Tribute to Valour personified

World War - II, Pagoda Hills, Rangoon
Capt. Sam Manekshaw leads British Battalion "A" company against Japanese Army, captures the hill despite losing half the battalion, but severely wounded in stomach and liver ridden with 9 bullets.

Major General Cowan to Capt. Manekshaw: "A dead person cannot be awarded a Military Cross."
(pins his own Military cross on Capt. Manekshaw and gets him to Rangoon hospital)

Surgeon to Manekshaw: "What happenned?"

Manekshaw: “Oh, a donkey kicked.” [1]

The surgeon decides that if a soldier could have such a sense of humour at that critical hour, he must operate to save him. Capt. Manekshaw survives and and eventually rises to become India's eighth army chief.

"The prime minister, along with the army, navy, and air-force chiefs, all missed his funeral—which was a modest one held in Tamil Nadu in the south, not a grand one in the capital. His friends grumbled that even foreigners such as Lord Mountbatten were afforded greater respect in death. Bangladesh, however, paid grateful tribute to his part in the nation’s foundation." [2]

His last words were “I’m OK”

Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji "Sam Bahadur" Jamshedji Manekshaw MC (April 3, 1914 – June 27, 2008)

My salutes. My tributes. You deserve better. Rest in peace.

[1] Wikipedia
[2] The Economist

Indian innovators

Bridging gap between academia and industry - One step closer?

I remember the days from undergraduate college when I would attend the computer lab session once a week, sit in front of a dying black-and-white computer monitor with nothing but MS-DOS and copying FORTRAN program from the "observation notebook".

I also remember that right after college, I used to go to TULEC - A TATA Infotech computer education center which charged Rs.40000/- for its software courses.

Looking back I can't but wonder if the courses that were offered to me in TULEC should ideally be part of my college curriculum. After all, all the software companies needed the skill and the century or so old University of Madras still had syllabus that was also probably as old and badly needed upgradation anyway. Couldn't the former push the latter for its own good? It seems the stakeholders, the companies and the government have finally turned that corner. FINALLY!

Addressing the Fifth annual NASSCOM HR Summit 2008 in Chennai (July 3-4), Dr. Chandramouli, IT Secretary of Tamil Nadu said that 'IT finishing schools' that "would act as a pre-employment training centre to hone the skills of both engineering and non-engineering students to make them readily employable" [The Hindu - July 4] would start functioning within a month's time. In this is public-private partnership training center would be up and running in all the districts of Tamil Nadu. Each centre would have about 25 computers and students will go through a 3-month training program designed and conducted by the participating companies.

An ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu (ICTACT) is also setup for training the faculty, apparently to allow the cutting-edge industry knowledge to percolate into classrooms directly.

Prima facie, the stakeholders (mainly the government) are serious about this initiative, given that the ICTACT is autonomous, with board of directors represented by the state government, academic and industry (it would be good to know who they are) and a research and training headquarters would be set up in Chennai.[ Business Standard - July 4]

But the scary part is, a search on ICTACT in Google or Tamil Nadu's IT department website comes up with nothing. I guess one has to wait just a little longer to see the bridge across the abyss that separates the academia and the industry, but hopefully only a little longer.

Hitting the Road: Teaching module - Draft 1

Idea generated for schools so far

• Teach kids to make their own notebooks.
  

How does this help?

• non-availability of free notebooks @ govt schools
• potential means to earn

• Teach kids of appropriate age about technologies related to clean energy like solar energy
• How tap solar energy
• How the market is growing etc

How does this help?

• creating experts in a market of demand for the future
• All the soft-skills appreciated in a corporate environment
• committing to a task of reasonable difficulty and completing it on time
  
• being regular with work taken up and establishing proper communication about updates/possible delays

How does this help?

• time-management, probably study better while being good at extra-curricular
• develops proper attitude and work-ethics and improves job-prospects
• Safety
• Basic fire-safety
• First-aid and emergency response
• Details of phone numbers, addresses of hospitals in vicinity.
  

How does this help?

• Duhh......!
• Community activity
• Some kind of an activity that sensitized them

• Community activity
• Some kind of an activity that sensitized them to importance of sanitation, public health, environment etc.
  

Hitting the Road:Teaching module - Draft 1

Idea generated for schools so far

• Teach kids to make their own notebooks.
• Teach kids to make chalk piece

How does this help?

• non-availability of free notebooks @ govt schools
• Relevant vocational training
• potential means to earn

• Teach kids of appropriate age about technologies related to clean energy like solar energy
• How tap solar energy
• How the market is growing etc

How does this help?

• creating experts in a market of demand for the future
• All the soft-skills appreciated in a corporate environment
• committing to a task of reasonable difficulty and completing it on time
  
• being regular with work taken up and establishing proper communication about updates/possible delays

How does this help?

• time-management, probably study better while being good at extra-curricular
• develops proper attitude and work-ethics and improves job-prospects
• Safety
• Basic fire-safety
• First-aid and emergency response
• Details of phone numbers, addresses of hospitals in vicinity.
  

How does this help?

• Duhh......!
• Community activity
• Some kind of an activity that sensitized them

• Community activity
• Some kind of an activity that sensitized them to importance of sanitation, public health, environment etc.
  

Access to notebooks at govenment schools

I was in conversation with an active member of India Sudar, an NGO working on the education for students from the lower-economic section of the society.

I came to know from him that while the government provides textbooks and uniforms for free, they don't have the capability provide notebooks. This unsurprisingly turns out to be a severe limitation to learning. When inquired, the government officials respond,

"Even the government has limited resources. To offset our limitations we have empowered the school's headmasters and senior teachers to partner local NGOs and philanthropists to receive the relevant aid".

Makes sense doesn't it? But I think, and the India Sudar member agrees, that this is not a sustainable model. So, what do we have? Even when ills like hunger and child-labor are removed from poor kids' way to the school, the good work is undone by the absence of guaranteed access to something as trivial as notebooks. I think this is a good idea for social entrepreneurship. Notebooks are available everywhere. Can be made from recycled paper too! Making notebooks is a good small-scale business. All it needs is an entrepreneurial idea that takes care of the economics and connects the demand and supply. Are you aware of any already existing models? (not donation of notebooks of course). Do you have any idea yourself?

Download videos

Keepvid is a useful site. It provides for a way to download videos from YouTube, Google and a variety of other sites it lists. Just mention the URL in the text box, select the site from the list, and click Download. When the text in the text box disappears, look under the text box for a >> Download << and you know what to do from there on! If you don't know CLICK! .... and check you head to know if you are a total retard! (Sorry too much George Carlin!)


If you are from some kind of a cyber law enforcement agency, all I have to say "Don't shoot the messenger!"

Why private education is supply-driven? And why is none talking?

It is a known fact that access to education for the people in the lower economic strata is a big problem. But at least it has got considerable visibility is partially addressed by NGOs and social entrepreneurs. But how about education for the middle class? Indian middle class gives great importance for education. This demand for the so-called quality education makes running a private school a lucrative business. Currently, private education is heavily supply-driven (schools), and the demand (parents) has very less say.

For example,
- Fees are high and increasing. And the donation, the need for which the school explain.
- Parents have very limited say on curriculum or the method of teaching they would prefer.
- one-dimensional education system (academics and rote-learning..bad/no sports program or arts program like learning music etc).

A few schools like DPS are exceptions at least in terms of quality of infrastructure. But it is still not a participatory model which includes parents. For example, I came to know from one of the parents (my aunt) that DPS doesn't even allow parents to enter the school premises during regular hours. Parents can't contact teachers at any time other than the scheduled parent-teacher meetings. In schools like DAV, an important selection criterion for kindergarten kids is the educational qualification of parents. What is the reasoning behind such rules? Why discriminate against a child for the ostensible fault of his/her parents?

I have never heard of a school that advertises "We provide a complete package of education, not only academics, but also community & environmental awareness and sports program." Nor can parents ask a school principal "Can you please tell me why your school is better than the rest?". But come to think of it, isn't that how it is supposed to be? After all, education is our constitutional right. Besides we are paying the schools, not the other way round.

Part of the problem lies with the parents. They liken teachers to medical doctors and assume that teachers know the best about the needs of their kids and they themselves are ignorant about it. However, the change in their mentality would be of little use if the absolute power of the schools doesn't change.

Currently, this absolute power is a problem precisely because because no one, especially parents, is considering it as a problem, let alone do anything about it! No one seems to be talking about it. I think that is where the change should begin.

The Wonders of Physics

Remember those days at school? Understanding how things work was an option as against a necessity. To put it correctly, it was relegated to being an option because of another necessity. Scoring! I remember my teacher standing under the blackboard and actually telling us "If yo u don't understand, Memorize!". That clearly defined the priority for us. To make things worse, we had a live example in the rank-holder. Irrespective of his/her understanding of the subject, he/she universally memorizes. Besides, we are left at the mercy of diagrams in science books that leave much to our ability to imagine, and the lab experiments that don't relate to what we study in the classroom to understand. In many ways, understanding was not even an option. Further still, which other subject apart from, may be, mathematics had any content to be understood?

English, Tamil: A bunch of poems to be memorized. For prose, the answers to the questions were always a couple of paragraphs..and some grammar to be remembered. Done!
Social studies: Memorize! Its a collection of stories, dates and names anyway.
Science was cat-on-the-wall. Some you understand, some you don't. But never mind. Go the social studies way!

Such an attitude bothered me even as a kid though I didn't know what to do to understand other than read the book again. Honestly, I really didn't think about how "understanding" is really going to help me in the future! I never had a future beyond the upcoming exam then! :) Looking back, the worst feeling I have is, I didn't even realize that science can actually be understood deeply.

Now, after reaching a stage when all those years of "darkness" won't matter anymore, (not to mention the lamenting so far...) it is still gratifying to know that someone is working to bring science in its natural form right to the people who needed it the most. Kids!

"The Wonders of Physics" is a series of demonstrations on various concepts of classical physics like light, sound, pressure, heat. The credit for this initiative goes to Professor Clint Sprott of The University of Wisconsin-Madisson. The videos taped during his demonstrations buffers for free online! You don't really need to have a kid who is struggling with understanding science to watch these videos! You can wash your sins that you were forced to commit in your school days even now. Its never too late! :)

"Happy Buuuthuday tooooo youuuuu"

"Badhreeee....hey....Badhreeee", I could hear my dad whispering. I grimaced in slight discomfort. But I knew it was time to get up for I could see the faint blue sky through the window and hear the birds vigourously chirping from the guava tree and the mango trees in our garden. I made a vain attempt to drift back to sleep and continue with my dream that I couldn't remember anymore. Suddenly, my dad sang in my ears "Happy Buuuuthuday toooooooooo youuuuuuuu"! The song was a comical parody of the well known "Happy Birthday" tune. He gave me a tight, yet relieving embrace and kissed my cheek. My sleep disappeared in an instant and my spirits soared. "Heyyyyyy! Its my Birthday! I am 10!". Memories of the previous night filtered in quickly. I could remember the excitement with which I went to sleep the previous night, smiling in darkness to myself! Excited that when I wake up the next morning, I will be one year older! Lots of wishes, a day wearing "colour dress" at the school. A public announcement at the school assembly, chocolates to distribute, and no admonishments for not completing home-works! But the best part is, I was almost always the first person to celebrate birthday for the academic year. First to wear "colour dress" to school! Pity those who are born in April or May.

My mom said, "Happy Birthdayyyyyyy. Innikki enna sweet venum" (What sweet do you want me to make for you today?) and kissed me. "Get up, get up", my dad nudged, as I realized that there is going to be so much fun ahead. I quickly grabbed my Colgate toothpaste (to which we recently switched from Colgate tooth powder) and brushed. I didn't care too much to rinse my mouth. I was dying to get ready for school. Besides, I liked Colgate's taste. When I got done with it, my dad placed my tumbler of Bournvita on the floor of our living room right by the TV.

My sister, realizing the specialty of the day, woke up, walked to the hall and waited to wish me after I got done with brushing. But unable to cope up with the delay, she slipped back to sleep sitting on the sofa. When I finally came out, she shook her sleep off and briskly extended her hand with a big smile, but sleepy eyes "Happy Birthday!". "Thanks di"!

Paati (grandma) was already up and brisk. She got done with her morning ablutions already. She always gets up early along with my dad Dad offered her coffee said, "Ammaa. Innikki Badhri porantha naal" (Today is Badhri's birthday!).

"Apdiya! Romba sandosham Nalla padiya iru". (Is it? Very glad. Keep well!) she earnestly replied in a composed tone and gulped some coffee.

My brother was still sleeping in the bedroom, but got up as soon as I got done with brushing. His hair still messy, he came over to me and painlessly tapped with his knuckles on my head. "Enna da Koravaa! Happy birthday!". (Koravaa was nick name of-sorts at home. Has enough content for a separate post).

Soon after the morning coffee session, my mom took bath and made delicious Kesari along with her regular cooking. Dad took bath next, removed my newly stitched birthday dress, (a pair of trousers and a shirt) from our wardrobe, set it in the pooja area and started with his routine pooja. My brother and sister were still brushing watching the early morning DD programs like "Dus kadam" and "Hindi news". I couldn't wait to try my new dress. So, I hurried through the bath, wore the "namam"(the straight red line across my forehead) and a quick recitation of slokams I knew. I found my mom's Kesari along with my dress in the pooja area, but I knew that I can't have it yet since my dad hasn't offered it to God!

Shortly thereafter I wore my dress and took the time to savour every moment of it! My mom got done with cooking and my dad with the pooja. Both walked out of the kitchen with my mom holding a box of "Akshadai" (rice coated with turmeric). My dad called my paatti and the three of them stood together in a straight line. I fell on their feet seeking their blessings as they showered the "akshadai" on me.

"Study well, get good marks in exam and stay healthy! Grow up quickly and be prosperous". , said my mom.

"At least from now on be a smart boy!", joked my dad.

"Sowkyama iru". (Be prosporous). That was my grandma.

I had food, kept pack of chocolates in my bag and briskly started for school looking forward to the day's excitement!

Missing those days when all my family was in a single address, and when paatti was still alive and well..

Narcissism for once!

How often have we found medical advices like "Do a general health check-up once a year", "Do a dental check-up regularly" and chuckled "Yea, right!"? Now that I am in Japan and usually get done with work on time, I could use the evening time for a work-out at the gym. On sign-up, the first thing I got was a full evaluation report of my body status that would act as a guide when I work-out. The report was a comprehensive and intuitive, part graphical and part tabular colour printout. When I saw the report, surprise surprise! Everything about my body condition was spot-on! I have never felt so narcissistic, but I guess that is one reason to get narcissistic for once! Besides it is a good opportunity to know

The report focuses different aspects of body's fitness parameters like metabolism, Style composition and Body composition. Lets take it one at a post!

Waist-girth: (Actual/Recommended) 75/85 is a measurement in cm of the waist half-way between the hip bone and lower chest bone.

Visceral Fat: As against subcutaneous fat, which is fat accumulation under the skin, visceral fat is that found in organs which affects the metabolism, especially in males. Measured as the cross-sectional area occupied by the fat in the waist. 65 sq.cm/100 sq.cm. Graphical representation provides better understanding of the status, since it includes the relationship of visceral fat to waist girth. Status: Appropriate!

How about fat in other parts? Well, the man showing off his arms summarizes it. No comparisons, no frame of reference to compare.

Rest later!

I owe the world a living..

Rest in peace

I was vigorously browsing through the internet on June 8th when BBC Radio reported the stabbing of 14 people in Akihabara. "Is it the same Akihabara that I visited a few days ago?" I was still registering the question when a reported from the place confirmed it saying "...is a buzzing street known for the electronic goods...".

Quite honestly, for reasons unknown, I didn't feel too sentimental about it then. Yesterday, my friend and I went out to the nearby mall and on the way he mentioned about going to Akihabara for purchasing a few toys for his kids. Only when he started walking toward the railway station did I realize that he meant to go to Akihabara right then. Having nothing better to do, I just followed. "I wonder where the stabbing happened?". As I stepped out of the Akihabara railway station, I noticed the usual buzzing activity of people walking in and out of the numerous electronic stores, a nearby cafe playing music aloud, traffic policemen regulating movement and sales men from unknown companies yelling at the crowed urging them to buy their product. I thought I would never know where the stabbing occurred and somehow that thought relieved me.

After ten minutes of loitering around inside a shop and and a cup of cafe latte from a French cafe, the stabbing incident disappeared into oblivion once again. I was inquiring a wireless headset in a couple of small shops. All of them directed me to the biggest shop in the area for computer hardware called "Softmap". As we walked towards the shop, my colleague insisted that we first go past Softmap to another shop to purchase the toys he wanted get back to Softmap on our way back to the station. As we walked along gossiping all the way to the signal right outside the entrance of Softmap my colleague walked directly into the field of vision of a guy training his camera on to something. "Bhaskar you are walking..", I stopped suddenly when I noticed a small white shed with people standing around it. We went closer to take a look. The shed was full with an assortment of bouquets, chocolates, water bottles, cool drinks, juice cans, pictures and numerous other things. Just then a man walked to the shed, placed a sealed water bottle, moved away, brought together his hand and started sincerely praying with his eyes closed. After a minute, he started walking into his routine. I noticed then that all who gathered around there did the same.

That was the place where the stabbing occurred. Right in front of Softmap where I was standing days earlier, waiting for my friends to complete their shopping. This is the closest I got to a killing. The realization, instead of giving me a sense of horror, made me feel ashamed. Seven people died in a violent manner right at the place where I was standing a few days earlier! Until that moment, to me, those seven people were just a number mentioned on BBC Radio. I realized how insensitive I was to the stabbing when I heard the news in the BBC. Seeing the people pray with such sincerity was a very humbling experience. On my way back, I added a bottle of juice and prayed...May none die in vain again. May their soul to rest in peace.

Gold Spot

Saving paper, saving trees? A few answers

I have posted the same post on NGO Post and got a few answers

First is a video that gives an idea about the tree-to-paper relationship





So, the number is 1 tonne of paper = 17 trees. One of the articles from ecology.com says

"Unfortunately, the paper making process is not a clean one. According to the U.S. Toxic Release Inventory report published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pulp and paper mills are among the worst polluters to air, water and land of any industry in the country. The Worldwatch Institute offers similar statistics for the rest of the world. Each year millions of pounds of highly toxic chemicals such as toluene, methanol, chlorine dioxide, hydrochloric acid, and formaldehyde are released into the air and water from paper making plants around the world.

Paper making also uses up vast quantities of trees. But trees are a renewable resource, which means that once one is cut down another can be planted in its place. In fact, much of the wood used by paper companies in the U.S. comes from privately owned tree farms where forests are planted, groomed and thinned for harvest in 20 to 35 year cycles, depending on the tree species. Around the world, tree farms supply 16% of all wood used in the paper industry while the bulk comes from second growth forests. Only 9% of the wood used to make paper is harvested from old growth forests, which are impossible to replace because of their maturity.

Yet, while tree farms or plantations help feed the demand for wood, they can't provide the plant and animal diversity found in natural forests. Plus, according to a 1996 report from the U.S. Forest Service, the rate of harvest for softwood trees in the southern United States outpaced growth for the first time since 1953."

To summarize, manufacturing paper results in environmental degradation less because of cutting trees and more because of the method used. Though this offers a good idea about paper and its impact on environment, one must note that these are data mostly associated with US. In the Indian context, I found this in Myth and Reality about Plastic

Paper is not eco-friendly

We need to remind ourselves that making of paper and products consumes a lot of chemicals and requires a large amount of water and effluent problems are severe. Besides paper, unless coated with polymeric materials (or wax), cannot withstand wet conditions which are widely prevalent in India, particularly during monsoon periods. Paper making also consumes a lot of energy. In the Indian context the most serious problem is the availability of pulp. Environmental degradation has unquestionably occurred due to pulp manufacturing activities as commercial forestry, on large scale, is still a taboo. Padmabhushan Prof. M. M. Sharma (FRS) "

I have also stumbled upon information related to conservation in general, not necessarily related only to papers.

The story of stuff has a 20 min video about how consumption-minded lifestyle is killing the planet's life. Its a lot of talk (not necessarily cliche) with lots of statistics. But the core point is

- Recycling is important, but most of the products used are not recyclable and
- Lesser consumption pays off better in preserving environment.

Another link portrays people's consumption in the US in a unique pictorial representation rather than plain statistics. For a listing of companies all over India, involved in recycled paper products click here.

Is saving paper, saving trees?

I head an employee-driven CSR team in my company in India. I get numerous suggestions about saving paper by replacing paper cups with ceramic mugs and re-using papers printed on one-side for "personal" print-outs.

Though I don't oppose these ideas, I have my reservations about their efficacy. Following are the questions that have surfaced to my mind repeatedly.

- Trees cut for making papers have to be replanted because, we will run out of papers otherwise. We have no idea about the number of trees we are losing because of making papers. We also don't seem to be running out of papers. So, in the end we don't know if we are really causing a significant depletion of trees. May be we are, but is there data?

- The only way to cut lesser trees without compromising the supply of paper is to recycle paper. India seems to have a defunct system of recycling wastes. If we are indeed degrading environment by cutting a lot of trees, it is possible that this trend can be more significantly minimized by putting a system in place that recycles most of the paper wastes when compared to small initiatives in individual companies to save papers.

Of course we are better off taking these small initiatives irrespective of the status of recycling, but my concern is, we have no way to measure how many trees we end up saving. What if the contribution of 100 companies with an average of 100 employees actually comes to saving 5% of trees, while setting up a recycling plant that can recycle paper in the neighborhood (companies, homes, schools any and building where paper is used) can reduce the number of trees cut of paper by 50%?

Simply put, how can one make this initiative measurable? Is there a comprehensive and accepted research that can answer my questions?

How to delete folder in Google Reader

Google Reader is my platform for my daily dose of news, opinions, blogs, social research and almost all of my daily intake of information. But I had been facing problems with organizing my feeds in my Reader. When I create a folder for a few of my feeds and later want to delete it, I could find no options anywhere to do it. So, the empty folders just messily stay on like the elusive stone inside my shoes. After much searching around, finally I found the stick that could remove the stone and it turned out to be ridiculously simple, only folders are also called "tags" here. Basically "folder" is a duplicate naming..

Anyway,
Manage Subscriptions ->Tags -> (select tags to delete) -> Delete selected

For the un-initiatied
Google Reader: is an application that can be used to store a collection of "RSS" feeds from a your favourite websites. Using these feeds Google Reader regularly searches and shows you any updates made to the website . So, you always know what is new in the website.

RSS Feeds: are similar (but not the same) to a common website address. But these are more "active" since these help readers (like google readers) search the website for latest updates. If you want to know the latest updates on, say, BBC and wondering where to get the RSS feed link, just go to BBC and search the page for "RSS" (usually at the bottom or top of the page with smaller font, like "contact us"). Click on it and it will lead to a separate page that has the RSS feed links for all the sections of BBC like news, podcasts etc.

8 facts

Liked the topic, muscled Ponnarasi to tag me

RULES :
Tagged bloggers should
1) post these rules first.
2) present 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
3) write on their own blog
4) choose eight people to tag and list their names.
5) leave a comment telling them they’re tagged

1. Used to be a very very silent kid, now I just can't shut up!
2. Belong to the few who studied in the US, but returned work in India
3. Avid coffee drinker - sometimes wonder if I consume coffee or coffee consumes me.
4. Like visiting temples with historic, architectural and cultural richness. Just worshiping with no tendency to understand background is a sin in itself.
   
5. Decent cook. But almost nobody knows about it. Best weapon to impress girls - Sambar. Getting good at Rasam (aim to get to mom's rasam). Other weapons in the arsenal, avial, fried rice, veg. pulao.
   
6. Actively take initiatives for improving Indian society - Why do I do it? Well, why don't others?
7. Almost never show a straight face when I get photographed! Orkut for evidence.
   
8. Love good movies! Don't believe in first-day-first-shows. I choose. Anything that doesn't have a story or a good comedy is money down the drain. Shawshank Redemption, Nayagan and Dil Chahta Hai are insurmountable bests in respective languages.

Tagging
Maaya, Anand, Aish, Doodler

Are slum-dwellers poor?

Off late I have been running into urban poverty and slum-dwelling a lot through articles on Urban Poverty alleviation and Slum displacement in India Together and a post in ThinkChange India.

At least articles in India Together suggest that slum-dwellers are subconsciously considered poor and marginalized group of people. However, one detail I came across in ThinkChange-India's (TC-I) post slum tourism got me thinking.

"There were two figures that Girish [tourist guide] kept repeating during the tour: 10,000, which is the number of small-scale industries operating in Dharavi, and USD 665 million, which is the annual turnover Dharavi’sresidents are estimated to generate."

When I read the Slum displacement article about the "unfair manner" in which Delhi Development Authority has has displaced the "poor" slum-dwellers to a slightly improved, but small tenements far from the city, I instinctively set out for an arm-chair investigation to ascertain the validity of both of the quoted adjectives.

Google-god :) blessed me with (only) two academic papers related to this topic. (Both open as PDFs)

[1] SLUMS IN CHENNAI: A PROFILE, Dr. C.Chandramouli, I.A.S.Director of Census Operations, Tamilnadu

[2] Livelihoods and Collective Action among Slum Dwellers in a Mega-City (New Delhi), IASCP conference 2002 **unpublished draft version**

The India Together article talks about the finding of a research done on Delhi's slums. The article's main argument about the "unfairness"

"... the plots are given [to slum-dwellers] on a five-year lease and there is no guarantee that the plot holders can continue to live there after that.....Why would anyone, rich or poor, be willing to relocate without a guarantee that they had the right to stay in the new location? "

However, [1] says that about 40% of Chennai slums are rented and indicates the active presence of land mafia. Chances are Delhi's case falls in the same ballpark. [2] directly says that vested interests actively collude the government officials/politicians in keeping slum-dwelling insecure. Given that, a 5-year guarantee of own land seems be a windfall to the displaced slum dwellers.

Further, [2] states that

"Average income about Rs 3000 (NOK 500) per month – more than twice that of official poverty line"

and

"Majority posessed a one- or two-room brick house (pucca)"

If so, they should be thankful for a 5 year accommodation with better standards of living (as claimed by the India Together article) in spite of not being exactly poor. After 5-years? Well, how about they finding their own way instead of looking for government help?

One possible source discrepancy could be the research methods carried out by the researcher quoted in India Together and the researcher referenced above. I have left a comment for the author in the website, and an e-mail to the authors of [2]. Hopefully that will throw some light.

To add more to this, before watching it in the movie Mudhalvan (Nayak in Hindi) I heard about instances when slum-dwellers do illegally rent out the flats that slum clearance board alloted with an intention to move them out of the slum to a nearby area with better living condition. Consequently, in spite of getting richer from the rent, they continue to more subsidies for being slum-dwellers by choice. I don't have any accepted material for this, but if I were a slum dweller it would make sense for me to do this. Now who is at the receiving end of corruption? The slum dweller or the government?

Getting to the question,
- Are the slum-dwellers really poor? Or are they just institutionalized to living in poor conditions?
- Do they really live there for want of choice or simply to extract more subsidies from govt and NGOs by selling "poverty"?

I think a typical slum is a mix of both, but I get a feeling that the scale is gradually tilting towards the latter on both the questions.

Finally, I later noticed that the post in TC-I carefully addressed only the living condition of Dharavi and refrained from poverty. Well done!

Personalized Orkut theme

Free Orkut Themes for Orkut Lovers | BizzNtech
Has a way to change the theme of your orkut home. If you are a Firefox user it works great! Here is a capture of my page!

Trade Balances due to rise in food-prices

The following is an interesting map that shows the trade-balances due to the projected price rise in food. The condition of African countries seem to be very bad! An already poor continent is projected to lose more than 1% of its 2005 GDP in trade! Looks like the only "middle-class" countries that get to gain reside in South America.

While I know that the map's projections show an unfair trend, I don't understand what trend is fair! Would the situation be fair if the developed nations lose and poor nations gain? How much the loss in the developed nations will in turn affect the under-developed ones? This is still a projected data. So, the more important questions are...can anything be done at all to avoid this projection from sliding into reality? If so, are the stake-holders, the UN, the developed nations and NGOs willing to make the relevant sacrifices?

British aid to India?

BBC Radio broadcast a short debate between two people, one from a British pro-taxpayer's organization called The Taxpayer's Alliance arguing against the British (taxpayer's) aid to India and the other from Christian Aid arguing for aid it.

The point behind the former's argument is the country has a fast growing economy and has a lot of money at its disposal. India should find means to redistributing its wealth itself instead of depending on British tax payers. Christian Aid says that taxation is the only means the Indian government has for redistributing its wealth, but faces unique problems like a large poor, population with very less means to earn their living, socially exclusion like the caste system, all of which call for immediate attention instead of waiting for a set of social reform policy to be implemented effectively.

I feel that a revamp in public administration, policy making and enforcement especially for poverty alleviation on part of Indian government is due even if this discussion is not considered. If the British funding is indeed revoked, it would be a blessing in disguise since (hopefully) it will put Indian government in a tight(er) spot and push for some innovative solution.

Demonizing plastic

"Never reuse coke bottle for storing drinking water. It may cause cancer", I was told by a friend once. That was shocking! I thought, "Can plastics react with food material in time and cause such harmful effects? Can't trust things with looks, can you?". Yet, somehow the statement seemed to make sense. After all, it is plastic! Its non-biodegradable, and with so much campaign to ban plastic, it has to be right!

From then on, when I see a plastic bottle lying around my kitchen or being reuse, my stomach used to churn and images of cancer victims vomiting blood on to the wash-basin or white kerchief (the colour contrast dramatized the fear factor!).

Recently, however, I came across a link to that talks about Myth and Reality about plastic Environmental Information System (ENVIS) an Indian government sponsored body "...to collect, collate and disseminate information relating to Environment to Universities, Registered Societies or Private Bodies or State Government Departments / Organisations."

Apparently, the whole campaign about plastic and cancer is just a sensational media campaign of what was a Master's Thesis that didn't go through the rigour of scientific peer review. Reuse of plastic is still not recommended for fears of spreading infection resulting from human contact and improper cleaning. But no cancer involved. This link and the pages that follow (find the small "next" link right at the bottom of this page link) offer a good insight not only into plastics, but also into the difference possible between the object and the perception of the object! For example, the link calls into question the use of paper as an alternative to plastics. It says

"Paper is not eco-friendly

We need to remind ourselves that making of paper and products consumes a lot of chemicals and requires a large amount of water and effluent problems are severe. Besides paper, unless coated with polymeric materials (or wax), cannot withstand wet conditions which are widely prevalent in India, particularly during monsoon periods. Paper making also consumes a lot of energy. In the Indian context the most serious problem is the availability of pulp. Environmental degradation has unquestionably occurred due to pulp manufacturing activities as commercial forestry, on large scale, is still a taboo. Padmabhushan Prof. M. M. Sharma (FRS) "

The article's take is that the only factor that can be called malicious to life is human. It repeatedly points out that plastic is not bio-degradable, but they are 100% recyclable. The solution to managing plastic is to recycling and recycling is entirely in our hands!

However, few details are unclear to me. My understanding is that there are recyclable thermoplastics like those used for making poly-bags and non-recyclable ones like Bakelite. What of the second kind?

Further, the link offers incineration as a way to get rid of plastic. I find from other links dedicated to protecting the environment that incineration is a widely hated method of generating energy from the waste. Unless an alternative method to this method exists, it seems that minimizing the use of plastic seems to be the best way forward.

Kam khatam, Dukhan band

This strip of land right opposite to our office building in Japan was occupied by a building of about 8 to 10 floors. Demolished, cleared, leveled, metaled and bordered with those iron rails. Total time taken 2 days!

Toriniku Roku-Ju-Go

If you are an Indian, and if you are especially a southie, you would have definitely heard of Chicken-65. If you are a non-vegetarian, you are a likely fan of Chicken-65.

Chicken? Yea! You know... then one that usually comes out of a hen's egg? The bird with under-developed wings that is part of the famous chicken-or-egg riddle? Ya! That one. Chicken. Now that you've got the first part, what the hell does "65" mean?

What wiki says is interesting. It says that the most logical conclusion is that it originated in North America, named after its price in cents, failed and managed to travel all the way to South India where it became a super-hit. This explanation would be logical if we are talking about Chick-Khans like Mumait Khan or Negar Khan. But here its chickens. Unfortunately!

That it was invented in 1965 seems more convincing. But its bland, unlike the spicy dish itself (I will take my Non-veg friends' words and C-65's looks for truth!). But I vote for the age of the chicken in days (65) as the reason for its name! Its unconventional and the mid violent after taste the explanation leaves behind looks more suitable to the possible taste dish itself might offer!

What the hell does Toriniku Roku-Ju-Go have to do with any of all this? Its just Japanese for Chicken-65.

Toriniku = Chicken
Roku = 6
Ju = 10
Roku-Ju = 60
Go = 5
Roku-Ju-Go = 65!

Haa Haa! All you non-vegetarian Rascala! Mind it!

Repetitve Strain Injury (RSI)

Its a video that we community relations team of our company for the wellness of employees. Its useful for all of us who have managed to establish a symbiotic relationship with our comp for a living!

Enjoy!

uRayoor

Prologue:
Its a sort of a deja vu, a semi-repeat of what I had experienced about two years ago. It was a hot and sultry May morning in Madras and I was on Koodal express towards Madurai. Then I had met my uncle, with grace I could make one of the most unforgettable visit to SriVilliputtur.

Now its again summer, hot and sultry evening and I was on Rock Fort Express to attend the wedding of my friend's sister in the Holy Sri Rangam. Its been over ten years since I met my friend. So, that was exciting in itself! As I already expected, all I could do was watch him run hither and thither taking care of the proceedings, as his sister kept smiling broadly throughout! The wedding went well and I took my leave after savoring the unique trichy wedding meals. Mission accomplished! :)

Earlier, as I was preparing for this journey, all I had in my mind was to accommodate the visit of Sri Rangam temple in my tight schedule (after Trichy, I visited Coimnbatore, all in a span of two days!). But my mom introduced me to uRaiyoor Nacciar Koil and said that it is a must-see for temple enthusiasts (like me!)! So, off I went to uRaiyoor!

Moolavar: Azhagiya Manavaalan
Thaayar: Kamal valli Nacciyaar


Temple architecture:
It was not more than a 10-15 minute bus travel from the Chatram Bus stand. At first sight Nacciyaar koil was a disappointment. The main Pagoda (gopuram), with just 5 storeys, was puny in comparison to the imposing Raja Gopuram of Sri Rangam (11 storeys). But upon close examination, it seemed to have some exquisite artforms so far not witnessed by me in other temples. For example, to one side of the gopuram, was the young Krishna flirting with gopikas. There was also Vishnu sitting on Adi Seshan flanked probably by a Chola king, with his sword and shield on his hips. On the other side of the Gopuram was a grand wedding ceremony of Lord Vishnu marrying Sri Devi. That is probably Azhagiya Manavaalan marrying Kamala valli Thayar!

I entered the Gopuram into the temple compound. If one were to have a top-view at the temple compound she would find the temple building at the center, a mid-sized pushkarni (the temple tank) occupying top-left, Swarga vaasal (entrance to the Heaven) towards the center-right. Towards the bottom-right would be a small mandapam. The entire area left for circumambulation is covered by the stone roof extended from the temple building and supported by stone-pillars with beautiful carvings, few of which depict a mythological instance. Towards the top-right side of the top-view, were two pillars, one depicted a couple of monkeys, the other humans, indulged in sexual intercourse. Now, I find that such depictions are more common in temples than one may think. I have found such depictions in Chenna Keshava temple, Chennai and in Govindaraja Perumal temple, Tirupati. It would be interesting to find out the underlying motive behind such depictions.

Inside the temple building, and facing the sanctum sanctorum is Garudar (The Eagle, who is the personal transportation for Lord Vishnu). Here He is called Amrutha Kalasa Garudar, as he is seen carrying a vessel of elixir (amruth). One pillar in this area carries a statue of Lord Anchaneyar (Hanuman) right along the height of the pillar. This temple has some fondness to Lord Hanuman for unknown reasons as his images are found on various pillars around the temple.

As I walk towards the sanctum sanctorum, I find the image of Gaja Lakshmi (with two elephants garlanding her from both sides) on top of the inner entrance.




Significance of the Moolavar and the Stalam:
Just as I was about to worship the Moolavar, it was time to close the temple for preparation for Tirumanjanam. During a quick Dharshan, I noticed that the frontal view of the Cakram (the disc) was not visible as is the case in all the other Vishnu stalams. However, only the side-view was visible. As the sanctum sanctorum was closed down, I came out of the main entrance to find the high priest of the temple walking around yelling orders at his disciples. Prima facie he seemed to be a rude person who doesn't entertain unsolicited enquiries about the temple. However, I felt that this could be a great chance to extract the temple history from the horse's mouth. So, I approached him rehearsing my almost forgotten Iyengar accent hoping that it would mitigate his wrath a bit. But when I asked for the "sthala purnam", he seemed to have taken aback by the phrase. Probably because he didn't expect a modern dude like me to even know about such a thing. He said, "I may have time to talk about the Moolavar, but I think it may take too long to answer your questions on the statues on the gopuram. Why don't we sit down?" (Yoohoooo! The Iyengar accent worked afterall!)

• This is the second of the 108 divya desams of Vishnu
  
• Moolavar, Azhagiaya Manavalan presents Himself along with Kamal valli Thayar (in a sitting posture) after marrying her!
• He is the exact replica of the Utsava murthy of Sri Rangam since Sri Ranganathar of Sri Rangam came here to marry Kamala Valli Thayar. Hence there is no Utsavar here.
  
• The Moolavar presents Himself in the posture of using this Cakram against the demons, a unique selling point of the Stalam
• The Stalam is devoted to Kamala valli thayar, since she is born to the Chola King Dharma Varman who ruled over this place.
• This place is also the birth place of Tiruppaan Azhwar.
  

Stala puranam:
Kamala valli Thayar took birth as a human due to the curse of Brihu muni. So, naturally, once the curse is over Lord Ranganathar has to come back for Her. Now it seems Lord Ranganathar had been a little too busy with taking care of people since he arrived here at uRaiyoor as an elderly person. As Kamala valli thayar was fetching water from the river, He promptly proposed to her (!!!) Shell-shocked by his proposal, Kamala Valli thayar dropped the pot (kudam) which rolled into the river. This only worsen her anxiety. Seizing the opportunity, Lord Ranganathar stuck a deal. He said, "If I get the pot for you, you should marry me!". Kamala valli thayar, told herself "There is no way this old man could do that, it is the easiest way to beat his appoaches". She promptly said "Sure!" with out knowing that this old man is The Lord Himself.

The Lord went into the river and came back a handsome young man holding her pot. Understandably, Kamala Valli Thayar sense something fishy about this and said, "now how is that possible!". He said in response, "Sure! it is possible becaaauseeeeeee..." and grew in size and showed is "Viswa Roopam". After this, Kamala Valli Thayar was comprehensively beaten and she was only too happy to marry him. Just as in any other love story, they live happily ever after right here in uRaiyoor! :)

By the way, the river is called Kudamurutti river (Kudam = river, urutti = to roll) after its vital role in the turning point of the love story!

Epilogue
After this I visited Uttamar koil, which has some powerful USP's

• A one-stop-temple to worship Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Saraswati (ASTOUNDING combo!)
• Probably the only place where Lord Brahma has a sannidhi (not verified!)
• Purushottaman, the name of Lord Vishnu here, who presents Himself at the request of Manavaala muni

After this I visited Coimbatore where I visited Marudamalai. My first ever visit to a Murga temple. It was on an auspicious day and had a good darshan of Him along with a good Tamil slokam recitation (nothing like a sloka that you can actually understand!)

Holy Tetris!

I have heard about the craziness with which the Chinese and the Japanese work. I have seen them in action sometimes. But I have always wondered how much more crazy can they really get. And the bar keeps rising....

Last mile of my complete self

It is said that man is made of 80% water ( and 20% matter ). But that is not where it really ends. What makes a man complete? Atma, morality... well it gets too spiritual if I walk down that road! Attitude, perspiration... Crap now I sound more like my manager. So, I look all over and around me and find that there is one thing that covers the "last mile" of my complete self! Brands of 10 things that I currently can't live without!

Toothbrush: Colgate
Shaving kit: Gilette
Soap: Medimix
Deo: Axe (Pulse)
Best Garment: Nike
Watch: Titan, Casio
Shoes: Sketchers
Bag: Samsonite
Mobile: Samsung C200
Subscriber: Vodafone

Tagging
Aishwarya Mishra
Anand
Driver
Maaya
Kavya Roy

Hat-trick of the firsts!

Its a day of pleasant and unusual events. My mom has been retired for over a decade now. While she used to have her set of friends, after she got her voluntary retirement, over the past decade, her gang of friends have also subsequently retired and she seemed to lost touch with them. But last week, she dug up her address books and spent about two hours on phone with her friends. Following that, today one of her friends visited her. This is the first time in her life in Chennai (since 1978) that someone is visiting her!

After about three to four hours of catching up with the past, her friend decided that its time for her to leave. My mom suggested that she would join her to visit another common friend of theirs! She dressed up quickly and told me. "Badhri! I am going to visit my friend along with her. I may come late in the afternoon!'. That is something that I have never heard from my mom! It is usually I who says those words to my mom! :) That is another unique first!

And it doesn't stop there! After about my half-an-hour, I woke up from my work to hear someone cooking in the kitchen! I was about to get up to find out who it was, but my dad came to me with a plate of "Adai" (a dish similar to dosa, only a little thicker and made of a different flour), beaming with a self-congratulatory smile. He said "Now that your mom has gone to visit her friend, I am free to play in the kitchen! I called your sister, got instructions on how to make Adai and tried it out! Come come, try it and let me know how it is!".

My dad has cooked before, if my mom fell sick or if she has gone out of station. But I wouldn't say that he enjoyed the freedom at the kitchen. Unguided by my mom, he usually screwed up a dish or made a big mess at the kitchen, or did something for my mom to come back and complain later. But this time, my dad's adai turned out to be perfect! Six pieces, all circular, none over-fried. A little salty for me, but my dad likes the extra salt. I called my sister and told her my dad's achievement! She gave the credit to where it belonged. But the best credit was what was not said. When my mom came back, she had her share of adai, examined the kitchen, came back and settled down without a word to watch Velukkudi Krishnan's explanation of the meanings of Bhagavat Gita!

Splendid! That is another first. Hat-trick!

How to make the humans not to emulate dogs?

Hyderabad has a very "liberal" attitude when it comes to answering natures calls. Almost everyone seems to think "As long as it is out of your body, it doesn't matter where it goes".

I stay in an apartment adjoining a stream of sewage. Right on the main road, is a long compound wall and a relatively well constructed pavement. These are very attractive places for the "Filled-up and the Restless" to relieve themselves. There is also a moderately maintained Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation's (GHMC) public toilet. GHMC has strategically constructed such toilets at various locations in Hyderabad close to such places that are used as public toilet. However, the GHMC toilets are clearly not used properly. I think it is because of the one-rupee that is charged for use. Now this is a problem statement. The solution is to conceive a way by which the use of this (or any public) toilet can be enforced.

I think this issue is directly related to Standard of Living, though the benefits can be intangible prima facie. So, I am interested to do something to ensure that this trend doesn't continue. I am willing to take suggestions on this.

The questions that I have be answered are

1. If you live in Hyderabad or a place that has similar attitude, do you think the cause the one-rupee charge?
   
2. If, so, is that the only cause?

On my part, since I feel the money is the problem here, we can create a public fund of one rupee coins and allow (meaning persuade) "the Filled-up and the Restless" to use money from the fund for the toilet instead. That is the theory. I do understand practical considerations.

• How to collect the money?

• How to safe-guard and disburse the money (vending machine?)

• How to advertise the fund and advertise against the use of compound wall or sewage.
  

But before all that

1. Do you have any alternative/better/easier/more sensible ideas?
2. If not at least do you think that this idea can be modified/improved?

We need to keep in mind that the idea may have to be implemented at different places in Hyderabad and elsewhere. This may be a farsighted consideration, but I think it is important nevertheless!

Blah blah blah ... Wah!

That was hilarious! Everything about that was right except that Headlines Today is also among the pack. But why blame the news channels alone? Turn to entertainment and out of about 25 channels (or is it more than that?) not a single one seems to have found a source of entertainment that is not related to movies and the slow-moving soaps. And the lesser I talk about the channels that strive to "deliver the divine truth" the better it would be. It is startling that humans, in spite of being different in almost every aspect starting from DNA, facial features, fingerprints, cornea, brain structure, blood group and so on, seem to be hopelessly and boringly SAME when it comes to airing a television program, publishing a newspaper or making a movie!

But then this isn't such a new point to talk about. The boredom is so much around us that we seem to have become institutionalized to it. How else do you explain the fact that there are so many worshipers of so many soaps with blaring and ill-fitting background score and ignominious dialogues? How else do you explain the fact that a well-known hero, a new-face model, a party number and its remix and a bunch of sleazy encounters (though lifted off from hollywood) can easily offset a storyline that doesn't exist, roles that calls for no acting and actors who don't have roles to become box-office hits?

Now this whole post may be self-referential! You may ask me "You talk about trite. What is so new about this post? This is talked about by almost everyone who maintains a blog! Your post is only as different as the programmes you talk about!"

Good point! That is why I shut up for such a long time! But for sometime now, it appears that at least somebody in the broadcasting business has finally got bored of the sameness. The Tamil channel called "MakkaL TV" - "MakkaL" being Tamil for the work people - stands as a proof for the fact that....

1) ... entertainment extends beyond movies
For the last two weeks that I have caught a glimpse of this channel, I didn't find a single program that is related to movies! Yet the channel has managed to come up with programs that entertain people. Considering the dependence of the other channels on movies for their survival, this channel seems to have taken up a very bold challenge and won it hands down ! The most attractive programmes are interactive. To highlight a few..

• "Tamil pesu, thanga kaasu" (Speak Tamil and win a gold coin) is a challenge to the general public to speak continuously with out usage of any other language.
• "Sol vilayattu" (word game) is another 3-round challenge played live over the phone, Word jumble, "cross-word", and "who is in the picture?", at the end of which the winner wins a handsome prize, a silk Saree!
• Over the phone employment advise for the unemployed

2) ......one can speak Tamil with minimal use of English and still not sound weird!
The presenters of all the TV programs in this channel stick to colloquial yet unadulterated Tamil language and are dressed in traditional and simple tamil attire such as dothi, Khadi shirts and Saree (though not always). The more important aspect is that the channel doesn't seem to overplay the pro-Tamil sentiment and stops well short of looking and sounding Tamil-chauvinistic.

As a downside, I must point out one fact. Like most of the other Tamil channels, this is also run by a political party and an ally in the current DMK coalition government, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). And I haven't watched their news reports yet. That gives me a fear that I might have come up with this post a little too soon!

கண்ணதாஸனின் வரியில்..1

இன்பமும் காதலும் இயற்க்கையின் நீதி..
எற்றத்தாழ்வுகள் மனிதனின் ஜாதி..
பாரில் இயற்க்கை படைத்ததையெல்லாம்..
பாவி மனிதன் பி்ரித்து வைத்தானே!

மனிதன் மாரிவிட்டான்...

Truth Happens

An open letter to The Hindu

Respected Editor,
The purpose of this e-mail is to express my deep disappointment over the prejudiced views expressed by The Hindu against men citing the unfortunate and detestable "Mumbai molestation" incident on the New Year's eve in the article "An assault on dignity" - The Hindu Magazine dated 13th January 2008

Quote from the article

"The real issue that we must grapple with when such incidents occur has a name; it is "patriarchy". It includes the inability of men to accept that women have rights, that they are human beings, that they should be left alone, that they have a right tooccupy space in the public arena."

To say that all men are unable to consider women as human beings reflects a narrow-minded and prejudiced outlook of the author against men. I don't deny that social malices like dowry system still exists and are perpetrated solely against women. But on what basis does Ms. Kalpana come to a conclusion that such crimes are committed only by men? I do agree to the fact that women are always the victims in rape and I do empathize with them. At the same time there are also numerous cases in which women place false molestation charges against men and get away with it riding on the benefit of the "sympathy factor". What is the intention of Ms. Kalpana? To get justice for women or to get even with men for all the crimes committed against women (by both men and women)?

A sizable number of terrorism-related incidents can be attributed to Islamic terrorists, Indians or otherwise. I am sure The Hindu would not publish an article that implies that all muslims are terrorists. Why then does it publish an article that aims at blaming and defaming men because crimes are committed against women (by both men and women)? Articles such as these helps no good cause, but can flame up male and female egoism.

Ms. Kalpana is entitled to her opinion, however prejudiced, shallow and shameful they are. But the fact that this article made it to the front page of The Magazine (due to lapse in editing or conscious endorsement by the editorial team) is a clear indicator of the fast declining standards of journalism The Hindu. I believe, just like how money problems can't be solved my money, gender issues can't be solved by only one gender or pitching one gender against the other.

The only ways are
1. consensus between the two genders by sensitizing both of them of problems faced by one another,
2. strict *enforcement* of the law to deter perpetration of such crimes (this includes accessibility and transparency of law enforcement agencies)

--

Sincerely,
Badhrinath J
303, Patnivilla Apartments,
Rasoolpura, Begumpet,
Hyderabad - 500016


PS: I am also in total disagreement with the following views of the author


"Laws have never succeeded in changing mindsets. The death penalty has not reduced the number of murders. The Dowry Act has not stopped the custom of giving and taking dowries. Stronger laws dealing with crimes against women, although essential, have not reduced the incidence of crime"

These views seem to lack supporting evidence. Was there a time in India when the death penalty was abolished and the rate of murder increased or remained the same? Further, this analysis also depends on how well the laws are enforced, and how easy was it to make complaints when crimes are committed.

An open letter to The Hindu

Respected Editor,
The purpose of this e-mail is to express my deep disappointment over the prejudiced views expressed by The Hindu against men citing the unfortunate and detestable "Mumbai molestation" incident on the New Year's eve in the article "An assault on dignity" -The Hindu Magazine dated 13th January 2008

Quote from the article
"The real issue that we must grapple with when such incidents occur has a name; it is "patriarchy". It includes the inability of men to accept that women have rights, that they are human beings, that they should be left alone, that they have a right tooccupy space in the public arena."

To say that all men are unable to consider women as human beings reflects a narrow-minded and prejudiced outlook of the author against men. I don't deny that social malices like dowry system still exists and are perpetrated solely against women. But on what basis does Ms. Kalpana come to a conclusion that such crimes are committed only by men? I do agree to the fact that women are always the victims in rape and I do empathize with them. At the same time there are also numerous cases in which women place false molestation charges against men and get away with it riding on the benefit of the "sympathy factor". What is the intention of Ms. Kalpana? To get justice for women or to get even with men for all the crimes committed against women (by both men and women)?

A sizable number of terrorism-related incidents can be attributed to Islamic terrorists, Indians or otherwise. I am sure The Hindu would not publish an article that implies that all muslims are terrorists. Why then does it publish an article that aims at blaming and defaming men because crimes are committed against women (by both men and women)? Articles such as these helps no good cause, but can flame up male and female egoism.

Ms. Kalpana is entitled to her opinion, however prejudiced, shallow and shameful they are. But the fact that this article made it to the front page of The Magazine (due to lapse in editing or conscious endorsement by the editorial team) is a clear indicator of the fast declining standards of journalism The Hindu. I believe, just like how money problems can't be solved my money, gender issues can't be solved by only one gender or pitching one gender against the other. The only ways are

1. consensus between the two genders by sensitizing both of them of problems faced by one another,

2. strict *enforcement* of the law to deter perpetration of such crimes (this includes accessibility and transparency of law enforcement agencies)


--
Sincerely,
Badhrinath J
303, Patnivilla Apartments,
Rasoolpura, Begumpet,
Hyderabad - 500016

PS: I am also in total disagreement with the following views of the author

"Laws have never succeeded in changing mindsets. The death penalty has not reduced the number of murders. The Dowry Act has not stopped the custom of giving and taking dowries. Stronger laws dealing with crimes against women, although essential, have not reduced the incidence of crime"

These views seem to lack supporting evidence. Was there a time in India when the death penalty was abolished and the rate of murder increased or remained the same? Further, this analysis also depends on how well the laws are enforced, and how easy was it to make complaints when crimes are committed.

When you say "My life stinks" - 4-a

Accident with mathematics

It was Saturday, albeit an unusual one in that, I decided not be at my office to accompany the deserted cubicles. I decided to visit my uncle's family. His is a ?ollywood family. Four members, energetic dad, caring mom, elder daughter who defines the words "cute" and "sweet" and a younger son who cares more about defining "naughty" and "mischievous".

My uncle is a thinker! He has a take on almost everything. He has questions, often unanswerable if you are not allowed to guess. He also discovers facts that a normal man probably wouldn't. He has an excellent feel for "landmark-dates" in the past. Wedding anniversaries? No problem! Who died in the family, when and before who? Piece of cake! He remembers almost everyone's birthdays of course! Hence he is very good at finding out the age of anyone among our relatives.

"You are 27 now right?" This is how it started on the saturday!
"Yea!", I said.
"Age 28 is unique for you because, next year you will celebrate your birthday on the exact same day of the week, that you were born!"
I started calculating..when he interrupted!.

"If you observe holidays year after year, if Diwali falls on a monday this year, it will fall on a tuesday next year. But if it is a leap year, it will fall on a wednesday. So, if you add one for every year after 28 years you would add 28 days! Now in 28 years there are 7 leap years! So, 28+7=35 and 35 is divisible by 7!"

I said "Coooooooool!"

His eyes lit up when he said, "Its simple LCM!" and smiled!

My aunt, busy preparing the day's breakfast and hence oblivious to our discoveries, called out from the kitchen. "Do you hear me? The cooking gas is empty!

Can you please replace it?" He got up and pulled the new gas cylinder into the kitchen. I followed him into the kitchen for no apparent reason. I was looking for more. As he worked on replacing the cylinder, he seemed to be thoughtful and run out of things to say!

After a few minutes emerged out of his thoughts and said "We have been talking about mathematics and incidentally, today is December 22, 2007 and Sarvajit year according to the Tamil Calender. Do you know what is special today?"

I blurted out foolishly, "Tsunami in 2002?"

"That was on December 26. Remember? It was boxing day test match between Sri Lanka and Australia and Sri Lankan team came back. So no your answer is not correct!" He smiled again.

"Tamil Calender has a 60 year cycle. As I said earlier, this is Sarvajit year. So was 1947 (60 yrs ago), the year we got independence. And today in 1887 (120 yrs ago), a sarvajit year again, the mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan was born! Incidentally we are talking about mathematics!".

Then he called out to my aunt. "I have fixed it!"

When you say "My life stinks" - 3-b

Gaza: Children of conflict - 2

When you say "My life stinks" - 3-a

Gaza : Children of Conflict - I

A lesson learnt - I

I was standing by the roadside waiting for my roomie to show up so that we can go to work together. The road was getting ready for another day's traffic congestion as the city was just starting to get to work along with me.

At time, there I spotted one man on a dilapidated Kinetic Honda in a plain sky-blue track suit distinctly out of place in that crowd. Just as he passed me his pocket promptly dropped his wallet. Before I could wave to him, he was gone.

Two bikers behind riding right him both typically anxious to get to work, stopped nevertheless and started exploring his wallet. I approached them to ensure that they are looking for an address rather than money (not that there was any in it!). After some futile attempts, they finally spotted a bunch of Business cards that carried "Satish Gupta: Global Needs". They matched it with a confidential pin-number intimation letter addressed to the same name, that was also in his wallet.

I started punched his number and informed that he has almost lost his all. As he was riding back I was basked in self-congratulatory mood telling myself "See, that is such a nice guy I am :)".

Within minutes the blue martian with a graying mustache was standing in front of me. "Thank you sir, I was told by another rider that I dropped my wallet. I was on my way, but didn't hope to find it". ...... Then his voice went mute as something stuck me. I started investigating my wallet even as the blue martian's face posted a question mark that constantly grew up in size.

After sometime I looked up and said. "Its good that you had your business card. I don't have one in my wallet." I fortunately had an untidy one in my bag which I wouldn't give to anybody. As I inserted it in to a groove in my wallet, I told him "A lesson learnt"

When you say "My life stinks" - 2

Darfur

When you say "My life stinks" - 1

This is a new series of videos that highlight or (is it lowlight) the plight of the people affected by conflict in different parts of the world. Hopefully this will put us in the place on a global perspective and remind us how much better our lives are the next time we say "My life stinks!"

Starting with Srilanka

Twin temples of Chennai

After what seems to be a long time, I went back to Chennai for a one-week-break for the naming ceremony of my new nephew which fell close on the heels of Deepavali celebrations. Being a bachelor in a family gathering has little advantages. With no wife to look after, I became the most reliable person to handle all the emergency needs. That's to eulogize things. To paint a more realistic picture, I was footballed around for almost any and every need of the hour. Chennai weather, in november was no less hostile. But hey, for once I was actually useful. And not everything worked against me. In one instance of the shopping spree, I went to Parry's Corner with my dad where I bumped into the twin-temples of Chenna Malleeswarar and Chenna kesava temples!

So, the story so far turns out to be "I left the twin-cities for a twin-occasion and got to visit a twin-temple." Hmm, how often do you get that combo??

Built in the early 1640's, this temple is said the first temple built after the settlement of the English East India Company in India. The current Pagoda (the gopuram) is actually a replacement (built around a century later) of an earlier one which was brought down in order to expand Fort St. George.

This a much younger temple vis-a-vis the other temples within the city limits of the present day Chennai (Parthasarathy temple, Triplicane, Kapaleeswarar temple, Mylapore and Marundeeswarar temple, Tiruvanmiyur) which are built around 10th century AD). Neverthless, this temple seems to be no less coveted than other temples in its unique features.

- This temple is a coeval of the Chennai city itself!
- The only twin-temple in Chennai that is dedicated to Lord Shiva as well as Lord Vishnu!
- The name of the city owes is a copyright of this temple!
- Probably the only temple in chennai (if not TN) to have a carving of the person was instrumental in its construction

I entered the temple right about the time it was to be closed in the afternoon. So, I could get only a quick look at around the temple. Here is what I could quickly note and gather.

Moolavar: Channa keshava perumal with Sridevi and Bhoodevi Thayar. (no points for guessing)
Utsavar: Shanta Nrusimhar, a representative of the temple with the same incarnation as moolavar in Tiruneermalai, a locality at the outskirts of Chennai. (I wonder what is the Utsavar @ Tiruneermalai! :) )

- A good painting of Lord Vishnu marrying SriDevi under the auspices of Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma, on the ceiling of the temple's gopuram (I guarantee you, about 1% of the visitors would have really thought about looking straihgt up, let alone admire the painting!).

- The usual sannidhis for SriDevi, Bhoodevi, Chakkaratazhvar, Kothandaramar, and all the Alwars who conjured up the Bhakti Movement.

- Pillar sculptures represented the ten reincarnations of Lord Vishnu and various flagship scenes of Krishna avatar (reincarnation) like Kalinga Nardanam (Krishna's dance on the head of a 10-headed Cobra).

The surprise element of the temple - Two pillars of the temple premises had the sculpture of Andal Nachiyar - The only female alwar and believed to be the reincarnation of Goddess SriDevi.

What is so surprising about it? Well, the sculptures depicted her *naked*!

I had to step a bit closer to double check (It was really embarrassing. Trust me!). But it was unmistakable, the trademark parrot on her right hand and the trademark standing posture!

I am not surprised at the naked depiction in general. I have seen sculptures explicitly depicting various postures of sexual intercourse on the main Gopuram of Sri Govindaraja Perumal temple in Tirupati. But those were anonymous and didn't represent any revered God or Godess. I have also seen topless sculptures of Goddess Lakshmi that are quite common. But this is the first time I am seeing a revered Goddess (Sridevi) depicted totally nude!

References:
The Hindu : Metro Plus Chennai / Columns : An end and a beginning
Chennai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Corporation of Chennai

Templenet - The Comprehensive Indian Temple website

Celebrating Gandhi

"I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country, in whose making they have an effective voice, an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no room in such an India for the curse of untouchability, or the curse of intoxicating drinks and drugs. Women will enjoy the same rights as men. We shall be at peace with all the rest of the world. This is the India of my dreams"

This is the Gandhian Pledge that the Prime Minister of India took on Oct. Sixty years after Independence and we are still pledging. Take a look at his dreams. We have got started on, forget about achieving, NONE of them. Why kid ourselves when we care the least about what he said?

We have to be honest to accept that

1. we know very less about Gandhian ideals and hence lose the right to fallaciously admire him or judge him
2. even a great man like Gandhi cannot be correct in *all* his ideals and *all* his ideals need not apply transcending time.

So, if we are interested in celebrating his birthday, we have to read about him. Read about his ideals at least to the point that we find at least one of his ideals that we disagree with. And we find at least one of his ideals which we feel will not be applicable to the present day.

Now that would be an honest celebration of his greatness on his birthday. At least better than the false idol worship we indulge in. What do you say?

Celebrating Gandhi

"I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is
their country, in whose making they have an effective voice, an India
in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; an India
in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no
room in such an India for the curse of untouchability, or the curse of
intoxicating drinks and drugs. Women will enjoy the same rights as men.
We shall be at peace with all the rest of the world. This is the India
of my dreams"

This is the Gandhian Pledge that the Prime Minister of India took on Oct. Sixty years after Independence and we are still pledging. Take a look at his dreams. We have got started on, forget about achieving, NONE of them. Why kid ourselves when we care the least about what he said?

We have to be honest to accept that

1. we know very less about Gandhian ideals and hence lose the right to fallaciously admire him or judge him
2. even a great man like Gandhi cannot be correct in *all* his ideals and *all* his ideals need not apply transcending time.

So, if we are interested in celebrating his birthday, we have to read about him. Read about his ideals at least to the point that we find at least one of his ideals that we disagree with. And we find at least one of his ideals which we feel will not be applicable to the present day.

Now that would be an honest celebration of his greatness on his birthday. At least better than the false idol worship we indulge in. What do you say?