a song of despair

Moving on

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:07:01 GMT

I have moved on and away from LJ - that companion of 4 years, and onto a new song of despair on word-press. Do visit.

URL: http://porcine.wordpress.com
RSS: http://porcine.wordpress.com/feed/

~*~

कभी पल्कॊ पे आन्सू हैं

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:39:45 GMT

Another beautiful song from the stable of Kishore Kumar. Lyrics, in Hindi for your pleasure, I had thought about translating this into English, but i couldn't do justice and so i will not try and mutilate a work of art..

मुख्डा:
कभी पल्कॊ पे आन्सू हैं
कभि लब पे शिकायत हैं
मगर ऐ ज़िन्दगि फिर भि
मुझे तुझ से मौहब्बत हैं

जो आता है वॊह जाता हैं
ये दुनियां आनी जानी हैं
यहां हर शए मुसाफ़िर हैं
सफ़र में ज़िन्दगानीं हैं

उजालों कि ज़रूरत हैं
अन्धेरा मेरि किस्मत हैं

[मुख्डा]

ज़रा ऐ ज़िन्दगिं दम ले
तेर दीदार तो कर लूं
कभि देखा नहिं जिस को
उसॆ मैं प्यार तो कर लूं

अभि से छोड कर मत जा
अभि तेरि ज़रूरत है

[मुख्डा]

कोई अन्जान सा चेह्रा
उभर्ता है फ़िज़ाओ में
येह किस कि आहटें जागी
मेरि खामोश राहों में

अभि ऐ मौत मत आना
मेरा अभि आना जन्नत हैं

[मुख्डा]

and so i go on to add songs to my travel playlist.

~*~

Car Troubles

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:12:50 GMT

So. I had bought a Honda Accord 1998 from an outgoing member of the the class of 2008. It was cool, it was manual transmission. Sweet. Now apart from correct driving side issues, i can drive any car anywhere in the world. That's what i wanted. But then things happened.

The car failed state inspection test - the catalytic converter wasn't working. Bugger that. Cost me something like 300 quids to fix that and a day spent running around shops to get the best deal. In the process i missed a meeting with a professor in regard to my internship. And so some peace of mind when i tried to figure out what exactly is due-diligence in raising x amount of funds for series B VC funding. Thankfully figured that out in the end.

And today, when i picked up my car from the garage after spending the afternoon taking picture of the streets of Portland, ME i realized that something was wrong. First the car was moving with sudden thrusts. The kind you get when say the engine is not getting enough gas and is hence backfiring. Scary. I called up a repair shop and decided to drop it in. In the meanwhile i thought maybe there isn't enough gas in the car. The needle was stuck at 1/6th full mark or something, but it wouldn't go down or up when i switched ignition. Suspicious and so i went and filled in to full tank. No "sudden thursts" after that. Relief. But while i was driving over to the Mall, i now noticed a swaying movement. Earlier there had been oil leak when parked and so it was a good idea to show in at the Mechanic anyway.

Turns out that a tire was punctured in the path and such that it had to be replaced. Never have my vehicles had a simple puncture. Be it with my Pulsar 180 or now this car, all my punctures had been shears through the rubber instead of pin-sized holes. So then had to have the tire changed. And apparantely the oil tray for the Engine oil is rusted and leaking. That's another thing to take care of once i get back from my vacation. Easily a 100 quid job.

Enough car troubles for me. I will keep this car for the rest of the year, obviously. But i am done with second hands, or in this case, probably a third hand. For all the steep depreciation in the value of a new car - it is far better to buy or better lease a new car and have peace of mind with some sound engineering, unaffected by wear and tear!

~*~

Chagrined

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 03:16:37 GMT

When you left, you took more
Than what you thought;
It was not just my love
But all my love and my peace too

Why did you have to go?
Were our steps never in rhyme
Were my eyes too high, my step too slow?

And now that you are not here
I look for you in the women i meet,
Verily they disappoint, and if they don't
Your pedestal is too high

The hole you gave my heart
Is un-mended, and yet
You never stopped to look back, even once?

~*~

Awww

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 03:03:02 GMT

missing old days and folks... :(

~*~

Insights for Search

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:10:31 GMT

This new service by Google is uber-good! You can check how a particular key-word is behaving in popularity over a period of time, across countries and different regions within countries. The data is scaled to 100 for some reference point - usually the top searched item/location depending on context. Hence, if I were to search for "Rush Limbaugh" in this service i see a scale of 100 for USA and 12 in Canada; this implies that the talk show host is 88% less popular in Canada when compared to US.

Now these insights are obviously derived from the searches made on Google and hence any analysis on this data should presume that the segment under consideration has access to the Internet and even within that we are speaking about users of Google's search engine. Hence, any analysis should be done in the backdrop of common demographics. Which is why if i do a comparison of keywords between US and Canada, i can safely compare the results and believe that the rules of statistics could be applied. Ergo, my result from searching for Rush Limbaugh could be used for marketing research analysis. Which is exactly what i am using them for in concluding the final phase of my internship; after all i didn't even knew who Rush Limbaugh was 2 months ago.

A very interesting analysis that one could also do from this service is to see trends within countries. Hence, i went ahead and searched on locations for India for all search terms from 2004 to present. The results are revealing:

Google, yahoo and Orkut occupy the top spots with Nokia and games also in the top 10. Interestingly "indian railways" and "indian railway" both occupy top ranks (9 and 15 respectively) with "irctc" at 43 and "indian rail" at 46. Since several airlines figure in this top 50 list as well, it is conceivable that the category travel as a whole could very well occupy the top spot (in comparison Shopping would probably be the top category in USA). What was intriguing was the presence of URLs in search terms - "www.yahoo.com" occupies 36th place! And while games is ranked 4th, Wikipedia, ranked 19 has grown by more than 2630% over the period.

The hilarious bit though was "pinkworld" at 39th position - in the country of Kamasutra and Khajuraho with repressed sexual emotions, this is perhaps not surprising!

~*~

Religion

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:50:43 GMT

Not so long ago, i had mentioned to a friend the unique nature of Indian culture to assimilate alien concepts, particularly where theology is concerned. Thus, while the Hindu believes in trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh which are perhaps a notch below the all pervasive Shakti or "a cosmic power", it accepts all sorts of individuals to exist in the pantheon of gods and either assigns them some natural phenomenon or portrays them as a re-incarnation of God, of the trinity - almost always Vishnu, but still. Hence, Indra is a god responsible for the rains and hence the most powerful of the "lesser" gods and therefore the king of heaven - or whatever the equivalent concept is in Hinduism. On the other hand Rama and Krishna are incarnations of Vishnu and bring a message of God to the people at large: Rama speaking about perhaps the necessity of the ruler to always ensure the well-being of his/her kingdom (or queen-dom) even at the cost of personal anguish and Krishna speaking of the role of duty and importance of love (in all its manifestations) for the happiness of the human being.

In my view, there are two components to this religious phenomenon. The Trinity and the "lesser" gods are there to make sense of natural phenomenon such as the weather and birth and death; while the re-incarnates are great personalities of ages past that made a difference to people's lives. Much as Gandhi did in modern times, is it not possible for there to be a Krishna and a Rama that brought more meaning to the population of their times?

Speaking about the latter category of gods, perhaps those personalities that worked within the rules of the Hindu tradition - accepting the vedas, the varna system and what not, were raised on a pedestal of god hood. On the other hand those that questioned this system and propagated a new system of belief - a new religion, if you will - were not always so highly praised. The Brahmins ensured that these were not a part of the Hindu system and their traditions were not destroyed - after all, it was to the benefit of the powerful, the Brahmin and the Kshatriya to ensure the continuance of the system that gave them their power. Hence, the "non-Hindu" great persons were not called gods unto themselves.

And here comes the great tradition of Indian and i say Hindu culture. The birth-dates of Rama and Krishna are widely celebrated in India in the form of Ramnavmi and Janmashtmi festivals. But the birth-dates of Budhha is also celebrated as Budh-purnima and increasingly that of Jesus - even by Hindu households. True, Budh Purnima is celebrated in more homes than Christmas is, but then Gautam Budhha was born in India and his teachings and his religion has existed among the people for far longer than Christianity has. How long will it take before the teachings of Christianity are also assimilated among those of the larger Hindu culture and the birth of Jesus celebrated among the common households in mufassil India?

The Catholic Bishop's council of India has released an Indianized version of The Bible which quotes "verses from ancient Indian texts like the Upanishads and Vedas to explain the life and teachings of Jesus Christ." I see this as a step in the direction that will assimilate the teachings of Christianity among that of the Hindu. along with those of Gandhi and indeed Mohammed. I strongly believe that Hindu society is secular in its ethos and when i say Hindu here, i mean the culture of the people living in the Indian sub-continent. It has assimilated and made its own the large influences that came its way over the centuries. Will not the more modern influences be similarly in-grained. After all, members of all religious faiths visit Mount Mary in Bombay as they do the Dargah at Ajmer Sharif and that at Haji Ali.

This will sound provocative to my non-Hindu friends and I apologize in advance - indeed, I believe that at some time in the distant future the gods and great persons of other religions will be praised in much the same way as the "native" gods of Hinduism are revered. Provided, that is, the culture of assimilation that is Indian remains in its essence and not replaced by the currents of fundamentalism that are increasingly buffeting the nation.

~*~

Persecution

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:11:06 GMT

Is the age old of persecution of Jews now being replaced by the persecution of the Muslims? This story in Outlook points out interesting developments in the backdrop of increasing radicalizations of Indian Muslims - historically viewed as pieceful and backward minority community that was scared against the majority Hindu community, the article describes how the intelligentsia among Muslim youth is increasingly turning to violence as a response to this persecution.

Arguably, the youth picked up at random by the Police are inevitably the poor, the marginalized, un-educated while the prosperous and educated individuals indulge in conspiracies and arm-chair rhetoric. The solution, the un-ghettoization and end to persecution is possible through economic upliftment. That requires investment in education and a stake in prosperity for people across communal and religious boundaries. This violence will stop only when those whose backs are pressed against the wall have something to lose beyond their lives - which they feel are meaningless. "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" and this absolute freedom to wantonly attack other's freedom has to be denied.

~*~

Meta-physics

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:36:14 GMT

Imaging the sand of the... desert and imagine a trillion universes - not worlds but universes - encapsulated in each grain of that desert; and within each universe an infinity of others. We tower over these universes from our pitiful vantage points... with one swing of my boot i may knock a billion billion worlds flying off into darkness, in a chain never to be completed.

Adapted from The Dark Tower by Stephen King.

It is only in imagination that we can try and fail to encapsulate the infinite. Where are we, within our unknown, infinite universe. Where does our infinite universe reside? What is beyond the known? What is known? What are we made of? Atoms? Neutrons and positrons and Quacks? When did we come into existence? In the year xyz of some reference point of the birth of someone? When was that someone born? How much time lapsed after the birth of this, our universe, when this someone was born. What is birth and what lapsed before the universe came into existence. What is existence? Infinite questions that I have asked before in my measly existence and there is no answer, there has never been. For what answer can there be when every answer begets an infinitude of questions?

We delve into the metaphysics - the pastime of philosophers for eons - who are we, where do we exist, when did we come into being, for what purpose? Men have asked this question to no avail. This is the realm of metaphysics, with no absolute answers. There are no absolute answers.

And so we exist and make what we may of our being. Being and nothingness.

~*~

Hypocrisy

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:24:54 GMT

For all my cosmopolitan leanings i remain a staunch nationalist:

The nightlong battle came after one Indian soldier and four Pakistanis were killed Monday along the border between sections of Kashmir

reports the New York Times on recent violation of ceasefire by Pakistan. As General Patton (or some US general during the WWII) said - war is won not by dying for the country but by making them mother-f_____ die for their own sodden countries.

You go Jawans!

~*~

Pakistan

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:26:23 GMT

Just saw an ad on CNN aimed at increasing business investments in Pakistan. It is presumable that the advertisement was paid for by some agency of the government of Pakistan. Not unlike the !ncredible India campaign executed by the Ministry of Tourism in India, this particular ad amused me. It was all big buildings, happy children, models in skimpy sarees and Cricket and Polo. How fake. Knowing what i know of Pakistan, it is a troubled country and while there is Cricket and Polo and assuredly happy children and sky-scrapers, they cover a small part of the country. The models in skimpy clothes perhaps strut under intense guard - protected by the Pakistani Army.

If i had the choice, i would think twice before investing in Pakistan while the society remains troubled under extremist Mullahs and threatened by Taleban.

~*~

A Fine Balance

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:34:23 GMT

I have just about finished reading "A Fine Balance", an excellent novel by Rohinton Mistry. Mr. Mistry writes the story of four individuals who come together for a brief period during the Emergency in India. Two of these individuals are unrelated Parsis while the other two are related individuals, members of the so called 'Untouchable' caste of Chamaars - leather workers. This novel writes their individual stories and then brings these stories together while the said individuals spend some time together in relative happiness. The parsi women has been through some tough times and with an independent soul she struggles through tough times, eventually hiring tailors to run an independent garment manufacturing 'sweat shop' that nurtures her and the two unfortunate tailors. The story of the other Parsi boy is benign - his father has sent him to pursue technical education to the city by the sea - arguably a description of Bombay, with their Shiv Sena Hoodlums, and a veiled mention of the Haji Ali Dargah. Their are other stories mingled with these, the story of an orphaned children where the elder brother does what he believes is right and makes his younger sister miserable. The story of a Beggarmaster who is shown as benign in his cruelty. The story of a particular beggar under the Beggarmaster, without limbs who evokes such pangs of guilt and misery amongst the passerby commuters that he is the most "profitable" of the beggars under the Beggarmaster. The story of the parents of the Parsi boy, the story of the hills, that of retired Armymen, of a crazed hair-collector who ends up killing two beggars because of his passion for good hair - afterall, beautiful hair will earn him good money from wig-manufacturers, serving rich clientèle in Western Europe, USA. Rohinton Mistry brings all of these stories together seamlessly. But he does more.

He describes the caste violence, the stupidity and the excesses of the Emergency Rule. The myopic, blood curdling view that the middle and the upper classes took of Emergency. When the trains ran on time, discipline was imposed, trade unions silenced. Perhaps the only time in independent India when Fascism ruled. I could go on a political discourse around Indira Gandhi, and Congress and her progeny who rule the country today, but that is a different post.

For all the real-estate that the above letters have taken, this post is not about the book; rather it is about the caste violence depicted in the book. The story of the parsi characeters, Maneck and Dina, of the beggars is sad, amusing, interesting. But the story of the tailors, the people of the "chamaar caste" whose father was farsighted enough to train them to be tailors in order to escape their caste is depressing. No it is far worse than depressing. Their story is inhuman, disheartening. Their family is persecuted by the upper caste, thakur member of the village for some inane instance. One of the sons of the far-sighted father and his nephew escape the brutal killings in their native village since they are in the town. Every person of their household is burnt alive. Left to live, with a passion for life, Om and Ishvar travel to the City by the sea to start a new life where emergency imposes its own cruelty on them. Harassed by the police, cheated by the slum-lords - by a character named Thokray (could it be pointing to Bala Saheb Thackerey? The man who created the Shiv Sena?), they suffer and yet strive to get prosperous and eventually "succeed" in finding a place with Ms. Dina, as her (eventually) trusted and loved tailors.

The tailors' family lived through horrendous times. Ishvar's mother stole from the orchards to provide for Ishvar and his brother Narayan, silently suffered rape and how many more indignities? Eventually their family was successful, prosperous - more than some of the upper caste families in their village and for this crime, eventually, they were burnt alive. Escaped, Ishvar and Om struggled in the City, were kidnapped to build the numbers for a rally by the Prime Minister - Indira Gandhi, of course and then again to stand as free labor (slaves! in Independent, modern India, on a pointedly government project) for an irrigation canal. Ishvar and Om returned to their district to enable Om to find a bride. And there they find that their arch enemy, the Thakur who burnt their family alive is a respected member of the ruling Congress Party, expected to be a minister (in state government or center - we don't find out) in the next elections - whenever they are held. And he ends up castrating Om - the youth out to get married. The forceful vasectomy performed by scared Doctors with instruments that were not properly sterilized costs Ishvar his limbs.

There is more violence in this novel. Violence through bigotry - bigotry instigated by the caste system and a hint of the bigotry instigated by the gender discrimination. I am thankful that Rohinton Mistry focused only on one issue here. I am too nauseated as it is. All of us in India who have grown up reading news stories are aware of caste violence. Open violence as that depicted in this novel through news stories and subtle violence that we in interior cities see with segregated vessels, restricted entrance - indeed a general segregation. And perhaps never notice in the metropolitan cities. After a time the frequent stories of dalit women paraded naked through the village square, of lower caste men lynched by an upper caste mob stop having any meaning. Its just another statistic, yet another story by a reported looking for stories. This reporting loses its proportions. "18 killed in serial Bomb explosions in Bangalore", oh! only 18.

A person needs a story like the one in "A Fine Balance" to restore the sense of humanity and that is why I am thankful to this novel and yet nauseated by the needless violence prevalent in my society. No name is given to the village by the river where the tailors reside. But I wouldn't be surprised if this village is in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand or MP. The BIMARU states where progress has only been for a few while the majority has remained striven with poverty, ignorance, helplessness. But then this village could have been anywhere in the vast country and not just the bad-lands of north india.

No, i had lost sense of the inhumanity of the caste violence and this novel brings it forth. This novel also brings forth the inadequacy of the Gandhian struggle. The call by the great leader, Mahatma Gandhi, to renounce caste structures, to unite in humanity. It takes generations to wipe away a system that has sustained for centuries. My grand father was a Gandhian and he followed Gandhi's teachings and he probably impacted his neighborhood but he didn't change everything. Not even the Mahatma could change much. Caste violence continues today. I believe that the news media is more active today and yet there are fewer stories. It must be a positive sign.

I don't know what could be done to change the society. I believe education is the key, but a child who sees barbarity performed against his fellow human beings will grow up to believe that it is okay to kill someone from the lower caste because they are less than animals. Because the age-old tradition, discipline mentioned in the scriptures has to be maintained. Education, with a simultaneous enforcement of the laws will prevent such a child growing up believing in what is unjust. A child free of the guilt of a true conscience. Maybe that will free my land from the scrooge of inhumanity.

I have ranted before on my stand against reservations and in spite of these strong feelings i maintain my stand. I distrust Mayawati, the Chief Minister of UP, because of the allegations of corruption against her and I do not know if those are true or just the imaginations of 'warped' upper caste minds. Regardless i hail her, because as that story in NY Times illustrated - Behenji being the chief minister has aroused the aspirations of Millions - so far oppressed under caste violence. They don't feel scared going to the police station to register a complaint, their complaints are probably heard. That is a good thing. Maybe it is the best that we have and I hope it will not ruin everything for everyone. I am afraid that the pendulum will swing the other way. Violence doesn't solve violence. A way has to be found to strengthen the law. Discrimination in favor of the backward alleviates the backward but doesn't eradicate the root of the problem. I have seen in UP what happens when a powerless section becomes too powerful. My neighbor's son attacked the police station because he felt that he was "un-touchable" since a Yadav - a member of his "caste" - was the chief minister.

The caste system has to go. The system of favoritism has to go. Education would solve the problem. It has to.

This book must be made a compulsory reading in all schools.

~*~

World Music

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:16:34 GMT

I am reading "A house for Mr. Biswas" - a book written by V. S. Naipaul set in Trinidad & Tobago in 1920s. Interesting book, the protagonist, Mr. Biswas is portrayed as an incompetent buffoon and reminded me of my friend Biswas (full name to be not revealed, but my EP class-mates would know). Anyhow, while reading the book i came across this word Calabash not knowing the meaning, i went and looked on the web and came across www.calabashmusic.com. An excellent website that brings music from around the world and helps aficionados explore and discover new music.

They also let you download selected music for free everyday, once you have registered of course. I would gladly buy music from their website, but there is no proof that the connection is encrypted and my credit card info etc. would be safe in this transaction. And so i haven't bought anything yet - but once they resolve their problems, i probably would.

I also discovered an excellent piece by André Bourgeois & Mano Bap called Pentagrama. These guys are Brazilian, music would probably be described as Techno-funk by me. While looking for an alternate, secure place from which to buy this album i came across www.deezer.com where you can download mp3s legally. Not sure, but i suppose internet radio is legal anyway. So here is a piece for you.

Update: I have got hooked to deezer. Free online, legal, on-demand streaming for a variety of music. Got my first introduction to Carla Bruni as well through here.

Discover André Bourgeois & Mano Bap!

~*~

कभी कभी

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:16:37 GMT

कभी कभी मेरे दिल मैं ख्याल आता हैं
कि ज़िंदगी तेरी जुल्फों कि नर्म छांव मैं गुजरने पाती
तो शादाब हो भी सकती थी।

यह रंज-ओ-ग़म कि सियाही जो दिल पे छाई हैं
तेरी नज़र कि शुओं मैं खो भी सकती थी।

मगर यह हो न सका और अब ये आलम हैं
कि तू नहीं, तेरा ग़म तेरी जुस्तजू भी नहीं।

गुज़र रही हैं कुछ इस तरह ज़िंदगी जैसे,
इससे किसी के सहारे कि आरझु भी नहीं.

न कोई राह, न मंजिल, न रौशनी का सुराग
भटक रहीं है अंधेरों मैं ज़िंदगी मेरी.

इन्ही अंधेरों मैं रह जाऊँगा कभी खो कर
मैं जानता हूँ मेरी हम-नफस, मगर यूंही

कभी कभी मेरे दिल मैं ख्याल आता है.

Rush

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:20:01 GMT

is amazing! Be it Different Strings, or 2112 or Tears.. totally rocking!

I so don't want to work today. Total productivity of the day: 0.0001%

~*~

Bhartihari - the poem of social comedy

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:59:37 GMT

I came across this a long time ago.. and i find it particularly amusing - even more so with what i have seen over the past few years and continue to:

She who is always in my thoughts prefers

 Another man, and does not think of me.

Yet he seeks for another's love, not hers;

And some poor girl is grieving for my sake.

        Why then, the devil take

Both her and him; and love; and her; and me.

The tragedy of human relationships - we are all running after something or someone.. like rats in a maze.. running, rolling, drifting...

~*~

Better Language

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:38:42 GMT

Pratap Bhanu Mehta says what i have been saying in a few previous posts, but does it more succinctly and powerfully:

The imperative of identifying citizens through communal categories has distinct sources. The first is the understandable proposition that the axis of identity might also define the lines of disempowerment and subordination. These forms of injustice need to be recognised. But the big mistake of secular politics, whether on caste or religion, has been to suppose that remedies must also reinforce the same identities, justice must be parcelled out along communal lines. Nirmal Verma once said something rather prophetic. So long as the distinction between minority and majority remained politically relevant, it would be impossible to prevent communal politics. The ideal ought to be to make what rights one has independent of the community to which one belongs. Each person should have the right to be who they wish to be, maintain whatever cultural identifications they wish, compatible with basic norms of justice. But what rights they have in employment, or against the state, should be independent of these identifications.[Emphasis added]

~*~

How does self interest cloud a debate?

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:40:25 GMT

With my daily exchange of emails, i have good meat for the blog. I received this "when i say yr self interest i mean that by your background, caste and upbringing you have been schooled to think in a certain way. that interest is not about your personal interest. but your mind becomes brain washed in such a fashion that you do not examine evidence dispassionately.

answer a very simple question: what is the caste profile of Indian students at xxxx and if their is low representation of scheduled castes why is it so? is it because of an institutional framework based on feudal exploitation which dilutes every well meaning action taken by the people ( i am deliberately using this term rather than government to drive home the fact politicians, bureaucrats and government are representatives of the people).

basically, there are two large groups of dis privileged (besides your favorite group, the poor: i would say that being poor is not being dis privileged it is a bloody crime and you are punished for it daily at each and every turn of your life)
these two groups are women and the dalits.
and to restore balance we keep trying all sorts of things, some of which might look ridiculous. for example the domesic violence act or the reservation in iits. but it becomes necessary." today morning. What follows is my response to it.

You have a fair point when you say that my self interest are determined by my background, caste and upbringing – after all, we are all conditioned by the experiences we have been brought up with. But I will turn it around and say aren’t the upbringing, background and caste driving the other side of the argument?

This holds for everyone who is supporting the caste/reservation argument and I am not speaking about you particularly here, after all I don’t know your background, caste or upbringing and frankly I don’t care; for the simple reason that I find the idea of caste abhorrent – in my definition of the caste system you are of the mercantile caste, same as me (being MBAs); or maybe of the intellectual caste, after all we are having this intellectual discussion. Point being, these concepts are no longer relevant in today’s world. The tragedy is that with the reservation system in place we are continuing the caste system instead of trying to eradicate it. I was discussing this issue yesterday with a fellow student (an American, someone not aware of the caste system) and her first response was: “this is institutionalized racism” which it is. And we should try and remove this form of racism instead of trying to modify it. It is abhorrent, no matter what.

As for the caste profile of Indian students at xxxx. I frankly have no idea of the caste of our fellow students. I never have cared for the caste of someone, not when I was in school (in provincial Etawah), not at IIT and I have no intention to find it out here at school. But since I understand what you are asking, I will add that the composition of the students at school or perhaps anywhere in US is driven by the availability of resources, guidance and ambition of each of these students. I don’t believe that everyone is born equal – all of us are different and even when two people have exact same access to resources, education support whatever – they will not do the same thing, or be successful if they do, however you define success. That said, it is critically important that everyone has access to the resources so that everyone has power to make of their life what they will. But people (using your own definition) have failed to provide these. That is what is lacking at this moment – you invest in providing access to quality resources to everyone regardless of caste, class or creed and you will have attained an equitable environment where everyone is at the position he/she can attain given their unique personalities. Not tomorrow, but maybe in a decade and you will have made the whole nation prosperous.

I will disagree with you that Dalits are a disprivileged class of people. There are Dalits who are economically strong and they are perhaps the most privileged of the classes around – they have reserved seats in quality schools, lowered barriers to entry – preferential treatment everywhere. But the poor kid from the village who happened to be bright but was born a Brahmin is denied this. If there has to be reservation, why not bar the “creamy layer”: those rich folks who have the resources and no longer need the crutch of a reservation? But it hurts them and they are too powerful to make this happen. By continuing to invest in building and sustaining a caste-driven, divisive society you are hurting national interest and not helping anyone.

~*~

The debate continues

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:34:01 GMT

Following this previous post, i received this "But one point. Mayawati is the best thing to have happened in post independence India. Of course, the entire process of gradual elimination of discrimination put in place by the politicians (whom the elites love to hate, I think because these politicians are different, not enlgish speaking and all that) at the time of independence (and not put in place entirely out of choice maybe) comes to bear one result, mayawati. Allegations of corruption are made against everyone. Without going into the merits of these allegations, mayawati marks a watershed for the better in Indian politics.
So does lalu Yadav and Mulayam.
Mayawati, lalu and mulayam are the people who understand india and the aspirations of millions of Indians.
The hundreds of millions of Indians whose aspirations will never be understood by elite people who live in air conditioned houses and speak English and profess to be some sort of intellectuals. It is easy to sit in airconditioned rooms with a full stomach and pass judgements on the poor peasants who will not get to see a square meal in their lifetime. Under such circumstances, the rise (or even the existence) of people like Mayawati will appear incomprehensible (or more appropriately grotesque) to these elites. But she is absolutely necessary. Why do these full bellied self professed intellectuals think Mayawati wins hundreds of millions of votes? Because her existence while grotesque and incomprehensible to these western educated elitists, is absolutely necessary and essential.
Because without a mayawati; Raja Bhaiyas and Jamuna Nishads, Guddu Pandits and Atiq Ahmads will continue to wreak havoc on the poor and the meek.
But I don’t expect the elites to even know who these people are. Nor do I expect them to know that mayawati is the only politician who actually files an income tax return of Rs. 100 crores and pays taxes on them. unlike the other honest people.
Mayawati, lalu and mulayam represent the element of balance of power which is so essential in any society.

PS: for the elites who don’t know what a crore is: 1 crore = 10 millions". What follows is my long response. I do have a lot of time on my hands. If you do too - then read on:

I am disappointed. While you claim the elites to be comfortable with their full stomachs and air conditioned houses, you make the mistake of assuming that the elites are un-concerned. Bringing out some rhetoric – Gandhi and Nehru were the so called elites by your definition (there was no A/C then, but you know what I mean). And I believe you would agree that they were more socialist than most (myself included). In fact, if my history is right, it was Gandhi (an “upper class Baniya”) who spear-headed the campaign against discrimination. It was Raja Ram Mohan Roy (I believe a Kshatriya/Brahmin – I wouldn’t know) who launched the campaign against Sati and the overall overhaul of the Hindu customs. Point being that the elites can and do understand the public at large and want to make a difference. That said, I am well aware that not everyone is so disposed. We all, some more than others, suffer from the conditioning of our society. I am well aware of people who do follow the discriminatory practices in their social lives and I wouldn’t be surprised by orthodox people choosing to not, say, rent their apartment to people from certain categories. That said, I am also aware that the laws exist to punish such individuals and I am sure have sufficient teeth to actually make a difference.

In the end, so long as Mayawati was a person of integrity and character and working for the upliftment of the poor – I would be happy to support her. Unfortunately, that is not the case. You mention that “Mayawati,… Lalu and Mulayam mark a watershed for the better in the Indian politics” (emphasis added). I strongly disagree – they mark a watershed but not necessarily for the better. Presence of such individuals as Mayawati and Mulayam singh in UP politics and Lalu in Bihar have led to a drastic decline in the level of governance of these states. I am from UP – I know. As long as these politicians were advancing social change accompanied by the overall development of the state – it would have been great and I would have been the biggest supporter. But what really happens are caste calculations to win the maximum votes. The vetting of the hunger for power. The “simple”, caste-driven citizens in these states vote for a member of their community. Someone they believe they can trust to give them jobs, ensure uninterrupted power supply, access to good schools. When the numbers are weak these politicians go about wooing other castes, regardless of the “caste enmity”. I remember (not bothering to find the source, as I am sure you would remember) when several years ago Mayawati made statements essentially saying that “all these upper caste people should be beaten by sandals” – strong words those, but perhaps a political rhetoric? After all the latest campaign run by BSP in UP was in alignment with the “upper caste Brahmins”. You speak about a Raja Bhaiya but fail to mention that he was a minister in the Mulayam Singh government only 4 years ago or that Jamuna Nishad was a minister under Maywati who was accused of murdering a policeman while a minister or that he has 8 other criminal cases pending against him. Or that Guddu Pandit was also an MLA under the Mayawati’s party ticket.

In fact, you mention that Mayawati filed a tax return of 100 crore (or 1 BB) unlike the other honest people. I treat this as a slap in the face of the honest people. And I mean the literal meaning and not the sarcasm inherent to your statement. The honest people don’t make 1 Billion. In fact, the obvious question is how the hell does Mayawati – a public servant/politician – make so much? As for “actually filing an income tax” – well she has to. Otherwise she will be barred from standing in the election by that excellent institution of chief election commission. To refresh your memory, every Politian has to declare his/her assets and since Mayawati’s assets have been going up over the years, she will have to file tax returns or she can’t stand in the elections. She will lose her power if that happens.

I read this excellent piece while doing my research:

“In April, 2007 while filing her nomination papers for Assembly elections Mayawati had declared her assets to be worth Rs. 52 crores. While filing her income tax return for the assessment year 2008-09 she estimated her income to be Rs. 60 crores and had deposited Rs. 15 crores as advance tax. The actual income is likely to exceed this estimate at the end of this financial year. As such her name has been included in the list of a few topmost earning persons of India. Even before this Mayawati was embroiled in a case of acquiring disproportionate assets, covering the period of 1995-2003. This was when her declared income was paltry Rs 88.70 lacs. The interesting thing here is that the super sonic build up in Maya’s wealth has actually come after the filing of this case and that too in a very short period from 2004 -2007.

Now the question arises as to what are the sources of her income and what are the consequences of this amassing of wealth by her. It is also pertinent to discuss as to apart from Mayawati who else are the beneficiaries of this money game. What is the loss and gain of Dalits in this game of exchange of money? …..

let us judge Mayawati on her score on integrity. It is quite bold of Mayawati that she makes no secret of her hunger for power and wealth. She takes money during her birthday celebrations as gifts from her followers and well wishers. She takes it during elections by selling tickets to the highest bidder. There have been allegations of money being taken by her in various projects and schemes. Transfers and postings are also said to be an important source of corruption for the persons in power.…

It is a common knowledge that candidates are changed many times before the selection reaches the final stage. The main consideration is said to be the money. After getting the ticket they in turn invest a lot of money in elections by buying votes through party workers who are bound to be infected with corruption. This deprives the genuine party workers of the chance to stand in the election because they cannot afford to pay for party tickets.” (Emphasis added)

Maybe Mayawati means well but her hunger for power and money and that of Lalu and Mulayam has yielded to accelerated corruption in the region. There were recent reports of her handing out corrupt politicians/ministers from her party to the police and so forth and that is commendable. Perhaps she is trying to build up her path to prime-minister ship by starting to clean up her image. But in my view she has a long way to go before she has my respect for being worthy of the post of the prime minister.

Afterall, UP has barred organized retail – which we know hurts the poor more than it helps the mom&pop grocery store owners.

~*~

On the culture of divisive politics

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:52:05 GMT

I guess i am on a roll with my political commentary. Here is a comment I posted in response to this commentary on the Sachar committee report:

I find the argument on this post as well as the comment by Nilanjan very enlightening. I am a big supporter for improving the education conditions of the different communities in India. Per Nilanjan’s comment: “stuck with the idea that muslims need more representation in the IAS, the IIMs and so forth. Only a very elite class is represented here. There are more hindu elites and less muslim elites. Therefore the representation is skewed. But why is any representation required for anyone?” - i am wholly in agreement, why there be any need to have a representation for any particular community, religious or otherwise in any body? The different institutions should support a particular objective for which they have been created. IITs are created for technologists and engineers, IIMs for managers, IAS for administrators and the focus of these institutions should be solely on excellence in the sphere for which these have been created. IITs should produce the best technocrats out there, IAS for the best civil servant. Unfortunately, these institutions are seen by the public as a doorway to something else. Being an IITian, i know that the IITs are seen by the majority of the country as a path to an ensured and rewarding career. And perhaps the representation debate is skewed. In my view, this debate exists with the view to show a balanced view, in turn driven by the argument that people are equal and hence their proportion should be balanced in any institution. On the outset, this argument is completely logical; that is, until you factor in the specific social conditions. An argument has been made (refer to http://the-sin-nitesh.livejournal.com/74255.html) that there are enough people from the so called lower castes in the IITs and IIMs, i think that has more to do with the specific socio-economic conditions prevalent in these communities. A person from a poor background has less access to resources that are needed today to gain admissions into these elite institutes. Fact is that the majority of the poor belong to the so called lower castes and in this argument to the muslim community. The elite from these community very much utilize the necessary resources to maximize their gains from meritocratic institutions - i have some very good friends from IITs who are from Muslim/lower caste families. The argument then should be on how to improve the access to the resources that will bring these people to achieve the level of participation that is desirable.

Improving the basic education infrastructure is perhaps the best answer. Sam Rizvi has the right recommendations; and i would recommend the same to exist throughout the socio-demographic of the country - invest in basic education and create incentives for the teachers to work in the less privileged areas. Care should be taken, however, to not support one community over another - regardless of the community in question. Government should invest amounts proportionate to the size of a community in a neighborhood - be the neighborhood a Muslim dominated area, or a Sikh or a lower Hindu caste. If there is discrimination, the community that has been discriminated against will rise against it leading to havoc. A balanced approach with focus on execution should relieve this tensions in the years to come and improve the conditions of everyone in the community.

I also question any logic on continued segregation of communities - along civil laws. I don’t see a point of having different laws governing Hindus and Sikhs and Muslims and Christians. This whole framework leads to a divisive society and yields question on the nature of the law. A perhaps classic example is the question of the access to reserved categories for people with mixed religions (muslim mother with an SC/ST/OBC father or vice versa) and indeed converted population. A Dalit Muslim is as under-privileged as a Dalit Hindu - a civil law that is based on segregation of religious communities brings forth such dichotomies and makes a mockery of the secular nature of our country and the constitution. Perhaps worse, such a structure creates an incentive structure that can easily succumb to power politics. We see the perversion of politics along vote-bank lines and caste politics; are there similar perversions that have resulted in poverty among the muslims? I am not knowledgeable enough to comment on this topic, but i would seek a debate on it. I would argue, however, that any nature of divisiveness in the society is not good for the society as a whole and a common civil law should be enforced in the country - to bring truth to the claim of a secular socialist republic.

~*~

Rant on societal faults in India

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:57:03 GMT

Last week i posted a rant on reservations, that was originally in response to an impromptu discussion on reservations among a couple of friends. A good friend responded with a defense for reservations, read it : It is all about balance of power.

I agree with you. Reservation might not be best the way for a more egalitarian society. I also agree that it might lead to perverted incentives like the one you mentioned. But there are a number of important aspects of it which you (I think) aware of but which you do not voice.

First thing, we have to accept is that reservations were not given to the concerned castes/groups on a platter. They got them because the rest had no choice. In other words they fought for it to win it. And if you look back in history the fight lasted pretty long.

But privilege and poverty are relative terms. Of course even the savarnas are pretty poor in india. No doubt about that. and no doubt that it is quite miserable for the poor Brahmin/thakur/baniya as it is for the dalit.
but there are subtle issues of concentration of power in the society which go beyond the laws and the overall poverty. You give very good anecdotal example when you talk about the gujjar agitation. Consider this anecdotal evidence now. Look at the class composition of Indian students at tuck in terms of caste. Look at the same thing at any other institute here for MBA/MS etc. do the same thing for the classes at iits. (of course things might have changed in the past 5-7 years somewhat). The question naturally arises as to why people who live in the same social/political milieu have such different representations in these institutes. It is not as if they are from different geographical/political/social environments. Then why this difference? Look at politics. Except for Mayawati (as an aside, who I feel will one day be the Prime Minister of India; another 5 to 10 years), do you see anyone else in position of prominent power. Why so few/no one?
In such a situation one reason seems to be that there are subtle hurdles which people of certain social strata are not able to surpass. And on top of that these very people carry weight in a democracy. So, this brings us to the last question you raised, ie “where will bright students go?”. When it comes to balancing the interests of “bright students” vs. that of such apparent gross disparities an attempt to strike a balance is the most equitable solution. And a reservation is one attempt where some get in by merits and some to relieve society of the pressures of inequality which might explode in more violent form and destabilize the country even more

It is fashionable to curse politicians for all our ailments. We have the luxury to do so. As citizens we can blame the bureaucrats and the politicians. The bureaucrats can take the excuse that the politicians look out for their short term interests. The politicians can take the excuse that the bureaucrats as an entrenched class have their own vested interests to watch out for. and everyone is right. But politicians are just people’s representatives. So why do apparently the people’s representatives, not act in their best interests? Because we as citizens let them do it. Why do we refer our bureaucrats as “sir” instead of they referring to the citizens as such. Because we let them. why do the politicians and bureaucrats get away with corruption? Because we let them.
Why do we as citizens let them to do so? One explanation is because we cannot be bothered about issues of common interest since we can get our specific personal problems solved. So we in a way vote with our feet.

It is all about balance of power. So a more benevolent explanation is as follows. We let them get away with corruption because as a poor nation we cannot afford to pay them in commensuration with the responsibilities and duties we burden them with. We have more pressing issues as an infant nation to maintain our sovereignty and integrity in the face of external threats and internal stresses that we accept these as necessary evils. We realize that all social interaction is about balance of power. Samaj mein satta ka santulan awashyak hai. Unfortunately the situation tends towards imbalance. The scales continuously keep tilting towards one side or the other. The Indian genius is not very suited to rapid changes. We did not have a renaissance. Very rapid changes tend to destabilize societies so we did not experiment like the Chinese with massive deportations of the privileged to the countryside. We tried to go for a balanced gradual transformation post independence. We wanted to ensure that we remain united as a country (and you will admit language stress, caste stress, religious stress which exists in society). So we try to compromise. We get bureaucrats and empower them. they abuse their power but we let them. So we have a vast group of people who have a vested interest in perpetuation of state power, the bureaucrats. This serves to let the country stay united while we go from a vast illiterate society to a more advanced one. This allows the civil-military balance of power (look at all the countries in asia and Africa where the military rules.
Reservation is also an attempt to have a balance of power with a stable society and address grievances and imbalances. We recognize grievances and address them before they take more violent forms of expression. Even if it is not eh best solution but it is approximately right. In the long run we try to get to a situation where government jobs do not have the same attraction, so reservation becomes meaningless. Similarly, we have educational institutions in the private sector that reservation ceases to matter. It is a tough path, I admit and maybe not the most fair. but it is the best compromise in the existing political milieu and level of social consciousness. And as for the talented students they will have to live with it, at least they get to live…and seek alternatives.; below is my response to his response (circuitous, huh!):

You talk about “But politicians are just people’s representatives. So why do apparently the people’s representatives, not act in their best interests? Because we as citizens let them do it. Why do we refer our bureaucrats as “sir” instead of they referring to the citizens as such. Because we let them. why do the politicians and bureaucrats get away with corruption? Because we let them. Why do we as citizens let them to do so? One explanation is because we cannot be bothered about issues of common interest since we can get our specific personal problems solved. So we in a way vote with our feet" – I say that the innocent, uneducated nation that was born on August 15th, 1947 was not nurtured properly and the vested interests in power-hungry politicians allowed the caste divisiveness to take over the psyche of our society. It served their interests and they were able to exploit the incentive structures of the society to meet their needs. You are right, we vote with our feet – and it is then a question of incentive structures; Human race is selfish. We do what is in our best interest; and so when we see that the government jobs are the best option out there to improve our standard of living – we want them, and the politician who will provide the most jobs will get our votes. But there are only so many jobs, and there are so many people. This imbalance in supply and demand of these resources leads to shooting up prices (economics 101) and people who can control these resources to maximize their own economic benefit. By building a “socialist” society, we allowed these resources to remain limited and allowed them to be controlled by the politicians and the bureaucrats. That resulted in the criminals wanting to come to power leading to the whole criminalization of politics. It is quite possible that the founding fathers had the good of the public in mind when they designed the socialist republic, but the theory of unintended consequences can be blamed for the misery in the country today.

I like your explanation of the reservations providing a method to relieve the internal stress of under-privileged living and social discrimination. However, I think you have it all wrong. I like to think of the cast system as an organization of the society derived thousands of years ago that has become seeped into the country’s psyche. The Varna system was a way to categorize people and perhaps build the then government policies based on this categorization. By this logic, today’s Brahmins are thinkers: the scientists, the journalists, the intellectuals; while the bureaucrats, the politicians, army and police would fall into the Kshatriya caste; the businessman, including us students of Business will fall into Vaishya and the farmers, artisans, lay workers in any industry will fall into the Shudra. Perhaps the people who did not belong into this structure were referred to as the untouchables – they were not part of the society, for whatever reason and were not to be communicated with. It is a basic, simple, sociologist structure that was perhaps well suited for the simple society thousands of years ago. It is no longer hip to refer to the caste system in any terms and I would not want to extend the logic any further than what I have already done – recast the current society into the four “castes” and say that the structure can still define the society. What was wrong with this whole structure was the rigidity, which is natural in a feudalistic society. Anywhere in the world you go, you will see that people traditionally took to their parent’s vocation for their own. The sons of farmers will become farmers and so on. Renaissance, industrial revolution etc. changed this structure so that sons of merchants had the opportunity to study and become scientist. Sons of farmers could become merchants – the whole society changed in the western hemisphere because of technological advances that advanced the economy and in turn changed the society and the political structure. In India the political structure changed first, and it decided to change the social structure, but failed to change the economic structure of the country, or rather changed it erroneously. This change is occurring today and the masses are not prepared to deal with this change, not emotionally or psychologically or anything fancy like that – just simply in terms of the skills they need to be financially successful in this new environment. This is causing a lot of frustrations for the people and these are coming out in the open – in the form of a Gujjar protest for instance.

To answer your question of why the “caste” composition is not representative in the higher education institutes like the IITs and at Tuck, maybe you should think about the nature of these institutes. The IITs have long been a meritocracy and the talented students came to the IITs; Tuck is also a meritocracy, atleast as far as enrolling students not from the blue-blooded classes, and it is the past accomplishments that drive enrollment. Now why would the “caste” structure be different? Economically, the disadvantaged do not have the resources to compete at these levels. The son of a poor farmer (regardless of caste), does not have the time to study, or the resources to access such things as good teachers, a supportive environment and coaching classes – things that are accessible to people from the privileged classes. Note that I am not using caste here, caste has nothing to do with it. It just so happens that the most privileged are the business people and the professionals. And it is their children who have access, the motivation and the support structure that allows them to go on to do PHDs in the US and build the brand name associated with the IITs. Once in a while some poor bright student clears JEE and it is national news, deservedly so – but I say why not improve the economic conditions itself and build the social infrastructure that makes it possible for the bright from across the class structure to be able to make it to the IITs and the IIMs? Indeed, if you have the basic infrastructure in place, you don’t need to attend an IIT. I have had some very bright professors at my Department who never attended an IIT. The problem with reservation again, is that it does not solve any problem but masks the real problems into a symbol of what people are missing. The under-privileged (most of whom are from the so called lower castes) see the IITs as a symbol for the great dream that they have not been able to realize (after some 50 years of reservations) and the politicians respond with reserving seats in the IITs for them. Well, how about improving the social infrastructure to enable the poor to realize their dreams? The biggest tragedy of this “social revolution” in India is that the under-privileged have marked themselves as weak and the people in power respond by telling them that they are weak. That is the biggest indignity that a human being can suffer. Being called and recognized as weak. I would not say there is no social discrimination, but I would say that this discrimination has as much to do with the class as with the caste. You would often find a poor farmer waiting for “audience” with the powers that be, irrespective of his caste. It just so happens that the so called lower castes are more numerous and hence their plight more visible. But the poor suffer indignities all the time. And their indignities are resolved by enabling them to build on their strengths rather than struggle for food to survive from day to day. You would perhaps realize that the basic needs of any animal is food. If you deny someone that, nothing else is important. You are wrong, the issue is poverty – the “letting people live with dignity and respect at least” when they don’t have food to eat is gross injustice to your fellow citizen. A divisive society built by “conscientious” citizens and power hungry politicians that promises them reservation but doen’t enable them to achieve their true potential makes a mockery of their plight and destroys the fabric of our society.

As for Mayawati – she is a power hungry sadness of a politician. I oppose her, for the corruption that she has sustained in UP (remember Taj corridor scam) and for her divisive politics. I hope she never does become the prime-minister for then all hope would be lost.

As an aside, did you ever think about the fact that all the so called socialist politicians are widely recognized as corrupt*, from Lalu Prasad Yadav, to Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and Om Prakash Chuatala? There has to be a lesson in this, if you only think about it…

~*~
* Anti libel warning: the use of "corrupt" is derived based on media reports alleging corruption charges against said individuals. As far as i know, there are court cases pending against these individuals for one or more of these charges.

Ladakh

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:28:00 GMT

I traveled to Ladakh almost exactly a year ago - a six odd day trip across some of the highest roads and amazing vistas. From Manali via Sarchu to Leh and then from Leh to Nubra Valley and Pangong Tso. It was an exhilarating experience. The whole experience of sitting on a bike and just traversing those mind blowing bends and bad bad roads. The cool mountain air feeding the spiritual calm that one would perhaps never experience riding on the plains. Everyone is friendly, helpful, innocent and everything is bliss. The road was certainly not deserted, even though it was more potholes and a rock ridden path at more places than i care to remember. And so, every time we cross another soul on these roads, we would always wave our hands, while passing a truck or a local pedestrian. This is something that never happens on the plains, i suppose the sparse loneliness of the mountains makes everyone so much more friendlier.

On the first leg of our trip, we encountered several other bikers - there was a group from Delhi riding the road on 100cc bikes, certain to ruin those bikes but also illustrating that the trip is do-able on low caliber motor-cycles. We also came across a Swiss who makes the trip every year on a Bullet 500cc; he joined our company of three through Keylong while we went onto camp at Sarchu. First day was almost 12 hours of continuous riding - we just had the energy to ear our meals and crash in the rented tent. Then onto Leh and after joining two other companions, we made two day trips to Nubra Valley and then to Pangong Tso. I left after Pangong, while my other friends completed the circuit, going back to Manali via Tsomoriri.

In the process we had several mis-adventures. At Sarchu we found one bike punctured and soon after fixing that, one rider rode over a mud-hill on the road breaking the bike's headlight. Later that day another rider skidded on sludge filled concrete slabs. No one was injured and we moved on. On our trip to Nubra valley, we did not take any warm clothes and so when the weather turned for the worse on our return-leg, we were severely open to the elements. With rain, sleet and snow following us on our ascent to the Khardung-La - we struggled to stay warm and run the snow before road could become impassable. Again, the force was with us and we safely made to the military camp on the Leh side of the pass, stopping for some much needed Chai and warmth. Going to Pangong Tso the next day, we saw one bike's brakes fail when the newly replaced sprocket broke due to mis-alignment. With five people and two operational bikes and light fading fast - we had little option but to ride three to a bike on our downhill trip into the overnight spot - Tangtse. We were lucky to find a place to stay - this was a small town and all guest houses were full. Owner of one of the guest houses offered us two rooms normally used by his family for the night stay and then helped us secure transportation the next day for our broken bike. A leader of his community, he grew crops during the summer month, ran the guest house and a small grocery store while also serving as a guide to the Army personnel in the area. To us, he perhaps exemplified the warmth of the Ladakhi culture. I for one was touched by his helpful attitude - that is how fellow citizens should be. We returned that day after visiting Pangong Tso - a beautiful lake extending two-thirds of its length in China. Inspite of the "adventures", we were in high spirits for the entire trip.

And to this day, I can remember the bliss from this trip. It was like Zen and i remembered thinking about this book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I had trip to finish this book twice before and could never get myself to do it. I finished it recently, and while there is little by way of Zen mediation in the book, or even much about motorcycle maintenance; my motorcycle was a trip through Zen - I understand Zen to me living in the moment and that was what the motorcycle trip offered. Looking at the pictures from my trip i feel the urge to go again. This video, that we saw on our return from Nubra Valley, calls me to go visit again and spend a longer time.

I will go again, a year from now.

~*~

Rant on reservations

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:20:54 GMT

I posted my view points on the reservation question in India to a group of friends. Here they are reproduced for public dissemination...

You know I am a big opponent to the reservations idea in the first place. It is a lop-sided way to build political constituencies. Some people benefit, while others are either left behind or lose from such an arrangement. Look at the Gujjar/Meena debate going on in Rajasthan. Forget the exact taxonomy of these communities, fact is that at one point they both were unprivileged. Meena’s got into the reservation system and they are now a privileged, wealthy community (I had several students at IITB from the Meena community and they all had motor-cycles & mobiles & computers when most others didn’t have any of these) and the Gujjar’s were left behind. But the compulsions of Dalit politics dictate that Meena’s will not be removed from the reservation system, even when they are no longer under-privileged. Next step then has been to include the Gujjar’s into the system, but what about the many other communities who are not getting the benefits that are rightfully theirs, why should a privileged community keep getting the perks that they don’t need? Likewise look at the upper castes; sure in a feudal society they had some advantages, they still have many benefits from their social status that a person from the Dalit society would not. But economically speaking, poverty does not really discriminate among people who are Dalit or Brahmin; in fact, I think upper castes are worse off because many are still stuck up in the caste system and their “superiority” and in the process are probably not as engaged in economic progress as the other castes are (just my observation, I have no proof of this being true). Either ways, it is not right to have human deprivation – no matter the caste.

Now I wholeheartedly agree that life is unfair for the Dalit kid, but it is also unfair for every poor kid out there. Dalit or Savarna (higher caste). Why should we continue to discriminate? Why not improve the rural infrastructure, build up the economy, provide opportunities to everyone! India will go a long way if every kid has access to quality education. At the primary level. Not at the tertiary level which is what IITs are. If you have good education at primary levels, and access to it devoid of financial situation of the kid, you will remove the basis of discrimination that is rooted in economic exploitation. You improve the economics of the society, the caste system will weaken even farther. And hopefully disappear in a generation or two.

But no – politicians and “socialists” are myopic; they would rather control resources so that they can distribute access to it and maintain their power base. And that is not good for the society. I think it is important to get above partisanship and have a longer vision. As for IITs and research, its again funds and incentive structure. IITs are not the only institutions in India which are not functioning as well as they should – but others are much worse. By ~~removing~~ weakening the system of meritocracy in the IITs, you will lose even that. Then where will the bright students go? Where will the nation go?

Think about it.

Background reading here and here (free registration required)
~*~

Slavery

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:52:34 GMT

One would have thought that slavery is a thing of the past. Atleast in such a modern state as the US. But NY Times carried the story of a rich New Yorker woman who enslaved two Indonesian women for several years. Despicable as this behavior is, I couldn't help thinking, with my mis-guided sense to defend similar situations in India, that this kind of thing doesn't depend on the culture of the people per se, but is an indicator of moral bankruptcy of some individuals.

Guess what. the rich New Yorker is India born! Maybe there is something in our paternalistic, totalitarian culture with its rigid caste laws and inequalities that breeds such shameful specimens of the Indian society. I hope my culture can someday grow into a libertarian society where every individual is respected for their being.

Pipe dreams? Maybe for the next few generations..

~*~

Voice

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:38:30 GMT

Such an incredible thing. Voice. Humans generally like speaking, to share maybe or just to say something. (ha!).. people write to communicate their thoughts as well, but there are some issues with writing. To being with, one needs to be educated - literate; and then you need someplace to write stuff. Like this blog. You also have stuff written all over the WWW, to find which you need to write more stuff - like in a search box or something on Google. But writing takes effort, if you sit in front of a computer all day long, your hands may start suffering from carpel tunnel syndrome, from all that typing.

How much better it would be then if we can find stuff by speaking and not typing? I don't think carpel tunnel syndrome exists for jaw muscles, though too much speaking can draw people's ire and harm you in many ways - you at least won't suffer from CPT. Several years ago (actually perhaps two years ago) - i had mused on the possibility of having a voice to text conversion software available that can understand my speech and convert it to text - accurately. If you can then integrate this text to your existing applications you can do a lot of things that you have to type to accomplish today. Say, if i want to make a call to someone. Some fellow i don't call everyday and my phone has limited memory, and i have little patience - so i haven't set-up voice-tags for all the hundreds of contacts in my address book. So, now what do i do to make that phone call? Well, i open my address book and start typing the fellow's name. My native cell-phone app searches the address book and displays that number. If now, i can just press a button and say call "Joe", this "new" utility will convert my speech to text and do the search and make the call. Easy. Doesn't cost me a lot of time, doesn't cause me CPT and annoys only people around me. For me, its sweet!

Well, guess what. Someone has designed such an application. Go check out vlingo - a cool app that also powers Yahoo! OneSearch (via GigaOm). For the moment available only for blackberry, these applications are exactly what i had been looking for for sometime now. Two years to be exact. Now, if only i was tech. enabled i could have been working on this and making millions. Like those guys at Vakow! - who recently got invested by Rediff.

But since i am not that guy - just go and read my twitters!

(what's with that "!" sign anyway.. even Google started with Google! at one time.. sad..)

0_O