Not so long ago, I was reading about the role of language and ethnicity in conflict and separation. In this, the author said that the exception to this is India. He went onto say that India is an oddity, not supposed to exist at all, and that it sat outside all the laws that applied to sociology. More recently, a friend in political sciences aired a similar opinion. Its amazing that we survive as a nation-state despite the zillions of languages that we have...when a 'western nation with an advanced civil structure' like Belgium is fighting over language. However, unlike India, it has two languages!
see below for more details:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7148307.stm
Monday, December 17, 2007
Monday, December 03, 2007
maggi and why i shouldnt be bloggin right now
Right now, there is snow blowing all over the place. To look from behind a warm window, its talcum powder blowing around in the wind. To be walking, in the cold breeze, its like a barbecue over a volcano.Anyway, there are still some psychos who are jogging around in shorts, t-shirt , ipod and ear plugs dangling down. All these joggers, i would like to stop them and call them-psychos. These are the kind of people who give ones with very healthy lifestyles, a bad name.
Now about the maggi. To all those people who dont know what maggi is. Tis a nearly-ready- to eat swiss copy of an east asian/oriental staple food that is made in india. I am sure that all the connoisseurs are by now rubbing their hands in glee , waiting to gourge and swim their way through maggi. Maggi consists of strings with a vague resemblance to noodles. Its the main source of emergency nutrition for the starved, lazy and 'horrible cook 'varieties of students who inhabit the worlds of cobwebbed hostels. Over time, the maggi made by these individuals evolves to include whatever they couldnt add to their last cooking experiments (usually other versions of maggi).
I am starting to believe that maggi is part of a global conspiracy, to replace all the food that is good in this world. I believe that its succeeding.
Now about the maggi. To all those people who dont know what maggi is. Tis a nearly-ready- to eat swiss copy of an east asian/oriental staple food that is made in india. I am sure that all the connoisseurs are by now rubbing their hands in glee , waiting to gourge and swim their way through maggi. Maggi consists of strings with a vague resemblance to noodles. Its the main source of emergency nutrition for the starved, lazy and 'horrible cook 'varieties of students who inhabit the worlds of cobwebbed hostels. Over time, the maggi made by these individuals evolves to include whatever they couldnt add to their last cooking experiments (usually other versions of maggi).
I am starting to believe that maggi is part of a global conspiracy, to replace all the food that is good in this world. I believe that its succeeding.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Sunset at TIFR
forgive the bad adobe...twas the best an amateur on his first attempt to merge photos could do.
Here in the land of milk and honey, I am fast seeing the season of eternal darkness. Not to say that the sun doesnt rise, it does and drags its lazy arse over the horizon faster than a tropical person would think possible.I miss sunshine and more than anything else....the beautiful sunsets that were forever a part of the life at tifr, the sunsets we so took for granted. Alas!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
report on an american thanksgiving
George Bush Refuses to Pardon Turkey
Adding to the list after Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, President George Bush the Lesser, refused to pardon the presidential Turkey this thanksgiving. While the reasons for this clemency refusal is not clear, it is thought to have something to do with a alleged recent attack by the turkey on the president's pet dog.
Opinion Poll: Worries over turkey's withdrawal of ambassador
In an opinion poll, 79% of americans reported that they were worried about turkey's recent withdrawal of its ambassador. the other 21% were vegetarians.
Cornell Deserted:
Reports from Cornell university suggested that 99.2% of the students were busy thanking someone else outside cornell and hence no one was left at the university town. About 0.8% were wandering around the campus to see how many were walking around the campus. In this poll, none of the ghosts were counted.
Adding to the list after Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, President George Bush the Lesser, refused to pardon the presidential Turkey this thanksgiving. While the reasons for this clemency refusal is not clear, it is thought to have something to do with a alleged recent attack by the turkey on the president's pet dog.
Opinion Poll: Worries over turkey's withdrawal of ambassador
In an opinion poll, 79% of americans reported that they were worried about turkey's recent withdrawal of its ambassador. the other 21% were vegetarians.
Cornell Deserted:
Reports from Cornell university suggested that 99.2% of the students were busy thanking someone else outside cornell and hence no one was left at the university town. About 0.8% were wandering around the campus to see how many were walking around the campus. In this poll, none of the ghosts were counted.
The solitude of the socialite
Tiny sharp glances scamper through,piercing through the crowds, between the pizza, beer and gossip. Glances to make note of the million imperfections of every face in the crowd. Glances to note the innocuous comment, the skirts should they swirl and mouths if they should talk. Its the world where the individual is revered but where uniformity and conformity are worshipped. The party going socialite, stands by himself and herself....alone in the crowd..all ears and all eyes....detecting glances, shielding himself and herself, slobbering and slandering. Slobbering and slandering to villify and cast down those outside the earshot. Each unto himself, slandering together with the rest about the individual who stands without. More pizza, beer, beer pong and bed. More glances for the imperfections, more voices for the slander. The clock ticks by. The lone socialite waits, watches, listens, to pick up the slandering voices that would target him and her. There may be none...yet he slanders and listens...slanders and listens.
Monday, November 12, 2007
The American highway
The highway is long and winding.....its an interstate that according to uncited and unchecked conspiratorial brains, were desgined to be straight enough for nuclear armed planes to land and take off during the cold war. I bet that you need a plane to land vertically on this highway. It was nice and pretty in the couple of afternoon hours that the sun hung up there. The sun...it was nothing more than the size of a quarter, as dim as a fully lit moon. The woods, to copy Frost...were lovely, dark and deep, covered with frost and mist and all those symptoms of late autumn. I like the word autumn, it echoes much longer ...reflecting and giving a taste of the beauty, of the wind coloured by the falling leaves and the golden sun.I hate to use 'fall' to describe it.Its a word- american in body and soul. Shortened to save time,typewriter ribbons and telephone conversations. Autumn, nature's last dance before the white winter monochrome sets in.
Its early evening if you are an Indian, but late afternoon if you are american. Its very dark now...the sun snuffed by the gnawing winter and the rain. The rain is not heavy, its just a spiteful drizzle. Its probably icy cold. From where I sit, I see it only in the persistence of the windscreen wipers and in the dipping lights of the weekend traffic-wierding and snaking its way,away from city life and its cancerous existence.
The weekend traffic rumbles on, to find a place they call home, out in the deep dark woods. They ride the american road-ambition, innovation and the free market.Free to buy, to sell and to get up and run to places they wonna go. I hope I dont ever need my forgiveness, but I am on this road.This is America, the land of confusion-the land where Hunter S. Thomson is god and Robert Frost is feared and loathed.This is the land where speech is free but everything else costs.There is an Indian driver, with a North Indian accent thats driving this bus. Welcome to the land of nylon, dreams and the first amendment.
The rain is transmogrified to sleet now. I like calvin.Its the sketch of america, a nation we all ape. America is a nation, that to quote another mass manufacturer of such lines, knows the cost of everything, but many a times, the value of nothing.
note: My views in this essay are influenced by my limited experiences here,my patience and the silly undergraduate in the seat next to me who is testing my patience with three hours of non-stop gossip. I hope that either I get where I am going soon or that her battery fails, or her voice dies!
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
save the day
In the US of A, time is always in short supply.People are always in a hurry to save it. Many an ingenious device- including instant noodles, expressways and speed dating have been invented to serve this purpose. However, the most interesting invention of all has been that of saving the day. So once a year, when the winter gnaws at your bones, a device known as daylight saving goes off line. Along with it comes a minor perturbation of your circadian rhythm. You wake up assuming that you are late for class anyway and might as well burrow back under that quilt. However, you look at the clock and you know that you are in time and that have to trudge your way through the freezing wind to class. Unlike the other circadian rhythm disruptors such as PhD and Jet lag, this is neither demanding on your wallet or your life.
US of A is an interesting place......there has been one innovative invention for every hamburger eaten, I am just waiting for the right orientation of stars, saturday night football games, beer pong and pizza-cum-hangover parties that would give rise to night time saving....I need to save my sleep you see!
US of A is an interesting place......there has been one innovative invention for every hamburger eaten, I am just waiting for the right orientation of stars, saturday night football games, beer pong and pizza-cum-hangover parties that would give rise to night time saving....I need to save my sleep you see!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Did Rama exist?
I dont know the answer to that question. The ASI (A little known organisation called the Archeological Survey of India) filed an affidavit that "there was no evidence to prove “the existence of the characters or the occurrence of the events” in the Ramayana". I am unqualified to talk on length about it. What irks me however, is the way the Indian Govt and the various political parties have handled,made an issue of how ASI claimed that adam's bridge was manmade and how this flies in the face of the beliefs of India. (for more info, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam%27s_Bridge , http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/14/stories/2007091458630100.htm ).
In the first decade of India's birth, Nehru oriented India and its goverment to be built on science and secularism. This article is not to showcase the many other unscientific and/or unsecular beliefs and practises of the government and the constituent political parties.I just want to point out how well this is representative of the disorientation of policies that were supposed to shape india.
Coming back to the bridge.There is undoubtedly a body of land which can be found there, there is a controversy about whether its natural or artificial( and if its artificial it still doesnt prove that rama built it-assuming that he existed). If its man-made, its obviously a marvel that needs to be saved from any damage. So, if someone has raised,what may be a valuable argument, send a team to scientifically investigate the formation.
Without taking the action that would have most likely reduced the complications of an important project or on the other hand-shed light on the history of ancient India,a Union minister of law only makes statements like “Lord Rama is an integral part of Indian culture and ethos and cannot be a matter of debate or subject matter of litigation in court".
India claims to be a secular country.Nothing is above the court and the constitution. This congress led government is as far from the Nehruvian vision of India as was the BJP's. So, it will soon join the long list events and failures-civl code for the muslims, post-godhra riots etc- that makes india pseudo-secular and pseudo-scientific. Its a big shame !
In the first decade of India's birth, Nehru oriented India and its goverment to be built on science and secularism. This article is not to showcase the many other unscientific and/or unsecular beliefs and practises of the government and the constituent political parties.I just want to point out how well this is representative of the disorientation of policies that were supposed to shape india.
Coming back to the bridge.There is undoubtedly a body of land which can be found there, there is a controversy about whether its natural or artificial( and if its artificial it still doesnt prove that rama built it-assuming that he existed). If its man-made, its obviously a marvel that needs to be saved from any damage. So, if someone has raised,what may be a valuable argument, send a team to scientifically investigate the formation.
Without taking the action that would have most likely reduced the complications of an important project or on the other hand-shed light on the history of ancient India,a Union minister of law only makes statements like “Lord Rama is an integral part of Indian culture and ethos and cannot be a matter of debate or subject matter of litigation in court".
India claims to be a secular country.Nothing is above the court and the constitution. This congress led government is as far from the Nehruvian vision of India as was the BJP's. So, it will soon join the long list events and failures-civl code for the muslims, post-godhra riots etc- that makes india pseudo-secular and pseudo-scientific. Its a big shame !
Thursday, June 21, 2007
What is India?
For twenty-one of my twenty-three years, I lived in Hyderabad( a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh).I was brought up, never in doubt of my identity as an Indian. But I never ever asked the question of what makes an Indian. This question, I posed to myself after many an important personal experience.
Over the last two years, I stayed in Bombay, working at an institute which attracts people from India and beyond. Many an experience here made me ask that question. A Taiwanese student who had come for a conference after meeting half a dozen people from all over India- remarked that they all looked so different. We are also different, yet what makes us a nation?
Nations all over the world have been mostly constituted on that basis of the ethnic nature of their populace. In a few countries such as the United States, different ethnic groups are mashed into one. I argue that India stands apart, a society of not one or two different ethnic groups ( as seen in many countries), but a collection of disparate and diverse groups. I feel proud that India, essentially a freak, a unique example in history stands strong as a nation- nearly sixty years after its birth.Again, what makes an Indian?
Is it a common pre-modern history that contributes to this? We do share a common pre-modern history.The Mogul empire,the gupta empire etc. did bring unify large parts of India.But i argue that many European nations were once part of the Roman empire, the French empire etc, but they all don't claim to be a part of a common country. Fifty years of attempts have brought them only to a community. No, our common pre-modern history is not what welds us together.
I have heard from many a people that its a religion that unites us. This is a supremely fallacious argument. We have the second largest Muslim population in the world. According to the introduction to the law of the land that Indira Gandhi got added,we are a secular nation. I agree that the secularism is maintained in place not only by government policy but by the actions of one religion discriminating against another. Anyway, further, an overwhelmingly large majority of south America is Catholic Christian, but they never failed to unite. We could have had multiple republics within India which were of a Hindu.No, religion is not an argument.
......to be contd.
Continued at long last....
I must confess, after writing the first part, I realised that I had no real clue as to what India is and what defines us as a nation state. My inspiration to finish this, ironically comes from a recent BBC documentary called 'the story of India'. In it, is described the march of India and its population from prehistory to the modern era. It then stuck me that there were two common features or threads that run through the whole of the subcontinent, two important features that make India. Also,some of my current arguments may be at odds with what I have previously written. Its part of an evolving argument I am having about what really makes India and who is an Indian.
Our ancient history:
Of the known history of the subcontinent, modern geopolitical India has been united for only for a small fraction of time. However, culturally, the subcontinent has been united for most of this history. I will make no claim to Indian culture being a North Indian or Aryan synthesis. However,all I will say is that the geographical limitations placed by the mountain ranges in the north and east and strong native cultures in the west created a real mixing pot. The cultural influences of the north would spread south and and southern cultural influences would spread north. As the centuries passed by, though they were some differences, the Indian subcontinent as a whole could be considered by certain metrics to have similar cultural features.
Important among these are the spread of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religions. There is ample evidence that while these spread to the south of India from the north, there was a great schools of Hinduism and Buddhism in the south. From the south spread a multitude of dance forms to the north. This cultural synthesis is one of the most important features of India.
One important event that cannot be brushed over is the role played by Sanskrit as a progenitor of multiple primary languages in north and central India. However, I agree that Sanskrit probably had lesser influence of Tamil or that it has been purged over the ages.( My understanding of the linguistic relationships of Indian languages requires more reading and I will make no judgements.)Sanskrit would have provided a conduit for ideas, a factor important in the homogenization of Indian culture.
Now, the important question is - How does this part of Indian history really affect modern India? It might be argued that several Indian political and cultural practises. Hammurabi's laws have often been held up as the progenitor of law in many regions of the world and has probably affected us also. However, some of the greatest influence on our laws, both those in the constitution and those that are social are Ashoka's edicts. Why else would we use his symbols as our national emblems? The concept of peaceful coexistence has also been an important feature of Indian foreign policy. Arguably, therefore, these concepts have also deeply influenced us through the generations. As the 'story of India' made me realise, we are the projections of three or more millenia of history.
Medieval and Modern Indian History:
As Northern India came under the infuence of various Islamic Dynasties, North Indian cultures diverged from the more insular Southern India. Language, architecture and religion were heavily influenced by Muslim invaders coming from the west and central asia. This is a defining point in Indian history creating a point of divergence between southern and northern india, a divergence that would need to be bridged. The divergence and some could claim- animosity between the south and the north is so huge that they might have really been two independent nations. So, why are they one nation? Why do people on both sides of the Vindhyas consider themseleves Indians? I think here in lies the importance of a few good men who brought India together at Independence.
There are many who claim that it was really the British who united India. But they forget, that at independence- Kashmir, Hyderabad, Goa and Pondicherry werent really a part of India. Also, they forget that most of the princely states were given the choice to secede and form independent kingdoms. So how did the Indian national identity crystallize? There exists a reasonable case that this identity arose due to the actions of a few men.
Indians are prone to hero worship. Indian religions and culture, more than any other mainstream culture, has portrayed god in human form- or shall I say forms. In an extension of this habit, we have considered a few men- the likes of Gandhi and Nehru to be demigods. One provided the culture of ancient India moderated by the modern world while the other provided the modern world tempered by ancient India.Modern India rallied to them. As far as I see it, the British provided a medium through which these men reached out to modern India. Its probably the love of these men that fashioned modern India- bridging the gaps that arose between the vastness of the Indian subcontinent.
Post independence, we were all conditioned to believe that diversity was the normal state of existence. Regional heros became national heros. Thats what I think India really is, a melting pot. Thats where I think we are heading- towards a synthesis of north and south, old cultures that never die but are only refashioned by modern gods.
I hope I have done a modicum of justice to this topic. I am not sure I have touched all the important points and more importantly, my ideas on this topic are still evolving.
Over the last two years, I stayed in Bombay, working at an institute which attracts people from India and beyond. Many an experience here made me ask that question. A Taiwanese student who had come for a conference after meeting half a dozen people from all over India- remarked that they all looked so different. We are also different, yet what makes us a nation?
Nations all over the world have been mostly constituted on that basis of the ethnic nature of their populace. In a few countries such as the United States, different ethnic groups are mashed into one. I argue that India stands apart, a society of not one or two different ethnic groups ( as seen in many countries), but a collection of disparate and diverse groups. I feel proud that India, essentially a freak, a unique example in history stands strong as a nation- nearly sixty years after its birth.Again, what makes an Indian?
Is it a common pre-modern history that contributes to this? We do share a common pre-modern history.The Mogul empire,the gupta empire etc. did bring unify large parts of India.But i argue that many European nations were once part of the Roman empire, the French empire etc, but they all don't claim to be a part of a common country. Fifty years of attempts have brought them only to a community. No, our common pre-modern history is not what welds us together.
I have heard from many a people that its a religion that unites us. This is a supremely fallacious argument. We have the second largest Muslim population in the world. According to the introduction to the law of the land that Indira Gandhi got added,we are a secular nation. I agree that the secularism is maintained in place not only by government policy but by the actions of one religion discriminating against another. Anyway, further, an overwhelmingly large majority of south America is Catholic Christian, but they never failed to unite. We could have had multiple republics within India which were of a Hindu.No, religion is not an argument.
......to be contd.
Continued at long last....
I must confess, after writing the first part, I realised that I had no real clue as to what India is and what defines us as a nation state. My inspiration to finish this, ironically comes from a recent BBC documentary called 'the story of India'. In it, is described the march of India and its population from prehistory to the modern era. It then stuck me that there were two common features or threads that run through the whole of the subcontinent, two important features that make India. Also,some of my current arguments may be at odds with what I have previously written. Its part of an evolving argument I am having about what really makes India and who is an Indian.
Our ancient history:
Of the known history of the subcontinent, modern geopolitical India has been united for only for a small fraction of time. However, culturally, the subcontinent has been united for most of this history. I will make no claim to Indian culture being a North Indian or Aryan synthesis. However,all I will say is that the geographical limitations placed by the mountain ranges in the north and east and strong native cultures in the west created a real mixing pot. The cultural influences of the north would spread south and and southern cultural influences would spread north. As the centuries passed by, though they were some differences, the Indian subcontinent as a whole could be considered by certain metrics to have similar cultural features.
Important among these are the spread of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religions. There is ample evidence that while these spread to the south of India from the north, there was a great schools of Hinduism and Buddhism in the south. From the south spread a multitude of dance forms to the north. This cultural synthesis is one of the most important features of India.
One important event that cannot be brushed over is the role played by Sanskrit as a progenitor of multiple primary languages in north and central India. However, I agree that Sanskrit probably had lesser influence of Tamil or that it has been purged over the ages.( My understanding of the linguistic relationships of Indian languages requires more reading and I will make no judgements.)Sanskrit would have provided a conduit for ideas, a factor important in the homogenization of Indian culture.
Now, the important question is - How does this part of Indian history really affect modern India? It might be argued that several Indian political and cultural practises. Hammurabi's laws have often been held up as the progenitor of law in many regions of the world and has probably affected us also. However, some of the greatest influence on our laws, both those in the constitution and those that are social are Ashoka's edicts. Why else would we use his symbols as our national emblems? The concept of peaceful coexistence has also been an important feature of Indian foreign policy. Arguably, therefore, these concepts have also deeply influenced us through the generations. As the 'story of India' made me realise, we are the projections of three or more millenia of history.
Medieval and Modern Indian History:
As Northern India came under the infuence of various Islamic Dynasties, North Indian cultures diverged from the more insular Southern India. Language, architecture and religion were heavily influenced by Muslim invaders coming from the west and central asia. This is a defining point in Indian history creating a point of divergence between southern and northern india, a divergence that would need to be bridged. The divergence and some could claim- animosity between the south and the north is so huge that they might have really been two independent nations. So, why are they one nation? Why do people on both sides of the Vindhyas consider themseleves Indians? I think here in lies the importance of a few good men who brought India together at Independence.
There are many who claim that it was really the British who united India. But they forget, that at independence- Kashmir, Hyderabad, Goa and Pondicherry werent really a part of India. Also, they forget that most of the princely states were given the choice to secede and form independent kingdoms. So how did the Indian national identity crystallize? There exists a reasonable case that this identity arose due to the actions of a few men.
Indians are prone to hero worship. Indian religions and culture, more than any other mainstream culture, has portrayed god in human form- or shall I say forms. In an extension of this habit, we have considered a few men- the likes of Gandhi and Nehru to be demigods. One provided the culture of ancient India moderated by the modern world while the other provided the modern world tempered by ancient India.Modern India rallied to them. As far as I see it, the British provided a medium through which these men reached out to modern India. Its probably the love of these men that fashioned modern India- bridging the gaps that arose between the vastness of the Indian subcontinent.
Post independence, we were all conditioned to believe that diversity was the normal state of existence. Regional heros became national heros. Thats what I think India really is, a melting pot. Thats where I think we are heading- towards a synthesis of north and south, old cultures that never die but are only refashioned by modern gods.
I hope I have done a modicum of justice to this topic. I am not sure I have touched all the important points and more importantly, my ideas on this topic are still evolving.
a lot of nothingnesses
Its been a long time since I have updated my blog. Nothing has happened since then which warranted my not so sincere efforts to convert it into a readable blog. The year past has flown past, with work, of so many types of it and so much of each type, that that there was no time to experience anything. I did ofcourse feel the nice cold breeze of the air conditioner conditioned by the swinging vanes, my own fat, fattened by sweet coffee, glucose biscuits and chaotic life styles.
With a bull dogging boss biting away at my butt, I did blurt out a thesis, with results so earth shaking that the one legged pet millipede of a local three legged human almost fell off its feet. Well, but this is how science progresses forward. My boss however feels like she has taken a spring-heeled step ahead.well, bosses are always bosses, really existing in virtual reality.I guess I dont care anymore.But i must write an entry about it.
Apart from that, in my efforts to go to the other side of the atlantic ditch, I did go to the american consulate in bombay. It was a place which reeked with so much of the 'we welcome you' things- of what would happen to you if you just so happened to forge your visa or the passport its stuck into. I smiled a bit and thought of the last scene of the movie-the terminal- where hanks goes out of the airport after months of attempts-to find an albanian taxi driver, who arrives the day before. Well, it is a world of minor inconsistencies and all that.
I hope to find less nothingness and more experience for the next blog entry.Actually, i do have one, but i still need to get myself out of the void and write it down...without the voluntarily vague and legalistic language that finds itself worshipped in my thesis.
With a bull dogging boss biting away at my butt, I did blurt out a thesis, with results so earth shaking that the one legged pet millipede of a local three legged human almost fell off its feet. Well, but this is how science progresses forward. My boss however feels like she has taken a spring-heeled step ahead.well, bosses are always bosses, really existing in virtual reality.I guess I dont care anymore.But i must write an entry about it.
Apart from that, in my efforts to go to the other side of the atlantic ditch, I did go to the american consulate in bombay. It was a place which reeked with so much of the 'we welcome you' things- of what would happen to you if you just so happened to forge your visa or the passport its stuck into. I smiled a bit and thought of the last scene of the movie-the terminal- where hanks goes out of the airport after months of attempts-to find an albanian taxi driver, who arrives the day before. Well, it is a world of minor inconsistencies and all that.
I hope to find less nothingness and more experience for the next blog entry.Actually, i do have one, but i still need to get myself out of the void and write it down...without the voluntarily vague and legalistic language that finds itself worshipped in my thesis.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Science and the art of Job production
Throughout the world, from the united states of america to the not so united states of ethiopia, the creation of jobs is a big issue.People win and lose elections because of it. Kings and empires fall (Robert Mugabe seems to be a current exception though). So, it has always been an interesting problem. Economists win huge prizes and accolades. So, i have decided to concoct my own recipe for this particular purpose.
The story of how i hit on it started off with a boring lab meet where my boss was trying to outline the importance of an obsolete, ancient review on a small set of cells in the front part of the mouse brain. So at the end of the boring review of the ancient obsolete review, my boss described how a protein-gene had been named as FORSE 1 or something along those lines, but unfortunately they never found FORSE2. Science is sometimes like hollywood- sucessful and important genes get sequels and prequels and variants- those which dont get no sequels.
Anyway ,this triggered off a thought in my mind...about how jobs could be created. I think humans capable of minutely studying, measuring,remeasuring,describing,re describing, arguing, rearguing about and over arcane topics ,which will never appeal to the rest of you mere mortals,
( such as studying why there is a kink in one of the RNA molecules in one of the six hundred bacterium which metabolise nitrogen in the gut of the dung beetle) should be collected together under a gigantic building- be given all the money the government can provide plus a connection to the internet with an email id ofcourse. This innovative cream of the human race must be encouraged to buy new machines and fancier chemicals all the time.
Once ofcourse this happens, you will have an entire industry trying to build newer machines and distill fancier chemicals. Now ofcourse, that part of humanity which wanted to do science but never wanted to study dung beetle bacteria will get jobs in such an industry. They will also have a need for less fancy chemicals, less fancy machines and ofcourse computers and email. Thus, some people who wanted to neither study dung beetle bacteria or make fancy chemicals will join this industry. They will obviously be less fancy chemicals and machines-with less flashing lights and lesser numbers of colour that these people would need. Thus,a separate section of humanity would work on this, and there would be more people to service them and so on so forth.
Now, even though they may have demi-god status, dung beetle bacterial experts and those serving beneath them in the consumer pyramid would ofcourse require food and clothes.......this is where the rest of you come in.
Now,what makes this different from all other job producing schemes? The deal is very very simple. In the current world, the number of jobs being created are based on fairly mysterious decimalled numbers supposedly indicative of the health of the economy and some such things. However, the factor which limits the growth of the economy/jobs is the demand for goods and services. This demand is not always constant.
I propose that this constancy can be attained if the government spends a very large part of its budget on science. In science there is always something to study.There are billions of species. At the rate of one species per human- we already have given everyone a job.However, everyone doesnt like studying species. There are ofcourse a hundred odd elements and a multitude of isotopes. At the rate of one chief scientist and a harem of ten phd students and the other odd slave per element, plus one scientist to contest the claim made by every other, you have a few thousand more jobs.
Ofcourse, everyone doesnt like studying elements. There are people who study the universe and its constituents. At the rate of one scientist plus harem per theory and hypothesis- you have more jobs.
The best thing about this kind of an arrangement is the kind of control the govt can have. If you dont want to increase jobs this year, you can ask the scientists to create no new hypotheses or ask them not study new species. However, if you want to create a zillion new jobs, all you need to do is create ten new hypotheses per science- the percolation will ofcourse create a million new jobs ( my estimates suggest).
Anyway, Congress(I) and manmohan, George Bush and Tony Blair- realize the value of science.
Pay the scientists well.Create new posts in science,fund us and you will win every election!
heheh!
The story of how i hit on it started off with a boring lab meet where my boss was trying to outline the importance of an obsolete, ancient review on a small set of cells in the front part of the mouse brain. So at the end of the boring review of the ancient obsolete review, my boss described how a protein-gene had been named as FORSE 1 or something along those lines, but unfortunately they never found FORSE2. Science is sometimes like hollywood- sucessful and important genes get sequels and prequels and variants- those which dont get no sequels.
Anyway ,this triggered off a thought in my mind...about how jobs could be created. I think humans capable of minutely studying, measuring,remeasuring,describing,re describing, arguing, rearguing about and over arcane topics ,which will never appeal to the rest of you mere mortals,
( such as studying why there is a kink in one of the RNA molecules in one of the six hundred bacterium which metabolise nitrogen in the gut of the dung beetle) should be collected together under a gigantic building- be given all the money the government can provide plus a connection to the internet with an email id ofcourse. This innovative cream of the human race must be encouraged to buy new machines and fancier chemicals all the time.
Once ofcourse this happens, you will have an entire industry trying to build newer machines and distill fancier chemicals. Now ofcourse, that part of humanity which wanted to do science but never wanted to study dung beetle bacteria will get jobs in such an industry. They will also have a need for less fancy chemicals, less fancy machines and ofcourse computers and email. Thus, some people who wanted to neither study dung beetle bacteria or make fancy chemicals will join this industry. They will obviously be less fancy chemicals and machines-with less flashing lights and lesser numbers of colour that these people would need. Thus,a separate section of humanity would work on this, and there would be more people to service them and so on so forth.
Now, even though they may have demi-god status, dung beetle bacterial experts and those serving beneath them in the consumer pyramid would ofcourse require food and clothes.......this is where the rest of you come in.
Now,what makes this different from all other job producing schemes? The deal is very very simple. In the current world, the number of jobs being created are based on fairly mysterious decimalled numbers supposedly indicative of the health of the economy and some such things. However, the factor which limits the growth of the economy/jobs is the demand for goods and services. This demand is not always constant.
I propose that this constancy can be attained if the government spends a very large part of its budget on science. In science there is always something to study.There are billions of species. At the rate of one species per human- we already have given everyone a job.However, everyone doesnt like studying species. There are ofcourse a hundred odd elements and a multitude of isotopes. At the rate of one chief scientist and a harem of ten phd students and the other odd slave per element, plus one scientist to contest the claim made by every other, you have a few thousand more jobs.
Ofcourse, everyone doesnt like studying elements. There are people who study the universe and its constituents. At the rate of one scientist plus harem per theory and hypothesis- you have more jobs.
The best thing about this kind of an arrangement is the kind of control the govt can have. If you dont want to increase jobs this year, you can ask the scientists to create no new hypotheses or ask them not study new species. However, if you want to create a zillion new jobs, all you need to do is create ten new hypotheses per science- the percolation will ofcourse create a million new jobs ( my estimates suggest).
Anyway, Congress(I) and manmohan, George Bush and Tony Blair- realize the value of science.
Pay the scientists well.Create new posts in science,fund us and you will win every election!
heheh!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Sunday
A short time ago, after being at TIFR long enough, i noticed that there was a particular degree of peace and tranquil associated with Sunday that was found on no other day. Sundays have indeed been special.
Sundays are a predominantly biblical holiday.It has never particularly existed in Indian culture, i guess.I wonder whether there was a Sunday like day in ancient India or whether they adjusted with the zillion holidays that we anyway have. Of course they dint have an ambedkar jayanthi and a Gandhi jayanthi, but i am sure they had their own set of deities and kings whose birthdays needed to be celebrated.
However,coming back to the modern sunday.....when you are a kid, Its the day of the week where your parents never needed to wake you up.,Sunday mornings were about watching cartoons early in the morning. By the time your parents woke up, the fun degenerated into haggling with your parents over how much time you had to spend watching T.V. versus doing chores at home, bringing civilisation to your room or the even more dreaded thing- studying.
It seems to me, that god- when he designed the sabbath- never actually thought about the modern education systems. After all, Sundays are spent by kids trying to balance the temptations of the television with the not so tempting homework-which has been piled onto you by a merciless teacher.
The homework filled sleepy afternoon Sundays were followed by another social evil- that of being dragged off to visit a set of distant relatives who would always seem to comment about how fast you had grown up or if you remembered as to who they were.Ofcourse! i grow up and ofcourse I dont remember you!. This was generally followed by long discussions between the elders. You would spend hours gazing away at paintings on the wall and wonder as to which looney would want to draw so many cubes and why it all resembled a face. AS time passed and you got more bored, comments on how bored you were never mattered to the parental entities till you of course buzzed them to death about it. There was however another scenario.On rare occasions, when the sun was a smiley and hung lazily in the sky, you could get to visit a house where you there were children whose company you would enjoy.However, here, you would of course be goaded to leave as soon as possible.
Night came swiftly after that. There would be the familiar shouts of "tomorrow is monday", "you haven't done your homework yet!", " why are your shoes so filthy" and so on.....
But anyways, time has changed and I have moved onto a world beyond the Sunday homework and failing which, you had the fears of Monday punishments. The world is more merciful now.Sunday is a day of rest and introspection- a day to catch up on all the sleep and the associated dreams you had...during the week.
Despite all the associated evils, Sunday is the greatest invention of western culture.
Sundays are a predominantly biblical holiday.It has never particularly existed in Indian culture, i guess.I wonder whether there was a Sunday like day in ancient India or whether they adjusted with the zillion holidays that we anyway have. Of course they dint have an ambedkar jayanthi and a Gandhi jayanthi, but i am sure they had their own set of deities and kings whose birthdays needed to be celebrated.
However,coming back to the modern sunday.....when you are a kid, Its the day of the week where your parents never needed to wake you up.,Sunday mornings were about watching cartoons early in the morning. By the time your parents woke up, the fun degenerated into haggling with your parents over how much time you had to spend watching T.V. versus doing chores at home, bringing civilisation to your room or the even more dreaded thing- studying.
It seems to me, that god- when he designed the sabbath- never actually thought about the modern education systems. After all, Sundays are spent by kids trying to balance the temptations of the television with the not so tempting homework-which has been piled onto you by a merciless teacher.
The homework filled sleepy afternoon Sundays were followed by another social evil- that of being dragged off to visit a set of distant relatives who would always seem to comment about how fast you had grown up or if you remembered as to who they were.Ofcourse! i grow up and ofcourse I dont remember you!. This was generally followed by long discussions between the elders. You would spend hours gazing away at paintings on the wall and wonder as to which looney would want to draw so many cubes and why it all resembled a face. AS time passed and you got more bored, comments on how bored you were never mattered to the parental entities till you of course buzzed them to death about it. There was however another scenario.On rare occasions, when the sun was a smiley and hung lazily in the sky, you could get to visit a house where you there were children whose company you would enjoy.However, here, you would of course be goaded to leave as soon as possible.
Night came swiftly after that. There would be the familiar shouts of "tomorrow is monday", "you haven't done your homework yet!", " why are your shoes so filthy" and so on.....
But anyways, time has changed and I have moved onto a world beyond the Sunday homework and failing which, you had the fears of Monday punishments. The world is more merciful now.Sunday is a day of rest and introspection- a day to catch up on all the sleep and the associated dreams you had...during the week.
Despite all the associated evils, Sunday is the greatest invention of western culture.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
growing up
Not that I have become wise, I have grown up into a world of my own. Its one of those things which dawn on you over time. It’s not a reflection of what I have done or what I have learnt but purely what the time spent here. I remember the popularization of colour TV, of the fall of the Berlin wall and the Ayodhya Mosque. I grew up through Star trek, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Crystal Maze, re-runs of MASH, Wonder years and the rise of cable television. I no longer watch television.
I remember un-dedicatedly listening to Bappi and Illayraja. I now listen un-dedicatedly to A.R.Rahman and a jumble of western noises. I remember playing around in the gardens and backyards- building dams and canals to irrigate the gardens. ‘New deal’ constructions are no more. I don’t have a garden anymore.
I remember being warmly tucked into bed by mom, and be left alone to read fairy tales, David Copperfield and Treasure Island. I remember imaging a boogeyman running around the house looking for a kid to be awake. I now go to bed, too wasted and tired by the day and by the computer to be lulled to sleep by a book.
I remember vacations and free time was a book, a bicycle ride around a vast campus or a conversation at night with dad along with a movie. Vacations now are free time spent in a million trivial pursuits, riding around on crowded roads on smoke coughing machine- without time from you for your dad or for you from your dad.
I remember that snatched chocolates, shortened play hours were the worst disappointments in life. The disappointments now no longer effect the hour or the evening but the years of work that I have spent and the years of work I will spend undoing the cause of disappointment.
It was all so good. I have never taken time to think about how good it was. It all happened too fast. Life is still running too fast. Childhood was spent exploring the wild places that abounded the places I lived in. The world is moving on. The pursuits, loves and hates of old have sunken deep into a ground left far behind. Ahead is a place wilder than what I imagined, a place of rolling hills and gentle beauty of eye catching wildness, a place where I have been promised to find wholesome wickedness and untempered good. The new world beckons, a new love, old loves strengthened and filled with new music, movies, games and fantasies.
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