NP hard problem

OK, after being dormant and completely inactive in blogging, I have finally resolved to get back to more active blogging.  It is not that there were any lack of interesting incidents that led to my entering the dormant stage, it was rather a lot of other reasons (read laziness).  Let us see if my mid-year resolution holds for the next half of the year. I will start with a post on one interesting situation I faced a couple of days back.

Last weekend, I visited Chennai to attend a family function. And as my wont, I decided to do a long run on Sunday. Chennai, being renowned for the hot and humid place that it is, is not a conducive place for such runs, especially for those who are not used to its weather. So I decided to do an early morning run and left home at around 4:45 AM on a two wheeler. It was here that I realized, in spite of all my years of riding, there has been one problem that I have never managed to solve.

That is the problem of handling chasing dogs when driving a two wheeler. The pack of dogs seem to reserve all their courage and ferociousness for those hapless two wheeler riders of early morning and can really give them their "fright of their lives".  How do you solve this problem? If you try to drive faster and get away from the place, you are sure to hit the biggest speed breaker ever just a few meters away or worse still, come face to face with another speeding two wheeler trying to escape dogs from the other end of the street. You could try kicking them, but then that is no easy task either. And if you have dogs chasing you on both sides, you have had it. There is an inner urge to drive over them, but then you don't want to do it, even if you are not a Maneka Gandhi fan. This is one hell of a NP-hard problem.

Comments

That Bob said…
NP-hard and chasing dogs ! Give it some days, you will come up on the list :) - http://www.google.com/search?q=np+hard+dogs+chasing
July 6, 2010 at 8:58 AM
Unknown said…
I totally understand.
Here is one solution.

Dog-Off Pro Series
Ultrasonic Dog Deterrent
http://www.ultimatebarkcontrol.com/dog_off_pro.htm

Kiran is coming to India. I can send it through her if you want one.
Udai
September 8, 2010 at 9:00 AM
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