Cosmic Supertheory I The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow I

The Hypercomputer named Deep Thought in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy comes up with an answer to "The Ultimate Question Of Life" after nine years of calculations. The answer is 42. In The Grand Design you are warned at the beginning that the answer is a lot more complicated. However, like Stephen Hawking’s other works in popular science, here too the language is simplified for non-specialist readers. You cannot, though, afford to think that neutrons and protons are names of aliens.
The Grand Design has been co-authored by Leonard Mlodinow, who had also co-authored A Briefer History of Time with Hawking. Leonard, a physicist, has also written for Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Hawking’s most popular work, The Brief History of Time, was published in 1988. The work explored a range of cosmology subjects like the Big Bang, Black Holes and light cones. It ended on the note that a unified theory of universe would reveal the "mind of God". The Grand Design goes a step ahead and explores M-Theory, a possible candidate for the ultimate theory of everything. With "M" standing for anything ranging from master to mystery, M-theory is a family of varied theories. It solves the problem
that a single formulation or concept for the entire universe may be untenable. It allows different theories for situations, with each having its different versions of reality. The only condition being that the theories must agree in their predictions wherever they overlap. The idea can be understood as a collection of detailed maps used to represent different regions of earth. When assorted to give a complete picture the maps will show the same landscape where they overlap.
M-theory works in 11 space-time dimensions and allows for different apparent laws. "Apparent laws" here refers to the observable laws of universe, creating room for different universes with diverse set of observable laws. The theory allows for 10500 different universes each working within its own scientific sets. The authors use string theory to explain the concept of multiple space-time dimensions. In the language of logic this translates into a straw with a diameter so small that it almost appears one-
dimensional. The idea being that the "invisible" dimensions are so highly curled that they almost appear non-existent.
Like in Hawking’s early work, here also, it is argued that science can provide a God-free explanation of the origin and function of universe. In The Grand Design, however the authors come across as more direct and combative. They take on questions like why the universe exists or why there is something instead of nothing. They believe that because there is a law like gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Gravity, here of course is the same force that makes the apple fall down, but has far wider implications in the cosmological terms of reference. "It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue torch paper and set the universe going," they say. They trace the origin of belief in a supernatural being and a parallel growth of science, both as means to explain the forces of nature. The difference being that science not only aimed at explaining, but also predicting the ways of nature.
Some of the provoking concepts in the book include the theory that universe has not just a single history but every possible history, each with its own probability. Feynman’s diagrams, designed as mathematical expressions of electron interaction, are applied to conclude that the universe appeared spontaneously "starting off in every possible way".
While getting to understand Feynman’s diagrams can get tedious, an interesting analogy is provided to relieve the pain. The authors compare the spontaneous creation of universe to formation of bubbles in boiling water. While each bubble is like an alternative universe, not all last long enough to develop. A few survive to become bubbles that we can see equivalent to universes that survive.
One of the basic concepts of the book is that there is no picture-independent or theory-independent concept of reality. This dims the question of real and false and places observations in an established model or a world with set of rules. Just like in Matrix where both the physical and virtual world have their set rules and physical realities. But the concept in the book goes way beyond science fiction with a whole chapter set out to understand the nature of reality. The authors wonder if our view of reality is distorted like that of the goldfish in a curved bowl. That, however, does not mean that the goldfish can
have no understanding of world beyond the bowl. It can still draw scientific laws from its distorted frame of reference and predict and approximate accordingly. Its science would be a lot more complicated than ours, but "simplicity," they say "is a matter of taste."

SWEET DREAMS

I am in mood, for 

indulgence tonight
with vicarious will
and little insight

Come to me, dreams 

that couldn’t be,
naughty fancies
of terrible delight

So many will come tonight

with love, fame and jazz
to lose breath to beauty
judgment to genius

Women and men I couldn’t love
and words couldn’t own
beauty could never sell
and gifts couldn’t keep

Of so much I couldn’t be
Tonight I will dream
Not of the best
but sweetest.

Write Ground For Newcomers

Unpublished authors are a curious lot. Desperate, helpless and often the butt of all jokes. They never know what went wrong with their work. Most publishers respond, if at all, with one-liners rejecting the manuscript for not being upto the required brief. So as few get published, many hundreds sulk at their defeat. While big publishing

houses go nonchalantly about their business, help is at hand from unexpected quarters. Gyaana Writer’s Coracle (GWC), new wing of 15-month-old Gyaana Books, helps aspiring authors in getting their manuscript ready for publication. GWC provides manuscript assessment, feedback and editorial services.
Behind the pragmatic venture is Divya Dubey, the dynamic founder of Gyaana Books. She loves “reading and ’riting” but detests running into rude people. Dubey’s job as a publisher tests her skills and patience, but not the one to be intimidated, she has a sufficient supply of both. Born into a family of doctors, Dubey made her cut in the world of publishing on her own. She launched her Delhi-based publishing venture, Gyaana Books, in July 2009 with the focus on literary novels, popular fiction, chicklit, short stories and young adult fiction. The latest Gyaana book, Pink Sheep, a collection of 18 stories by Mahesh Natarajan on nuances of gay life, was launched last week.
A postgraduate in literature and publishing, Divya says she was no newcomer into publishing when she launched Gyaana. “Having worked in publishing, I had friends in the industry who advised me about the project. People like Thomas Abraham and Urvashi Butalia were always there to help.”
In an industry dominated by big players, a little-known venture like Gyaana had to struggle to make its mark and be taken seriously, she says. The venture has published five books since its launch but Dubey doesn’t sound pleased with herself. “Frankly, I am still to figure out how books go with business and money with manuscripts,” she says.
What she looks for, she says, is a combination of big names and newcomers, a literary script and a good author. A good author being someone “who knows what he is doing with his story, has the required language and storytelling skills and is receptive to the publisher.” A literary script, on the other hand, she says, is serious fiction which essentially involves good writing. “A lot of young writers have come into the scene producing a load of fiction which is easy to read,” Dubey explains.
While she welcomes young writers, diluting the standards is not her style. Talking of her tryst with choosy distributors, she sounds tired. “There are too many writers and books. And a general restraint towards newcomers,” she says, but adds that the publishing industry in India is in a fluid state. Dubey believes that while an increasing number of people are reading, they are picking up books that are easy, quick reads. It is when as a publisher one is expected to meet these commercial interests that there is a challenge, she says.
There has been crticism, Dubey says, as well as some encouragement. What annoys her, however, is being dismissed without being given a chance. “Many times, people jump to conclusions about our work without bothering to find out what we really do. That’s unfair.”
Dubey did not stumble into the publishing world. Early in her life she had her heart set on the industry. She remembers being a part of school publications and coveting the job of an editor. The first list of Gyaana also had a title authored by Dubey herself. But the glamour of being an author does not dominate her thoughts. It does not take her a minute to announce that she is an editor first and author later. “I still have to hone my craft as an author,” she says. Writing and editing are creative activities distinctive of each other, she feels. As a publisher who also writes she may have the advantage of knowing writers better, but little else, she says. What makes a good publisher is nose for a good script and eye for aesthetic presentation.
For a person who loves to train travel, Dubey hates the fact that her job takes away from her the liberty to holiday. “I love my work but it’s a long time since I took a vacation,” she says. What about sitting in the easy chair with a cup of coffee and a book? She laughs off the suggestion dreamily.

F.I.R

There was a
storm last night,
the one they had
been predicting
for years,
and in the
misty, moist rain
the survivor
draws a list
of valuables
blown away:
broken phrases,
unfinished stories,
an ordinary name.
But they tell her
its not done yet,
the storm will

sure return.

Girls: Good, Bad and Lost I The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas I

Once there was a girl called Lilly who never lied to her mother but her best friend Irene could never tell the truth. Margaret Mascarenhas’ second novel The Disappearance Of Irene Dos Santos sails through a plot which seems deceptively simple at first. Irene teaches Lilly how to French-kiss but when Lilly is caught kissing a boy in the lift her parents change her school. The girls conspire to keep in touch and with Irene’s help Lilly forays into the world of boys, beer and bikinis. To ward-off her parent’s suspicion, Lilly takes Luz with her on Irene adventures. Luz is the daughter of Marta who works for Lilly’s parents. The two girls are raised almost like sisters. As a child Luz,
feels Lilly is always given the head of the banana and as an adult her quite married motherhood burns Luz with envy. She grudges the fact that years ago Lilly chose Irene for the trip to the jungles of Maquiritare; the fateful day on which Irene went missing. While the general consensus is that Irene drowned that day, Lilly refuses to believe. Her memory of the trip planned by her parents is fudged. She vaguely remembers a swim, a fight over stolen red shoes and later Irene telling her that she was going to elope with her boyfriend and that Lilly must not tell anyone. Even though Irene is gone, Lilly is unable to forget her. The episode leaves something amiss in Lilly and Irene becomes a barred topic in the family. But years later when a pregnant Lilly suffers a dangerous fall she begs her father to find out about Irene.
The story, which is neither sequential nor linear, moves through an array of characters. The eight chapters into which the novel is divided are named after the people whose tales is told. When Lilly slips it is decided to hold a novena where the family prays to local deity Maria Lionza, and everyone has to tell a story to the unborn baby. The six chapters that follow are sprung around the stories of love, birth, sex, revolution and death. The stories are engaging and at times reach back several generations. The stories are familiar yet mesmerising, each getting its due share of the author's care.
The final chapter "Irene" is, however, an antithesis to all that precedes. One does not realise that very little has been revealed about Irene till the last chapter turns up. While it answers the questions about Irene’s "disappearance" it does so with a flourish of surprise. The reversal could seem an unnecessary culmination to, an otherwise, a brilliantly told story. Over the years, A Beautiful Mind-twists have become so common that they end up appearing excuses for the writer’s inability to conjure a good climax.
While some writers paint with words, some can make them sing and some others can even make them breathe, but very few can make them tell a story. Mascarenhas has the unique ability to tell the story on her own terms. The author who is a US citizen of Goan-origin locates her novel in Venezuela, where she herself grew up. Lilly’s father Ismael is a dashing musician of the revolution; a hard man to catch for any woman till he met Lilly’s mother, Consuelo. They marry on the seventh day of their courtship and Ismael never set his eye on another woman. Their household help and Luz’s mother Martha, is a Cuban who migrated to Venezuela to escape the brutal revolution and crushing economic conditions. Her own mother Maria fled from Spain at the age of sixteen. Maria was taken in by a brothel-runner who takes pity on the girl when in a bid to protect her virginity Maria insisted that "her speciality was hand work". Martha is born out of a moment of indiscretion when Maria is serving a client. Mascarenhas draws on a
range of social-political issues from political revolutions to tribal rights and bares the verdant, violent history of a continent.
Like on the cover of the book, the face of the protagonist is turned away from us. From the time Irene eggs on Lilly to "study" herself ("pointing to her vagina"), it is established that Irene is the bad girl. Nothing about Lilly is wicked or opaque, but Irene is kept a mystery. We are told little about what she thought or how she felt. Even when you’ve lapped up the book you can't be too sure about her true character which makes the book a compelling read. After all, "bad girls" come with a certified fan following given their rarity and the dazzling reach of their imagination.

THE WILDERNESS AND US I VOICES IN THE WILDERNESS, Contemporary Wildlife Writings I

Monkeys are curious animals. Stories about their antics amused me as a child. But I never had a chance to see one in its  "element", until recently. After a few "mysterious" disappearances from the refrigerator, I came face-to-face with the thief. A monkey perched on top of my fridge. Right foot on the door, left balancing her weight, left hand supporting her little one and the right rummaging through the booty. I tried to scare her away. She looked me in the eye, body taut, teeth bare. I couldn’t get her to leave while she was successful in scaring wits out of me. So I stayed frozen in my place for half-an-hour while she went on with her business. This incident turned me into quite an animal hater. A monkey had made me feel, literally, what it was to be pushed up against the wall.  I was mortally scared of "them" and felt their presence was an intrusion. Perhaps not the perfect state-of-mind to read a book on wildlife, but the wilderness  has its surprises for everyone.
Voices in the Wilderness  opens with Five Encounters excerpted from Nature’s  spokesman: M. Krishnan and Indian Wildlife. Of the brief encounters that follow one deals with photographing cheetals from a hidden spot. The author wears a herb camouflage only to have it eaten up by the grazing cheetals. The writer also describe his close shave with death as he runs into wild elephants once and a sloth bear at another time. The final encounter is about his being caught in the middle of whirling dolphins.  The stories are remarkable, not only for their brief and pointed narration but also for the panoramic view.
The pattern of variety is maintained throughout the book. The narratives that follow deal with birds, tigers, sea cows, snakes, turtles etc as seen or encountered by the writers. The range of the animals is equally matched with a variety of places and experiences.
"Curiosity in Animals" excerpted from The Jungle in Sunlight and Shadow by F.W. Champion is my favourite in the book. Quick stories about encounters with sambar hinds, tigers, elephants and monkeys reveal the inquisitiveness in animals. The author narrates how a mirror placed amidst a horde of monkeys produces amusing behaviour. Having seen themselves in the mirror, the monkeys go behind the mirror in search of the reflection and finding nothing circle back again clawing and making faces at it.
Each article is preceded by a brief about the writer. Stepping beyond the usual awards and qualifications, the introductions bring out the devotion of the writers to various aspects of the wilderness. Valmik Thapar, for example,  is described as tiger’s best known supporter who at one point put his pen down as he lost heart but later found faith at Ranathambore. The extract from Thapar’s Ranthambore: 10 days in the Tiger Fortress describes how he rediscovered his lost hope at Ranthambore.
Unlike a lot of nature works these writings are not alarmist. There is no attempt to tell you how your daily meal will affect the food-chain and ecology. They do dot beg for compassion. Instead they make you feel what you are missing. The stories wake you up to the world to which you have stayed blind so far.  On one hand they point to animal-human coexistence, on the other they bring out how unfair the deal is for animals.
Meanwhile, I have made my peace with the visiting mammal. I realise now, it is the mother-monkey who’s back is against the wall, not mine.

GHOSTS

It was something I saw,
don't remember what.
Something shamefully
trivial, my heart
was set after.

And though I tried, and
tried for an eternity, that
something, of all others,
I couldn't have.

So when eternity ended,
I took a deep breath,
bowed out, heaved
ahead my quiet life.

Rebuilt what had been
washed away, a world away
from where the dead lay
Till  a happy life came
to live next doors
and I knew it was,
that hearth that dance,
my lost dream.