Why AI?

While I was in 4th standard, I mugged up the sentence, “The Data in processed form is called information”. And, it took me adulthood to fully understand it. It isn’t wrong to say that we are flooded with information. We live in the age of data, the age of information at our fingertips. And, I am sure you won’t disagree that it feels magical. Clive Humby must be in excellent observation mode in 2006 when he said, “Data is the new oil”. It has proved more than real since then.

I was listening to The Weeknd’s Starboy a few days ago on a music application. After the song ended, the app recommended me Billie Ellish’s Bad guy. What a beautiful song that is! Well, that is the power of a sound recommendation system working on the back-end of an application.

I was awed to learn that some of these recommendation systems are based on Deep Boltzmann machines. The basic concept behind the algorithm comes from the fact that any universal system tries to drift towards a lower energy state. Confused? For instance, if we drop an ink-drop in a water bucket, it scatters rather than forming a blob as it is moving towards its lower energy state. Another example would be if we spray perfume in a room, the smell travels throughout the room. Why? The same idea of a system moving towards a lower energy state. I was spellbound to learn that this is the concept behind our modern recommendation systems that numerous websites and applications use each day. We have it all at our fingertips.

Isn’t it human-like, if a system collects information about your habits, learns from it, and finally gives you suggestions? It is like a friend in need.

Being a humble student of Deep Learning, I get an opportunity even to learn the concepts of the subjects like Physics and Chemistry; the ones that the teachers skimmed through while I was in school. With the help of deep learning, I can appreciate them now. It is fascinating.

Don’t believe me? Well, most of us know that Mathematics and Statistics are a core part of Machine learning and Deep learning technologies. But, as and when you dig deeper, you are humbled each day to learn that the domain contains a pinch of everything and it makes it even more exciting. 

When I first read about the Ant Colony Optimization and Swarm Intelligence during my college, I was amazed to learn that the algorithms are based on the actual working of the ants and the swarm of birds respectively. Then, there is the Genetic algorithm, which takes the idea from Natural Selection. Isn’t it crazy and damn exciting to see so many things at work?

It is quite right that AI will be driving our lives soon. Be it smart homes, self-driving cars, chat-bots, smartphones, Robotics and countless other applications; AI is becoming the core engine running most of the things around us. And, we enjoy it thoroughly without even being aware that it is the AI at work. Such is the entanglement of AI in our lives. What’s the fuel? Of course, it is DATA. Though the journey is challenging and difficult to grasp. But, once you can relish how it works, you can’t turn back.

Pretentious theism

The other day it was another first for me. I had a headache. Initially, I didn’t realize what was happening when my head started feeling heavy, and slowly I felt like a needle was being inserted into my forehead.

I was not sure if I should take medicine and decided I would be better off without it. Going to bed seemed like a better idea. I crawled into bed in hopes of getting proper rest.

Just when I had the first swing of drowning into slumber a loudspeaker blared at 10 p.m. I snorted at its perfect timing. Within moments I became sure that it will wreck my sleep until morning.

Now the question is what was the person speaking through the loudspeaker which was so vital that he wanted the whole damn neighbourhood to listen ? Let me clarify the emergency of his situation. My dear friends, it was the initiation of a ‘Jagrata’. If you are not familiar with the term, it is a torturous way that people use on their neighbourhood by chanting songs in praise of God through a loudspeaker. To add to the torture, it starts at the wee hours of the night and becomes louder as the night matures.

I don’t know if its just me but it seems one of the most stupid things that anyone could do. I am not against God here. I like people believing in something that can give them strength and motivation. But, the question is why the hell do you have to make a pretentious show of your faith by disturbing the sleep of everyone living around you? Why do you have to sing the most bizarre godly versions of the famous Bollywood songs and pretending you are a devotee?

For me, it was just a headache. For someone old or ailing it could be a severe problem. I managed somehow but what happens if someone is in extreme need of rest and you blast their eardrums with such a dumb show of theism. I wonder if the person who organized the ‘jagrata’ receive anything other than curses for his or her actions.

Why do we need to make a show of belief ? Was this act any different than drunkards riding cars at night and blaring horns for no reason at all ? It had the same air of foolishness and the same effect, curses in return.

Be theist, be an atheist or be a pantheist. Be whatever you want. But don’t force it on anyone with your stupidest acts of pretense. Idiot is the word.

Goodnight
Sleep well

Lucid Dreamer

They fathom what he is like. Rude, selfish, shy, carefree are some of the speculations made.

Within seconds, he can alleviate your stress with sparkles of joy. He relies on his muse; his vivid imagination and the ability to see things in their true form, a thinker he is. He smells raw.

He has a boon, he can feel. He can delve into the deepest trenches of emotions and come out enriched, and with a few words.

The trivialities of life, jealousy, hatred, to name a few, are not the best of his companions. He lives, he loves, he can even cry at thoughts.

He is pretty sure that it is inside, the happiness. He has been hearing a lot about it of late.

He dreams, he hopes that he can fly to the lands and waters and imbibe everything that he can.

 

Thinks about fears and follies,

Then rubbishes them all.

 

Hopes, dreams, flies,

Into the infinite skies.

 

Smiles, listens, shouts,

He can be confused at times.

 

Loves, shares, cries,

With all his heart might.

 

He is a human being,

With his Lucid Dreams.

 

 

You can follow me for more such posts.

‘The Inside My Head Tag’

Thank you Kavya for the nomination.

 

How do I feel at the moment?

I feel muddle-headed and amazing at the same time.

What do I need more in my life?

I need a lot of patience.

What would make me happy right now?

Being with the people I love.

What is going right in my life?

My high spirits.

What am I most grateful for? List of 10 things.

• This life
• Family
• Friends
• Me choosing a pen
• My persistence
• Cinema
• Music
• Nature
• Science
• My thoughts

 

When did I experience joy this week?

When I chatted with an old friend after a million years.

List a small victory and success?

Getting back from my most troubling phase.

Being able to derive happiness and being calm all the time is success.

What is bothering me & why?

The total disregard to nature.

What are my priorities at the moment?

My parents, my writing and me.

What do I love about myself?

I don’t judge, I don’t scheme, I lack the drama and trivial thoughts.

Who means the world to me and why?

My parents.

If I could share one message with the world, what would it be?

Don’t compare yourself with anyone. That is the only cause of your unhappiness.

What advice would I give to my younger self?

To be able to say no.

What lesson did I learn this week?

Take your stand, always.

If I had all the time in the world, what would I do first?

I would visit Rome and Istanbul.

What is draining my energy?

The irrelevant judgements.

What does my ideal morning look like?

Waking up before the sun and going for walks.

What makes me come alive?

Writing.

What/who inspires me the most?

People who follow dreams in spite of all the difficulties.

Where does my pain originate?

I want to be a part of creation. I don’t like being a user forever.

What are my strengths?

Persistence, honesty, lack of jealousy, fighting spirit

What is something I’ve always wanted but too scared to get?

I have always wanted to go into an expedition like Bear Grylls but I am too scared of reptiles, specifically snakes.

What is something I would love to learn?

Making music.

Where would I want to live my ideal life?

In the woods.

Where would I like to travel in the next five years?

Las Vegas.

What can I do to take better care of myself?

I can learn to control my anger.

What hobbies would I like to try?

Playing a musical instrument.

When have I done something that I thought I couldn’t do?

I thought my bad phase will suck me deep but I came out of it.

At end of my life, what do I want my legacy to be?

My words. My thoughts. My writing.

Thanks for taking out time, and reading this post.

My Nominations:

sriinme, Madhusudan Singh, Ula, poetryfromtheinkwell, Natalya Edwards, Nathi,  Pravasin, Aryan Suvada, Crumpled stars, Onie, Cristian

Looking forward to reading your answers and post.

Rules:

1) Thank and tag the person that has tagged you.

2) Attach the tag photo.

3) Answers the ‘The Inside My Head Tag’ questions.

4) Tag 10-20 friends.

Thank you for reading.

Have a beautiful day.

Forgive yourself ; Reprimand yourself

You’ve been planning for a long time, for weeks, months, or maybe years. But, you’re still there, still guilty and filled with remorse for not being able to do what you had planned.

Your life is going haywire, and you are a mess. Don’t worry. It’s not just you. Everyone is puzzled by the way life unfolds.

You are working your ass off in that job. And, you come back home, drained, and without any energy left in your body. The only thing you seek is food and a place to lie down. And, it is the same story every damn day.

This goes on and on for a number of weeks and weekends. And, you are still there, wondering what are you doing with your life.

It causes guilt, repentance, anxiety, and a lot of negativity in various forms.

The wise Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu said, “If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”

You think about a million things that you could do or should do. But, you’re mostly lost in the thoughts of doing it; there is no substantial action.

You start complaining about the lack of time. That’s the story you tell yourself and seek an excuse to lay back again in that cozy bed.

If you’ve been making excuses to yourself, remember it’s just you to blame.

Everyone gets to be an artist. Be an architect of your own life.

Often, when you’ve been delaying things for some time, all the guilt of not being able to achieve it piles up. It takes over your head and you don’t even realize when you have started telling yourself that you can’t do it. You go berzerk.

Don’t let your past acts be a baggage on your soul. Forgive yourself today of all the days that you’ve spent criticizing yourself. Do it right now.

When you forgive yourself, you heal the wounds on your soul. You are renewed. But, forgiving should not be confused with complacency. Thinking about past is only gonna cause anxiety of all the time you’ve lost. Don’t do that. Just forgive yourself.

When you’ve forgiven yourself, it’s time to reprimand yourself. Continuously keep a check on your actions. Keep reminding yourself of all the guilt you had to go through. Utilize that guilt into actions. Start climbing the ladder from the step where you left off yesterday.

You can try out the following steps to be able to start once again and get hold of your life.

• Wake up tomorrow and forgive yourself, for all the things you didn’t do, for all the chances that you missed. Just forgive yourself for everything.
• Look at the upcoming day as the day when you’re gonna move towards your goals.
• Go out there, chill.
• Work diligently throughout the day.
• When you come back home, you might be dead tired. This is the time to reprimand yourself. Remind yourself of the the things you wanna achieve.
• Now, get ready to do do some magic.

Do it every day and it gets into your habit. Take it day by day.

Life is a wonderful adventure. But, if you are not doing what you think will make the person you wanna become, it can become boredom before you even know. You only have one shot at life. Live it to the fullest and achieve your goals.

Cheers.

Whom to write for?

I know, I know we all want to get published. We have been all over the Internet and scurried through every “how to get published” guide. But still, it seems so far-fetched.

But, why wouldn’t it be far-fetched? Do you think Dan Brown or J. K. Rowling just landed on earth as writers? Why do we enjoy whatever Khaled Hosseini writes? Haven’t they faced what you are facing today?

I think they are successful today because they loved what they did.

Why do you write? If the answer is anything other than “because I love it”, then you won’t have the patience to pursue it. Chasing passion is not for the faint-hearted.

If you are only attracted to the glamour that comes along, it will definitely bore you at some point of time (just like that new girl/boy you got infatuated to, but it ended after the first few dates).

I am not trying to scare anyone here. I am only trying to communicate that just like infatuation and love are very different, so is shine and passion.

We all write to be read, right? So, whom to write it for? Write for yourself first. You are your first audience.

If you have put your heart into your words, sooner or later people will read it. And you will get the appreciation as well.

If the driving force is just to get published, you’ll never love it enough. It will cause you anxiety. But, if you fall in love with beautifully written words and want to create of your own, then keep the idea of getting published at the back of your mind and just write. Publishing can come later.

Writing about the most searched “keyword” or the trending topic wouldn’t be fruitful in the long run. You can’t be your best at writing about something that you haven’t felt, something that is not close to your heart.

Social promotion without value won’t help either.

You must raise your piece like parents raise their kids.

There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. If you feel that this is what you’ve always wanted to do, then embrace everything that comes along with it, the time management, the difficulties, the unappreciated piece (which you thought is your masterpiece), and the surprise praises.

You started, right? You have already crossed the first barrier. Now, the next part where the real test begins is to pursue it with all your heart. It will require a lot of hard work and patience.

Sometimes you’ll be appreciated, other times you won’t be. Give it time, give it your heart. When you do that, you create something worth reading, something that you love for yourself. I think that is whom we should write for.

When you have given it time, be patient. One day, somebody reads it and just can’t control appreciating you since it reached their heart as well. Then, it is time to savour the pleasure.

Write like you have always wanted to. Shower passion in your work. Keep writing your heart out and then wait. Let the magic happen.

Looping in thoughts? Here’s what to do.

Have you been thinking a lot and not getting things done? Have you been looping around your thought process so much that you end up doing nothing?

You start at one point, think of the ways that will lead you closer to ‘your thing’, a series of thoughts start and finally you’re away from what you started it all for. What’s the point?

You have the passion, you have the zeal and you also find yourself ready to do it. So, why are you thinking too much and trying to find ways to not do it now? Did you think it would be a cakewalk?

Our mind consistently fights our heart. The mind looks for comfort, while the heart yearns satisfaction. The mind tries to dupe us into a temporary shade with a camouflage of happiness while the heart says to give it everything we have. Hence, the loop.

The loop of thoughts arises when we are doubting ourselves. We start comparing, get conscious and think of the easier alternate road. We all get it at some point in time. With so much happening around, it is okay to feel that way once in a while. Though it breaks us at that point, it feels amazing when you’ve fought it away.

When all’s said and done, perseverance comes out to be a sole winner of “what does it take?” contest. If we want something from all of our heart, we gotta level up. It requires something more from us, else we’d have gotten it already. This transition to the next level is where most of us give up (and regret it forever).

“Perseverance is the key to success”, they say. If we do something for a long time, we become good at it. We understand the nitty-gritty of it and it starts coming to us naturally.

Passion without perseverance is just a brief illusion.

If we are not ready to handle the difficulties, there never was a passion (though we thought there was).

Life is like school all together again. There are monthlies, half yearlies and the big final examination of that particular year :D. Sometimes, we also get surprise-tests, which we totally fuck up :P. Success comes when we carry on, no matter the hardships of life.

‘Maybe this is not the right time’, the mind says. And, if we believe it, we start moving farther to reach closer to our goals. If we succumb to our mind, we also start believing that an opportune moment will come when everything will be on our side.

We set our alarms on snooze and start waiting for the right time. Guess what? It never comes. There are no “right times”. We make it right. To reap the field, you have to water it daily, put required minerals and then have the patience for it to bear fruit.

If you’ve set up your goal, then pursue it right now. Be consistent. It can involve a lot of reminding yourself. It always gets difficult before it gets easier. Don’t let it become just a part of your imagination that you want for yourself. Be courageous, be patient and always persevere.

Cheers \/

Why are you religious?

This is one of the favourite topics I would like somebody to convince me on. I am unapologetically on the right side of the argument. Why do we need a religion when the only thing it does, is create distances? I applaud the game-play of the originators. It all happens in front of our eyes and we fail to notice it drastically.

Has religion ever achieved anything other than hatred and war? Don’t just believe me. Observe for yourself. The answer would definitely be no. And, all this hatred is pointless. The number of atrocities in the name of religion is huge. Then, why is it there if it hasn’t ever benefited you?

They can’t control you until you have the fear of losing something. Basically, most of us don’t even know what the holy books even say. We started with religion ‘A’ and continue to accept it because that is what we’ve always been like. And we also love being that. That is completely all right. So where did the hatred took its entrance?

Something must be the cause of all this hatred. What must that be? Is it so difficult to answer? A hatred driven group is administered by a body. And, since it was formed on the basis of hatred, the fuel would be hatred too. So, why not keep digging for more fuel such that the engine keeps running and the business keeps flourishing.

Don’t just see what you are shown. Don’t be clutched in somebody’s arms and dance at his discordant tunes. Be free, be wild. There is much more to the world than unchecked beliefs. It doesn’t take time to shatter one in the face of reality. Don’t seek some magic to get you through. It is just the belief in yourself and capitalized passion that can ever get you through.

Cheers \/

A little more human

A few days back while I was in the process of buying a personal domain name for my website, I was quite confused as to what should I go for. I came up with some really creative names. But, then I gave them all up as, either they were not available or just not perfect. I came up with some very bizarre names as well and was quite sure they’ll be available. But, whatever I came up with, they all seemed to be taken. After some thorough Internet searches, I came to know that the domain registrar is infamous for buying unique and highly searchable keywords and later on selling them at absurdly hiked prices (your searches are rated and highly rated ones are the most searched). It felt like someone has robbed me of my thoughts. Some keywords were quite dear to me (they were like those words you sometimes come up with and they literally make you smile that you wrote them. You know the moment, right?). I got pretty cautious after that.

You go online to look for shoes. You lose your heart on those green over black ones. Bad for you that they are not available in your size. You save it in your cart for its future availability and scurry through the remaining ones to settle your need for now. But, those green over blacks remain in high demand. Who wouldn’t want them? After a month when you check back for them, your size is available now but the price has soared almost twice. It is not justified for those shoes. However good they are, it is just cloth that they are made of. But, how can you miss them? They’ll look so good on you. And, you end up buying them.

What happened in these cases? You can’t sell something without marketing it. But, when you advertise and don’t remain true to what you said you were offering, then that is not marketing. In simple words, it is called cheating. However, it has mostly merged into marketing these days.

We’ve all witnessed such incidents. We’ve all accepted it and moved on. Who’s gonna waste time on petty things? It was actually the proper action. But, when we know such things happen, we should be aware so that these things don’t happen to us in the future. Become a wise buyer. Whenever you are planning to buy something (mostly online), don’t be in a hurry. Go through the product in details, compare prices over other websites and make an intelligent buy.

We are in the times when we eat data and we shit data. Every moment we are generating several bytes of data, be it a social media posts or the online activities like, searching and surfing. Every link we click gives away some information about us. Technology can be both, a boon and a bane. But we can’t help it. We can’t go to the Himalayas just because our lives depend so much on technology (it will be totally awesome though).

The computational machines operate on the data that we feed them (machine learning is doing wonders with this data). But, as they are machines they must follow an algorithm. Don’t be fooled, fool them. Don’t go running for that discount when the discounted price itself doesn’t seem justified. It is one of the tactics that is frequently practised by the vendors. Don’t let them tell you what is good for you. Be bizarre with your searches and break its recommendations and predictions. You can check The input-output conundrum to know how it can work.

I have a lot to say on this topic. But, I have to end this post somewhere. May be I will talk about it more in future posts. I would bid adieu by saying that in the era of powerful machines, be a little more human.

Cheers.

Know thyself

We wake up in the morning, freshen up, maybe do some exercise as well and then we are off to work. A whole day of work and we come back tired. By the time we are home, we have drained most of our energy. We open up our social media accounts. A few likes and comments here and there and then we are done with the day. It is almost time to bed. Throughout the day there hasn’t been a moment when we were not occupied. This slowly gets into our head and starts causing stress.

What have we forgotten? We’ve forgotten the most important part that should be practised on a daily basis for a healthy and relaxed mind. We have not spent time with ourselves. It doesn’t require much effort. It is quite simple, yet very effective to loosen up your stressed mind and be ready the next day to face the upcoming challenges.

Being in the domain of data I can actually tell you that we are mostly surrounded by rubbish. There is a sea of data floating all around us and we are all adept sailors. We know the trail as well but our intoxicated mind takes us elsewhere. We run towards online deals much more than even our dreams.

It really surprises me that people actually comment on social media posts that says, “Comment on this post to see the magic”. Now, how is that a fruitful activity? I am not against social media. I believe it to be a powerful tool to project yourself without even moving from your place. But, for the most part, we see what we are shown. We are not aware. This is just one example. There can be many other ways to go away from the self.

I am just trying to say that while we are idling around doing unnecessary things, we should rather spend some “me time”. A totally peaceful time when we can come close to the self. How to do it? It’s quite simple. Just lie down on your beds or in the open sky (whichever way you like it) for around 15-20 minutes or more every day and think of the activities of the day, the goods and the bads, analyse them and learn each day.

Now, lying down and still being caught up in trivial thinking won’t help either. By trivial I mean the things that are not constructive for you. That “me time” should be spent for the betterment of the self. It can be about your forthcoming plans, about achieving your goals, making a timeline, or any other thing you want to see in yourself.

There can be another approach as well. We can just lie down and try to move out the thoughts from our mind to go into the void. We are mostly stressed because our mind is so full of negative thoughts. Try to move them out and make space for positivity. It certainly helps to get us out of the troubled state of mind.

When we are stuck in a trance, we often lack the ability to come out of it because of a weak mind. We get affected very easily. Spend some time with yourself every day and slowly you’ll know yourself more. You will feel a transformation as you are aware of your inner being. You’ll feel more control of your mind. The outcome is happiness.

Cheers.