Love Rectangles

Love triangles are the most popular themes in entertainment. And it is also the most researched topic in the field of human psychology. There are complete scientific models for a Love Triangle which can accurately predict the outcome, given all the necessary data is available. Many Bollywood directors have churned out loads of dollars just by changing some variables, and eventually the final outcome. People also find the theory of "Love Triangle" simple enough to understand. Some of the theories suggest that, in a Love Triangle, the arrangement is unsuitable for one or more people involved. That number, as anyone might guess, will range from 1 to 3. The fact is, Love Triangles are meant to be broken. It cannot remain as a triangle forever. It has to end either in a straight line and a point, or three points. So, we can safely conclude that a "Love Triangle", is by nautre, a very unstable arrangement. It is not a happy ending for everyone, though some Bollywood movies manage to bring in a fourth point into the frame when the triangle is just about to break into pieces.

Let us now study a more stable, but complicated arrangement that has not been experimented with by our Bollywood directors much. The "Love Rectangle". Well, not many of our Hindi movies are based on this theme, the only one that comes to my mind right now is "KANK". Though the theme of the story is "Extra-marital relationship", principally, it is a "Love Rectangle".

Definition : 2 boys of equal height and 2 girls of equal breadth.

William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is also based on a Love Rectangle. Unlike the Triangles, this arrangement may sometimes be unfavorable for everyone, but statistically speaking, in the end, the rectangle breaks up into two straight lines(almost 99%). In such cases, the possibility of four points is very rare. Since points, by nature are unstable. They always tend to form polygons, or lines. I tried reading all the mathematical models available on Love Polygons in human psychology, but they all seem to be so complicated. There were at-least 50 different variables to be considered to accurately predict the final state of the polygon. I tried reducing the polygon to a mere triangle(since this is the maximum reduction that I could have done), but then all the theories available today, say that predictions for a polygon with even sides are 100 times more accurate than those with odd sides. So, afraid of arriving at erroneous results, I had to reduce the polygon to a Rectangle.

Rectangles, are very rare to find as well. What the psychologists have in their theories is how to predict the future states of the rectangle. None of them have tried proposing a solution that could be applied to a generalized Love Rectangle. So, here I propose my solution for solving a Rectangle.

Being a IT guy, my theories will follow object-oriented approach and will draw some inspiration from the well known fundamentals of Linked Lists in computer programming. More specifically, Circular Linked Lists. Let us define some variables.

1. Each person is called a Node.
2. Each link is called a relation ( A Relation can be omni-directional, both forward and backward)
3. We can make or break any relation/link to attain any possible configuration of the nodes.
4. Yellow dots represent Male.
5. Pink dots represent Female.

Assumption: Sexual Orientation of each node - "STRAIGHT" . So, links between similar nodes are not possible.

Here is the initial configuration of a rectangle.


I won't go into details of this diagram. It seems to be self-explanatory. So, moving ahead with the solution, if we could slightly decouple all the links/relations between each of the nodes, the rectangle might become very unstable. But, since this is not the final step and I would be making new links to arrive at a more stable configuration, let us assume that, for a moment, the configuration are allowed to be skewed a bit, i.e. on the verge of breaking all the links.


During this momentary unstable conditions, where all the nodes are ready to accept new connections, it is easier to create new links which would result in a more stable configuration for all. So, we try to make new links and break some existing ones. But, finally, we will always of the same number of links that we started with, as per the Law of conservation of Links.

In the figure below, the links in blue, are the new links, and the links colored in green, are the old links which finally, will be deleted.


And, finally, the configuration would somewhat look like this. Everyone's happy, lets party.



Unlike in a triangle, where one or more person has to go back home with a frowning face, in a rectangle, there are more chances for each node to be in a WIN-WIN situation. So, as we can see, initially, we had a circular singly-linked list, though the process of modifying the linked list brought about an overall increase in the number of linked lists, the current form of both the linked lists are more stable, provided any external factors are not allowed to interfere.

That's my solution. It is still in research stage. I want some volunteers on which I could test my theories. Once this theory is established for its correctness backed by experimental results, I will apply for a patent. Volunteers can reach me at my e-mail id.

Bibliography:
1. Wikipedia - Love Triangles, Love Rectangles, Love Polygons
2. Let Us C - Yeshwant Kanetkar
3. Linked Lists in Computer Programming - O' Rielly
4. Mathematical Models for Love Problems - Albert Eintein

Important Warning : If you feel that you are in a love rectangle/triangle/ploygon, before making the final move, please pick up your geometry box, measure your angles accurately, and then finally draw your lines. Once the lines are drawn, its not very easy to re-draw them.
WE DON'T HAVE ERASERS IN REAL LIFE.

Finally, Here comes the Smoking Ban

Wow, it took almost 3 years for our Government to bring out the "Smoking Ban" Act. This will be in effect from the 2nd of October this year, on Gandhi Jayanthi. Here are some points to be pondered over:

1. As per the revised Rules, smoking is banned in shopping malls, cinema halls, public/private work place, hotels, banquet halls, discotheques, canteen, coffee house, pubs, bars, airport lounge, railway stations.

2. People can smoke on roads or in their homes but not in any other place.

Well, the first question that comes into my mind is, "Is it justified?"

Many non-smokers would answer in affirmative, but a lot of my friends will be grinning, at the thought that here is another law that can be broken at will. As for me, I only smoke when no one is looking. Since, for the world, I have quit smoking.

Ok, what about pubs and bars?? Is it justified?? I don't have an answer. When I was not a smoker, I really hated people who enjoyed blowing smoke over someone else's face, but then I started doing the same to people who asked me to quit. Sometimes, I was beaten up, and then I realized that I just can't do it to everyone, of course not to the girls at the pubs, especially when they are with their boy friends. But What the Hell......Why Pubs and Bars.....

I agree to everything else, not a ban on smoking in public places.....ok...Pubs and Bars are public places.....But, people go there to drink, smoke, dance, enjoy.....These are the necessary ingredients of the atmosphere. Any one of them goes missing, and the fun vanishes.

What about smoking zones then?? Aren't those public places as well, should smoking be banned there also? Please comment.

Ok, now the Act allows people to smoke in their homes...WOW...thanks Health Minister. Isn't that a public place? I mean, if you are having a party at your house, will the law be applicable there? Even if there is no party, why should the government decide if I should smoke in my home or not.

What about my car, though I don't have one yet, but what about people having those small mobile private homes? Is it punishable??

This law needs serious amendments, before it comes into force. What say people??

If you don't act now, someday, the Government will come up with a law that migth ban "Females in Pubs, Bars, Malls, Cinema halls" but only allow them in your homes and the street.

Mumbai Meri Jaan...

Yet another movie, that touches the core of the hearts of each and every Indian, but yet again fails to make them brave enough to actually do something about it. Movies like Rang De Basanti, Bhagat Singh, Mumbai Meri Jaan, etc are no doubt great works by Bollywood. But, I sometimes just wonder how quickly we bring back normalcy in our thoughts or actions. For some, the content of these movies is not worth discussing, rather they are more interested in the box-office collections, actors' outfits, director's brilliance, great music, screenplay and the possible awards that these movies could be nominated for.

After the Mumbai blasts, I remember someone saying in a news channel that, "Even after these blasts, Mumbai will not fear, Mumbai will not give up, Mumbai will re-live". The way things are going on now, there is every possibility of another such incident happening in the near future. Are we doing something about it? Or we are just trying to accept the fact that, everytime, a there is a bomb-blast in Mumbai, we will cry for a few seconds, mourn for 2 minutes, observe silence for 5 minutes and then again, from the next day, will continue leading our lives as if nothing has happened.

Its not just about Mumbai. I guess, we have turned into such a herd, incidents such as this just don't shake us well enough. Such indifference?? These were a few comments from people that I have been hearing from people off-late, some of them, contributed by my friends...

Delhi Blasts:
In some IT company's cafeteria,

A - What's going on these days? So many blasts, now in Delhi too ...
B - It's good for India. At-least, it is solving the population problems of India.

Bihar Floods:
In some IT company's cafeteria,

A - Why should I donate any money for the victims? I know, by the time it will reach the real needy, 90% of my donations would have vanished into the pockets of the politicians.
B - Well, may be 95% in case of Bihar.

I can write a some more. But, I guess, you would have got a perspective of what I want to communicate. Do we really care if somebody at a distant place is drowning under water, do we care about people who are lost and separated from their families, do we care if the child who lost his parents is eating or not, do we care if the person who lost his hand in a blast is able to find an alternative source of income for his family of four. I don't think so. But we care about how to reach office in time for that important meeting, we care about taking a day off to watch a cricket match, we care about our pet's fever, we care about our stock market investments. I am not saying each and every Indian thinks and does the same. There are people who really do care, and do their best in extending their help to the victims, but we need more, lots of such people who really CARE....lots and lots of them.

Another Nightmare !!! (What's Happening????)

Hey people, It might seem that I am making up all these stories by myself. The probability of such events happening to anyone cannot be a positive real number. But, when I am asleep, I have complete freedom to dream about anything. Well, but it seems that, for quite some time I have been losing control over my dreams. I see my fears in my dreams, I see things which I want to avoid in life, etc etc. And, the most important point is, since last week, I have been able to remember each one of them when I wake up.

Well, here goes the latest one.

November 16, 2008: Bangalore, Its CAT day, and I am at the center well before the scheduled commencement of the toughest exams for MBA aspirants like me. I couldn't have had a better preparation than this. After a smoke, and a Center Fresh in my mouth, I walked into the exam hall with the kind of confidence that you must have seen in "Lakhsya" when Hritik set out alone to do the impossible. Anyways, I am adding some "masala" into this story, else, I would not be able to explain how I felt when I woke up.

I had two pencils, and one pen, two erasers, and a sharpener, my I-card, my wrist watch(which I so frequently forgot during the numerous Mocks), my specs(this was not necessary during the exam, but I had thought of sight-seeing(chicks) after the exams) and finally the killer-instinct. I don't remember the roll number assigned to me, but besides me, there was this girl who seemed to be as nervous any other beautiful girl in that hall. Our eyes met, and I smiled. I gave her a thumbs-up and she did the same. I was just about to shake hands with her, when the invigilator started distributing the papers. I thought I would do that later, since I would have lots of time after-wards. Now was the time to concentrate on something else. And finally, we were instructed to open the seals of our papers and start with the test. In "Rajnikant istyle", I tore open the seal(perhaps to impress her) and started sifting through the paper. On the first glance, the paper seemed to be a sitter. When I started answering, I felt, that each and every solution I arrived at, seemed to be just the perfect answer.

I don't remember the exact number of questions that I attempted, but I was more than satisfied with my performance. And finally, when I thought that I would answer no more(fear of negative marks), I , just for a moment thought about that girl. Till now, I had not noticed that she was in a all-blue attire, my favorite color. I tried peeping into her answer sheet, not to look at her answers in a way of copying, but in the hope of discovering her name. And just then, I realized something horrible. I had not put in my Name, Registration Number and other details, on my answer sheet. I looked at my watch, and there was still some 10 minutes left for THE END. I was relieved.

I picked up my pencil, and just when I was about to put the pencil to paper, something happened. I just couldn't move my hand anymore. Not even an inch. Not even a stray mark. And the next thing I remember was somebody snatching away my answer sheet.

Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! was it just a dream. Or was I seeing the future. Does this mean anything? Any one can read dreams?? Was the dream about CAT or that GIRL in BLUE???? Please help me!!!!!!!!!!

A Password to Remember

Monday morning, the worst day of the week was here. The alarm went off at 7:30 am. Half-asleep, I snoozed the alarm, and went back to my dreams. And then, again, the alarm went off at 9:30am, which threw me out of my bed. I was completely drenched with sweat and was shaken. I had a nightmare of my lifetime. The first thing I did was to look around my room, searching for my laptop. It was right there in-front of my eyes. I booted it up, and was waiting anxiously for the login screen to come up. It felt like an hour had passed before I finally saw the screen, asking me to enter my password. And, then looked up towards the ceiling, concentrating on a fly trapped in the cob-webs, tried hard to remember my password. I remembered one, and started hitting the keys, after checking the CAPS LOCK, one by one, as slowly as I could. And then, I looked at the "Enter" key for a few seconds, closed my eyes, and finally tapped it. And after a few seconds, I could here the Windows Login Sound, a bliss. I pinched myself on my cheeks, and it hurt. But I was smiling.

"Thank GOD", I murmured. I picked up my alarm clock and started kissing it like I would have kissed Sonali Bendre if she were beside me that day. But I felt bad for the fly and felt like killing that spider. But, I dropped that idea when I saw that it was gone. I was happy. I was relieved that it was just a dream. I still remember all my "PASSWORDS".

I now understand, how important those passwords really are. About the nightmare, well, I don't quite remember it very clearly, but I think, it was something like this.

"I woke up one day to realize that I had a complete memory loss. But somehow, I remembered the alphabets, and all my family members and friends. Problem started when somebody asked to make a fund transfer to his account from my bank. Then I started realizing that, though I remembered everything else, I had lost that part of my brain where all my passwords were stored, just like that. What a world to be in!!!!

But now, everything is fine. I remember all my passwords, and I am back in the real world. But what if such a thing did happen to us someday. How will it be like? Every bit of our life is locked up behind a password. So many passwords to remember, so many restrictions on choosing a password, what a WORLD!!!!!