Jnana - pure knowledge

I think the Vikram Buddhi case is important from several aspects. For starters, Vikram’s case is making headlines because he is an Indian student who is jailed in USA for threatening to kill Bush and others. It should be noted that his “threats” are some messages he posted in public forums.

This case is being discussed in many angles. One is to question the nature of “free speech” in US. The country was known to be tolerant for different voices. But this case is proving to be very difficult because it involves an Indian student who is pursuing Ph.D in Purdue University.

Secondly, this is seen as an example of new found worry among US administrators about their security threats. Their security watchdogs have reached new heights and no one is outside the suspect list. It is claimed that the hatred towards immigrants is being manifested in these ways.

Finally and most importantly, I feel this is a good case for computer security students. There is a feeling that if anonymity is a hallmark feature of cyber world. Little do people know that their identity can easily be unveiled by some intelligent ways. This case is an example for this.

One can download the entire criminal complaint lodged against Vikram from here. The case sheet runs like a defensive warfare textbook. Some techniques on how to trace the source of anonymous e-mails are also spilled out here. I strongly recommend this one to all engineering students.

Though we did not see the miracle, we had heard about it. When the country was importing food grains in 1960’s one man declared “Importing food grains is like importing unemployment”. This man revolutionized the agricultural landscape of this country. From importing wheat and rice, we were in the position of exporting them.

That miracle-maker M S Swaminathan will today be a worried man. For his dreams of achieving self-sufficiency in food production is not happening. That’s what the Government is telling us. It is importing wheat again this year. That too it is importing 3 million tons after paying Rs. 2000 crores.

What’s more? The Government has announced that it is contemplating on permitting the private players to import wheat. These people include biscuit and bread manufacturers. What is not told is that majority of these private companies are engaged in selling packaged wheat flour.

This trend is worrisome because there is no big shortage in wheat production. Government keeps insisting that it is the failure in “wheat procurement” that is prompting it to import wheat. That means wheat production is not hampered. It is only that Govt. cannot buy it.

This is because private buyers are paying more than Govt. prices. The failure of PDS has fuelled the growth of private players in food distribution. Do you remember when was the last time you went to Govt. ration shops (called Nyaya-bele angadi !!) to buy your monthly quota of food grains?

So the private market in wheat is heating up. Consequently they control the price. And Govt. spills its hand and imports wheat. It may look like Govt. is doing good by importing wheat. At least it is trying to control prices and give us food. Think! There are some hidden agendas.

Firstly, Govt. says it cannot pay more to farmers. But see this. If Govt. pays Rs. 650 per tonne for our farmers, it pays Rs. 900 for the same when it imports!! It does not require a Princeton economist to tell you that if the same or something less is paid to Indian farmer, they will readily sell their wheat to Govt.

Secondly, the timing of the wheat import raised questions. Just before George Bush visited India, the first announcement of wheat import was done. Many say that US is forcing India to buy wheat form them. Because of huge subsidies in US, their farmers can afford to sell it cheaper. So goes the argument.

Thirdly, the Govt. permitting the private players to import wheat is not logical. If Govt. cannot buy wheat it’s because private parties are buying at higher price. So now, if they are allowed to import wheat then even those prices should shoot up. So what will Govt. do then? Will it continue to import to import wheat at much higher prices?

So it looks like Govt. has taken the decision to import wheat not to help our farmers but to satisfy the demands of hidden hands. These things should be discussed in relation to our privatization policies. For now the fear is whether all this will lead to wheat farmer’s suicide. Let’s hope this fear remains in letters and never comes true.

What do you do when you are the widow of notorious brigand? If you are in India, you fight elections. That’s precisely what Muthulakshmi is doing. She is the wife of Veerappan who has now become a metaphor for political-criminal nexus in this country.

The character of Veerappan was shrouded in mystery. Why was he always available to a group of people (mainly journalists) and remain at large to police is still unknown. As many doubt there may be a possibility that he was a small time smuggler. The politicians of the regions must have used him as a mascot for their operations. Mystery even surrounded his death.

When he died, there was a news that his wife Muthulakshmi has launched a outfit to protect the rights of the tribals. She owed at that point of time that she would not enter politics. But as always, saying NO should be considered as first step in politics. She is contesting as independent candidate from Pennagaram constituency in Dharmapuri district. She is even expected to win after PMK extended its support.

Stories like this where the widow/children contest election hoping to win with sympathy votes is nothing new in India. When a politician dies, people look at their kin as natural candidates for contesting elections. This may be because our psyche is used to accepting inheritance in ruling.

I wonder whether same would happen anywhere else. Like if Bush dies suddenly, will Americans press for his son/daughter to take over?

What the medicos have achieved in Delhi is something really appreciable. When the whole student community in this country was silent on the reservation issue, they have taken the issue to the forefront. Their courage is something other students should imitate.

Last year when the VC of Anna University in TN imposed dress code to engineering students, they protested. But their protests did not last long. Even in our university, when there was ban imposed on mobile phones, not one college students organized at least symbolic protests.

For those who thought that student protest (for a cause) is a thing of past, the Delhi medicos have provided some hope. Here were a bunch of young people determined to challenge the system because they thought it was not right. And reservation being such a sensitive issue, you need lot of guts to openly oppose that.

But there were some questions that remained unanswered. The reservation saga affects not only the medical colleges but even IIT’s and IIM’s. Surprisingly they were silent. Even a day after Delhi medicos came on streets, not even one IIT or IIM students have come openly to support them.

This is surprising! Are these people in IIT and IIM just bothered about placements and astronomical salaries? Are they insensitive to issues like this?

How many times can you see the complete revolution as described in Marxist literature? Nepal has come close to that. The courage of the crowds who defied curfew orders and braved the bullets was awesome. The way they finished their task in few days is unbelievable.

Wondering whether anything similar can happen in India? Will Indians get frustrated with the administration and political parties here and start a revolution? Don’t say the situation in India is different than Nepal. Even if we do not have a monarchy, we have equally suppressing political parties.

Don’t we have the inheritance policy in our politics? We have 3 generations of same family ruling this country. And the country (supposedly) still wants more “service” form that family. Will our countrymen rise against this and start a revolution?

Amazing is the courage of Nepalies. They have even commanded the political parities to give them good administration. Even their PM designate was warned that if he does not fulfill their promise, he will be hanged!! Now that’s what we call complete revolution.

Will this ever happen in India?

Do you think whatever Bal Thakery says is rubbish? Are you the one who does not believe in the “Akand Hindu Rastra” concept of Sangh Parivar? Do you think “Kannada Rakshana Vedike” guys just create public nonsense? Do you believe that today’s world does not know boundaries?

Please see what is happening in UK. It recently changed the immigration rules. Now the Doctors who go to UK with a dream of training there and later get some good job are in trouble. The Government in UK has decided that the services of immigrants will be availed only if “home grown” Doctors are not available.

There is more shocking news. The British National Party (BNP) which is a far right wing political organization in UK is supposed to gain more votes this one. This is the party which says “Britain for British” meaning all others better leave the place. Now this is horrifying.

There is this backlash against immigrants in many places. What’s happening in UK may be the pointer for future. Will the world turn into a hostile place where no one entertains foreigners to come and settle in their land? Does that mean “Karnataka Rakshana Vedike” & “Shiv Sena” which are stressing on driving off the “outsiders” will gain upper hand here also?

Horrifying thoughts - isn’t it?

For all you people who were swayed away by the charisma of Aamir Khan here is a bit of reality. It was told that the NBA got a new high when Aamir Khan declared his support for its cause. Many said it is the hangover of “Rang de Basanti”. Whatever it was he supported Medha. But what is this?

He is seen with a bottle of Coke again. A bottle of diluted poison which is gulped by everyone from school kids to toothless old people in this country. Doesn’t Aamir Khan know that Medha unilaterally opposes these soft drinks? Does Aamir Khan support only NBA and no other principles of Medha.

Aamir Khan always remained with Coke. Shall we appreciate his loyalty? Or shall we pity him for not knowing the facts. It is well known that this is a company which got water for mere Rs.0.25/liter and made soft drinks which sells at Rs.10 per bottle. Does he know any thing at all regarding Coke?

This company sucks the ground water, packages that in fancy bottle and sells it at astronomical price. Because they suck so much from the land, we are denied our right share in ground water resources. But these guys first deny us water and then sell us the same water at higher price. There cannot be a bigger fraud than this!!

And this gentleman Aamir Khan supports them. When he just visits the dharna spot and makes some sound before TV cameras, the nation supposedly awakens!! There are talks about him becoming activist and all that. I hope people who went overboard celebrating Aamir Khan just take a moment to think on this line.

Just watch the Tamil Channels for some time. Irrespective of whether it is Sun, Sun Music or KTV you can see the ads of cloth showrooms continuously. Everyone has 3-4 floors in their showroom with all amenities like basement parking, central AC and so on.

What is amazing is these guys seem to pull every other film actors to endorse their brand. You name anyone in Tamil film industry; they will be featuring in one of these brands. If one has to pull such saleable film stars, it is clear that they are doing roaring business.

The same goes even to gold shops of Chennai. Most of the times, the same place will offer both gold jewellary & clothes. But even sole gold traders seem to strike diamond in their business. Like the cloth showrooms even they release mega ads in TV roping in every film star.

Now we can see at least 2 saree showrooms regularly giving ads in TV here in Karnataka. Also. Feauting in these ads are some retired/semi-retired heroines. Probably in coming days we may see leading ladies of Kannada cinema posing for them. But there is a problem – will Rakshita ever wear a saree?

This is the first time that I have heard that something called as “Books Day” is also celebrated. For a person like me who opened his eyes to see books all around, this one comes as a surprise. But as with all days this one too give another reason to cherish some moments which are long forgotten.

My first impression about books is the Ramayana that was housed in our house. I remember my mother reading it for us every evening. When I used to force her to go on, she would angrily tell me to read if I am that curious. I started reading early because I wanted to know what happens next in Ramayana!!

From then it has been an undivided romance with books. I remember reading all periodicals in my childhood from “Illustrated weekly of India” to “Chandamama”. Some of us friends made a decision to visit our library quite late but once we went there, our lives changed.

We had made a decision of reading whatever our hands lay on. We did not make a conscious choice of reading only a certain kind of literature. This, as I discovered later, helped me much to understand the breadth of literature. Somehow English fiction never really attracted me.

Today reading has taken a new meaning. Reading through computer has become the norm. But I still love walking through the narrow passages between books in Sapna Bookhouse (Kannada Section) and glancing through the wide variety it offers today. I would love to live my life like how Ambedkar dreamt – “In the lonely forest, amidst lots of books”.

At one part of the world, a Queen celebrated her 80’Th birthday. Somewhere else a King reluctantly agreed to hand over the executive powers back to the people. Both countries have a long history of monarchy but exhibited their relation with present reality in different ways.

It is generally agreed today that Monarchy is not a feasible Governance option. Though England celebrated its Queen’s birthday with all pomp, many were not happy. As reported by newspapers some want this system should end with the present Queen. I do not know the law there, but am sure that the Queen there has a symbolic presence only.

The situation in Nepal is quite worrisome. Again I do not have any first hand knowledge on the issue. But seeing the images that flash on TV screens, I feel the King should be doing something drastically wrong to force people to come on to the streets. Whether the King is evil or not, it is important for a nation to have an elected Government.

In India, we have managed the situation admirably. Though the erstwhile Kings do not enjoy any position officially, they continue to carry on their tradition quite privately. Engaged mostly in hospitality biz these guys get due respect by people. Many have even become successful politicians.

Perhaps royals in England & Nepal can learn a few lessons from us. Who knows, the next PM of these countries may be a member of royal family!!

“My Lord” is out of Indian legal dictionary. At last people thought this kind of colonial practices should be stopped. But sadly many things still persist. It is time we take note of these things also. Certain kind of dressing etiquette and some addressing styles can really be discontinued.

I am specifically asking to think more on our addressing styles. What is so special about the Governor that he should be addressed as “His Excellency”? We know that now the post of Governor is reserved for jobless political heavyweights and retired bureaucrats.

And from when the Mayor of city like Bangalore became “Worshipful”? The Mayor is mostly the stepping stone for many to reach further heights in politics. And anyway their tenure is so short that by the time we prepare to “worship” them, they are out of office.

Can we stop these things also? I am not asking to change everything. This should not go beyond certain limits. I am not for renaming “Cubbon Park”. Though its name is changed, I still prefer “Infantry Road”. For me these things are immaterial but addressing schemes are.

I had not posted anything new in my kannada blog for quite some time. Thanks to Prof. M S Sriram (IIM-A), I have started to write again. This time I am using UNICODE. So I think everyone should be able to see the contents.

I hope I will be lot more regular this time in posting my kannada articles.

There was a time when the borders were drawn clearly. There were few people who would get their work published and there were many others who read it. The writer-reader delimitation was distinct. The path to become a writer was quite tough. Only the chosen ones would reach the readers.

Having money to publish one’s own work was not enough. Typically someone publishing his own works was not looked up as a genuine writer. Every writer had a story to narrate on how his initial works were rejected. Budding writers were asked to first get something published in “Letters to editor” section.

Now the rules of the game have changed. With the arrival of blog phenomenon, it is possible for anyone to write anything. There is a difference between earlier dot-net boom and this blog thing. If one had launched website, he had difficulties in making it available to everyone.

Theoretically any website is available for anyone, anywhere to see. But unless the site is available through a search engine, it is useless. The blog thing makes sense because it automatically feeds the contents to search engines. This has made accessibility really global.

But I think there is a flip side for this. Since anyone can write, there is a fear of total lack of readership. One wonders if there are any “serious” readers for all these blogs. People may just scan the contents, punch in their immediate response and forget it. There may be no scope for deep analysis or discussion.

And since blogs provide the feedback mechanism which is faster than traditional system, there is always a fear that writer may change his style to meet the popular demand. Obsessed with getting maximum visitors, he may write on things which do so. Or in the other extreme, he may lose enthusiasm if there are no feedbacks from readers!!

In the earlier post, I was writing how difficult it is for a teacher to teach the importance of group working to his students. I think the reason for lack of group culture comes from our childhood. We are rarely taught to work as a group and sharing/collaborating has never been a part of our psyche.

From our early childhood we are told to be competitive. Even kindergarden students are awarded ranks and told to “fight” the nearest competitor. If a child has a neighbor who is also his classmate it is again tough. The poor child will be pushed by the parents to get at least one mark more than his neighbor classmate.

This practice continues even at later stages. Students do not exchange notes and rarely do combined studies. They are fed with “this is competitive world” mantra from early days. Stating ahead matters most even if it means running over fallen guys.

People say cricket is a team game. I do not completely agree. I mean the level of co-ordination one requires in a game like football is never required in cricket. There is always the individual batsman or bowler who dominates the team. That may also be the reason why cricket is popular amongst us.

So when a person grows in this environment, how can one expect him to work in a group? Every major IT Chieftain makes it a point to say that team working is a trait they expect youngsters to develop. But how? - Is the question which no one is answering. I think to develop the group culture there is a need for a complete cultural overhaul.

When the mob ransacked Bangalore last week, how many of us felt it was someone amongst us? Was there any sense of belongingness? Certainly no. Somehow we all felt that the mob was disconnected from us. We were not ready to associate ourselves with the group which was claiming to be hurt after their favorite hero’s death.

This points towards a very significant yet neglected aspect of group dynamics. It is always taught in classrooms that team working is the mantra for the success in today’s world and all that. But there is a flip side for this group thing. When there is success everyone wants a share but come failure, you will try to disown yourself from the group.

“It’s me” is what people say when the group gets a good name. “What would they do without me? “ - Everyone likes to think in the group. “I did everything, but see even others who did not do anything gets the credit” is the normal complaint. When the ship overcomes the storm the captain gets the credit.

Let the group fail. Suddenly people are trying to pass on the buck on others. From “It’s me” the mood changes to “Not me”. Slowly they try to disown the group. Worst, they try to bring in the sense of group culture by pronouncing “We” meaning everyone should take equal responsibility for failure.

Group thinking is a difficult thing. It is not natural for humans to work as a group unlike some animals. To teach them share success and take responsibility of failure is difficult. That’s why teachers like us have difficulty in teaching the importance of group working and team spirit for our students.

Have you seen the recent ad series on AIDS awareness that is aired in TV? The ad urges all pregnant women to have AIDS test. The point is simple and very important. But the execution of the whole program is very pathetic. The important message is lost under poor production.

I do not think there is any shortage of funds for programs like this. Every major international donor from World Bank to Bill Gates spends Billions of dollars in these programs. But it looks like the Govt. machinery still does not want to create appealing publicity materials.

From print ads to TV commercials, Govt. productions are known for their poor quality and low appealing levels. Take the print ads. You can hardly see the text in them. The space will be covered by photos. It looks like Govt. releases ads to just publish photos of everyone from PM to last named local leader.

This habit of shabby production has not left even Govt. owned enterprises. See the ad of “Mysore Sandal Soap”. These guys roped in DHONI as their brand ambassador. But see that ad and you will regret. I mean a guy like DHONI can do something better than catching soaps and uttering few words.

There was a time when Govt. ads used to sound better. During DD days, the “Literacy Campaign” ads were catchy. Can we forget the songs telecasted by Bangalore DD on environmental protection? But after the cable revolution, Govt. ads in TV media have lost appeal. When they are speaking on social issues, they should pull all stops to make it more appealing.

In a country obsessed with Bollywood, every move taken by a blockbuster actor will be hit. What else can you say about the whole nation raving about the support Aamir Khan has extended to NBA? The point that Rahul Bose has also supported the same is missed by many.

Is it the first time actors don the role of activists? In this side of Vindhyas we have seen actors becoming successful politicians after they fought for a cause. Take the case of MGR, Karunanidhi & Jayalalita in TN. They converted the Dravidian movement into political powerhouse.

We have our own Dr. Rajkumar who was at helm of affairs during the Gokak agitation. This movement is said to have gained momentum after Dr. Rajkumar entered the fray. But his later involvements in recent issues did not evoke much response.

Even in Bollywood, Shabana Azmi is known for her intense participation in many movements. So why should someone question Aamir’s support to NBA? We should understand that even he is entitled to have his own opinions on any topic. Let’s congratulate him for airing his views.

As an actor let’s judge him through his performances. What he does outside should not be related to his on-screen persona. And his views on issues like NBA should not be a reason to reject his films. We should understand that Aamir as an actor and Aamir as an activist are two different persons.

Today’s “The Hindu” carried some horrifying news for teachers. It said how the violence on teachers is increasing. Yes, you heard it right. Violence on teaches by students is said to be increasing. But we have no reasons to worry much. This is happening in far away England.

I am tempted to add few personal observations regarding this phenomenon. Generally in this part of the world teachers are still respected. Though they have cooled down a lot teachers are known for their classroom violence at least at lower levels. At higher levels there are always complaints of favorism and harassment by teachers.

But it is rare that one listens to the story of role-reversal. Students assaulting teachers are rarely reported. Sadly I did witness this thing in my school days. When we were in SSLC, one of my classmates (name withheld!!) slapped one math’s teacher (male) after some scuffle in the classroom.

This created quite news those days. School administration punished us by denying the farewell party. When I came to this college, I heard a story of students in 80’s being very rude with Lecturers. Our college was notorious in those days and I have heard some stories from that time.

One student had supposedly chopped off the finger of a Lecturer. This happened when the Lecturer stopped that guy from copying in exams. There were equally disturbing stories of students coming fully drunk to the classes. One can expect the scene in classes when students come drunk.

I hope these are isolated incidents. As a teacher I do not expect that my students behave like this in my classes. And I seriously pray that my students won’t turn violence in classes. God! Where will I turn to save myself if 6” students try to bully me in classroom?

There were always these sets of people who made their living out of talking. You can consider the traditional “story tellers” (HariKatha Keerthanakaaraas), artists (on stage & screen) and even politicians in this category. Speaking never pays well, ask teachers and you will know.

But suddenly it appears to me that speaking makes good business sense. If you can speak well, sky is the limit. Do you know anyone who gets paid in lakhs per hour? Meet Arindum Chowdary. This flamboyant guy from IIPM is charging 3 Lakhs per hour (!!) for speaking.

I am not cooking up this story. Take up Monday’s newspapers and you will see the guy’s ads in all newspapers. They not only published the amount they charge but also the maximum number of participants per session. Some of his colleagues who charge about 1 – 2 Lakh Rupees per day had limited the number to 25.

Some questions pop up in my mind when I hear these numbers. One is what these guys speak to charge such huge amounts. Obviously it will not be something that worthy. And second is how they will manage time. I mean this guy has to speak for one hour. If he speaks less, audience may ask money back (for his “unspoken time”). If he overshoots the time, will he charge more from audience?

I have more than 1000 hours of speaking experience in classes. If you ask me, I will tell you it is almost impossible to fix the timing for talking. If you want to achieve this, you have to say the practiced (by-hearted) words. And this does not give enough happiness to the speaker as much as impromptu speeches gives.

The game seems to be over. Or should we say the drama is over. Well it will be difficult to say who was playing drama – Medha or Modi. See what we are terming this whole thing as. This issue has seized to be the fight between development and human interests. It is now power play between 2 individuals.

I read the GoM report which was published in “The Hindu”. I somehow was convinced that the rehabilitation was done as it was required. But I was not shocked because I know that’s the reality here. We have grown accustomed to Government apathy.

When I heard Medha speak after she broke her fast, I was not that impressed. First of all she did not look as weak as I expected her to be. And I thought she spoke more as politician and less as an activist. I do not doubt her intentions nor am I being cynical about this whole fasting thing. But its just I am not impressed.

Narendra Modi has become a forgettable character in Indian politics. Whatever he does, no one takes it seriously. His fast did not make enough noises. And when Supreme Court said the obvious, he ended his fast. I seriously cannot understand what he gained by all this.

I do not understand the jubilation of both sides after Super Court’s orders. To be frank, it did not do anything. It just passed on the buck to PM. The next hearing is due on May 01. It has just said that neither the dam work nor the rehabilitation should be neglected.

So who is the winner here? This is like this story where the winning lottery number was 79 and two idiots rejoiced as if that they had won when they had tickets numbered 70 & 69. When told about the winning number they told “Hey look, we have at least one digit common with the winning number”. What else can you say about Medha & Modi?

There is a conscious move by our university to get into the objective-type assessment mode. At the start, it may appear easy for both students and teachers. Students can rely on luck if they don not the answers and teachers can get rid of valuating job which is damn boring.

But there are some problems as I discovered recently. I prepared my first objective-type question paper for my ethics classes. It was an experience which I do not wish to go through again. I think I took more time in setting paper than students answering it.

And the valuation process was so mechanical. I mean I had to check the sequence of “A..B..C..D” in the answer paper. This was ridiculous and a machine is better equipped to do this job. Humans should do something more than this routine stuff. Teachers will become more rusted if this process continues.

I feel assessment of a student should be left to the teacher. He should decide the valuation scheme for his subject. Having a uniform marking scheme doesn’t work. If I ever get a chance, I would include lot more interesting stuff than the regular exams in my valuation scheme.

[one night @ the call center – chetan bhagat]

It’s not everyday that you read two books of the same author on a single day within a span of few hours. Now that I have read Cheatan’s second book, I feel I can make some “expert” comments about the author. I feel he is going Chase’s way – same storyline with different situations and characters.

For one, the story is something that happens in a night at a call center located in Gurgaon. While his earlier book had 3 IIT’ians and a Prof’s daughter as main characters, this one has 6 call center employees (from different backgrounds) working as a team under a nasty boss.

If his earlier book was a bit bollywoddish this one is a complete bollywood material. I think this guy visualizes the entire script as one happy-ending movie. But somehow the characters behave in a predicted manner. It adds the fast pace but at times becomes monotonous.

The characterization here is similar to the previous one. The boys think they are useless creatures while girls are crying all the times. Even guys join this crying business every now and then. And what is that with alcohol. All the characters in both novels are drunkards irrespective of whether it is guys or girls.

And this one has a rather philosophical (or inspirational) tale of GOD calling these drunken characters. And what more, GOD sees everyone out of all their problems, although not directly. More surprising is that the story itself is supposed to be narrated to the author by divine power in night long train journey!!!

After reading both of his books, I vote for the “Five point someone”. That was fresh. And I don’t expect he writes one more book on losers and how they shine ultimately a la-bollywood istyle. And Chetan, next times please make your characters cry a bit less and cut down on their alcohol supply.

[five point someone – chetan bhagat]

I had heard about this book more than once. But since I consciously avoid reading fiction, the book never reached my desk. Thanks to Biswa, I read this book this weekend and completed it in one breezy session. The storyline, though nothing spectacular, will hold your attention.

The book is written well and helps you relate to the storyline especially if you are an engg. student. Though the “junta” need not go through the troubles as IIT guys, there are some parallels one can find. Especially the language used is something very different from the regular Indian-English fiction types.

I should say that this one is like a bollywood script. You can say this is a readymade screenplay complete with all details. I mean there is a bit of everything – sentiments, drama, action, romance and lots of youth adventure. Any producer will jump to make this into a movie.

All said and done, this is a light piece of literature. Do not expect anything path breaking here. Just sit, read, relax and forget everything. May help you recall “those golden days” you spent with friends in hostel. The whole thing is like a David Dhawan meets Yash Chopra kind of story.

The arrival of New Year is celebrated in different ways in different parts of India. Though we all belong to the same state called Karnataka, Ugadi is not a festival for us. We celebrated the New Year today (Apr 14). “Vishu” as it called by us is a dominant festival of Kerala.

The fact that Canara districts share a long cultural relationship with Kerala is well known. This relation goes very deep in terms of traditions and religious beliefs. Not only Hindus of Canara districts and Kerala share common culture but also the Muslims.

This commonality is surprising because the languages in these two places are not same. While the Hindus & Muslims in Kerala speak Malayalam their counterparts in Canara speak Tulu. This makes interesting study because people share traditions and culture but not language.

But Christians in Canara are more influenced from the Goan culture rather than their brethren in Kerala. This is very peculiar considering the fact that Hindus and Muslims in these two regions share commonalities. Someone should investigate this matter a bit more deeply.

Speaking on “Vishu”, there is a story to support the celebrations. It is associated with “Bali” who offered his own self as a place for “Vamana”, an incarnation of “Vishnu”. But I think as with “Ugadi”, this also should have been a harvest festival. Traditional celebrations reiterate this point.

It is so amazing that in India, we celebrate New Year as the arrival of new season. It is the time when man celebrates his relation with nature whether it is Pongal, Baisaki or Vishu. But when these festivals are celebrated in concrete forests, what remains is just nostalgia and dry formalities.

[Russell’s Best: Edited by Robert E Egner]

There are always some problems reading the great authors. Primarily since you know that they are famous, your mind will be “preset” to accept the words in the books. Also you will be prejudiced by the impressions you have developed about the author through previous readings.

Your problem multiplies when you read Bertrand Russell. A man who is today considered as a great thinker was officially declared unfit for teaching!! Eventually he also won the Noble prize. His definition of “agnostic” has influenced me a lot. His “What is an agnostic” is what I keep reading over and again.

Russell’s has written too much that I find it impossible to read and understand all his works. Many of his works are available free in Internet. “The Project Gutenberg” has put up some of his books. I am currently reading one of his books titled “The problems of philosophy”.

For a person like me who has not studied philosophy formally, Russell’s writing is quite complex to understand. Though he writes very convincingly, it takes time to digest the arguments. The same problem may be faced by many others like me who want to understand Russell but do not know where to start.

Fortunately, for guys like me, there is a solution. The well edited “Russell’s Best” solves our problem. It contains all the major opinions of Russell categorized into various sections. The reader can get the overall idea of what Russell was writing once he read this one.

Since the book is supposed to have been reviewed by Russell himself, one cannot question the validity of this book. But as I found out one cannot read through the book. One needs to spend enormous time thinking about the lines and only then it can be understood.

But one should not be content reading this book. It will be a mistake to create impressions on Russell after reading this book. For that one should try to read the entire literature. This book should be the starting point for that long journey into understanding Russell.

Ramachandrapura Mutt is making news again. The mutt who was earlier famous for conducting “save cattle” campaigns is now engaging in another big event. They definitely seem to have a penchant for mega events. The “Ramayana Mahasatra” is arranged with all pomp and grandeur.

1500 saints, 11 Yaagashaalas, 250 kilos of ghee, 3 lakh visitors – the numbers are great. But the aim as said is to establish that Ramayana is not just an imaginary epic but a historical account. It is also said that the effect of smoke emerging from Yagaas will also be “scientifically” investigated.

There is always this set of people who keeping telling us that Ramayana and Mahabharatha are not just stories. I had read a book where the author explains that “Pushpaka Vimana” which was supposed to have used by Ravana was an engg. design.

Every town in this country will have something related to these two epics. I still remember the fascination created by the “discovery” of bridge supposed to be built during Ramayana to connect Rama to Lanka. I presume in present Srilanka there may be places designated as place of Ravana as we have Ayodhya here.

My personal opinion regarding these things is clear. Rama and Krishna may not be exact historical characters. They may have been the rulers of that time. Their accomplishments were exaggerated and recorded. This happens everywhere and these people are no exceptions.

It will be foolish to “establish” the truthfulness of a fiction. Belief has its place but this new attempt by the mutt is sheer waste of time and other resources. Instead of that they could accept the truth that Ramayana is a beautiful piece of literature. And try to appreciate the characterization of Rama.

When will these media people learn? Can’t they be bit matured. I am tired of commenting on these polls and their analysis. They indulge in all sought of silly discussion in the name of analysis. Its time they learn to be a bit more mature. The nation is watching!!

Today there was violence in Bangalore. And all this was due to idolizing of a film star. NDTV thought it had an issue and started discussing this “serious” matter. Is this phenomenon limited to South India? NDTV was asking the nation. The studio was lined up with guest to provide “insights”.

What NDTV missed was even when they were discussing this issue; other channels were showing images of fans rejoicing Salman’s return from jail. Now in a city like Mumbai fans celebrate the return of a convict and NDTV does not notice this. It is busy analyzing fan frenzy in South India.

Ramchandra Guha was explaining why superstars in south India attain larger than life image. His theory was that the languages here face the threat from other “powerful languages”. In order to face this opposition each language comes up with own “hero” to establish its identity and face the opposition.

I agree with him partially. I do believe that guys like Rajkumar have given cultural identity to Karnataka. But I do not think the need for superstars arise because we have to face treats from other languages. I think the phenomenon of superstars should not be simplified to this level. It’s much more complex than we think.

I repeat what I had written a few days back in this blog. It will be a great mistake for people to compare Amitab with Rajkumar. Or for that matter even MGR & NTR cannot be compared with Rajkumar. If they cannot understand and appreciate the differences, they should better leave it.

And will someone teach these national channel people to pronounce the local names correctly. It was pain listening to Rajdeep pronounce “Kanteerava” wrongly throughout the program. He better learn because CNN-IBN looks serious in its attempts to capture southern part of India.

Roads filled with kids having good time, markets emptied, shops closed, and curfew like situation but with people wandering around – this is the scene of Bangalore from past two days. Newspapers and TV media is calling it “voluntary bandh”. But everyone knows the reality.

No sane businessman ever wants to close shops for more than a day without reason. But all the shops closed soon after the news of Rajkumar’s death spread. Was it respect? No, not really. It was a sense of panic. The thoughts of events when Rajkumar was kidnapped must have forced people to roll down the shutters.

I cannot understand why we should call off the business for so long. Even I respect Rajkumar like anyone, but stalling business forcefully is something not good. Tomorrow (Apr 14) is Vishu. We celebrate the day as the first day of new calendar year. So do Malayalies and a section of Tamils.

But the markets are closed. People are deprived of celebration. This is not correct. Also the cable operator has blacked out all the channels except news and Kannada channels. Someone dictating their choice on others is wrong. I strongly oppose this move.

What we are witnessing today is people trying to create an artificial environment of sadness. By forcefully shutting down the shops, stalling the markets, burning buses, stoning offices, blocking channels – love cannot be expressed. If this was love, then Rajkumar would have never wished to have such admirers.

Was it complete failure of law and order situation or was it genuine display of love by the admirers. It may be difficult to decide. But personally I felt police failed miserably to control the crowd. This was not the kind of last respect we expected the state to pay to the great actor.

It is understandable that people wanted to have the last glimpse of the actor and all that. But where was the police? Yesterday itself I was feeling bad after seeing the crowds storming into the house of Rajkumar. Police should not have let the situation get so worse.

Today it was worst. The crowd management in the Kanteerava stadium was pathetic. The procession was such a bad idea. I thought taking the body in helicopter would have been a better. Govt. should have sensed trouble after seeing the crowd yesterday.

Once the place was decided, why didn’t police take any precaution? Why was the place not cordoned off? They had all the time from morning. But they did not seem to make any arrangements to control the crowds. There was no barricades put and police were not seen in enough numbers.

The whole burial was total mayhem. It was unbelievable that people lacked total sense and crowded the place. I felt so sad for Rajkumar’s sons who were pleading with people to allow them to carry on the services. But at the end, it was all chaos. This should not have happened.

To say that Police failed is a small complaint. It was in complete shambles. Whether they did not act or were they ordered not to act should be questioned. I severely criticize the CM for failing to provide proper security in the burial ground. After seeing the pictures in TV, couldn’t he arrange for more policemen?

Forget him, where was Yediurappa? He was missing on the whole day. This is so very not done. The great man like Rajkumar deserved a better farewell. At the end, even his wife and children not getting enough privacy was so sad. Even media was acting in haste and reporting all nonsense.

Today I feel sorry to be a Bangalorean. If Bangalore does not know to draw line between love and chaos, I am sorry to be part of this city. Some miscreants have brought great disgrace to the name of the city and the man himself. I will never forgive the present Govt. for failing to arrange proper farewell to the greatest son of this land.

Dr. Rajkumar is no more with us. Amidst the mayhem his body is taken out from his home. The destination and cremation details are not yet made public. The city has shut down and there is a sense of loss everywhere. I think this is time for me to punch down my impressions about the man himself.

I did not grow up seeing Rajkumar’s films. The reasons for this were many. By the time we were growing up, Rajkumar had virtually stopped making films. And in my town Kannada films were a rarity in theaters. So my quota of Rajkumar films came through DD.

But we used to hear a lot about Rajkumar from our family elders. Stories about his fan following, rivalry with Vishnuvardhan, domination of Parvathamma, rowdism of his children and many more donned my childhood. For a boy in a small town like me, Rajkumar’s popularity was an enigma.

I began to see his films a bit late when we got a video cassette player. The films which I saw in those days were mainly devotional. I was swayed completely by his acting in “Kanakadasa” and “Bhaktha Kumbara”. Tears would flow down my cheeks whenever I saw these movies.

Whenever I used to visit Udupi, my mind would be filled with his portrayal of Kanakadasa. Till today it is my firm belief that Rajkumar was at his best when he portrayed these devotional roles. His acting combined with PBS’s singing created a new magical world for me.

Then there were historical movies which were a treat to watch. The sword-fighting scenes in those films were such an excitement for me. I remember watching his dialogue delivery in “Babruvaahana” (in battle scene) over and again to by-heart them. I also liked “Mayura” for its sheer entertainment value.

I was in college when Rajkumar was kidnapped. I remember those days very well. I was staying in college hostel then. That evening we took a protest march around the hostel area. We burnt an effigy of Veerappan and some chest-thumping dialogues were delivered.

The city was burning. Curfew was imposed. We, in the hostel, were facing the heat. After 2 days our warden announced there was no enough stock of food grains. Even the cooking gas was getting over. There were no vegetables and we had to be contended with real simple food cooked outside.

Those were difficult times but it helped us understand what Rajkumar meant for the entire state. There was a new awakening among us in the hostel regarding Rajkumar. We used to get his CD’s and watch it together. The joy his comeback received was something I can never forget.

And then came a day where I saw him in person – close and straight. He had come to our college when the shooting of his son’s movie “Appu” was going on. That was the first time I saw him in person. I managed to say something to him. And I really felt that he was a saint like personality.

He continued to come to shooting and we had a feast of seeing him in flesh. It was something very special for me personally. One thing that flashes to my mind when I think about those moments is the strong but nice smell of his perfume. He smelled as if he was soaked in perfume.

I am proud to say I have seen almost his entire movie collection. I can claim that I have seen all his movies which are released in VCD/DVD. To pick up a favorite in the big list is impossible. It is hard to delete any movie. But “Saakshaatkaara”, “Kasturi Nivasa”, “Bangaarada Panjara”, “Kalidasa” are some of his performances which are personally close to me.

I can also not forget the English lines he rendered in “Eradu Kanasu”. I was pleasantly thrilled recently when I saw his song “If you come tomorrow…” being played in Channel V. It was amazing how he sang those English songs also. He just happens to do everything what you can think off about the range of an actor.

And there is a recent relation of Rajkumar with this blog. When I wrote about the CNN-IBN poll, it received much attention. I was shell shocked to see the traffic reaching 200 those days. It was all because of that one article. So Rajkumar made my blog accessible to many people.

Now that Rajkumar is dead, I want some truths to come out. The entire episode of his kidnapping has been clouded in mystery. Veerappan is long dead. Rajkumar is no more. Nagappa is untraceable. Now either Smt. Parvathamma or S M Krishna should speak the truth.

We cannot allow the truth to bury deep sown with these people. I think Rajkumar would have spoken the truth the day he was released. He was speaking openly with the media. He was about to speak something when Smt. Parvathamma intervened. Now at least she should come out with truth.

I am really pained after seeing the behavior of people today. It was a shame to see them torching vehicles. Laying siege on the vehicle carrying Rajkumar’s body was distasteful. So was mobbing their house. The Govt. also made a mistake by changing the venues where the body will be kept.

Rajkumar was goodness personified for us. He was a man who represented the culture of the land better than anyone. He was our brand ambassador. For many years to come he will continue to educate and entertain all of us as - Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Sheenivasa, Arjuna, Babruvaahana, Mayura Verma, Krishnadevaraya, Pulakeshi, Ranadheera Kanteerava, Kalidasa, Tukaram, Kabir…………..and many more.

This cannot be true! I was in the class when one student announced that Dr. Rajkumar is dead. I said I hope this is not true. Now I am back from class and everyone has confirmed the news. I hear that he died in our hospital (M S Ramaiah Memorial Hospital). I am still in college and can’t confirm this one.

It is really easy to be philosophical and say that everyone should die one day. But with someone like Rajkumar, it is very difficult to digest the news. Many pictures flash in my mind. Not a day passes without seeing his face on TV. Every time I see him on screen I wonder how he could do all those emotions to the perfection.

From acting as God himself in many films there was one kind of character where, I think, he did his best. That was being “bhaktha” in numerous films like “Bhakta Kumbara”, “Santa Tukarama”, “Navakoti Narayana”, “Kanakadasa”, “Bhakta Vijaya” etc. Being “bhaktha” was probably something he did best.

Analyzing his entire career will take time. I am hearing news of huge crowds gathering in our campus. We are told to go home as there are fears of violence. I hope these things do not happen. I am also overtaken by emotions. I will try and write something more later.

With George Fernandes being thrown out of his party, I was tempted to add him to my previous list of people who were thrown away form their “homes”. But anyway these things are so common in politics. But think what George was referred as. He was hailed as “Union leader”.

I have read and heard about his activism and have been hugely impressed by it. The stories of how he managed to create worker’s unions are really inspiring. I have heard the same about Praful Kumar Mahanta who was a great student leader in his days. And there were Farmer’s leaders, Dalit leaders and so on.

Just look around. Do you see any worker’s union leader? Is there anyone who can claim to be student’s leader? Is there any genuine farmer’s leader or dalit leader? No. we can find none. Why? Is there no scope for issue based politics today? Or whether workers, students & farmers failed to be a political force?

The reasons are simple. There are no more workers unions which are independent. All unions are affiliated to political parties which use them as field volunteers. They make grassroots level base for political parties. Devoid of any ideology, they have become toothless in the fight.

Students do not take any interest in politics. They are not encouraged even in colleges to be sensitive and respond to issues on ground. Some leaders who pose as farmers and dalits representatives have lost contact with ground realities. They are using these issues for political gains.

So these voices which were once very powerful have lost their strength. Since there are no powerful movements leaders are not emerging from them. Probably in future we may never see another George or Praful who can really claim that they have come from grass root level politics.

Any small Towner who has migrated to Bangalore will miss these two things here. Not that mangoes and jackfruits are not available in Bangalore. In fact one can get more choices here than anywhere. But the problem lies in affordability. For someone coming here from small town will be surprise at the level of commercialization of these two fruits.

I do not remember buying mangoes in my home town. Mangoes were something which you would get from your backward tree. If you did not have one, you would get the fruits from your neighbors. Everyone in the town knew the taste of mangoes one would get in each household.

And there were varieties. Some mangoes reserved for pickles, some other for salting and preserving so that they can be used in monsoon. These mangoes usually would come from relatives who were in villages. And there was this practice of preparing mango pulp again using mangoes from country side.

People would buy mangoes if it’s a special variety but I have never seen someone buying jackfruit in my town. I mean selling jackfruit was such a shock for me when I came here. Today a small piece of fruit here costs Rs.2/- which is ridiculous. Eating jackfruit here is such an expensive affair.

Jackfruits were given free to everyone back in my place. It used to grow in such huge numbers that owners used to often worry what to do with that. During summer these two fruits dominated the platter. Dominated may be a weak word; it was only mangoes and jackfruits the entire day.

Mangoes and Jackfruits are part of our culture. Apple was not traditionally grown in this part of the world and so were grapes. Oranges are grown in Coorg but they do not find interesting applications as Mangoes and Jackfruits. So only these fruits represent our culture and we naturally look forward to these fruits during this time of the year.

With mangoes still not arriving in the market, I am missing something this summer. There was a news item that Reliance is releasing its brand of mangoes. Well some time from now, we would be buying corporate mangoes. But jackfruits may not yet be corporatized. After all, it has always been the poor cousin of mango which is neglected by many.

What does Steve Jobs, Vargese Kurien & Praful Kumar Mahanta have in common. Nothing at first glance. One is a technologist and entrepreneur, second is a champion of co-operative movement and third is a mass political leader. All three started organizations which were known after them.

Jobs founded Apple Computers which has many firsts to its credit. Kurien made a miracle by literally making milk flow down Indian streets. He went to establish “Amul” as one the most credible brand. Mahanta’s “Asom Gana Parishad” was the nerve centre for alternate politics.

All three made their mission of life to bring up their organizations. They had the zeal to make their babies best in the business. But all there met with tragedies. They were all thrown out of organizations which they started. All three were thrown out by people whom they brought in to their organizations.

But Jobs is today back in Apple. Mahanta may also comeback given the fickle nature of politics. But Kurien? At this age and circumstances in which he was thrown out can never dream of coming back to his establishment. Too bad a farewell for a man who struggled to build a brand that is so popular today.

Does the name of Saurav Ganguly come to your mind after you read the above stories? Will his fate be like Jobs who came back or like Kurien who is permanently shown the door?

This may not be a million dollar question. But it is important for several reasons. And there are reasons to believe so. T N Seetaram (TNS) who has made fortunes (fame I mean) by directing serials has tried his hand in politics. His serials too have political hues like none other.

And he is dropping hints at joining politics soon. The first sign is hurrying to end his long running and successful serial “Mukta”. And he has also announced that he won’t direct any more serials. He says he will focus more on cinema. But looking at the present status of Kannada cinema there seems to be no scope for him.

He is known to be in the camp for JD for long. Recently Kumarswamy announced that he received SMS from TNS suggesting him to keep his cool in public. TNS sending SMS to CM and he announcing this in public! Wow! This is no everyday affair. There must be some special relation between the two.

TNS interviewed Kumarswamy first. Now he is seen talking to Devegowda! I cannot say this was an interview. Because TNS spoke very less while former (farmer!) PM dominated the session. It was no ordinary session. It was clear to anyone watching the session that TNS was behaving more as Devegowda’s follower than being interviewer.

TNS has gained immense popularity through his serials. He is projected as poor people’s savior in these serials. He has created an impression that he can take on biggies and fight for the cause of poor. TNS’s entry (re-entry!) into politics gains importance because of this fact that he will be first person to test the convertibility of his popularity (in small screen) into votes.

In India there are numerous instances of film personalities dominating the political terrain. They have gained ground in politics by cashing the popularity they obtained through films. But small screen has not produced any political powerhouse. TNS may prove that small screen is no way lesser than silver screen in doing this.

It is very difficult to understand the political terrain of this country. The affiliations change every day and keeping track of partners will be one difficult exercise. Is it time for our country to adopt a 2-party democracy? Well, seeing the impact of multi party politics and repeated fractured verdicts, there stems a desire to go ahead.

But the reality of this country pulls us down. Every state is different from other. The rise of regional parties may the one of the greatest political developments in our country. But they have failed in making big at national scene. The continuous grouping and re-groping has led them no where.

How many times have witnessed the buzz surrounding the “third front”? A political powerhouse to take on Congress and BJP at the same time has till now become elusive. These parties which speak in these lines are all associated with either BJP or Congress at some of time.

Today we hear Chandrababu Naidu, Mulayam Singh and AGP (Asom Gana Parishat) of forging a grand alliance for third front. Well, this front misses some major partners. What about Lalu, Paswan, Mayawati, Sharad Pawar, George Fernades, Jayalaitha, Karunanidhi, Devegowda etc. And where is left?

The formation of third front is today a nightmare. Because there are so many divisions at regional level that opting for one will make other sit out of the front. If DMK is in, AIADMK is out, SP in means BSP out, RJD in implies LJP out. Then there are parties like SAD, JD(U) and AIPJD which are affiliated to either Congress or BJP.

How will third front exist in Karnataka? Here the “third” power was JD(S). It has forged alliance with both Congress and BJP. Leaders like Bangarappa & Siddramaiah are not capable of going alone. So, in present circumstances third front is a distant reality here. It is bi-polar politics here. If the effort of Naidu & Mulayam fails in the assembly elections, bi-polar politics will stay in India for time being.

People unnecessarily worried about the future of newspapers after the explosion of cable network. The broadsheets continue to survive and grow beyond all expectations. They have adjusted to the changing times and have been helped also by great innovations in printing industry.

When Vir Sanghvi started appearing on TV when he was still in print media, he showed a new way for survival. If there is an enemy whom you cannot beat, befriend him. This simple strategy for survival has worked well for many people. Sanghvi himself continues to churn out TV shows amidst being associated with Hindustan Times.

Take Shekar Gupta. He has grown to influence a new genre of interview shows on TV. His style in “Walk the talk” is being imitated by many others. Through him, “Indian Express” is gaining publicity. He has also become a regular in Prannoy Roy’s shows where good discussions take place.

Now that there is CNN-IBN, it is definitely time for other newspapers to join the party. We saw “Deccan Herald” being associated with CNN-IBN during the Bangalore series. Now we hear that “The Hindu” is partnering Rajdeep for assembly election coverage. Finally, Hindu got it right.

There are definite advantages for both parties. While newspapers can help TV guys in content, they in turn can focus on presentation. This may be the only way to co-exist in these times of high media competition. But on a personal note, I would be happy if “The Hindu” (newspaper of my choice) got associated with NDTV, which is again my favorite channel.

In the previous post we discussed the reservation law. But more important than that for me was the autonomy law. This was something which was lacking in our state. And congrats to the new govt. for empowering VTU to grant autonomy to engg. colleges.

It is not that autonomy is the solution for all our problems. See what is happeining in Tamil Nadu. They have highest number of deemed universities and now most of them are in deep trouble. In addition to finding difficulties in getting students, they are also having problems in identifying quality faculty members to fill senior posts.

Though Karnataka may not face such problems, there are some lessons to be learnt from TN. One is the clash with AICTE. Does the apex body for professional education has the jurisdiction over deemed universities is something that is being questioned these days. Also asked are some questions regarding Government control over these universities.

The present act is clear that it does not encourage starting of deemed university. It intends to give autonomy to deserving institutes. That implies that colleges can frame their own syllabus and dictate their own evaluation schemes. They still affiliate to same university and adhere to all Govt. rules regarding admission.

This is a welcome development. The questions regarding misuse of freedom do not arise since institutes only have “academic” autonomy. And colleges want only this. They are not bothered about having freedom regarding admission process and all that. Those things are too hot to handle for an academic institute.

So this is a win-win situation for both Govt. and colleges. Colleges who want to surge ahead in quality education can seek autonomy and realize their dreams. Govt. on the other hand does not interfere in academic matters but controls the admission procedure. This is a happy situation.

But how will these things work on ground is the question. If the undeserving colleges obtain autonomy through political power, it will be bad. Also the management of the private colleges may try to assume lot of powers regarding faculty appointment and other things on the basis of autonomy.

Anyway, I just hope our college will get the autonomous state in the first go. I want to see the day where I can design my own course and teach that to my students. Now I am feeling that those days are not far away.

The two important laws passed by Karnataka Legislative Assembly in this week are bound to have long term influence on the professional education in this state. One gave the power to our University (VTU) to grant autonomous state for colleges affiliated to it. The other reserved certain percentage of seats in professional colleges.

But the reservation issue is gaining importance than the previous one. The debate between merit & caste based reservations have been going on for long. The issue has obtained political hues in these years. Genuine discussions are losing out to emotional mayhem.

That reservations are not working is something I am convinced. But instead of complaining, we should see what best we can do with reservations. One thing is we should see what to do in order to prevent the creamy layer among reserved categories using (misusing) the reservation system.

As suggested by many people the reservations in higher education should go. Government should provide good education at initial levels. This, we know, is a distant dream in our country. So reservations are here to stay in professional colleges. We should see how to deal with it.

What could be done is have a check to prevent same people using the reservation facilities. That is if a person uses the quota to get admission, then he should not be given chance to get the job using the quota. This will stop people from using the quotas again and again all for themselves.

Another possible way is to restrict the number of generations which use quota. That is if father has used quota to get job then his sons should be barred from using the same. This will help control one of the most popular ways of misusing quotas. This will not be difficult to implement.

Or the Government should check what these guys who come through reservations do. It is a fact that many who enters through quotas drop out midway or struggle to just get through. After consolidating the data for some time, Govt. can take policy decision based on hard data.

Something should be done to curb the practice of reservations in professional colleges. Fortunately, Karnataka Govt. passed the bill empowering VTU to give autonomy to Engg. Colleges. This was something we were waiting for long. More on this in my next post.

Medha Patkar has been taken (forcibly) to hospital and it looks like the issues raised by her will not die soon. Compromise is not expected either. Can we expect that this will become the nerve-centre for anti-people-development movements in India? I do not think so and these are my reasons.

One is that no one is bothering to understand the other part of story. Without questioning the intention of Medha, I just want to clarify one thing. Is the dam there really benefiting people at large? No media person has bothered to do this. They are all swayed by the sympathy wave created by Medha.

It was only today we heard from Narendra Modi that the work on dam will not stop since it will help the drought-hit areas. I do not think people in Government are careless not to assess the impact of the large scale projects like this. So media should present the story from Government’s point of view.

This, I think, will help us take some concrete decisions on this topic. What is happening now is everything has become pale under the over-reporting of Medha’s antics. So we are denied the chance of taking what I call “Informed decision making”. The people who are displaced may have a genuine case. But we should not forget the benefits which lot more people will derive out of this.

And there is a section of people who are telling that fasting is not so non-violent method as it looks. They are of an opinion that these kinds of things are arm-twisting techniques. Even I agree that debates should be the only way how issues should be resolved in democracy. But the question is what to do when the other party (in this case, the Government) is unwilling to talk.

Recently there was a farewell function in our college for people who retired from service. Their service period in our institution was more than 30 years. There was even a person who had a service of 42 years which means he was there in the college from day one.

Suddenly I recalled the farewells we used to have in my earlier college. Being a new college in a rural place, half of the faculty would leave every semester. And the principal there was kindhearted enough to give farewell to most of them.

Even this college has a high attrition rate but no one cares about farewell. When I see people like those who retired recently, I wonder how many of us will witness similar occasions. I do not think there will be anyone in our generation who has not changed the office.

In these days sticking on to one job for a long time is the sign of incompetence. Job hopping is the symbol of career improvement. In new economy I do not know whether anyone really retires at 58. Since majority of the present workforce in IT are young, these things are not a matter of concern yet.

Last heard that Infosys has a compulsory retirement policy and Narayan Murthy is following it soon!! Is this true??

Have you heard of a race where the 2’nd and 3’rd place holders are jointly awarded the winning trophy! You can think it as a rolling shield which is given to 2’nd and 1’st winner after some time. The funniest point is that the 1’st place winner has still not touched the trophy. The 2’nd winner already played with it for sometime and now it’s with 3’rd placer.

How can this thing happen? Well, in politics anything can happen. No prizes for guessing what I was referring in above paragraph. Karnataka politics, what else! Kannadigas are very generous. We had one election and we have given chance to all parties to enjoy power. Wah!

The root cause for most power struggle in our country lies in our law. That is allowing the post-election alliances. I think since there are no rule controlling this, politicians change their camps at will. Their only focus being arithmetic and not ideology; power is a greatest motivator for them.

So what am I suggesting? Simple. There should be a law curbing the tie-ups that suddenly emerge after elections. If parties want to join hands with someone, they should do so before polls. At least people should know who sleeps with whom before they vote. People cannot be taken for ride after elections.

The book titled “THE INTUITIVE ALGORITHM” is supposed to give us a new theory called IE (Intuitional Engineering). The funda of the author is that there is a definite need to redefine our understanding of what intelligence means. His theory is “Intelligence is not computation but recognition”.

He is supposed to have developed IDS (Intuitive Diagnostic Software) as early as in 1989. This used elimination technique to identify the eye-diseases based on symptoms selected. He believes that computation should be replaced by “Combinatorial Coding” as the source of power of brain.

Most of the book is interesting. Because he avoids technical jargons (it seems he has written it over 6 times to make it simple). But for most of the times, he keeps ridiculing some critic who gave this book a passé when it was released first. Here the author begins to appear more like a pseudo-scientist.

Though this book has a tagline “ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, THE MIND AND HAPPINESS” it has nothing to do with AI. Students of AI can do better without referring to this book. This book is dangerous because the argument is prolonged to defend the “intelligent design” of this world!

The author tries to convince us that his theory called IE can explain the need for faith in religion and things like that. It should be noted that though the books speaks so highly about IDS, there is no mention about its technical details.

Hmmm…you can read this book if you want to know how to write a technical book without giving any technical details and still fool gullible people.

Over the years I have grown to hate computer presentations. I feel people are abusing this presentation thing. Here are my top 10 reasons why I hate sitting through a session where speaker deliberately uses ppt.

1. Thinking ppt is important than speaking
2. Reading from slides
3. Horrible color combinations
4. Annoying animations
5. Irritating transitions (with timing)
6. Speaking & slides not synchronized
7. Slides used as connectors between topics
8. Doesn’t know what comes next
9. Audience doesn’t “listen”. They “watch”
10. Using ppt just for the heck of using it

Medha Patkar is again in the news. The lady is on indefinite hunger strike again. It is entering into 8’th day and she is not compromising. Everyone is going gaga about this one. Has the system failed? Is there no place for non-violent struggle? Is Gandhi irrelevant for India today? Questions are continuously asked.

What else can you say when people like Medha Patkar go into hunger strikes every year or so and end it after receiving promises. She went into 21 days fasting in 1991. When she was in jail in 1999, she again did the same. Similar stories were witnessed in 2001, 2003 & 2004.

Is this the failure of system or the lack of conviction among the agitating activists? I think it is both. But I will put the majority of the blame on the activists. If they are fighting for a cause, they should not give up on promises. They should demand action. If they cannot undergo such troubles, they better give up.

Does this episode point towards failure of people’s movement? Yes. It is the clear indication that there is no more scope for people’s struggle in this country. Does that mean that there cannot be any massive protests over any controversial issues in this globalized times? Perhaps no.

See what is happening in France. There is a massive people’s protest going on there for quite some time. That even the Government there is not listening is other question. It has proved that the mass movement has still not died all over the world.

So the point is that there is still scope for massive people’s protests in this world. What is missing is the identification of issue that touches everyone’s life. When activists take up such issues and give a powerful leadership, mass movements can achieve what they intend to do.

I was given the task of analyzing the results of students. This is a practice followed here in college. Someone sleeps over the result sheet (which comes in A3 size paper) and draws many statistics. While I was doing these numbers many thoughts flashed in my mind.

The necessity of this itself may be questioned. But for the sake of maintaining records, we may accept that these numbers are necessary. But what I do not like is the process wherein the competence of a teacher is calculated by seeing the results in his/her subject.

Now this practice is followed very strictly in Government schools. I have heard that the poor teachers there are penalized if their students fail in exams. May be it’s a novel way to keep up the pressure on teachers to perform. But its validity can always be questioned.

For one, such things do happen in sports also. If our cricket team starts faring badly, the coach will be in the receiving side. The coach has a role to play in the team. But how far can he be made responsible for the debacle of his team is the question. And I am not questioning this just because I am a teacher.

Even when I was a student, I had felt that teaching and scoring in exams are independent activities. Even today as a teacher I feel so. My definite thinking is that a teacher is responsible for delivering the course and that’s it. He cannot be made accountable for his student’s performance in exams.

There are reasons to say so. I am referring to our educational system. As it is well known, here the teachers are not responsible for the entire learning process. They do not frame syllabus nor do they directly evaluate their students. Their job is limited to delivering the course in the classroom.

When teachers perform such limited role, how can they be responsible for the performance of the students? This is not an escapist argument but true fact. While I say teachers cannot take responsibility for the performance of students, I say so in both cases i.e. when student succeeds and when he fails.

There may be arguments that teacher’s responsibility also covers the task of preparing students to face the exams effectively. Yes, teachers prepare students to exams. But it is students who deliver this performance. On the ground, there may be hundred reasons why a student did not perform. And a teacher cannot be held responsible for all these.

I am not arguing here that teacher should shed his/her responsibility regarding these issues. The point is that a teacher works under severe restrictions and his role in the entire process is limited. We should stop making teachers as scapegoats when things do not go well.

Enough is enough! This is growing like Himesh Reshamya’s songs; never ending and all sounding same. Can someone tell all these news channels, newspapers & websites to stop this survey thing? I mean you cannot pass a day without hearing at least 5 surveys all on same issue

Imagine this- when Pervez Mushharaf talked one word on Dhoni’s hairstyle (or lack of it), we saw surveys asking people whether he should cut his hair or not! There cannot be anything more ridiculous than this. It is his hair (for god sake) and let him decide.

And anchor after anchor shouting that this survey is to find India’s opinion should stop. There may not be even a handful of persons responding to these surveys and people there seems to tell us that the response is India’s real voice. They use phrases like “India Speaks”, “India Decides” when they know the truth.

There is no need for an issue to conduct polls. Every other news becomes a poll question. From trivial matters like Dhoni’s hair to serious matters like Indo-US nuclear deal is subjected to polls. If we agree that people are entitled for opinions about Dhoni’s hair, its fine; but what about nuclear deal.

Clearly, it is an expert’s issue. People who are involved in that area for long and have sufficient exposure to all issues surrounding that should comment on it. Just because we are democratic system does not mean that every one shouts whatever he/she wants. The opinion collected by these methods hold little significance.

The methodology of survey is such that it happens in uncontrolled environment. The people having vested interests can influence the outcome by sending mass responses. In the absence of any quality control mechanisms, the results of these polls are hard to rely on.

No one ever gives the required preliminary details like the number of people responded, their demographic, cultural, economic distributions etc. Media has reduced the polls and public surveys to a joke. They better behave in a mature way and stop taking short-cuts in these times of stiff competition.

In the earlier post, I had showered high praises on Rajdeep for his special show on Bangalore. While everything was right in that program, I take objection for one point. Towards the end of this special program the winner of the poll which aimed at finding that person who made Bangaloreans proud was announced.

I have been following this poll from many days. People like Narayan Murthy, Kiran Muzumdar Shaw, Dravid, Kumble, Anathamurthy, Karnad & Raj Kumar were in fray. But considering the fact that this poll was held by a English channel, I was expecting that Narayan Murthy would win by large margin.

My beliefs were coming true initially. Narayan Murthy was leading the poll initially. But Dravid & Kumble were also in the race. But when the final results announced, I was taken by surprise. It was Raj Kumar again! At last, Bangalore proved that its ethos remained intact.

But Rajdeep annoyed me while announcing the results. He was of an opinion that film stars always win public polls. He did not bother to focus on the person as great as Raj Kumar. I know I may sound like a language fanatic here, but I really felt let down by Rajdeep’s neglect.

For the people of Karnataka, Raj Kumar is not merely a film star. He represents the culture of the land. It is through him that most of us have understood how Gods look. He brought to life the mythological characters and installed the sense of morality among people. It was he who told us how our historical heroes looked.

So, people like Rajdeep should understand this difference. Rajdeep may have thought that Raj Kumar is someone like Amitab. He should note that Raj Kumar is something more than mere actor. You cannot compare him with any actors of this generation.

If people of Bangalore have decided that Raj Kumar is the person who makes them feel proud as Bangaloreans, they are correct. No one was ever successful to capture our lives like him. And when commenting on Raj Kumar, one should understand the sentiments of the people of the land.

I have seen many people who come from other states speaking low of this great person. Everyone has the right to have their own opinion about issues. But they have the duty to understand all the facts before voicing their opinion. They should understand that people here see him not merely as actor but as a cultural symbol.

This is not the reflection of our obsession with films. This sentiment has stemmed from various reasons. There is a need to understand this phenomenon from different perspectives. People, if they cannot afford to take some time off to understand this complex theory, should at least show respect. This courteous behavior is the minimum standard we expect from others.

The competition between NDTV and CNN-IBN is reaching new heights. And the common viewer stands to gain from these wars between channels. By the way, I think TIMES NOW is losing the game. But my initial comments about CNN-IBN still remain valid. CNN-IBN appears to be a Xerox copy of NDTV in all respects.

The preceding week saw similar programs being aired in these channels. These two channels seem to be in some sought of agreement over the guests they invite to their studios. First it was Amartya Sen and second was Rahul Dravid. Both were projected as speaking exclusively to respective channels.

Rahul’s interview was especially important. In NDTV the program was hosted by Sonali and Rajdeep himself donned this role in CNN-IBN. Both were asking same questions and Dravid showed his consistency there also! He was answering the questions in the same way in both places.

NDTV has regained some of the lost grounds in these days. It has got its act together and re-launched many of its programs. It has also changed its screen layout and today it is the one channel which has the best screen management system. Overall it still remains far ahead of others.

But CNN-IBN has taken a tactical move. It has made a conscious decision of focusing on south India. Somehow all the news channels have always focused on northern part of the country. It was time someone really took real care to report from the other part of the country.

And this decision of CNN-IBN seems to be paying off. From past few days it is doing a special series on Bangalore. And it has been successful in keeping Bangaloreans hooked on to it. The culmination of this program was telecasted over this weekend and made interesting watching.

If I remember correctly, last time someone did something special on Bangalore was NDTV. When Bangalore flooded during last rains, it did a special show here featuring some big names of the city. And later when the question of infrastructure in the city was questioned, NDTV again did a special show in the city.

But these specials seemed like nothing when compared to what Rajdeep did now. With the majestic building like “Vidhana Soudha” and a panel which included some of the biggest names of the state, it was something really special. I will remember this one for a long time for variety of reasons.

The agenda was to discuss the outfall of a survey which was conducted by CNN-IBN along with some others. The questions were like which is the biggest program plaguing Bangalore, Should Bangalore be renamed, Should outsiders learn and who is that person who makes Bangalore proud.

The answers that came out from public were interesting. While it reinforced some popular beliefs, it also broke some common myths. Overall it made Bangalore look special, as always. Thanks Rajdeep for giving us such program. We have one reason now to say why Bangalore rocks!!

For someone like Neelu, the costliest saree she ever got was her wedding saree. And she remembers how much she and her parents had bargained for that in the shop. In fact she was successful in not only getting some tens of rupees off, but also managed to get a ladies handkerchief free!!

This story may find reflections with many households in India. Here the word fashion has a limited meaning. It means imitating what your favorite hero/heroine wears on screen. For some it may also be something that matches with what their close relatives or neighbors wear.

If you watch closely, the average Indian household does not dress itself just to be comfortable. They do it ‘coz they want to get noticed in the social gatherings and outshine their close relatives. They feel that they have got complete “paisa vasool” when their cousins praise their dresses.

The highest spending of Indian households over dress materials will be only during wedding season. Noting that every woman buys the most expensive saree only once in her lifetime, the whole fuss about fashion industry appears to be fluke. Our own Neelu may not know that something called as designer wear ever exists in this world.

Indian apparel industry is estimated at Rs. 20,000 crores. But before jumping on our feet over this figure we should understand the basics of this industry. This industry is not a well defined market. Most of the business is dominated by unregulated, clustered local players.

This unbranded apparel amounts to more than one-thirds of the total business. Rest one-fourth (Rs. 5000 crores) is available for branded apparels. Nothing that there are foreign players entering into Indian market, this figure may go up. Also the new brand awakening among Indian youth may contribute to this growth.

But the designer wear in India is still in its infancy. Worldwide market for designer clothes is estimated at $35 billion. And it is growing at 9% annually. Whereas the Indian designer wear is about 0.2% of total value which apparel industry commands. This is negligible amount.

The highest turnover of any company in designer wear is Rs. 25 crores. This is nothing compared to the sales of established brands like Raymonds. But still any designer selling clothes worth these many crores is amusing. Well, India should be shining indeed!

India should be witnessing a surge in designer wear market. Why else we are witnessing not one but two mega fashion events in this country? But whenever I see a ramp, I do not feel those clothes are meant to be worn. For me it’s just a showpiece. But is the reality different from what I think? Do these things sell? Who buys them?

Numerous questions need to be answered. But even Fashion Design Council of India does not provide the required statistics. May be they don’t know or they don’t want to make it public. Because I personally think the numbers will never match the hype generated by all these mega fashion events.