I and my office colleagues had a very nice, fun and food-filled year end party yesterday evening. We spent our time in a bowling alley and a restaurant in the hot, entertainment district of Bangalore - Brigade Road and Church Street. After knowing the money spent for 21 people which was around Rs.13000, I was pondering on a not very uncommon question, "Is this India?". One of my colleague often says, "This (Bangalore) is not India". I just had turned this statement into interrogation. I doubt this can be claimed - "India".
This would not have thought about it, if I had not glanced a few pages of the book "Everybody loves a good draught" by P. Sainath. I wish, we be informed of the facts, even though not analyse. Below are some excerpts from this book,
On Tendu leaf-collectors of Surguja district in MP - "For each gadda (bundle) of fifty leaves, the leaf-collector gets 30 paise. If Puthuli manages a hundred gaddas a day, she will have earned Rs.30. In the early days of the season, she averages between eighty and hundred gaddas daily. Only very rarely can she put together more than a hundred gaddas"
On labourers rather slaves of Bolangir district of orissa and vizianagaramdistrict of AP - "Almost all the laboureres are migrants from the Kalahandi-Nuapada and Bolangir areaas of Orissa. They are trying to escape hunger at home - by slaving at brick kilns in AP. Adolescent labourers stagger out of the pit, carrying around 20 kg of bricks towards the stocking area, passing an old man simply unable to cope with the 45 kg of bricks he is lugging. The bodies of all those working here are caked in a film of brick dust that re-appears within minutes of wiping it off. Many have developed rasping cough, apart from less visible but no less dangerous respiratory problems. Each brick he carries, weighs about two and a half kilos and he carries twenty of them. In the course of the day, he could make forty-five trips between pit and yard - a distance of 25 to 50 metres depending on which end of the stocking area he is headed for. And he'd be lugging along 45 kg on every trip. Each carrier does this with a half-running goose-step of a gait. They maintain this sort of rhythm to avoid dropping the bricks and to be able to do the required number of trips. When the old man with or without the aid of his family members has lifted nearly two tonnes of bricks in this manner, they earn around nine rupees."
(Note: Sentences not in same sequence as they appear in the book)
My pondering last night, involved some basic mathematics. We had spent roughly Rs.600 per person for entertainment and food, though not for hunger. To earn this money the brick kiln labourer quoted above would have to carry 133 tonnes of brick on his shoulder, or to put it the other way, he would have to lug for 65 days to earn this. To earn the same money the leaf-collector would have to collect 2000 gaddas or 100000 leaves, almost breaking her back.
when ever in the past I came across some one (mostly westerners and media) mentioning India as a Third world country, my ego wouldn't have been silent. But with such facts, I think I should rather go by the reality, rather than pride.
'Pondering' is effortless. But 'Only Pondering' is meaningless...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Respect - Ingredient of the Soil
Does this topic make any sense? Obviously not, in the logical mind. Even not for me, until I realised it before a few days.
Major part of my life had been spent around Coimbatore - the ancient Chera kingdom. My birth place and my native place is in the ancient Pandya kingdom. The languages spoken in these two parts of current Tamilnadu are distinctly seperate. This was the only thing I observed all these years and of course having lived so many years I had inherited a large part of Coimbatore language. Though, I had heard from various sources that these sect of people from the ancient Chera kingdom express their respect in their language itself, I had not observed it so keenly as I was a part of the sect before I migrated to various places for my occupation. I had lived in different parts of India. Few worth-mentioning Tamizh speaking parts are Tiruchirappalli, Pudukkottai and Chennai. More to this I had the opportunity to listen to almost all flavours of Tamizh during my under graduation years.
Recently, I visited Coimbatore after a long gap. Due to the feel of various dialects of Tamizh that I have had earlier, I analysed their language to a greater depth, this time. It was so sweet and soothing. These people not only express respect in their language, as I had been told earlier, they also express kindness. I would like to quote one of the incidents that made me say this. I was travelling in the city bus to an unknown location. I was not aware of the exact fare. So, I gave the conductor Rs.10. The actual fare was Rs.6. While giving the ticket, the conductor asked "oru ruva irukaang saami?". Due to my limitation in English, I could not directly translate it. But, apart from the fact that it was full of respect, it was very very kind, which is not a common trait found among the city bus conductors. If a bus conductor could speak so sweet, I could imagine the extent of respect and kindness these people offer to others.
This is apparently not taught in school. It could only be an ingredient of Chera soil, where these people are born and are living. After writing so much about this language, it would not be fair enough to finish the topic without mentioning that, the language is called "Kongu Tamizh" and this soil is called "Kongnadu".
Major part of my life had been spent around Coimbatore - the ancient Chera kingdom. My birth place and my native place is in the ancient Pandya kingdom. The languages spoken in these two parts of current Tamilnadu are distinctly seperate. This was the only thing I observed all these years and of course having lived so many years I had inherited a large part of Coimbatore language. Though, I had heard from various sources that these sect of people from the ancient Chera kingdom express their respect in their language itself, I had not observed it so keenly as I was a part of the sect before I migrated to various places for my occupation. I had lived in different parts of India. Few worth-mentioning Tamizh speaking parts are Tiruchirappalli, Pudukkottai and Chennai. More to this I had the opportunity to listen to almost all flavours of Tamizh during my under graduation years.
Recently, I visited Coimbatore after a long gap. Due to the feel of various dialects of Tamizh that I have had earlier, I analysed their language to a greater depth, this time. It was so sweet and soothing. These people not only express respect in their language, as I had been told earlier, they also express kindness. I would like to quote one of the incidents that made me say this. I was travelling in the city bus to an unknown location. I was not aware of the exact fare. So, I gave the conductor Rs.10. The actual fare was Rs.6. While giving the ticket, the conductor asked "oru ruva irukaang saami?". Due to my limitation in English, I could not directly translate it. But, apart from the fact that it was full of respect, it was very very kind, which is not a common trait found among the city bus conductors. If a bus conductor could speak so sweet, I could imagine the extent of respect and kindness these people offer to others.
This is apparently not taught in school. It could only be an ingredient of Chera soil, where these people are born and are living. After writing so much about this language, it would not be fair enough to finish the topic without mentioning that, the language is called "Kongu Tamizh" and this soil is called "Kongnadu".
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Why not Science
Science and Philosophy is same under some context. Science is the 'study of creation'. Philosophy is the 'study of creator'. There are very few people working whole-heartedly in both these two. Let me analyse the reason for decreased count of people in the field of science. One of the major reason is science requires a huge insight and questioning about the topic under test. Lets see about this insight and questioning at a later point. Before that lets see where the man power is concentrated. Its all towards technology and selling it. Technology is nothing but a way to make money out of already known science. Almost entire manpower is towards money through technology. This is a fake fancy that world offers. But there is life behind this fancy world also. Every fancy thing can satisfy the senses, not the soul. Soul satisfaction is achieved only by the real. Think of a thing at this point - Science has not grown the way technology has grown in the past few years. In this topic, I would like to discuss some factors and reasons for the above.
Lets start with questioning and insight. I think if everyone was a kid, then science would have grown a long way. Science always need these 'Whys and Hows' for its development, which are only asked by a kid in our society. Even you and I had these questions during our childhood. Where have these gone? Have we got answers for all the questions that we had? Not exactly. There is a big burial ground made in every one's mind by the good, great architects of our society. By architects, I mean our parents, teachers and all our mentors. There are exceptions in the world for every statement. But they cant be considered as example. If a child questions a teacher in the kindergarten or his/her parents, most of the times they don't have answers, because either they never had this question or they were never answered. They are not ready to get defeated by this question of a small kid, which in their sense does not know as much as they know. So, they are forced to apply the authority over the child. Child cant do anything more than subsiding. This is the first shovel of sand for making the burial ground. As the same happens, time and again, child ceases to question. Surely, if the same question pops up in the mind of a grown-up, well educated man or a woman, it would end up in a new discovery. I would like to substantiate the claim with an experience. After my graduation, when I was teaching a child of 7th standard about light, that kid asked me so many questions that I could not answer. The question was 'How light travels in Vacuum? How is the energy transfer happening in Vacuum?'. I really could not answer these questions. I know this was some kind of defeat for me. I could have just told that these are laws and are already proven (which was what I heard most often from my school teachers). Then it means I had my contribution in burying the child's ability to question. I had to search a lot for answers and got the kid in touch with a person who had specifically studied optics. Here two good things happen. When you are unable to answer the kid's question, the kid feels that he has defeated you in intellect. This boosts his morale. When you answer him after searching a lot, he feels encouraged to search for solutions.
Another thing thing to observe here is the way science is being taught in schools. Whenever there is an unanswerable question to a teacher, the he tells you that it is an assumption or a law. There are no un-meaningful assumptions in the scientific arena. This concept is created in the high schools. The student grows up and whenever he comes across a difficult part of derivation, he starts assuming with no meaning behind it.
Next thing is the way we read scientific concepts and laws. When we come across a law, we blindly follow that. We need to remember one thing, "Every law is not always right". Growth of science stops under this mentality. If Neil Bohr has had this mentality, there is no Bohr atom model. Even we can be another Bohr. All it needs is to argue against the existing law, no matter however great the person had made it. Another observation is to be made here. Suppose Einstein or Newton was publishing a law or a concept. They were considered one of the great intellects of their times. So not except a few equal intellects would have questioned the fact. So, there are probabilities that they were(are) wrong. So, we need to be bold to go against them. May be we are wrong. But there are always truth behind wrong things. If theft is considered as a wrong thing, there are always truths like poverty and illiteracy. Only after the wrong things called the theft has happened, these truths could be probed and the standard of living could be improved. So, even if we were wrong, someone will head to the right solution because of us.
Next is the herd instinct, especially in the Indian society. Nobody wants to be individualistic. Everyone wants to be in the center of the herd. Science needs different ways and openings for the a single problem. Due to this herd instinct so many openings are shut down and everyone heads to the same solution. Staying with the herd, for many people has an advantage that they don't run the risk of exposing their ignorance. If one departs from the herd, then he will be asked to explain why he has departed. He has to offer the detailed justifications and his understanding of the subject will be criticised. Once among the herd, the originality is lost. Greatness of Socrates came to light only after his death. He opposed the whole society and great political figures, because he knew he was right.
Above all that discussed above, there are two things called patience and perseverance which is required for the scientific community. These two things are rarely found in youth. Think of great minds like Thomas Alva Edison and William Roentgen, the patience they had during the experimentation. Achieving the goal is not always simple and quick. Once in my college computer science department, I saw a quote, "Success without difficulty is triumph without glory". Every difficult success, discovery, solution is difficult and requires patience and perseverance.
India has a lot of intellectuals who complain about the lack of infrastructure in the country. I ask every one of them, "What do we need more than the convoluted flesh lying inside our cranium"? It can do wonders. It can face any challenge and find a solution for that which no other animals can. This is one reason why evolution has stopped. Human brain is so powerful to make the humankind, creators themselves (AI, Robots). Lack of infrastructure in the country cant justify the lack of scientific growth.
With all this writing I only want to increase the interest of the youngsters towards science, without which technology is not there. We should remember that money cant buy everything like attitude, mentality, desire all that is needed for success. Its a fake that can buy only the fancies of the world. So, to do something great, we need to think big and come out of the herd. Everyone is sent to this world for some purpose, which is apparently not money. Whenever the mind and soul finds peace and satisfaction in doing something, that should be the real purpose for which we had been sent for. Holding the purpose and carrying on would fetch us the light at the end of the tunnel. For some, the tunnel is short, for some the tunnel is long. Some travel with high velocity to reach fast, some travel with less velocity to reach slow. But everyone can reach it and feel the light.
Lets start with questioning and insight. I think if everyone was a kid, then science would have grown a long way. Science always need these 'Whys and Hows' for its development, which are only asked by a kid in our society. Even you and I had these questions during our childhood. Where have these gone? Have we got answers for all the questions that we had? Not exactly. There is a big burial ground made in every one's mind by the good, great architects of our society. By architects, I mean our parents, teachers and all our mentors. There are exceptions in the world for every statement. But they cant be considered as example. If a child questions a teacher in the kindergarten or his/her parents, most of the times they don't have answers, because either they never had this question or they were never answered. They are not ready to get defeated by this question of a small kid, which in their sense does not know as much as they know. So, they are forced to apply the authority over the child. Child cant do anything more than subsiding. This is the first shovel of sand for making the burial ground. As the same happens, time and again, child ceases to question. Surely, if the same question pops up in the mind of a grown-up, well educated man or a woman, it would end up in a new discovery. I would like to substantiate the claim with an experience. After my graduation, when I was teaching a child of 7th standard about light, that kid asked me so many questions that I could not answer. The question was 'How light travels in Vacuum? How is the energy transfer happening in Vacuum?'. I really could not answer these questions. I know this was some kind of defeat for me. I could have just told that these are laws and are already proven (which was what I heard most often from my school teachers). Then it means I had my contribution in burying the child's ability to question. I had to search a lot for answers and got the kid in touch with a person who had specifically studied optics. Here two good things happen. When you are unable to answer the kid's question, the kid feels that he has defeated you in intellect. This boosts his morale. When you answer him after searching a lot, he feels encouraged to search for solutions.
Another thing thing to observe here is the way science is being taught in schools. Whenever there is an unanswerable question to a teacher, the he tells you that it is an assumption or a law. There are no un-meaningful assumptions in the scientific arena. This concept is created in the high schools. The student grows up and whenever he comes across a difficult part of derivation, he starts assuming with no meaning behind it.
Next thing is the way we read scientific concepts and laws. When we come across a law, we blindly follow that. We need to remember one thing, "Every law is not always right". Growth of science stops under this mentality. If Neil Bohr has had this mentality, there is no Bohr atom model. Even we can be another Bohr. All it needs is to argue against the existing law, no matter however great the person had made it. Another observation is to be made here. Suppose Einstein or Newton was publishing a law or a concept. They were considered one of the great intellects of their times. So not except a few equal intellects would have questioned the fact. So, there are probabilities that they were(are) wrong. So, we need to be bold to go against them. May be we are wrong. But there are always truth behind wrong things. If theft is considered as a wrong thing, there are always truths like poverty and illiteracy. Only after the wrong things called the theft has happened, these truths could be probed and the standard of living could be improved. So, even if we were wrong, someone will head to the right solution because of us.
Next is the herd instinct, especially in the Indian society. Nobody wants to be individualistic. Everyone wants to be in the center of the herd. Science needs different ways and openings for the a single problem. Due to this herd instinct so many openings are shut down and everyone heads to the same solution. Staying with the herd, for many people has an advantage that they don't run the risk of exposing their ignorance. If one departs from the herd, then he will be asked to explain why he has departed. He has to offer the detailed justifications and his understanding of the subject will be criticised. Once among the herd, the originality is lost. Greatness of Socrates came to light only after his death. He opposed the whole society and great political figures, because he knew he was right.
Above all that discussed above, there are two things called patience and perseverance which is required for the scientific community. These two things are rarely found in youth. Think of great minds like Thomas Alva Edison and William Roentgen, the patience they had during the experimentation. Achieving the goal is not always simple and quick. Once in my college computer science department, I saw a quote, "Success without difficulty is triumph without glory". Every difficult success, discovery, solution is difficult and requires patience and perseverance.
India has a lot of intellectuals who complain about the lack of infrastructure in the country. I ask every one of them, "What do we need more than the convoluted flesh lying inside our cranium"? It can do wonders. It can face any challenge and find a solution for that which no other animals can. This is one reason why evolution has stopped. Human brain is so powerful to make the humankind, creators themselves (AI, Robots). Lack of infrastructure in the country cant justify the lack of scientific growth.
With all this writing I only want to increase the interest of the youngsters towards science, without which technology is not there. We should remember that money cant buy everything like attitude, mentality, desire all that is needed for success. Its a fake that can buy only the fancies of the world. So, to do something great, we need to think big and come out of the herd. Everyone is sent to this world for some purpose, which is apparently not money. Whenever the mind and soul finds peace and satisfaction in doing something, that should be the real purpose for which we had been sent for. Holding the purpose and carrying on would fetch us the light at the end of the tunnel. For some, the tunnel is short, for some the tunnel is long. Some travel with high velocity to reach fast, some travel with less velocity to reach slow. But everyone can reach it and feel the light.
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