Stray Birds

God & Golem, Inc: A Comment on Certain Points Where Cybernetics Impinges on Religion , published in 1964, has been penned down by Norbert Wiener. Wiener (1894-1964) happens to be the coiner of the term ‘cybernetics’ in its modern sense. Wiener is a well-regarded mathematician and has a vast number of technical papers to his credit. However God and Golem Inc, has very little to do with the subtleties of theoretical physics or mathematics, it concerns itself majorly with socially relevant issues of cybernetics that intersect with religion. The author here refrains himself from using any highly technical phrases to prove his points. Some of the ideas do remain rather vague, as a result of this approach. But it seems necessary as the book caters to a much wider audience this way.  The three main issues, discussed throughout a number of short essays in the book, are:  Machines which learn themselves Machines which have capacity to reproduce themselves The relation bet...

Over the hilly town Under the dead nun's gown Have put it down But somehow Can’t find it now     Can’t locate grave of the nun Under the burning sun But I won't give up Will return when the moon shines And the silver fox cries Find my paper crown I will burn the place down Sit atop the banyan tree Enjoying the off spree Watching the world burn free Cherish the moment Enjoy every last scream People burning while still in their dream   Will dance naked over dead bodies Eat the flesh of children And when I am all fed up I will consider my mistakes undone For god is kind Having a sound mind I shall confess all my crimes Beat up my back couple of times My sins, be forgiven And someday   When I meet Him We shall ride horses made of clay And to Him I would say "It was a lovely Saturday!" -Pavan 14 November, 2010

Underneath moonlit skies, on curving yellow roads we walked, Over elating highlands, warm rainforests her shadows I stalked. In some silent whispers, couple of nameless songs she hummed, Insinuating ideas dusted and newfangled alike, and we talked! Enjoying unblemished sunshine a marsh harrier upon us flew, Fresh smells of flowing seas of blue mountains and rambling squirrels it blew. She told me of her grandpa’s old clock, about how much he cared, Other funny little stories of her childhood she shared. And I listened wondering all the while, Upon a green leaf and little orange flowers, a butterfly hovered meanwhile. “So Cute!” Pointed Mrs. Wayne to her husband and their only son, A small fist extended as the boy captured the fly, just for the sake of fun! A lion roared in vicinity, out Mr. Wayne took his shredded gun, Four thousand feet above us all a German fighter-plane flew, under the hooded sun. The butterfly escaped the fists, the plane dived, The l...

Ripley: Will you listen to me, Parker? Shut up! Parker: Let's hear it. Let's hear it. Ripley: It's using the air shafts. Parker: You don't know that. Ripley: That's the only way. We'll move in pairs. We'll go step by step and cut off every bulkhead and every vent until we have it cornered. And then we'll blow it the fuck out into space! Set in an undated future, the 1979 science fiction Alien depicts the tale of a 7 member crew trapped with a barbarous Alien inside the commercial towing spaceship Nostromo.  And it does it so in a most perturbing manner. The starkness of space, the gloomy atmosphere and the dark undertones all add up to a compelling movie experience. Alien begins rather slowly, but it gains significant momentum in a few scenes. Nostromo, the commercial towing spaceship of the "Mother" Corporation, is set on its return course to Earth.  Upon receiving a possible distress signal from an apparently desolate planet, the 7 m...

I want to make it clear that, through this article I do not wish to support nor condemn Operation Bluestar. I just wish to report the reasons, operation itself and its aftermaths, trying not to take up sides with any particular party. Another thing I want to make clear is that the operation itself was not much different from any other regular army mission, it's the reasons and the aftermath which makes it much more significant, as much more disturbing. This incident has, indeed, hurt both the Indian army and the community of Sikhs throughout the period of time. In the decade of 1980’s Pakistan  backed terrorism had acquired major proportions in Punjab . The demand for Khalistan, a separate nation for Sikhs, was increasing with every passing day, and so was the number of  innocent common civilians  killed in the terrorist activities. Sikh terrorists killed Hindu political leaders, common Hindus, Sikhs, migrant workers and all who dared oppose their deman...