads, to further axing of lumber loads.

Research papers, to references
to references, to references ...
To get a:
Degree, to degree,
to degree, to degree ...

But never forget that in the end it's:
Body, to earth,
to body, to earth!

- Ashish Joglekar

The Land Of the Fireflies

The inspiration for this poem comes from the hundreds of fireflies that adorn the wooded green of our IISc campus, especially the area in front of main building.

So here goes...

As I enter the wooded green,

Ah! What's that? A distant gleam

A speckle of light twinkles,

As I move closer I see a glittering sprinkle

One of these beacons whizzes by,

Painting a fiery streak in the sky

The cool air and the warmth of the shimmering flame,

I am lost in thought as I watch the unfolding game,

Their motion is random but with graceful poise,

The brush strokes remind me of the 'Northern Lights'

Surely, stars have descended from the heights,

In this land of the Fireflies!

Ashish Joglekar

A Temple of Worship

Ashish Joglekar

A Temple with Intricate hallways,

Crowned with a weaved canopy of clay,

Rests on stone columns that stand in firm resolve,

It’s vast expanse, the exquisite wooden floor;

A Fiery bright aura drapes its wings,

The symmetry strikes a chord within,

The Temple stands at the heart of our realm;

The epicentre of worship

Has sparked many minds,

Its creator stands testimony

To a century devoted towards betterment of mankind.

Mouse Cursor Position Control - using our face!!

I enjoyed writing a program in C using the OpenCV library wherein I have used certain image segmentation techniques to control the position of the mouse cursor by moving one's head. I have used the Window's Speech Recognition capability to scroll, click or double click.
It works like a touch-less touch screen!

Enjoy the video!




-Ashish Joglekar

The Great Indian Two-Wheeler

I cut through anything that comes in my way as through butter a knife...

Be it highways, lanes, footpaths, BRTS, streams, mountains, or glacial ice, I am an all terrain bike

Fear me as do trucks, buses, bulldozers or tanks that kiss my feet,

I cruise top notch through streets,

Competing with the breeze,

I am all weather proof too, be it hot, humid or the bitter freeze!

You will find the ubiquitous me making a beeline along the curb,

I leave no space void; I fill even the potholes kicking dirt,

Though I am made for two I have the capacity to carry ten,

While the specially shock proofed back seat is reserved by guys for their girlfriends

I sell like hotcakes,

And come in different sizes and make,

On my fuel efficiency claim, I don’t fake!

While not too heavy on the pocket, pollution safety levels I usually break,

But as always nobody denies me a PUC, RTO registration or any other certificate,

I guarantee to take you places on time every time, provided you wear your helmet each time without sighing!

--Ashish Joglekar

My first Mobile Phone App: The flashing tail light!

Cycling on crowded, poorly illuminated city streets can be a nightmare thanks to the recklessness of vehicular traffic. Cyclists, like pedestrians, are known to be accident prone. Lack of separate cycling tracks adds to their predicament. Considering the ubiquitous presence of mobile phones, I realised that these gadgets can be deployed quickly as a safety gadget if used as a tail light. All one needs is a transparent backpack. Install my piece of software on any MIDP2 compatible java enabled mobile phone and enhance your safety as a pedestrian or a cyclist on city roads!

My .jar package can be downloaded here. (I have used Sun's J2ME Wireless Toolkit) Install the app on your phone and you are ready to go!

My Live Score Notifier Gadget

I have come up with this Live Score Notifier Gadget. Sites like cricinfo.com do provide live score updates. To save screen real estate and for pure fun, I built this Live Score Notifier gadget. The Live score is automatically streamed every 30 secs (value can be set by user) and displayed on the Notifier’s LCD panel. Users can decide upon a level of update notification. I have kept it at a minimal wherein only the score and wickets are displayed. One can also display batting and bowling statistics. The update process is entirely automatic. One is only required to indicate the Live match one is following. In the snap it happens to be the Third Ashes Match when Australia saved the day with a final score of 375/5.

Anybody interested in details like code and circuit schematic, do contact via email.

Konkan Trip

Small winding roads make way through thick greens,
As the road curves along it reveals the typical Konkani scene,

There are houses with thatched roofs,
Surrounded by boisterous shoots,

There are evergreen paddy fields,
And stocks of cattle feed,

Through a rare green cover clearing we catch the first glimpse of the sea,
It is a picture postcard perfect scene,
As cool but humid breeze brings an occasional downpour over a distant devrai,

Traces of golden sand indicate that we are nearing the beach,
Soon a rail track glides over the sea,
While a lighthouse over the shore cliff signals our arrival to boats out on a fishing spree,

Konkan is surely the 'jari cha padar' of nature's unfurled 'saree'...
Dotted with peaceful temples and this satisfied look of glee!!

My Propeller LED display

Here is a video of my all new propeller LED display. The display uses six Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). An IR Tx Rx pair refreshes the display with each motor rotation. The pattern to be displayed (in this case 'OM') is programmed in a uc (I have used an Atmel uc).
I can now display any message on my Propeller LED display!
Enjoy!

(Note: Camera frame rate limits visualization of actual display persistence and clarity.)

Our PC2PC Wireless Interface

Welcome to the Wireless World!

Second Life Real Life Interface Part 2

The Ladder: How to get to the TOP (Ethically)

Build your own ladder to get to the top,
Shape and bolster each individual rung,
For if the foundation is weak, the floor will greet your drop
Use the finest quality wood to hand craft it neat and plumb!

Ensure appropriate spacing between each step,
Under the 'expert carpenter's prep',
You will learn that:
“The ladder should be high enough but not higher than the support on which it leans”
That:
“It should be strong enough to support many like a concrete beam”

Only then should you take the next step of creation,
When you enliven this true feeling of innermost satisfaction.

- Ashish Joglekar