Asset Building

The Government says that Nira Radia built up an empire of 900 crores in a short period of 9 years. Hence she was investigated.

As per a magazine article, Jagan Reddy has done a similar thing in probably an even shorter time. Raja's company has gone to become a 600 crore company from one crore I believe. What about them? Some time back, before the Karnataka Assembly elections, NDTV showed the rise in income of politicians over a few years. The appreciation of a few was over 1000%! Are they being investigated? Can you throw stones at somebody if you are living in a glass house?

India's Cash Economy?

There was a quote in a recent edition of Business Today by Ajay Banga, Head of Mastercard in India. He says that Indians prefer dealing in cash. They do not like electronic money as it can mean monitoring by the IT people. Now, I think I have said this before also, but I will say it again. Probably everyone who pays tax grumbles about it. Add to that the misuse of the public's money and one's blood really boils. 

Mayawati's statue-building spree immediately comes to mind. The CPM government in West Bengal has renamed the New Town area as Jyoti Basu Nagar. It is probably set to install a number of statues of him also. I would be happier if the government instead spent the money on hiring more people for the metro's construction and then named the metro after Jyoti Basu (I know, construction happens through tenders, blah blah, but I can hope). Also, every time I pay sales tax I am adding to the state government's kitty, so I should have a say in state finances also!

Today, I don't think there is a really effective way of registering protesting against misuse of public funds. One can always approach the courts, but what the outcome would be is something that is highly questionable. But sigh, what can be done?

The Innovative Nature of Miserliness

I do not claim to be a miser, let this be my disclaimer. Yesterday I came back from Bengaluru to Kolkata and had to go home from the airport. It was around 10.30 PM. Owing to the long line (and possibly missing clerk) at the pre-paid taxi booth I decided to find my own way. I underestimated the distance from the airport to the main road and walked, but that is a separate story. The taxi fare from my place to the airport will hardly be 60 rupees. The rates I got quoted 250, 270 and 190! 

Eventually I caught an auto (auto rickshaw to be more specific) and then a (cycle) rickshaw and reached home by spending 40 rupees. In the course of that journey I was reminded of a small joke I read.

There is a couple and both are misers. One day the husband comes home from work, panting and sweating. The wife asks him what happened. He proudly tells her, "Instead of catching my daily bus, today I ran after it and saved 8 rupees!" She glares at him angrily and retorts, "You are good for nothing! You should have run after an auto and saved 50 rupees!"

Vindicated?

I wrote a post commenting upon the non-transparent funding of our political parties. Coincidentally, two Congress members have been caught on camera discussing funding for an upcoming rally. The CM has apparently given 2 crores for buses for the rally. From where is this money coming? The CM said there is nothing wrong in this as the ex-President of the BJP was caught on camera accepting money.

Does the guy realize what nonsense he is spouting? Do two wrongs make a right? Is he justifying his actions on the basis that someone else has done something similar? Is there no moral thought left in politics today?

No Army for the CWG Closing Ceremony

NDTV reports that in spite of doing all it has done till now for the CWG the Army is not being allowed to attend the closing ceremony as there are no tickets available. Also Kalmadi was apparently heckled when he recently went out to have food. Apparently a few people surrounded him causing him to summon his security inside the restaurant. After that all the patrons apparently started abusing him following which he left the restaurant.

He is probably number one on India's most hated list along with the likes of Omar Abdullah, the Karnataka Governor et al.

Horse Trading and Political Funding

The drama that is unfolding in Karnatka is interesting. It seems to prove why time and again people in India face a dilemma as to who to elect? It becomes difficult to decide who to sympathize with. On one hand there is a political party which came to power after being backstabbed by its partner in its alliance agreement. This government has been accused of helplessly standing by when two mining barons illegally mined tonnes and tonnes of iron ore as they wished. The Chief Minister has been accused of giving away prime property at throwaway rates. Do we pity the CM for his helplessness or revile him because of the property dealings? On the other hand we have a party which seems to want to ensure that the present government goes out of power and whose only objective is to grab power, everything else be damned.

The Congress has holed up its MLAs in a resort in Maharashtra to ensure that they are not won over by the BJP. The rebel BJP MLAs are holed up in Chennai. The Governor seems to be interested in the entire scene shooting off a letter to the Speaker who in turn is taking umbrage at the Governor's actions. This would not be the first time a Governor originally from the Congress takes actions that benefit the party at the state level. 

Now the question that comes to mind is, how is the Congress funding its MLAs' stay? Where is it getting the money from? For that matter where do all political parties get their money from? I checked out the websites of the INC and the BJP. Neither seems to have given a clear list of the fund sources. This is one scenario. We also have people like Mayavati. The money that she is spending to build her own statues is from the taxpayers. The CPM government in West Bengal has renamed the New Town locality in Kolkata to Jyoti Basu Nagar and is also planning to install a number of statues of him. This is again from taxpayers' money. In the media there are advertisements which exhort taxpayers to pay their taxes and hold their head high, to contribute to the future of the country etc. Why should I spend my hard-earned money on taxes when I see all the kinds of people that I have just described and people like Kalmadi? When I know most of the money I pay will go into somebody's pocket illegally it just makes my blood boil. So why do we pay taxes? Willingly? No, we only pay them beacause it would be illegal if we did not.

Hobson's Choice

This is a term I learnt during my Intermediate days in Visakhapatnam (for the uninitiated, that means classes 11 and 12). This is the Wiki link.

Look at this article. Can there be a more blatant example of trying to reach out to a votebank? Why did I use the term? Today voters in Bengal face that situation exactly. The CPM has been in power for too long, has taken some unpopular decisions and is not exactly the most popular formation today. The Congress and (especially) the NDA have not been very significant players anyway. So the only option for the voters is the Trinamool Congress. 

Rahul Gandhi was in town recently. The arrangements made would have left one wondering if the PM or the President was visiting. For god's sake, he is a king-in-waiting, save us the inconvenience till he at least becomes king. His impact on the forthcoming state elections remains to be seen.

Elsewhere Telangana supporters are protesting against the use of the word Komaram in Pawan Kalyan's new movie. Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party was against a separate Telangana and the name is apparently someone associated with the Telangana region. There were protestors earlier against Junior NTR's Adhurs as he also did not support a separate Telangana apparently. I am currently reading the White Tiger by Aravind Adiga which I received as a gift. It's quite an interesting book. The term poverty porn comes to mind, but at the same time it is a thought-provoking book about India today, what we have done to our people, what has become of it. Well-to-do (middle class also for that matter) Indians and especially politicians should  ideally read it. Combine my thoughts from the book and what I see happening daily and I cannot but feel a sense of disgust with the cesspool that is the Indian political sphere today. Will I step up and do something instead of just commenting? Let's see.

A Case of Mistaken Working Hours

7.30 AM - Too early, so jaa

~8.10 AM - Too late, uth jaa

8.45 - I can't find a shuttle to go to office!

till 9.15 - Chatting with the driver, a Nepali who has been in Kolkata for the past 15 years, 6 years in Mumbai and 9 months in Visakhapatnam, at the end of which he charges me Rs 30 instead of Rs 20

9.20 - Call from colleague, he is alone in office, no one has turned up. I assure him the office is open today, in fact the HR has put a mail to that effect!

A few minutes later - The guy at the reception asks me why I have come to office. My colleague informs me, next Saturday is working in lieu of a bandh day this week.

Me - @%#&!%@&!*!%@!&@*#*#*#

Moral of the story - Read mails in their entirety, do not assume their contents.

Ravana 3

I had said in the post before the last that I would narrate a story about Ravana. This is the sthalapuraanam of a place called Gokarna in Karnataka. A film called Bhookailas was made in Telugu starring N T Rama Rao, which forms the basis of my narration.

Ravana's mother Kaikasi used to make a linga out of sand and worship Siva. Indra was told this was the source of Ravana's power and hence he made the sea destroy the linga when she made it. Ravana was infuriated when he heard his mother's complaint and decided to get the aatmalinga which is said to be inside Siva himself. He went off to perform penance. However when Siva finally appeared in front of him Vishnu subjected Ravana to the effects of his maaya. In that state Ravana fell in love with Parvati and asked Siva to grant her to him. Siva agreed and Parvati had no other option but to follow him. Parvati came to know that it was because of Vishnu that she was separated from her Lord and cursed him to suffer the same fate (we see this happening once in the uttara kaanda of the Ramayana). Finally Ravana came to his senses after some time and resumed his penance. He finally appeased Siva who granted Ravana his aatmalinga. 

Narada egged Vinayaka to take back the linga, who takes the form of a young boy grazing his cattle. Ravana was a brahmin. So he had to perform the sandhyaavandana ritual. When Siva gave Ravana the linga he had told him that under no circumstance was it to touch the ground. If it did, the earth would attract it with so great a force that nothing would be able to move it. Mindful of this, Ravana gave the linga to the disguised Vinayaka and told him not to let it touch the ground. Vinayaka agreed on the condition that if he found it difficult to hold he would call out for Ravana thrice and then put it down. As Ravana was performing his ritual VInayaka called out twice. Hearing that Ravan came running back but by the time he could come back, Vinayaka called out for the third time and kept it on the ground. Unable to move the linga Ravana decided to end his life there and started dashing his head against the linga. Finally Siva appeared in front of him and blessed him saying that this place would become famous as bhookailaas or Kailaasa  on the earth.

Thus, even if it was unwittingly, Ravana was responsible for the establishment of a holy place of pilgrimage which is said to house Siva's aatmalinga itself.

To Own or to Create?

The (weird) poet in me has once again awoken. My reader, I put this creation of mine in front of the eyes of thine :D

One day, when I sat tired of all the dissembling and debauchery,
There came along a whiff of fresh air, so sweet,
It rejuvenated my faith in the world,
But when I tried holding it in the palm of my hand,
For I wished not to be parted from the fragrance,
Away it slipped, reminding it belonged not to me but to the world,
Make your own fragrance, it said, for I only carry it,
Blessed I am that I spend some time in the maker's presence,
That is the only true way to possess me,
So my dear, yours is only to attract but not to capture me,
It is I who will come to you, but before that be worthy of me,
Since that day I have toiled, that I be worthy of judgement,
Woe is me, that dawn is yet to come....

The Expendables

There are no spoilers here, so anyone who has to see the movie need not worry. I had to write this post. I decided that in the hall itself. I saw the first show on the first day of the movie. First of all a warning to the womenfolk - STAY AWAY. This is strictly a guy movie. There might have been around 30 people in the theatre, there were hardly 3 ladies in the audience.

First of all, why did Stallone make this movie? Was he bored of sitting at home and not killing people? I am sure the number of kills has surpassed that in the latest Rambo movie. Nothing to this effect has been said on Wikipedia yet but I am sure it is only a matter of time before this is affirmed. The sheer range of weaponry used to take human lives is staggering - right from knives to guns that blow up people. I was chuckling to myself, literally. After a point it becomes funny. Twards the end there is a scene where the bad guys are literally being blown away! The way people are killed in the movie is simply unbelievable. If a guy and a girl watch this movie, I am sure both will scream - the guy out of pleasure and the girl out of fear. The movie is an orgy of violence. There are plenty of explosions and gunfights to keep the guys happy.

The cast is also like a dream - Stallone, Statham, Jet Li. Bruce Willis ad Schwarzzenegger are also there, but they have a mere token presence. I don't think they were even credited in the beginning. Stallone and Arnold take potshots at each other which makes for some funny remarks. Remember Kambakkht Ishq (I don't know if I have the spelling right , blame the producers' faith in numerology, we have Kkusum, Kambakkht Ishq, Karzzzz etc)? The time Stallone spends on-screen in that movie must be similar to Arnold's (his surname is too confusing for me, so I use his first name) in this one (disclaimer - I have not seen KI, I saw a Youtube video).

So there are guns, explosion, gore and oh yes, some hot chicas. What more can a guy want out of a movie?

Ravana 2

I come back to the story about Jaya and Vijaya. They opted for three births as enemies of Vishnu. They were born as Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, Ravana and Kumbhakarna, and Sisupala and Dantavaktra. So Ravana was in a way looking for liberation from his birth so that he could progress to the next one and thus come closer to his Lord.

Now Ravana was a brahman by birth. If not for his lust for women and power Ravana was an eminent personality. He was a great devotee of Siva, an exponent of the Veena (which was in fact the symbol on his chariot's flag, the way Hanuman was on Arjuna's flag). Ashok Banker (who in my opinion has been seriously influenced by the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter) in his Ramayana series says that the meaning of Ravana is "he who makes the universe scream". In fact I believe it is the other way round. Once Ravana tried to lift the entire Kailasa mountain with Siva and his retinue on it. Siva pressed down his toe crushing Ravana's hands under the mountain. The roar of pain that Ravana let out was supposed to have been the reason why he was named so. He was probably born as Kaikasi Brahma (I am most probably wrong about the name, if anyone knows his birth name, please tell me).

As he was a brahman Rama incurred brahmahatyaapatakam and had to perform some ceremonies to compensate for the sin. Rama is said to have worshipped Siva and hence the term Ramalingeswara. The temple at Rameswaram is the place where Rama is said to have performed his pooja.

In the next post, I shall write about a story from Ravana's life. The source is a Telugu movie. By the way, Wikipedia has a nice article on Ravana.

Ravana 1

A reader is apparently a fan of Ravana and has asked me to write something on him. So this post is an attempt in that direction. First of all, I wish to narrate a story about Ravana's origin. Most of you might know this already, but anyway...

Jaya and Vijaya are the gatekeepers of Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu. One day some sages came to visit the Lord when they were barred entrance. Angered they cursed the duo that they would lose their positions (I am not sure about the exact curse). When the duo approached Vishnu for deliverance he said that he could not go against the curse of the sages but then gave them two options. They could either be born as his devotees for a hundred births and then return to Vaikuntha at the end or they could be born as his enemies for three births and then return to him. As the duo could not bear to be separated from their Lord for a very long time they opted for the latter course. Here I shall narrate a different story (a story inside a story inside a story :)).

The story I am narrating now is from the Telugu movie Mayabazar. There is a magical chest in the story. When one opens it the chest is supposed to show the person who thinks of the person the most. When Krishna opens it against everybody's expectations Shakuni's face appears. Everyone is shocked. The explanation is that even though Shakuni keeps thinking of Krishna in order to plot ways to work against him, he is by that very act itself keeping the Lord continuously in his thoughts. Thus not only a devotee but an enemy (if one may use that word) of God also keeps Him in mind always. The rest of the narration shall continue in the next post(s).

A Tale about Shakuni

Though this may not be directly related to Yuganta I was reminded of this and hence am posting it here. My sources are an old Telugu movie (I am not sure which one) and a Telugu Mahabharata.

When Gandhari was born astrologers had predicted that there was widowhood in her horoscope. As an alternative before her wedding with Dhritarashtra she was apparently married to an animal (a goat I believe) which was killed then. One day when the Pandavas and Dhaartarashtras were playing Duryodhana insulted Bhima by taunting him that he was not the son of his father. Bhima retorted by saying that Duryodhana was the son of a widow. Angered he went back to the palace and found out the truth. He imprisoned his grandfather (Gandhari's father) and all her brothers. Every day they used to get one grain of rice per person. Shakuni was the youngest of them all and so the grandfather and his sons decided that they would contribute their grains to feed Shakuni everyday. Ultimately all of them died of starvation except Shakuni. He made a set of dice from the bones (probably vertebrae) of his father. For some reason Duryodhana released him from prison and Shakuni remained at Hastinapura. But Shakuni did not forget the treatment meted out to him and his family and secretly plotted his vengeance. Thus all the time Shakuni was helping Duryodhana against the Pandavas he was in fact plotting the downfall of the Kuru dynasty itself. It was Shakuni who helped Duryodhana win the game of dice that sent the Pandavas into exile. This was the basis for the Kurukshetra war.

Yuganta - Bhishma

On reading my earlier post a reader had suggested a book which I am assuming is Yuganta by Irawati Karwe. I found a version online and downloaded it and am reading it now. It is an analysis of the various characters in the Mahabharata. I have nothing against women per se, and I am all for equality between men and women. In fact I support women's empowerment (conditions apply). Somehow two articles on the epics I read, both by women, have raised my hackles. One was an extremely feminist view of the Ramayana where the author(ess?) lambasts the treatment meted out to Sita - how she went to the forest at such a tender age, her banishment to the forest etc). I wish to point out that Sita went willingly against all advice for her to stay back in Ayodhya. I cannot totally explain the banishment part but let me just say that I would probably like to have a discussion with that lady (the writer).

One of my colleagues is from IIMA's agri business program. Apparently Yuganta was recommended reading by their ethics faculty member. The writer raises some questions about Bhishma - did Bhishma accomplish anything via his vows consiering that a lot of strife happened anyway, why did he accept the general's position for the war etc. I am not a scholar of her level but I shall attempt to answer her questions on the various characters in my next few posts.

Krishna says in the Gita to do one's work because it has to be done, without expectation or concentrating on the results. I would answer her question about the utility of Bhishma's vows via this sloka. Tomorrow the Prime Minister can say that given our history with Pakistan the Kashmir issue will never be resolved and give up peace talks. Is that justified. Here I must confess that my argument can be given by some as an example of the concept called reductio ad absurdum introduced to me by Sheldon Cooper of the sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. 

She asks why he was silent when Draupadi was being humiliated. There is a story I read in a Telugu children's magazine. I do not know whether it exists anywhere in Hindu literature or is a fabrication but it provides an answer. When after the war Bhishma tells the Pandavas some good practices to be followed an angered Draupadi questions him as to why he was silent when she was being humiliated and is spouting advice now. He answers her that as a subject of Duryodhana/Dhritarashtra he could not go against his liege. Why Bhishma took up the generalship can probably be answered by combining the logic of the present and the previous para. 

I think I shall have quite a few bones to pick with the author.By the way, after reading Ashok Banker's version of the Ramayana I posted a comment on his site expressing my anguish. It does not seem to have been approved (will it be?) and is not visible now. I shall post a link to it if it does get approved.

Duality in a Sloka

Most if not all have heard of the sloka asato maa sadgamaya. This is a sloka from the Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad. It goes as follows.

असतो मा सद्गमय 

तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय 

मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः 

Meaning - Lead/direct me from untruth to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. Om peace, peace, peace.

Now this is what people know in general. I was thinking about this the other day when an interesting duality struck me. The word मा in the above sloka means 'me'. For those aware of shabdas in Sanksrit, it is the prathama purusha ekavachanam of the yushmad shabda. However, the word can mean something else also. It can also mean 'do not'. I will explain. The following lines are from the Bhaja Govindam written by Adi Sankaracharya.

मा कुरु धनजनयौवनगर्वम्

हरति निमेषात् कालः सर्वम्

मायमयमिदमखिलं हित्वा 

 ब्रह्मपदं त्वं प्रविश विदित्वा 

Meaning - Do not pride yourself over wealth, friends (or people support) and youth. Time takes away all of them in an instant. Understand that all of this is maaya  and attain the abode of Brahma (moksha actually, not literally the abode of Brahma).

The first word here mean 'do not'. If I extend this logic to the first sloka it will mean do not lead me from untruth to truth etc. So does this mean that man should strive to attain these for himself than be dependent on anybody, even God? Ramakrishna Paramahamsa talked about the concept of absolute surrender to God. My idea seems to be in direct contradiction to his viewpoint and I do not consider myself anywhere worthy enough to question his logic. So probably it means that man should work on his own after a point rather than be dependent on his guru or anyone else. Complicated thinking, eh?

Tax Havens

India and Switzerland are negotiating a treaty whereby India can gain some access to details of the money deposited by its citizens in Swiss accounts. The question is, does the government have similar treaties in place or at least lined up with other countries also? Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Lichtenstein are three countries I, a layman, can think of off the top of my head which can be alternatives to Switzerland. Those who stash the money away must surely be more aware than I am.So unless there are treaties with all these nations I cannot understand how the Swiss treaty can be affective. 

Furthermore the treaty has to be approved by Parliament and when this will happen is a big question mark. Opposition parties have not been letting the Parliament function properly and surely there must be many politicians among those who have money abroad illegally. So the more the treaty's ratification is delayed the more time these people will have to look for alternative locations.

Another point of interest is the tax situation in our country. I do not have the exact figures but apparently about 1% or so of our population pays income tax. Somehow this seems unfair especially when we hear about various irregularities in spending the taxpayers' money. Agricultural income is not taxed at all. This can be brought into the tax ambit. Rates can be lowered and simultaneously penalties for evasion should be made very high to deter. In US courts defendants are occasionally slapped with very high damages. I believe the idea is to deter them from repeating the mistake/offence (the success of this is another question altogether). This is the concept I am talking about. The evasion penalties must be so high that people should think twice before planning tax evasion. However as I have said, the rates should also be brought down simultaneously, thus encouraging more people to honestly pay their taxes.

Man and Nature

Yesterday I saw the 2008 film The Day the Earth Stood Still. This is a remake of a 1951 film that I had seen in my childhood on TV once. The new movie is about aliens wanting to remove the human race from the earth so that it can survive while I think the old one was based on some weaponisation plans humans had in mind. Keanu Reeves' character says that he had come to save the planet which Jennifer Connelly interprets as saving humans, then she realizes that he wanted to save the planet from humans. Remember Agent Smith's comments in one of the the Matrix movies where he likens humans to a virus? Well, both of them do not sound so out of place when we saw what we are doing to our planet today. 

I was reading a forwarded Yahoo! article which says that microbes are busy cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. This once again illustrates how nature cleans up man's messes. Man is capable of great innovations but occasionally he needs that incentive to survive or flourish (something similar to a line from the 2008 film). I believe that one of the reasons why advancements in the renewable energy have not been as quick as is desirable is that we still have an abundant supply of fossil fuels. In spite of global warming, pollution, fluctuating crude prices and what not we still guzzle fossil fuels. If the present government takes a firm decision to increase the fuel prices in line with global prices for India's long-term economic health hypocritical and opportunistic political parties raise a hullabaloo. This can in fact force people to look at alternatives (the government unarguably also has a major role to fulfill here). India and China are the world's largest bicycle manufacturers, but is their usage being promoted as much in India as in China? We have a huge power shortage and the announcements I see in the paper are all thermal power plants (gas-based if not coal-based).

So, more incentives need to be given to the renewable energy sector even if that means taking resources away from the fossil fuel based sectors. Automotive companies should be given incentives to develop sustainable technology. I wonder when world leaders will really implement these measures and more in full spirit.

Pale Blue Dot

The title of this post is a book by Carl Sagan. I was going through this article on Wikipedia when I felt I had to share it with others. The image below is that of the earth taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft. Below that is the one which marks the earth in a circle.

I am directly pasting what is given on that page. The following words are by Carl Sagan himself.

"From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of particular interest. But for us, it's different. Consider again that dot. That's here, that's home, that's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

Humbling, isn't it?

As You Sow...

The British PM said in an interview to NDTV that Pakistan has to close terror camps on its soil to which Pakistan has reacted quite angrily saying its oft-repeated we-are-a-victim-too excuse.

It says it has done more than any nation has done. Question. Is it not in the present situation precisely because it has been a breeding ground for terrorism? There is an old saying that even if one takes care of a snake in its infancy it will grow up and bite its owner. This applies very well in this case also. Bush talked about the war on terror. What he did not mention was that this was something the US had created, this is a well known thing worldwide now. So lamenting that it is a victim when it has created the problem does not make sense.

The civilian government in Pakistan does not seem to have any control over either the ISI or the Army who actually have called the shots historically. Musharraf was busy with the Kargil invasion even as Nawaz Sharif was talking to AB Vajpayee. Till date to my knowledge nothing has happened to Musharraf for the coup against the civilian government too. That I believe was one of the conditions for him to cede power. Today he is apparently busy on the lecture circuit.

Apart from Kashmir and terrorism water has cropped up as an important issue today. Apparently Musharraf himself in a paper that he had submitted has predicted this would happen. Pakistan is blaming India for its water problems while it has been seen that it needs to manage its water properly before it can point a finger at India. It has also been blaming India for terror attacks on its soil. It has long maintained that insurgency in its Balochistan province is supported by India. There is prevailing denial mode where Pakistan refuses to accept responsibility for its problems and simply blames India for them. There has been a sense in India that Pakistan has always had to keep the Kashmir cauldron boiling so that its own domestic problems are not concentrated upon. I am sure the general, educated public in Pakistan (or at least some of them) understand the truth. But this will surely be a minority. And as they say, a good man's silence is worse than an evil person's activities.

Polished Externally, Filthy Internally?

I once heard a story from a friend of an acquaintance (yes, long chain!). This guy used to sell software related to mobile phones. One day he went to a posh office in Gurgaon to meet the senior management. The office had a modern appearance, but the person he met gave him a shock. He was sitting in his chair with his legs propped up in the traditional village style. His take was that these were people who had come into money recently through selling their agricultural lands. The money changed their outer appearances but at heart they were what they were. My present narration is something on those lines and specifically has to do with the disgusting Indian habit of public spitting.

One case was of a person who I am assuming is an employee of a software company. I saw him in Salt Lake where a lot of software professionals stay, he was of the right age to fit the profile and had a bag which had the name of a software company on it. He had a polished appearance and had he put on any more deodorant I would probably have had breathing problems. Then he spit on the road from a moving auto. The other case was of a guy travelling by car. At a traffic signal he opened the door leaned out and spat onto the road. What is the use of external polish if the man does not change? 

There is a sloka which goes like this(forgive me for any mistakes) -

कर्पूरधूली  रचितालवालः कस्तूरिकापन्कनिमग्ननालः|

गङ्गाजलैः सिक्त समूलभालः स्वीयम् गुणं मुञ्चति किं पलाण्डुः ||

The meaning is something like this - Whether you use camphor, musk or water from the Ganges an onion will never change its true nature. Are some people like this only?

Note: The Sanskrit font and this post have been made via Epic browser.

How to Watch a Movie with Five People

Date: 19th July 2010

Venue: City Centre 2, Kolkata

The movie bug bites me and I decide to go and watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice. My flatmate who also wanted to come to the movie has slept off. I doggedly go to the mall next door. I approach the ticket counter and I get to know that the show is not there as the hall needs at least 5 people for a movie to be screened (shocked, at the lack of footfalls).

I go down, buy an Amul sundae and come up again to try my luck. The seller says the same. Now I find a mother and son (Germans) who also want to watch the movie. They have seen the movie but want to watch it again (surprised internally). We wait for more people to come in. Another guy approaches, wants to watch Lamha (curse him) and is waiting for his friend. The mother is all charm and we convince him to watch our movie instead (bless us and him). Now we have four people. I suggest splitting the fifth ticket, the son is fine, the mother dithers (I thought expats were paid well!). We wait and wait. A couple comes, they want to watch some other movie (curse them). They are not willing to convert to our movie. Some random guy comes, the mother is all charm. He has someone else with him who has an exam the next day and hence cannot watch the movie. Someone from the theatre comes, sees our earnestness and asks us to buy the tickets (bless him). The random stranger buys a ticket so that we (mostly the foreigner) can see the movie (bless him anyway). Mother and son are shocked at his sweetness and comment on it. Said good guy buys ticket and leaves. We go watch the movie. Five people enter. 

Interval time. The mother turns back and tells the projectionist to continue as no one was going anywhere. By the time we leave there are a few more in the hall leaving out the staff (surprised). The mother is no longer interested in any conversation and runs away. Overall, an interesting experience.

Ruminations on a Railway Trip

There is a place called Burdwan about 100 km from Kolkata which is the district HQ of the district of the same name. This district is like the rice bowl of West Bengal. I went there on some official work and had these thoughts on the way back on a local train. 

I was reading the Economic Times and noticed that there were three articles which had something or the other to do with LG. One article was an interview with someone from the company's senior management etc. There was this phenomenon of paid news that was well, in the news a little while back. When I saw this I began to wonder if companies actually pay newspapers to group articles about them together so as to improve recall in a reader's mind.

One of the best places to marvel at India's population is a railway station. Just stand inside the Howrah station when a local train comes in and try to walk against the flow. Those who have stayed in Mumbai must have experienced this to a much larger degree.

Railway officials stand at station exits to check whether people have bought tickets or not. This is fine as far as large stations are concerned, but what about the smaller ones? There are two kinds of people broadly that come to a railway station, passengers and those who accompany the passengers. While the former are expected to have train tickets the latter are expected to purchase platform tickets. The ticket counters are separate from the entrance possibly to reduce crowding at the entrances. But there can be many people, especially on local trains who do not purchase any kind of tickets. If the railways can allow entry only after a ticket is bought I am sure the revenue will go up compared to what it is. At the same time this should  not lead to stampedes, so appropriate measures will have to be taken in that direction also.

Hawkers are not allowed onto trains as far as I understand, they still get on and I have nothing against that per se. An interesting innovation I saw was a hook from which packets were suspended. In local trains there are these hand supports that hang from above. The vendor had his stuff hanging from a metal construction which had a hook at the top. He could thus suspend it from the hand support. I found this pretty neat. There was a vendor who was selling rice papads which are like chips. I asked him for a packet and was surprised when he said it was for two rupees. I believe these chips and other eatables (like Kurkure) are made from broken rice which is very cheaply available. Granted a company like Lay's has other expenditure like distribution costs, endorsement costs etc, but I was left wondering what the profit margins on such products are like.

Industrialization at What Cost?

Protests against protests seem to have become almost the norm in India today. Nandigram and Singur captured national attention some time back. Posco is facing opposition in Orissa and in the latest such occurrence police have lathicharged protestors in Andhra Pradesh.

The West Bengal Chief Minister has publicly spoken about the need to industrialize the state and one of his own ministers has publicly contradicted him. The minister in question has said that agriculture is the way forward for Bengal. Leaving out the rhetoric, we should consider if there is indeed truth in this. Mahatma Gandhi talked about revitalizing Indian villages. I believe this exlcusive focus on villages at the cost of industry has been criticized by the likes of Gurcharan Das. In my opinion industrialization is inevitable. How long can we sustain only on agriculture? Even in agriculture once machinery and extensive farming set in (like in the western world) the employment potential can actually come down (there is a lot of hidden unemployment in Indian agriculture).

At the same time India has been facing a crisis of sorts in food. Food inflation has been above the 10% mark for quite some time now. Tweaking the monetary policy is only a short term solution. If there is indeed a shortage of food supply for how long can restricting money supply control inflation? The government has recognized this to an extent and hence there is some movement on this front. But agriculture is a long-term game and nothing much can be done in the short term in terms of productivity or area. So in such a situation is giving away fertile land for SEZs and industries a wise move? Can we actually blame the protestors for their actions? I am not trying to do an Arundhati Roy here, I am just raising a question.

My Sanskrit sir in school used to say that a certain part of Andhra Pradesh (I forget whether it was the Konaseema part or West Godavari district or some other) can feed the entire country. While this might be a practical impossibility it suggests the fertile nature of the area. At the same time, this was not always so. Sir Arthur Cotton is one of the few Englishmen revered in India. He was the one responsible for bringing irrigation to the Konaseema area and making it the fertile area it is today. Thus the earth can provide. It is upto us how to utilize what she provides.

Diabetes Breakthrough in India

My grandfather was a diabetic. I used to see him prepare in the afternoon for his dose of insulin. My grandmother used to boil the syringes and he used sit and inject himself. I used to wonder how he could do it. Now this could be a thing of the past. Indian scientists have created a form of insulin which needs to injected much less frequently, maybe as less as once a month. This is definitely a boon for diabetic patients.

An interesting point is that this breakthrough has been achieved by a government institution and not the private sector. So there is a greater scope for this to be put to common use and less emphasis on the commercialization of the product. A patent has been filed already. Now care has to be taken that this is not leaked to anybody and that the institute that has created this should be allowed to fully enjoy the benefits.

In other news Maharashtra has suspended bus services to Belgaum in Karnataka which has been a bone of contention between the two states. The centre has said that language cannot be the only criterion to decide the state. This has been met with opposition by some Maharashtrians. Their stand is akin to saying that Kashmir should go to Pakistan because the majority population is Muslim.

I am reminded of a joke I read somewhere once. When God created the world he called his wife and showed her his creation. She examined it and said, "You have loaded India with so many riches, is it not unfair to the rest of the world?" God gave a smile and said, "Wait till you see the kind of people I create in this country."

How do you fool an EVM?

The recent movie Rajneeti has a climax scene where Manoj Bajpai is brought out of hiding by misinforming him that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were being tampered with remotely. Ajay Devgn (sic) says this is not possible and follows him. NDTV has a very interesting article on this issue. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti in Andhra Pradesh has fielded such a large number of candidates that it is not possible to accomodate them on an EVM. This is apparently to force the use of ballot paper. The paper system is easier to tamper with. Booth capturing is not an unknown practice in Indian democracy. The link says this is primarily an Indian practice. Is this our "contribution" to democracy?

This disturbingly reminds me of a Tantra tee shirt that I saw once. It says the Indians invented zero and then goes onto say that the speaker always knew that we were good for nothing!

The Common Man

A kid's parents have blamed the PM's security for their son's death. VIP security has always been a headache for the common public. The road is cleared much before the cavalcade passes through and this turns into a nightmare for the 'aam aadmi' travelling on the road.

In this case the parents had apparently told the security personnel about the need for immediate medical attention, but to no avail. This is what makes this case particularly revolting. But is there a solution to this? The PM or CM can be asked to fly over short distances also. I admit this is not practical in all cases but this option still needs to be explored. There is also the risk that security forces will point out that someone can try and shoot down the vehicle. This also needs to be factored in. After all, those who are in power to 'serve' the public should not engage in actions that will kill this very public.

A Second Bhopal Tragedy

History repeats itself. The Bhopal Tragedy has repeated itself. The first time it resulted in death and injury. This time round it has added insult to the injury. Obama was looking for someone "whose ass he could kick" after the Gulf spill incident. We have probably been trying to avoid that over the last so many years after that fateful night in 1984. 

In my opinion Arjun Singh will earn his place as one of the most hated politicians in the country in the annals of history. He was in the thick of the reservation controversy some time back and earned the wrath of a not-inconsiderable chunk of India's population. Now he is again in the news and once again, it is for the wrong reasons. News reports indicate that he might have had a role in allowing Warren Anderson to leave the country in the wake of the Bhopal tragedy. Hopefully, the actually truth will emerge at least now. The Congress finds itself on the back foot with anger increasing day-by-day.

The Supreme Court was blamed for dilution of charges from culpable homicide to causing death by negligence (I think). The former Chief Justice Mr Ahmadi has said that this was only because of the existing laws and the court cannot be blamed for following the law. Thus in this case the laws seem inadequate. The nuclear liability bill under discussion in the government has come under renewed focus after the recent verdict. There seem to be attempts to dilute this bill to favour corporations. When will Indian lives be treated to be as important as any other?

Commercial Divinity

I went to Tirupati a little while back. This is a place that seems to have perfected the art of commercializing devotion. The Sudarsan system of issuing tokens to devotees seems to be a nice way of reducing their hassles, but what about the rest of the things? Previously the famed Tirupati Laddoo could be bought at the counters according to the amount you paid. Now it is no longer that. I took a Rs 300 ticket (I think). At first glance this might seem a not-so-small amount. It took me three or so hours to have a fleeting darshan of the Lord, after I paid Rs 300. 

I had a solid-looking ring on my finger and a gold chain because of which I was probably looking quite prosperous. One of the personnel there called me to a side, showed me what is called the Ranganathamandapam (or Rangamandapam, I am not sure). When Srirangam (Tamil Nadu) was attacked by some Muslim invaders the idol was moved here and worshipped, hence the name. I gave him some money, and he gave me a shocked expression at the amount. I escaped saying I was a student or something like that. I got a shortcut entry into the temple also. So I was lucky that day. Coming back to the laddoo, I was entitles to get two of them because of my ticket. I was sitting in the open arena outside the temple complex when a kid approached me muttering laddoo laddoo the way a guy selling black tickets approaches you. This is the state today. It is not possible to buy them legally. But if you pay an inflated price to the touts you can get as many as you want. Is this possible without any assistance from the temple authorities? 

In another instance that I heard, apparently one guy has booked all available slots of a particular seva (a ritual) and is selling them in black. The cost of one seva recently ran into many thousands. Is this possible without the collusion of the authorities and the black marketers (for lack of a better word)? I was travelling in by taxi today when I passed in front of a small temple. A rich guy walking on the road, a pauper on the road, a middle class guy in a bus or an HNI in a Mercedes S-Class all bow to the same God. So is this separation and segregation on the basis of money paid fair? Would God want this?

Moving on, Amitabh Bachchan is not attending the IIFA function. Many if not all Tamil-industry people seem to have backed out. Is this the right thing to do? The country is coming out of civil war after 30 years and this is an important milestone in that direction. Do we really want to do this because of alleged genocide? Did we not have IIFA in Macau which is a Chinese territory? Is China famous for its spectacular human rights record? If genocide has indeed taken place, let the guilty be punished. I somehow do not feel what is happening is not proper. By the way, Raavan is supposed to be based on the Ramayana. The female lead is kidnapped by a tribal and from what I have read she starts responding to him! I believe many in Tamil Nadu worship Ravana. But what weird twist is this?

Also, the BCCI is not sending a team to the Asian Games as the team has "other commitments". I believe this is the first time that the sport is featuring in the Asian Games. It should well known how commercial minded the BCCI is. Can we have at least a token team please, for participation's sake? Asia's second most populous nation, and the world's most cricket-crazy nation is not sending a team?

500-year old Rajagopuram Collapses

Srikaalahasti, also known as Dakshinakaasi is a very important Siva temple in Andhra Pradesh. Andhra is in fact Trilingadesam, which means the land of three lingas - Srisailam, Draakshaaraamam and Srikaalahasti.

The 500-year old rajagopuram of this temple, constructed by Sri Krishna Deva Raya collapsed recently. Why? A vertical crack appeared in it (a photo was published in The Hindu) apparently because of excessive drilling of borewells in the area. The authorities have said a new one will be constructed by 2012. Do they not get the point? I was outraged when I read the article. It is a part of our heritage and they calmly assure us that it will be reconstructed? Will they make it in the same shape and size? Will it be architecturally the same or as significant? What ever happened to the responsibility of these authorities to maintain the sanctity, devotional and physical, of such a place?

This is similar to authorities saying that there are digital copies of inscriptions that experts say will be harmed by the proposed gold plating of the sanctum sanctorum of the Venkateswara temple in Tirupati (refer to this and this.) When will we learn to truly respect our holy places and just let them be.

Phishing and Tabnapping

Many of us have heard about phishing where a user is shown a web page that looks like a known/trusted one but is in fact not. Thus fraudsters can gain login information from unsuspecting users. Now there is an advancement (if I can say so) in the sophistication of such attacks. A researcher has recently done something called tabnapping where a malicious tab impersonates an open genuine tab (just in case there is someone not aware of what a tab is - today all browsers, I think, allow the user to open multiple web pages within one single window, each web page opens in a separate tab).

For more information refer to this.

My Hundredth Post - My First Post

Namaskaaram.

Today I reached the 100 figure on this blog of mine. My first blog was labeled Souniteya. Today I present here the first ever blog I had written on January 27, 2006, a Friday. Do not judge me :) I am also including a link to my first post on this blog. The former was written in the final year of engineering and the latter in the first year of work.

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hello al u people out there! this is da first time im blogin and hence ask 4 ur suggestions and criticisms!!

btw, 4 those of u who r thinkin about da meanin of my id, it means da son of sunita in sanskrit. dats my mom.

wel, this blog is about college life. im in da final year in BIT Mesra, and being in an engineering coll, think dat seeing one, u hav seen al. those who r doin engineerin can understand wat campus life is like. no tensions about da exams til da moment they r upon u, starin at girls in da campus, cursin those guys who hav gfs, so on and so forth!! there r a few ETs who keep studyin al thru da sem and then u hav ur general geniuses. but wat R we learnin? does anybody think dat changin da way lessons r taught can make any diference in clas?

da general situation is like, da lecturer is teachin (or at least appears 2 b!!) and leavin out da first few unlucky benches nobody is payin any attention unles da lecturer is really draconian or gud!! then there r always da complaints about da sylabus bein out of date. so if the lecturer knows his subject wel and can convey da same thru effective examples, do u think v wil hav better clasrooms?

communication is no doubt very important bcos, even if da guy is an absolute genius, if he cannot communicate effectively he can seem an absolute imbecile.

so probably even in technical colleges wat v r really teachin our students is managemnt (how 2 'manage' 2 jst save ur skin in xams, how 2 'manage' ur attendance 4 example). wat say thou???

wil keep blogin with a die hard zeal dependin on da internet connection in my institute (ha! yet another area of curses and complaints)!!!

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For all those who have read my posts, and are reading them, dhanyavaadaalu :)

Of Remixes and Non-native Singers

I come to/go from office via by either bus or by private vehicles/taxis which charge 10-15 rupees which are called shuttles here in Kolkata. So yesterday I was coming by one of these and the driver had some remix collection playing. I forgot the song that was playing but it was a pretty catchy number by itself. The remixer (whoever he was, curses be upon him) converted it into a trance track. Previously music directors used to produce songs, remixers used to remix them. Today the music director himself releases a remix version in the soundtrack. I sincerely hope that the song I heard yesterday was NOT remixed by the music director himself. He should NOT do that to his own songs!

Continuing on a similar vein I was humming some songs to myself today morning when I was reminded of non-native singers singing songs. This practice has been there for quite some time now. Lata Mangeshkar, S P Balasubrahmanyam, Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal (to name a few) have sung in a number of languages. The question that came to my mind was, how sound a practice is this? The soundtrack gets a novelty factor and the singer makes money, so it seems a win-win situation for all. But what might lost in this situation is the effects on the language. This is especially true when a north Indian sings for a south Indian movie. I do not know why but women seem to have no issues even when language changes (Lata Mangeshkar and Shreya Ghoshal again, for instance). 

 

Okay, as a side thought I WILL make a confession here. I request the Lata Mangeshkar fans not to kill me. She is no doubt one of the greatest voices this country has produced, but I feel she should have stopped singing quite some time back, her voice is no longer what it was, and this has been so for quite some time. Now, coming back to the point I was talking about, occasionally it sounds weird when a non-native singer sings a song. The pronunciation, the voice itself might be better suited for a certain language. But in all probability the practice will continue. By the way, just for your information, I believe Sonu Nigam is a rage in Karnataka (at least among the music directors).

Another interesting piece of trivia. M S Subbalakshmi sang a list of compositions by the Telugu devotee-composer Thaallapaaka Annamaachaarya in praise of Lord Venkateswara. She was supposedly in dire financial straits and some Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam official (I do not know who) wanted to help her. But being a person with a lot of self respect he knew she would not accept any offer of help just like that. Hence he wanted her to sing the compositions which would released as a series. Tamilians  who learn Carnatic music will encounter Telugu as many (if not most) compositions have been made in the language. But not being a native speaker of Telugu she was not sure of her ability to sing properly and hence took coaching to ensure her pronunciation was correct. I believe I have heard of a similar practice by some singers today also, but is such dedication truly achievable today?

The Ways of This World

A "jinxed" mobile number has been suspended in Bulgaria. I do not know anything about the number being jinxed but was is apparent from the article is that two of the three owners are not exactly what one would call law-abiding model citizens. So my take from this article is trade wars in Bulgaria are intense and there is a lot of organized crime. Is that reason enough to get superstitious and suspend the number?

In other "news" Shah Rukh Khan has more than 400,000 followers on Twitter. There was a time some time back when I thought there was an overload of this guy. After a point it gets boring and irritating. There is something called overselling oneself I believe.

The Delhi High Court has issued a stay order on the strike of Air India employees.  So if the strike continues the employees can be held in contempt of court. In related news the SC has asked courts to exercise caution as far as contempt of court is concerned. It is difficult to digest the reason behind the strike - a gag order issued against speaking anything about the Mangalore crash. I am reminded of the UAW. The airline is already struggling. The unions protested vehemently against pay cuts some time back. Will Air India's unions be the cause for its downfall?

Maatrurunam and Pitrurunam

Runam (rinam) means a debt. A human is said to have various debts - towards his parents, the gods etc. I called a number recently when I heard what seemed to be a bhajan as the caller tune. Intrigued I looked it up and found this. I am reproducing the lyrics of the bhajan here. The song beautifully summarizes the various 'pious' things man does. But at the end of the day what is important is also implementation and intention. I am typing all of this. I don't know how much I will finally implement! My father told me something once. Dhritarashtra tried to warn Duryodhana to mend his ways. Duryodhana's response was, "I know what is right and wrong, but I shall do this anyway." So today the world is full of such Duryodhanas! In case there is someone who does not understand Hindi there is an English translation at the end.

KABHI PYASE KO PANI PILAYA NAHI

BAAD AMRIT PILANE SE KYA FAIDA

KABHI GIRTE HUVE KO UTHAYA NAHI

BAAD AASU BAHANE SE KYA FAIDA

MEI TO MANDIR GAYA, PUJA AARTI KI

PUJA KARTE HUVE YE KHAYAL AA GAYA

KABHI MAA BAAP KI SEVA KI HI NAHI

SIRF PUJA KE KARNE SE KYA FAIDA

MEI TO SATSANG GAYA GURUVANI SUNI

GURUVANI KO SUNKAR KHAYAL AA GAYA

JANMA MANAV KA LEKE DAYA NA KARI

FIR MANAV KAHLANE SE KYA FAIDA

MAINE DAAN KIYA MAINE JAPTAP KIYA

DAAN KARTE HUVE YE KHAYAL AA GAYA

KABHI BHUKHE KO BHOJAN KHILAYA NAHI

DAAN LAKHO KA KARNE SE KYA FAIDA

GANGAA NAHANE HARIDVAR KASI GAYA

GANGAA NAHATE HI MANME KHAYAL AA GAYA

TAN KO DHOYA MAGAR MAN KO DHOYA NAHI

FIR GANGAA NAHANE SE KYA FAIDA

MAINE VED PADHE MAINE SHASHTRA PADHE

SHASHTRA PADHTE HUVE YE KHAYAL AA GAYA

MAINE GNAN HI KISI KO BATA NAHI

FIR GNANI KAHELANE SE KYA FAIDA

MAAT PITAA KE HI CHARNOME CHARO DHAM HE

AAJA AAJA YAHI MUKTI KA DHAM HE

PITAA MAATA KI SEVA KI HI NAHI

FIR TIRTHO ME JANE SE KYA FAIDA

Translation:

Never gave water to a thirst soul

What is gained by offering ambrosia afterwards?

Never propped up a fallen soul

What is gained by shedding tears afterwards?

I went to a temple, offered worship

While worshiping it occurred to me

Never served my mother and father

What is gained by only worship?

I went to a ministry, heard the words of my guru

By hearing them it occurred to me

Took the birth of a man, but never showed any mercy

So of what is calling myself human?

I have given to charity, I have prayed and meditated

When donating a thought occurred to me

Never fed a hungry man some food

Of what use are all the donations I made?

I went to Haridwar and Kasi to bathe in the Ganga

When bathing a thought occurred in my mind

I cleansed my body but not my mind

Then of what use is bathing in the Ganga?

I studied the Vedas and the scriptures

When studying them a thought occurred to me

I never spread knowledge to anybody

Then of what use is calling myself an enlightened one?

The four dhams can be found at the feet of parents

Come, come, this is the place for salvation

If you have never served your parents

Then of what use is going on a pilgrimage?

Caste Census

Amitabh Bachchan does not believe in caste. This from a person who was under fire for certain ceremonies performed when his son was getting married. So he believes in Hindu rituals but not the concept of caste. I have nothing against the man for anything that he has said or done. But I do have something else to say. 

It is an undoubted fact that caste is very important in India. The only way we can let go of it is to spread more education. Even then, I am doubtful whether it will completely go away. I personally do not have hangups. The same can be said of many people I know. But this is not the case with many others in India. Some stick to it so as to not displease their families. So whatever may be the reasons, it is a prominent thing. Something which started out just as a means of classification of employment has today become very rigid. Everyone remembers Arjun Singh and his reservation for OBCs which kicked up a huge storm in the not-so-distant past.

The reservation percentages were based on some estimates. By keeping reservation you are already discriminating between people on the basis of caste (though some may call it positive discrimination). So why not just go in for a census and decide once and for all what percentage of the population is exactly "backward"? If it is more than the estimated figure, well, the politicians have all the more reason to make merry by increasing reservation. If it is not, well, I still doubt that the percentage of reservation will ever go down. So my final point? Just do it.

"We did not play to our potential"

MSD seems to be on his way to becoming a master at stating the obvious. I confess that I did not watch the T20 match, but I was expecting India to get knocked out. My doubt is whether we have been having too much cricket and endorsements for our players, and I mean both of them.

There was an article in The Hindu today on the Pakistani team (which I did not read once again, I very rarely read a sports article). In the same column there was an ad for Orient PSPO fans, endorsed by, who else but MSD? There is a mall right beside where I stay. One of the stores has a cutout of Dhoni posing and an expansion of MSD as My Style Destination. Is cricket being lost in all of this? Our endorsements are probably small compared to what sportsmen do/get abroad (which I still maintain is lunatic), but I think we pamper our cricketers too much.

Deferred Accelerated Revenue Receipt Every Year, are you kidding me?

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has defended the telecom minister's actions in awarding 2G spectrum to operators in 2008 as per an article in the ET. I do not understand the term but I am assuming that it means increasing revenues that will accrue in the future. When awarding carbon credits there is something called a baseline criterion. Please correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I know this means that there should be emission reductions in excess of what would have been there anyway had the CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) or JI (Joint Implementation) project not been implemented. Only then are carbon credits given. 

If I may take an analogue, revenue will accrue to the government irrespective of whether or not spectrum was auctioned. So the argument of the DoT does not seem to hold water. They also talk about India being a different market where profits in the telecom sector are of secondary concern. All of this is beside the point that giving away spectrum at such low prices was not something that should have been done. The DMK is steadfast in its defence of its MP. The point is whether or not he deserves to be.

Also, what is Jairam Ramesh thinking? Does he even remember 1962? I am not asking ourselves to be demonized by the past, but look at the situation! China is Pakistan's "all-weather friend". It is developing has developed a fighter in coordination with Pakistan. It is accused hacking into computers worldwide, with or without government approval. What was the minister thinking badmouthing his own government in a foreign nation? He says the Home and Defence ministries are being paranoid. These are the ones who are expected to know the security situation, not an environment minister. Does he know about Chinese listening posts on Myanmar's Coco Islands just off the Andamans? So will this turn out to be another Tharoor saga?

Politicians and Sports?

Suresh Kalmadi says politicians should run sports. If I may be allowed to say so, seriously, you are joking, Mr Kalmadi! I mentioned this guy in a previous post also. I believe he has been around since the time I remember hearing about the Indian Olympics Association. How exactly has he achieved this? Is what he is doing a lifetime job?

Our sporting prowess is well known. There are occasional glimmers of hope who die down after some time. Some give shocks (at least till they clarify) like Sania Mirza. So would it not be a better to create a body of sportsmen with either a sportsman or an eminent person or a civil servant to take care of all our sports? Anyone but politicians!

In an interesting event an Indian American is heading the prosecution of Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistan-origin man who is accused of planting a bomb at Times Square in New York. Another India-Pakistan battle in the offing?

Evil Facebook?

Facebook has been increasingly coming under criticism for user privacy or rather the lack of it. Read this for further details.

A Few Observations

I was going through the matrimonial section of India Today. Before any conclusions are drawn let me clarify that I had time to kill and had read the rest of the magazine. So anyway, one thing that was clear was that the brides want professionally qualified grooms. One or two asked for post graduates specifically. Today there are many instances when a woman says no to a man (this is normal in a proposal but probably less so in an arranged setup :P). One of the reasons why people opt for a post graduate degree/diploma is that there are just too many graduates out there. Probably in the coming days it will also be to be able to marry the right girl!

The opposition in the Parliament is vociferously demanding that A Raja has to resign for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation "scam". I am just curious to find out whether someone has asked for a legal investigation. If the minister has indeed received kickbacks he must pretty happy from a financial point of view. So he stands to lose more if there is a proper investigation than if he is just dismissed (please don't say duh!). If he is dismissed it will only be a matter of time before he is back. People and political parties especially have very short memories. Anybody remember the BJP asking for the removal of a certain "tainted" minister who they later joined hands with to come to power?

Patriotic Bookies!

Betting is illegal in India. This does not people from indulging in it, whether in their own apartment complexes or in large scale betting rackets. However, Indian bookies have refused to place bets on Ajmal Kasab, y0u-know-who. Read this article for more. A Sanksrit sloka comes to mind.

yukti yuktam vacho graahyam baalaadapi sukaadapi
yukti heenam vachstyaajyam vruddhadapi sukaadapi

It basically means that something which is good can be learnt from a child or a parrot. But something which is not should not be learned even from an (experienced world-wise) old man or from Suka Maharshi himself.

A Tainted Cloth - A Continuation of the Previous Post

There is another song similar to the one mentioned in the previous post. The song is laaga chunri main daag from Dil hi to hai. The song was sung by Manna Dey and picturized on Raj Kapoor.

The lyrics are as follows from here.

Laaga, chunari mein daag, chhupaau kaise
laaga, chunari mein daag
Chunari mein daag, chhupaau kaise
Ghar jaau kaise
Laaga, chunari mein daag

Ho gayi maili mori chunariya
Kore badan si kori chunariya
jaake baabul se
Nazarein milaau kaise, ghar jaau kaise
Laaga, chunari mein daag

Bhool gayi sab vachan bida ke
kho gayi main sasuraal mein aake
jaake baabul se
Nazre milaau kaise, ghar jaau kaise
Laaga, chunari mein daag

Kori chunariya aatma mori mail hai maaya jaal
Woh duniya more baabul ka ghar
Ye duniya sasuraal
Haan jaake, baabul se
Nazre milaau kaise, ghar jaau kaise
Laaga, chunari mein daag

I heard of this song first from my erstwhile office colleagues in Kolkata. When I first heard the song I was confused. The song talks about a chunri being stained. The woman is lamenting how she could go home with such a chunri. The meaning becomes clear only towards the end of the song.

She is initially anxious to hide the stain in her garment as she cannot face her father like that. She says she forgot what she has learnt in her parents' house and is totally lost in the place of her parents-in-law. The poet clarifies in the end that the garment is her soul and the stain is maya. This world is the place of her parents-in-law and the other world is her father's place. Another interesting point is that the lyricist was Sahir Ludhianvi. He was a Muslim while the concept pf maya is part of Hindu beliefs (I do not know if there are equivalent concepts in Sufism or Islam in general). We find other parallels also - Shakeel Badayuni in Baiju Bawra (man tarapat) and Javed Akhtar in Swades (pal pal hai bhaari).

A Soaked Cloth

I was listening to a song by Indian Ocean called Jhini. The original song was written by Kabir. The analogy used in the song is wonderful. So I wanted to write about it. First of all the lyrics of the song (from here).

jhini re jhini re jhini chadariya, jhini re jhini re jhini
ram naam ras bhini chadariya, jhini re jhini re jhini

ashta kamal dal charkha doley, panch tatva, gun tini
saiin ko siyat mas dus lagey, thokey-thokey ke bini

so chadar sur nar muni odi, odi ke maili kini chadariya
das kabir jatan so odi, jyon ki tyon dhar deen chadariya

The translation from the same site verbatim

This is fine, this is fine cloth.
It is been dipped in the name of the lord
The spinning wheel, like an eight-petal lotus, spins,
With five tatvas and three gunas as the pattern.
The Lord stiched it in 10 months
The threads have been pressed to get a tight weave.
It has been worn by gods, people, and sages
They soiled it with use.
Kabir says, I have covered my self with this cloth with great care,
And eventually will leave it like it was.

Kabir was a weaver himself and this song compares the human body to cloth. He used an analogy taken from his profession to express his philosophy, that is the beauty of this song. I believe the five tattvas refer to the panchabhutas or the five elements. There is an interesting article I found on the pancha tattvas. However, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself was a younger contemporary of Kabir as apparent from the dates given in Wikipedia. So I think I can safely assume that Kabir talking about the elements here.

I do not know what he means by the eight petalled lotus. There is a concept called the nava randhras which talks about nine orifices in the body. Thus the body has been described as a city with nine gates. Also, there is the concept of the seven chakras. But this eight is between the seven and nine and I am not sure what he is talking about. Trigunas refers to the three kinds of qualities that exist in man - saatvika, rajasika and taamasika. I don't want to say I understand these, so I won't comment. The 10 months period must refer to the pregnancy period and the making dirty refers to the soul being tainted by karma probably. More on this in the next post.

RIP, House of Lords?

Britain is planning to do away with the House of Lords in its Parliament as per a news report. I believe that our Parliament (among a lot of things) is based on the British system. Is it time we looked at doing away with our Rajya Sabha? There used to be two houses in the Andhra Pradesh legislature. When N T Rama Rao was the Chief Minister he did away with the upper house (the legislative council) and now there is only the legislative assembly. There are still legislative councils in a few other states in India today. The vallue that is added by the Parliament is suspect anyway :P It costs lakhs to run the Parliament for a day and everyone knows how well our Parliament (dis)functions.

An interesting point is that abuse of expenses has been given as a reason for the aforementioned decision. Will such accountability be present in India as far as our legislators are concerned? There have been news reports that the government's austerity drive might end soon. Should our "leaders" be circumspect about their expenses only when the going is tough? There were riots yesterday in Bengaluru about allocation of tickets for municipality elections. Imagine the amount of money that must be up for grabs through the posts of these "people's representatives". I am not foolish enough to say that we must do away with our legislature. I am just curious if it is feasible to do away with the Rajya Sabha.

UPDATE: My friend Sasanka tells me that AP still has a legislative council. He says that the current CM is a member of this and not of the assembly. I stand corrected. By the way I believe Rama Rao initially thought it was not useful and he also wanted money for his kilo-rice-for two-rupees scheme.

Suspension and the Aftermath

The unruly MPs have been suspended from the Rajya Sabha. I saw some news item today which said the government was considering revoking this suspension. Lalu has desisted from withdrawing support with the government apparently showing some leniency with his disproportionate asses case. Convenient, isn't it? A shamefully excellent example of a quid pro quo situation!

There was some ruckus in the AP assembly where the speaker instructed some remarks to be struck off from the record. Why? There should be a record of shame where such activities should be mentioned with the names of the perpetrators in bold. Shame on such legislators!

BSNL launching a PE Division?

BSNL has cash reserves of about Rs 35,000 crores and is hence planning to enter the PE business to focus on tech startups. The company seems to gets first preference when auctioning of spectrum and 3G services are concerned, which in my opinion is unfair in India's already cut-throat telecom market.

An interesting point in the news article was that in 2007-08 the profit was driven by interest income, yes, you read that right, interest income on its bank deposits. The profit was about Rs 300 crores and the interest income was about Rs 4000 crores! Thus there is also apprehension that if the reserves are used to set up a PE business the company will have to forego the interest it has been earning. Now should a telecom firm actually be earning its profits through interest? There used to be something called the Access Deficit Charge (ADC) that used to be levied on private telecom players in India. This I believe was replaced by the Universal Service Obligation (USO). From what I remember this was paid to the government in order to compensate BSNL for its non-profitable rural operations. It being a public sector company, BSNL had to provide telecom services in rural areas but was incurring losses on them.

I do not know what the current situation is or if this is indeed the major reason for the profits or losses BSNL shows. But I think the telco can try other avenues to make profits other than the interest route. Let us see what happens.

An Eventful Women's Day Indeed!

I am back, courtesy of our politicians. The Congress is headed by a woman and she is adamant that the women's reservation bill should be passed today. Well, some men had differing views and what resulted was pandemonium.

Before we move on, let us look at the word pandemonium. It was coined by John Milton in Paradise Lost and was the capital of hell. It literally means a place full of demons. Look up this and this for more details.

Now let us come back to this issue. The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dall (RJD) headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav respectively have chosen to withdraw support to the government. A few MPs from these two parties and one from the Janata Dal (United) actually tore up copies of the bill in the Rajya Sabha and threw these at the Chairman. The video being shown on television makes for some interesting viewing. The Rajya Sabha has been postponed a couple of times and I do not know when the bill will be ultimately passed. My question is, why do we let such people get away with it? Plaster photos and posters and show videos of these 'people's representatives' in their constituencies and let the voters see for themselves who they have elected. Remove these people from Parliament. They disgrace not only themselves and their constituents but also the nation in front of the world. Some action has to be taken against such people. But when? And is this a quid pro quo situation? I disrupt, don't harm me, the next time you disrupt, I won't harm you. Is that it?

Now why might the two Yadavs be doing this? The most recognizable Thakur face, Amar Singh is no longer with the SP. The party has always 'positioned' itself as a representative of Muslims. So now there has to be an increased focus on this votebank. A similar story can be made of the RJD also. They want a quota inside a quota. They say the bill in its current form is anti-OBC. They want separate reservation for Muslim women I believe. Is it not wondrous, the number of ways we Indians can divide ourselves?

In other developments a woman has won the Best Director Oscar (The Hurt Locker) for the first time. I saw this movie recently and well, though it seems well made I still did not like it a lot. When I saw Avtaar (the other major contender), the 3D glasses were blocking a part of the view in front of me and the glass was tinted. I found this movie ok. But well, I am entitled to my personal opinions :)

So all in all, an eventful women's day. Now will the bill be passed today?