Nirmal Jayasinghe

There’s this homemade bookshelf upstairs at my home. What it hold are those no-longer-widely-read typa stuff, sometimes bought yonks ago and outta date now and stuff which are just pushed out of the main shelf downstairs to make room for more relevant stuff, although they themselves are not old. All this means it’s very interesting. Sometimes I go up there to pick some light reading over a meal or something but end up spending eternities there, curled up in front of it and reading completely irrelevant stuff.

Nowadays I have a well-stocked, computer-cataloged tech library, nothing much else. But sometime ago my collection consisted of almost every book/let, magazine and pamphlet in the household. It almost burst. But soon I was to change, and to make room for my new collection, almost all old fiction and stuff got stuffed in two big cardboard boxes and dispatched upstairs. A box is somewhat better in the sense you have to dig in it for stuff and it usually don’t invite passers-by to browse it. Then Dad nailed together some pieces of flatwood and this time-eater shelf was born.

The most interesting stuff are some old US junior/-high texts and my Tintin collection. Once yeh pop, yeh can’t stop. Also there’s Harry Potter, around 75% of the series and heaven knows how they ended up there especially given that I’m not much HP fan. Other stuff include books aging from my nursery school days and old elocution readers.

Actually it’s more a shelf of memories than books. A kindof memory module. What I savor sitting up there alone in the dusty quietness are old memories, stuff now replaced by a fast-paced advanced life. Times, when those happened, felt almost just like now, but when looked at back, which I miss alot, and would give virtually anything to live in again.

U.S. Naval Academy campus, Lisa’s Alma mater (photo credit: Wikipedia)

Actually I gave it some serious thought before writing this post since atleast personally [to me] it’s a bit of a sensitive issue. But since atleast the background subject matter is of interest, I thought I’d do a little comment on it.

NASA itself is facing a bit of tough time as US astronaut Lisa Nowak [Captain USN] was arrested and faced attempted first-degree murder charges last week. The incident took place exactly a week back at the Orlando Int’l Airport when Nowak allegedly tried to kidnap and possibly harm a certain Colleen Shipman [Captain USAF]. As the popular story goes, Ms. Nowak had been having a “more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship” with a fellow astronaut named William Oefelein, and Ms.Shipman was suspected by Ms. Nowak as having a relationship with Mr. Oefelein. So the incident unveils itself more or less. Ms. Shipman had told police that she was stalked for 2 months before the incident, and police had found out that a plan which would’ve culminated possibly in Ms. Shipman’s death had been worked out by Nowak.

Lisa Nowak was an accomplished astronaut, having served an illustrious career as a test pilot in US Navy before she joined the space program. She earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the US Naval Academy and a masters degree in aeronautical engineering and a degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the US Naval Postgraduate School. She was the flight engineer of STS-121 mission to the Int’l Space Station last July, and handled the remote manipulator arm subsystem as a mission specialist qualified in robotics.

The harsh truth

Of course she had been a top gun in academics and her career, but almost all astronauts pay a terrible price for what they achieve. I think Ms. Novak was a victim of the grueling lifestyle they go through. Their career takes a hell of a lot of time, and they have very little time for personal and family stuff. In fact, both the astronauts involved here are separated from their families. It’s very demanding and very competitive, and although NASA says it doesn’t look into the personal lives of people who work for them, former astronauts and doctors at NASA have expressed their feelings that NASA should even review its personnel screening process, since it would be dangerous for someone to “snap like this” during a mission (esp. long duration ones).

This indeed has been a very sensitive and very sad situation, and I think it was very lucky that Ms. Nowak was prevented from doing something berserk. This may have been there from the first 7 jet pilot volunteer astronauts of Project Mercury, this personal life stress factor, but this is where it burst along a weak seam. It may have been overlooked atleast in part amidst the glamor and heroic splendor of the astronaut job. Anyway since there’s a screening review I think if there’s something amiss it would be found out. Although it seems a ‘well-planned’ at a legal viewpoint, I think this incident has much more deep stuff hidden beneath it.

Ms. Nowak was released from police custody under conditional bail and is in 30-day leave from NASA after she went through medical and psychiatric evaluation at Johnson Space Center, Houston. Wikipedia and NASA have news and statements on this unfortunate event.

Wi-Fi backpack

Don’t get addicted to your backpack. Of course, this only applies to student [and ex-] geeks, who don’t feel at home without several books slung across their shoulder. This might well sound like exaggeration, but it is true. One can get addicted to one’s backpack, and may feel like an astronaut without the bulky EVA pack. You crave to go without it, be, er.., free, carry less weight, but then, you can’t. You have to take it. I tried it. And failed yesterday. Wonder whether I’d need counseling or something to give it up when required atleast.

Addiction

Yes. Yesterday I tried to go to campus without my backpack. Hmm… Not easy. Actually what I had was an innocent project discussion and it would’ve been more than sufficient to go in my trousers T-shirt wallet flash disk and mobile. But I had to. Put up some useless junk and carried it anyways. Couldn’t do without. I kinda feel naked whenever I have to leave without my shoes in my sandals, but now I feel the same without that darn pack.

I never carried my stuff in hand, as the wiser [perhaps maybe] generation does. ALWAYS I’ve had a bag, pack or whatever. During last few months or so in school I confess I carried the few books in hand, mostly cause I had to carry a briefcase type bag those days. But again when I started undergrad school again I got a new pack. That is how the habit carried/s on.

Actually what’s in?

I too, have wondered sometimes. Only once in several blue moons that I really dig in it for something that important. Let’s see, hmm.. Here’s a list:

• Books [notepads, textbooks, something relevant from the library, and some light reading. Never exceeds, maybe six? 3-4 usually. Used as ballast also on really useless missions]
• Bottle of distilled water [to avoid dehydration in the super dry AC atmosphere and hot humid day conditions. really useful]
• Mom’s compact umbrella [when raining. mostly leave home]
• Software [Linux live CD(pref. kubuntu), two borrowed movie CDs]
• Pens pencils sharpener eraser ruler.
• Dictionary [pocket actually. stems from my little pre first-year days]
• Phonebook printout [copy from PC. don't have one on mob. Failsafe.]
• Some blank paper [for notetaking (in library etc.)]
• That’s about it.

In fact, there’s nothing very much to be addicted in there. Actually I think it’s better to learn to live minimally without it. So for a change I’ve decided [to consider] only to take it on main lecture days. Other days, na na. Live on mobile and flash disk. Actually it’s possible to do I guess.

And on second thoughts, what the heck?

Sri Lanka has celebrated its 59th Independence Day in style as usual. That’s fine, as a once proud nation must. Add a routine military might display as well, and you’ve got a concoction for celebrating Independence of half a century and one decade. But that’s not enough. To become independent as a nation, its people should be independent as individuals. That exactly is what lacking.

Independent People

On the 04th of February, we celebrate the nominal independence we gained from the British. I don’t know how independent we are as a nation and from what, but at grassroots level we aren’t independent as the word would mean. What I’m talking about is personal independence. How independent as individuals we Sri Lankans are.

Sri Lankan society is utterly dependent. It is sometimes said that the Sri Lankan society is better since it is more ‘connected’, but I think it does more harm that good (actually what meant by connected is dependent, I presume). I don’t know whether it’s a remain from the days we spent as a nation under foreign rule, but it is there. It has become almost a habit. A rule. Children are dependent on parents, students are dependent on teachers, workers are dependent on bosses, etc., etc. Dependent means an utter dependence. A can’t-do -without situation, and a situation where dependents wait for everything from their superiors. What it results in is dependence in thought, and a lack in original thought as a nation. A nation of followers.

A reason I sometimes think this stems from is governments being more socialist than they should’ve been. Governments have been doing stuff for their people that they should have been doing and not have been doing as well. It’s good to have everything for free, but then again, not for everyone. Social benefits should be there, but must cater only for people who deserve them. Free education, yes. For people who cannot pay for it. Free health, yes, of course. But for people who cannot afford it. It only hinders the development of the country to provide everything free for people whether or not they need it, and worse, it has made a generation who wait instead of working for it. Some independence. [But of course only governments who give the most for free get elected. Happened from the beginning. So it's just natural selection, I guess]

Perhaps it’s too late for it. It’s what people have been used to. I think it takes more bravery to be truly free, that’s what. A paradigm shift is one of the most difficult things. So it might take a determined dictator to make a change. But it should not be impossible. Only thing required is a true need. But somewhere from the very top what one thinks about is just-in-time solutions, it may be hard.