'Power' Cuts

Today I had my dinner and went to this market in Katwariya Sarai, a 5-minute walk from IIFT. As soon as came onto the main road I saw that the traffic was at a standstill. So I assumed that either an accident had taken place or someone was taking a turn and blocking the entire traffic. It turned out the people living in the area had blocked the road to protest against a power outage that had been going on for more than two hours. The Adhchini-Ber Sarai road (New Mehrauli Road) is a pretty busy stretch and there was chaos on the road.

Who is to blame for this situation? The people don't realize that emergency services can be affected because of such acts. There are a number of hospitals in and around the area. Mercifully one ambulance was allowed to pass. I saw a Delhi Police Qualis too, but I don't think they actually did anything. But can we place the entire blame on the people? What has the government been doing to remove power shortages. It can hide behind the fact the rainfall this year has not exactly been plenty. But is this situation going to continue every year? Power is probably one of the sectors where there is a dire need for reforms. The current power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde supposedly had a lacklustre performance in his last stint. Yet he has been brought back to the same ministry. Why?

The nuclear deal is supposed to help in securing India's energy future, but the results of the deal are quite some time away from bearing results. The netas will not realize the suffering the common man undergoes, especially in the heat Delhi was reeling under till today afternoon. I am pretty sure the political elite of India do not experience any power outages (imagine the uproar if such a thing were to happen in Lutyens' Delhi or the loss of face if it were to happen in the diplomatic corps' area). Remove the power for these people so that they will gain an understanding of the aam aadmi's plight. Campaigning in the name of the common man is not enough. Does the government have enough will to actually do something?

MBA Classes

There are some things in this world that are logical and there are some that are beyond it. I am ranting about the timings used in Indian MBA colleges (ok, maybe not all, but definitely some). However good a lecturer might be, what is the point in having classes for more than 1.5 hours or so?

If one seriously thinks, what is the probability that the students won't get bored out of their heads after the aforementioned time period. Imagine sitting through two consecutive sessions (which is four hours in IIFT, though I should confess there is (are) breaks in between).

The formula seems to be to stuff as much as possible in the brains of the students in as little time as possible. The question is, does that actually work?

Gay 'Pride' and Rights

I am writing this post after this NDTV article.

First of all, a disclaimer. I am not homophobic. If someone wants to be homosexual it is his/her prerogative (I wonder, has anyone tried to invent new grammar for a gay guy and a lesbian female?). The thing that in a way amuses me is the gay 'pride' that is spoken about. I do not go about proclaiming I am proud to be heterosexual. Are the gays saying they are better than others with previously accepted sexual preferences? They are welcome to fight for their rights. The choice of words I feel is something that can be changed.

Article 377 according to which homosexuality is a crime might be removed. Understandably the gay community is happy and the religious community (or right wingers) is not. The Church feels that this is against society, I fail to understand why. The VHP is against it. Some Muslims feel it will lead to sexual anarchy. I wish to tell these people that just because homosexuality is legal people are not going to change their sexual preferences. The VHP said there will be a spread in diseases. If protection is used, why should there be such an increase? The AIDS prevention campaign in India focuses a lot on condoms and this was especially true in Andhra Pradesh under C B Naidu's government. Instead of asking people to use protection, the government should tell the citizens to remain faithful to their spouses (this point was actually raised by a BJP member).

If the religious leaders think homosexuality is a sin, let it be so. They should realize that according to their views, these people will suffer. The gays and lesbians will anyway not listen to your sermons and change. So stop persecuting them and let us accept that we live in a free society. As long as one does not provably harm the society why should we indulge in persecution?

On Arindam Chaudhuri

I was reading an article on the web forwarded to me by a friend of mine on the (in?)famous Indian Institute of Planning and Management. There is spirited defence of the institute by a person who seems to be an alumna of the Mumbai branch of the institute. The comments made by some of the non-IIPM people though possibly understandable were unforgivably not exactly impersonal or gentlemanly. I also browsed through a Wikipedia article. By the way I hope I don't get sued by the institute for writing this blog!

Then I went to Arindam Chaudhuri's personal site. I am not judging the college or claims or quality of the institute in this article but the man frankly seems to be obsessed with himself. Check out the page and every link is His this and His that! He is claimed to be a management guru, an economist and a philosopher. I should actually call him The Philosopher Who Drives His Bentley (if you get my drift). I have come across a term called personality branding in the course of my Introduction to Marketing course. This guy is probably the best example for that!

A Wikipedia critic's delight

I came across this gem (refer to the text in the encircled area) when I wanted to look up Lamborghini, the automobile manufacturer. This is one reason why Wikipedia faces a lot of criticism - anyone can enter anything. I wonder why it has not been removed. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, the sarod maestro passed away on the 18th of this month and this has already been updated on the site. It is people who do stuff like this who bring disrepute to wonderful projects like Wikipedia.


It struck me later that I myself could change it and I did make a change. :)

On lipstick

From what I have read, red lipstick was used by women originally to signify that they were ready to mate/good mates. It was supposed to mimic the sexual/reproductive organs of a female. It was later used by prostitutes and the Church had banned it for some time too (now that is anti-feminist). Today I saw a woman wearing black lipstick, I assume to match with the dress she as wearing. I wonder what the ancients would have interpreted that as a signal for?

The confusion of languages

This is a (maybe slightly modified) story re-told. I first read this many years ago in a then already-old version of Tinkle.

There was an Englishman named Key. The children in England used to tease him sayin, "Mr Key, where have you lost your lock?" Exasperated he decided to leave the country and moved to Spain (I remember it as Spain, but Italy would probably be more accurate). He moved into a nice house and soon got a name plate made to be displayed in front of his house. Now the Spanish (or Italian) word used to indicate respect was don. Hence the name plate was Don Key.

Angrier than before he packed his bags and moved to France. Now the French word was monsieur. The name plate maker shortened it to mon. So our Mr Key becomes Mon Key. Finally giving up, he decided to move back to England and lived in peace once he came to sportingly accept the children's teasing.