Generation Gap

What do you do when someone at home hogs the TV, controls the remote and keeps watching sports. What if that person after watching the complete match then gets on a telephone call and discusses the match. About how Nadal's aces were and why Federer slipped in ranking recently. And you don't get to watch your favorite programs.

You can imagine it, right?

Yes. That's what is happening to me. Ever since the Australian open started, my mom (a tennis addict) is glued to the TV. She watches each match. And then she and her sister (another tennis addict) discuss the match. In excruciating detail.

I dont have any hair left on my head.

Mobile Number (and Other) Portability: What an Idea Sirjee

Mobile number portability (MNP) was rolled out all over India yesterday. It's a lovely thing. Imagine if your network sucks or your service provider gives poor service, till this MNP came along, you were stuck with the same provider or else you switched to a new one but with a new number. You had to tell all your contacts about your new number. This MNP is truly nice.

But then, one good turn deserves another. I was thinking what if a similar service was available. What if a woman could return (exchange) her husband for another one while retaining the same last name? Wouldn't that be nice?

I can imagine a conversation as follows:

"

How are you Mrs Bachchan?

I am fine.

How is your husband? Did he come to Cannes with you..

Well he doesn't like going abroad

His "what an idea sirjee" advertisement was great

Well he is not really into ads. He goes more by word of mouth

What is Bombay like, Mrs B?

Well I am in Chennai now..

"
and so on.

Isn't this discrete? Isn't this lovely and desirable? So much inconvenience can be avoided. When will this LNP (Last name portability) be introduced?

Bihar Today

Bihar is a state in eastern India. This is the state where Gautam Buddha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha) was born. This is also the state where Nalanda University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda) used to be in the 3rd century BC. (Note that this is about the same vintage as the Alexandria Library (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria) in Egypt). Bihar was also the seat of emperor Ashoka (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asoka). Such is the history of this state. 

Fast forward to the late 1990s. Bihar was one of the 3 poorest and most corrupt states in India. While the rest of India made large strides forward in various fields, Bihar remained backward.

I was talking to a Bihari friend of mine about Bihar yesterday. And he spent quite some time disabusing me. He is a person of exceptional patience, quite knowledgeable and has an excellent command of English. He explained at length that the Bihar of today is quite different from how the state is normally perceived by the layman. And he sent me a bunch of links that provide good reading material about Bihar. I have reproduced them below for the benefit of those who are as insular as I am!

• http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/bihar/wh28jl2000.html
• http://www.livemint.com/2010/01/26224100/Bihar8217s-development-a-m.html
• http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Swaminomics/entry/new-miracle-economies-bihar-poor
• http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Swaminomics/entry/backward-bihar-goes-for-the

This is another article I found later
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Ex-IITian-starts-world-class-school-in-Bihar-village/articleshow/7419365.cms

Interesting and nice to see the change in Bihar.

Today's News In India

Well the government in Kerala seems to be washing its hands off the Sabarimala tragedy
(http://Calmisc.blogspot.com/2011/01/stampede-in-sabarimala-kerala-100.html). 

Look at it this way. This is not a one off incident like "26/11" in Bombay or the Tsunami in 2004. This kind of stampede / accident is a fairly regular incident. And while USA, countries in Europe may create a big issue about safety etc, we in India know better. We firmly believe in Darwin's theory and the market forces (http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2011/01/capitalism-at-its-best.html). The strongest and the most competitive / ruthless will win. If a 100,000 pilgrims were in Sabarimala on that fateful day and 100 died, why didn't the 99,000 odd other people die? We believe in survival of the fittest. We don't want to waste scant resources like money on good infrastructure, roads and safety because those will go towards protection of the weak and the unfit. It's a colossal waste of scant resources.

Our philosophy is good. While Europe will become weaker because of its propensity of protecting the weak (be it for a company like Airbus or a country like Greece) we don't do such things. We let the weak and undesirables die and we accelerate such deaths (as in the case of female foeticide).

As I write, India's GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity is next only to US and China, probably proving that India's faith in capitalism and Darwinism is right.

Going on to the next item, Delhi is not only the political capital of India. It is also called the rape capital of India. About a fourth of all rapes in India, happen in Delhi. Atta boy. Well as Michael Crichton once said, rape is not about sex. It's about power. So it's jungle forces out there. The strong preying on the weak. And of course the police and the judicial system can be bought in India. That would be needed only if the victim lodges a case and if the case comes to court.

Indian Mutual Funds in Top 25 Best Global Funds

8 Indian mutual funds have made it to the global top 25 list. Wow. The ranking is based on performance over the last 5 years and last 10 years. Here are the details.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/7327731.cms

Interesting. 

Nomination: https://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/h2_storyview.asp?str=29051

Funny Lines In English

I read this today and had a good laugh. http://www.funtoosh.com/jokes/personality/1409

Conversation between God and Adam http://www.funtoosh.com/jokes/men_women/607

Rome And South India

Apparently there was a lot of interaction between Rome and South India many centuries ago. According to this link

(http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2011/01/19&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00205&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T) India has one of the largest collection of old Roman coins outside of Europe. People from Rome came to India to buy silk, local spices etc while selling olive oil and other stuff. 

The ties that South India has with Rome go back many centuries. To cement this tie further a local man who will be called "Rhine O' Cerus 0.7" has come up with an ambitious plan which is very hush hush.

A building in Italy famous for not being straight will be rechristened "Leaning Tower Of Pizza". And there is a move to relocate a power center from Vatican to Venice.

It is understood that this man is in cahoots with a friend in Europe and together they are marshaling support in Europe for his plan. The execution of the plan is proceeding fairly rapidly. 

India Today

While there are many things that are nice about India, there unfortunately is some garbage as well. On the roads and in the mind.

Couple of days back a friend of mine mentioned about a 4 year old girl who was raped by a man.The incident found its place into the the local newspapers today.
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2011/01/19&PageLabel=9&EntityId=Ar00901&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T. I wonder what went on in the mind of the person who did this. I wonder if sometime in the future man won't devise a way for pre-natal rape. Yuck.

Pongal is one of the most important festivals in Tamil Nadu. We buy more things, throw away more things, garbage collectors are perhaps on vacation. With the result that the streets are dirtier than usual. A picture from a newspaper: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2011/01/19&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Pc00208&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

Dhanushkodi

For a long time I have been interested in Dhanushkodi which used to be a small village, just off the eastern coast of India, a few km from the pilgrimage center of Rameswaram and about 20 km from the coast of Srilanka. In the year 1964, a huge cyclone wiped the village away. Now I understand there is nothing there except sand. Tourists travel to Dhanushkodi by jeep on a sandy road with sea on both sides. Seems lovely.

I was reading up on Dhanushkodi yesterday and came across some material and pictures. Here they are.

A newspaper article:

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/03/06/stories/2004030600010100.htm

Pictures from the Indian railways site: http://irfca.org/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=48198

A travel website: http://www.oktatabyebye.com/destination-features/178-dhanushkodi-travel-guide-tamil-nadu.html

Picture From a Rail Site: http://danger-ahead.railfan.net/gallery/danushkodi.html

From a blog: http://www.ghumakkar.com/2009/07/31/dhanushkodi-%E2%80%93-no-land-only-sand/

Update (13-Jun-2011): A lovely video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22NDPHdsD54

Update (5-Oct-2012): http://in.lifestyle.yahoo.com/photos/dhanushkodi-at-land-s-end-slideshow/dhanushkodi-photo-1338448880.html

Update (8-Feb-2015): 
https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Dhanushkodi+Rama+Sethu+Point/@9.152117,79.443169,2a,90y,90t/data=!3m5!1e2!3m3!1s-jNq7hzTlNzk%2FU4mMmnq4npI%2FAAAAAAAACIs%2FYDURnVhQE6c!2e4!3e12!4m2!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0x00dff0dd3e6789ae!6m1!1e1

To reach Dhanushkodi, buses (fare Rs 12 one way) from Rameshwaram bus stand take you to a place 18km away. One has to travel the last 7km by private vehicles that can be found when one alights from the bus - the vehicles charge Rs 150 (round trip, I guess).

Accommodation: 

1. http://www.rameswaram.com/accomodation.html
2. http://rameshwaramtours.blogspot.in/p/transport.html (probably the same info as in the previous link)
3. http://www.stayzilla.com/ps.php?kw=Rameswaram&tag=adwords_postpaid1&camp=Rameswaram_search&adgroup=hotels_Rameswaram_exact&keyword=rameshwaram%20accommodation&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=Rameswaram_search
4. http://www.sr.indianrailways.gov.in/view_section.jsp?lang=0&id=0,2,770: Rameswaram: Tel No: +914573 221226

Additional reading:

• http://www.timescrest.com/life/cruise-to-colombo-5700  
• More about Dhanushkodi: http://www.cntraveller.in/story/10-indian-beaches-stories-surprises

Stampede in Sabarimala, Kerala - 100 Deaths. Again.

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_sabarimala-tragedy-could-it-have-been-averted_1495095. Sabarimala is a place in the state of Kerala which thousands of pilgrims visit in December and January.

Sabarimala, the abode of Lord Iyappan, can be accessed from Tenkasi/Shengottah in Tirunelveli district or from Kambam near Madurai or from Patthanamthitta (which can be accessed from Kottayam/Kollam/Ernakulam) in Kerala. Pilgrims go to that temple from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and other parts of India. 

Only men are allowed to go to the temple. Women between the ages of 10 and 50 are not allowed. The pilgrims practice a 45 day penance - a period during which they abstain from alcohol, meat and lead a simple life. And then they travel to the banks of Pamba river and then there is a 15-20 km final stretch to the Sabarimala temple which one has to walk. The final stretch is through the jungle, the road is unpaved. While I have never made the journey, this description is from my recollection of various conversations I have had with people who have gone there. I could be mistaken about some things I mentioned above!

Now, routine as clockwork each year around this time pilgrims (mostly Hindu, while people of other religion are also welcome) go to Sabarimala and just as predictably about a 100 die because of some accident or the other. 

What surprises me is that this is a rather strange way to die. When you know the possibility of death is high, you would try to avoid it. Or maybe not. 

Don't we have people going to the North Pole or climbing Mt. Everest or living in Israel or Kashmir or working in the army where death is a part of life everyday? Maybe, people have accepted the probability of earlier death. And perhaps both the travelers and the government believe that the "dangerous" journey is worth undertaking and that death/accidents are a price to be paid for making the journey.

How else would the government (Kerala govt. in this case, but is it any different in other states?) keep making the same mistake? is it stupidity of the highest order or a brave way of embracing death?

Europe Today - One Size Fits All

This is news from Europe today. There is some serious stuff going on there. 

The 74 year old Italian Prime Minister has been allegedly caught with his hand in the pie.
Again. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2011/01/15&PageLabel=16&EntityId=Ar01606&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T. Apparently he has an Indian counterpart in Tiwari (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sex-tape-Andhra-governor-N-D-Tiwari-resigns/articleshow/5381373.cms). Wonder who is the master and who is the disciple.

Models in London protest against "one size fits all".

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2011/01/15&PageLabel=16&EntityId=Pc01611&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T. I feel so sorry for them.

Germany prescribes dress code for office workers.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2011/01/15&PageLabel=16&EntityId=Ar01607&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T. Similar decrees have been pronounced in many colleges in India. 

It's a flat world after all.

And finally, Pope John Paul II is to be beatified.

http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/15/stories/2011011565822800.htm

Pigeon Impossible

A friend gave me this animation link http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=jEjUAnPc2VA. Nice.

Antique Cars

I used to love cars a lot. And I usually love old things. Last week there was an antique car rally here in Chennai which, unfortunately, I could not attend :(. But I found a lovely picture of the cars parked next to each other by the sea in the newspaper. Here it is.

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2011/01/12/stories/2011011250390300.htm

Snow In India

I saw this picture today and said to myself wowowowowow.
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2011/01/10&PageLabel=8&EntityId=Pc00808&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

So cute.

Europeans in Chennai

Today I read an article in the newspaper about expats living in India.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2011/01/10&PageLabel=15&ForceGif=true&EntityId=Ar01500&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T 

The number of Europeans living in Chennai has been rising steadily. One sees them in departmental stores or taking a walk in the neighborhood. A woman I see frequently rides a bicycle with her baby tucked in the baby seat behind her. It's nice to see some yellow hair once in a while. A good friend of mind had previously taken the trouble to explain to me the process of determining whether the hair color is natural (or dyed). I use that algorithm rigorously to check the authenticity of the hair color.

Some Europeans come here (Chennai) to learn classical dancing (Bharatnatyam), some come here to fill in on spirituality (whatever that means). Some come here because it's an interesting place and far cheaper to live. Some come here for medical treatment, because medical facilities in India and Chennai in particular are high class and it's far cheaper than in Europe (where you may have to wait months if you want to avail of subsidized medical facility or sell your last pair of trousers if you want to get good medical facility RIGHT NOW). Others work in the IT industry, some are pilots, some are with Nokia and so on.

A couple of years ago I met a couple from Scandinavia who were in India for the summer, traveling. They said that if one didn't include the the cost of air travel to India, it was cheaper to stay in India (in hotels, mind you) and travel around than to stay in their own country.

Mothers

For all the great mothers out there. http://www.funtoosh.com/jokes/personality/1345

Margazhi Kolam

This is the Tamil month of Margazhi (Dec 15 - Jan 15). This month is considered inauspicious by Tamils. Tamils don't get married, don't start new ventures in this month. This is also the coldest month of the year in Tamil Nadu when the temperature falls to almost 20C and the place becomes really cold (almost like Yakutsk,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Oimyakon-in-Russia-records-minus-612-degrees-Celsius/articleshow/7241535.cms).

This is also the month when people are encouraged to wake up earlier in the morning (before 6AM). I guess there is a scientific reason behind this as well. Possibly the retention of what we study is better, possibly the air is purer. I do not know what it is.

But there is one thing really nice about this month. The Kolams (loosely called Rangoli) that women draw outside their houses is bigger and more colorful in this month. It's amazing. Here is an article on the Margazhi Kolam from today's newspaper. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2011/01/09&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00203&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T. (The word Mami in Tamil means Aunty, the article is about a French lady who has lived in South India for 25 years and about her interest in Kolam.)

A friend of mine once showed me a big Kolam that she had made in her house. It was lovely. It's rather unfortunate that this (Kolam) is also going out of fashion in South India, what with people being preoccupied with other things. 

This is a photo of a Kolam from my album taken a few years ago
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/search/kolam?mode=my&pid=5433921082348234802&oid=114451897239202019349.

Additional Kolam from 2015:

Mahabharathathil Sonia Aththa (Sonia In Mahabharat)

A friend sent me this by mail today. Mahabharata is an Indian epic (like Homer's Iliad) written 2000 years ago. Some background about Mahabharata is in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata. 

See this link Or this link.

Bofors, Bees And Winning: HBR

I was reading about the 5 habits of highly effective hives
(http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/11/the_five_habits_of_highly_effe.html by Thomas Seeley) today. Apparently when the bees search for a new home, they send some scouts to identify good locations. A scout, after identifying a location, comes back and conveys the information about the quality of the new dwelling and its location (using r, theta, phi co-ordinate system) to the other bees. The other bees do a verification and give an independent report of the same location. And then apparently the bees make a final choice, which as per the author is 90% of the time bang on the target in terms of being the most appropriate choice.

I was reflecting on this. We Indians also have adopted a similar system. When India wanted to buy armaments for a billion dollars in 1990s, we sent scout bees to all the armament dealers. And then after a similar song and dance routine (as explained in the link above) India had identified Bofors as the most appropriate choice. Then there would have been a good amount of "honey" trafficking between India, Switzerland, Sweden and Italy in Quattro liter bottles. The then Prime minister of India would have let the best man WIN.

I am reminded of a RK Laxman cartoon which came in the front page of Times of India in 1990 or 1991. A small boy asks his father "Papa, can you tell me about this Bofors scandal?" The father replies "Son, when you are older, the Bofors case will still be open. You will understand it then". Now assuming that boy was 5 years old then, he would be 23 now; old enough to understand the Bofors issue. While some participants are now dead, the case itself is still open. Hats off to RK Laxman. 

While the author has gone on to explain the things we humans can learn from the hives in that link, I was thinking why we behave differently. We human beings would also have behaved like the bees sometime in the past. The single thing behind the difference in the behavior now of the bees and humans is perhaps the concept of wealth. Wealth provides an individual with an identity. A desire for personal betterment is a logical consequence of individual wealth. That would in turn create a conflict between the need for "personal betterment" and the original motif to do good for the group. Depending on what kind of a person we are and the kind of behavior we see around us (and the rewards / punishments for such behaviors) we make our choice in the conflict. 

Imagine if the bees understood the concept of "wealth", especially immediate wealth. And that the wealth can be bartered for other things which hitherto only a community could provide. And assume that the rules of the game is that the scout bee, whose location was finally chosen as the best among all locations, gets a beeg reward immediately. Would the location identification exercise among the bees then be still clean?

An absence of immediate personal reward, I believe, is what makes the bees work the way they do. Is this what Lord Krishna meant in Bhagwat Gita when he told us to put in the effort and not to look for immediate results/rewards?


I have read some of Malcolm Gladwell's novels (eg., Blink) earlier and was impressed. Today I came across his article where he talks about the effects of having an all star team in the rolls of a company
http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-11-19/gladwells-outliers-timing-is-almost-everything. More on this later.

Kashmir

The weather in Kashmir today: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/bone-chilling-cold-in-kashmir-as-leh-freezes-76660. 

Talking of Kashmir, I am amazed at the Chinese. After the head of Chinese Government visited India last month and closed some deals, the Chinese are back at it. Claiming parts of Kashmir that belongs to India as their own. And next there would be troop movements in Arunachal Pradesh. Why do we have such %$^%#^ neighbors?