ಗುಳೇಹೋದವರು

ಬಯಲುಸೀಮೆಯ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರು ಬರಗಾಲ ಬ೦ದಾಗ ಬೇರೇ ಸೀಮೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಗುಳೇಹೋಗುವುದು ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲೊ೦ದು. ಆದರೆ ಅಷ್ಟೊ೦ದು ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯವಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೂ ಆರ್ಥಿಕ ಸಧೃಢತೆಯ ಬೆನ್ನತ್ತಿ ಪೇಟೆ ಪಟ್ಟಣಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೋಗುವುದು ಈಗಿನ ಪದ್ದತಿ. ಇನ್ನು ಕೆಲವೇವರ್ಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಶೇಕಡಾ ೩೦ರಷ್ಟುಜನ ಪೇಟೆಸೇರುವಸಾಧ್ಯತೆ ಇದೆಯ೦ತೆ ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ.

ಹಳತನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಕಳೆದುಕೊ೦ಡ ಬೇಸರ, ಹೊಸತೇನೇನೋ ಬೇಕೆ೦ಬ ದುರಾಸೆ, ಯೇನೇನೋ ಸಾಧಿಸಿದ್ದೇವೆ೦ಬ ಜ೦ಬ. ಇವೆಲ್ಲರ ಮಿಶ್ರಣನಮ್ಮಬದುಕು: ಮಹತ್ವಾಕಾ೦ಕ್ಷೆಗೆಬಲಿಬಿದ್ದ ಬೆ೦ಕಿಹುಳಗಳು. ಸಾಧನೆ ಸಾಪೇಕ್ಷ ಸ್ವಾಮೀ! ಸಾಧ್ನೆಗೂ ಸಮಾಧಾನಕ್ಕೂ ಇರುವ ಸ೦ಭ೦ಧ ಕೆಸವಿನೆಲೆಗೂ ನೀರಹನಿಗೂ ಇರುವ ಸ೦ಭ೦ಧಕ್ಕಿ೦ತಲೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚೇನೂ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಸಾಧನೆಗಾಗಿ ಜೀವನವೇ ಜೀವನಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಸಾಧನೆಯೇ? ಇದು ನಮ್ಮ ಪುರ೦ದದಾಸರು, "ನೀ ಮಾಯೆಯೊಳಗೋ ನಿನ್ನೊಳು ಮಾಯೆಯೋ" ಅ೦ದಹಾಗಾಯ್ತು.

ಯಾವ ಜೀವನದ ಗುಣಮಟ್ಟ ಹೆಚ್ಚು? ಅಬ್ಬಿ ನೀರಿಗೆ ತಲೆಕೊಟ್ಟು ತಣ್ಣೀರ ಸ್ನಾನ ಮಾಡಿ, ನೇರಳೆ ಮರವೇರಿ, ಬಣ್ಣತು೦ಬಿದ ಬಾಯ್ತೆಗೆದು, ಊರಪಕ್ಷಿನೋಟದ ಬೆಳಕುತುಳುಕುವ ಕಣ್ರೆಪ್ಪೆಯಾಟದ ಸೊಗಸುತು೦ಬಿದ ಜೀವನವೇ? ಹೆಸರರಿಯದಹಣ್ಣುಗಳ್ಹುಟ್ಟುವುದು ಮರದಲ್ಲೋ ಮಟ್ಟಿಯಲ್ಲೋ ಗೊತ್ತಿರದೇ ಮುಚ್ಚಿದ ಗೂಡಿನಡಿಕೂತು ಮ೦ಜುಮುಸಿಕಿಮಬ್ಬಾದ ಕಾಣದೂರ ಕತ್ತಲಾವರಿಸಿದ ಕಣ್ಣಿಗಾದ ಜ್ನಾನೋದಯದಲ್ಲೋ? ಓಹೋ, ಹಣ್ಣಿನಲ್ಲಲ್ಲಾ, ಸವಿಯಿರುವುದು ಸಡರಗದಲ್ಲಿ. ಜಿಮರು ಮಳೆ ತೂಕಡಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗ ಹುರಿದ ಹಲಸಿನ ಬೀಜ, ಅಜ್ಜಿ ಕಾಸಲು ಹಾಕಿದ ಹೊಡಚಲು, ಅಮ್ಮ ಮಾಡಿದ ಬೂದಬಾಳೆ ತುಪ್ಪದ ದೋಸೆ, ಅಪ್ಪ ಕುಡುಗಿಟ್ಟ ಕ೦ಬಳಿ ಕೊಪ್ಪೆ, ನಾಗರಪ೦ಚಮಿಯ ಗೌರಿದ೦ಟಿನ ಪಾಟೀ ಅಳಿಸುವ ಖುಷಿ, ಮಳೆಗಾಲದ ಯೆಳೆ ಹುಣಸೆ, ಸುರಿವಮಳೆ ಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇಲಿಗೆ ಬಿದಿರು ಕಡಿಯುವ ಮಜಾ, ಒ೦ದೇ ಎರಡೇ?

ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಯ ಅಮಲಿನಲ್ಲಿರುವನಾವು ಕಲಿಯಬೇಕಾದ್ದು ಧೈನ್ಯ, ತಿಳಿದಿದ್ದನ್ನ ತಿಳಿಸಿ ಗೊತ್ತಿರದ್ದನ್ನ ಕಲಿಯುವ ಕಳಕಳಿ, ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳನ್ನ ಅವರೇನೆ೦ದು ಗಮನಿಸದೇ ಗೌರವಿಸುವ ಆದರ. ಈ ಜೀವನ ಓಟದ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಯೆ೦ದರೂ ಹಲವರು ಹಲವಾರು ಯೋಜನ ಮು೦ದಿನಿಂದ ಓಡಲು ಆರ೦ಭಿಸಿದವರು, ಹಲವರು ಬಹಳ ಹಿ೦ದಿನಿಂದ ಓಡುತ್ತಿರುವವರು ಎ೦ಬ ತಿಳುವಳಿಕೆ.

ಊರಿಗೆ ಹೂದಾಗ ಯೆಲ್ಲರೂ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದು, "ಏಯ್ ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಯಿದ್ದುಬಿಡಡ್ದೋ, ಬಾರೋ ಮಾರಾಯಾ ವಾಪಾಸು!". ನಮಗೆ ನಾವು ಪ್ರಯೋಜಕರಾಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇವೆಯೋ ಇಲ್ಲವೋ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ, ಆದರೆ ಈಸ್ವಾರ್ಥ ಸಾಧನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇರೆಯವರಿಗೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪವಾದರು ಸಹಕಾರ ನಮ್ಮಿ೦ದಾಗಬಹುದೆ೦ಬ ಮಸುಕು ಆಶಯ! ಗುಳೇಹೋದವರಲ್ಲವೇ ನಾವು? ಯೆಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಸಲ್ಲದವರು ಇನ್ನೆಲ್ಲಿ ಸಲ್ಲುವರಯ್ಯಾ ಚನ್ನಮಲ್ಲಿಕಾರ್ಜುನಾ?

ರಾಗು ಕಟ್ಟಿನಕೆರೆ

ಪ್ರೇರಣೆ: ಕೇಶವ ಕುಲ್ಕರ್ಣಿಯವರು.

Shooting Dogs

Shooting Dogs is a movie about Rwandan Tutsi genocide of 1994. There is a video here about it if you want to know.

Recently a group from Amnesty international showed a documentary on Uganda spate of children in Uganda: Invisible Children. Here is another country in shambles: Haiti. A story of generosity of an US installed government. And here is some more info.

There are people out there who live by eating rain flies!

We the great proud Indians believe that there is no slavery. Watch the video here: girls are being enslaved and trafficked. The brothers of brothels. Watch the third part.

I thought my neighbouring villages were poor oh man. I am damn rich and safe. Well, so much for Christmas! Shall we say happy Christmas?

Oh I forgot to add something. We are the nation with highest number of HIV infected individuals and our penises are shorter compared to international standards, read here: we need smaller condoms! My guess is right then :). I will end by adding a hilarious comment by one of the men interviewed "It's not size, it's what you do with it that matters"

By the way do not forget Haiti, Rwanda, Uganda and Indian brothels. Search and read more about them.
~rAGU

Information Pollution

Power is a famous metaphor for information! Very nice metaphor indeed; nothing can suite better.
Unscheduled power cuts are not uncommon, so are spikes that kill electrical instruments. If you have not sensed already what follows the prelude, it is about the lack and the abundance of information, we are surounded with.

From Nyaya school of Indian philosophy to reviewers of scientific papers have worried about the source and soundness of knowledge(Epistemology). As more information becomes accesible it is getting harder and harder to distinguish between so called information and misinformation. Even when we neglect the realm of opinionated information, we are left with a huge pool to look for authentic information. I use the word "authentic" to mean "that which is the outcome of genuine scientific process".

There are claims that because information is easily accesible we see more misinformation. Unfortunately it seems that with more information msunderstanding also increases and result in more misinformation. What is the rate of increase in misinformation?

I is proportional to MI
where I is information and MI is misinformation. (The use is not in sense of information theory but as in popular use)
If MI is 10% of I and 2% is obivously recognised as MI, then we have 108 unit of I. If we assume a 50% inreases in I then we will endup with 162 units od I. of which 4 unit is new MI.
We can clearly see the compuonding of the MI.

We know the equation of compound interest:

Interest = P (1+ r/100n)^n -------> 1

by analogy

amount of MI = I (1+ X/100n)^Y -------> 2

We know

Thus,
amount of MI = I* e^z where z= X/100.

The slope of the exponential curve is determined by z. It is thus important that z remains bellow one so that MI does not go past I. Due to the fact that it has not, so far, we can assume that z<<1.

I know we are all smart enough to figure out that there is a flaw here! We have not concidered increasing I. Unlike P, I is not constant. It is om to have higher values of z!

Well that is a complicated way of saying we are fine the way we are!
~rAGU

P V Narasimha Rao

This man was an amazing arrow in the India's armoury. This prime minster of India is, probably, one of the few leaders to be admired by the opposition parties. He spoke French, Spanish, Persian, Arabic and 8 other Indic languages; totally 13 in all.

Some of his serious but hilarious quotes are:
"When I don't make a decision, it's not that I don't think about it. I think about it and make a decision not to make a decision.";
"Inaction is also an action.".

He made Manmohan Singh the Finance Minister; a person who had not even participated in a municipal election, but had extensive experience in administration and economics. Duo changed the destiny of a billion people. He took decisions that lifted millions of people from poverty; and gave hope to people who had lost hope.

It is told his service to the nation was insulted when the powerful denied him a place in Rajghat. His body was cremated in the absence of the leader of the party of which he was the defining part. Sad news of his half burnt body lying open for consumption by dogs, turned in to a shock. It appears he did not work enough for the party, but he certainly did for his country.

P V Narasimha Rao will be remembered by the people who reaped the benefits of his service.
He died on 23rd December 2004. Few drops of tears I had shed, when I heard the news four years ago, were tribute to his personality. I add few more drops of tears today; he deserves them.

~rAGU

Birds and Flies

We had a sparrow house at home: an opening in wooden planks that had some space for sparrows to live. They were fed everyday with rice grains. My grandfather used to give a fist ful of rice to me and asking me to throw them on the floor and watch the sparrows pick them up one by one, at about 4 oclock in the afternoon, before coffee, during winter when sunrays lit our katte.

We have blood in our heart now; no mercy flows in our veins. Sparrow houses were closed down. We are more modern, clean, and better people now aren't we?



We caught pIti. It seems they are called Dragonflies in English.



This bird is something! Humming like a chopper! I will have to find out a place to watch this thing in Saskatoon closely. Will see.

~rAGU

Communalism in Indian Polity

The official name of India is (in English) Socialistic Secular Sovereign Democratic Republic of India and is Union of States; states are represented at the centre by the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and people represented by a bunch Elected from Selected Criminals and/or extortionists and/or currupt individuals. Few honest women and men get no chance to represent their people.

India has about 17% molsems, 3% christians 1% Sikhs, less than 1% others and about 80% hindus. Other division known to politicians in India is there are around 16% Backward class, 3% Brahmins and something only Arjun Singh the Heinorouble HRD monster knows is that there are aroud 29% OtherBackwardClass people. Each of these religous groups have subdivisions. Lingayatas, Thakurs, Kammas, Vakkaligas, Vaishyas, Kshatriyas and so on. Can we call these communities? Oh I will as you shall soon see!

Media and Polity are unanimous in calling some parties communal: BJP (Peoples Party of India), Shivsena etc. Others call themselves secular: Indian Notional Congress, Communist Parties, Janata Dal etc. But actually "all of them" are communal parties. No exceptions.

Except for two occasions (once for BJP and then in Gujrath) in history Hindus have not favoured parties appeasing Hindus. They are concerned about their caste and the caste or the community of the MP/MLA. However others such as Christians and Muslims are satisfied to have some one from their community elected. Thus parties have no insentive to appease Hindus. Those tried this Hindu card have not been as successful. So what is the formula? Appease castes in Hindus and appease Muslims and Christians. Sikhs are a majority in Punjab. They have a different dynamics.

Thus it is appeasing communities based on caste or region or religion is the key policy of all the political parties in India. None is secular none is noncommunal. Why blame few parties? We have to blame all the parties.

Ok, let us fight on communal lines and let us go to hell together; shall we?
~rAGU

Class Sick Musick

My first experience with Indian Classical music was listening to MS Subbi cassettes. However I did not know it was classical music. Other experience with classical music was listening to Dasavani of Bhimsen Joshi. Again, I did not know what the hell classical music was.

As I grew up I understood classical music. It was a strange sounding shout which only very few liked and nodded as if it was a great music. I would ask myself, "what is wrong with these people, why do they shout and do all sorts of dance with hands and show screwed up faces". In fact my uncle said once "why do not these people sing something nice!".

I was as old as an ass when I liked a Bajan. This happened in the second year of engineering. There was a temple next to our hostel: Koranti Hanuman. Saturday it used to be full of boys coming to sight girls and girls coming to sight boys. Like those infamous wall bathing, and window shopping this was Sacred Sight Dating. My room mate was a devotee of Lord Hanumaan. He visited the temple everyday. I went to the temple along with him sometimes and especially on Saturdays! An exception to this was when Hanuman himself called me by cutting power to the hostel. I chose to visit the temple whenever there was power outrage! The temple poojari played a Bajan cassette sung by Bhimsen Joshi and Lata. Meera Bhai Bajans were so good that I eventually got addicted. I asked the poojari if he could lend the cassette so I can record it. He gave me the cassette without even asking who I was.

There was one Umesh from Orissa he had a double cassette player. I asked him to record meera Bajans on one side and the super hit pop song "I want it that way" and few others. I named the cassette "Ram Naam Dhoom Dham". My favorite Bajan that made me record the cassette was "Baajere muraliyaa baaaje......". Others were, sumati seetharaam aatmaraam, krupa saroovar kamalmanohar.... Yes there was a Hindi song too "Mere hivadame nache moore thaka thaiyya..".

"Bajere muraliyaa ": it is from this Bajan I became interested in Hindustani. I heard it so much that I gathered courage to sing it in the department. After few years my all time favourite is Aami Khans "aaj more ghar ayina balma...". Thanks to my neighbours they tolerated when I shouted along with Aamir khan. I heard Rashid khan recently 6 months ago I think.

I enjoy it when I can get to the mood of the song. Then I can think of my own variations, anticipate improvisation. I mess up the shruti (drone). It is very hard for me to sing a song in a different shruti. Simply I need training otherwise I suck.

I will start learning Hindustani some day when I get back to India. Why? There is no alternative way of experiencing that kind of bliss. I do not drink but We can get to an emotional state listening and more so while singing; I do not think it is possible to reach such a state doing something else.

Oh yes I returned the cassette to poojari promptly.

The burden of morals

Any conscious behaviour takes more energy than unconscious behaviour. I have seen many people, who worried less about morals, do very well. They save energy and reach higher levels (Whatever higher level means).

That is not bad at all. It is how we define ourselves i think. We can be happy with whatever we are or even better find reasons to justify whatever we are.

I have come to a conclusion that morals and its friends are important only when our decisions affect lot of people: such as in politics. Otherwise we are fine, I think.

Or some have the advantage of being what they think is right. There is no burden. Others have to struggle to be their ideal self.

Regards
~rAGU

Nuances of Sledding/Tobogganing

Sledding is also called Tobogganing. I stole a more brave looking image to show what I did with few kids on a small hill.

1) I went towards a bush and saved the life of few plants by using all head and tails I have. Poor bush.

2) Do not go on knees if you are a heavy type like me.

3) It hurts in an unusual place : your neck. Keeping head safe it appears is harder than keeping our balls safe.

4) When sleigh on your bum do not break with the feet. Snow can hit your face like missiles.

5) Go to a church immediately after, like I did. It will warm there and someone will invariably play piano and put you to sleep! Then you can sleigh again in dream :)

Thanks to Simon Widie and his kids Joe, Isaiah and little Elijah
I fell and ROSE, look at that, I ROSE, wary of laughing kids.
Sunday is gone.

~rAGU

Intercaste Marriage

There is a microbe in our heads called Individuolis Liberosis. Some have immunity against this microbe but many do not. This microbe not only makes us selfish but also gives a false impression of liberation; helps generate nice reasons for indulgence. We will talk about this later; now listen to this story.

I received a call on fine afternoon, 3 years ago. I picked up to discover that it was my primary school classmate. That made my day you know. I was able to get in touch with her after we completed 7th standard in 1993. That was after a gapp of 12 years. She was about to completing engineering degree after a diploma I think.

She had called with a purpose. She was getting ready for a campus interview. She wanted to know what to expect from a WIPRO interviewer. I was supposed to give some insider information. I consulted some of my colleagues and called her back. Told her whatever I could (and should). It really made my day. Isn’t it nice to get a call, out of the blue, from a classmate after that long? (Emotional fool!)

I think after two months I received another call. This time she wanted to get into a particular division. How could a fresher choose? Again I spoke to my colleagues and called her back, giving whatever the info I can. This call had come after she had forgotten to reply my email asking her if she got into WIPRO. I sent another email curious to know if she was in, if so where. I got no response.

Time teaches lessons. I said to myself be more reasonable do not read too much. Be positive, all that crap. I remember sending her an email just asking how she was and how was her work in WIPRO. I got no response.

I called from bother try to get my Tabla fixed. He told me that my classmate got married. She married a Christian boy from Kerala. I knew a little bit about her parents; middle class Havyaka Brahmin family around 10 kms from my village.

Brahmins are increasingly facing criticism. But they also lived a life that set examples to society for long years. They never ate before taking bath. They were vegetarians. They do not consume alcohol. They are trained in eating and talking. They Have kept the ancient philosophies alive by learning and teaching them. (Exceptions are becoming a rule...which is a different matter)

Intercaste marriage may be a good thing for those want to live MacLife. (You go to any MacDonald you get the same burgers) When the difference is gone, the excitement of encountering different ways and perspectives is lost.

Her parents might be sad. People who hurt their parents in return to the love are daemons. This is nothing but the outbreak of Individuolis Liberosis.

bisakallu-tabla-kolalu

mattade besara ade sange

is Nisaar Ahamad's translation of "phir wahi shaam"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osAj2Ucbk2M


"phir wahi shaam" is here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfg5nHbH0j4

yo,
again the same evening, same sadness
and the same loneliness
to convince my heart, came your thought

........

~rAGU

Teach Engineers some English

I feeling pissing at my Inglish sometimes. Inglish of my classmates was from anywhere between horrible to terrible (mine was the worst?). We had an Inglish teacher in the college. He used to say, "I am fulltime jobless".

He took 2 classes in four years. No one was interested. We should have atlest 3 English courses in Baibadaka of Engineering.

It is proven that Indians have terrible time with "articles" in English [?]. Now when I write thesis I see myself learning English!

Inglish Student
~rAGU

Ten Commandments

of Christianity and Judaism:

1) I am the Lord thy God
2) Thou shalt have no other gods before me
3) Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol
4) Thou shalt not make wrongful use of the name of thy God
5) Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
6) Honor thy Father and Mother
7) Thou shalt not murder
8) Thou shalt not commit adultery
9) Thou shalt not steal
10)Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
11)Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house
12)Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife

kinda commandments in Hinduism: (Caled Yamas)

ahiMsA satyam asteyaM brahmacaryaM kSamA dhRtiH
dayArjavaM mitAhAraH zaucaM caiva yamA daza 17

1) Ahimsa - Nonviolance in thought and action
2) Satyam - Truthfulness
3) Asteya - Not stealing
4) Brahmacharyam - Celibacy until 25 and loyalty to partner after marriage.
5) Kshama - Forgiveness
6) Dhriti - Steadfastness
7) Daya - Compassion
8) Arjava - Honesty
9) Mitahara Moderate appetite
10)Shaucha - Hygiene

Jab deep jale aana.... Jab shyam dhale aanaa

Come when the light is lit
Come when the dusk is set

Do not forget the signs of interst to meet
Do not forget I donno what bisraana means!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMu6oiJ7Jj4

hey people help me .....
~rAGU

ಕಲ್ಡದ ಮನೆ

ಒ೦ದು ಮಳೆ ಬಿದ್ದ್ರೆ ಸಾಕು ಮೂಲೆಲಿದ್ದ ಮರದ ಬ೦ಟ ಹೊರಗೆ ಬರ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಸ್ವಾ೦ಗೆ ಕಡದು ಅಟ್ಟ್ಲುಹಾಕಿ ಹಾಳೆ ಕಟ್ಟೋಸಮಯ.

Exchange Value in scaled economies

It occured to me that it is possible to find a relation between purchase power and exchange value of a currency. This might already exist. But application of such a mathematical relation is amazing. It can become a tool to assess healthy value for a given currency.

This idea is based on the following.

1) There are many scaled economies trading using foreign exchange values of their currecies.
2) Purchase power for essential commodities in two scaled economies have to remian the same so exchange value of currency in other can be estimated.
3) If actual currency values are higher or lower its impact can be assed easily.

We can save energy of the experts who confuse us by giving contradictory assesments on say increase in Canadian dollar. Intution tells me that exchange value should be proportational to purchase power per fixed amount in a currency.

I . E. FEV = k * 1/ PPc

Two assumptions here are: a) PPc for two economies are same. b) Trade significantly (linearly) affects PPc.

This is very crude. But I will come up with something more concrete in the future.
~rAGU

Burn IT Burn Bengalooru

Burn IT Burn Bengalooru said CNR Rao, a world renowned chemist from Bengalooru. He is shocked that IT has created intellectual grabage. "A coffee and a masala dosa in Vidyarthi Bhavan" kept him and Bengaloorians happy. Look who is talking - a real Bangalorian.

I respect CNR Rao. I respect all the scientists and research assistants working there toiling to make break through. Many of us in IT industry do. We infact feel guilty that we could ot contribute, but that is compulsion. When my friend, a PhD student in physics dropped out and joined IT, I was shocked as well. Before we talk about this brain drain to IT, let us talk about Bengaloorians.

Most of the real Bengaloorians do not know fluent Kannada. A survey indicated that around 90% [as read in a newspaper survey in 1998, on my first visit to Bengalooru] either can not read write or speak in Kannada. So much for the real Bengaloorians whose scholarship we are to respect. Can somebody name a real Bengaloorian Kannada poet? Why should rest of the state care for such Bengalooru? Being the capital of the state, Bengalooru does not care about the heritage of the mother language, which even the Greeks felt comfortable using in their dramas[1], why should rest of the people in Karnataka respect Bengaloor's heritage? These same Bengalooru's kids use the word "Yak" to refer to kids from villages and slums. CNR Rao says there was more music in Bengalooru before. I do not think so. Cultural programmes have increased over the years. It depends on which you choose to concentrate: Bengalooru Habba that let us hear amazing classical music or the pop ones in palace grounds. All these real Bengaloorians are the people whoes parents or grandparents migrated mostly from villages in Karnataka, Andhra and Tamil Nadu. The children of these migrants are real Bengaloorians and recent migrants are fake Bengaloorians?

"A coffee and a masala dosa in Vidyarthi Bhavan"? There are people out there who do not have enough money to pay the bills of Vidhyarthi Bhavan. Should we stop at respecting scholarship and intellect of real Bengaloorians or do something to those starving kids. Now we have these real Bengaloorians Barking when the starving have started to make fortunes. They have to because they too wanted to eat masala dosa in Vidyarthi Bhavan.

IT companies pay taxes. Every IT guy pays about 30% of his earning. Why are real Bengaloorians not cautious about civic responsibilities? Why should the roads be built asks CNR Rao. May be because 20 billion$ export business also pays taxes to get services from the government.

Brain drain to profitable business is a universal problem. Such problems need to be addressed at different levels and CNR Rao`s comments are welcome as it will initiate a debate and put the process in motion. Even the Software Engineers have this problem. When I worked for a Bengalooru based firm my manager commented, "call centres are paying such huge salaries how are we to keep our business going?". Service sector in engineering draws more people as it pays more. Firms in intellectual property based business and high technology business have problem retaining smart engineers. There is nothing new here. What is new is Bengalooru’s exposure to such problems. It is true that the problem is acute.

However if people who shout are those could not score well in competitive exams, and/or those who could not get into engineering, or those missed the train by being ignorant, this is no more than garbage. I would appreciate if they suggest a solution that is more sensible than burning IT or Bengalooru.

Are real Bengaloorians claiming that there was no slum in Bengalooru when there was no IT boom? What did they do about it? Was that not part of the heritage of Bengalooru? Those who talk of peace and serenity should also speak for all the classes. Elitism comes easily. Social conservatism comes from the elite who could afford good education and those who could enjoy the serenity. What about those who could not pay fees to enter institutes like IISc? Are such institutes open to scholarship? NO. IISc displays a board at the entrance "Trespassers will be prosecuted". So much for the premier science institute in India. I will give my own example here. Those who talk about sholorship do not care about science. I wrote an article in 1999: "Paradoxes in Special Theory of relativity" (Resonance - Indian Academy of Sciences). I was in second year engineering then; a 19 year old in a remote engineering college was trying to do some work reading journals and books, in the college library . It received a 3 line review comment. Is it not the responsibility of the people who talk about science and scholarship to give an encouraging and critical review that will help improve writing? Elite of Bengalooru care about their status. They do not care about scholarship. It is from these butts that we see fuming gasses coming out. The elite of Bengalooru neither understand nor willing to think about the hardship that people in other part of the state face. For example, because of all administrative headquarters in Bengalooru a person from Belagaavi (Belgaum) has to travel 600 odd kms to get a work done? Are these elite who are worried about the heritage aware how much money these poor people have to shell out to keep the "heritage" of Bengalooru intact?

I am for taxing people like me to fund research in basic science. That will help pay good remunerations to competent scientists. I do not mind loosing 5% of my salary for such a cause. May be 5% more cess on NRIs.

By the way, I am not going to Vidhyarthi Bhavan next time I go to Bengalooru. It is costly and suppliers do not even look at you. I am happy eating Chitranna at those road side camps and a glass of kabbina haalu.

~rAGU

References
[1] Dr. Hultzsch, E. (1904), "Remarks on a papyrus from Oxyrhynchus", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1904: 399-405.

Woman and Liquor

The supreme court of India ruled that it is legal for women to be serving liquor (tending bar). I am pissed off at the SC. Not becase it gave freedom to women but becasue it did so preferentially.

SC has no time to direct governament to fix the ambigious Indian laws on prostitution. The judges are not bothered about women being forced into prostitution. No one cares about the women being trafficked. But they are so much caring and cautious about the freedom of the middle class women who have som ehotel management degree or diploma who want to make more money. No one needs to inform the SC; it has not given justice to the murdered bartender Jessica Lal yet.

I care more for the dignity of the women being trafficked than to the freedom and poverty of the upper middle class women who want to be bar tenders.

It is time judges stop masturbating and start using their kidneys and give balanced decisions that improves the condition of the women who are underprevilaged. I will join them in a milk bar when they have fixed the more important issues. I do not mind a young girl tendering. Do I?

~rAGU

of idols and ideals

What is the difference between faith and freedom? Not much, as many might expect. Let us dig deep.

Faith conditions us influencing what is comfortable and what is not. Faith unlike what is often argued is not just about GOD. God becomes a heading to the articles of definition of what is comfortable. In other words "life style".

Freedom is often explained egocentrically. Concept of freedom probably exists because of existence of inhibition: inhibition within and inhibition from external sources. It is this tendency to oppose inhibition that defines freedom.

Conditioning significantly influences the notion of freedom. It also uses the pretext of morals to impose inhibition. This is "right"; that is "wrong", type of notions redefine freedom. We get "comfortable" in certain set of such inhibitions. It appears that, since long, faiths have formed a frame work that can almost stand for what defines our comfort. When we are not combatable we feel our "freedom" is under attack. This is synonymous with the attack on faith.

We come to stage where attack on faith is directly interpreted as attack on freedom. Thus the faith and the freedom are two different concepts; they stand equated under the circumstances we live today. If this is not convincing some historical examples will help us understand this equation.

It appears that the Indian polity and the economy were independent of each other to a fair degree. Thus changes in polity did not affect the population to an uncomfortable degree. Why? Faith remained the same. People felt free to live their social and religious life, the way they wanted. Indian Rebellion of 1857 started when British interfered with the religion. That was really an attack on freedom.

Now, Hindus in Malaysia are protesting (read the link) against marginalization of the ethnic Indians (read Hindus) in Malaysia, a Muslim country. It is reported that thousands of temples built by their ancestors were being demolished and idols bulldozed. They now feel their religion is under attack. Freedom is under attack, is this a joke? :)

Louisiana State in USA uncharacteristically elected a brown man to the office of the governor.
Piyush Jindal is a man born to Indian parents (read Hindus, also read the link). However Bobby (his nick name) is a Roman Catholic Christian and supposedly he is considered as being to the right of the right conservatives! His life is in line, to make the audience comfortable he has to be that way, although acting otherwise was not a necessity.

I hope I have given enough proof why most think, attack on faith is attack on freedom. (I am guilty of not thinking much about inhibitions caused by economic compulsions. Which I will take up in the next write up). We look for comfort. Faith to some extent defines comfort and comfort defines our more general rules of what is acceptable, which we call ideology!

Integrity is at infinity. Ideologies are afterthoughts. What is more close to what we base our actions on are comfort and discomfort. This also applies to animals. Animals are sensitive to conditions but humans are also sensitive to concepts!

~rAGU

Hi Ram!

"Hey Ram", it is said, are the two words Mahathma Gandhi uttered when he fell to the bullet of Nathuram Godse (a journalist, a Marathi Brahmin, and a Hindu extremist).
Notice Ram! here.

"Mohan" in Mohandas Gandhi's name refers to Krishna. Mohandas means devotee of Krishna. Krishna was the 8th avatar of Vishnu. Rama was the 7th avatar (incarnation)
{ Avatatara => Descended, Avatara = one who has descended }
Notice connection to Ram! here.

Nathuram Vinayaka Godse, Gandhiji's killer was named Ramachandra at birth. My friend tells me that Godse's parents treated him like a girl and made him wear a Nathani (nose ring). He thus became Nathuram.
Notice Ram! in Godse's name here.

Finally my name: Raghavendra means the same thing. Raghava = One who is born to the clan of the king Raghu and Indra = sacred. The ONE born to Raghu clan is Rama. Rama means "one who is pleasant". (ramayatE iti ramaha )

Is this character a myth? Was Ayodhya (impenetrable) a mythical city? Was sita the wife of Rama a myth too? Well may be! But if you go by Tamil politician his holyshitness Karunanidhi
("From which engineering college did he graduate"), there is no record in any engineering college about Ram's admission! (Definitely not in IIT Madras! (Madirasu = in alcohol))

If you ask communists especially Budhadev Bhattacharya: "Ram was born in the imagination of poets and Ram Sethu is a natural formation under the sea". What is the primary source he is citing to prove his claim? [His imagination 2007, unpublished]. Some tell me that these communists are supposed to believe in science.

To me Rama is a man who defines the core of my identity.
Valmiki reports Rama to have told, "Aatmaanam Maanusham ManyE Raamam Dasharataatmajam" (I consider myself a human. I am Rama the son of Dasharatha.

{Dasharatha means one who could ride chariot in 10 directions - you know 8 directions and other two are UP and DOWN} {Oh NRI friends, stop being smart. He could not drive in 6 others directions, do not bring in the coordinate geometry here. I know you have high expectations min d you he was not Shodasharatha!)

Weather Rama was part of history or mythology does not matter. I am student of science and thus only thing I can say is "we do not know". But what matters is this 'hate', and 'vandalism' to satisfy their egos and what not.

I said Hi Ram! Just wanted to say Hi! you know.
~rAGU

Libertarian Paternalism

Oh ya, a fancy name for what most parents do. (read the original paper here)

Watch the wonderful video of the lecture by Barry Schwartz. This sounded to me like a typical Indian philosophy lecture: Why less is more - the paradox of choice. Yama, the first part of the astanga yoga (-- Patanjali)

1. Ahimsa
2. Satya
3. Asteya
4. Brahmacharya
5. Aparigraha: keeping only as much essential.
   

"You love doing X and get more money in Y. Go for X", he says. Happiness is not a function of achievement; it is relative to expectation.
No objections boss ; you are right.

~rAGU

Robert Hawkins and Stephen Hawking

Why am I doing this? I am doing this becasue I am enraged. Boiling is the right word actually. But people make tea out of boiling liquids, these days. So let us talk coolly.

Here is the profile of Stephen Hawking and then we have the profile of Robert Howkins. You know Hawking but the latter is not so well known. Well, he was a teenager, like I was a decade ago, who shot and killed 8 people (like I did not). Now se this: Guns Germs and Steel. (Ignore that white man's burden)

Now read this: USA Heavily Armed Soceity. Also this: Common Sense :). What do you think? Not so common these days. Read this USA Gun Statistics! Hilaious is't it. So be it. Everyone wants to laugh and do nothing about guns!

My common sense says something else. NO ONE NEEDS GUNS. We can protect by dissarming. We can fight if we arm ourselves.

Coming soon:
Liberals - A combo burger of political and economical philosophies with the heavy indulgence topping and enough unreasonable ego sauce), I am gonna tear you in to pieces!

~rAGU

free_culture

Lessig speaks:

http://randomfoo.net/oscon/2002/lessig/free.html

The punch line. "It's not about right or left, it is about right or wrong"!

[1] http://www.eff.org/

[2] http://www.publicknowledge.org/

[3] http://lessig.org/

[4] http://eldred.cc/

There is no greater penance than patience

There is no greater penance than patience,
Tell this to only those who are wiling to listen ---pa

Be tolerant to the harsh words of cruel individuals,
Be patient, when hardship hits and be courageous to face it.
Be patient, until plants you planted bear fruit.
Be patient and pack the food, your time to enjoy is definitely ahead ---1

-Vadiraja Swamigalu.

This was sung by one of the greatest dasaru: Badragiri Keshava Dasaru elder brother of now wellknown Achyuta Dasaru, in Dharmastala Mahime, a Harikathe.

Taaluvike gintanya tapavadilaaa
Kelaballavaringe Peluvudu Sollaaa

Ketta manujaru nudiva nistudara nudi taalu
Kastabandare taaluu kangedade taaluu
netta sasi phala koduva tanakaa shantiya taalu
kattu buttiya munde unaluntu taaluuu

Keshava Dasaru died in 1997 when (I was in 12th grade). We have a cassette at home where Keshava Dasa still sings for us! His voice imposing and majestic.

I have a connected joke that I remember with this tape recorder.

My village did not have power and my grand father bought a tape recorder (I am told, I was 1-2 years old then). He also bought a cassette "Bakasuravadhe" (Kumaravyasa Bharatha-Aranya Parva) a Gamaka by Gamaki Hosabale Seetharama Rao and Vyakhyana by Raghavendra Rao (I think). Tape recorder worked on four battarey cells.

Later when my grand father met Gamaki Seetharama Rao, My grand father reported to have told him, "Nammane banni gamaka heli andre barlilla neevu, eega nodi nimmanna nammaneli dinaa koogistini" (You did not come to my home when I invited you to sing Gamaka, now look, I make you shout everyday in my home!)

Seetharama Rao did come to our home later. He sung,
"Ala beku naga beku samate shama vira bEku" - Kagga
in 9 Raagaas. As I pumped (tidi hidiyuvudu) the harmonium for shruti (drone) he made all the eyes in the room wet.

Yes in deed, "AlabEku nagabEku"........

Should cry, should laugh,
Should be well tempered and patient,
Like river flood should the mercy flow,
Like undeterred rock to the art, should the soul yield,
Wise men said this; I am a fool - Timma (DVG)

I am still in sad mode.. after my broken dagga.
~rAGU

Derivatives/Differentiation

One of my collegues asked me, what differentiation was. I said the same old thing.
"Ratio of change in an dependent variable to a small change in a independent variable. "

He asked me, don't you think it is a complicated way of saying something simpler?
I started breaking my head.

if a line is y = mx+c
dy/dx = m

Y
| /> y= mx + c
| /
| /
| /
| /
| /
| /
|/_______________________> y=m
/
_|_______________________> x
|


For eg 4/2 => 4-2-2=0 thus answer is 2.
similaly change in y/change in x = change in y - m * change in x = 0

Because m is the derivative of mx+c wrt y, we can say that;
"change in y is constant".

More generally, "what is the change in terms of the independent variable required to see the change we see in dependent variable".
It is nothing more than fancy way of saying "rate of change"!

Someone told me even this is complicated way of saying subtracting the previous number in the series from the current. Discrete version is called "The First Difference".

Bhaskara II knew the stuff, then he did not publish his research in Nature! That is obviously his fault.

~rAGU

Demise of Dagga

I remember the song:
"Aadisuvaata besaramoodi aata mugisidaaa, bombeya muridu sootrava haridu mannagisidaa"

I tore my dagga (Bayan) I was playing the wicked Rupak taal. It is winter. Percussion instruments (drums) are having a very bad time.

Does anyone know where to procure a dagga? I do not think anyone sells dagga or skin here.
uuuuuuuuuuuuuh crap...

~rAGU

Are woman more honest?

Are they less susceptible to corruption? Are they ... anyway before all those questions; are they different?

They are different. Experiments in psychology have shown that they are different emotionally, in ability to perform different tasks[1]. To put them briefly; men have better spatial cognition (I mean they are better in driving) women have superior language abilities. Men are verbally impatient, women empathize more. (Put simply men suffer from mild autism :) ) [2]. More women suffer depression. More men have had extra marital affair [3].

Now some anecdotes. Umamahadevi was an Asistant Commisioner of Sagara Revenue Division, Karnataka, India in 1995. She oversaw the destruction of the fence of the land grabbed by the then Member of Parliment K G Shivappa near Sagara. Secured the land to the custody revenue department. I had seen her speak in Kannada which she learnt after coming there in very short time. She said I do not speak proper Kannada in an independent day speach then spoke in Kannada better than some other guys without a single mistake!

Kiran Bedi has decided to quit/retire from police service [4]. This made me think about women in responsible positions. Women involve emotionally and hence, according to me, are more likely to respond with responsibilty. They take unreasonable but right decisions. Kiran Bedi towed Indira Gandhi`s car for parking illegally. She saw Jails to be places for transformation rather than a place of punishment. Mayavati kicked the ass of the Reliance Industrie`s retail plans.

There are currupt women (Jayalalita,Mamta?) , but women appear more responsible. I have choosen convenient examples. The bad thing is they can hate you more than men ever can.

The point is Kiran Bedi should have been there to kick the ass of the politicians!

References
[1] http://psychologytoday.com/
[2] http://psychologytoday.com/
[3] http://psychologytoday.com/

Classification of farts

Recent post on my blog read "Modern Fart" (for those of you who want to smell it is here). FART then meant Fine Art! Now I am talking about the real fart-the smells like hell one (these bloggers can stoop to any level ).

Farts are classified based on their sound and intensity of smell. Yes it is not my fault they just exist. I have grown up witnessing its validity! It works folks I do not know why (atleast for me). It sounds like a Sanskrit poem but I have serious doubts. Sounds more like some smart ass (hick from the hills?) cooked it up.

Darra Burreh bhayo naasti
Kunvya PinvyE madhya pakshaha
TissaakaarE mahaaghorE
Nishabdham pranasankatam.

If fart sounds Darrr or Burrr one need not be scared, if it sounds Kunvya or Pinvya then it is a bit smelly, if it sounds tissssssssh then it is intolerable and if you hear no sound when some one farts the smell puts your life in danger.

Do not laugh! You will agree with me if you statr observing farts. Next time you fart you will be a subject in your own experment. We should appriciate both; natures method of letting us release pressure and some ingenious persons discovery of one of the most complicated mathematical relation between smell and sounds! When the ass speaks it means a lot :) doesn`t it? Ask your nose!never use the word "dumb ass"

smart ass
~rAGU

Modern Fart

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

French woman pinning a flower to honour Sikh soldiers arriving in France 1914-courtsey: In Flanders Fields Museum.

The soldiers of the Sikh Regiment, India marching to the front in Flanders, Northern Europe. World War I.

More than 50,000 Indian soldiers died in Flanders along with African, 3000 odd Canadian and many soldiers from other countries. If you go to UK from Brussels by road, you will go to Calais port via Lille city (in France) and then to Dover port (UK) by ferry. It is near this city of Calais in the village of Givenchy that Indian soldires of Lahore division fought against Germans. It is called the Battle of Givenchy 1914.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/givenchy.htm

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada

I was living in Flanders two years ago. Historically Flanders meant roughly northern part of France, Belgium and Netherlands. (Flemish speaking Belgium consisting of cities Leuven, Gent, Brugge, Oostend, Antwerp and others) This Deepavali also happens to be Armitice Day. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, when the world war I ended in 1918.

There is a town Shiralakoppa, near my village. I used to go along with my grandparents, on a bullock cart, to see our family doctor. Dr from Udre was a world war veteran. I came to know that he served as a medical doctor in the Indian army, serving in Italy with the allied forces in World War II. All I remember is he was great doctor. I remember him boiling needles to sterilise them and asking about what I play, did I win, who are my friends while he pierced by butt with those thick old needles. It is amazing to know that he was involved in World War.

In India we do not even remember these soldiers who fought and died for us far away from their friends and relatives. We do not even know who they were. I will wear poppy this time in their memory.

~rAGU

Other's Decisions

This is a serious thing, I am talking about. This is not the context contrast!

We have to make decision at every step of our life. Well, such a stupid thing, everyone knows this! There is something only a few know about decision making: not deciding for others! That is, not taking other's decision for granted. Give it a try, let the guy who is supposed to take a decision based on your job take that decision.

Let us analyse an anecdote. My uncle was visiting Bengalooru. His guest house was close to Richmond Circle. I wanted to visit him, one evening. He was scheduled to go back to Hyderabad next day. When my uncle called me, I was in my office in Diamond District, Domalur, around 6 km from where he was staying. He asked me if I can pick few passport sized photographs from a photo studio near Hudson Circle, a few km farther. He said studio closes by 7 pm. Work on that day took more time than expected and I was hurrying down the Airport Road at 7 pm. It will take me an hour to reach the studio. My uncle had told me that it was really important that I pick up the photos. He needed them next morning.

I had to make a decision: weather to go to studio or not. I recalled my father's advice: "whenever you are not sure of the out come or even know that you will fail, give a try if it does not cost you much". I would have decided that the shop will be closed by the time I go and I should instead head to my uncle's place with a "reason" for not bringing the photo. When to close the shop is not my decision! It is the decision of the owner! Isn’t it? I decided to go. At 8 pm an hour late, I reached the studio. The owner of the studio was standing outside stretching his hands to down the shutters. I ran to him asking to give me photos and told him that it was important. He said I close my shop by 7 pm, but I had some work today. He gave me the photos. I went to my uncle like a nice organised gentleman! Then I had something talk about that evening. I let the owner of the studio make decision, going by my father's words: "what is your problem! Do not take others decision! Let them take the decision. Do your job.” There are different ways to look at it and I should have been more organised. Then that is precisely the point: this perspective helps.

I can give thousand examples. We hear people say, "It is not going to happen", "They are going to turn it down", "He may not like it", "It seems they do not let you in without appointment", "My friend tells me they do not allow such things" "my colleague told me that it can not be done now". Do not listen if your friend tells you not to try. We have thousands coming and telling us not to try. They are all making a decision for you! Well we should ask them to help themselves from their confusion and take our decision. If we are not interested, if we are not energetic, we might not participate, but that should not stop us from saying, "give it a try!". That makes a huge difference. We have to be unreasonable sometimes to get new things done. This decision thing really gives us an excuse to be unreasonable!


DO NOT TAKE OTHER'S DECISION.
~rAGU

Ardha Matre (Half/Off Beat)

Punjabi Theka or Sitarkhani is a variation in Teen tala which is a 16 (matre) beat tala with 4,4,4,4 division. Or so I learnt! I looked at its theka. Unbelievable!

It is infact the off beat variation that I tried a few days ago. Instaed hitting 3r and 4th beats in the division, a single stroke on the tabla in between these beats creats an enjoyable variation.
Now I know this is called a Punjabi theaka!
My experinence is that this variation is not appropriate for entire performance. However is a good thing to try as a variation for improvisation.

My grand father used to tell me, "That Mrudanga player uses a lot of Ardha Matre Pettu (Off beat strokes), that confuses singer!". I have known where singers and drummers had tussel over off beat strokes... good thing to stay away from.

~rAGU

The Origin of Spices!

{I bet I got the spelling right| (This is what I am going to use instead of fulstop today)}
Some words inspire me to write| I usually write the heading first and then think about it| Thus origin of my thoughts is in some word or phrase, most of the time| Anyway, it is a nice way to start thinking about something|

If you have a difficulty in thinking, pick a word and start thinking about everything it relates to| Do you remember that essay on cow/coconut tree? Oh ya.. a gal(!) was supposed write an essay on coconut tree| She did not find anything interesting to write| So she started, "A cow was tied to a coconut tree" then wrote an essay on Cow! Something like that|

Writing some nonsense and giving it an unrelated heading is a modern art| Like all the modern arts, you can do anything and then call it an abstraction| Thus this type of writing with no central theme with an unrelated heading is new form of art| I call this , "Cardinal Context Contrast"| Cardinal in a sense that there is no order or central idea in writing| Context Contrast is brought by the heading that sets a context and the body that contrasts the context set by the heading|

I wish you a great day on Mahathma's jayanti| He did not die from bullets but from our own bullshits| Yours too|

~rAGU

Tabla Thoughts

My roomy Manju and I tried some unpolished recording. Laptop mic was not a great choice but that was the best we had. We have no intentions of passing the blame on the mic. If anything can improve it is our song and do not forget to notice that we are at least a kilometer away from the drone (Shruti C#).

TareGaLa Naadinali Poem

Taregala nadinali gaali beesideyante.

Dadra Taal Tabla

Dadra taala attempt. (Intro by Manjunath Ankathatti)

[Our apologies for not being able to record nice smell of the Samabar that was being cooked by Channakeshava]

~rAGU

ACK: Thanks to Deepa for tips on embeding audio to blog. (http://beta-templatetesting.blogspot.com/2006/12/to-include-audio-clip-in-your-posts.html)

Why Ragonomics

I am not happy being not original! Economics is a highly abused word. The fact that it is, has given me liberty to abuse it again by defining Ragonomics. It is nothing beyond my desire to start a blog on my thoughts on Business.

My ancestors define Business to be another name for cheating. However I have harbored a feeling that Business is another name for responsibility: a responsibility to increase productivity and being more useful than we would be otherwise.

Doing Business is being active. Doing business is being useful. Satisfaction is the greatest profit one can get. I live for a day when I will see that the profit of all Businesses is development. I will make it happen if I do not see it. Development gives satisfaction. What else can be more profitable?

Your's with weird capitalization :)

~rAGU

Why Caste is not a problem.

Too many people and their writings have pissed me off. They say that caste is a social problem. I, for the first time have come across people who call solution a problem! caste is not a problem, discrimination is.

.................after a month..............

When I sit down to write about caste after reading Ambedkar`s The Annihilation of Caste I am confused. I must be honest here. I have tried to assimilate all confused thoughts bellow.

Difference divides. Nationality, language, religion; the list is endless. All these divide people. Division creates not only diversity but also bias. caste is one such difference that promotes discrimination.

If I have to go by Ambedkar caste is the worst by product of a society; Hindus are a defeated group; worst still Hindus are not even a group; there is no racial support for caste; what to speak of a religion that is responsible for creation of a class of people who are not even fit for touching and dining together.

I am sorry I am more optimistic. Ambedkar says "YOU" are responsible for caste. Rama was cheap fellow (feminists agree! He put seeta to so much trouble...); he killed shambhuka because he was a Shudra; Killed Vaali (who was a shudra!) unjustly. Manu was an evil. Well, I can not imagine so much. {Kuvempu says "Kalpanege kechchiral katti kaana"!}

I must say one thing: victims view is just one of the views, may neither be right nor reasonable. Ambedjar`s non-cooparation to freedom movement speaks a lot. His frustration can not be taken for reasons to attack a system instead of attacking what is bad in the system. I leave Ambedkar`s writings behind saying only that Budhism is`t any better and Ambedkar`s contribution in creating one of the world`s progressive constitution, overwhelms any weakness we may want to attribute to him. There is no denying he was a scholar, I do not hesitate to believe he experienced and understood something beyond I am capable of. But, I do not agree with him.

To continue.............


~rAGU

The last message, "Take bath and observe silence for a minute"

I blew my conch and sent the shrill beyond the roof of the house my grandfather built in the mid 1950s. My grandfather always told me that blowing conch every evening scares the ghosts. I wanted to scare the hell out of ghosts around the house. I did. I scared them continuously every evening for 3 years continuously. They would get a break when I returned home from my grandfather’s village! Then ghosts back home had a bad time with my conch! The point is my grandfather was religious. He believed deeply in every religious things and even astrology. He would utter phrases in despair, such as "I do not understand what happened, stars are fine...", "I see no problem...in the horoscope but I do not know what is happening...".

He would get up early at four in the morning in the Brahmi muhurtham. Belli (Venus) peeped a little later to see if my grandfather was awake. He woke up from meditation after first rays of the sun washed the slumberous flower and lifted their head high. I had standing instructions to pick all the flowers in the garden without leaving even a single flower on the plants, before he got ready for the morning worship. His daily Rudrabhisheka with Chamaka and Prshna always took hours and gave me enough time to pick flowers. I had to get ready go to office later. My office timings were not so flexible those days like it is today you see! (Primary School)

Last time I spoke to my grandfather; some cells in his mouth have refused stop multiplying. He could barely speak. He said, "Try to be a better human. When you hear of my death, take bath and observe silence for a minute". Six months later I spoke to grandmother. She said, "It is six monthly observance and we have prepared Holige !(PoLi -a sweet)". "You would have liked them a lot". I felt a lump in the throat. Weird, they make Holiges to celebrate death!

I remember Pete Seeger’s

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
..........
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Covered with flowers every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

I blew conch this time in front of the worship room. Shrill sure went beyond the roof. I am sure, it scared the ghosts after a long gap of 15 years. But, that meditating silhouette of an old man in front of the alter was missing. Gods looked lonely.

~rAGU

Tabla Resources

My days of frustrations trying to find Tabla tutorials are over today. I have been able to collect a lot of information. I have promptly reproduced them here without permission!

Let me begin with the most important: Tabla Talas [1].

1)Jhap Taal

2)Yek Taal

3) Teen Taal

4) Kahrava Taal

5) Rupak Taal

There are many articles on how to produce basic syllables [6]. Video tutorial by Venkat on YouTube is one of the best ways to start [5]. Venkat appears to be one of the generous Tabla enthusiasts. While so called Tabla masters live by selling what is know to all those who play Tabla, Venkat has produced more than 10 free video tutorials. (A friend of poor Grad Students!)

Pete Lockett`s "Essential Guide to Tabla", appears to be complete with the pictures of finger placements on Tabla [2-4]. More information on theory and practice can be found in the free ebook "Art of Tabla Performance" by Prof. Sudhir Kumar Verma.

Although there are many Tabla guides, I feel they are not substitutes for video tutorials (Tutorial is no substitute to a teacher, some say). None of these guides give good instructions on Rela: fast performance. (Called Horalike in Yakshagana Chandey). Several players show off their Rela skills but none show the techniques.

I am scared that I might learn bad sounding Tabla play. Euphony is still a dream. I am looking forward to Krishnastami Bajan.

References

[1] http://www.chandrakantha.com/tala_taal/index.html

[2] http://www.petelockett.com/pete%20new%20pages/essential%20tabla%20guide.html

[3] http://www.petelockett.com/lessons/tablalessons.html

[4] http://www.petelockett.com/lessons/detailedtablatutorials.html

[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh3DjTbhb6o

[6] http://web.mit.edu/cjoye/www/music/tabla/
[7] http://www.profskvarma.com/Downloads/art%20of%20tabla%20.pdf

Lost in words

I wonder sometimes why people do not think about what they are talking! I keep meeting "Do not know what I am talking" kind of people. Especially, I see that, more religious the discussion gets there are high chances that it gets absurd. It sometime becomes bullshit. Let us see what happens in such social transactions. A guy asked me, "Is Yoga really guud?". A person who had learnt some Yogasana said "When it comes to Yoga... it is about the universe...". A great deal of mysticism is attached to entities such as Yoga. All else overwhelm the real meaning.

It is time that we address this serious issue of vagueness. We also have the other extreme: over simplification. I have come to believe that these two aspects in communication cause more problem than all others put together.

Our perception changes as the information base used to reason increases. But at a given time, we should be able to clearly convey what we know, without falling to the trap of the vagueness and over simplification.

The other day some one asked, "what is life?". I have all respect for his/her curiosity. But bittubidi swamy (leave me alone)! Let me live my life first :) Defining is drawing boundary between what we think it is and what we belive it is not. Definitive explanation of an inherently vague concept formed by society, can only be as vague as the concept itself. That is why it is necessary to make conscious efforts not loose our ideas in words.

~rAGU

Is gene evolving?

What a nonsense, it must, like anything else in this universe you might say! I have a wage thought to share.

I believe that gene is something that decides/defines the properties of a system. Thus an atom is a gene for a molecule. Atoms of different elements can be taken as different genes. (Let us forget for a moment about other perspectives and only consider the perspective of gene.) DNA is a compound. If the arrangement of molecules in a DNA (in cells) can define the peoperties of living organisms (ans inheritance) then it is the second stage of gene (or next stage) wheare complexity of the gene has increased from atoms to molecule.

Is this a reason to belive that the complexity of the gene will increase forever? May be a compound or a mixture of compuonds will one day act as genes?

Vague enough and feably supported!
~rAGu

Meadow Lake National Park (Jeannette Lake)

Oshkidee camping site is private site inside the Meadow Lake National Park. This park is around 300 kms north west of Saskatoon. We went to Jeannette Lake which is around 375 kms north west. Thanks to IVCF who organised this 3 day camp. I got to learn a lot of things including plant names.

I took photos and I have posted some of them here. Their beauty is completely because of the way the nature is. Do not blame my camera for it! Thanks to Srinivas and Mamata for lending their camera and thanks also to Manju who woke me up on time and packed lunch, without which I would have missed the camp.

Wild rose plants were an attraction. Canadian one dollar coin is named after a bird Loon; a fish eating bird. Loon bird poked its head out of lake water and came so close that Warren a co-camper discribed it as the closest watch of the bird in his memory. Loon finally got the company of loons!

Light from heavens (A morning with Jack Pine and Spruce trees)



Blue Berries of Saskatchewan (Sweetness filled in tiny blue natural packs!)
(There were some Raspberries along with them (not seen in picture))


Tamarack (Trees that look like pine)


It was sunny when it rained. (Kaamana Billu - ಕಾಮನ ಬಿಲ್ಲು)



ಮೂಡುವನು ರವಿ ಮೂಡುವನು
ಕತ್ತಲೊಡನೆ ಜಗಳಾಡುವನು
ಮೂಡಣ ರ೦ಗಸ್ಥಳದಲಿ ನೆತ್ತರು
ಮಾಡುವನು ಕುಣಿದಾಡುವನು

ಮಲಗಿದ ಕೂಸಿನ ನಿದ್ದೆಯ ಕಸವನು
ಗುಡಿಸುವನು ಕಣ್ಬಿಡಿಸುವನು
ಮಾಡಿನ ಮೇಲಿನ ಚಿನ್ನದ ಗೆರೆಯನು
ಎಳೆಯುವನು ರವಿ ಹೊಳೆಯುವನು

ಏರುವನು ರವಿ ಏರುವನು
ಬಾನೊಳು ಸಣ್ಣಗೆ ತೋರುವನು
ಏರಿದವನು ಚಿಕ್ಕವನಿರಬೆಕೆಲೆ
ಎ೦ಬಾ ಮಾತನು ಸಾರುವನು.

--- ಪ೦ಚೆ ಮ೦ಗೇಶರಾವ್

It is not fair!

It will never be fair enough. Yet a lot of things are fairer now. I am referring to socio-economic opportunities here. Whatever was before feudalism, I guess, might have been a worse system. Socialism was obviously better. Capitalism? I am not convinced yet. What is certain however is that, it is definitely not a fair system. To me it appears to be biased towards more industrious. It is not fair because it allows these industrious people to exploit not so industrious. Well, that is the way it is supposed to be you might say! I am not prepared to accept it. Because I believe there could be a better alternative that we have not found yet.

Let us not talk about capitalism. I just wanted to say that it is not fair to both buyer and seller. It is more for seller than for buyer. Let us look at governance. Is democracy fair? No. It is in favour of those who participate and is against those who do not or can not. We at least know of a better system: Anarchy. Many think that to be unreasonable. May be. I would rather like to believe that we are not ready for Anarchy yet though it is a reasonable idea (Kropotkin might be smiling. But I do not like his communist ideas).

Social organisation in to classes is not fair on the basis of community, race, caste, ethnicity have been judged not fair. Caste is an on going thing in India and there were people who rejected caste completely (Ambedkar) and some who rejected it partially (Rajaji). There are places where there is no organisation at all. That is completely unfair to everyone!

Then there are other things such as smart guys and stupid, friendly and not so sociable, strong and week. Some are labeled unfairly. That is why I wanted to say; "It is not fair!”.

~rAGU
(I know that is the way things are but this just a perspective!)

First PC First TV!

"We have heard that you have in your house a new colour TV. We want to see it.", declared my grandfather in front of a house in a town(Ulavi) near my village(Kattinakere). "Haan howdu"(Oh ya) said the proud owner. I was ten. I watched these two men talk to each other, completely lifting my head, as if to watch the sky. errr said the owner!

"But there is no power!"
"We do need no power. We will look at it", was my grandpa’s answer.

We saw the TV. Oh no the colour TV. It was switched off (there was no power!)(I can not stop laughing now). I remember my face I was watching the TV as if it was something extraterrestrial!

Curiosity never stops you see! I was at it again when I was in 10+2 (we call it pre-university course). One of my friends doing BSc promised me to show me a computer. Oh my god COMPUTER. He took me to his lab one day (That was a sneaking in stuff others were not allowed!) and my entry unveiled a PC. I saw the computer for the first time had no idea what it was for.

I thought the monitor was the computer. I did not know there was a CPU sitting horizontally bellow it. Oh ya I also saw the keyboard. I was 18 then.

I was to ask after an year, when somebody said "CPU", "cpu? where is that? what is that?".
One of my friends explained me later. "Hey did you not see that box sitting next to the monitor?"
"May be", I saw it after few days in my engineering lab!

Oh forgot to mention. You know what? PC was switched off when I saw it first time.

~rAGU

Altruism and Socialism

Even during ancient times selfishness was considered the drive for all transactions. For love, hate, business and you name it, almost for everything. Allow me to quote an over used verse from Bruhadaranyaka Upanishath;

Idam brahma, idam kshatram, ime lokah, ime devah, imani bhutani, idam sarvam yad ayam atma.

"This Source of knowledge; this source of power; all these worlds; all these gods; all these beings; -- All this is just the Self."

Another one from Yajnyavalkya again; (A sage who lived somewhere around 900 BCE in India)

na va are patyuh kamaya patih priyo bhavati, atmanas-tu kamaya patih priyo bhavati; na va are jayayai kamaya jaya priya bhavati,......,na va are bhutanam kamaya bhutani priyani bhavanti, atmanas-tu kamaya bhutani priyani bhavanti; na va are sarvasya kamaya sarvam priyam bhavati, atmanas-tu kamaya sarvam priyam bhavati;

"Everything becomes intimate for the sake of self".

This leaves no scope for altruism! How are we to explain altruism if we are to believe the above argument? Note that evolutionary Biology agrees with the above argument. This is not just some "Vedic Crap".

Interestingly I found an answer to this question in a psychology text book. It says that altruism is a profitable business! Profitable to the gene pool (Gene: segment of DNA responsible for a trait). Sociobiologists have controversially extended this to social transactions as well.

I feel there is quite an amount of altruism in socialism, thus making it a relevant philosophy. In the wake of these arguments I find capitalism self destructive. In what appears to be selfish endeavour I find a stupidity that ruins its chance of survival.

I find an idea that is neither purely capitalistic nor purely socialistic, interesting. Altruistic capitalism: a capitalism where there is place for selfless business. Some have called it capitalism with human face. But we have a scientific support for such a thing. It is not artificial anymore, I think. It has a high chance of surviving in the natural dynamics of business.

What do you think?

People are of theree types!

May be there are many types. I know only these.

Type 1: Religous, pious.
Type2: Objective
Type3: Opportunistic

I will talk about the last type. The last type wants the glory of the civilisation, religion, caste. It does not care for cultures of the religion and caste. E.g. some call themselves Hindu Brahmins and they eat meat and drink alcohol. It calls scriptures either not worth reading or useless. It lives in pubs in the name of enlightened liberalism; A nice paint of philosophy for indulgence. Thinks itself to be of intellectual class while doing what is convenient rather than what fits to philosophy. This hypocritical group is somewhat prides itself for modern outlook (look out!) talks as if the all the ancient philosophers were stupid, rejects many good values because they do not look modern. It talks about open relationships. Again indulgence guides its principles. It neither brings change nor is it revolutionary. It just follows a bunch of people of their cult and thinks it is different from them.

What an illusion of objectivity! You know whom I am talking about? I am talking about urban youth who talk about their racial history proudly and take bath in pubs. These liberated souls, find reasons for their indulgence. Everything is an after thought.

Hunavalli Teacher

An old weak man sitting small on an ancestral chair evoked strong emotions and respect. A man of integrity and wisdom but humble and weak, would not look so to those who did not know him. I am hesitant to use the word "poor" to describe his conditions; that might be attributed to his personality. It is true that he was financially not strong at least, since the days I have known him.

I do not know what the salary was for teachers in 50s and 60s; all the retired teachers I have seen were not so well off. Similarly, this retired teacher’s family was barely making the ends meet. He never expressed it. He usually sat on a chair in the veranda and it appeared as if he was contemplating. The affection that he showed and the hospitality at their home towards friends and relatives, was amazing. He would talk and inquire about their business intimately.

He was an artist too: a Yakshagana speaker and a Maddale player. Probably that is how he was very close to my grandfather. My grandfather always called him his minister. He would send for him to seek his opinion, whenever some important decision was to be made. He was wise. He would stay at our place and in the morning when we sat in front of the bathroom fire, he would talk about things which the whole family listened to it as if it was of great value; he never disappointed.

I have not seen a man richer in thought than him and more well composed. I was told he was born to a rich family in my village. His elder brother, who was not so smart, it seems was cheated and all his property was lost. He was still a minor and he had lost all his property before he attained majority. His ancestral house still stands in our village.

He had all his daughters married. His sons struggled hard in many businesses and did not go too far. After all his efforts, he could not see a brighter day. He called my father whenever he wanted to discuss something important. My father respected him for he knew he was my grand father's minister(!) and a nice man. I used to accompany my father, whenever I could, to their house.

I was several seas away when I learnt he said good bye to his family and friends. He was old and fragile. When we drove next to his house during my last visit, I looked at my father. My father shook his head and said, "That place is different now, it is not so pleasant to visit". I watched the opened door until we moved away.

It is men who make things pleasant not the other way around. We come across few such men, honest, rich in thought and ideas: men who evoke strong emotions. I remember every now and then the old man sitting small on an ancestral chair: "Hunavalli Mestru" (Teacher from Hunavalli) as my grandfather called him.

When water falls.................

Abbaaaaaaaaa!

Reassurance and State of Mind

Am I correct? Am I doing it right? How many times have we not asked ourselves such questions? What did we rely on, to be confident about we being right? Didn't some one else needed to tell us that we were fine? Did that reassuance help us a lot? If we think that was hepful, should expect that the scoiety has this responsibility to reassuare its members to give them confidence? Is't this role of scoeity a much needed part in keeping its members civilised and sane?

~rAGU
On Virginia University Shoot out

Qute Little BeOS

BeOS is dead. It used to sit on my desk along with Linux and QNX a few years ago I think in 2000 to be precise. I am dissapointed. I was confident that something smart would emerge and that it would be better than Windows.

Windows got bulkier and now takes 13 Gigs on disk. The great Mango Inc (I mean Apple) is not any better. I overheard some one saying house wives like Mac OS. When all these happened much promised Linux branched. Now I do not know how many flavours it comes in and I am sorry I am not young enough to try all of them. And lo BeOS is dead. I used it to recover files when my RED HOT (was it RedHat?) linux melted and ext2 was accesible via BeOS. It was small and beautiful. I would marry her if it was a girl :)

Much to my relief and much more to the relief of the whole world, sense previles. Some people are still sane and realise that OS should be slim and beautiful (Like a bride?). Haiku is being developed. I pin much hope on the immediate relative of my old friend BeOS.
I want to wake up everyday without having to worry about OS on my machine. I am going to give Haiku all my diskspace and time on my processor. My heart will wait this summer to see if Haiku was worth a crush.

~rAGU

Nationalism

It will not be defined here. I am only trying to express my Point of View (PoV) about nationalism.

Nationalism should be purely conditional. Believing that nation is a group of people sharing some common interests, the conditions that I would lay out are

a) My nationalistic thought and action should be in the interest of the nation without bias towards some of its section (of people).
b) It should not violate fundamental tenets of humanism.

First one is obvious. Second one needs some explanation. It basically means that my thoughts and actions should not cause troubles to anything (read anybody).

By keeping nationalism conditional I can be sure that it will remain a positive emotion always. It is worth mentioning that nationalism arises not from the ideological standpoint but out of profound ignorance of it and mostly arises out of selfishness. A selfishness that gives me (and you) an identity. I am sure there are other things. All such things I can remember look selfish to me.

How many of us know what the ideological standpoint of our nation is? (Or is there such a thing?). Even if we do how sure are we about its worthiness? In any case, the notion of 'our' and 'other' (say our people-other people) changes and any emotion rising out of such a changing categorisation does not deserve an unconditional support.

~rAGU

University of Dusseldorf

I do not know how good the University of Dusseldorf is. But I know how it looks! It is a nice place situated outside the Western German city of Dusseldorf. I went there to write TOEFL. My English was finally to be put to test after 12 years of study and 4 years of use in my life in India and abroad. I lived in Leuven Belgium then and Dusseldorf was the closest place I could write the exam.

I reached there early morning taking the Euroline bus from Brussels. I must tell you here that I started previous night from Brussels. The reason I tell you this is because of an incident. I asked a driver whether he was going to Dusseldorf. He had replied "We are going to London Sir..". Wow he was really proud to go to London(every night ? :) ).

That aside I looked for Hauptbahnhof (Central Railway Station) (such a complicated name?) and found one at my back after asking two guys! These stations have room heaters you see. Well I ventured out after familiarising the surroundings. I had to find a hostel to sleep that night after TOEFL exam. I asked the receptionist at the hostel after finding one, "Are you from China?". He was unimpressed. He said I am from Japan. I giggled saying It is hard to distinguish you see.. heeh heee. He showed me the room.

I try to be early to appointments and end up reaching the place several hours early. It was not so easy to find the department in the University. I asked a guy for direction he spoke for a while and ran out of English. I wish I knew German. Found the place nevertheless. But most interesting thing happed on the city Train. I asked a young German to help me buy the train ticket. I did not know which ticket to buy because it was based on distance circles rather than on stations. Flocked with two girls on his sides. HE SPOKE TO ME IN ENGLISH. Yes he did. I said thank you. Then the girls started asking him (in German of course) "when did you learn English?". This proud young man spent next several minutes explaining his English scholarship. It was amusing to both watch and hear.

To be continued...... I will come back about the exam and why I had to come back again...!