Obviously the moderation has improved enormously. The question of civil conversation has gone up and down but for the most part things have stayed civil. To 15 more years of that... ..hopefully I'll live to see it....
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I don't remember the details saar. Back then there was no TEF or GDF IIRC so everything ended up in the same place. It was something to do with the Himalayan Mountains and Kargil and in retrospect I should have realized tempers were running high. In any case I posted in a looong and certain over authoritative way with detailed reference and quotes from text books, why the geology of the mountains varied so much and why the terrain is particularly harsh on equipment & people sp. in monsoon and blammo, next thing I know the Bofors guns had been trained on direct (not ballistic) fire on me...Rahul M wrote:Theo saar, what did you say that was so detonating ?
Fair enough. My judgement is based on what he said when I had an excellent reason to diss the late ex-PM VP Singh. He started talking Actinides and things neither he had any knowledge of nor did I atthat time. Then comes back with "mujhe maloom paDa kiI thotA cHAnA AwAz ziyAdA karthA hai". Hum hyderabadi nabobi logOn kO dilli billi urdu to samajh each nahi AtA. hamare sar mein dard hOta. kyan karein? I vountarily left in disgust. Poster raju, who supposedly had a long dilli babu career - which was self-claimed by her since she claimed she joined BRF right after she retired from service - also threw a little bit of ghee into the fire and Alok_N pacifying Arun_S as if I am going to hurt our vaishanvi-atman, I voluntarily left in disgust.Raja Bose wrote:I am basing my observations based on what I have seen in person. Nothing to do with loyalty or friendship.matrimc wrote:RB: Hat tip to you for your loyalty to a friend, I suppose.
I think in 30’s or 40’s S. Chandresekahar ( Nobel Prize winning Physicist) was returning home (Tamil Nadu) from Bengal. This was after a successful seminar in Physics where many physics- big shots thought very highly of his lectures, so he was very happy. But the happiness did not last long when a particularly rude British couple entered his Train compartment. To put it mildly, the couple was not even aware that they were traveling with a really brilliant young scientist. The woman particularly did not like the fact that she has to share that First-class compartment with a native, but finally, remarking something like, “at least he is wearing proper clothes” , she was calmed down by her companion.
(S. C. was wearing suit and tie..)
So naturally Chandra got up, went to the bathroom, changed into lungi etc… The woman actually pulled the chain and made the train stop and raised a big racket in front of the train officials etc..(The official(s) could not do a thing as Chandra politely showed no interest in moving, when requested ….The lady was hysterical and made a real fool of herself and had to give in by moving (to another compartment .. in 2nd class…)
(No one would suspect that such a polite and proper “Dr. Chandra” could be mischievous too..)
Amber G. wrote:I joined BRF in 1998, though my profile says I joined in 2002. Mostly lurked or seldom posted in the beginning. Not a part of inner crowd but have been looking at BRF for a long time. Probably the only brf member whose "Most active topic" is BR Maths Corner, though Physics and nuclear dhaga also contains my posts. (At Ramana's request, I also put many messages in Fukushima nuclear dhaga to share some of the technical knowledge)
I remember BRF, because just a few days after Pokharan II, I was in Washington as a coach of a state team for a national math competition and our team was guest of our senator (he agreed to show us around the senate). He became extremely busy in those days, so we spent a little less time with him and little more time with his staff. (He was involved in fairly well known bills relating to India and the PKII event was a big deal. The general trend in Washington around that time was fairly anti-India. To the senator's credit, he listened to other point of view - the team also had an Indian student and Indian Parent so I was not alone. I think we did a pretty good job in convincing him that US had nothing to fear from India, besides no one should be surprised as India, since mid 60's had that capability. BRF came in very handy as a resource for references/links to other viewpoints. (One of the staff member, later sent me an email telling me that she actually joined brf but was banned just after her first post.)
When I look back, I remember just after nuke deal there was a poll. At that time, it looked like everyone in brf was against it. Mine was the first vote for support and I was surprised that at the end the result was a 50-50 -- supporters/opponents. The thing which disturbed me was that some people, without any valid reason, were ready to call Indian Scientists/leaders as traitors.
And like others, I miss posts from people like Alok_N, Prof. Hoyt, and many others. It is a shame that such people were driven away.
No contact ramana garu. If he is reading this forum I hope he will reply.ramana wrote: Altair, I recall that evening. Do you know how the third guest is doing? he contributed Unkil and MUTU to BRF vocabulary.
Sorry, did not mean to touch a nerve. Was just wondering about the need to reinvent one's self!! Not that its bad, but why change the ID? People can and should have the right to change their viewpoints as they grow in knowledge and wisdom and experience!!matrimc wrote: Ldev ji: several non-snarky explanations are possible but you have to pick one of e explanations that will put down others! Good going.
Refer my post above in response to matrimc.Satya_anveshi wrote:ldev ji,
do you know who said this:
I note that you have not only resumed posting here but also have been speaking in favor of 'hindu nationalist' govt and modi's vision this and that."But every discussion has become so politicized, its sickening. Where have all the sane moderators run off too? They have left the lunatics in charge of the asylum."
Could it be because some on this forum have/had foresight (before you) to identify the merits of the new govt and as a corollary the loot of the old govt across all strategically imp areas due to which the discussion had to veer into politics eventually?
I got banned by some grumpy mod for using the word "Bhooka-nangadeshi" refering to our crazy neighbors to our East.negi wrote:When I had joined BRF it was a secular forum , political correctness was the norm only TSP thread was an exception however things have improved and for good. A bit of sophistry still exists but that is common to all Indians i.e fck/a$sehole is acceptable and cool but chootiy@ might get you a warning .