tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75641938989470735482024-02-07T10:56:17.426+05:30Surprised By SinNirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-52936198901351402692009-10-04T08:35:00.010+05:302010-03-17T15:22:38.761+05:30Rights of Admission ReservedMiddle India's horror of the prospect of having to be admitted to a government hospital is probably equaled only by the prospect of having to apply for a driver's license, buying a house and having the servant not turning up for work because her kid is sick.<div><br /></div><div>We of course never step into one unless we've been in an accident, in case of which one of our relatives will promptly transfer us to the nearest private hospital as soon as we are stable, or to get a doctor's certificate. We pay for it. Why do we not use it? Why let the rickshawwalla monopolise the GHs? We pay horrible amounts to the private hospitals which we could save if only we forced the policy makers to shift some thought to the sick sick sick state of healthcare in India.</div><div><br /></div><div>Be warned, our private hospitals too are slipping away. We'll soon have no choice.. and by that time it could be too late. If you've noticed the proliferation of white and arab faces in the lobbies of the private hospitals, you'll know what I'm talking about. Medical tourism has brought smiles to the faces of doctors, hospitals and the hospitality industry. And it has increased the healthcare costs of the middle class. The doctors have no time for you, the Indian acute angina patient.. you only pay around two lakhs for care. The arab guy in the 5* room next door pays 20. The white guy in the other 5* room pays 20 too and the sweet fella even tips the wardboy and nurses in the thousands while you snap at them to dust your luggage. What are your chances? of getting a smile from the cute nurse? a decent wash from the wardboy without missing a spot? They'll get their chest shaved with a mach4 and you with a seven o'clock single blade.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Most of the problems in modern India can probably be traced to the complete apathy towards the society from middle India. The only people with the opportunity and resources to change the face of India are only too happy to sit on their asses and complain in the kitty party or the smoking corner of the office about the servant who didn't show up.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/04/india-slums-children-death-rate">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/04/india-slums-children-death-rate</a></div><div><br />We don't only have modern day tragedies like the above right beside our glittering skyscrapers (ok.. 30 storey buildings anyways), we're building a future tragedy for ourselves.<br /><br /></div><div>Seriously, how do we get away from this trap? We already subsidise a spoilt bunch of brats to do the MBBS. Now we're letting an environment create itself where they'll probably have to be forced by regulation to treat Indians. They're already railing against the 1 year rural stint. We'll probably have doctors protesting against what they'll call a quota system where for every 1 case of medical tourism, they'll have to treat an Indian (we have the right to choose who we treat, rights of admission reserved, its a competitive world - if you can't afford it go to the unani/siddha practitioner). There's talk of a parallel system to treat rural patients with a 3 year medical course. We, with our medical insurance, better sanitation and currently grinning docs, couldn't care less about second rate care for the rural patients. Won't we soon be relegated to second rate care too when the pathetically small number of medical professionals that India turns out (and a significant %age of which bleed out to developed nations) would rather treat those who pay them better?<br /><br />Lets remember that we have no "public option", no social security net. We're completely dependent on ourselves and our relatives/friends in case of a medical catastrophe without de-risking. We've let the government healthcare system get screwed and in our apathy, we've also left out other parts of healthcare like malpractice laws, accountability of doctors in both public and private practice, primary care, emergency care, urban and rural sanitation etc. etc. etc.<br /><br />Its time we got involved in our future health. Unlike the short sighted people of Surat who kept their houses sparkling and dumbed crap on the streets and then found themselves in muck of their own making, lets start concentrating on real issues. Indian hockey and the sad state of Indian theatre will sort itself out.<br /><br />Support the govt when it asks the newly minted docs to do a rural stint or at the very least in a in a semi-urban govt facilty. A secondary cadre of medical professionals is OK as long as they are never mistaken for doctors - paramedics with training in primary and emergency care should be more like it. We need medical schools much more than we need IIMs. Instead of expanding already stressed govt. medical colleges, open more secondary and tertiary care centers in semi-urban centers. If IT/ITES, real-estate firms and auto manfs. see potential in Tier 2/3 cities, so can the govt. Create mechanisms to identify good students from govt. schools to be trained as docs with subsidies and loans - they'll be less susceptible to taking the subsidy and running to the US/UK. Create an NRI quota to explicitly cross subsidise poorer students.. their fees shouldn't be just fully costed, they should have a nice fat profit margin. Tax medical tourism liberally, not as a luxury or to punish but enought to help cross subsidise primary care in India and keep the industry competitive. Loans are a far better way of administering student education expenses. Instead of subsidising any student, the govt. can pay a large percentage of the EMI as long as the person stays back in India.<br /></div>Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-31773444475801781932009-08-01T14:50:00.003+05:302009-08-01T14:55:47.572+05:30When sharing is stealing... but is it?The problem is both Joel and the RIAA have a point. Joel might not have made money from the music he shared but he did deny whatever few cents that the artist might've gotten from a CD/Download that was bought legally. What raises everyone's hackles is obviously the immensely disproportionate damages and harassment that Joel and his like are being subject to.<br /><br />The RIAA is definitely doing this to make an example. I don't think they much care about winning the damages as long as they've made their point. And no court is going to throw the case out either since the RIAA argument does have merit. The concepts clouding the case are<br />1. The RIAA is right but its intimidation is over the top and as a well funded entity using well exposed bullying tactics, it raises natural responses of disgust. And its ridiculous ads only serve to solidify the image of fatcat industrialists trying to suppress and oppress.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/epicenter/2009/05/commiepics_2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 368px;" src="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/epicenter/2009/05/commiepics_2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />2. The RIAA is also an obsolete entity representing a fast declining way of making money off the back of creativity. The music industry itself is structured in such a way that mounds and mounds of flab in the form of useless MBAs and analysts and marketers and distributors have to be paid off. Its like one of those large corporate NGOs where 8% of your donation reaches the hungry child and the rest goes to pay those glossy mailers, envelope lickers and people plotting how to assault you with pictures selected to wrench your heart.<br />3. If they were serious about surviving they would've latched onto better ways of distributing music like Apple has and trimmed their physical business and wouldn't have put themselves in this position in the first place<br />4. It would've been so easy to mail Joel a reasonable bill for a few hundred $s, a booklet advising him on how cheap it is to pay on itunes and some simplified lawyer-speak on how keeping on with illegal sharing/downloads hurts everyone. A hundred such Joels and most of us would've gotten the message and all the consumer threats to never buy an MB of music would've been non-existent. But No! Lawyers wouldn't get paid thataway would they?<br />5. This is related to 2 in that all the flab creeps the price of a CD to whatever and to top off consumer disgust, albums rarely have more than 2 or 3 good songs. Consumers are disgusted with this and refuse to buy whole CDs preferring instead to download them illegaly. This in fact is the first argument offered by illegal downloaders.<br />So are the consumers blameless? Of course not. Its plain and simple stealing. The edge is taken off our guilt by the sheer ease of being able to hate the Music industry/RIAA with their lawyers and fatcats. Some of that hate is rubbing off on artists too.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-85346898452917735102009-03-21T13:13:00.005+05:302009-03-21T14:55:18.683+05:30Burn the house to roast the pig?And the US Govt. spurred by general outrage, again does exactly the wrong thing.<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/business/20bailout.html?hp">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/business/20bailout.html?hp</a><br /><br />Why would you amend the Tax code to do this? The tax code has nothing to do with this and has to be constantly simplified and not added to. The tax code should be relooked at only to reflect socio-economic changes and not political ones. Its a socio-economic tool and not a political tool.<br /><br />IF (and its a big one) there are employees at the firm actually doing a good job of clearing up the mess, THEY deserve a bonus,if not now, maybe in the future, and they too will come under this net. And there are a million loopholes to worm out of a "bonus". The ideal way would be to cap payouts and go through tight regulations and approval process for every bonus. As nationalised (lets get real... yeah nationalised) firms, this CAN and SHOULD be done. I'm sure taxpayers would'nt mind paying people at these firms who really deserve it, for these few would be the one who're actually protecting the bailout money. For all my ranting, I still believe in people and I do believe that some that really do a good job do exist.<br /><br />And American taxpayers shouldn't have to resort to changes in tax code to get the money back. They simply ought to demand 100% of it back without a tax code change. They deserve the money back. The money has been stolen from them and doesn't require a change in law to get it back. A tax code change implies that many other institutions honestly restructuring and have the potential to turn a corner this year or the next will also be affected. It also implies that a government can be a vindictive and petty institution and I thought that was thrown out with Bush and his minions.<br /><br />For once I agree with the minority Republicans who oppose this<br />"Led by Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the party leader, several House Republicans assailed the legislation, calling it a diversion by Democrats eager to escape scrutiny for failing to block the bonuses."<br /><br />The Govt. had an opportunity to block such unfair payouts<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/business/20bonus.html?hp">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/business/20bonus.html?hp </a><br />...and they didn't. Its a Govt. screw up and it is acknowledged that people in the know, knew. Most of the payouts went out last week and the week before and the govt. could very well have blocked it.<br /><br />As of now, employees of firms with bailouts should be considered public servants. The thieves should be punished and the ones doing the protecting effectively can be rewarded. Changing tax codes takes care of the former but restricts the latter.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/nyregion/20siege.html?ref=business">Scorn Trails A.I.G. Executives, Even in Their Driveways<br />http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/nyregion/20siege.html?ref=business</a><br />And this is completely wrong. The executives should be taken as a collective and dealt with in that way. Hounding individuals is simply not the way to go.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-19439251295024783922009-03-20T11:02:00.002+05:302009-03-20T11:27:16.182+05:30Randism Rocks the world... literallyThe case for Paying out AIG Bonuses<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/business/17sorkin.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/business/17sorkin.html</a><br />There is simply no case. Any and all arguments are superficial and do not hold up to even the simplest scrutiny.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/07/0726_globalbrands/image/aig.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 409px;" src="http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/07/0726_globalbrands/image/aig.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Argument 1. Sanctity of Contracts.<br /><br />There is no such thing as sanctity of contracts as far as "retention bonuses" for any AIG employee goes unless he or she is a PR agent. Retention bonuses are for people to stay back. And as the author himself describes, many have already packed up and still received their so called retention bonuses and you and I know that the minute they receive the money, so will the rest. Moreover, by definition a bonus is a share of the profits from a profitable company that goes to an employee for having made a significantly positivie contribution to that company's profits. Hmm.. AIG has plunged depths that even the Dutch East India Company didn't and not only did these employees NOT contribute anything, they were directly party to the mess the world financial markets are in.<br />The emotional would also add that if the sanctity of contracts is not upheld for the millions of middle class workers in the Auto, IT, Manufacturing etc. etc. sectors, why in the bloody hell is it important to uphold it for incompetent fatcats?<br />If Auto contracts are only under "negotiation" so are these. We know finally how the blue collars at GM & C etc. will fare. So please spare us the hijinks.<br /><br />Argument 2. A.I.G. built this bomb, and it may be the only outfit that really knows how to defuse it. taxpayers need to keep some of these brainiacs in their seats.<br /><br />Bollocks. First AIG didn't build it. It was a second rate party that gave the people who built it, the erstwhile Wall Street, the rating organisations and the Main Street divisions, the bulwark to keep going at it by insuring possible defaults to the main culprit, CDOs, by issuing CDSes. <br /><br />Now... the people who created CDOs.. you gotta admire them ... give loans, chop em up and sell them and other parties make CDOs and spread it around till no one can actually see any risk. Now on the other hand how can anyone who insures these things be anything but a complete and utter idiot?<br /><br />These are no "brainiacs". If they were, they wouldn't have been party to this "risk mitigation" scheme in the first place. Any brainiac would've known that this was in fact a brush the risk under the carpet scheme. Problem of course was that the lump of risk was big enough to trip the whole world's economy. And any brainiac would've at the right time, maybe mid or late 2007, skipped out of AIG and traded against AIG's books. These are no brainiacs, these were incompetent fools with inflated egos for whom innovation was not about creating money or empowering people with it but thieving it.<br /><br />Argument 3. A.I.G. knew it needed to keep its people.<br /><br />So? They'll leave irrespective of what you offer them. Which you already have. And quite a few have already left. This goes against the grain of market economics. So you'll pay significantly HIGHER for incompetent people to work in a failed firm propped up by tax dollars? Umm.. how really does this work?<br />AIG fuelled by incompetent and greedy fools, requires tax money to keep it afloat. And then you give the same fools Higher than usual pay to KEEP them? So that this incompetent organisation doesn't get into a depper hole... which it will manage to do by paying the same fools to do the same job? Wow! that blows my mind!<br /><br /><br />Dear Mr. Sorkin. You seem earnest in your arguments. From 13000 kms across the world, maybe seeing it from here gives me a more objective perspective than one who's in the thick of things. Or maybe I'm just a guy who like black and white or maybe its because I'm from a country where politicians and fatcats are honestly acknowledged to be thieves. Here's my two pence or 10000 shares of AIG - What we're seeing here is a kleptocracy run by thieves who've been discovered because they grabbed too much too fast and are making a last ditch attempt to distribute the loot.And it seems to me that its not just AIG but endemic to all the bailouts that the US Govt. is offering.<br /><br />All of this of course is assuming what seems to be taken for granted... the world will collapse if not for AIG, and the other bailed out minions. I still haven't seen one good case... hell! ANY case.. for the people who vote in your country to pay for this world-saving gesture even as they battle lay offs and erosion of their property values. Its always been implied and no one, not even Jon Stewart, who I suppose is the only remaining person in your country with a modicum of intelligence has tried to prove it.<br /><br /><br />All this only serves to demonstrate, quite dramatically, in fact that the current system, constructed and encouraged by Messrs. Reagan and Greenspan and Paulson bowing to the Goddess Rand does not favour merit and rewards incompetents who had parents rich enough to pay for Harvard. Everything that critics had to say about Ayn Rand zealots has come to pass. Does the egg in your face and the peasants with pitchforks at your door force the least bit of remorse on you people?<br />If I were anyone with authority, I'd take my chance with "government appointed financial people" ,that some NYT reader contemptuously labels them, trying to disentagle this. They may not be Harvard or Wharton but I'm assuming that there's every chance that they're not inbred boston brahmin neanderthals and can tell a loan from a deposit.<br /><br />Has anyone thought how satisfying it would be to actually hold these people accountable? To make them live in an industrial town and sign up with the UAW and get 200 days of work a year where they actually make a nut or a bolt instead of weaving themselves money from other people's entrepreneurship and work for the simple service of moving money from one place to another?Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-31752597161795516562009-03-15T19:41:00.004+05:302009-03-22T15:06:16.238+05:30India DancingNever ever ever did I think I'd ever write something on an Indian dancing show... in complimentary terms.<br />But I gotta say this about the Zee TV Dance India Dance show. Just absolutely amazing. Everything about the show except maybe for the sets.. which aren't bad really, they just don't do justice to the amazing dancers, the really good judges, decent anchors and the fantastic fantastic Mithunda who does one helluva job being the "grandmaster".<br />I don't give out compliments easily but where it is deserved, they go.<br />I've never seen a show on a Hindi GE channel that I was fascinated by. Never. Vijay TV has some innovative shows like Ipadikku Rose and a few others including comedy shows like *Lollu Sabha which have really good concepts and pretty good implementation and I don't watch other language GE channels of course. And I do a lot of browsing and I'm pretty sure I've seen at least two or three episodes of every show on Hindi and Tamil GE channels (except for the completely irredeemable ones).<br /><br /><iframe src="'http://sify.com/bbhome/flvplayer/danceindiadance_player.php?channel="danceindiadance&f="DID_Epi12_10_13Mar09-128k.wmv'" scrolling="no" width="320" height="290" marginheight="2" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0" align="top"></iframe><br /><br />First things first; Zee's Dance India Dance has simply the most amazing dance and dancers I've seen on TV, including "So Yo Think You Can Dance" that draws from the most vibrant dance community, the US. Its gratifying to see such amazing dance and variety among Indian dancers. I did think what next for these guys? But then I put it aside because the dancing was just too fascinating to think too much during the show.<br /><br />Next comes the best job I've seen done by an anchor judge, Mithunda. Crisp with very little or no flabby gyaan, incisive comments and ones that even a layman like me can see matter and pertinent. And he is great fun too!<br /><br />And then there are the three judges who each mentor a certain number of dancers, choreograph and choose styles for the dancers' efforts. Do I credit them or the dancers with the really innovative dances and the introduction of never before seen styles into Indian TV? They do a great job of mentoring and judging. The non-existence of a point system and a simple elimination system seems to help their objectivity too. Remo, Terence and Geeta gave me a measure of faith that there can be sanity in the crap that is the usual dance TV.<br /><br />This is also one dance show that has very little flab in the way of useless drama, the crafted behind-the-scenes bitching, the mummy-daddy sentiment etc. etc. It does, of course, but its kept to a bare minimum. Also we've a wide selection of people from various places, even one who doesn't speak Hindi at all and speaks only Malayalam, which ... Mithunda translates for us :D. The diversity immediately speaks in terms of competence of dancers who introduce to us diversity in styles and moves. Its a wonder that the incredibly stale punjabi staple of both people and dance still finds takers among the producers of other shows. Its automatically assumed that for any dance or reality show you need a vast majority of participants from Punjab and Delhi the concept which this show uncerimoniously flushes down the toilet. The best dancer here so far being a Muslim from Bangalore, Salman. I'm assuming that these guys will mine even better showstoppers if they reach into TN, Andhra and the NE.<br /><br />Even the onscreen histrionics you see on dance shows and reality TV is helluva lot better. Its not over the top and seems to have very little scripting. I might be wrong but is it real embarrassment I see in the anchors' faces when they announce an elimination? The responses to winning a certain round or a spot prize or losing also seems pretty raw and un-scripted and Mithunda's zingers are definitely un-rehearsed.<br /><br />All in all, from locking-popping to madhuri jhatkas, from pole dancing to belly dancing, from staid tangos to item numbers the dancing has taken my breath away and is as of now the ONLY show I watch on a Hindi GE channel.<br /><br />Mebbe I should buy some UTV and Zee shares. The disclaimer being ... the episodes that have the auditions are nothing to write home about.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-8271077550814429782009-03-05T17:25:00.009+05:302009-03-05T18:16:49.975+05:30I Bourgeois<a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/untouchable-women-enjoy-a-night-of-fashion/#comment-336791">Untouchable women enjoy a night of fashion</a><a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/untouchable-women-enjoy-a-night-of-fashion/#comment-336791"><br />http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/untouchable-women-enjoy-a-night-of-fashion/#comment-336791</a><br /><br />Why the hell wasn't this reported in Indian media? Because the indian media is more concerned with suppressing the acknowledgement of the existence and treatment of dalits than in bringing it to light. Why? Because its audience, the "great" Indian Middle Class is more embarrassed than shameful of its treatment of the Dalits. They'd rather not acknowledge their existence than do anything to better the "untouchable"'s lot. A dramatic example of this of course is the middle class student's protests over Mandal 1 & 2. Obvioulsy all of the students were upper caste and it was such a blatant upper caste movement that they didn't even try to prove otherwise that it was a pan-class movement. In their disgusting diplay, the upper caste students and their parents brandished brooms and rakes to tell the media what they thought their under-privileged brethren should rather be doing.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060518/cth7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 194px;" src="http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060518/cth7.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Our NRI brethren are of course, as is their wont, even more vocal about their objections to reservation and they don't care enough to make a distinction between SC/STs and OBCs. NRIs are almost exclusively upper caste excluding at the most a few OBCs from TN/Andhra, Punjab and Gujarat. A quick run-through of the common surnames will tell you the truth.<br /><br />A run through of the NRI demonstrations on the 2006 reservations issue.<br /><a href="http://www.friendsofsouthasia.org/caste/reservations/PressRelease_060906.html">http://www.friendsofsouthasia.org/caste/reservations/PressRelease_060906.html</a><br />The author writes about the hypocrisy of the demostrators far more effectively and in fewer words than I can<br /><br />An IIT defending its reticence to reservations<br /><a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/badge-of-iit-is-talent-not-privilege-or-caste-iit-kanpur-staff/5246/">http://www.indianexpress.com/news/badge-of-iit-is-talent-not-privilege-or-caste-iit-kanpur-staff/5246/</a><br /><br />Sure, you can be agnostic to caste and privileges if you're an Amity University or an IIPM but you're an IIT. If the Govt. forces Air India to fly to Aizwal for all of two passengers and we look at that as a public service, how is an IIT/IIM/DU any different? An IIT is our government's construct. Our government is Our societal construct. A society that has over 160 million Dalits, over 80 million Tribals constituting a good quarter of our poulation and a wide variety of lower castes estimated at 52% of pop. by the Govt. and quoted at 35% by the National Statistical Organisation, which figure obviously the anti-reservationists use (they selectively don't use the 28% of SC/STs)<br /><br />If an IIT's job is to take children of traditionally privileged parents who can afford an education in a DPS or a DAV, the extra tuitions, the Kota classes and Brilliant's tutorials and turn them into exemplars of talent, why don't we simply outsource the job to SRM university? For if it were not for these consequences of privilege, many of the IITians and DU students would find that their "merit" is the same as the the son or daughter of their sweeper. Their SC/ST brethren also labour under the stigma that their surnames produce automatically and the fact that their parents are usually blue collar or menial workers who can neither afford nor understand what their children need to succeed academically. IIT Kanpur is mistaking the symptom of its existence to its cause.<br /><br />The atrocities against Dalits, Tribals and minorities aren't just systemic and institutional but also violent.<br /><a href="http://www.sikhtimes.com/news_012806a.html">http://www.sikhtimes.com/news_012806a.html</a><br /><a href="http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2323/stories/20061201004713000.htm">http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2323/stories/20061201004713000.htm</a><br /><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/779892.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/779892.cms</a><br /><a href="http://www.aiccindia.org/news/gohana_incident_probe_panel_seeks_action_against_district_officials.htm">http://www.aiccindia.org/news/gohana_incident_probe_panel_seeks_action_against_district_officials.htm</a><br /><a href="http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lsdeb/ls10/ses1/0409089101.htm">http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lsdeb/ls10/ses1/0409089101.htm</a><br /><br />As one would notice, the violence isn't random but is brought to bear brutally when the oppressed stand up for their rights or show cognisance of their rights or show improvement in their lot beyond what is judged by the upper castes as agreeable.<br /><br />The Indian Middle class is rife with hypocrisy. So are its constructs like the Indian media. Unlike Engels idea of the bourgeois, I refuse to give the Indian Bourgeois the credit for breaking down barriers and dismantling feudalism. The Indian bourgeois is more interested in keeping those barriers and constructing a modern version of feudalism.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-60915374381705398732009-02-21T17:04:00.008+05:302010-01-20T13:48:01.309+05:30Holding a mirror to yourself - Slumdog<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.channel4.com/film/media/images/Channel4/film/S/slumdog_millionaire_xl_01--film-A.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://www.channel4.com/film/media/images/Channel4/film/S/slumdog_millionaire_xl_01--film-A.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/the-real-roots-of-the-slumdog-protests/">The NYT tries to understand why we Indians hate Slumdog</a><br /><br /><p>To be honest, I didn’t think it was a great movie as far as Oscar nominated ones go. Considering the stilted english (as opposed to accented), the bad acting by the lead etc. But I did think it was an honest and plausible portrayal of the situation surrounding the characters.</p> <p>I was surprised by some of my friends’ reaction to the movie. While they borrowed phrases like “poverty porn” and used the argument of western condescension which used tired old cliches like the taj, bachchan etc… they WERE honestly disturbed by the picture of India that the movie painted.<br />… which is endemic to the middle class and higher in India. Most of us have absolutely no idea how our drivers and housemaids and electricians live. Seeing them on the screen disturbs our “middle-class sentiments”. There is no acknowledgement that we, the middle class are a privileged 40-50 million in a country of a billion. We’re interested only in stories of Vinod Dham and Sabeer Bhatia and gossip about our business houses’ latest acquisitions abroad… and forwarding fake spam on how 30% of NASA is Indian and the value of the Hyderabad nawab’s fortune.</p> <p>Helplessness? Apathy? Romanticisation of poverty to hide guilt? I don’t know but “Slumdog Millionaire” as an international phenomenon is discomfiting.</p><p>Again, most of the Indian middle class would like very much to subscribe to the right winger's idea of India. A great country where there aren't any cultural dissonants like Muslims and embarrassing truths like our Dalits. Where all of us live like the NRIs in the Karan Jonar-Yash Chopra movies. Which is why you'll find wide support for the "nationalist" right wing loonies of the sangh from the middle class. This is even more drastic in our NRI brethren who hypocritically would support all kinds of minority protection, anti-racism measures etc. in their adopted homes but would generously contribute moral and monetary support to the Sangh which does the exact opposite of supressing minoroties and glossing over our societies damnable truths like untouchability, casteism, indentured servitude and feudalism.<br /></p><p>As for the organised protests and forced shutting of theaters, I tend to agree with Mr. Sinha’s analysis of our dear Hindutwadis attempting to deflect attention from their actions which for probably the first time are being seen on mainstream internation screens. Its an embarrassment to them. Movies like Bombay, Parzania and Black Friday might exist but that an open truth to be shared among us Indians and we'll then proceed to give it a cursory acknowledgement. But to be seen on the silver screen all around the world? And just when Advani is launching his web2.0 initiative? The right wingers are giving people around the world more credit than they deserve. They're assuming the people of the world or the NRIs will put two and two together and actually see that Advani is the same leader that helped inititate the embarassing scene of riots in Slumdog. Don't worry my dear saffronites, we resident Indians and much less our NRI brethren are all too caught up in fighting off the 100 Re. increase of our housemaid's salary to notice you a******s tearing our country apart.<br /><br /></p>Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-46124536799656022092009-02-02T12:17:00.008+05:302009-02-18T13:00:17.892+05:30The Sigma Protocol... in action.. in India<span style="font-style: italic;">"...The Second World War was a conflict that had clear rights and wrongs and yet many of those involved were utterly indifferent to what was at stake. There were numerous corporations whose only concern was to maintain their operating margin. Some, alas, even viewed it as an oppotunity to be exploited-an opportunity to increase their profits. The victors never adequately came to grips with this legacy of corporate double dealing. It was never convenient to do so." Her sardonic half-smile reminded Ben of his brother's banked sense of outrage, his smouldering anger.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">"Why not?"</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">"Too many American and British industries might have had to be seized for trading with the enemy, for collaboration. Better to sweep the problem under the carpet. The Dulles brothers, you know, made sure of it.<br /><br /></span><span><br /><span>Fictional? Entirely. Believable? Almost. From the Sigma Protocol, a fictional book that stretches ideas and ideologies to their limits.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span><br /></span></span><br />With their endorsement of Narendra Modi, some of the titans of Indian industry, including deeply respected ones like Ratan Tata have proved that capital knows no boundaries. Political and more importantly Moral.<br />Encouragement of this kind for hate-mongers and genocidal prima donnas like Modi spur and concretise the radicalisation of places like Gujarat. It provides the Modi-apologists and supporters with a ready excuse with which they deflect the attention from their atrocities.<br />An argument can be made for capital being agnostic to moral and political issues, which is in someways desirable too. But does the current issue make business sense?<br />From L.K. Advani's Blog<br />http://blog.lkadvani.in/uncategorized/how-gujarat-has-become-%E2%80%98vibrant%E2%80%99<br /><br />Like all rhetorical BS coming from the BJP, he doesn't answer the main question in the title itself "How"<br />Instead he takes the easy way of describing its outcomes and crediting Modi for it. Are the Gujaratis so insecure that they can't realise that its them that's the reason for Gujarat being the industrial state it is? That they need to give credit to their development to Narendra Modi who has been in power for less than a decade? Are they willing to give up on their pioneering mercantile history of more than 400 years so that they can subscribe to Modi's version of Gujarati Asmita? I sincerely hope that isn't the case but the vast majority of responses of Gujaratis to Modi's antics in articles online and offline seems to prove otherwise.<br /><br />"Good governance, Development and Security" is what Advani credits to Modi. The minorities, not just the muslims but the dalits and tribals have been marginalised further. Even China has a deppely ingrained policy of assimilating minorities so that they don't see themselves as having fallen back with respect to the majority community. Its a direct reason for social upheaval. We have a glaring example in the naxalite regions. Repressed communities WILL lash out eventually. It may be the communists who catalyse it, the missionaries might unwittingly consolidate the non-muslim minorities leading to a community-wide realisation of repression, the minorities might consolidate themselves behind a modern day Ambedkar or the democratic process might itself come in handy to consolidate them, Gujarat already being the birthplace of the Nav Nirmal movement. Irrespective of the cause, its an eventuality.<br /><br />Business houses are supposed to be intelligent about the long term. Unlike us humans, in the long term, they're NOT dead. Do they really want to be mired in what is already shaping up to be the Hindu version of a Taliban state?<br /><br />Business houses established in Gujarat should be looking to move out not the other way round. Its simple economic sense. People say that corruption is lesser in Gujarat but that is the newspaper version of the truth. Corruption is centralised and streamlined in Gujarat which makes it entrenched and harder to fight in the long term. Another point of view is that of course businesses USE corruption to further their ambitions, therefore it is only the more professional businesses that will need to keep off Gujarat. Those that do use underhand methods to further their businesses will find a readymade and friendly infrastructure in Gujarat.<br /><br />Modi's Gujarat is unsustainable. As a social construct, it is a nightmare. As an economic construct it is dream... in the short run. Professional businesses intending to be in it for the long term and becoming global enterprises will do well to steer clear off the current state of Gujarat if they want to have sustainable businesses and do not want their names associated with a state that covertly promotes repression and is an international name for human and religious rights violations.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-39178198707756849892009-01-29T13:44:00.006+05:302009-01-29T17:49:50.306+05:30Rewarding MediocrityAsh and Akshay get Padmas. What's next? Bravery award for Raju? ... goes the MTV tickr<br /><br />Spot on. Bollywood is filled with extremely un-creative people. A Hum Aapke Hain Kaun spawned a million clones. In any other movie industry, the HAHK phenomenon would be accepted as a meme and the industry would proceed to make a few clones with increasing sophistication. But no siree not bollywood. We'll make a few thousand clones all worse than the last. Anyone with half a brain can tell that the "Formula" only works if the next one is better but the marketers believe that Bigger is better. Script? screenplay? direction? huh? wazzat? pour money into glossy cinematography and other technical stuff imported from the southern film world, market ad nauseum and run away with the money to the bank after the weekend is over. Marriage dramas, "Phamily" kitsch, glossy gangsters, gangster comedy, encounter dramas etc. etc. are well abused memes. The latest one seems to be college gang chronology.<br /><br />Getting back to Ash and Akshay... now what the hell is Ash's "contribution" to the Indian movie industry? Can she even act? Has she done critically acclaimed, hard to do, stereotype breaking, socially conscious roles? Has she been a force multiplier getting young women to look up to a forceful, conscionable personality? What the hell has she done except being the Bachchan bahu? Akshay while probably being more deserving (more of course is relative) has done nothing much either. He does more than the average bollywooders share of socially responsible stuff like his support of the mumbai constable's family, helping Indian sport by adopting wrestlers etc. but does that deserve a Padma for Art? The likes of Abhay Deol, Rahul Bose, Konkana Sen who are good versatile actors are few and far between. Even the average actors who can pull their weight at the box office like Priyanka, Akshay, Hrithik are scarce and actors who are both good, versatile and box office heavyweights is actually singular. Aamir.<br /><br />This award is all the more unconscionable when juxtaposed by the blind-eye the awards have shown to our olympic pugilists. In a country of a Billion with fewer than 50 million middleclass where almost half the burden of emancipation of women, the poor and the socially downtrodden is taken up by activists and social workers can't we find people more worthy of a national award equivalent to a knighthood? Aishwarya and Akshay are my Knights? Are you bloody kidding me? We have so many cultures and art forms and you can't find a koothaadi or a lavani artiste? We have an exciting advertising industry that has been reaping awards, can't we award them any? If we can RTI the admission criteria for IIMs, we can RTI the award criteria for the awards.<br /><br />That we need to relook if the Govt. is capable of judging Indians worty of celebration is a point taken for granted. But since the Padmas aren't going to go away anytime soon, we need to make the awards process transparent and the <a href="http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1784418">lobbying system</a> banished.<br /><br />Bollywood doesn't have a professional body to give awards. The supposedly impartial judges at say an IIFA can't even make the difference between Indian Cinema and Bollywood. And even if it did have an academy, the awards will probably go to incompetents like Kat Kaif and Karan-Chopra types. We might insititute a raspberry awards clone and award one for EVERY bollywood movie and actor except the 4 or 5 a year that make it past the average quality mark.<br /><br />The Padma's and other such awards are supposed to be a celebration of excellence by Indians in various fields. You and I pay for it. Its time we started to demand accountability for our money in this too.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-16752661607067164562008-10-08T15:37:00.006+05:302008-10-08T19:47:15.275+05:30More on the Fourth EstateJust saw <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433383/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Good Night, And Good Luck</span></a>. Now this is a movie that has to be, HAS to be shown to every graduating media person.<br />I was impressed by Murrows statements here and there during the movie, irrespective of whether he really did say them or not or if he did, if he did so so eloquently. One of them that particularly impressed me was<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">Let us dream to the extent of saying that on a given Sunday night the time normally occupied by Ed Sullivan is given over to a clinical survey of the state of American education, and a week or two later the time normally used by Steve Allen is devoted to a thoroughgoing study of American policy in the Middle East. </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. Good night, and good luck.</span>"<br />addressing the people gathered, presumably to institute the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTDNA) - Edward Murrow Awards.<br />The question of whether the struggle is lost or not is one that will require many many more pages by people more intelligent and involved than myself. But I've no doubt that it has indeed been lost.<br />The US has had a maturing television broadcasting industry for more than 6 decades now and provides the potential for the fastest maturity due to the sheer size of the country, its diverse communities and vibrant culture. And yes it has matured... but not in ways one would like it to be.<br />The niches provide sermons for the converted. Conservatives watch conservative channels and programs and the liberals watch their own. Latinos have their own channels and Indians log on to rediff.com for their dose. There is no cross pollination and there is no attempt either by the media or the consumers to cross pollinate. Blogs are even worse as they provide you with highly niche content and readers are even more fragmented here.<br />This is beginning to tell on India as well as the industry here has leapfrogged into the 21st century straight into US-style reporting with none of the pains and lessons learnt from puberty. We are unapolegetic about trying cases in the media. We are unapologetic about wrong reporting or plagiarising. We are unapologetic about carrying rumours.<br /><br />Conservative Indians call the Indian media "liberal" and slanted towards "minorities", even while it is nothing of that kind. To be honest, editorialising with all the ills that it can bring is non-existent except in the Hindu, the Outlook and the pioneer, the first two of which are unabashedly liberal and the latter, unabashedly conservative.<br />The laughing stock of the agnostic media consumer, the old lady of Boribunder, is unabashedly "market driven", while its nothing of that sort. The marketers there assume the average Indian is an idiot and they fulfill their prophesy with content that matches the average idiot. Yet, even this reportage is termed "liberal". And nothing to say of the likes of NDTV which is supposedly anti-conservative, probably because it provides platforms where conservatives can be heard and be laughed at for the idiots that they usually are.<br />Sorry, I seem to be editorialising the post :D<br />Editorialising is such a temptation. But the fourth estate has to have some amount of restraint. To slant like Fox does is criminal.<br />The BBC and the Guardian both of which I highly respect faulted on the reporting of Zimbabwe due to Britain's involvement. Zimbabwe might be a tin-pot republic but the people of the world have a right to know what really is happening there without reporters giving their own slants to the reportage and prejudices showing through barely concealed contempt.<br />The NYT does something similar whenever Venezuela is involved. And its reporting on China is preposterous for the amount of bad press they give this country that has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. And so is its reporting of India which seems to be less than a dot on the map. And when it does report on India, we get condescending articles of cows on expressways and about BPOs.<br />Where, honest reportage? Where the maxim "I may not agree with you but I'll fight to death for your right to disagree with me". It chokes me to think that there ARE still people in this world for whom this maxim is internalised but it seems to me that they are completely drowned in a morass of "market driven" bullshit and disingenuous editorialising.<br />My disclaimer is disclosure that I'm unabashedly liberal and I read the Hindu, the Outlook, the NYT and the Guardian and watch NDTV and BBC; not because they're "liberal" but the quality of restraint on editorialising on all of these is very high and the editorialising is usually restricted to the editorial in the newspaper/magazines and opinion-programmes in the broadcasters. I'd also like to wonder, why it is that editorialisation is lower in liberal media.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-81618154896451973222008-08-13T11:25:00.003+05:302008-08-13T14:18:59.969+05:30State of Fear - bring on the SUVFirst, Kenner (the superhero protagonist) says there is no global warming, then goes on to say that the world is cooling, then says that global warming is good for the world and finally proceeds to disparage all the scientific consensus on anything. I was expecting (hopefully) that he was going to produce references supporting evidence that smoking doesn't cause cancer... which was about the only scientific conclusion he seemed to leave alone though. The references are good, irrefutably so but then why does even all this fact-spouting remind me of standard rhetoric. Why does it seem the arguments are constructed and paced in such a way that most of us (;)) professional arguers would recognise as the trick we use when we're short on facts but long on opinion?<br /><br />It would've been way better if Kenner had an equally informed opponent whom he beat on strength of interpretation of data but instead he is given the likes of limousine liberals and gulfstream environmentalists, the likes of Evans and Ted. Why didn't Crichton show us the conversations with Morton, or the slow conversion of Morton? why is the tone so shrill, desperate and preachy?<br /><br />Oh btw, Kenner is the supreme being. He has information about everything and everywhere in the world (in his brains twit; no.. he doesn't carry a google enabled phone), is never surprised (he always conveniently misses attempts at life and then comes to pick up the pieces of his comrades), never in the position to need to apologise (because he's right everytime) and finally **Spoiler** single handedly saves the world from evil redneck environmentalists about to create havoc at many spots in the world (conveniently timed and placed at Cessna flight distance for Kenner) with the help of one Nepali side-kick (who's the next-in-line supreme being), some skeptical environmentalists who are bombarded with info on why they're well meaning but completely stupid. His greatest achievement though is to convert one of those idiot environmentalists (oh didn't Kenner say environmentalists usually aren't educated?) who happens to be an incredibly intelligent billionaire named Morton. Of course, Crichton thinks the actual details of conversion and the arguments and facts bandied about in such a conversion would be too much for us. So Morton conveniently disappears during and after his conversion.<br /><br />Weather IS impossible to predict for more than 10 days but arguably, isn't climate more predictable than weather? If Australia plays Kenya, you can't predict the next ball or the next over, but you CAN predict the outcome of the match. Ok lets take a better example; take a section of a water pipe and try to predict the turbulence in the section and you'll find it impossible... but damn it you can very well predict the aggregates of volume, force and cross-section when it comes out of the bloody tap. Ok maybe that example wasn't great either but I'm enough of an engineer to know that aggregates are easier to predict than snaphots of variables.<br />The loss of knowledge exclusivity to researchers and professors maybe true but they have their own niches and always did. They don't have to compete with other knowledge workers, except maybe for professors of finance. The new knowledge workers occupy positions that have been CREATED over the last few decades. Moreover its not like every scientist is a climate scientist.. so why are only climate scientists scaremongers, what about sub-atomic physicists, aerospace scientists, etc.. Why don't they have some universe destroying theory that will employ them perennially? Climate scientists, an umbrella term for scientists within disciplines like geophysics, meteorologists, climatologists, even archaeologists form a miniscule %age of scientists (as would any particular discipline) ; so how do you explain their overwhelming power to create fear among the world... fear that hurts those benign corporates, those gentle giants, the Oil companies. I don't buy it at all.<br />Its no use dissing scientists for the sake of demonising climate change. So we are expected to believe in a grand consensus of scaremongering scientists who are some kind of self-organising collective organism and come together because they lost "intellectual exclusivity" but not in a consensus that corporate-employed scientists will most probably come out with results that're favorable to the corporate they work in? Lets not forget that climate change science has come into the mainstream only this decade. While it is people and politicians left of center and actively ignored scientists from relevant fields that were carrying the torch in the previous decades.<br /><br />The stupid statement about lack of refridgerants in the 3rd world... people don't die because of badly refridgerated food. People here just cook everytime they eat. This half-bakedness seems to be the depth of argument. I live here, I know. And fridges here, when you can afford them, are as good as anywhere else.<br /><br />Why didn't Crichton make use of the last great planet-girdling scare, the Ozone layer depletion? He could've disparaged the left-wing hysterics, the bad science, the planetwide secret society of mad scientists wanting to take over the world by scaring you about increased risk of skin cancer. He didn't. Why? Because they don't exist. It would've been hell for the seeming agenda that his novel carries because it was good science, carried out by thorough scientists, supported by right-thinking bureaucrats who warned well informed politicians and people, who forced change . Finally the ozone layer threat was diminished not by people turning off their fridges but by scientists and engineers working successfully to find replacements for CFCs and laws and policy by developed nations and some devoloping ones to cut down or ban CFCs and forcing change in the INDUSTRY. Crichton's seeming uninterest in investigating this issue makes me seriously suspect his really stupid, insecure statement in the last page "Everyone has an agenda, except for me".<br /><br />From what I see, the IPCC is not at all like the left-wing, grant grabbing bunch of bureaucrats and scientists with forked tails that Crichton makes it out to be. Its statements are moderate, taking care to emphasise what is theory and what is fact, references everywhere (more than kenner) and a non-alarmist tone. In fact the former head disagrees with the developing nations joining the Kyoto protocol because it would be restrictive to poverty eradication (maybe because he's Indian, but hey he's also IPCC) Agreed that its climate modeling techniques seem to be the center of lots of resonable doubt but the organisation itself and the results it produces aren't hysterical as crichton makes it out to be.<br /><br />Some scientists dispute that global warming is happening, more agree that its happening but dispute the hand of human beings in global warming, some may agree or disagree or maybe uncommitted but dispute what the effects of real or hypothetical global warming would be. The vast majority of disputers seem to be the ones who think that the average temperatures are rising but it maybe natural and most probably not of anthropogenic nature.<br /><br />Having said all that and also premising that I've always been a sceptic (of everything.. which includes climate change), the book, though obviously biased, did show to me the depth of disagreement in the scientific community and that the scientists have valid and serious concerns. But the book having the tone it does, makes me suspicious of its agenda. Crichton, I love all your books, you're one of my favourite authors but you really messed up here.<br /><br />From what I see, most scientists that do offer some disagreements don't dispute climate change due to global warming. And its not because of the reasons offered by Crichton of expectation bias and some grand conspiracy theory of scientists colluding to keep the population in fear. They seem to do it piecemeal. One scientist disputes the effect of urban bias, one the sun's effect, one the albedo, one the effect of CO2 vs Methane, but taken as a whole the argument for global warming doesn't seem to be disputed by them, some just dispute the effect THEIR speciality has on global warming. In the In fact Crichton has disingenuously tailored together these disputes at appropriate sections of the novel to what seems a deliberate attempt to mislead any reader. (but I do put in a disclaimer that since there seems to be reasonable doubt on the consensus, and Crichton having a far better view of these things, he just might be... just might be telling the truth, just in a bad way)<br /><br />As a novel, "State of Fear" is incredibly bad; if there was an agenda, an attempt at propaganda, which I strongly suspect, it was very poorly delivered; if anyone paid him money to deliver an agenda, please take the money back.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-72842145988913932582008-08-08T18:56:00.006+05:302008-08-08T20:08:50.104+05:30Arm chair OlympicsThe Sangh would've been very happy to see the tikkas on the chinese performers' foreheads. We'll soon see "research" on how chinese inventions like paper, the compass and gunpowder were actually taken to china by Rama or some other indisputable hero. If you dispute them, you'll be encroaching on their right to religious freedom and they'll all be righteously angry :D<br />The hindi commentator is already describing the women flying around on wires as "apsaras"<br /><br />The inaugural fireworks were awesome and so was the light and sound show.<br /><br />The ceremony is quintessentially Chinese. Quantity, nationalism, militariness, boring classical music and that endearing far eastern quality, completely useless symbolism.<br />Overwhelmingly lotsa people with silly looking hats.<br /><br />I saw a man missing a beat in the drum ceremony. will he be shot tomorrow?<br /><br />Why doesn't the hindi commentator read up a little bit more on chinese culture instead of constantly forcing comparisons with indian culture... poor chinese kid is flying a kite and while the english commentator goes "the kite is also an chinese invention, and was used for military purposes..."the hindi commentator defensively interrupts him and goes "patang bharat mein bhi udayi jaati hai, gujarat mein rajasthan mein..." gaaahhh<br /><br />The olympic observers, commentators, policy makers etc weren't kidding when they said that this was "China's chance to showcase itsef".. the opening ceremony seems to be some insecure beaureaucrat's idea of China China China. I was blindsided for sometime by the fireworks and the light show that it only now dawns on me how bloody boring the ceremony is actually turning out to be.. I can take only so much self-aggrandisation and nostalgic romanticisation. For an economic and military powerhouse, China is incredibly insecure about itself.<br /><br />Most young chinese, international and otherwise think that China is misunderstood. And so must the chinese govt., for they decided to bombard us with enough China in 3 hours to understand it.<br /><br />Ah.. the lesson on chinese history is finally over. they've finished telling us how great they actually are.<br />the light show with the pianist and kid is finally making things look up<br /><br />damn.. the human bird's nest is just bloody awesome<br /><br />The english commentator is wonderfully well read on the subject of china. and knows exactly what to say when. When the umbrellas with children's grinning faces opened around the globe, he said "you and me" or was he calling out the names of the two singers on top of the globe? "yu and mei"<br /><br />Jeez... the globe and its "globe trotters" simply amazing. beautiful... gotta hand it to them...<br />The ceremony is turning out to be one eclectic mix of really boring and absolutely stupendous<br /><br />And finally we have the atheletes...<br /><br />Huh... can't figure out the order of nations... must be the Chinese alphabetical order or something.<br /><br />hmmm.. Pakistan, Britain, Cuba, Iran (!) and Canada(!!) get roars from the crowds and Russia, the US and Iraq(!!!) received the biggest roars, while India's rather pathetic looking bunch of tennis players, weight lifters and shooters received contemptuous silence :D<br /><br />Burundi had the most risque outfit for women.. a rather unassumingly stylish, strapless off-shoulder ethnic outfit.<br /><br />Kyrgytan was the funniest.. the hats looked like upside down chinese-takeout boxes and their flag has what looks like a cricket ball in the center :D..<br />The announcements by the Chinese lady were also pretty funny. Through your nose say "aaanh sayy bhai yyaaan" for Azerbaijan and "huuu maiii yaaaa" for Romania, I sound like a redneck I suppose :)<br /><br />And the arm chair sportsman signs offNirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-7374351815581947162008-02-29T14:10:00.003+05:302008-02-29T14:19:12.258+05:30Workplace Virtualisation (Scientific Name: Happius Shoulderis)This is of course willful misinterpretation on the emerging consensus on network virtualisation, desktop virtualisation etc..<br />I was quite intrigued by an article on Telecom Live about Virtualisation where the authors went on to describe the benefits of the different virtualisation options available. As I read through it, I realised that the article gave a indication to an unsaid but desperate need that I and I'm sure, millions of others must have.<br /><br />As a corporate cog, and a traveling cog at that, my shoulders have borne the brunt of my career choice. I'm sure my backpack wasn't ever this big when I was doing my 12th. While I've reconciled myself to working with a different set of people every two months, my constant fond companion has been my lemon of a laptop. Its familiar screen and its rather worn-down keyboard (with a few holes where favourite keys used to be) give me a sense of connection to the mother workplace. Its fount of information stored in a wondrous folder system designed by me to retrieve my information a few seconds after I needed it but just in time to give me a feel of espirit d'escalier, is reminiscent of the school playground after school bags got involved in minor and major skirmishes.<br /><br />Ask me if I'd ever do away with this automaton that is nevertheless human... you betcha skinny bottom.<br /><br />The article gave me an idea that definitely requires screaming from the top of rooftops but from which those software and hardware architects will flinch.<br /><br />I scream for a Virtualised Laptop.... Huh?<br /><br />I wanna carry a nifty little thingamajig that I can plug into the USB of any computer anywhere (ok maybe not the ones we donated a decade back to the local municipal school in Angola) and I want to recreate my Laptop/desktop right there. The sickeningly cute pic of the pet dog as the wallpaper, the infinite pdfs of articles I wanted to ingest but seem to have taken residence on the desktop never to leave, the movies I can watch when no one can look over my shoulders, my browser favourites, the recipes and holiday destination websites; oh yeah the research and quizillion word, pdf, xls, ppt and various other denominations of workplace repression... every thing. Every thing all at the insertion of a jazzy little stick the size of my cigarette pack or lesser into the "host".<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://the-gadgeteer.com/assets/brando-kingsun-usbir7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://the-gadgeteer.com/assets/brando-kingsun-usbir7.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />I wanna wanna wanna (to the tune of feet being stamped vigorously)</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">(and with all due respect to photo of USB device manf by kensington)</span><br /><br />As of now a virtual workplace/desktop idea is that of a remote access on a powered on computer connected to network with internet connectivity that is accessed over a "broadband" connection which gives me a cute lag effect... I click the mouse and the word doc opens after my 5'o'clock stubble has become the 9'o'clock one.<br /><br />I know what you engineers and architects are thinking...<br />Yeah I agree that you'll have to work on a few million interfaces, look at a billion security issues, interoperability and portability issues with OSes, networks, hardware and software platforms and work with a whole new branch of science to make those little sticks have skinnable surfaces of pokemon, lara dutta and british premier league logos. And there will probably be another one of those organisations rubbing shoulders with ICANN, ISO, CMM-SEI, IEEE etc. dictating to you what you do is nice and what isn't.<br /><br />You'll obviously have to dictate a set of minimum requirements on comps that can do workplace virtualisation and also dictate "recommended" requirements. You'll also have to define what can be virtualised, how and to where... will it be my USB stick, will it be my phone with USB connectivity and also bluetooth, infra-red, gprs, edge, HDSPA, dooby doo and scooby doo, will it be some kind of a local copy that uploads itself to my company's or personal or of course the inevitable free google workplace virtualisation servers and then deletes itself on the host? (oh yeah, you're gonna have fun with your project managers on this :D)<br /><br />Of course you can do all that and more... kids will have their own virtualised playplaces ... NFS 27, Grand Theft Intergalactica (with minimally dressed daleks with their super-modular interfaces uncovered!!), access to hacker networks to break into Guantanamo bay torture chamber cams all preconfigured!!<br /><br />In fact imagine the next step... except for hardcore gamers, professionals and specialists like designers, video-editors, cad-cam operators etc.. the rest of us actually do not need anything more than a "minimum/recommended" personal computer. In fact for a user like me, I can do away with the burden of multiple licenses for OSes, office software for multiple computers and move to a personal license instead of a per-computer license. I'd also be free from a keeping-up-with-balasubramaniam effect that requires me to upgrade my GeForce card every 3 months and can move that money to my movie collection, better headphones (OK marketing guys won't be happy to hear that :D... but you can still sell me bigger and better and faster virtualisation devices eh?). That would mean that corporates would buy the recommended computers with far more abandon without going through complex IT recommendations and so would normal people without fear of having to keep up with balasubramaniam.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-24113833509534231482007-12-21T14:27:00.004+05:302008-02-29T16:32:52.056+05:30Bringing the House downThe joke's going around and call me unoriginal if you will or a plagiariser if you must but when I first heard of the white house fire, the same cynical soundbyte that must've hit other anti-bushies hit me too :)<br /><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/white-house-fire-forces-mass-evacuation/2007/12/20/1197740412769.html">The Fire </a><br /><a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1696435,00.html">A true to type entirely unnecessary - Time's history of white house fires</a><br /><br />The grapevine (not mine.. just some grapevine out there) has it that Cheney's office was having its regular burning of video-tapes, audio-tapes from Obama's bedroom to Guantanamo bay and his personal files in one of the many fireplaces in the annexe when the super-duper-ultra-secret box-of-never-to-be-seen artifacts was also dropped into the fire. Sadly, the box contained the remnants of the shotgun scatter that dear Dick pumped into the behind of the unfortunate "friend" he mistook for a giant orange emu. The pellets showed their indignation at having to face the heat after comfortable lodgings in a lawyer and then in a super secure box that they promptly proceeded to burn the place down. Of course all this is unsubstantiated rumour :D<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ac/Tmdc.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ac/Tmdc.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />At the cost of more plagiarism from people wittier than me, the pellets were actually the much-vaunted WMDs that no one ever found and they didn't manage to nail Saddam but they certainly managed a Lawyer and the White House (annexe... yeah... but nevertheless) as a parting shot (pardon the pun, but that was inevitable :D)<br />In other reports, Cheney is planning to take Hillary and Obama on a trip to a ranch with lotsa game. And other representatives and Senators who've been at the receiving end of Cheney's colourful language on the floor are rather relieved. Patrick Leahy commented that "In retrospect, it looks like I got off easy."<br />And in addendum to the below pic, we can now safely add setting fire to your underwear to eventually engulf you will be the 12th (the 11h being pumping you with lead birdshot)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://boingboing.net/images/12cheney4xx.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://boingboing.net/images/12cheney4xx.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-50543603320562998112007-10-26T00:41:00.000+05:302007-11-01T02:36:34.940+05:30Ron Paul Rules the waves!!I did a bit of research on Ron Paul after being so impressed by him, watching the you tube clips of the Michigan Republican Debate which featured all the current Republican candidates.<br />Ron Paul seems to be the darling of the internet masses. "Ron Paul" is the second most searched Technorati term after "You Tube"!. At the last incomplete list by a blogger there are an amazing ~70 blogs dedicated to Ron Paul! There's even an "Indian and Pakistani Friends of Ron Paul" Blog!<br /><a href="http://www.secessionist.us/blog/2007/10/incomplete-list-of-ron-paul-blogs.html">Incomplete list of Ron Paul Blogs</a><br />Most supporters of Ron Paul are democrats who plan to vote republican for Ron during the primaries, <a href="http://thecrossedpond.com/?p=1729">like this guy here</a>, in whose post, I was amazed to find, the idea of why to support Ron, practically is the same as mine...<br /><a href="http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2007/10/ron_paul">A Republican blog banned users from discussing Ron Paul </a>because he attracted an unusual number of supporters. That's pretty obvious isn't it? Considering the the average Republican supporter who doesn't support Ron couldn't possibly know to read or write coherently much less use the web. And the redstate blog's spokesman commented thus -<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />"These people are not part of the Republican coalition. It's somewhat naive to think that these people will stay in the race with Republicans when Ron Paul is no longer in the race," said Erickson.<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span><br /><br />While that may not be all that true today, its obvious that the more literate of the Republican supporters are more libertarian and less republican. As the republican party increasing gets a bad rap as a party that doesn't respect fiscal responsibility especially after the excesses of the current Bush government, more and more libertarains are either going to support the democratic party or work toward strengthening the Libertarian party. And as more and more libertarians move out, the republican party gets even more of a rap as a party of illiterates and fundamentalists. Hmm.. sounds like a dream come true :)<br /><br />The Clinton administration has proved that the Democrats are more than capable of fiscal responsibility and they aren't so much of a left-leaning party economically as they are liberal.<br /><br />With more and more innuendo piling up that Ron Paul isn't a republican after all, I assume the people who stick to the republican party because of its fiscal policies and are heavily invested in knowing their politics and their candidates are going to feel more and more alienated about their ideology being given the short shrift. While Guiliani and Romney make a decent attempt at being classic republicans, voters with the kind of heavy investment described will still feel slighted. Once upon a time, in pre-tech revolution times, the Republicans were the party that was the conscience of the liberal and literate. Today it has become a disgusting mish-mash of military-industrial-religion complex that considers its "core" to be that of barely literate christian conservatives, who wanted decent pious lives but who've been mauled and manipulated into bible-thumping, shotgun wielding religious maniacs who bomb doctors, lustfully cry for state sponsored killing and for good measure bay for the blood of "godless" arab-looking people by the likes of nuts, nincompoops and plain idiots like Pat Robertson and Bush. This sad de-facto feudal enterprise is fueled by money from cynical manipulators who abuse the good offices of capitalism, like Bechtel, Blackwater, Halliburton and the slimy like. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a long, heavy slide for the Republicans.<br /><br />Now, the problem is there would then need to be a credible alternative to the Democrats... Time for a multi-party party of The Green Party, The Libertarian party and the Democratic Party perhaps? he he....<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-17668423300030345162007-10-24T16:45:00.001+05:302010-03-17T16:20:32.730+05:30They're the Falkland Islands, TwitIt must've been one really strange sight!.. this rather large guy with head hidden under a hand, shaking all over, his jowls wobbling, coffee cup in danger of losing its contents to keyboard, His computer incidentally displaying a Guardian article on weight watching for pregnant women, all this in the middle of calls flying around him about gross profit and accountability and at least one person getting fired. Was he the one fired? No. Is he one of "those" guys who "empathise" with women "issues"? No. Well actually it was me and I was shaking uncontrollably because I was laughing my head off at one more of the Guardians' bloggers remarks that seems to come so easily to them but the rest of the world finds so hard to imitate.<br />Why are Brits such naturals at poker-face remarks that sends the rest of the world into paroxysms of giggling? How are they so good at caustic-ism, at making cutting one-liners that invoke a little bit of shakespeare here and a little bit of descartes there?<br />the particular one that sent me off was "Breastfeeding can shift a lot of weight, fast, partly because you are producing food for someone else to eat, and partly because it kills your appetite while you are doing it, which I think is nature's way of stopping you from getting crumbs in your baby's ears. Don't worry, Milla. Eat as much marrow as you like"<br />"..getting crumbs into your baby's ears..." not even the wittiest I know can come up with a statement like that, inserted with so much nonchalance and probably unnoticed by most of the world and all of the united states<br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,2193507,00.html"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">...getting crumbs into your baby's ears...</span></a><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2193487,00.html">The British National Motto</a><br /><a href="http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/health/cannabis-now-worse-than-the-nazis-20070801315/">Top 10 Evil things</a><br />Looky at the article and ensuing debate on the "brit national motto".. people who're righteously indignant tend to bluster... but does Tristran Hunt? No bloody way.. he's too brit. And if his cutting article doesn't get the message across have a gander at the comments.. the readers have unofficially adopted the 2nd reader's mistaken post "They are the Falklands Islands, twit" as the national motto. I doubled up with laughter. The most irreverent NYT writer couldn't hold a candle to them<br /><br />As a case in point lets take American humour. Take for example Stephen Colbert whom I admire very much.. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14dowd.html?em&ex=1192852800&en=5f4b820381b4e1d6&ei=5087%0A">take his guest op-ed article in NYT</a><br /><br />no.. he isn't trying to be funny, just trying to make a point.. but even when he is, which actually is quite often,.. he couldn't hold a candle to the average Guardian reader. Time for a little diversion.<br /><br />Now, I don't like American humour or the comedy shows too much. They depend too much on slapstick and choreographed timing that isn't really available to you in real life. But literate humour does exist...<br />Now this is when Stephen Colbert roasts Bush at the White House Correspondent's Dinner. Funny because of the calculated sarcasm and the target. I simply can't imagine going up on front of one of the most privileged Press circles in the world and roasting the supposedly most powerful man in the world on a spit for a full 15 minutes right to his face!! The gall it takes!!<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qa-4E8ZDj9s&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qa-4E8ZDj9s&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOYZF3It848">Part 2</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAvFM4TYQKU">Part 3</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPfZBtxrT5s">Colbert on The O'Reilly Factor</a> - absolutely totally brilliant.<br /><br />And yet.. yet... really can't come close to a brit in a blue cap, in filthy undershirt and dirty cardigans, probably smoking with a can of Coors in the same hand that points to Gordon Brown and says " You Sir, are a hypocrite and a war criminal" in crisp tones, in response to Brown's supposed love for democracy in Burma. No American writer could possibly replicate the sheer irreverent, brilliant humour intrinsic to every sentence in Douglas Adam's every ever written sentence. For my daily dose of endorphins, which aren't provided by my non-existent girlfriend, <a href="http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/">I use the Daily Mash</a><br /><br />But make no mistake the average Guardian reader is not the average Brit. He's the Brit we love, not the hooligan who reads one of those Murdoch owned rags. He's neither the upper class entitled inbred twit who reads the Times nor the lawyer who drools over page 3 in the Mirror/Sun. S/He might be upper class or blue-collar or middle class, or white or black or ethnic indian or pakistani but s/he's the essential brit. Now who is the essential brit? look at the article on the national motto again. "They're the Falkland Islands, twit".<br /><br /><br />The Irish are supposed to be extremely colourful but caustic, witty and literate at the same time? Nope not really. Its the Brit. The way s/he calls someone a tit or a twat can be more demeaning that the best punjabi gaalis a jat can dream up.<br /><br />One of the other peoples famous for sarcasm are the Tamils. We're (yeah... wokay.. time for a bit of yoga.. reach around with either arm and pat yourself on the back) anally retentive with people we don't trust but you should look at us have a go at people we don't like. Every Tamil's dream is to make that sarcastic cutting remark that makes his/her rival want to "naaka pudingittu saava vendiyathudhan" ( hang to death by the tongue!). Even when the Tamil gets physically agressive, the stance isn't one of your usual defensive or offensive stances. He or she folds the tongue, sticks it out held between the teeth and thrusts his/her face in yours. It our way of telling you, I don't need my tongue to take care of you, see, my fists are enough. But still we aren't funny unless the explicit agenda is to make fun of someone.<br /><br />There's another community that give the brits a go for their money when it comes to dead-pan caustic humour. They're the Chinese Americans. Something in their ancestral land combined with something in their adopted homeland seem to have given them the peculiar power of saying the most inconceivable things with an absolute poker face. You never know whether those kitschy hong-kong movies are really like that or they're making fun of themselves. Its the latter... I think. BUt they simply don't have the screen presence on the world stage that the brit has. The Brits wins hands down at literate humour.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-7054531564978338352007-10-22T02:04:00.000+05:302007-10-22T02:41:25.959+05:30Ron Paul for Prez!!! Ron Paul for Indian PM!!!With all due respect to my opinions as on date when I wrote<a href="http://surprisedbysin.blogspot.com/2007/10/republican-debate-surprised-by-sin.html"> my first post on the Michigan Republican debate</a> , I have made a startling discovery.<br /><br />If I were American, I have actually found myself a Republican I can vote for and be at peace with my supposed liberal ass self. And that Republican is one I would vote for over the current crop of Democrats... anyday.<br /><br />I think all Democrats who believe in the principles of the Democratic Party, in liberalism, in libertarianism, in the first amendment, in social security, in putting people above business... rather than in the supposed leading lights like Obama and Clinton should vote for this man. This man stands for all those values far better than any current Democrat leader does. And he does so emphatically.<br /><br />Four years with him at the helm would change the United States back into one of the most respected nations in the world from the currently rather discomfiting ... most hated.<br /><br />The man is Ron Paul, Senator from Texas. Yes... TEXAS! A republican from Texas... mother of bloody God... how could that be possible. But yes. It happens. Intelligence, insight and moral superiority shine from wherever. Even from bang in the middle of the center of the religio-industrial-politico complex of cowboy land texas. And even from something as morally degrading as the republican party that uses a "values debate" (values as defined by fundamentalist, obscurantist, morally repugnant and simply stupid interpretations of the new testament) to decide on its candidate.<br /><br />This silver haired, slight, craggy-faced man is emancipation for American politics. He goes back to the turn of the 20th century Republican morals. When Republican actually stood for the literal meaning of the word "republican" and not the christian fundamentalist organisation that masquerades as a political party today.<br /><br />This man stands up for personal liberty. In an universe where wussy-democrats who are in majority in the senate still agree to increase discretionary powers to pry into privacy, this man dares to support personal liberty and privacy in the debating platform where pleasing all is a must.<br /><br />This man stands up for a "when blame needs to be laid, lay it first on yourself" principle to foreign policy when tank-nozzles and f-22 noses are phallic symbols of american pride to "bring democracy wherever oil is" the game of the day. He insists that America set its home right before it preaches to others. !!!.. This man is a Republican. I wouldn't dare say that even in the middle of a bunch of californian academicians. American moral supremacy is something taken for granted by even the most liberal, libertarian person in the USA, except perhaps for Ron Paul and Noam Chomsky!<br /><br />This personal actually believes and states publicly that all is not hunky-dory with Domestic Policy as executed by the current Government.<br /><br />I can live with his public stances on core conservative issues- abortion, homosexual rights, christianity and immigration. No one with such emphasis on personal liberty and accountability could go too far right. I do believe that he will straddle the fence and back-burnerise on these core conservative issues, whenever they impinge on liberty. I can live with that. I do believe liberalism and libertarianism can be slowed but never stopped or reversed.<br /><br />I cry that we can't find someone with his mind in Indian Politics. Americans will never find another like him for the rest of their history. And they will never know it either. He will never get past the primaries, and will only have a select few fans who appreciate what could've been if Ron Paul....<br /><br />I wonder if six-degrees of separation is too wide to let him know that one of his biggest fans is on the opposite side of the planet and the other side of the universe where political ideology is concerned.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-30637688293715799102007-10-16T19:05:00.000+05:302007-10-16T20:16:22.935+05:30The Republican Debate - Surprised by Sin!! - 2A largely overlooked fact is that Democratic funding is much wider based and a lot of it comes from middle class individuals and small donor events while republican fund raising comes from large corporate houses (which send in much smaller donations to the Democrats - just in case, you know) and rich individuals and religious organisations. Which automatically force the republicans toward pork-barrel economics.<br />Part 2<br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wJIgLfmRtsk"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wJIgLfmRtsk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Links to subsequent parts<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i2vyBjO_X4">Part 3</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc_Ku3adiWM">Part 4</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DguqKLjAM5I">Part 5</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itbqfs8SrfU">Part 6</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1cgbHcsNOI">Part 7</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiBMBvavH3g">Part 8</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdk1Qdq44lc">Part 9</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n_ckoiUYZo">Part 10</a><br /><br />Thompson: "Well, in a dynamic economy, there are jobs lost and there are jobs gained. And so far, there have been more jobs gained. To put up barriers and say that so-and-so cannot lose a job would be the wrong thing to do in a free-market economy that's been so well for us. It's made us the most prosperous nation in the history of the world."...<br />"...The manufacturing industry is, in large part, an international industry nowadays, which means prices are set internationally. Manufacturers cannot do much about that but they get hit with cost domestically. We can do a lot about their cost, in terms of taxes and regulation..."<br /><br />i.e. he will not intervene to help Americans keep jobs but he will intervene to help big business keep competing by artificially helping them keep afloat against fair trade<br />This is pretty symptomatic of the thinking of most republicans. Isn't the point of governance people?<br /><br />They're not worried about 700 billion dollars in military spending - a neat 1/4th of a 3 point something trillion dollar budget but all of them keep repeating the litany "We're going to have to fix health care. We're going to have to fix Social Security." McCain differed though with "we got to tell them that we will not spend $2 billion on an aircraft tanker, which I was able to stop and save the taxpayers $2 billion, because of this incredible extravagant waste in defense spending today, which is the biggest part of our budget."<br /><br />You can also see the republicans struggle with illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants make eminent economic sense. They might use public works.. but you're already spending on it you dumbfucks. They pay taxes on consumption, bring prices down, do jobs that Americans don't, and live in filth and fear to provide rich idiots with sun-kissed oranges and whiter than white linen in your around-the-corner Four Seasons. What do they get for that? Starring roles in american pornography. But Republicans are also torn between economic sense and their inherent xenophobia and racism. Sorry... forget the "torn" part.. they simply choose to be xenophobic because economic conservatism is just an excuse for them to cover up their pork-barell economics.<br /><br />Romney claims eminence among all presidential hopefuls in business sense. "if we agree to sit down with China, I understand that if we don't get real careful and protect patents and designs and technology, that what we tend to sell the most of, those kinds of things, intellectual property, is going to get stolen by the Chinese or by others, that we have to recognize agreements have to be in our benefit, not just in their benefit." Is that an idiot exhibiting plain naiveté or cynical misleading of the public in how trade is conducted?<br /><br />In fact to a trained economic ear Guiliani made the best economic sense during the whole debate<br /><br />Rep. Hunter came across as the worst of them when it comes to economics. His take on "Good Business deals" sounds good superficially but makes for funny reading for anyone with the least amount of intelligence and idea of trade and economics.<br />Now who is Sen. Paul. He impressed me with his idea of domestic and foreign policy. His view of personal liberty seemed very anti-republican, he actually supports personal liberty!<br /><br />I'm also surprised that most of them know their Sunnis from their Shias!! :D.. Dubya certainly didn't nor did Cheney or Rumsfeld before they blundered on with their divide and conquer idea so catastrophically backfired on them. I mean I was 23 years old and knew even before the war started what the dumbfucks were going to do and how it was going to end for them!!<br /><br />Idiots that they are when it comes to policy making, they all come into their own when they talk about their toys. Centrifuges, preemptive, narrow-window, hot pursuit, strategic attack on weaponry are all terms and words that roll easily off the tongue. Except for sen. Paul. Sen. Paul (of Texas!!) comes across as deeply insightful and intelligent. So how come he attends the Republican debate? :D<br /><br /><br />Work in Progress :DNirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-39287522652405874102007-10-15T13:26:00.000+05:302007-10-16T19:05:49.912+05:30The Republican Debate - Surprised by Sin!!<a href="http://technorati.com/claim/3ph8pdtqhq" rel="me">Technorati Profile</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/us/politics/09debate-transcript.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=politics">The transcript of the Republican debate at nytimes.com</a><br /><br />I expected to be bored. I expected to be disgusted with conservative views on abortion, immigration, the church and other stuff but the first few minutes of the Republican debate were certainly a huge surprise. Irrespective of the fact that most of the republican hopefuls might in themselves be idiots of the first order (with the exception of maybe McCain, Guiliani and Romney), their advisors and speech writers are certainly first-class. That is to be expected from mostly millionaire conservatives but the way each of their opinions were tailored to appeal to middle class americans could blow a huge hole in Democrats' campaigns. Some of the republicans were actually talking protectionism, indirect sales tax as opposed to income tax... The approval ratings say that people look to democrats to managing the economy properly. The republicans have moved from being right-wing both socially and economics-wise to being simply social right-wingers. The current campaigns seem to be directed to get lost ground back.<br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/coJX03N64-A"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/coJX03N64-A" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />The republican's problem is not that they are careful about spending, that's just peachy. Its not that they support lower taxation, fills my heart with joy. The point is that they don't mind cutting spending for health insurance for poor children ( <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071003/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_children_s_health">the SCHIP expansion veto</a>) and cutting spending on public works for the average American which lead to incidents like the minneapolis bridge crash, the Katrina bungling etc. but don't think twice about spending on ramping up their testosterone in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in relatively peaceful central asia just to spite Russia or expanding patrolling in the malacca straits (for goodness sake!! what the hell does the US want to do there??)<br />Their lower taxation is first enjoyed by people with incomes >200000$ per annum and later by those with lower incomes. The higher your income the more you benefit i.e. the lesser you earn the lesser you benefit. And no, not in absolute terms; in percentage terms. Middle class americans pay an average of 30% of his/her income as tax while the hedge fund manager probably pays about 2 to 5% of his close-to-billion$ income, the average CEO pays about 15%. The more you earn the less you pay.<br /><br />Call me cynical but I think Republicans came up with the idea of indirect consumer taxation, which sounds like a leftist dream, because its easier to screw around with this supposed "fair tax" than with income tax. You can tax bread at 2% and Humvees at 20%. Sounds fair enough. But at the end of the day, everyone eats the same amount of bread (oh! organic bread will be taxed lower of course... guess who consumes organic, whole wheat bread fortified with omega oils?) but the middle class doesn't buy humvees. So a larger percentage of middle class income goes to buy the basics which are taxed at the same rate for everyone while the rich have more money to buy playthings with. In a republican regime, the consumption tax WILL be screwed around with to leave the likes of billionaire ranchers with more money in their hands.<br /><br />Even supposedly level-headed Guiliani goes "You can't possibly cut every tax, as I think Congressman Tancredo pointed out. You need money for police. You need money for military. But I cut, I think, as many taxes as you possibly could in that period of time.".. oh! he will cut every other tax.. cut every other spending but he wouldn't dream of cutting spending for the actual phallic tools of state control.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-84169751120666524422007-10-04T23:40:00.000+05:302007-10-15T16:00:40.500+05:30Why does Nancy Kress need just 40 pages to destroy Ayn Rand?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/BeggarsInSpain%281stEd%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/BeggarsInSpain%281stEd%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggars_in_Spain">Beggars in Spain</a> Book1 is all of 36 pages. 36 pages of unassuming science fiction literature.<br />Did Nancy Kress have a political stand? Does Beggars in Spain have a political agenda. No. It most certainly doesn't. Its starts out as a one of the three main types of science fiction. That which revolves around a singular invention/innovation/discovery that has intended/unintended consequences to a human/ alien or human/alien society and therein lies the story.<br />Does she have a long complex plot, a compelling hero, character building for innumerable characters, clear, dirty eminently hate-able villains or a clearly made out contemptible society?<br />Um... No, no, no, no and no.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4e/Fountainheadcover.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4e/Fountainheadcover.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />But in 36 unpretentious pages, Nancy Kress effectively destroys any and all argument that Ayn Rand builds over two best selling books, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, political support which came as a by product of vitriolic anti-russian opinion, celebrity endorsement and more than one foundation dedicated to her and Objectivism.<br />Now did Nancy ever actually want to do this? I should think not. I assume while she did express her heartfelt opinion, she certainly didn't intend it to be political philosophy.<br /><br />Beggars in Spain follows the life of "the Sleepless" , a group of genetically modified humans who do not need sleep and particularly Leisha Camden, one of the early Sleepless. They are modified by a group of geneticists who've come to the conclusion that sleep is an evolutionary leftover like tonsils and remove it with genetic modification. The resulting "Sleepless" are invariably intelligent because of the extra 12 hours of stimulation they get per day as children and the extra 8 hours of the day they have as adults. They are pragmatic and well-adjusted (some hormonal side-effect) and are all mostly followers of Yagaaism something that is very similar to Libertarianism.<br />Things come to a head when it is discovered that another "side-effect" of the turning off of the sleep gene is extremely efficient cell replacement in their bodies. i.e. they are effectively immortal. The Sleepless' pragmatism is confounded by the resistance and hatred they provoke in the normal population. They see themselves as an invaluable cog in the wheel of trade with a lot to offer to the world economy. But the Sleepers see the Sleepless less as cogs and more as a threat and replacement of normal human beings.<br />With increasing resistance culminating in the hate-killing of a Sleepless, the Sleepless move into an enclosure created by them for themselves called "Sanctuary". They cultivate hate for the Sleepers for their irrationality and their inability to match their prowess and refer to them as "Beggars".<br />The first book ends with it dawning on Leisha that the Beggars aren't really Beggars but are the receiving end of the economy because of context. Trade is not linear but conducted in an ecology where the beggars not only form an essential part but when the context changes, the Beggars may turn out to be the ones giving charity.<br /><br />Now why do I say that this destroys Ayn Rand?<br />1. Trade IS an ecology. It certainly isn't linear and depends on context. The context might change with changes in economic environment, physical environment, socio-cultural environment, evolution... any number of things. Rand's view of the economy is simplistic to the point of being laughable.<br />2. As with the Fountainhead, in "beggars in spain", the epitomes of libertarianism necessarily HAVE to be EXCEPTIONAL people. As with Roark an exceptional architect, the Sleepless have to have exceptional things to give to the economy to prove their point. Why? Why can't Rand have used an ordinary worker at a Detroit auto factory to prove her point? Because she can't. At least not the way she defines her "Objectivism". Objectivism has a helluva lot of problems than libertarianism. As she defines it, there can be only one person with one exceptional ability. There can only be one exceptional architect. If there are two the other will starve to death. One might argue that if the other offers an advantage by working twice as long as the other but has only 1/2 of the creative ability, the market will be given a choice. No! You're forgetting that the rest of the society is objectivist too. They will all see the same benefits. They will ALL choose the same architect. The other will still starve to death. We are also assuming that this architect who will build a good architecture consultancy will, on his retirement, give his business totally up to the next competent architect wherever he might be. (Don't ask me how the next architect arrives precisely at the time this guy retires as he would've died of starvation if he's arrived earlier and society will have to do without an architect if he arrives later) without ensuring nurturing his blood progeny instead.<br />3. A civilisation based on "objectivism" reverts to tribalistic society. Small groups of people each providing a service/product to each other that they do best and others cannot; as purely objectivistic society cannot exist in larger groups with competing resources of same competence. Consequentially, innovation and invention suffers as society needs multi-disciplinary individuals, multi disciplinary teams, many people of similar competences etc. to further technology, thought and philosophy.<br />I honestly don't believe that an objectivist society that celebrates selfishness and ego ever developing the steam engine much less sub-atomic physics or spacecraft.<br /> WORK IN PROGRESS :DNirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-81362605164204576692007-09-13T23:36:00.000+05:302007-09-14T00:58:29.686+05:30Talking of Gods... Mine would like to know you<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfYvphE0bn3CT55Y58KAR0W5pReHbdb7a7q_UG7P7kUjrHysDY17MuN4-KY6zK91Fz21ABp_r25IIe7unkbOP3I17mfiYtX_sH_MONP690nJQXzKjcVtkLySFOaMmWCZlT6sJiEd08pilT/s1600-h/630px-FSM_logo2.svg.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfYvphE0bn3CT55Y58KAR0W5pReHbdb7a7q_UG7P7kUjrHysDY17MuN4-KY6zK91Fz21ABp_r25IIe7unkbOP3I17mfiYtX_sH_MONP690nJQXzKjcVtkLySFOaMmWCZlT6sJiEd08pilT/s320/630px-FSM_logo2.svg.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5109752152879283090" border="0" /></a><br />LOOK UNTO ME AND TREMBLE...FOR...<br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">I</span> am the Pastafarian<br />I <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">am</span> the Pastafarian<br />I am <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">the</span> Pastafarian<br />I am the <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Pastafarian</span></span><br />rrraaaargghhhhh rowrrrrrr<br /><br />I have been said to be in the same lineage as Russel's Teapot. HOW DARE THEY!!! A pox of lifelong substance abuse on them. I AM THE PASTAFARIAN. I don't come from any "Lineage". I AM existence and to amuse me I brought you into existence. Also to keep me company, I also brought a daddy-o, wispy ghost and holy vodka into existence.<br /><br />I have been said to be related to a vague pink flying invisible unicorn. I scornthose who say that, I spit on them, I throw them in contempt of the court of Marinara Sauce. You dare relate me, the sacred PASTAFARIAN, to those superstitious fools? If the unicorn were invisible how do you know its pink? eh? Eh? EH??? TEll me thaTT!!! And they readily agree that the "both of us" (note the collective term... psyching me into their beliefs) are from "Russel's Teapot" and they are in fact the less dogmatic and hierarchical of the two. Of course they press the point with the Pink Unicorn Dearest Diary in one hand and a Uzi Submachine gun in the other.<br /><br />The Last Thurdayists have gone on record and called me just one of "God's Prophets" and their prophet is in fact the final prophet and theirs is the "Final Religion"... AAARRGHHH OWWWWRRRR... That's a lot of nerve for a god who took seven days not counting thursdays to create the world... I did it at the speed of thought.<br />(No Bill gates.. you cannot sue me for copyright infringement.. I am omnipotent.. and I'll move to Linux) And to show their hostility toward me, they ran my favourite RC controlled speedboats into my 20 story luxury yacht. Barbarians!! Is this how they get back at me for the innocent looting that I did in their little towns?<br /><br />Polytheistic religions? those pagans? they are pretty colourful.. I'll give it to them... I'll let you into a secret though.. you know when I'm twiddling my thumbs at my Holy Center of the Universe, Batty-can Metropolis, I created not just the daddy-o, wispy ghost and the holy vodka but also lotsa angels in yellow and black spandex. Then there are Supervisor Angels in red and black spandex, and four Pasta-favourite angels in (giggle) see-through spandex ;) . And to take care of you my little noodlisms, I've created 5120 Supermen. If you've mobile phone problems pray to your mobile phone superman before you pray to one of the angels. Don't bother me though, I'm still trying to create blue-yellow spandex. On top of that I've created gollums, smollums, cheery little hermaphrodites with wings that shoot expanding lead bullets at you to give you multiple orgasms, little people, large people et all. So there. We are every bit as colourful as those pagans with multiple gods and demigods and .. well .. whatever.<br />Onto my most gullible devotee, Nirmal...<br />(why do I use this tender, loving, sexy, genius's blog to express myself, you ask? Because you'd do good to be nice to him.. that's why.. I know that isn't a logical answer but my lines are supposed be read in-between too)<br /><br /> After that thrilling self-introduction (my spine is still tingling).. let all believers give THE PASTAFARIAN an "ooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyaaaayyyyyyy" in joy...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2004/11/06/hillsongworship_wideweb__430x286.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2004/11/06/hillsongworship_wideweb__430x286.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>"<span style="font-weight: bold;">ooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyaaaayyyyyyy</span>"<br />ok good enough.<br />Now.. our little helpers will pass around a petition that the Golden Quadrilateral intersects the Holy Village of GummiddiPoondi, which is of great historical importance to us Pastafarians (in the image of the IT) by virtue of being the point of the 2789th sighting of THE PASTAFARIAN. The government must cease and desist and resign for impinging upon our religious beliefs or we will resort to peaceful protests of burning government and private vehicles, government and private property and also peacefully harm a few Pink Unicornists in the cross-peaceful-fire. Please sign it or you will be sent to pasta hell with stale beer and strippers with HIV.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span>Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-34017735169993794752007-09-06T22:34:00.000+05:302007-09-07T09:31:20.082+05:30The Passing of GodsTwo of the world's most beautiful people, Gods in their own right, two of my favourite people among people I don't know personally passed on to be present only as memories, within a year of each other.<br /><br />I don't have the capacity or depth to eulogise them but I certainly love them enough to mourn their passing.<br /><br />James Brown, the Godfather of Soul became the stuff of memories on 25th of december 2006 and Luciano Pavarotti one of the greatest modern tenors did the same today the 6th of september 2007.<br /><br />"Sex Machine" will get my adrenaline going till I die and I'll lip synch with Pavarotti as he does "Volare", veins in my neck straining till I've got my hearing.<br /><br />I'm not particularly proud of the one time these two of my favourite musical stars came together on stage<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCIyzNISw1Q<br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VCIyzNISw1Q"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VCIyzNISw1Q" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br />:D but Pavarotti had this penchant for being "featured" with the greatest stars not that being "featured" meant he was second billed. As far as I know except for James Brown, Sinatra and Barry White, everyone else only had their thunder stolen by the tenor :D <br /><br />And no one will be particularly proud of "Yes, Giorgio", his one venture into movies.. more nominations for the Raspberry than anything else :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0113768/">James though had a few appearances, all of them reasonably successful. </a><br /><br />My favorite? <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338768/">Beat The Devil.</a>.. not your run of the mill appearance though<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADzTu2NM8Lg<br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ADzTu2NM8Lg"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ADzTu2NM8Lg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br />The clip also proves Clive Owen can't fake a laugh to save his life :D<br /><br />A life brilliantly and colourfully lived is something that binds them together. They are two of those who would encourage us to smile and remember them for lives well lived.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-78501482440344042972007-09-02T15:20:00.000+05:302007-10-15T18:04:15.206+05:30Guns Germs and Steel - History by a gemFinally!! I managed to finish one of the umpteen non-fiction stuff that I've bought since I've had the money to do so :D<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/Ggas_human_soc.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/Ggas_human_soc.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Its a superlative work on world history and the work and thought and research that has gone into this cult-ish book defies imagination. Jared Diamond has made it seem so easy to have done the work he has.<br />Jared has taken pains to establish the overwhelming influence of environment in who we are today and what we are today.<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel">Wikipedia Entry</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0393317552/ref=dp_proddesc_0/002-6305733-7182408?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books">Reviews @ Amazon</a><br />As it is, I think this book has come at the threshold of a time in which us humans no longer depend on environments to shape our futures. Maybe we do. But the influence of the environment has become less and less a shaping factor and this era is an inflexion point where it ceases to be overwhelming. Yet it certainly doesn't take away that our respective environments have been the defining causative bringing us to this threshold in the first place.<br /><br />There would've been a million .. billion ways we could've reached this threshold and even more ways that we never might've!! These thoughts blow away the mind. I might as well have read the seminal historic 13th Century BC work "Guns Germs and Steel" on a holographic nano-book on my way to Sirius by a historian Jared Diamond(Its is generally agreed that if it were not for the Catholic Church induced dark/middle ages, our history would've been fast forwarded by at least 8 centuries) or been a policeman speaking Mandarin in a gangster capitalist Chinese world looking for Khoisian African communists who follow the work !xobile or spitting a fowl over fire in my leather undies...<br /><br />But for accidents of geography, climate and local biology and to a lesser extent accidents of personality like Octavian who created the Roman Empire as we know it, Christ who created the most popular of religions, Muhammad who created a hugely popular alternative to Christ's, Copernicus who first stood up to the insecure and barbaric Catholic Church and created the spark of scientific temper that changed the world and delivered Europe from the dark ages, Columbus who by sheer enterprise made the world round, Newton who provided us with unified calculus which was seemingly useless until the 19th century showed its true potential, Marx who thought way ahead of his time and changed the history of the world by penning an ideal, Qin Shi Huang who unified China with an iron grip and made the Middle Kingdom look inward and thus effectively nixed what could've been the Chinese world than the English world ...etc.. so much of our world's history would've been different!<br />Jared also demolishes so many fondly held myths along the way... the principal of which is that of European or Eurasian superiority.<br />I've added this to the list of stuff that my kids HAVE to read (when I have them that is :D) along with both of Nehru's works and The Hindu :DNirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-15678258875908943432007-08-09T11:41:00.000+05:302007-08-18T00:00:09.242+05:30International Financial Center? BKC, has a long way to goNestled uncomfortably right in the middle of <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/world/06/dharavi_slum/html/dharavi_slum_intro.stm">Asia's largest slum</a> is this little gleaming island of glass, steel, concrete and actually not much else.<br />Its one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the world. Its supposed to be the fount from which Mumbai will stake its position as an International Financial Center. Its supposedly beautiful. Its actually pretty filthy, tacky, uncomfortable and quite ... well... unimpressive. 15 minutes from two of the busiest suburban railway stations in Mumbai, Bandra and Kurla, lies this hope of emancipation from endemic congestion - the Bandra Kurla Complex.<br />The old section of BKC, which consists of 80's offices is well thought out, beautifully laid out and is incredibly comfortable for the Mumbai denizens who work there, though the buoildings look seedy, worn down and the usual above-vindhyas charactreristic - painted red with paan. There are shopping areas, parks, wide pathways and good connectivity to the Bandra and Kurla stations.<br /><br />Which is more than what can be said for the new area on the other side of the Mithi river. Filled with buildings that started out ambitious and ended up looking tacky and pretentious, we have huge buildings which seek to look like skyscrapers ....with seven floors, lots of cheap glass, aluminium lining and flaky concrete.<br /><br />The only buildings that escape the general cheapness are the IL&FS building (where thankfully, I work) and the ICICI building.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPxQc0fh8crB5_KVAV5S5zLtYCFVm6K2u3NxMPvc7WOnh_OZ326DJhbPN9XhBIVVqKU4BlfF01ZTy_9Uu29-Kqy5edc-OEC5Byk4Z7KNM8YwYRDIH5yW6b9sHYY3yMOQ_TNJxlxDN02Ha_/s1600-h/icici-mumbai.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPxQc0fh8crB5_KVAV5S5zLtYCFVm6K2u3NxMPvc7WOnh_OZ326DJhbPN9XhBIVVqKU4BlfF01ZTy_9Uu29-Kqy5edc-OEC5Byk4Z7KNM8YwYRDIH5yW6b9sHYY3yMOQ_TNJxlxDN02Ha_/s320/icici-mumbai.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5099711402996693042" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLltmlvJnbQ4nmjUfHC7tzdDJK9m5ZFWRIWrhoshetjTrAUCisZvp8siYNBvTFpXdDwe4FucA8lKmegPNxqppRaMSQ92Vt8Kuw0MLe2EPMJzKZJ-p1AxeMMR_K1OZ0VjLeMt4wBVFzDir9/s1600-h/ilfs-bandra.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLltmlvJnbQ4nmjUfHC7tzdDJK9m5ZFWRIWrhoshetjTrAUCisZvp8siYNBvTFpXdDwe4FucA8lKmegPNxqppRaMSQ92Vt8Kuw0MLe2EPMJzKZJ-p1AxeMMR_K1OZ0VjLeMt4wBVFzDir9/s320/ilfs-bandra.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5099711042219440162" border="0" /></a><br /><br />There are no stores to get stuff before you go home, the buses are way crowded by the time they get here, there being only 3 stops and 2 routes for a complex that hopes to be the destination for tens of thousands, even hundreds , no park to have a quiet lunch or post-lunch stroll. There are no great places nearby to take guests to dinner to, just a cramped ol Subway and a CCD tucked away in petrol stations. One of the routes into BKC takes you through one of the most desperate slums I've ever seen. You thought only newspaper guys got these tricked up angles where they juxtapose poverty with affluence. Here you see it with no tricky angles.<br />As a Business District, BKC has started out as quite a farce. But it should hopefully get better. A business district isn't made exclusively of glass offices and more glass offices with the perfunctory conference/exhibition complex.<br /><br />Planners should've learned from the costly mistakes of Canary Wharf (which thankfully redeemed itself) and La Defense which is a ghost town after 6 pm despite being so beautiful.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKClYFOunaFEGaojisj3TJ8m477wAbveENLIIcylZbXyI8UutXjPbrRWYl3Z4jbQ4k6fkj3aGbHPjmi6kHRfJbeRp-PP8JyKRnIh1MLzdIYBWw9uFsCHrF3ecVKGrQrllwtW_cBaepjhDo/s1600-h/CBX.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKClYFOunaFEGaojisj3TJ8m477wAbveENLIIcylZbXyI8UutXjPbrRWYl3Z4jbQ4k6fkj3aGbHPjmi6kHRfJbeRp-PP8JyKRnIh1MLzdIYBWw9uFsCHrF3ecVKGrQrllwtW_cBaepjhDo/s320/CBX.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5099722677285845122" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> <br /><br /></span><span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_D%C3%A9fense"> </a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_D%C3%A9fense">La Defense, Paris--></a><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZA8_-0-gf48rlETf4-hJ6rqv96xFDLZz6bOUxsT_iHB8g4nbyD8TfenwwjqtudUxFM48B8DZK7ctlu6VAJ0MYNQxcPfUm5xci-n9SpWfZvo9K0gaWrn3-tfRaNaCxgFI4Gtzy5PxzD9b0/s1600-h/Canary_Wharf_London.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 237px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZA8_-0-gf48rlETf4-hJ6rqv96xFDLZz6bOUxsT_iHB8g4nbyD8TfenwwjqtudUxFM48B8DZK7ctlu6VAJ0MYNQxcPfUm5xci-n9SpWfZvo9K0gaWrn3-tfRaNaCxgFI4Gtzy5PxzD9b0/s320/Canary_Wharf_London.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5099717927052015682" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Wharf"><--Canary Wharf, London</a></span><br />It takes far more thought to make a successful business district. Levent in Istanbul being a surprising but beautiful example as is AZCA in Madrid.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWNY65zFwoKwN49vRBb5GvBLo40NvimEdpFBy-YMdAvkaTIc0e9o3s5IynLjaRTij3zJ0OULIxg9TVtCFoFgEej3Lf2ud_lN6hDhgK_m1tv0KGZlx5IJZ5h-vgf2V7iDYSWRKHGgj1qq0u/s1600-h/800px-Madrid_-_Skyline_desde_Juan_de_Ol%C3%ADas_01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWNY65zFwoKwN49vRBb5GvBLo40NvimEdpFBy-YMdAvkaTIc0e9o3s5IynLjaRTij3zJ0OULIxg9TVtCFoFgEej3Lf2ud_lN6hDhgK_m1tv0KGZlx5IJZ5h-vgf2V7iDYSWRKHGgj1qq0u/s320/800px-Madrid_-_Skyline_desde_Juan_de_Ol%C3%ADas_01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5099719881262135410" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM0cjPGgOkEgMBFakjNr_0uhdtB4NV_Bv4hZonn2H_9bhUPXlLxijfjelAlwZZmOPMfU19AhdxKlTz0epAdknqoJwMt1MHRIv44xMI73QdaeKPcvJJ3FHcT_5fDn5brEPuR2zjYLG1R1Fe/s1600-h/Metrocity_Levent_Istanbul.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM0cjPGgOkEgMBFakjNr_0uhdtB4NV_Bv4hZonn2H_9bhUPXlLxijfjelAlwZZmOPMfU19AhdxKlTz0epAdknqoJwMt1MHRIv44xMI73QdaeKPcvJJ3FHcT_5fDn5brEPuR2zjYLG1R1Fe/s320/Metrocity_Levent_Istanbul.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5099719589204359266" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azca">AZCA, Madrid</a></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><br /><br /> </span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azca"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Levent, Istanbul</span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7564193898947073548.post-5185615179737638952007-07-25T23:37:00.000+05:302007-09-07T09:26:43.565+05:30Consumerist environmentalism? HypocricismThe Ad says it all "Is your home green? Want it to be?...moderng*eenliv*ng.com... my house is smarter than yours"!!<br />http://www.lazyenvironmentalist.com/<br />Hemp t-shirts, holidays in eco-forests (what are those, aren't all forests "eco"?), biodiesel cars ( don't they pollute as much and increase food prices to top it off?).. take your pick, just pay a premium for the "green" tag.<br /><br />Married with so ubiquitous a consumerist society that we don't even see the hypocrisy or irony of our actions. What can you do to save the environment? "Buy a Prius" it seems. I got this sarcastic soundbite from an article on the freegans in the NYT<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/21/garden/21freegan.html?_r=1&oref=login">Freegans in urban United States</a><br />The freegans are a community that basically lives off the fringes and throw-aways of a consumerist society<br />Umm... I certainly wouldn't meet them even half-way in terms of opinion but they certainly have a point.<br /><br />One might easily be tempted to call the freegans parasites but they aren't. That they CAN live off cities' refuse doesn't mean they have to. Their way of living is sustainable and scalable to a point. In an enabled environment, they can immediately move to locally produced food and environmentally friendly housing, furniture and other items for living made within the community. And at its peak they might resemble some sort of a marriage between the Amish and Marx in a modern and liberal setting. While the majority seem to lean far far away into the left, you can see that they're educated, middle class younger people who're not doing these to be parasitic but to reduce the impact of society on the environment. My understanding of this comes from as simple a gesture as sharing the half full bottle of tide down the line insead of hoarding it. And while the left is always at the forefront of such campaigns, everyone can in fact be partly freegan simply by watching what you throw out and watching what you buy. Given that the fashion world couldn't possibly survive if people don't throw out last season's clothes or the automobile industry or the electronics industry... developed countries especially can build better, tighter reduce, reuse, recycle regimens.<br /><br />I don't buy the argument of "exploiting resources" though. There is a certain price we pay for being who we are. Physics experiments take up enough electricity that could power cities for a whole year in minutes... are we gonna stop progress in physics then? How about stopping space exploration, the billions of tons of fuel that go up in...well .. smoke? Or giving up progress in nano technology, metals and materials, even garment technology because we don't like nuclear technology? Fashion stimulates and so does research in finance.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/fashion/06made.html">Another example of popular consumerism masquerading as environmentalism</a><br />Are people so stupid that the don't understand that globalisation is so entrenched that even if the t-shirt says "Made in Downtown LA", the cotton comes from Egypt, the dye from China and the rubber for printing from Malaysia and its worse to import all these including that large percentage which will inevitably be waste. Moreover its economically harmful for poorer countries if you import the raw materials and export finished goods and that is a throwback to colonial imperialist times?<br /><br />Instead people with a voice can lobby for better public transport, faster and better trains instead of letting airlines proliferate, policy toward de-centralisation of the food market and encouraging local foods, policy that favours power from renewable energy, advertisements directed at children etc.... These issues do not restrict the pro effects of capitalism such as enablement of entrepreneurship but help reduce the irresponsible consumerist aspect of capitalism.Nirmalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200668415971332560noreply@blogger.com1