Hadley Street

A Good way for Internet Entrepreneurs to Start-up

2009-11-28T20:55:00.002+05:30

This is an all new blog that I am launching. It is known as College Fall Out. The blog covers topics on Technology, Internet Entrepreneurs, SEO and provides great tips to improve your blogging. Please do check it out.

Collegefallout.com is also a venture started by me. It is tough for me to imagine that all this started for me from this blog. I hope you will continue your patronage for me - like you guys always have.

Love you Hadley Street!

My own BLOG!! (http://www.myfray.com/)

2008-12-25T20:14:00.003+05:30

Merry Christmas everyone!! I want to inform you guys that I finally got myself my own domain name and start up a blog. It's a nostalgic farewell to Hadleystreet but, its time for bigger a better things. Do visit my new blog at http://www.myfray.com/. I thank everyone who helped Hadleystreet become a success and I hope you will patronize MyFray as well. Enjoy your holidays and have a great year ahead. Cheers!

'How to get from Where you are to Where you Want to Be' By Jack Canfield

2008-12-19T20:58:00.008+05:30

I was recently browsing for some background information on the author of the self-help book 'How To get from where you are to where you want to be'. This book is written by Jack Canfield, that's right he's the co-author and founder of the popular 'Chicken Soup' series. When I finally landed up on his homepage I hit gold. On the homepage one could register for Jack Canfield's free Private Mentorship Program. The 21-day program is inclusive of

One-Year Planning Guide...

Victory Log...

Getting Started Audio Class...

Inspiring Daily Messages...

It's a good time to sign up for it personally because it's almost New Year. He is effective and Canfield says it's free but any advice that he gives is invaluable and it will ultimately help you get more organized. Anyone looking for success and needs direction Canfield can give a great start.

Five Tips To New Bloggers

2008-12-19T20:27:00.002+05:30

Welcome, to the new look of my blog. Yesterday, I woke up from my deep slumber and I realized that my blog was actually visited and approved by my visitors. But like serious writers/bloggers I too am no longer interested in writing blogs that are purely commercial in interest. As a notice to my regular visitors - I am more focussed on writing topics of more useful nature. The journey for hadleystreet has been a long one. This blog started on July 29, 2007. This makes it more than one year of blogging and yet my blog is not half a popular as the one's
that started maybe even two months back.

Trust me I am a very amatuer blogger and perhaps have an even longer road of learning in front of me.

However, I would like to share my advice to new bloggers yes, that is unsolicited but still it could help maybe reach my level faster than I reached it.

In the beginning your blog should have all kinds of topics and not just the one related to your liking. Its important for getting some google ranking.
Always browse other blogs, the Blogs of note in Google and learn from them what makes you want to stay and
read their blogs. You could maybe even add them in your blogroll.
Always label your posts, after a few months it's great to have a label cloud on your homepage.
Try networking with your real life friends for a blog network. Its important to atleast feel that someone is reading your stuff.
Google Adsense is completely your personal choice. However, it is completely needless until you have some heavy
traffic coming in.

Harrassed Husbands

2008-12-19T18:43:00.004+05:30

Harassed husbands? In an ego-shattering exercise, these husbands who suffer under the hands of their wives are finally speaking out against the injustice.One might think that men in a marriage are the party who mistreat the woman. Drunken men beating up bread-earning women others spitting out the tea given by their wives in the morning if it is out of taste are the images projected by the popular Indian media. Then there is one of India’s biggest evils yet to be eradicated-dowry. Just a few months back the news report claimed a woman with a NRI husband is paralyzed allegedly because her in-laws pushed her out of a moving car. The woman’s family was not told of the incident by the husband’s family. The woman remained in a hospital in North Carolina with life threatening injuries until a nurse finally called her family in India. The reason for such an action is supposed to be the unaccepted demand of dowry from the wife’s family.

Reading such reports biases us to pursue the male as negative in a case of marital discord.However, the legally recognized, constitutionally valid 498A IPC is a vicious weapon in the hands of women who want to seek out revenge and decide to be vindictive. According to 498A IPC, the wife, relative could lodge a complaint of dowry against the husband and family which could put the family behind bars for 15 days. No warrant or investigation is required prior to arrest and there is no punishment if the complaint is proved false. This makes 498A IPC a lethal pressure-tactic which women can apply. So ultimately the burden of proving his innocence is completely the burden of the accused.

If you still find this blog slightly unbelievable, a financial analyst was hit by his wife when he refused to do household chores. A man divorced his wife in 1997, the wife unleashed vendetta on his life by filing a dowry case against him in 2007. Such cases though many don’t make it to the top, most of the time the news are underground because of the male ego and non-acceptors of such oppressions. “You need to know the oppressors to believe me,” wrote one victim.

These male victims who sell their ego and come out in the open express themselves through blogs, approach the media, form communities the SIFF-Save Indian Family Foundation is one such example and setup helpline numbers. Reasons why a wife misuses this law could be anything ranging from pre-marital affairs to extra-marital affairs. In the former case, the wife files the case, collects the funds and then marries her old flame while the latter is an obvious reason.With the continual liberation of women such cases of harassed husbands are on the rise steadily. Also, it is men with high socio-economic status who are major portion of victims. Why? It is because they are easy targets and better yields.

Interestingly, World Health Organization states the misuse of anti-dowry laws as one of the reasons for elder abuse in India.However, there is no scope for amends for this law as this came into existence after a long battle to prevent the abuse of woman in the four walls of her husband’s house.

Men In The Back Seat

2008-09-20T19:36:00.005+05:30

More often than not, a man does not make it in life because he did not try hard enough. In other cases, the guy is a plain idiot, that apart, some men want everything but don’t have anything at the end of the day.

So what happens when these frustrated, discontent men get into a relationship or even get married to a woman who has according to definition become “successful”? Think of yourself as an elder brother who is not as competent as younger brother, he is intelligent; people ask him for help, advice and so on. All you do is watch and be prompted by your mother to tell him how good he is.

This scenario hits you in the wrong spot, doesn’t it? Ego- that is the monster causing the problems everywhere and even if your ego subsides because of your blood relation, the fact is that it won’t subside in the case of a “bed-relation” i.e. with your woman.

As we grew up certain fictitious but rigid boundaries were made to be formed in our mind, like a man has always to be better than the woman in a relationship- when nature has not prepared any rule like that. So while you earn 15,000 INR from your call-center job, your girl is the General Manager for Toyota getting paid over a lakh per month. You drive her car-need to ask her for the keys by the way. She pays the loan installments for that plush apartment you rest your butts in. Handsome, suave, clean-shaven men make way into the living room of your home as colleagues of your wife while you sit on the couch with pouch-eyes sipping on that bulk-discounted beer brought from your salary.

Trust me, you’d be a million miles from the destination called “happy in a relationship”. A relationship like this takes a big toll on the guy’s “manliness” and he thinks he is manly-less. Leaving that aside, the man eats his heart out with his insecurities. When the guy is in a relation with alpha-girl insecurity turns out to be one of the major reasons for rift in the relation. Thereby, it makes it very unfeasible to continue with.

How faithful are the women in such a relationship where the guy is second string? That is another blog post.

Alpha Male

2008-09-12T19:18:00.004+05:30

He is generally almost unnoticed in a party or in the club. He will have is drink in one hand, when you look at him, he will generally avoid eye-contact. He simply lurks from one corner to another and hides in the crowd.

Then in contrast you will find another guy entertaining a group of men and women, laughing and talking loudly. His Rolex and Versace will advertise his success. This guy's got a slick hairstyle and his physique will show the months of training he has put in for it. He is the alpha-male.

Then there is the alpha-girl, who has done well in her professional front, gets her paid vacation to Paris, New York, Tokyo etc. She drives a gargantuan SUV and you know wrong words in front of her would land you in mess. The lady knows that she's beautiful and takes immense pleasure in keeping guys dangling.

But with success comes the insecurities, succesful woman are insecure and generally the guys who generally dare to approach her will be the men who have reached her level or more- The alpha male.

There was this time when the woman always wanted her man to be much better than herself and be the more succesful of the two. This trend has been showing a decline as woman are slowly no longer preferring alpha-males. These woman would rather be in a relationship with guys who are not as good as them. These guys are shy, have a mediocre profession and are great emotional cushions. They can be better controlled than the succesful men who are the top-honcho's of different MNC's.

When a woman becomes succesful she has more experience of life. She knows the ups and downs and has surely seen the ruthless way of operation of alpha-males. Alpha-males unfortunately, have the high tendency to be unfaithful, abruptly break-off relations. They are instable as they have a very hectic lifestyle.

Moreover, alpha-males tend to be more artificial and may not be too good at understanding the emotional aspects of the woman no matter how well he might know to treat the woman. And women these days with increasing independence know what they want exactly they want. These woman do not have any problem in taking the driver's seat.

But what about the men who finally, wind up with such women? That is a question to be answered by a seperate blog post after this one.

Gigolos Cashing In

2008-09-12T18:30:00.004+05:30

If you are smart, handsome, charming and can make great conversations. Maybe then there is a profession which can pay you a lot. And yes, this profession could be just a part-time job from the real job you may hold as an executive, manager, mechanic or whatever.

Gigolo's have never had it better in India. The IT sector seems to have starved women for some love- so much so that it does not matter if it is fake or real. Most of the men do not seem to have the time for their women, whom they had wooed after much struggle! So when the love is cut-off from the men in their lives, women turn to gigolos or more informally named species- call-boys.

Gigolos are a different species from normal men as they are patient, understanding to women and are great in bed. Their smartness adds to their marketability.

Women-married or committed, are now turning to gigolos for the extra affection that they long for. Apart from the extra-care that these men provide, they don't crib when women shop, take great interests in what their women say and are great eye-candy's. Most importantly, women find sex with them no strings attached.

While shopping these men are like what the woman's husband or boyfriend were at some point of time. They have an opinion and took interest in what she looked good on. Gigolos flirt well and are very interesting to converse with. They know to treat the woman well and like chocolate, satisfy the craving and make an impression which forces women to return to them again for another bite.

Women generally turn to gigolo's when they have husbands who are too busy to have time for them and boyfriends who are extra-emotional. Gigolos have also been utilized for causing envy to an ex or to a friend of the girl.

Males in this profession are all smiles, "Most of my clients are married women, they pay me well-about 30,000 to 40,000 bucks per night. Give me expensive gifts and we get along great in bed." says one.

These males get to go to great places, all on the womans credit card (or her hubbie's-who cares?) and all they have to do is to shower these women with affection.
Women even take these men abroad for holidaying to exclusive places and the man gets paid for the great holiday he gets with lady.

What gigolo's do is simple, give what the woman wants- make her feel special and beautiful. Its not difficult especially if you have over 20 such clients with whom you are making love overnight or on a boat in Venice in regular basis. Its just practise and practise makes Perfect.

The Modern Woman

2008-09-08T19:35:00.003+05:30

Women, most of them, no longer believe in the ‘One-Man’ philosophy. A movie named “All about Anna”, the opening lines of the film were, “A woman needs three men- one for adventure, one for interesting conversations and one for good sex.”

This line is so emphasizing on the fact that women have finally realized the power they wrest on the incompetent male mind. They know what they need and have lost certain conscience relating to relationships. The liberated female is showing off now with posh, extravagant parties on her birthday. Lavish treats for her promotion and expensive gifts for her ‘men’, no longer man.
To be fair, these women would rather experience life as young as they can rather than garner instability after marriage. The ‘virginity as a gift of marriage concept’ has been thrown out of the window, “What a waste...” is what one hears.

Let us take the life of a 27-yeat old call center executive woman. She has a steady boyfriend in the city and she has frequent nocturnal flings with her foreign boss. However, she has no guilt about her habits. “It’s fun minus the baggage, it’s a normal working day the next morning”, she says. Does she think it degrades her character, “How can having sex degrade me, it’s a need like any other. I accept I need my boyfriend to support me but I also need sex and sex with him would entail a lot of emotions. It’s more complicated than one-night stands.” Guilt is hardly a factor on the cards; it’s been, done and forgotten before you know.

These words once came out of a guy’s lips; they had the sole right to flings with as many women he needed but always remained at a distance from the girl he actually loved. Though it is pretty much the same, the only difference is that the women have come neck to neck with men.
Then again there have been interesting stories which might seem slightly silly. In a recent incident, a friend- a woman came over to the guy’s house. When he was making tea in the kitchen, the woman apparently appeared naked at the kitchen doorway and was trying to intimidate the man. Generally, men would have been happy beyond control but a few men are still very reserved and are shocked at the over-whelming independence and power of women. Given the circumstances, there are still men who respect women and such incidents can shock them.

Women now know that at the end of the day it is all about loving yourself and doing what you enjoy rather than wasting a life loving and most importantly living for someone else.

Hybrid Vehicle Abstract

2008-09-05T11:42:00.000+05:30

The hybrid vehicle proposed in this abstract utilizes the large amount of heat that is developed in a conventional I.C. engine. The temperature in an I.C. engine reaches temperature up to 1500 degree Celsius. This temperature is largely due to friction acting between metal to metal contact and hydrodynamic stresses in oil films. The friction heat is eventually removed as waste heat by the engine cooling system.

However, this waste heat could be utilized to provide auxiliary power to the vehicle. Heat energy has been ignored as a source to generate power for the car.

IDEA-

The idea is to introduce a gas turbine system along with a conventional I.C. engine of the vehicle. The gas turbine will utilize the heat energy which otherwise is wasted into the atmosphere.
When the engine gets heated up, the coolant is run through the I.C. engine to keep it from very high temperatures. As the coolant cools the engine, it itself becomes very hot as it completes the movement through the engine. The gas turbine system introduced possesses a low boiling point working fluid (butane etc.) which gets vaporized under the influence of the hot coolant.

The high pressure gas is channeled into a pipe and outlet on to a small turbine through a nozzle. Thus, the high pressure gas hitting the turbine blades will rotate it and produce electricity for a D.C. motor. The electricity maybe used for the D.C. motor- which rotates the wheels. Also, it maybe used for storing in a battery.

In cities, when a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle runs, a lot of energy is wasted since the car is slowed and left idle a lot many times due to heavy traffic and other obstructions.

However, an I.C. engine continues to provide power constantly at all times even if that much of energy is not needed. Thus, a lot of the energy is lost to the braking. When we use the brake pedal to slow the vehicle, we are removing the kinetic energy which the car possesses as it moves at a speed. We can captures some of this energy and apply it usefully by a method called “Regenerative braking”.

Regenerative braking- The electric motor is placed in connection with the wheels of the vehicle. When a car is braked, the wheels still rotate due to the momentum. This rotation of the wheels since, attached to a motor can produce electricity in the D.C. motor and subsequently stored in the battery. When the car is again accelerated the stored electric energy from the battery can be utilized for the rotation of the wheels thereby reducing the load on the I.C. engine.
Thus the proposed vehicle utilizes a gas turbine engine to utilize the heat effectively which otherwise is released as waste energy into the atmosphere.

To be more marketable many of the vehicles manufactured today have powerful engines that guzzle fuel but are unremarkable in cities due to congestion. The continuous braking wastes a lot of the power that these engines produce. Regenerative braking makes use of this wasted power due to braking i.e. the loss of kinetic energy. Regenerative braking can produce a minimum of 7500 kg m/sec2 of energy to be stored into electric energy. Assuming the average vehicle weighs 500 kilograms.

Aerodynamic drag is the physical force which resists the motion of the vehicle through air, in turn, making the engine work harder to move forward. This affects the fuel mileage. Therefore, the body should be streamlined.

The side rear-view mirrors could be eliminated from vehicles.
Presently, the tires are manufactured considering comfort, which is for a quiet and smooth ride. However, if the tires are stiffer and inflated it has been practically proved to reduce the drag by half- which is by no means negligible.

Cumulatively, on integrating all the above features we will have the model of a highly efficient hybrid car.

Bindra In The Advertisement Range

2008-08-24T17:12:00.000+05:30

Finally the frenzy fades as the golden boy’s glorious achievement takes a back seat and the public interest moves onto Pervez Musharaff resigning from his seat.

Abhinav Bindra won the gold for 10-metre air rifle event. As far as Indian media is concerned it is an opportunity to cash in on Bindra’s achievement. Brand managements are busy gauging Bindra’s marketability to the public. It is completely a different fact that at 25, Bindra owns land worth Rs 150 crores in Chandigarh and is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics which generates annual revenue of Rs 25 crores. So as we discuss his brand value it is important we know that he really doesn’t need the endorsement money.

Bindra is reticent and is a self-confessed “recluse”, since age 13 his only passion has been shooting. When in college he hardly shared the same interests that his peers had. His classmates do not recall Bindra ever discussing or showing interests in girls. For shooting, Bindra had shut out every possible distraction, putting in grueling hours of shooting practice each day.

So this is the guy who went out and won the gold, he pretty much lived like a saint. It is tough to imagine this shy guy stepping up on the boob-tube and say things like, “Kurkure khao, mast ho jao!” Advertisements are all about non-sense and here we have Mr. Abhinav Bindra with a total no non-sense attitude. It will hit the audience at all the wrong places and hurt the brand image.
Moreover, shooting does not have the same glamour as Bollywood or cricket. It just does not appeal as much. Noted Adman Prahlad Kakkar, candidly admitted that he would give no more than Rs 5000 to Bindra for an endorsement deal. At the same time, Alyque Padamsee suggested that a celebrity like Katrina Kaif might give Bindra the extra needed factor for the advertisement industry.

Whatever the ad industry decides, one thing is for sure, Abhinav Bindra as we know is unruffled and might hardly be interested like other celebs to endorse products with their plastic smiles. Bindra is a genuine person and is a kind of personality to who believes in “Be Yourself.”, he definitely won’t change himself, let alone get a personality make-over for the ad-industry.

On Chennai

2008-08-24T17:10:00.000+05:30

Chennai, as I see it is the only metropolitan city which has maintained its decade’s old British charm and conservative nature. The metro’s I have been to are loud and the people equally forthcoming. When I came out of Chennai Central the dusty heat filled my lungs and emptied my hearts hopes.
There were no pretty girls, people ate curd-rice with their hands, to which I am used to now and very few places where an outgoing youngster could freak out. Language was an unassailable barrier. Localites, especially the auto-drivers could talk in the tone of Tamil, communication had become a major problem. The tariffs they charge would leave you begging for an auto-driver from a metro like Mumbai. If you like dosa and idli’s and also you live in Chennai, you have got to be a very lucky person because you will not get a modest priced authentic north-indian food anywhere. Of course, with time I have found out even such places.
Then there were Chennai people, narrow-minded, stingy and no matter how big their bank balances stick to very minimal expenditure on clothes. In Chennai, people spend only on gold, steel vessels and rice. The rest of it goes to where it matters- the bank.
Then Chennai soon revealed its charming side that left me, let’s say, simple. I have switched from Pepsi to fruit juices for one change. People here don’t care how well you are dressed or so, they do however consider how much hard-work you put in and your punctuality. Yes, a little bit of loud dressing could raise a lot of eyebrows here. They are not showy and prefer to be quiet and non-intrusive to others-just minding their own business.
How can we forget Chennai for engineering education, it is country-wide renown and produces the best lot of engineers for India.
For a collegiate, the best places in Chennai is not, mind you not the Marina beach, in fact it is the Besant Nagar beach which is now in vogue. Also, we have the Golden beach which is slightly expensive with an entry fee of Rs 350. The most posh area within Chennai is Adyar, Nungambakkam etc. They have the expensive disc’s and pubs and also youngster hang-out’s like Mocha.

Seasoned Jogger

2008-06-11T09:32:00.000+05:30

After a very long time I finally managed to wake up early morning around 5am with a very special purpose in my mind. It is my semester holidays after all and I reserved the right of being a sleepy head. However, my strong conscience pleaded me to do something about my huffing-puffing respiratory conditions. So today I woke up and unveiled my dad’s jogging shoes, which were shunned to obscurity by him. The condition of the pair of jogging shoes to say the least was, less than satisfactory. It had gathered the dust of a year or so and I coughed as I cleaned it just enough so that I could use it. In the process I ended up messing up my house with dust. Fortunately, my mom was asleep and had no idea about the dust storm that I was creating in her house. Truly, ignorance is bliss. So after all the adventure with the shoes I left my home for a jog.

What I found the best part of an early morning jog? The cool breeze, the dew laden grass, the golden silence or the empty, winding streets with scrawny street dogs yawning. To be frank what I really liked was the great effects my earplugs offered early in the morning. You won’t believe how many new beats I discovered in the songs that I had been listening regularly. You don’t hear them in the hustle and bustle of the day. I think early in the morning is the best time to listen to artists like Coldplay, Chris Rice and James Blunt. You really don’t hear their real music until you haven’t heard it in complete silence.

I almost forgot, be ready to direct a lot of goods vehicles and trucks to their destination. None of the drivers seem to know where to go, all they have is a piece of paper with an address on it and early morning joggers like me are left to feel like air traffic controllers with an amazing number of vehicles asking for direction, thanks to the thin pedestrian traffic at dawn.

Besides this one drawback I also enjoyed the prospect of meeting a jog-mate, preferably a female. No, nothing more than a jogging friend. But no such luck. So I went for a huge lap around my area before I returned home by six. My parents were still sleeping-I had forgotten the keys. They would be less than glad if I rang the bell and woke them up crashing their sleep. But standing outside the door sweating I did ring the bell. About five minutes later my dad opened the door with a haggard look on his face, “Sorry dad, good morning.” Then I handed him the morning newspaper which was put outside by the vendor.

The jog was great and I promised to be regular as I headed to the bathroom for a cold shower.

My Movie Experience

2008-05-28T23:07:00.000+05:30

This entry is almost a year delayed. But I thought better late than never!

On Friday, July 13th around 3:01 I waited at Metropolitan Mall. I was supposed to catch a movie with a friend. As it turned out, unfortunately Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix had been released that day (I should’ve known its Friday the thirteenth.). I had no intention to watch Potter on screen- moreover on first day!

However I learnt the PVR cinemas were running 7 shows of Harry Potter in one day and the ticket price placed at a murderous 175 bucks!! The other films like Die Hard 4(bang on film people- a must watch, absolutely mind boggling material!) were having only two shows per day and the sadistic management had made sure that people like me looking forward for an action packed matinee had to settle for a emotional, demented, clichéd wizard. Its not that I abhor Harry Potter, its just that after you read the book, watching it in motion neither has the real substance nor the same passion within the tale.

DH4 was running at 11:30, which I had missed and then at 19:30 that would ensure I would not be back before midnight and just to remind you, I had left home to catch a matinee. The other remaining films were Apne(Aaaaaaagh!), Bombay to Goa(yaaagh!) etcetera.

So as you might have deduced I was sitting in audit 3 of PVR waiting for Harry to start his ‘Chosen One’ crap. I mean he says he is an ordinary student but moves around Hogwarts as if he were Daniel Radcliff (ha-ha, I know it’s a weak joke.).

Now one thing I noticed was that the before the cinema begins, generally there are a very limited number of ads but, surprise-surprise, the movie began fifteen minutes late considering the given show timing because of the torrential ad displays because of Potter hype.

The viewers seemed happy when finally the Censor certificate for Harry Potter was shown as they clapped and hooted. I sulked with every second leading to the first scene and remained unmoved, unfazed, indifferent as Harry cried, had nightmares, enjoyed hero worship and finally angry when Sirius Black is killed. Yeah, big deal!
Mind you, when I read the book and Sirius Black was killed, I reread the page to ensure I hadn’t misread it. But in this theatre with the air-conditioner in full blast I was busier wondering if PVR has heater facilities for winter.

Finally, the movie ended with Harry going back to muggle world. However, I did enjoy the snog between Harry and Cho and the succeeding scene in which Harry discusses the episode with Ron and Hermoine. The rest of it was very obscure, very Harry and very avoidable.

Carnival Of Rust

2008-04-25T18:58:00.004+05:30

Earlier my site welcomed my visitors with the following sentence-"Footsteps Into The Unknown...". However, now I have edited it to "Carnival Of Rust" taking inspiration from the rock band "Poets Of the Fall" hit song, "Carnival Of Rust". Even though the music of the song in itself is very enjoyable, what I liked more was the infinite meaning in the words, "Carnival of rust".

The music is infectious to the listener because they just keep hitting the repeat button of the music player. But the words, "Carnival Of rust" basically means that a place with all the nostalgia related to you, your failure in the past, the painful relations you might have had previously that crashed to an end. Rust signifies the past. The past which has rusted with time. "Carnival" along with "rust" showcases a kind of exhibition of old memories and the melody of the music implies that it is painful and has not been pleasant.

Now why did I get "Carnival of rust" to welcome my visitors. Well, I found a subtle charm in the sentence and I frankly felt that the header needed a change since I have held the previous one on the head from a long time. The lyrics of "Carnival Of rust" is as follows-

"D' you breath the name of your saviour in your hour of need,

n' taste the blame if the flavor should remind you of greed,

Of implication, insinuation and ill will, till' you cannot lie still,

In all this turmoil,

before red cape and foil closing in for a kill

Come feed the rain

Cos I'm thirsty for your love dancing underneath the skies of lust

Yeah feed the rain

Cos without your love my life ain't nothing but this carnival of rust

It's all a game, avoiding failure,

when true colors will bleed

All in the name of misbehavior and the things we don't needI lust for after no disaster can touch us anymore

And more than ever,

I hope to never fall,

where enough is not the same it was before

Come feed the rain...Don't walk away, don't walk away, oh, when the world is burning

Don't walk away, don't walk away, oh, when the heart is yearning"

BOOK REVIEW-JOHN GRISHAM-THE BROKER

2008-04-20T18:15:00.002+05:30

Oh yes, the novel starts on a high note with the US President speculating a pardon for a infamous, controversial power broker Joel Backman. Consequently, the Prez does grant Backman the pardon. But the catch is, he is freed so that CIA can finally nail Backman by getting him killed by the intelligence agencies of other countries. The reason is that Joel Backman before getting imprisoned had ended up making enemies with a lot of countries so much so that, the jail became a safe-house for him.

Grisham manages to dream up a great plot but the anti-climax begins midway through the novel. Because now all Grisham can do is keep getting Backman to run from his enemies. The research he has done on Italy and its roadside cuisine is evident as you read the book.

The novel fails to keep hold of the same high-velocity start it was given, which is a shame as the cash for pardon scheme is truly brilliant. I take refuge in the fact that Grisham truly gives his main character Joel Backman, a standing respect and a subtle charm with great human quirks in him. All in all, the book is dragged and it could have used a little more plotting, a greater range of characters. It lacked a few colours and sparks in it otherwise, truly John Grisham's 'The Broker' would have gone a longer way than it has.

BOOK REVIEW-SIDNEY SHELDON-ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?

2008-04-20T16:37:00.004+05:30

No, I really don't hold any kind of grudge against Sidney Sheldon. Its just that the only thing that I appreciate about Sidney Sheldon after reading Sidney Sheldon's "Are you afraid of the dark?" is that he affirms millions of wannabe authors that anyone can become a popular author even if you are horrible at making fictional stories look convincing.

This novel deals with the two wives of two men who worked for a think-tank named Kingsley International Group(KIG). The two men when murdered, their wives set out to uncover who was responsible for it and what was the reason for the killings. The reason is because the men knew about a legendary system which could control weather.

However, what I would like to be explained is that how do the women escape and think of things that are so crucial to the plot. They literally dream of the next move by their enemies then work accordingly. So that really put me off throughout the book. Even the enemy who is the head of the seemingly 'invincible' KIG just dreams up off the location where these two women might be. Moreover, to think that he believes that these two women could possibly uncover the secrets is absolutely mythical. Basically, the whole of the book seems impossible and except for a few sentimental scenes where the wives miss their husbands the rest of the book is highly unrecommended.

BOOK REVIEW- SIDNEY SHELDON- BLOODLINE

2007-07-29T22:42:00.000+05:30

The back cover of this novel by Sidney Sheldon is intriguing, this is how it goes:

“The daughter of a rich and powerful father, Elizabeth Roffe is a young, beautiful(as usual)- and sole heir to a billion dollar fortune.

Then tragedy strikes. Her father is killed in a freak accident and Elizabeth much (this was meant to be must, there has been a publishing error by Harper Collins, the publisher) take command of his mighty global empire, the pharmaceutical company Roffe and Sons. It makes Elizabeth Roffe the richest girl in the world. But someone, somewhere is determined that she must die.

From the backstreets of Istanbul to the upmarket offices of New York, Bloodline is a hypnotic tale of love and ambition, danger, intrigue and death.”

The book to me at least was slightly below the expectations I held from Sidney Sheldon. A crude story line sophisticated by the additions of manifold characters and unnecessary information.

Well, the story is about five members who are in the Board Of Directors for Roffe and Sons Pharmacy; all of them have a reason to have a desperate urgency of cash. They can all get cash on liquidating their stocks. That can’t happen because Roffe and Sons is private, therefore, all the five members somehow need to eliminate the head i.e. Mr. Roffe and Elizabeth so that they can have another head who will allow Roffe an Sons to go public. Thereby, able to liquidate their stocks and acquire the money they need.

So it was obvious to me that it was one of the Board of Directors is the one who is trying to kill Elizabeth and had killed Samuel Roffe. Out of the blue a mythical of sorts detective enters the story and has the plot, surprise-surprise. The climax is mediocre and descriptions of personal moments were less than enticing. The book is average but intriguing and uncomment able until you finish reading it.

THE HOUSE FOR GHOSTS, BY THE GHOSTS

2007-07-19T10:20:00.000+05:30

For 38 years Sarah Winchester went to sleep with the sound of hammering around her. No lullaby could have soothed her more as a widow from the loss of her husband and grieving for the death of her son. She was on an extraordinary life objective.

When her husband died she inherited about $20 million and also a daily income of $1000, from William’s holding in the Winchester Repeating Arms Co.

Many people were killed from the rifles manufactured from the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. and a considerable fortune to Winchester cam from the sales of these guns. The souls of the victims- there were thousands of them- told Mrs. Winchester that they had destroyed the life of her husband and son as revenge. If Mrs. Winchester were not to abide to their commands she would always incur the same wrath.

Sarah Winchester was never reported to be an eccentric in her life. What she did was perhaps was anyway too expensive for any eccentric to imagine! I mean, they could have, after all then why the hell are they called eccentrics then.

The medium that warned her of her life demanded that she buy a house and keep building it to expand it until the end of her life. On doing so, she would not be troubled by the spirits.

The house that Mrs. Winchester was constructing was to be specially designed for the spirits. She brought an eight-room farmhouse at Santa Clara Valley in California. There until 1922, the year she died, work continued day and night as the hammer banged planks and nails. After each days work Mrs. Winchester would retire to her séance room, where she would get instructions by the medium for the next requirements in the house and if any changes be made from the earlier planned architecture by the spirits. In the morning Mrs. Winchester would relay the same to the Chief Carpenter.

The myriad features in the architecture of the house serve dual purposes.

For example there are doors that open into thin air.

One reveals a closet no more than an inch deep. What seems to be the door of the closet leads to a 30-room suite. One set of stairs leads to another set, which then leads back to the same story.

Another stairway has 44 steps and turns 7 corners- but rises a mere nine feet. Stairs leading to the ceiling one of the bizarre features introduced (as shown in picture).

To spare the spirits embarrassment, as they are not reflective, the house has only two mirrors. The lighting of the house is spectacular as they are placed such that humans do not cast any shadow as the spirits don’t cast them either.

38 years of incessant labor acknowledged a house spread over 6 acres that contains 160 rooms. Originally, there were 750 rooms but they were torn apart and replaced as the spirits changed their plans. The Winchester remains one of the most phenomenal houses wrought by history due to its structural complexity. It contains six kitchens, 40 bedrooms, 467 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 fireplaces, 40 stairways, 52 skylights, six safes and a shower.
The entire house cost Mrs. Winchester close to $5.5 million of what she called her blood money to lift a curse- and a provided a feast for lovers of the bizarre and the extravagant.

KING OF MISERS

2007-07-17T20:58:00.000+05:30

Daniel Dancer is the world’s most miserly man as per records. In fact he has attained post-humus fame for his legendary miserliness. His entire life was devoted for miserly pursuits. He has been tagged as the King of Misers as his exploits would put any miser to a blue shame.

Dancer was the son of a miser and the grandson of another. On their death he inherited a tract of land in northern London, which provided him with a considerable annual income. He took meals just once in a day, which also, was just a meager scrap of meat and a single cold dumpling.

Once he found a dead sheep on a field, despite the repelling odor from the decomposing body, Dancer took it home to lock it up in his trunk.

Lady Tempest was a kindly lady; she sent him a gift of a trout cooked in claret. The weather was cold and the trout arrived frozen, to save requirements for heating it, Dancer sat over the fish until it was thawed enough to be eaten.

Dancer’s lifestyle was sleeping in a sack, his clothes consisted largely of rags and bundle of straws. On one of his rare visits to London, he was mistook for a beggar and tossed a halfpenny. Dancer pocketed it, “Every little helps,” he commented.

However he did have a guilty extravagance, once a year he brought a second hand shirt, which he would then wear until it perished to pieces.

His brotherly ‘love’ was another quality in him. In 1766, his sister, who worked as a housekeeper fell ill. He refused to call a doctor, “Why should I waste my money in wickedly endeavoring to counteract the will of Providence? If the old girl’s time is come…she may as well die now as at any future period.”

Lady Tempest, to whom she intended to leave her forune, looked after Miss Dancer. However, when Miss Dancer died, it was learnt she had not prescribed a Will. Dancer acquired two-thirds of the estimate by claiming 30 years back rent for her accommodation and food.

Dancer delighted in hiding his money, he hid it under piles of farmyard manure. In fact he barricaded himself in his house, fearing from robbers.

Finally, Dancer died in 1794. The kindly Lady Tempest inherited his estate. Unfortunately, as she nursed Dancer on his deathbed, she took ill as well. Within four months she too was dead.

The History Behind Hadley Street

2007-07-16T23:03:00.000+05:30

When I launched my website http://hadleystreet.blogspot.com/ I was a little apprehensive as to whether my website will have any visibility on the Internet. With the course of time I even had a couple of Google Adsense advertisement flanking my homepage. Then I started posting about topics I had an idea about. Mind you, I worked very hard to have all this typed up. I had foolishly hoped that all this would suddenly make my Blog a top-ranking search result on Google. Then truth dawned this won’t work either; soon I was adding Meta tags feverishly.

For a couple of days I had given up completely, Google listed ‘hadleystreet’ as ‘no search result’ with cruel contempt. Then a miracle happened, I searched ‘hadleystreet’ on the search engine after a couple of days and surprise-surprise, my website was at least visible and also there were just four results. My website was being used in another search engine, that great noble website was- http://vincentabry-swicki.eurekster.com/

Search keywords like Voynich, Horrocks (which are all content words in my site) and they yielded top one result. Finally I was glad that my website was somewhere on the Internet.

As a matter of fact now I am looking forward to publicizing my Blog; make tie-ups with other ‘blogspot’ webmasters. Basically create ‘hadleystreet’ partners or affiliates like http://hadleyavenue.blogspot.com/ and http://hadleypark.blogspot.com/ . Which is one way I believe to get a torrential number of interested visitors and establish a symbiotic link-up. Let the ‘hadley’ brand name become a possibility, of which I’m confident. Do you wish to join me? Or shall I make an offer you cannot refuse?

Vox Populi

2007-07-16T21:59:00.000+05:30

Graffiti. Everyone has tried it once and occasionally read others graffiti’s out of curiosity. However, graffiti left by citizens of Ancient Rome is proving to be a historical treasure trove. With a stylus, Romans scratched writings on the plastered walls of private residences and public pavements, walls etcetera.

“Oh wall,” noted one citizen in Pompeii, “I am surprised you have not collapsed and fallen, seeing that you support the loathsome scribbling of so many writers.”

More than 180,000 of these inscriptions are catalogued in the Corpus Inscriptonium Latinarum, a gargantuan database maintained by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Every year 500 inscriptions are added to this database as excavations for hotels and restaurant foundations reveal new epigraphic treasures. These throw open the window to the civil Roman society which achingly reminds us of our own lifestyle, revealing ragged edges of normal life- from inscriptions on parents grieving of their son or the prices prostitutes charged their clients.

British classicist Keith Hopkins has estimated that 28% of Roman children died before they completed 12 months. Yet epigraphists found relatively few inscribed tombs for Roman infants in Italy- just 1.3% of the total percentage. This discrepancy suggests that parents in ancient Rome refrained from raising an expensive monument for a child, unwilling to mourn publicly or privately. Though some Romans could not refrain from it as they openly celebrated a baby’s birthday with “Cornelius Sabinus has been born,” a message said where passer-bys and neighbors could see it easily.

Other graffiti’s supported grieving widows, “Glauco was born at Mutina. Fought seven times, died in the eighth. He lived 23 years, 5 days.” As studies of epitaphs show, skilled gladiators rarely survived more than 10 matches, dying at an average age of 27. At the end of each fatal clash, stretcher-bearers took the body to the local morgue. There the officials slit the throat to ensure that the gladiator is truly dead. Then they handed it over to the family for mourning.

One surviving poster describes how Deminus Lucretius Satrius Valeris, a priest of Nero, and another prominent Roman sponsored a major event in Pompeii. This expensive attractions included “20 pairs of gladiators,” the “customary wild beast hunt,” and “awnings” to shade spectators from the sun.

The Roman citizens might never have imagined the clues to historians they have provided by ranting their feelings on the wall. Perhaps we should continue to do what humans do best- gain public empathy with- THE WRITINGS ON THE WALL.

SUPER UGC

2007-07-14T13:26:00.000+05:30

The Indian HRD Ministry is planning to initiate an apex body for all the government bodies which as of now function separately for Higher Education. The matter will be taken up as a Cabinet note has already been issued.

This plans comes under the guise to make all technical education departments such as All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), Medical Council of India (MCI), Dental Council of India (DCI) as one single entity and under the supervision of the new commission- termed by the media as Super-UGC. Even the UGC, University Grants Commission will be under this super-regulatory body.

The government expects this move to bring about uniformity in all fields of higher education such as medical, agricultural, engineering etcetera. The proposed apex body will look into access, equity, relevance and quality in higher education.

An official said, “At times, these regulatory bodies work at cross-purposes resulting in higher education policy losing its focus. There should be uniformity in the education policy. Therefore, the proposal has been made to create a federating body.”

He also added that the UGC was instated to function as above but its function got clipped.

Friday the 13th

2007-07-14T12:39:00.000+05:30

On Friday, July 13th around 3:01 I waited at Metropolitan Mall. I was supposed to catch a movie with a friend. As it turned out, unfortunately Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix had been released that day (I should’ve known its Friday the thirteenth.). I had no intention to watch Potter on screen- moreover on first day!

However I learnt the PVR cinemas were running 7 shows of Harry Potter in one day and the ticket price placed at a murderous 175 bucks!! The other films like Die Hard 4(bang-on film people- a must watch, absolutely mind boggling material!) were having only two shows per day and the sadistic management had made sure that people like me looking forward for an action packed matinee had to settle for a emotional, demented, clichéd wizard. Its not that I abhor Harry Potter, its just that after you read the book, watching it in motion neither has the real substance nor the same passion within the tale.

DH4 was running at 11:30, which I had missed and then at 19:30 that would ensure I would not be back before midnight and just to remind you, I had left home to catch a matinee. The other remaining films were Apne(Aaaaaaagh!), Bombay to Goa(yaaagh!) etcetera.

So as you might have deduced by now I was sitting in audit 3 of PVR waiting for Harry to start his ‘Chosen One’ crap. I mean he says he is an ordinary student but moves around Hogwarts as if he were Daniel Radcliff (ha-ha, I know it’s a weak joke.).

Now one thing I noticed was that the before the cinema begins, generally there are a very limited number of ads but, surprise-surprise, the movie began fifteen minutes late considering the given show timing because of the torrential ad displays because of Potter hype.

The viewers seemed happy when finally the Censor certificate for Harry Potter was shown as they clapped and hooted. I sulked with every second leading to the first scene and remained unmoved, unfazed, indifferent as Harry cried, had nightmares, enjoyed hero worship and finally angry when Sirius Black is killed. Yeah, big deal!
Mind you, when I read the book and Sirius Black was killed, I reread the page to ensure I hadn’t misread it. But in this theatre with the air-conditioner in full blast I was busier wondering if PVR has heater facilities for winter.

Finally, the movie ended with Harry going back to muggle world. However, I did enjoy the snog between Harry and Cho and the succeeding scene in which Harry discusses the episode with Ron and Hermoine. The rest of it was very obscure, very Harry and very avoidable.

Secretary To The Spirits

2007-07-10T16:11:00.000+05:30

Stella Horrocks sits on a chair in her small terraced house with a notepad in front of her. Suddenly the pen begins to move; soon it is storming through pages in a blind flurry.

Stella is only one of a number of people who have the ability to take dictations from the dead. Skeptics have only been able to account for secondary personality- nothing concrete.

Horrocks claims that the world’s greatest Late literary figures have dictated to her novels, books, diaries, memoirs, each in a different handwriting. Her transcribers include President John F. Kennedy, Virginia Woolf, Thomas Hardy and Jane Austen. Movie star David Niven and Lord Mountbatten are others.

However, she still has not found a publisher for these, she finds their attitude discouraging, “I’m not in it for the money,” she says, “I would just like to see these works reach a wider public.”

Stella can also describe the individual characteristics of the authors she writes for, “Jane Austen has a much lighter touch than Charles Dickens though he is full of life,” she says, “and Noel Coward digs into the paper as if he were gardening. Another one is Thomas Hardy, he is completely different: more of a businessman.”

But taking a dictation from the dead can be an overwhelming task. “They can go on writing for 3 hours,” she says, “when Dickens wrote about the Battle of Waterloo, I got through about 200 pages in a couple of days.

Others seem to dictate more slowly. Stella’s technique to ‘tune in’ to dead authors is simple she says, “You can’t contact them, they have to contact you when they are ready. You have to keep your mind a complete blank to receive. I don’t know what they are going to do before they start: they tell me each word as they go.”

A stockpile of plays by Noel Coward and ‘new’ collection of war stories from W. Somerset Maughan are all kept by Stella Horrocks.

Coincidence?

2007-07-10T13:42:00.000+05:30

Circumstantial Evidence?
Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, an English politician and justice of the peace was found murdered on October 17, 1678. His body lay in a ditch on Greenberry Hill in London. Three men were arrested and tried for his murder, their names Robert Green, Henry Berry and Lawrence Hill.

Class Conscious!
In 1906 six babies were born aboard the German ship Grosser Kurfurst, which sailed from Bremen to New York: one in first class, two in second class and three in third class.

Hat trick Hero.
Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of Abraham Lincoln was present in Ford Theatre, Washington D.C. when his father was assassinated in 1865. He was also near President James Garfield when he was shot at the Baltimore and Potomac station in Washington D.C. in 1881. He happened to be just a few feet away from President William McKinley in 1901 while McKinley was at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

Be wary of JMB on February 13th!
Just a day before Valentine in 1746, a French man, Jean Marie Dubarry was put to death for the murder of his father. Exactly hundred years later, a day before Valentine, another person was executed for murdering his father, the perpetrator’s name-Jean Marie Dubarry.

The Name-Safe.
On December 5, 1664 a boat sank at Menai Strait on the Irish Sea. Only one of the passenger’s survived viz. Hugh Williams. Then on December 5, 1785 another boat sank at the same place. The only survivor was a man named Hugh Williams. On August 5, 1820, 24 passengers of a stricken vessel drowned however one of them was saved; his name was Hugh Williams.

Nouvelle Cuisine

2007-07-10T10:42:00.000+05:30

In the winter of 1870-71, Paris was completely cut off from the rest of the world. Prussian army had surrounded Paris. Food stocks rapidly vanished and the Parisians were compelled to eat whatever was available.

Although horseflesh was customarily eaten in France, horses that once pulled carriages for the wealthy were now on their plate. Two horses gifted by the Russian Czar to Napoleon are estimated to be among the estimated 65,000 horses slaughtered for food. But with horse becoming difficult to obtain, gourmets turned their hungry gaze on cats and dogs.

Culinary skills were put to rigorous test so as to disguise the taste of such ‘novel’ ingredients of the cuisine. As the black winter wore on, there was still no sign of the siege ending. Soon rodents were added into the edible list. Large rats dangled from hooks in the rat market at the center of Paris, ornamental goldfish from the ponds of the local parks in Paris were also put up for sale. Local Parisian, once accustomed to the finest food now discussed the best way to cook rat meat and make it more edible.

French newspaper, ‘Les Nouvelles’ published the menu from the ingredients available, that the Parisians consumed. As shown:

Consomme de cheval au millet
(Horse soup with millet)

Brochettes de foie de chien a la maitre d hotel
(Dog liver kebabs)

Eminces de rable de chat sauce mayonnaise
(Slices saddle of cat with mayonnaise sauce)

Epaule de filet de chien sauce tomate
(Shoulder of dog with tomato sauce)

Civet de chat aux champignons
(Cat stew with mushrooms)

Cotelettes de chien aux petits pois
(Dog chops with peas)

Salmis de rats a la Robert
(Rat stew)

Gigot de chien flanque de ratons
(Dog leg with small rats)

Plum pudding au jus et a la moelle de cheval
(Plum pudding with horse-marrow sauce)

Paris Zoo reluctantly put up its animals for sale to serve as food for the Parisians. The zoo considered the lion and tiger dangerous to attempt for slaughter; monkeys were spared due to their close relation to humans. A hippopotamus was put up for sale at 80,000 francs, no one brought it because of the exorbitant price and also the risk that it might turn out to be inedible. However yaks, buffaloes and elephants made a roaring trade.
By the end of January 1871, the siege was over and it was with much respite that the Parisians returned to their conventional fare.

Spying- The Necessary Evil

2007-07-08T17:17:00.000+05:30

Espionage has been implemented ever since man first learnt to wage a war. Chinese military expert Sun Tzu quoted, “Those who know the enemies as well as they know themselves will never suffer defeat.” All great Generals have proved his statement to be correct time and again.

Perhaps the best way to know your foe I by not letting him know that you intend to! For this reasons spies have played a crucial role for centuries now.

Sidney Reilly however has been known as the greatest spy who existed in his time. Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond once said, “007 was just a piece of nonsense I dreamed up. He was not a Sidney Reilly, you know.”

Now concentrating on what keeps the sleuths ticking. One agent marked, “There is a job to be done and you will need some hardware.”

Indeed the CIA and the KGB spy organization have devised and invented gadgets and chemicals that would surprise you to an inferiority complex. Russians leaders are reportedly terrified of the creations from their top poison-making factory. One KGB Chief said, “You just touch something by chance and there’s your funeral.”

This is not an exaggeration; CIA boffins developed a shellfish toxin so lethal that just a drop of it on your skin will cause an instant heart attack to that unfortunate person. Later, the toxin evaporates leaving no clue! It (CIA) has also devised cigars that trigger a nerve gas gun on touching the bands; also ash tray’s which explode when a cigarette is stubbed out- killing everyone within 10 feet.

What perhaps makes spying so intriguing is the naked danger you put yourself, even the government you work for will/may/can turn your back. The risks of espionage vary. A spy may be breaking the host country's laws and can be deported, imprisoned, or even executed, as the Rosenbergs were. A spy breaking his/her own country's laws can be imprisoned for espionage.

For example, when Aldrich Ames handed a stack of dossiers of CIA agents to his KGB-officer "handler," the KGB "rolled up" several networks, and at least ten people were secretly shot. When Ames was arrested by the FBI, he faced life in prison; his contact, who had diplomatic immunity, was declared persona non grata and taken to the airport. Ames's wife was threatened with life imprisonment if her husband did not cooperate; he did, and she was given a five-year sentence.

Hugh Francis Redmond, a CIA officer in China spent nineteen years in a Chinese prison for espionage: he was an "illegal", operating without diplomatic cover.

These are just kind illutration that come before us, the cases of ruthless actions never come before us, they cannot let it-the spies would not let us live for long, if we know the facts.

The Voynich Manuscript- The Most Mysterious Yet!

2007-07-08T12:40:00.000+05:30

“BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY” at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut houses the world’s most mysterious manuscript. Curators narrate a frustrating story of attempts to decipher the book to inquisitive visitors.

Under the Beinecke Library’s roof are countless rare books and invaluable manuscripts, one of them- Voynich Manucript.

The Voynich Manucript is of particular interest because no one has been able to read it till date. The world’s greatest cryptographers and linguists have failed in their attempts to make sense of the Manuscript.

The Manuscript has dimensions 5-three-fourth by 8-half inches and is some 200 pages long. The Vellum leaves have an extraordinary flowing handwriting that have been written by the author in a completely unknown set of alphabets. Illustration along with the text is as bizarre- they seem to represent plants, women and astronomical configurations. Since neither the text nor figures are interpretable the Voynich Manuscript remains the most inexplicable manuscript.

Discovery of this manuscript happened when a New York book dealer, Wilfrid M. Voynich discovered the curious volume in the library. He brought it from the Mondragone College Library, where the manuscript was and initiated to unravel its history. The book also concealed an old letter which was a key to its history.

Year 1666, the letter was addressed to prominent scholar and former tutor, Athanasius Kircher from Marcus Marci, rector of the University of Prague.

Marci wrote that he had got the manuscript from an “intimate friend” and that “for I was convinced it could be read by no one except yourself. He also informed that it was earlier owned by Rudolf II, the holy Roman emperor who died in 1612. Rudolf had paid 600 ducats for it, a huge sum at that period.

More importantly, Marci also said that Rudolf believed the author to be “Roger Bacon, the Englishman.” Bacon who lived in the 13th century was a great figure in medieval learning. Bacon was acknowledged as Doctor Mirabilis, he was a person centuries ahead of his time, he predicted cars and aircrafts- features of the 20th century. A formidable understanding in Physics and Mathematics was his forte; and he was also a renowned philosopher and alchemist.

Could the Voynich Manuscript have ideas, contain scientific theories so groundbreaking that they could not be set down in plain language?

No valid headway was made for nearly 60 years. In the 1970s Robert S. Brumbaugh at the Yale noticed a few symbols on the Voynich manuscript that reminded him of diagrams he had come across in another document. A more meticulous look at some of the margins revealed doodled calculations, suggesting that a similar number code might have been implemented.

On one page there was an illustration of a plant that resembled pepper. He implemented the code that he thought it to be, on studying, he learnt the symbols under the figure read PEPPER. The names of the other plants and stars could be deciphered similarly.

However, the secret of the Voynich Manuscript can still not be said to have been solved by any means. For example the main text is repetitive and absurd. Professor Brumbaugh suggested that they might be disconnected deluge of an alchemist. Brumbaugh believes Bacon as a follower of the ancient art of alchemy that tried to turn base metals into gold, via a use of a secret substance or elixir.

Ideas maybe too radical for the present era, which perhaps will finally be decoded to reveal the ultimate secret within these confusing intricate pages of the Voynich Manuscript