The Earth Day Special: Cleaning up broken CFL

I have now replaced almost all incandescent lights with CFLs. Did you know there are yellow CFLs too, a bit more expensive but if like me you like the soft yellow lights, they are great. Hopefully LEDs will become cheaper soon when I'll move to LED lights.
What many of us don't realize is the CFLs contain mercury and such rather dangerous elements (do you know that mercury is dangerous for health? ). India rather helpfully doesnt even have such information publicized on the CFL packs and our recycling efforts are joke. While ultimately our toxic trash might still end up in some landfill untreated because there are no recycling centers at least we can ensure that we do not poison our living spaces. So here are some tips on how to handle a CFL breakage.
Now that you know how to handle CFL waste, go ahead and replace incandescent with CFL. And don't worry while more CFL means more mercury around, it is still less than the mercury our coal fired power plants put into air to power the incandescent lights.

State of Hindi Publications and What can We do About It.

I often keep searching for Hindi magazines to read. As it happens Pune does not really have good outlets keeping Hindi books barring the occasional Premchand, lot less magazines. So the only option is to search online. I came across this very well written piece that talked about the current state of Hindi Publishing.
It is indeed sad. I remember the time I was still a middle school boy, there were Dharmayug and Saptahik Hindustan that carried great pieces in Hindi. Alas both folded up. I was surprised to read that Dharmayug was printing over 4 lakh copies a month during those days. It was a pity that the very rich Times of India group and Hindustan Times group could not manage to keep these two periodicals running.
Most of the few remaining Hindi journals have an monthly print of 5000 copies or less. Its sad to see that Hindi state governments can spent crores every years in erecting statues and like but cannot spend a couple of crores in subscribing to these magazines that preserve a whole culture and provide for intellectual dynamism of the masses.
This is one thing that I admire about Maharashtrians (its also there is south from what i hear but I know about Maharashtra since I now live here). Average educated Marathi takes a lot of pride in sustaining the Marathi cultural pursuits like literature and theater etc. And its not just some notion of philanthropy that makes them pay money. The fact is that people genuinely enjoy the local art forms.
Hindi heartland probably suffers for its poverty. The big towns has its literary minded citizens reading English. and the small towns probably find the whole trouble to getting writers to contribute, print and distribute a quality magazine too expensive for its general public. I think there is also a lack of certain awareness. I and many of my friends would love to read Hindi magazines of literary kind. And I do spend money buying books so yes given a quality periodical, I would buy it. Same would go for so many of people like me, people in cities like Pune. Bombay, Bangalore, Hyderabad, California and New York.
There is a surprising lack of online presence of these magazine. This especially comes in way of expats, a lot of whom feel nostalgic about the literature and culture back home. An online - subscription and/or ad based magazine I am sure will find takers. We already have Hindi Newspapers seeing very healthy circulation. So a large group like HT or TOI should find restarting a web based Hindi magazine maybe chump change.
There are I am sure lots of writers who still write in local languages. If these online periodicals start accepting stories online getting submissions may not be tough. There could even be some sort of a view + ratings based system where all submissions are up for view and those that cross a viewership/rating threshold gets money proportional to the number of views. To get around the usual moronic vandalism that happens on online sites, maybe a submitter needs to open an account with the site for say INR100/- so only serious authors get online and INR100/- is so low that any author will be able to sign up.
Similarly deals can be made with corporates to buy a few copies for reception areas, schools for libraries. Language schools teaching Hindi could be another target demographics. In short I think embracing new technologies, newer channels of distribution should easily allow for another 50000 a month copies for a quality journal. Even at that tiny volume, a small profit can be made.
Another idea could be that some of these magazines can even double up as literary agents. Yes there can be certain amount of discomfort with this idea but maybe a separate marketing function can take care of it. So a magazine can hook up with say a TV producer so serialize a story or have a story and episode kind of format. Both the existing publisher and the author can share the royalties from it.
Lets see if any of this is realized. Who knows one day if I have some money I might start some venture of my own. After all dead of a language is too painful to be allowed.

Driving me crazy

Since the theme this month seems to be ads, a few more thoughts have to be foisted here.
First that IPL and more so KolKatta Knight Riders (KKR). There ads are more ubiquitous than stink in a roadways loo. You can have 10 min of peaceful channel flipping without running into these days. I suspect if the IT department were to investigate the costs incurred on ads, we may be able to avoid personal income tax imposition at all.
Coming back to ads IPL ads (and 99% of which are KKR) all show a contest where there is a winner but each one of the contest has a winner winning by a means other than cricket! Sometimes its dance, sometimes it some ball game involving kicks, sometimes shouting. Sign of times? This circus promises to be everything but cricket if the ads are any indications.
There is a BSNL ad that has a babe agreeing to a good match till she discovers that the prospective in-laws place has no landline! I mean hello couldn't the ad agency pick a more plausible reason than equating a BSNL landline with identity?

Then there are those good ads. The new Vodaphone ads are typically cheeky and fun and the theme goes well with the target audience of teenagers.
-- to be continued (when I can recollect the other ads, KKRs carpet bombing has pretty much left no ad space left for other folks).

Another recent ad I like is from a plywood firm. The ads shows a couple of lawyers arguing about a case with the judge hammering the desk (made of plywood) to adjourn the rather comical debate. And the debate goes on. While being fun it is also a powerful satire on the justice system where a simple case goes on long enough for an adolescent to be a creeping old.
Similarly there is that ad from a radio station that has someone inside a manhole singing a happy song with a message that our listeners are always happy. Simple, yet conveys the message that its channel that will play fun songs.

Is it debate, Is it poetry? Sounds like Abuse to Me :)

The old timers got many things right. I came across this - an impromptu abuse session in a paper today. Abuse as an art form! Come to think of it why not. In colleges there used to be "creative abuse" contests which were well very creative at times.
Satire as an effective form of commentary on social conditions or happenings has been in existence for long. But "abuse" as a commentary on social conditions and happenings I found rather novel. If we look at our modern day politics, so much is about abusing the others. Now at least these leaders can claim to be artists. So folks doncha worry no barbarians at the gates any more. Its an infestation of art spirit.
On a more serious note, yes there is something in satire/abuse that often brings out the creative best in people. Why not have this as a form of creative expression and let off steam? Since these are public events often with neighbours/friends in attendance I doubt if the sessions would degenerate into crass name calling - which the participants insist is not there. Then it seems more like what they call in Hindi as 'Haasya Kavi Sammelan' - humor poetry session. and such sit down social events can only lead to more fraternal spirit. The only difference is that one is allowed to retort to an 'abuse'. A debate in poetry format - what fun!
This is a model I'd like to see happening on a bigger scale.

Non resident resident

There is a recent report of an MP involved in some controversy in delaying an aircraft. What I find interesting is that the said member of Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Indian Parliament) is apparently an NRI based in Dubai.
Isnt it an eligibility criteria that the candidate for a RS seat be a 'resident' of the state? How is a non resident Indian a member of a house of parliament meant only for residents of a state. While it may be legal because he is a citizen, isn't it against the spirit of the house?

The future is advertising?

The future is advertising? Going by the almost universal demand on everything on internet being free,- just look at emails/chat etc, it stands to reason that ad supported free sites will only go on. Now there are paid sites that also use ads, and some of them pretty obtrusively too and they are tolerated. I foresee eventually every other site will have heavy ads. But lots of ads itself does not help much. What the advertisers will of course like, are ads that are effective. Ads that actually interest the viewer and here comes in the success of sites like Google and all that do a lot of data mining and come up with targeted ads based on certain well researched assumptions of the user interest.

Even non internet ads – especially those that rely on broadcast media do a lot of research based on the preferences of the target audience before deciding on the exact ad message. Recently there was a report in Guardian of UK that talked about neuro-research driven ads. Here the advertiser actually map a sample’s brain waves/cell conditions in response of specific types of ads and based on the ad that generates a more suitable mental reason, come up with the campaign.

In some distant or not so distant future once net connectivity is ubiquitous so that broadcast networks can actually have appliances in user homes which can feedback data and receive targeted content (esp. in case of ads). This is not far fetched since cable modems already have capability to feedback data to the service provider. Such a setup can have a sophisticated sensor that can actually sense the brainwaves from a distance. Or maybe there is a headset based system that may be able to capture brainwaves while projecting a 3 dimensional image of the programming directly onto the retina. What prevents us from then say putting an ad for a similar whiskey on the screen when the hero in that flick is swishing a stiff one and the viewer indicates a similar wish?

Interesting case would be when instead of a headset, there is just one device in the room and all see ads based on whichever person it focuses on. Imagine a set of conservative parents and some interestingly iconoclast adolescent sitting together and the unit latching onto some of the viewers randomly?

Or a case of a hall full of people with a large TV set (like in sports bar and all). Might be quite some fun to speculate who trigger that ahem ad!

Olympic torch in India and Tibet protests

India does have a delicate balancing act in the whole Tibetan - China issue that is right now taking the world's center stage. While justice demands that we strongly oppose the cultural annihilation of Tibet being conducted by China, real politic demands that the government conducts itself with India's best interest in mind and not being guided by emotions.
That said as a genuine democracy India must not repress any peaceful protest against China or the Olympic torch. Democracy as the most participative of the current political systems needs to emerge a winner here. So all the security and all being planned for the torch relay into India is fine, let no harm come to the torch that is a symbol of human athletic achievements.
At the same time nothing should stop us from letting peaceful protests happen in background. What is the harm is allowing black armbands? Or people staging plays depicting the concern in the backdrop of a torch and our TV covering it? Will China like it? Of course not. But so long as the torch is not harmed we must be firm. No one respects a lap dog, a lesson many of our senior politicians and powers to be will do well to realize. Yes China will fret and fume and that is their right. And it is our right to show how a competent democracy works and how people are free to do their will in India so long as they do it peacefully,.
China will respect a confident India and not a groveling India.

Equal society or Tyranny of the Clique?

Judging from what the fine intelligent patriotic intellectuals in our left politics (and across the globe) say about communism being the best politico-economics system that really fosters equality and liberates mankind from tyranny, I wonder why all communist countries so heavily repress their own people?
And to those who counter this by saying that no they don't its merely the pro capitalist media that spreads disinformation I'll ask if that is true why do countries like China have so much state control over media, do not allow foreign journalists (or human rights workers since journalists apparently are all rabidly pro-capitalist) to freely interact with people?
Why are communication channels so heavily controlled (China has a state firewall that actively screens content)? If all are so equal why do only communist party members have only real power in such countries?

Dynasties in Democracies

Some of my earlier posts may indicate my distress at the dynastic politics. Now Now I am not changing my attitude here. Dynasties especially in politics which is all about power are especially bad since they embody essentially the earlier dynastic monarchy principles.
Dynastic tendencies are apparent in so many other spheres. Privately held companies often suffer from a "business in family" syndrome. Professions especially those related to "brand for life" based on personal relations like medicine, law especially and some pure clientele list based like architects and all also have dynasties. In law and medicine its because its very easy to inherit clientele while in other cases its because a certain amount of trust builds over time of the brand and unless the progeny does something to tarnish the brand its usually simple to merely continue with the business relationships.
Politics on the other hand is not such a personal thing. A politician essentially takes decisions that affect everyone within that control group (some say most politicians these days work in a way that affects everybody else within the control group, but i digress). In the days of hereditary monarchy, well all the lines bad? Depends really. In case the empire was strong you might often find some rulers ascending that were not so good. But usually the very nature of earlier system was that if the dynasty didn't mend itself, soon someone will replace it. Hence some amount of natural selection was always in play.
Even India's caste system with its brutal suppression of individual will, still saw some spectacular works when in came of skill based castes. The Gupta period arts and architecture is a tribute. Why would it happen? The key apparently lied in the fact that since the poor kids had no choice of profession left, they picked up the parental profession. And the parent put their heart out in teaching their children their craft since more skills often meant more money (or your only chance of a full square meal). Go to one of those craft villages in Rajasthan and all and you can find very young children churning out great pieces of furniture/paintings etc. again because the activities are happening around them all the time and once kids start playing with tools they master it very fast.
Can it be that in the same ways politics run in family because well at top level the kids see master politician at work all the time and learn much better than an outsider that have to figure out things on own? Its also a critical help that the network for politico kids is already made ( a key reasons lawyer families do so well). So is dynastic politics good? By vilifying the dynastic politics are we actually denying the freedom of choice for politico-kids?
My real issue with the Congress brand of politics is not that the sons and daughters and wives and daughter in laws get into politics. Its with the ways and motives it is done. No one really grudges Indira Gandhi her ascendancy to power some years after Nehru. The reason is because in her case she was already active in politics and her claim to power came after she had build a base of her own. Compare that case to Mrs Sonia Gandhi. She was offered the congress presidency after her husband's tragic murder. and she has 0 political experience in terms of public life (no one knows if she was not advising Mrs Indira Gandhi nee Nehru and Mr Rajiv Gandhi over dinner table, but she had done no work as a congress worker). Similarly Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were talked as future prime ministers of India without even a college election to their name forget any sort of grassroots work.
Here a demonstrated ability was not the key to success. it was pure name. That happens only in powerful dynastic monarchies. A lawyers has to pass exams, become a member of the bar before getting into father's (or mother's practice). A doc spends an exuberant youth buried in books before being allowed to see a patient. Where is a similar demand of proving one's skill to able hold power and mobilize people in these political dynasties?

ITIs and not IITs are the answer

Read about this interesting proposal in Outlook India. I have been wondering about the same issue for some time now. Based on my own experience of trying to hire software engineers I can say most colleges including some of the very popular Engineering colleges in the country are totally clueless about teaching real skills. Most guys can't think of solving simple problems, while they may regurgitate a perfect textbook answer stumbled when acted to apply it to simplest of real world problems. And we are talking some of the countries top engineering (except maybe the IITs and some erstwhile RECs) colleges. I can only imagine the level of engineering education in the small town colleges.
Again my own experience of studying in the major University has not been the most pleasant. Baring a few teachers, more didn't know how to make a topic interesting and almost none could relate theory to practice. No wonder we are a nation of mere drone workers and not of researchers. There is an understandable worry also reflected in media now about and impending skills shortage while millions remain unemployed and unemployable. But while we see a lot of jaw jaw happening on skills shortage in IT and such high skilled vocations not enough attention is being paid to a lack of training into vocational courses for the real poor.

Agriculture still employs like 60% of India. No amount of poverty alleviation programs will work unless we address such a skewed number. Most of such workers I guess are mere labourers who well having no other vocational skill work on pure manual labor. Meanwhile construction industry in India (again among the largest employers of real poor Indians) finds an acute shortage of skilled labour like plumbers/carpenters/electricians. Try getting someone skilled to do any sort of repair work at home and you'll realize that lack of training is a real concern. If we can train even 10% of this segment in the next 5 years that will mean something like 30 million people who end up trained skilled labour! That also means 30 million less people dependent on pure agriculture jobs (though many might end up working as pump repairers, tractor repairers etc which will add a lot of value to that sector too and actually generate a lot of employement for rural folks).
Currently there are only about 5000-6000 ITIs in India. And numbers don't tell the true story. A look at statewise figures reveal that the industrialized states like Karnataka, TamilNadu, Maharastra have almost double the number (range of 600-800) ITIs than the most populous states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (300 and 98!) respectively. No wonder UP and Bihar mostly yield only unskilled labour since the training institutes simply don't exist. While I could not find average student intake in ITIs, some information mentioned a batch of 10-20 students for some specialized courses. Digging deeper there are around 50000 industrial units associated with the ITIs and since industrial apprentiship is a mandatory requirement if we assume 10 trainees an year per unit that gives it around 1/2 a million industrial graduates an year. For a population of 1 billion where 600 million are still dependent on land this is too small a number.
Why cant we have another 10000 IITs especially in areas that have been left behind the industrialization curve? There should be atleast 1 ITI per district headquarter. Infact a lot of big manufactoring and many service firms especially related to construction sectors can easily give apprentiship to such trainees. If some sort of contract to work for say 2 years at decent wages can be enforced a lot many might even fund the studies of poor students.
Judging from the IT sector experience the firms are already bearing the pain of skills shortage. Other sectors must also be experiencing the same. And wage inflation must be surely worrying the industry brasses. In such a scenario the need for better trained people hardly needs selling. My own take is that the industry might be happy to actually fund such training not just in terms of direct money contribution but in terms of course content and even faculty. Software - again as an example, already has top firms investing heavily in training facilities for freshers. Many firms have also started sending experienced professionals to colleges to conduct some workshops. The same idea can be implemented for ITIs too.
So the industry can actually pay for course and facility upgradation which can either be offset by some tax breaks or is simply taken in as a cost of business that slows down wage inflation - not a bad deal for many. As an added incentive the industry can offer paid education in return for a job contract - not a new idea since many firms do make freshers sign job bonds citing the training costs. Once such institutes and job contracts are in place, industry might even be willing to locate in areas currently low in development index because the skills supply is assured.
At the same time with more Indians being able to get into organised sector the whole issue of "unreported" economy can also be better tracked. Plus organised sector will enable rolling out of social security net across to people who need it the most.
Lets face it, we will not be able to eliminate poverty unless we address the basic employability issues staring in the face of majority of Indians. And the time to do so is now.

Indian War of Independence - Unfinished Business

My maternal grandfather, a M.Sc in chemistry in times when someone who passed 10th class in India was considered highly educated, did not join the industry as some hotshot. While manufacturing ink and chalk to sustain family, fought the British masters for Indian independence, went to jail, hid leaders at his places during times of British crackdown and then when Independence was achieved, gave up all, not using his friends in freedom struggle now big shot in Delhi politics, back to a simple family life. The struggle he maintained was for freedom, of mind, body and soul and not for being rulers of self. So once achieved he shunned all trappings of politics, not even to the extent of registering as freedom fighter which on those state controlled times would have made government jobs for his successors easy.
Turns out he was wrong. There was a time when clubs had signs - "Dogs and Indians not allowed in". The sign are back up these days. "Dogs and North Indians not allowed" or "Dogs and (Kashmiri) Muslims not allowed" or Dogs and Northeast Indians not allowed" Or "Dogs and Kannadigas not allowed" or Dogs" and "Tamilians not allowed" depending on which part of India you are in. We have changed one set of "rulers" for another.
Did Tilak fight for Independence of Pune only? Did Gandhi gave up his lawyer practice, endure hardships for independence of Porbandar only? When Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev put the noose on their neck singing "Desire of sacrificing our lives is in our hearts, /Let us see how strong are the biceps of the murderer." Did they die just for Punjab? I guess not. We spent 1500 years in slavery because we never stood up as a nation against foes. It was either caste or region or a village which was the max we were willing to look after and paid the price.
Today when Raj Thakre and his ilk preach such narrow bigotry, they are playing the same game that rulers in India played earlier inviting foreign invaders to come in and attack the neighboring kingdom so that they can annex it once the invaders go back home. Pity they never went back home. And its not just this Thakre who is committing what for me is treason. There are many.
That Kashmiri student in train who told me that how can he think fondly of India when his classmates in the engineering college call him a Pakistani just because he is a Muslim and from Kashmir which has a separatist movement? Or Tamilians beaten in Karnataka and Kannadigas beaten in TamilNadu when Kaveri issue flares? Or the Biharis killed in Assam and the Assemese woman dragged from a train and raped in Bihar in retaliation? How can we call ourselves a nation when such brazen acts of hate crimes take place and nothing happens?
Why are leaders calling for hate crimes against fellow Indians from a different group not tried for sedition and treason with its full impact?
We need another war of independence. This time from bigotry and hate. We shed blood to get rid of British. We need to shed more blood to get rid of our prejudices

Lessor Crime?

The Times of India has this excellent piece by S A Aiyar that one must read and understand. To all those troubled by the fact that sometimes very illiberal parties get voted by educated people even is because the others are equally illiberal in India.
When the choice is between a murderer and a rapist who do you think has committed a 'lessor' crime?

India tour of Australia: The bad, the ugly and the stupid

The whole cricketing row is amusing and at the same time disheartening. This is what happens when sports folks become page3 'celebrity items' and 'socialites' (all politicians are) start running the show.
To be honest if Bhajji really called Symonds a monkey, it was a monumentally stupid thing to do even if not intentionally malicious. As a page3 item boy Bhajji must have been aware of the rukus a act of a spectator in India making monkey action at Symonds caused. If after all the rukus (and probably justifiably - racism in any form cannot be condoned) Bhajji had the stupidity to use it without meaning harm he is a fool of top order who deserves to sit out for the same.
One can argue that Australians probably must have also hurling abuses and knowing Australian team on cricket, I'd be very pleasantly surprised if they were not be viciously/criminally abusive on field so why not pay them back. Agreed. The way to do that is to report every such incident and use our financial muscle in ICC to then punish them severely. If ICC still ruled that its all part of the game THEN use the same abuse words back at the Aussies and their well wishers. Since Cricket Australia and ICC would have already ruled those terms acceptable- Indians couldn't be faulted.

Learn from Tennis. They have introduced a challenge system where a player can contest a decision of the chair umpire when TV replays etc are called into picture. Simple format and no reason why it can't work for cricket? Alas our clueless politician manning the BCCI spend so much time chasing the glamour they have no time to think of making the sport less error prone. Equally likely they are simply too incompetent to think of such simple measures.
A recent piece is papers also suggest implementing some pay cut feature against obviously wrong decisions on the umpires. Again such a system will act as hindrance to malicious incompetence. Given the financial stakes involved, there is simply no excuse for incompetence in the sport any more. Instead of fighting over issues by threats, its time to reform the sport. Otherwise it will simply degenerate into mud slinging exercise.

God - a mathematical equation?

Just stumbled on Shiva's cosmic dance statue at CERN . An eloquent term that captures the mood of religion and science. While most religions have degenerated into a thought of clash with science, at a deeper philosophical level, spirituality is one of the paths to searching for truth, science in another. Alas religion is often a matter of faith that precludes a rational analysis.
The most ancient Indian/Hindu philosophy text "Rig Veda" has a "Creation Hymn (Nāsadīya)" a rather powerful deliberation on God. You can read the translated hymn on boloji.com; and read more at Google books searching for "The Rig Veda: An Anthology : One Hundred and Eight Hymns".
The essence of it, if we take a somewhat literal meaning is a question of what/Who was before everything was created? There was no mind nor matter, no life nor death. Then something triggered it all and we do not know what. Lets worship as the (unnamed) God (that created it). Extremely powerful concept.
Modern physics is hovering around to theories that among others talk about how particles and antiparticles were created from nothingness. Time begins with creation. Similarly there are branches of Quantum theory that layout mathematical models to explain the birth of Universe. (read Physorg.com). Geneticists are talking of creating life from fabricated organic molecules someday (read at Harvard.edu).
If such a physical model exists that can explain how thing created out of nothing and then particles interacted in ways leading finally to life. Such a model might even explain how the matter and antimatter may one day combine and again end in nothing. And the cycle continues. Then such a model with its equation(s) be worth worshiping.

Will God in the end, turn out to be a mathematical equation?

Language - a barrier to communication?

I read the Theory of Deconstruction by Jacques Derrida some years back. OK confession, I tried reading it but gave up after like 30/40 pages, philosophy is not my cup of tea. He made an interesting point that language is a barrier to communication. The rate at which we think is lot higher than what we talk and hence verbalizing slows it down. Which leads to the question, we think in language and hence our thinking is limited by the speed we can use the language (I got this thought on my own but probably Jacques would have made the same point later in the book. So no idea what was his analysis of it).
I remember the Newspeak of 1984. The same idea was propounded there. By removing words that had association with dissent, critical thinking, the big brother insured that after a while people lost the ability to have dissent since they had no word to really think it in! This thinking in language is so hardwired that when i try to think without language I draw a blank!
A quick search on internet reveals papers, some say that you cant really think outside of language. One posed a very interesting question - how do deaf think, but no answers. Maybe some thinking is hard wired into brain. thinks like flight for birds etc which probably require some specialized thinking that is sort of programmed into our biological beings. This sets me thinking.
If we take the computing systems analogy further maybe there might turn up interesting ideas. The compiler theory works the same way. there is a certain pattern to a language. By defining a small set of tokens and the rules that follow a pattern, a new computer language can be developed which is almost a mathematical translation. Can the same rules be applied to human thinking?
Can we internalize a basic set of symbols, maybe pictures, develop some mental rule to associate various such symbols into patterns that can be recognized as having a new meaning? Pictorial memory is lot faster than thinking in verbal language where a lot of overhead of arranging words into predictable and hence coherent sentence is too time wasting. Such a symbol based system will greatly speed up thinking by extension.
I was reading this paper The Role of Language in Intelligence which made an interesting point that language and intelligence reinforce each other. The more intelligent u get, the more concepts you add to your language and the more concepts you add the more intelligent you (the society as a whole) gets since it now has greater tools (language) to use. If we take a look at two ancient civilizations of India and China maybe we can draw further understanding of this. India had Sanskrit, held by many to be the natural language most suited for a computer since the rules of grammar are very well defined. Chinese has a pictorial language with lots of symbols and meaning depending on usage. Indians were masters of theoretical areas like maths and astronomy while Chinese were brilliant engineers (think rocketry, printing, paper etc). Maybe the more mathematical Sanskrit lead to more structured thinking while the more usage dependent Chinese lead to better engineers (application - usage).
Still I am not convinced that the only way to think is to first have a word, since in order to have a word you need to think of the association first. So can we only create a new word by extending an existing theme? Or is it possible to come up with something totally different?
I have often found some of the more intelligent people are also good at languages, maybe because language by its variations in concepts and usage actually fuel creative and critical thinking? is there a case to expanding the realms of language by introducing new concepts from other world languages?

Bistromathic

I've noticed a rather interesting lack of co-relation between cost and selling prices of stuff in our typical markets. Take the case of juice. One would assume that a firm selling packed normal juice will price it at some level, and the same firm takes normal juice, add some sugar to it and sells that too will price the 2nd one a bit higher due to added cost of sugar.
That is at a logical guy would think. However not so in practice dear. The leading juice brand prices the non-sugar version a lot higher.
Similarly if I buy normal plain white polished rice I assume it will have some price lower than the same rice, not polished and all. after all polishing u have to remove a part of each rice grain and few other things which cost time and money. So one fine day i decided that unpolished rice is healthier so I'll try that.
Now I'm a guy fond of good things in life and an used to buying top of line stuff. So I thought yippy, since I am now buying something that has lot less work being done on it, should be reducing my expenditure too. Healthy body and healthy bank balance.
At least that's what I thought. But this lousy rice costs more double than the exceedingly premium priced polished rice! Reminds me again of that "Bistromathematics. The most powerful computational force know to para-science." concept!
Indeed the guy was prescient. The price of goods in store depends not on costs but on perceived demographic. It seems in India, someone who want to eat healthy must be someone willing to live longer and hence must be stinking rich! So if you want just x- you have to pay more than to have x+y.
Soon I see the emergence of a new entrepreneur who buys polished rice, painstakingly colors each grain brown and sells it for only 50% markup. Color manufacturer happy, the entrepreneur happy, and I get to eat tastier rice!

Thoughts at the begining of the Year.

What a week. First we have the the party with less than 4% of popular votes holding up the nuclear deal, subverting critical reforms in pension, insurance sector in parliament, perpetuating violence on citizens of their own state (see Red cadres beat central forces ) for over 6 months now. Many peaceful protesters at Kolkata Film festivals were arrested, following which the 'intellectuals of the city then heart warmingly stormed the police headquarters and freed them all. The first act was legal, the 2nd (technically) not. The first act saw arrests, the 2nd will not.
On the other hand we have the UP government which gave up on key reforms on agricultural sectors after some protests that turned midly violent and which ironically forced spectators entering a cricket match between India and Pakistan in Kanpur to remove any black items of clothing including socks! Apparently this was to prevent any black cloth waving as a sign of protest during the match, protest against the UP government. So peaceful protest (assuming there were such plans - none that i heard of) is banned but if you are violent the government will be willing to harm 600 million poor farmers to save 10 million of you - just remember looting and arson are your friends in Indian politics.
Witness what happened in Gujrat and the number of orchestrators punished as yet ( no I am not talking of low level arsonists here but the planners)? Think how many of 1984 riots have been punished? How many of Mumbai train blast, Hyderabad bomb blast, Coimbatore blast perpetrators have been brought to book? What about the Kashmir victims? The victims in Northeast?
I recently read about the stories that won the Ramnath Goenka awards for journalism 2006. Some of the pieces coupled with my own observations recounted above and earlier posts are frighteningly leading me to conclusion that the nation of Gandhi actually listens to only violence which the political classes and executive reward while peaceful protesters are arrested, raped, killed.
I remember a friend who was in one of India's top civil services resigning and leaving for abroad. What he said than was that we Indians are a nation of the savage. I then thought that it was the reaction of a poetical mind to harsh realities. As I am realizing now, he just had seen much more of the system.
Its a sombre thought to start the Indian new year.

Updated 16 Nov 2007 : In the end all are equally bad. I agreed with Budhadeb's argument that population must move away from agriculture into industry. To that extent what happened in Nandigram (West Bengal) - probably a legitimate protest against land being acquired too cheap was turned by politicians into a movement against industrialization.
Instead of explaining to people why industrialization is necessary the ruling party decided to send its armed cadres to kill the opposition - not the argument, but the arguer itself! And the CM justifies the killing saying that its fair to retaliate against opposition! How is this different from the argument toted out for the Gujrat riots which we all condemn none so harsh as the left. How is it different from argument of terrorists - someone harmed me/my faith so i'll kill the next school gathering?
And how can a ruling party send its own people to "rescue" a locality and ask police to sit out for weeks while people are killed/maimed/raped? No doubt both sides of the divide were armed but how can the 'state' sit out? And if it does, how can one not then understand groups who say to hell with the state - lets get on our own and if it means killing few or many its OK. Is it not the same argument that the CM is making?

Pakistan Crises - An opportunity for peace?

"A crises is a terrible thing to waste". Pakistan as we all know is in deep crises. Reports indicate that the Pakistani army positions on Indian border is at its lowest level ever . Pakistan state is battling the hydra headed monster of fanaticism it so carefully cultivated as a matter of state and to an extent social policy, and from the looks of it, the fight is not very favorable to the state at the moment.
My estimate in around 2004 was that Pakistan in its current form may not survive till 2050. It seems I was too sanguine about its longevity. But can we in India really feel happy about it? Paradoxically for India, it may be our best interest to ensure that a state that keeps hatred for India as its raison de etre, survives as a state. Do we really want to govern NWFP on our own. Given our own problems with Minorities do we want to add to it? Do we want to be fighting this monsters on the Hindukush range on our own?
My guess would be not. So how can we help Pakistan survive. If we offer support directly, the social conditioning of the nation will ensure that the Jehadis get more popular support! My take would be - offer a deal to the Pakistani army. In return for lower deployment of troops on Pakistan's eastern border, India reduces its troops on India's western border. That will give a much needed rest to the Indian Army. At the same time, strengthen civil policing in the border states, especially J&K. As the example of Punjab shows a determined, well training civil police can tackle insurgency better. Army is a sledgehammer - indispensables to break down iron but not very fine to chisel. We will also lower our own operational costs due to troops reduction.
Concentrate on purging the ISI cells in India while the Pakistani state battles on its western border. My own experience is the Indian and Pakistanis are very friendly to each other in foreign streets. There is a genuine warmth in our social interactions. But when it comes to the same people in subcontinent, daggers are drawn. A large portion of blame must be taken to the cultural conditioning that ingrains hatred of India in average Pakistani. The school textbooks there perpetuate the same litany. Pakistan will do well to realize that hatred always comes back to haunt those who profess by it. As a part of lowering of tensions with India- which they must if Pakistani army is to survive the current crises, such institutional hatred needs to be gotten rid of.
India meanwhile can contribute by offering better trade terms to Pakistan. Both our countries are large agricultural producers. There is no reason why we cannot trade to mutual advantage. Once trade links are better average Pakistani will get to cultivate a more friendly image of India. Peace in the reason can transform our nations. But will we take the opportunity?

Appeal to the Indian Prime Minister

You have served the country to the best of the abilities and I believe with its best interest at heart. Now that you know that something that you worked very hard for and know is in India's best interest, is being killed by ignorance, malice and incompetence. You also know that the same chance may never come again to allow gaining fuel, technology and strategic ties with those who matter.
Then is it worth to be remembered by posterity as someone who oversaw and tolerated the murder of a one in many lifetimes chance? Resign and retire gracefully. Let those who snatched defeat from jaws of victory to quote a cliche be the ones burdened by it in history.
After all national interest cannot be smaller than short term political interest, or is it?

Moments taken in

Buckling steel, sparks flying inches away from your face, countours of the road, maniac screaches of brake on wheels, the snap of muscles, rebounds of helmet off the road, horror on the face of the lady on sidewalk, dazzling circles of traffic lights.
Moments away from death, you feel so alive.