An Eery Tale!

Do you know of an English mathematician and philosopher William Kingdon Clifford? Well, now you will; a little! Born on May 4, 1845, at Exeter, went to King's College, London at the age of 15 and was elected a fellow in Trinity College, Cambridge in 1868. He became a professor of mathematics and mechanics at University College, London in 1871 and in 1874, became a fellow of the Royal Society. He was not much happy with the excessive analytic tendencies of Cambridge mathematicians and along with Hermann Grassmann (about whom, I know little) invented what is now termed Geometric Algebra, a special field being Clifford Algebra named in his honour.

I suppose you are beginning to appreciate that he was a good mathematician. But my eery tale begins now. He was the first to suggest that Gravitation might be a manifestation of an underlying geometry! In Volume One of Lectures and Essays (edited by FR. Pollock and L. Stephen and published by Macmillan in 1879) in one of several references, Clifford ‘anticipates’ Einstein’s curvature of physical space in these words:
I am supposed to know that the three angles of a rectilinear triangle are
exactly two right angles. Now suppose that three points are taken in space,
distant from one another as far as the Sun is from Alpha Centauri, and the
shortest distances between these points are drawn so as to form a triangle...
Then I do not know that this sum would differ at all from two right angles;
but also I do not know that the difference would be less than ten degrees.

He died of tuberculosis on March 3, 1879. Eleven days after his death, Albert was born to Einstein and goes on to develop a geometric theory of gravitation [inspite of being known for poor performance especially in Math, in his school ;) ].

Well thats the end of the tale and I do find it eery!

That apart Clifford seems to have used his imagination in anticipating other developments that came in his future. In Volume One (pp. 237-238) he writes:

Now, whatever may turn out to be the ultimate nature of the ether and of
molecules, we know that to some extent at least they obey the same dynamic
laws, and that they act upon one another in accordance with these laws.
Until, therefore, it is absolutely disproved, it must remain the simplest and
most probable assumption that they are finally made of the same stuff – that
the material molecule is some kind of knot or coagulation of ether.

Was he suggesting some kind of string theory?

He is also known for his philosphical musings and I state here one of his quotes which I seem to identify with:

"There is no scientific discoverer, no poet, no painter, no musician, who will not tell you that he found ready made his discovery or poem or picture - that it came to him from outside, and that he did not consciously create it from within."

My poem "the Nymph" was an ecstatic experience I can never forget. After Swarnamalya gave me the idea for the theme, while I was in Classical Mechanics class, I felt transported to some strange place with invisible fairies whispering the lyrics in my ear, while I wrote down what I heard. It came to me from outside, indeed, unlike the pieces "Roses that wait!" and "Firefly Legend". This is probably why I feel so happy reading "the Nymph" even today!

Jade.

Untitled

this piece is again composed entirely by a friend Niveditha Viswanathan and is only published here by me and with out her knowledge and permission, at that. If by chance she comes across this, I hope she will forgive me for this "trespassing"!

She stands apart,among the many

Milling about in the solemn space

Of the temple,ah so sacrosanct,

A simple,solitary yellow flower

Adorns her deep black mane,

It cascades against the sun-straks

To reveal a face ever so charming

She fills her mud-pot with water

That trickles down to bathe her feet

As she walks ,like paradise personifies

In six yards of the silk saree

As she reaches the tulsi plant,

She utters a silent prayer

The droplets run doen her long fingers,

Like river waiting to meet the sea.

She royally heads back home,

Her red bindi matching her lips

And her mane dancing to herr rhythm

She steps past the intricate design

That greets her at the door,

A warm smell of holy ash,

Kumkum,ghee,oil and flowers dancing

To the holy bell tolling

Amidst her father's fingers and a rising

Aroma of caffeine clenches

her mind,and her feet run to the kitchen,

Only to find the silent marble floor

shatter the life of her dreams

Here,so far from home,in

A distant land so alien to thr mind

She sits on the sparkiling tile,

Only to miss the mud floor.

I met Niveditha during my internship in IMSc, Chennai in the summers of 2006.

untitled...

this piece, titled "untitled..." is written entirely by Deepak and is only published here by me.

The sun goes to bed,
After a day's long work,
Tired of lighting up the world.
The stones are still being hurled,
"Oh! wise man up the mountain,
Yes you, you with the halo,
Tell me, is it dark age or ice age?"
Oh dear, come with me,
I'll show you the way to America,
But the moles like it,
They prefer darkness to light.

Lying on the eiderdown,
On this cold winter night,
I gaze up into the star studded sky
Is it dew drops on my glasses?
Or tears blurring my vision?
Am I not understood well?
"Oh please, Come out of the hell!!"
Come out of the holes, my moles,
It ain't so comfortable down there, I know,
What's left with you,
Any dying spirit or burning desire?
How am I gonna know, even you don't!!!

There's a faint glow in the distance,
Beyond the snow-capped mountains,
Its time for another sunrise,
I didn't expect Him to be back this time.

Is boredom an addiction?
Can you ever get out of it?
Is being alive a contradiction?
Can you ever understand it?
Is freedom a faraway dream?
Can you ever taste it?
There is a higher level of existence.
Can you ever perceive it?
Blindness is contagious.
Will you ever be able to 'see' it?

Are thing gonna be the same?
Is there a glimmer of hope?
Soon I will get to know, when I see
The first rays of the rising sun.

                       --Me (Deepak)

Deepak and I were classmates for four years of his B.Tech. (mine extended for another 6 months!). This is just one piece that I happen to possess in my mails. I should mention here that Mallu and Amit were my classmates, too.

a snippet to Moon!

Can you see the radiant blushing Moon,
Which made many a romantics swoon?
I could accompany them with melodic tunes
And a poem written in celtic runes.

Can you see the jealous clouds covering her,
Clouds like spotless scotish sheep's fur?
From over which the Moon still looks over
To steal a glance at her silent human admirer.

--Jade, Mallu and Deepak.

another snippet

to "rat-race and education"

I was standin' at the start line when I heard the shot gun
I hear many hearts beatin'; many seeming to be ready to run
But I know I forgot to run, my muscles dont even flex
And I wonder if the teacher is to be blamed for the jinx.

Jade.

a snippet to Q Mechanics.

Walkin' thru a dark alley,
I stumble upon a strand of glowin' thread;
And I stand for hours wonderin'
How mighty the strand of thread cud be
That it almost hurt me by tripping me over!

Jade.

26 August, 2006

It was a night with many neon yellow moons hanging low and grey sparkling clouds drifting across the azure blue sky like crude oil seeping through a water body. Unusually happy for some reasons four shadows dine and booze and on their way back home start singing: (lines that I remember)

J: My color and mood are both blue, too
M: All I was thinking was of buying a new shoe
D: As I went in search of lines, I wish'd I flew
A:What do I say; I'm still blue!

J: I saw a man walking with a pet lizard
M: And I wondered if there can be a weird'r wizard
D:
A:

J: I worship my satan in my dreams
M: Things are not as they seem
D: I wanted to join a football team
A: You can always join a team! ( he actually said that in reply to what DEG said)

J: I switch on a fan and the air moves in a twirl
M: Oh my God! I just lost my last pearl
D: How I wish I had a girl!
A:

J: And these nights I get high watching the red spot ( the tip of cigarette was in my mind)
M: I didnot even need a shot
D: It stopped raining; these nights are so hot
A: one mallu is ok, but three is a lot!

--J:Jade, M:Mallu, D:Deepak, A:Amit.

By the way, this was Deepak's and Mallu's idea.

coming back...
Its been a long time since I have added anything new to this blog. And yet, I am not entirely back. Raven is on an errand and it will be sometime before she sings new tales to me and I pen them down here. Meanwhile, I thought I would put up some interesting articles (that would obviously stand different from Raven's magical tales!).
For a start I shall merge the other blog I moderate where I had posted some articles that are not entirely mine.