> can i join your sweatshop and learn some Swahili
Absolutely - I assume you want to selflessly volunteer?

> do we go so much out of our way and send people upstairs just to make ourselves happy ?
That's the weird part - 'To make myself happy' was not the outer motivation - there was even a part of me feeling self-conscious and questioning me 'what are you doing?' and reminding me that my wife was waiting at the foodcourt, presumably puzzled at my impulsive egress, and that so many people are looking at me trying to coax that woman down the escalator. So this was just an inner drive - selfless on the surface, but perhaps with it's own inner agenda for making me feel good eventually

> this little beggar girl
It has become common in Bangalore for women beggars carrying a baby in their arms, approaching vehicles stopped at traffic lights. It melts my heart when I see the baby's face, so innocent, so unaware of it's surroundings and circumstances... My dilemma is whether to give alms to these women - where would the money go? are they just using somebody's baby as a prop? I pray to God to sustain these babies, for He brought them into this world.
[ August 01, 2004: Message edited by: Manku Thimma ]

My kindness (and love) is universal, mone

My inspiration is Lord Krishna, who in the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 6, Verse 9) describes the qualities of a balanced personality as (among other things), one who regards with equanimity everyone - well-wishers, friends, foes, the indifferent, the impartial, the envious, the righteous men, and even sinners

Indeed

I am here all right. I just dwell on matters more austere than drivel, nowadays

Soumya, you were waiting for this, weren't you?
Jim, I agree, the Devanagari script has a kind of unity and flow to it... it does look beautiful. One good thing about all Indian languages is, reading the individual letters reads the whole word. What's the name for this type of language, "phonetic"? Such simplicity eliminates the need for a pronounciation guide industry

Jim's right. Kannadigas (people who speak Kannada) are from Karnataka - the state capital of which is Bangalore.
>By the way, the alphabet is beautiful. It looks like artwork
Thanks! Most of my Western friends are quite surprised at all the swirls and curves

>Or perhaps teach them all the major swear words?
I guess this won't be necessary unless the rancher decides to visit Karnataka, and start a fight in a local bus stand

Dear Kannadiga, I admire your noble intention, but I wonder what would be the motivation for Javaranchers to learn Kannada? Why do you think we should teach them a (Kannada) lesson?
Ofcourse, there are always curious minds, so here are a few good resources:
This site teaches the Kannada alphabet - there's audio, so you can actually hear how the letter sounds. The audio file on the main page reads out the entire alphabet. Click on each letter to go to a description page, where you can hear the letter, and sample words using the letter. Here's the site: Kannada Kali (if the audio file doesn't play on Windows Media Player, use Real Audio).
And this one takes you further, with sample sentences: Learn Kannada.
And here's another link explaining the Kannada alphabet's origin and features: Kannada Alphabet.
That's a good start, don't you think, Mr/Ms Kannadiga?
>Why cant kannada language be used?
See previous post by Nanhesru Ningyake. To put in simple words, the objective in enforcing an English-only rule is to ensure everyone understands what you are saying. Don't you agree?

[This message has been edited by Manku Thimma (edited September 20, 2001).]

My choice would definitely be India. And definitely in my state - Karnataka. There's no other place in the world that's richer in culture, diversity, religious/spiritual heritage, and challenges. By challenges I mean the problems being a "developing" country - illiteracy, lack of infrastructure, corruption...
So what am I doing in the US? Three goals: Get higher education, Get work experience, and make good money. I intend to return to India as soon as my work visa gets over (yes, I've refused green card processing). It's my ambition to help make my town, and my country a better place. Yep, some day...

[This message has been edited by Manku Thimma (edited September 10, 2001).]

>can all of you show me your braindump???thank you
Yikes, that sounds kinda messy... I can almost guess who posted that

Mahishi

Originally posted by Shyam:
U could have made a better attempt to make other posters in this topic learn kannada. Anyway try it atleast now.

Where do you think we should start? With the alphabet? Or perhaps teach them all the major swear words?

------------------
NN's new avatar.

Nannur

I'm just guessing here
> Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's computer.
> Thou shalt not hack a website.
> Thou shalt not eavesdrop on others cordless phone conversations.
> Thou shalt not visit forbidden websites.
> And if you do, Thou shalt delete all cookies.
And here's more suggestions

[This message has been edited by Manku Thimma (edited September 08, 2001).]

>leave the rest of us alone
Leave you all chained in your cave, content with watching shadows on the wall?
Or using a more contemporary idea, could I say, You blue-pill taker! (I mean the one from Matrix, not the one from Pfizer )

Kalimpong

>that many people are unqualified to do research
Tsk tsk tsk - if you read the whole article, you will realize how desperate they are to make a negative statement. From 1974 to 1997, 2549 Ganzfeld sessions have been held, with an overall hit rate of 33.2%. The odds of this happening by just pure chance is a million billion to one. Having conveniently ignored that fact, the CSICOP article tries to give this Milton and Wiseman team's 30 Ganzfeld sessions their 15 minutes of fame by claiming that these had a hit rate closer to that of pure chance. For all that we know, these sessions could have been botched up, and therefore causing an anamolous result - anamolous because an overwhelmingly greater number of successes have been reported in all other experiments from around the world.
In fact the same page says:

It seems likely that Milton and Wiseman's meta-analysis will not be the final word on the Ganzfeld technique, and the question of whether this technique will prove to be the replicable paradigm long sought by parapsychologists or merely another tantalizing will-o'-the-wisp is far from conclusively resolved.

So you see, he's admitting that the minuscule amount of negative evidence is definitely not significant enough. I conclude that this fellow is just hell-bent on nitpicking.
>Information about Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research
Sure, but it doesn't say anywhere that their research findings are incorrect - only offers guesses about what could influence such experiments. So, essentially, no one has been able to disprove PEAR's experiments. I say 'no one' because, even if one crackpot garage scientist claimed to have disproved an experiment, CSICOP and Skepdic and their cronies would give him all the free publicity they could - simply to support their case.
In my opinion, CSICOP and Skepdic and similar sources offer extremely biased views - afterall, they are out to disprove the existence of the paranormal, so why would they ever support or bring to light any positive findings? But they do serve a useful purpose: their smugly smirky attitude can only inspire the true researcher to delve deeper into understanding the unknown. Someday, we'll discover something new, and those heady skeptics will have their tails between their legs

[This message has been edited by Manku Thimma (edited August 28, 2001).]

Using obscenities doesn't make you cool. So to see that Map stooped to such a level just to prove her point was quite unexpected.

Ulan Bator

Wow, these have been really interesting experiences. Thomas Paul, have you been reading all this? What do you think?
Here's one other of those strange events that I've experienced: This was about 10 years ago. My cousin and her parents were visiting my house. At that time, I was curious about palmistry, and was reading some books trying to understand how it all worked. And whenever I got a chance, tried to "read" people's palms.
With her parents looking on, I asked my cousin to show me her palm, and after looking at it for a while, and making some general observations, I suddenly said: Hey you've been going out with this guy next door, and you've been planning to get married. She smiled and didn't say anything.
The next day, her parents called us - their daughter had eloped with the guy next door intending to get married! They knew about her affair, and had hoped to keep it a family secret... They were shocked that I already knew about it. Obviously, I didn't know anything - was it just chance?
My cousin is now happily married to the same guy, and now has a 7-year old cute kid. Her parents have forgiven the couple, and everything's fine now.

BTW, this story's one of those urban legends - it's pure fabrication. Read here.

>Every test ever done to prove the paranormal has turned up empty
You are obviously unaware of the research studies which have established the presence of repeatable psychic phenomena. Here's a brief listing:
The Ganzfeld Phenomena: This experimental procedure was the first to promise repeatable demonstration. Here a sender, in an insulated room concentrates on a target - which is a picture or videotaped sequence. In a seperate room, the receiver thinks out loud for about 30 minutes, providing a continous report of all the thoughts, feelings, and images that pass through his or her mind. At the end of this period, the receiver is presented with several pictures (usually four) and, without knowing which one was the target, is asked to rate the degree to which each matches the thoughts and images experienced.
If four pictures were used, and one of them was the correct target, the hit rate expected by chance is 25%. Across 42 studies in 10 laboratories, the receivers achieved an average hit rate of 35%. Statistically this result is highly significant: The odds against getting a 35 percent hit rate across that many studies by chance are greater than a billion to one. (Musicians were particularly successful, in one study: 75% of them successfully identified their targets.)
Links: Does Psi Exist?, Ganzfeld Phenomena
And have you read about the studies conducted at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab? In one particular experiment, a human observer could influence the behavior of a mechanical device. Read more about it here.
And have you read about the Out-of-Body-Experience experiment by Dr Charles Tart, Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Davis? Here's a summary. And here's the original paper.
This one's anecdotal, but true: Annette Martin, a psychic, has helped the police solve murder mysteries. Read about her in this article: Psychic For Cops.
I will post more links to "scientific" studies when I can find them - the above links should convince you that inexplicable phenomena do exist.

[This message has been edited by Manku Thimma (edited August 27, 2001).]

On the occasion of TLC's presentation The Human Face with John Cleese, here's some food for thought: If your favorite celebrities looked, ahem, different, as on this site, would you still love them?

[This message has been edited by Manku Thimma (edited August 25, 2001).]

Dakshina Gangotri (India's permanent base on Antarctica!)

>I am very conserned that somebody may not like my answer
Why do you care anyway? That was a brilliant piece of soliloquy!
>Thamassananda
Sahir, you sure sneaked past the language cops with that

Ok I'm back!
>But God plays by the rules of science
That's correct. But the problem is, we don't know all the rules; and with those rules we are aware of, we don't know all the limitations, exceptions and corollaries. So, you see, there is scope for God to do the inexplicable - while it's perfectly rational for Him, we just cannot understand it!
>Actually you have it exactly backwards. Your kind of belief system is what held people in the the thrall of magic and astrology and kept civilization in the Dark Ages.
Hmmm, I think B.M. had it right - because you, like these Dark Ages people you talk about, refuse to have an open mind towards the unexplained, because you flatly state that There is no such thing as the paranormal so there is nothing to "accept". Doesn't your position resemble that of the Roman Catholic Church when they flatly refused to accept Copernicus and Galileo's findings?
You see, I am not a "believer" in the paranormal - I am as much as a skeptic as you are - BUT, I have an open mind. From my personal experiences, and from the narration of experiences from (assumably) trustworthy sources like Bodie (who obviously hadn't had a 6-pack when he witnessed what he's described), and most importantly from the scientific research done in universities and labs around the world, I think there's surely something we don't know; and these phenomena definitely deserve further investigation.
Over the centuries our knowledge of the world around us has increased, but arrogance has always been a detractor. When we can approach the unknown with earnestness and willingness to unlearn/relearn what we know, only then is progress possible.
So, T.P., chill out As you are reading this, realize that the working of the brain processing these letters and making you understand what I'm saying, is perhaps the greatest unknown that you've already accepted as real!

Did you know 'moose' in Kannada means 'to smell'? So the standard joke among us Kannadigas in northern US and Canada is, "Hey drive safe, you don't wanna be moosing a Moose!" - which is what happens when you hit a Moose and it ends up in your lap

Elba

Yep, you never know where your education's gonna help

>Watch "Scariest Places on Earth" on the Fox Family channel
Yep, I've seen this. They try so hard to make it seem scary, it's actually funny
Has anyone seen 'Crossing Over' with John Edward, on the Sci-Fi channel? Here he actually claims to be communicating with departed souls, and brings messages of hope to the loved ones sitting in the audience. I've seen a couple episodes. He did make a few statements which seemed quite out of the way to be just pure coincidence. He's a very slick trickster, or he's onto something...

[This message has been edited by Manku Thimma (edited August 22, 2001).]

>Dowsing is also called "wishful thinking".
Tom, lemme ask you this question again: If you personally experience something which has not been explained, would you accept that that phenomenon was indeed "paranormal"?
What we need is a blend of skepticism and curiosity. Taking extreme stances, where we either believe in everything, or believe nothing, doesn't help us evolve...
Taking the specific case of dowsing, basing your view entirely on what the Inquirer says is obviously not the right approach, because what you are doing here is, closing your eyes, and dogmatically stating that there's nothing in front of you... do you realize you are just refusing to see?!
So, what I am suggesting is, balance your views with a healthy dose of curiosity... and when you observe something strange happening, try to understand how exactly it happened; maybe your investigation will lead you to discovering a new facet of physics... Don't you sometimes feel there are so many more scientific discoveries to be made? What we currently know might perhaps be a fraction of what there is to be known.
>so you are saying that the dowsing thing will not work if the copper rod (or whatever) is placed in a wooden frame?
That is correct! Afterall, it is the dowser who initiates the impulse to move the rod.
>Ghosts: Absolutely. I lived in a haunted house as a kid. If anybody wants details, I'll be happy to elaborate.
Wow, you aren't kidding, are you? You are the first person I've met who's actually claimed to have encountered ghosts. Tell me about your experience, in full detail. This is amazing. What convinced you that your house was haunted? Was it just you, or were your parents convinced too?

[This message has been edited by Manku Thimma (edited August 22, 2001).]

Originally posted by Joel McNary:
(Ah, I knew it would pay to be a Religion/Computer Science double major... )

That's interesting! Any special reasons for taking this rare combination?

i am sure there is an explination for dowsing...
There are plenty of theories trying to explain it. But there's no consensus. I am not claiming to believe in the paranormal... I just seek an explanation
kind of like using a needle (sewing needle) as a compass.
Yep, I've tried that. The explanation I heard was that these steel needles have some residual magnetism (A physics guru can confirm this, but I think I've read somewhere that all iron/steel objects are "magnetized" to varying degrees). So in the case of your steel needle, when you eliminate friction by floating it, it aligns itself in the North-South direction.
maybe dowsing has something to do with a disturbance in the magnetic force
My question would be, is the human mind reacting to this disturbance and triggering the response? Because a copper rod on it's own won't stir even a bit - it needs a human holding it
sorry, i am just a skeptic.
Me too - I still don't believe in Uri Geller's spoon-bending

[This message has been edited by Manku Thimma (edited August 21, 2001).]

People who believe in the paranormal bore me because they are willing to believe anything without any supporting evidence

I agree. But if you personally experience something which has not been explained, would you accept that that phenomenon was indeed "paranormal"?

Does any one have instances to recount.

Yes. Ever heard of dowsing, also known as water-divining? Here usually a stick or a metal rod is used to locate naturally occurring underground water sources. I learnt how to dowse from my uncle - he had successfully used it to locate good water sources in his farm, for a borewell. Maybe learnt is not the right word. He helped me discover my dowsing ability. We used a copper rod bent into the shape of a V, with the ends bent again to form a handle. By stiffly holding this rod almost vertical, and slowly walking around the field, a strange thing happens when I reach an underground water source. The rod vigorously turns down to point towards the ground. Let me tell you this: the sensation through the body, and the arms when this happens is amazing, beautiful, stimulating. Very clearly I have no control over what happens - it simply is an involuntary muscular reaction that turns the rod down.
How did we know that there was an underground water table/stream at that point? My uncle wanted to confirm his findings in a "scientific" way, because, obviously spending thousands of rupees to drill the borewell shouldn't go wasted. He brought in hydrogeologists from the local Geological Survey, who confirmed that there was indeed a very good source of water, and it wasn't too deep either. And drilling the borewell quickly confirmed it.
We did some tests too. Got around five people who could dowse, walked over to a garden about 50'x50' in size. Each one of us would walk around (without the others watching) and locate the points. And when all of us were done, we compared the points located: it turned out to be the same for everybody.
Physics has no explanation of how dowsing works - so it's dubbed paranormal, and those folks at the Skeptical Inquirer have triumphantly pooh-poohed it. BUT, with my personal experience, I earnestly seek an explanation of what's really happening inside me when I am dowsing...
It's a beautiful experience. You should try it yourself!

[This message has been edited by Manku Thimma (edited August 21, 2001).]

York

>Either way, he's a troll and should be ignored.
Well said. This is not the first time this fellow has been in trouble for bigotry/xenophobia. His comments had to be deleted/severely edited by the moderators in the original McDonalds suit discussion.
I think it all boils down to political correctness - Javaranch supports it, and opinions that reek of prejudice are NOT welcome - there are plenty of other places where you can tell the world what you think, without fear of any moderators (usually there are none), so why not go there?

Is this one of those sleepless nights, Sahir? It should be around 2AM where you are

>No.
Tom, you sound terse. Almost scared
>Then something else is discovered that we don't understand and we label IT paranormal.
There's a subtle difference, Cindy... Consider the contents of this book. Even though it deals with the unexplained, we don't call it paranormal. However, when something mysterious happens closer to home, on Earth, we label it "paranormal"... so perhaps there are laws of physics waiting to be discovered right in our local cemetery
Or maybe it's not new physics. Perhaps we need a different sense/depth of perception? I mean, we don't understand these mysteries because our normal level of cognition is inadequate?

Do you believe in the paranormal? Like ghosts, clairvoyance, tele-kinesis... It's interesting how these phenomena have been written and talked about throughout history, and in all cultures around the world, but there's never been any "proof".
It has been 100 years since the last big scientific revolution, when Max Planck & his buddies gave new life to physics... perhaps the next big thing is understanding the paranormal?

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