India After Gandhi: Ramchandra Guha

After a pretty long time I am writing about a book. India After Gandhi, by Ramchandra Guha, takes us in the era, which history books in school end at. For most of us, India's history ends with Nehru's famous tryst with destiny speech and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. But, in reality India's history as a nation, begins from 1947, when her existing boundaries and shape came into being.

The book talks about all the major events that have shaped the present situations in the country since 1947.

The enormous tasks and challenges presented by the independence, partition and the British mandate to the princely states of being free to join either union or declare independence from both. The country's first cabinet faced challenges from different directions at the same time. These ranged from rehabilitation of those displaced by the partition; uniting people who were divided along all imaginable lines like religion, caste, language, territory, etc.; presenting to the country a set of rules and regulations that would govern them with fairness and most important of all, food and shelter. 

The book very nicely describes the way Nehru's cabinet negotiated through the amazingly complex maze and labyrinth. Negotiations, persuasions and debates were the only ways used in resolving almost all disputes. Guha describes the challenges faced by the constitutional assembly and the bureaucracy in turning the nation into a democratic society based on universal adult franchise. With the benefit of hindsight that we now have, the book makes us realise how fortunate we were to have leaders of the calibre of Nehru, Ambedkar, S. P. Mookerjee, J. B. Kriplani and others. Nehru's staunch belief in democratic process meant that many of his favourite ideas and views were critically debated and he was constantly ready to accommodate the concerns of the opposition too. Several proposals of his were modified and watered down but each was fiercely debated in Parliament.

The country has never been without challenges. Right from independence, there have been movements aimed at seceding from India, external invasions and internal troubles. The book talks about some of the successes and failures that the nation has seen in this regard. It also talks about the way India went on to build its economy and the push and pull from within about the direction of the development. As we read the book, we realise how leaders with strong grass root connections can actually give a good shape to discussions and debates on various issues. Of course, this has its pitfalls, like Indira Gandhi responding to the masses' disappointment with her infamous garibi hatao slogan. One of the most glaring examples of not being connected to the masses and acting on suggestions of coterie is that of Rajiv Gandhi reversing the Shah Bano judgement and then opening the locks of the Ram temple/Babri masjid in Ayodhya.

Guha also talks about the statesmanship of opposition leaders like J. B. Kriplani, A. B. Vajpayee amongst various others, which sort of makes the reader a little sad when compared to the politicians of the present. He talks of the deterioration in the democratic processes since Indira Gandhi's time, which has continued till date. Increased instances of governments trying to become more populist and trying to enforce their mandates (and views) without thorough discussion in the legislative platforms provided by the constitution. A very pertinent point, which stands out till date, was made by Nehru and is quoted in Guha's book, which sums up the democracy that we are:

 The quality of men who are selected by these modern democratic methods of adult franchise gradually deteriorates because of lack of thinking and the noise of propaganda... He [the voter] reacts to sound and to the din, he reacts to repetition and produces either a dictator or a dumb politician who is insensitive. Such a politician can stand all the din in the world and still remain standing on his two feet and, therefore, he gets selected in the end because the others have collapsed because of the din.

The book ends with the results of the 2004 elections, considering the fact that since 2004 till date it was a contemporary period for Ramchandra Guha, rather than a history. The book is a great reading for those who want to understand the country and its political and economic discourse since 1948. It definitely helps in reshaping our views about the decisions that were taken at that time, which of course continue to affect us till date.

The National Rifle Association's PR disaster

This has been a fortnight of PR disasters. After gruesome crimes and horrific incidents in the world's flag-bearers of democracy- the USA and India, the targets of the agitation were involved in huge PR disasters. The government of India and especially the Prime Minister, were committing one PR disaster over another, in their response to the protests and reactions over the horrific gang-rape incident in Delhi.

Across the seas and oceans, the USA was rocked by the mass killings in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. As is common (and very necessary), there were huge voices and loud calls in support of enacting laws for regulating the ownership of guns and ammunition across the country. The Americans, who fiercely defend their constitutional guarantees, were bound to be vocal across both sides. First, since the constitutional gives rights to people to own guns, that right needs to be protected. That the guns end up taking lives of others (who are not necessarily the gunman's enemies) is an other matter. The National Rifle Association (NRA), which is an association of gun owners in America, is an extremely powerful body with over four million members. Not only are they an association, they are lobbyists too and powerful ones. They spent more than US$24 million in the 2012 elections towards funding political campaigns of candidates who were favourable to them. But, if they had spent a fraction of that amount on PR management, their  CEO, Wayne LaPierre, would not have ended up in a PR disaster soup.

After the mass killings in Connecticut, where most of the victims were young children, many aged less than 12 years, there was an outcry to have stricter gun control. The NRA was expected to say something, not that many expected it to say anything in favour of gun control. But even the NRA's members would not have expected it to be such a huge PR disaster. In a press conference, LaPierre said that the only way to stop gunmen from going on a rampage is handing guns to good people. So, instead of limiting the types of guns available and the number of people those who can own those, LaPierre wants everybody to have them. In the moments of grief, this isn't a welcome statement. It is almost like saying you need to fight more wars to have more peace. This was a pure PR disaster, indicating the mindset of the NRA members. Sure, you are a rifle association, so then why should civil population have access to assault weapons and military grade guns and ammunition? That too, in Wal-Mart, as if it were a weekly purchase of eggs! Nancy Lanza, the mother of the killer (Adam Lanza) in the Connecticut shootings, owned an array of guns in her home, which were accessible to her sons. Now, why did she need so many? If she was a collector of some sort, then shouldn't it be necessary for some regulations that ensure the safety of the weapons and restrict their accessibility?

Sure, your constitution guarantees the right to possess a firearm for self-defense within the home. But, is this the age when you might be attacked by a group of bandits, that you need to possess military grade assault weapons? And if so, why can't you let the police classify your area as such. Certainly, areas that are relatively safe do not need you to possess assault and automatic weapons. But then, for a safe society, all Americans need to accept that they need to adhere to certain restrictions. Will these restrictions guarantee a certainty in safety. Absolutely not, but then adhering to the 2nd amendment's provisions also has not done the same. Wonder how many people who matter would now want to side with LaPierre, after his press conference?

The mockery of sentiments

Our elected representatives were at it again. What would have remained confined to the eyes of a few, had they not raked it up, came out in the open for every one to see. And why did they rake it up? Because, they felt that the incident would hurt sentiments of certain people.

The cartoon of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru, sketched by Shankar in 1949, would have remained confined to the field of political science. But, our MPs didn't realise this and raked up the issue in the Parliament, saying that sentiments would be hurt. Thus, with the widespread reach of electronic media, the cartoon was now known to all and sundry, including those, who would have never even thought about the relations between Nehru and Ambedkar. Bowing to 'popular pressure', the government decided to withdraw circulation of the books that contained the cartoons. And going overboard, they decided to remove all political cartoons in NCERT textbooks!! 

Where is our society headed? A cartoon hurts the sentiments of people. But, failed promises by politicians don't!! Election after election, politicians have failed to live up to the promises made in their election manifestos. Till date, they have failed in ensuring the implementation of the most important functions of the government. But, this doesn't hurt peoples' sentiments. The Parliament is disrupted at will, bills are past without engaging debates. But this doesn't hurt peoples' sentiments.

This year, many parts of the nation are staring at a drought. This has led to migration of the village folks to cities in search of work and water. The nation has spent crores of rupees on sold called irrigation projects. But we haven't been able to guarantee adequate year-round supply of potable water. Forget the national level, even at city level there is no guarantee of adequate supply of potable water. This, doesn't hurt peoples' sentiments. Scam after scam is being unearthed. But those accused in such scams do not display any guilt. Instead some are promoted and most are backed by their respective parties. Such acts, do not hurt the sentiments of the people.

What hurts people is a cartoon, which was symbolic of the situation in 1949!! That's the claim of our elected representatives. But respected sirs and madams, what about you hurting our sentiments, when the government has failed to provide even the basic needs of millions of ordinary citizens across the country? Will Parliament be ever disrupted on this issue? Will crowds need to vandalise offices of MPs because manifesto promises were not fulfilled? Or have the MPs not yet understood what our true sentiments are!!

Slave trade back?

Just watch this interview of Gayatri, the co-owner of the Deccan Chargers. If you cannot watch it here, watch it on YouTube. It was conducted by a pea-headed IPL anchor, who didn't know her questions and was probably targeting the socialite crowd and those more interested in the Page-3 aspect of the game, rather than serious sports viewers and analysts.

Watch and hear carefully the question asked at 0:18. The way the question was framed is outrageous and extremely silly. What is the point that the interviewer is trying to prove? Brought up in the beliefs of the "breaking news" era, she just wants to create some sensation, using her heavily accented English. And she just succeeded in that! Her statement provoked me to blog about this.

Just look how casually she mentions the act of bidding for players. "Buying people like that!!" And on top of that, she goes on an ego massaging spree. Asking Gayatri whether she enjoys being in a position where she can "buy people" at the stroke of the gavel.

But, I liked Gayatri's response. Calm and composed. Nothing out of the way, just going-about-my-job kind of answer. That, I think is the hallmark of a person who actually realises the importance and impact of the position he or she holds.

The next question, at 0:34, almost scales the peaks of stupidity. Asking a business-person, whether there was some strategy in bidding for the players, who are "bought" not at a price that is uniform for everybody, but the better the player, the more is the cost in acquiring him. Come on lady, you can never ever run a successful business. I wish Gayatri had answered her like- "Oh no, what strategy, I had the money, I wanted to splurge it, so just bid for whoever I thought will cost more!!" And from here, the questions become a cliche. Watch for the question at 1:56 and you will realise what I mean.

But, it is alarming to see the downfall in the way interviews are conducted. Do you want to just fill the time before an innings starts or are you really interested in dishing out that "insider" bit of information. From what this lady does, I do not see any genuine interest in making things more informative.

On a parting note, I wonder if there is some mechanisms where these anchors can be auctioned. I would love to bid for this lady and then say in an interview- "I bought her because she is sexy, doesn't have too deep intellect and hence is useful to fill time whenever and wherever required."

Elections 2009: Do results really reflect ground reality?

The Great Indian Political League 2009 threw a lot of surprises. These surprises surprised even those who caused the surprises. Before and during the elections every analyst was describing the kind of surprise that will be witnessed in these elections. After the results, they are now trying to explain why those surprises didn't occur. In this era of "breaking news" syndrome, the media tries to keep churning stories upon stories. The constant bombarding of varied news content doesn't leave time for the common man to sit back and analyse the data peacefully. And therefore, we believe the media most of the time. Being a Ph.D. student most people, from my relatives, friends and even people who do not know what a Ph.D. is, believe that I have all the time in the world. So, it doesn't do harm to keep that belief intact. Just as we like to believe that the Congress, SP and RJD are secular, but BJP is communal. So, I took some time off and decide to dig a little bit about the result. This is my analysis of the election results.

Let us accept one fact that most of the media in India is pro-Congress, rather anti-BJP. That is why the media kept playing about Narendra Modi and his connection with the Gujarat riots. I remember a news channel advertisement, where it was providing snippets of an interview with NaMo, that was to be broadcast later. The snippets kept repeating the interviewer's question on the riots to NaMo and NaMo's brushing aside the question. Now, if this snippet is shown in every break up to hours before the full telecast, imagine the effect it will have on the viewer. Remember, till now no court has ever proved that NaMo is guilty, nor is there any judgement which states that NaMo is hindering the investigations. But, NaMo is guilty until proven innocent. On the other hand, the Congress is treated softly by the media. No demolishing of the Congress for giving tickets to Sajjan Kumar and Jagadish Tytler. Just see how softly Barkha Dutt interviewed Priyanka Gandhi. Nor did the Prime Minister's statement about Ottavio Quattrochi receive enough coverage and demolition that it deserved. So, the media was involved in biased reporting.

Now, coming to the analysis of the results. First, the voter turnout was around 58% over India as a whole. So, let us forget the other 42%. Most of them deserve to be stuck with the MPs that came through. But, as the media claims, have people really elected for stability? Recounting Navjyot Singh Sidhu's Sidhuism, "Statistics are like bikinis, what they reveal is interesting, what they conceal is vital." To support this, I'm now giving the case of two constituencies here, one where the Congress was elected and the other where its ally the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was elected.

The first one is Mumbai North. Sanjay Nirupam of the Indian National Congress (INC) defeated Shri Ram Naik of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mr. Nirupam polled 255157 votes, whereas Mr. Naik polled 249378 votes. The difference between the winning and losing candidate: a mere 5779 votes. The total votes polled in Mumbai North were 683975. So, percentage-wise Mr. Nirupam got 37.31% of the votes. Which means, a whopping 62.69% of the voters rejected Mr. Sanjay Nirupam.

The second is Mumbai North East. Mr. Sanjay Patil of the NCP polled 213505 votes, while the runner up, Mr. Kirit Somaiyya of the BJP polled 210572 votes. The difference: a mere 2933 votes. Here, the total votes polled were 667904. Percentage-wise, Mr. Patil got 31.96% votes, lesser vote percentage than Mr. Nirupam. In this case, 68.03% of the voters rejected Mr. Patil.

These may appear selective statistics, but then all over India, there have been many constituencies, even the prestigious Sivganga constituency, where such close contests have been witnessed. So, how much value does statements "Mandate rejection of caste politics" and "A vote in favour of a new dawn" or "A thoughtful verdict for stability" hold? Since India's election is about first past the pole, there will be a large number of people who will reject this statement. At least those who voted against Messrs Nirupam and Patil would do so.

In this election the Indian voter has just showed how many choices they have and that few candidates enjoy the support of the majority. If this was a mandate for the UPA, at least half of their elected MPs should have had secured more than 50% votes in their constituencies. But this is not the case as we see from the two examples above. I am sure that many of the elected MPs have come to the Parliament with similar vote shares. This is the flaw in our democratic system and we have to live with it until someone comes across with a better alternative.

P.S. All figures for votes and voting percentages have been compiled from the Election Commission of India's website.

On the back of my mind

Sometimes, we hear statements that get etched on our mind for a very long time. We may forget the context in which that statement was made, who made it, etc. but the statement can be clearly recalled any time of the day. I do not know why have these statements been there in my mind for me to recall them. I have actually forgotten the context of many of those. In a few cases, I've even forgotten at what place and time did I here the statement. Sample these

1. This is sometime around 1994-95. My father and me were waiting on the New Delhi airport after the security check to board a flight, probably to Bangalore. From the public telephone, a lady was calling up somebody and suddenly she screamed into the phone- "Hailllo Papppuuuuuu !!" Me and my father just stared at each other and had a good laugh. That is all I can remember about the event. Nothing else.

2. This is some cricket match in which India was involved. A one-day international. Ajit Agarkar, at that time was relatively new and was brimming with raw pace. This was before he visited the MRF pace academy and Dennis Lillee, instead of helping him increase his pace, reduced it and thus ruined Agarkar's career. Coming back to the match. Agarkar was back into the side after being out because of injury. India was fielding, Agarkar was the bowler and Ravi Shastri was the commentator. Agarkar bowled a delivery and immediately took a wicket. I do not remember the mode of dismissal, but part of Shastri's commentary was "... and Agarkar is back, to his wicket taking ways." This piece of Shastri's commentary still rings in the back of my mind, while I remember nothing else about that match. Not even the opposition!

3. I used to attend summer camps in my childhood. I've attended two such camps. After that, I consider my childhood as over. In one such camp, we were being told a story. It was supposed to be a comedy story, as it was being told to kids. It was about some lady who had come to Pune city from a village and didn't understand the city. Somewhere in the story the lady mentions to someone, "माझा भाऽव ड्यॅक्कन कॉलेजाऽऽऽत सुपारी टुण-टुण हाय", which means, "my brother is a superintendent at Deccan College." In this case too, I do not remember the story, but this sentence has been etched into my memory.

4. This was when cable TV was new in India. They had a game show on Star Plus, called "The Crystal Maze". In the final round of this game show, the participants used to gather inside a large crystal shaped dome. Their job was to collect the maximum number of gold and silver foils in a specific time. The gold foils carried more points than silver foils. The team that scored the maximum points used to win. These foils were blown into the crystal dome using blowers that created air currents turbulent enough to set the foils in a Brownian motion. After the team had gathered into the dome and the dome gate locked, the host used to say his trademark sentence- "Will you start the fans, please." This sentence too rings at the back of my mind, though I remember very little of this show.

BTW, Breaking News, I just found old videos of The Crystal Maze on YouTube.

I find this ability of the brain pretty amazing. Retaining bits and pieces of information that have flashed only momentarily. But on the flip side, there are some equations that I see daily, but can not remember them if anybody asks about them later. There may be many more such incidents stored in the back of my mind, which I cannot recall right now, but it would be interesting to jot them down as and when I recall them.

Missing Raj Thackeray's main message

Everytime the media reports about Raj Thackeray's speeches, it doesn't forget to highlight his "tirade" against the UPites and Biharis. Everybody, whether they are print, news, or other electronic ones. The other parties, like the Congress, RJD, SP, BSP, etc. too point out at the "danger" Raj Thackeray poses and asks the UPites and Biharis to unite against him. Congress goes a step ahead and asks the nation to unite against his "regionalism".

What nobody tries to address is the serious issues that he has raised. One is about bogus ration cards. He displayed those in Pune, and again in Mumbai. Yet, no party is saying anything about tackling this issue seriously. In Pune, he reeled off statistics obtained from the employment exchange, from where less than 10% of the applicants had got jobs during the period 2006-2008. This was a period of economic boom. What was the employment exchange doing? Most of those who apply to the employment exchange are locals. Why didn't they get jobs? I'm not asking for a success rate of 90% for the employment exchange, but isn't < 10% an abysmal figure? Why has nobody in the media given this any importance? He is taking the governments of the day and previous ones to task with data obtained from government sources and what is available in public domain. Yet, this received nothing more than a passing mention.

About his tirade against UPites and Biharis. Please give it a thought. Mulayam Singh, Mayawati and Amar Singh come down to Maharshtra and say that they will fight it out for the "north-Indians". Laloo says some arbit stuff against the people of Maharashtra. But back home, in their state, they do nothing to generate employment for these people. Mayawati, instead of spearheading industrial development, proposes reservation in the private sector too. She goes on building some parks with giant sized statues of Ambedkar, Kanshiram and herself. She blocks the rail-coach factory, just because it is located in Rae-Bareli, a rival's constituency. Laloo Yadav has been of no good for Bihar. 15 years of his misrule has brought Bihar down to its knees. It is only with Nitish Kumar that Bihar is slowly recovering. So, this asymmetrical development has led to large scale urban migration. This is the hidden message that Raj is trying to give. And we are missing it and getting lost in his theatrics.

Statistics: Thou art synonymous to illusion

In the period between April-August 2008, crude oil prices saw a huge surge, in their dollar value. At its peak, crude cost $ 147 per barrel. In India, the oil marketing companies were losing a hell lot of money as the government did not allow them to raise the prices of diesel, petrol, cooking gas and kerosene. Petrol and diesel prices were frozen at levels which would be profitable with crude costing around $60 per barrel. Whenever there was a discussion on raising the prices of fuel, every person in the political sphere raised his/her voice against it. They condemned the government as anti-people, pro-rich and asked for taxes to be reduced, etc. On the other hand, the prices of products for industrial use were adjusted to reflect the rise in crude prices. For example, ATF prices at their peak were around Rs 77000 per kilolitre.

Now, with the fortunes of oil turning down and the cost dropping to $50 per barrel, the opposition is again screaming at the government for not reducing the prices of petrol and diesel. The prices of products such as ATF and fuel oil have been revised based on the current price of crude. Now, ATF costs around Rs. 45000 per kilolitre. The government is actually correct, when it says that the oil companies should be given an opportunity to recover the money they lost when crude prices were high. I may sound a capitalist, but in this world, there is no free lunch!! We as citizens of this country expected largesse from the oil companies when the prices were high. Most oil companies are owned by the government. This means, they are built and operated out of the our own tax money!! So, when we invest in the company, shouldn't we be looking at keeping it in a healthy position? By not raising prices of fuel, we eroded the value of our investment. Now, it is a chance to return the favour. The oil companies should be allowed to recoup all their losses and allowed to build profits. We should see our investment flourishing, rather than diminishing. The government being the largest shareholder, receives crores of rupees as dividend (if the company makes profit). This dividend can then be ploughed back into the economy for some fruitful use.


Now, coming to the illusory nature of statistics. The BJP (especially Ram Naik) has been claiming that while petrol costs Rs. 57-62 per litre, ATF is Rs 45-47 per litre. He cries hoarse, stating that the government is pro-rich and has therefore reduced ATF prices but not reduced petrol prices. Let us look at the simple mechanism behind the sale of ATF and petrol. ATF is sold directly by the oil marketing companies. There is no local petrol pump owner involved while selling to the customer. So, there goes the commission of the local owner. Second, the fuel tank of one aircraft (say a Boeing 737) when fully loaded, contains around 70,000 kg of fuel. So, at a given instant, the aircraft is a bulk buyer of the ATF. On the other hand, petrol is sold at retail levels, most buyers buying between 3-5 litres for 2-wheelers and 10-25 litres for 4-wheelers. This is analogous to the super-stores format. The super-stores receive discounts on various products which they buy in bulk from the manufacturers directly. This benefit is then passed on to the consumers. The neighbourhood mom and pop shop owner buys relatively less quantity from the wholesaler and therefore misses out on the discounts. If we were to look only at the figures of prices of petrol and ATF, we would definitely feel short changed. But, looking at the broader horizon over the past 8 months, we realise that what goes around, comes around. We asked for discounts then, we have to live with high prices now.

Namma Bengaluru!!

I'm back in Bangalore, for a period of 3 months. As a part of my PhD, I am working on a project at Honeywell Technology Solutions Lab, Bangalore. This is a great opportunity to work with one of the leading companies in the field of process control. But, the call comes at a wrong time. While I was supposed to join sometime in September, the HR processes delayed my joining to mid-October. This is Diwali time and everybody longs to be at home. I couldn't do that. So, here I am, celebrating my Diwali in Bangalore.

The weather in Bangalore is very very pleasant. Quite a stark contrast from what it is in Mumbai. Imagine, no sweating through the day. The only soiling of clothes that occurs is due to the pollution and dust on the outside. The day temperatures are just warm enough, while the night is a bit chilly. Bangalore just received a lot of rainfall during the October season. That has added to the chill factor in the evenings. Today it is sunny and a bit of chill in the air. Perfect weather I would say.

With a short stay in Bangalore, I want to go around the city and explore it as much as possible. I couldn't do it last time, as I had no enthusiasm about doing it. Now, this time around, I do not want to go back without exploring the city. I am, therefore, planning to visit one or two places of interest in Bangalore every weekend. Let's see how things shape up.

About my work. Well, the atmosphere is as found in all MNCs. I'm enjoying the work more, as it forms a part of my PhD. And I hope to achieve a lot in these three months at Honeywell. With more friends in Bangalore this time around, I hope to enjoy it better than I did last time.

Aspirations

I was reading the newspaper today morning. It carried a two-page article on Shri Prakash and Sou. Meena Amte's work in Hemalkasa. It described in detail their work, the work of their two sons and daughter-in-law and the sea of change that they brought around in the tribal area. Inspite of all the odds they faced, they have given the tribals in the area a new sense of living. For the past 35 years, Shri Prakash and Sou. Manda Amte have been serving the tribals selfessly supported through donations and government support.

Naturally, I was drawn to their selflessness and to their desire to serve the tribals better. To see their serene and content faces, the happiness derived out of service without expecting returns. In my mind, the thinking cycle started. I wanted to enter social service, the way the Amtes are involved. I sincerely felt that there is no other happiness than the one that you get by serving people in need. Not only do you serve them, but identify their needs and then serve them.

For over the past two years, I have been thinking of moving into the teaching field. This is after I hear that many institutes (ranging from elementary education to higher educations) across the country are facing an acute shortage of quality teachers. I, therefore, wanted to be involved in nation building, in building the constituents of the society. If even one student of mine, every year would aspire to do something fruitful for the society, I was ready to consider it as a success. But then, what kind of teacher should I be? Do I go to the schools in the town/village, where there is a dire need of teachers? Or do I go to the colleges where my technical knowledge would be of some use.

No matter how much I disagree with Nehru, I do believe in one statement of his. That IITs are supposed to provide technological know-how for the development of this country. I would like to agree to this in a broader sense. The technological know-how is essential, but it is also essential to prepare quality man-power who can handle this technological know-how and probably improve upon it. I would like to be involved with such kind of work. But again, whom will I be training? Those who have the money to access such facilities, or those who truly deserve these? Or should I be training the downtrodden, who do not need any of the technical know, but the basic education to understand the way to a quality life? What should be the approach? Questions, questions and questions. No answers found till now!! Aspirations, till they are accompanied with a good plan can't be fulfilled. I pray to the Lord to help me clear my mind and pursue my aspirations.

Laptop blues

Finally, the verdict is out! My laptop has been reduced to a piece of junk, as the circuit on the motherboard that handles the power supply has blown off. Unless, I invest around 16k to get a new motherboard and get the laptop running. The person who repaired my computer suggested me otherwise. He says, instead of investing in a new motherboard, dispose this laptop off, and buy a new one.

What he doesn't understand, or probably the entire supply chain doesn't understand, is that I would need to invest more than Rs. 30k to get a laptop with performance specs that I already have. So, this means, I have to invest around double the motherboard cost to get a new laptop. And what will he pay me to dispose the old laptop? Only Rs 4k. It is simple economics. If you keep aside the uncertainty of the motherboard failing again, then investing Rs. 16k for the motherboard, is a much sensible investment compared to buying a new laptop. People do say that now the latest ones have come, they are at much cheaper price, etc. But then, the laptop was never bought with an intention to make money when I sell it. It was bought to augment my research and entertainment tool set.

Also, what sense does it make in buying a new laptop? What is this about the latest features? Over my existing laptop (configuration: 1 GB RAM, 1.6GHz AMD Turion X2 processor, 100 GB HDD, dual layer DVD drive) what is the value addition that the latest model would provide? A year's warranty instead of the 3 months that the motherboard replacement would give. What is it about the higher HDD capcity and say the latest processor? For the kind of work I do, I think this configuration would be way over the top.

After a lot of deliberations, I decided to repair my motherboard. But I am unhappy over one aspect of the design. The design of the motherboard is so integrated, that I have to replace the entire board, just because the power supply blew off. Why can't the design be modular. It would have been much easier for me to replace the burnt out part at a far lesser cost. But, companies have almost stopped thinking about the repair aspects of the product. For them, it is more profitable if someone junks away the old piece and buys a new one. Now-a-days, for all such companies, profit is first, shareholders are second and the customer is last. Integrated design may help in achieving material and cost savings, but why do they never factor in the possibility of failure? Engineers are taught this very aspect so that they can include safety features to avoid failure and easy replacement procedure after a failure has taken place. Engineers are now probably more driven by the principles of management and economic objectives rather than the principles of engineering.

So much to write and so less written

With my laptop down for the past few days (rather considerable number of days), all activities requiring a computer have come to a halt. I come back to my room in the evening, take some rest, have dinner and then wonder, what to do now? I almost forgot what all can be done when you do not have a functioning PC. I could have taken to reading books, but I have read all the books that I have with me. With the hostel library opening only once a week, it was almost impossible to get books to read. Being a Ph.D. student, many may expect me to do technical reading. But, every person worth his degree, knows that technical reading can put you to sleep instantaneously.

So, what all is happening while my computer remains in coma? Amitabh Bachchan completed 50 days of blogging. He has been writing something for every single day! If he doesn't have the time to write or any matter to write, he just mentions that, but has not missed a single day of blogging. That is the difference between the life of a super-star and a grad student. He has something or the other happening in his life daily. If I were to blog daily, what would I say? Most of the writing would be-- went to the lab, read a few papers, did a derivation, came for lunch, slept, went back to the lab, surfed the net, had tea, came back in the evening, had dinner and then blogged. Once in around 6 months, I would write-- sir told me to write a paper, so now I am preparing for that. Probably I could write some nostalgic stuff or fiction, but then I am not too good at writing them.

Mumbai again went down the drains with the first spell of monsoons. And as it happens every year, citizens blamed the civic body, the civic body blamed the ferocious nature of the rains and the cycle continues. While the BMC, railways, MMRDA, MSRDC, etc. have done a shoddy job, it is a great effort by them that atleast most of the systems are functioning. Look at the citizens themselves. They do not bat an eye-lid before they throw trash on the streets or into the storm water drains. So, inspite of desilting, these drains remain clogged and hence cannot carry water at their rated capacity. Not all those who complained might have littered the street. It is a case where the majority has to suffer because of the foolish acts of a few. The BMC also said that it is ready to handle upto 50 mm per hour of rains, but above that there will be trouble solely because of the topography of Mumbai. The city received around 10% of its annual rains in 2 days. What can any civic body do in such a situation? To add to the fears of Mumbaikars, Sahara Samay, a useless news channel which has a sub-channel catering specifically to the city of Mumbai, call an astrologer who predicted that there would be three days (he actually gave the three dates too, though I don't remember them) in this season when Mumbai will see a 26 July 2005 like situation. Probably in its usual style, the channel must have sensationalised the event. The government of Maharashtra has sensibly decided to prosecute the channel under the Disaster Management Act.

The tri-series in Bangladesh is underway, but not many seem interested as the IPL has sucked out a lot of enthusiasm. People want to get back to life after IPL. But India did thrash Pakistan. It appeared as though the Indian batting line-up had not yet come out of the T20 mode. It was a run-fest by the Indian batsmen. The bowlers then did a fantastic job of shunting out the Pak batsmen for around 190 runs. Let's see what is in store during the further matches.

In the items under miscellaneous, my life is going on. Had a reunion of our undergrad batch. Around 10 of us got together for the reunion. Of these, one was married, another two were scheduled to get married. All of them are now working men. Of the entire group, I was the only student. It led me to some introspection. I should now be focussed on my PhD and get over with it as quickly as possible. But, it doesn't seem so right now. We are meeting again, at a friend's engagement, in the last week of June.