Foss @ MindSay

Recently, i was invited by Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kochi (Cochin), Kerala,  to participate in their national conference on computational science and engineering (NCCSE 09). It was a memorable visit to a memorable institution. I was amazed and impressed by their commitment to socially responsible activities. I visited their waste disposal facility, verimculture facility, bio-gas facility, and ground water conservation facilities. Very thoughtfulof them. I am strongly convinced that big and beautiful buildings do not make a great institution. Thoughtful and responsible people create such institutions. The conference itself was very enlightening. The best part of my visit was to notice the amount of attention they give to hospitality. Right from the moment we stepped out of the train, till we were safely on our way back home, we had student volunteers pampering us.

Thank you Rajagiri for this excellent experience.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Sanjiv Kumar from India's (and perhaps Asia's) largest university -- Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). We discused the idea of settingup some organised activities to promote the usage of Scilab in India. there were lots of ideas and lots of suggestions and of course the feeling of having a lot of work to do.

Scilab is an amazingly rich software for doing mathematics. Comes from INRIA, Europe's most respected institute for research in computer science. Scilab (and FOSS) is the answer to the prayers of teachers and students of developing countries like India.

I wish IGNOU's initiative will be realised during my lifetime. I would be proud to have been a  part of that vision. If you are interested in joining in, just send me an email. Together, let us build a great India !

There is a beautiful place in The Yorkshire Dales called Malhamdale.
And, in Malhamdale there is walk that can be taken to a place called Janet's Foss.
Janet(or Jennet) is said to be Queen of the local fairies and Foss is a Scandinavian word for Waterfall or force.
Local legend claims that Janet lives behind or near the waterfall.
On the walk up to Janet's Foss, past the smithy and across the little bridge, the path becomes shadier and more tree lined, and the smell of wild garlic is very noticeable.

Then.. There are the trees like this one..

I think that the coins were put there by  people wanting their wishes granted by the Fairies.
Janet's Foss was a lovely shaded place to relax and cool down, away from the hot sun.

When we did finally venture away from the shaded area, we crossed a farmer's field and found ourselves on top of a huge limestone causeway. 
It was so scary!
 This photo was taken when we got off that bit and onto a nice almost flat bit of land.


And, after many, many slippery steps we reached the bottom of the path. 
It was such a relief to be on flat land again, and on the final mile or so back to the car.
I did take one look back to get a photograph of the rocks that we had climbed down from.


(Thank you Darren.)

References
http://www.malhamdale.com/janetsfoss.htm