Nation of Rebels

iPod's are cool. So is hanging out at CCD and Barista. Watching F1 is for the knowledgeable and different and if you watch cricket, you are just a conformist, being manipulated by the media and the sponsors of the game.
It is this kind of "counter-culture" thinking that Heath and Potter question in their book titled "Nation of Rebels". They take you though the arguments given by the counter-culture activists(like hippies etc.) for using organic food, environmentally friendly cars etc. Then they very lucidly explain how these arguments are not what they are put out to be. That is to say that the very desire of humans to be different is the cause of consumerism.
Let's take F1 and cricket, for instance. People watch F1 because they think that cricket is too much sponsors and too little fun. So, to be different, let's watch F1. Whereas the matter of fact is that F1 is so highly dependent of sponsors that the chances of that being manipulated is much higher. However, such arguments are never put against F1 purely because it is different.
Nation of Rebels is like the blue pill in this matrix of too many ideas. For once, one is put face to face with plausible explanations for the way things are. Why people watch totally non-sensical soap operas and why fashion comes and goes? How are we being manipulated not just by the big corporations but also by activist organisations(and probably more so)? These are some questions that we all probably never think of but when faced with the explanations, the answers seem so glaring and the questions so important that none of them can be ignored. So I suggest to anyone who has the will to learn about the bitter realities of this world to read this book.

Corridor Cricket

The exact date of the conceptualization of Corridor Cricket is hazy but it happened sometime in January 2007. Ujjwal and Ady(Uncle) are the pioneers of this game.

The Setting

A "Nilkamal" plastic chair is used as the wicket. The chair is placed in the center of the corridor. Just a few paces from it must be a perpendicular aisle where an optional fielder(sometimes two) stands. Here the audiences may also sit and watch the exciting game.

The Rules

Gully cricket players might find the rules familiar but there are certain differences.

• A batsman is out only by the following ways:-
• Bold
• Catch Out
• One-Tip-One-Hand: Note here that any fumbling of ball whereby the catch is not caught directly after the tip without the use of any other thing than a hand is counted as not out.
• If the ball hits the wall directly
• If the ball hits the player below the waist three times(not necessarily in succession).
• For every successful hit, the batsman gets a run.
• The team making higher number of runs wins the game.
• The game must be played under corridor lights only. Any game during the day is strictly prohibited.

I'll post some pictures to make things clear, but I hope you get the general idea(oops, I hope Aakash does not read this ;).

Winning is Not an Option out Here!

It is a necessity. India is not a country where one can say that "at least I tried" or "I have found 10000 ways of not making a bulb". Nope! The kind of stigma associated with defeat and the desperate necessity of success in everything that one does ensures that the only those who tread the beaten path are rewarded. The world is so ruthless for the one who makes his own way that sometimes I wonder if its worth at all. I am sure that this question nags many other people. And the most apparent solution is to go somewhere where such an attitude(that of doing something new and innovative) is praised. I think that this is the main reason for the exodus of talented people from India. They say that nowadays things are changing. With booming economy, there are a lot of opportunities. I ask is there any room for innovation anywhere? The answer is a simple no. For all the big corporates that exist in India, none really is involved in any form of innovation. The reason? Well pursuing innovation is a risky business. And in this land of the conventional, such a thing is totally taboo.
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Thomas Edison was born in India. Would he have emigrated and become a great scientist or would he have remained here and become a trader in lanterns?(Oh, I am sure he would not have invented the bulb because that required 10,000 failures!)

Sunscreen

Sunscreen by Baz Luhrmann is probably one of the best songs that I have heard. It is more of a lecture on what one should and should not do, but don't get deviated by my language to describe the song. It is a wonderful song to listen to and more so if one has the opportunity of hearing it with video. The song has a very somaish effect on the person who is listening. Hear it to believe it! Besides my thanks to Gunjan for making me hear this song for the first time.

Have Fun!

Now that's a message! Especially so if it comes from one of the most respected(and feared) professors around. The idea is simple, one cannot be best in something until he enjoys what he is doing. But when such a message comes from an experienced professor at his farewell, it makes one think. At least it did that to me after the farewell of Prof. R.N. Biswas, who I would call a perfectionist(how many 70 year old profs. have gutsto ask students for mistakes they make so that they can improve upon them?). I mean, for the first time I understood the importance of enjoying things that you do and doing things that you enjoy. I realised the amount of perfection it can bring and the amount of energy it can make one have. And after all, isn't life about being happy?

My Letter to HR & Dean Against Signatures of TA for Salary

Dear Sirs,
This is with reference to the your mail regarding "no signature no stipend". I would like to request you to reconsider and abolish this demeaning practice. Allow me to put forth my argument against it.

1)We, as TA's, are not full time employees of DA-IICT. In this respect, it is illogical to ask each TA to sign everyday. It would be better to penalize the TA's in case they are not present for their duties.
2)The TA's are chosen on the basis of merit and the reason for that is sincerity. By asking the TA's to sign, you are questioning their sincerity thereby questioning your selection procedure itself.
3)This practice does not give the right message to the TA's. In this system, one can get away with performing below par and putting proxy each day. Not only that, the TA's who are honest find it demeaning.
4)The practice of signing not only wastes the time of the TA's, it eats up valuable human resource of DA-IICT whereby one person has to take care of entering the attendance of the TA's everyday.

Hence, I just do not understand the rationale behind the practice. It is not just socially undesirable but also economically useless(unless you consider the amount of money saved by not paying for the absentees a profit).
In the light of this, I would request you to abolish this practice and send a healthy message to the TA's.
Thanks.

-Chintan Agarwal
(200301066)

The Rational Behind Reservation

The intelligentsia commonly opposes the politicians of today questioning their ability to manage the affairs of a country, and in a country like India it is more so. The reservation bill and its effect thereon has been a classic example of this. The reservation bill was passed by the government almost unanimously. Public questioned the motives behind passing such a bill and labelled the move as one for getting votes. I wonder if it is just that.
Surely the politicians need votes and the reservation bill did them no harm in that terms. To think of it, I think that the reservation bill is an act of genius. The idea is that government has established institutes of national and international repute. Now how do you use them to aid in equal development, given that these institutes have not contributed to the extent one would have thought they would given their potential? Well, the idea is simple, let there be some seats allocated for people who have traditionally been backward. Amazing, isn't it. These people would, no matter what, reach somewhere riding on the brand name developed by the institutes and their next generation would be no longer backward! In this term, I think that reservation has been an amazing enabler. However, there are certain repercussions of the bill which I think need to be analyzed before it can be called a success.

Right to Equality

A recent article carried news about a renowned author, Shiv Khera, going to court challenging the recently passes bill of reservation for OBC in all government funded institutions. This comes as a ray of hope for many across the country. The ease with which the reservation bill was passed is something that is amazing. Rarely do you get all political parties agreeing to something, and that too so fast!
However, this incident brings a lot of issues that I think are important and need to be looked into in detail. First is that what is the rational behind reservation and is it justified to such a large extent? Secondly, what are its implications to the social and economical situation of India? I think that the implication of reservation bill in terms of societal effects is very important and has conveniently been ignored in front of the adverse economic effects that it might have in the future. In subsequent posts I will write my opinions on the matter.

Amarok, I just love it!

My search for the perfect music player came to an end with amarok. I started off with Rythmbox which was pretty cool but did not have features like lyrics and wiki fetching. Now, with Amarok, I have them both and built in tag editor. The only flip side is that to run amarok, I had to install KDE libraries on my GNOME ubuntu making it a bit slow. But then its not really noticable normally and with the kind of player amarok is, who cares!

The Fourth Estate

Absolute power over everyhing is the driving force behind any human. Nothing comes closer to this, in modern times, than the fourth estate, i.e. the press. With our dependence on newspapers, television and internet for information, these oasis of information have become very important. Not only do they shape our opinions but in almost absolute sense they control them.
How else does one account for a nation celebrating when a child was rescued from a deep well? Or people vehemently discussing why a particular singer from their region, slated to appear on a television show, is the best? Or a common lady, with her life full of problems, worried about a fictitious character's fate who incidentally has more than one extra-marital affair and a lot of money. All this is the reality of India as it is today. It seems very absurd to me, especially as a technology student. I mean aren't there better things to be happy or sad or emotional about?
I am sure there are. With a country the size of India, I am sure there are things that are of some consequence happening somewhere in some part of the country. But the fourth estate of my country is too busy gathering news about the easily accessible and sellable things. I really doubt if that is the motivation behind the existence of press in a society.
The reason I wrote this blog is that I feel very awkward when I go home, from my college. Everybody's discussing such obscure things that it makes no sense to me. I often, then, wonder if the minds of these people are being controlled by some external force!

The Window at my Workspace

The last few months have been really hectic for me. I spent a lot of time doing layouts and simulations, so much so that now I have started to hate them. In these times of misery, my only solace was the view from the window at my workspace. I do not know what it offered but the variety of colors, through a tinted glass was a scene worth it. The view still captivates me. As a person new to photography, I do not think that I do enough justice to what I actually saw, but anyway here is a low resolution glimpse of what my driving force was in the last few months.

Soma Seller

What do you plan to do in the future? What will you do when you grow up? Questions like these are very often asked and whenever asked, perplexed me. I really did not know what I'll do when I "grow up". But now that I am on the verge of "growing up", these questions are not only serious but also daunting. As an undergraduate, there lies a world of immense possibilities for me. It seems like I can do anything I want. You know, join a job, go for further studies, open my own firm and what not. But experience prevents me from taking hasty decisions. I could do any of those things and I certainly have a bright future, but are those things worth the effort? I mean, toiling day and night to get the projects/thesis done. In the last few days I have found out that all these are very thankless jobs. Why? Simply because they don't depend on you, you depend on them!
Here is where I argue with myself that, if ever I do something I really want to, it will be something that only I can do. I mean I am not just doing something to earn money. I am doing something because I am required there and there is no solution for the problem except me. Its only in places/jobs like these that I think that I can find satisfaction and more importantly happiness. One then wonders if such jobs exist. Well, one is that of Soma Seller(one who sells happiness, even if artificial) and I would love to be one if I get a chance!

Chilli Coriander

By yesterday evening, I was up to my neck with VLSI(how? Well, that's another story!). I came from the stupid BEC lab and when duty reckoned me to the Labs in VLSI course, my instinct did not. My friend incidentally asked me if I would like to attend a lecture on something. I was not too sure, but then I thought that maybe it would be worth trying. So we went and before I entered the lecture, I realized that I would be more or less wasting my time listening to the "intellectuals". I asked my friend if he wanted to go out and eat food. He said yes and suggested we go to Chilli Coriander. So that's how I ended up with a seemingly lavish plan for a Tuesday when I was supposed to be busy like hell. We had some tasty soup and better than brajwasi food and believe me this was one of the best times I had in days!
In retrospect, I think that it makes no real sense to worry about a lot of things if one has to survive in this stupid world. You know(I think, or rather have come to conclude), most of the problems in this world are actually the proof of its existence. So just say, To Hell With...and enjoy life as and when you get the chance!

The hypocrisy of my Generation

You know people of my generation are masters of criticism. We find this whole world to be conspiring against us. There is this administration who takes arbitrary decisions about academics(without consulting the students and even faculty), there are these very inefficient people who are the heads of organizations(like directors) who apparently do no work. We all just love bashing them and spent hours criticizing them. But then inevitably a question comes to my mind. Could everybody be so stupid? I mean these people are highly paid, couldn't be for nothing, right? Right!
The best way to come to this conclusion is to see what those people who criticize them are doing. Arbitrary decisions are very emphatically criticized by many students. But when it comes to managing their clubs, the decisions are equally arbitrary.
I will tell you about a case where I happened to be a party involved. There was this club that was started by our seniors and we were pretty excited by it. We got involved in managing it and all. Somewhere down the line, I realized that the decisions of the club were becoming totally arbitrary. You know everybody was supposed to be paying up for the services they got but nobody was consulted about the kind of things they wanted. The very knowledgeable leader and his friends decided everything and rejected any suggestions on the pretext that "we can't satisfy all". Fair enough! But then I wonder is this not also the case with probably all the leaders of our country. In fact I think that they are much more rational in their decision making. I really hope that none of my generation people get into decision making, it would be a mess. And(forgive me lord for thinking this way) I wish from the bottom of my heart that those people who make arbitrary decisions, based on the false assumpsion that they are right and the world is wrong, face the same sometime in life. Let it happen that they are very involved in something and are excited about it and let the leader cheat on them with arbitrary decisions, let it happen that for once they feel helpless, let it happen that all those people who think they are the people who know everything submit to a much more ignorant person, let it happen that all such people rest in peace! To their soul Amen.

The Importance of being Earnest

Is there any?

Being a Teacher!

Sir, what is this CRO? How do we operate it? How to write nodal equations? Hell, how do I know, I think. But then it is my responsibility as a Teaching Assistant(TA in short) to clarify the students doubts. Life seems to change in many ways when you are on the other side of the classroom. As a student, I always liked to pester my teachers with stupid questions. Of course, there were many things that I took for granted or left un-understood(I guess that's what's engineering is all about). As a teacher, its not the same. Rest assured that if you are unclear with some concept, the students are going to chew you raw. And the amazing part is that one enjoys these situations, or at least I do. Why? Well for one, this condition is a sure indication that by the next class I would be rock solid in that particular concept. Secondly, I am proud, as a teacher, that my student think more than me and give me hope that they would reach greater heights. Now that is something that is very counter-intuitive. As part of the process of evolution, one always wants to be the best and is happy only on attaining that condition. But as a teacher things are different. There is a sense of satisfaction in seeing your students being on top of the world(that of course means that they surpass you in some sense).
The last few months, as a teacher, has changed my worldview tremendously. I thought that teaching was a very boring job. Well, now I think that it is one of the most interesting ones. I know that I am not yet upto the mark in terms of teaching, but I am sure that a bit of experience will change that(I'm still a bit nervous facing students ;)). Another reason for my change in thinking is probably due to the kind of professor that I have as my boss. The joy that he derives from teaching and the energy with which he teaches is contagious. I wonder if he is plotting to make a geeky professor out of me!

Its a Wonderful Life

What is life? Some say it is just a journey to death, which is the final destiny and destination of us all. Very true, but I think life is more than just a journey towards death. It is about being someone, affecting lives of people and influencing the world in a way which leaves the world different from what it would have been without you. A person who lives in isolation(and hence probably in blissful ignorance), I think, is as good as dead. I think this is the message that the movie "It's a wonderful life" wants to give us. I found it a particularly touching movie and it changed my outlook towards life. But I watched it long ago, so why the sudden surge now to write a blog on it? Well, that movie just changed my perspective, not my actions. I continued to live life in the same way as before. However, In the last few months, after having lost my cousin brother in a car accident, I feel that I am a changed person in terms of my actions too. The loss of my brother , for the first time, made me realize how precarious and important life is, not just of oneself but also of people who one knows. All of us spend so much time worrying about small things and in the process miss enjoying the precious gift of life given to us. I think that Its a Wonderful Life and deserves more than our one dimensional outlook towards life and people.

The India of My Dreams

Call it childish but I have a dream for India, a dream that I want to realize more than anything else. Now let's see what I want in the India of my dreams. Eradication of poverty, equality, universal education, opportunities for all....No! That's what the communists wanted and they failed miserably. Volumes of literature has been written on the reasons but the one thing I think was instrumental in its failure was that communism de-emphasized the importance of labor, the need to work hard. There is a stream of thought that says that working hard(or working at all for that matter) is of no use. And believe me this stream of thought is nowhere more dominant than in the country of my birth, India. I think that we, as Indians, have become slaves to the "babuism" that the British left. I have no problem with people assimilating English, but assimilating the babu mentality, that of not working, is something that I just cannot understand. Now what's my basis for saying that? Ok, I'll explain. There is this statistic that says that more than 70% of India is agrarian. In this context, I question the use of education given in the schools of India. They start off by teaching basic languages and then progress on to teach mathematics, sciences, sociology etc. In a country with more than 70% people living in the rural belt, depending on agriculture for their existence, I think that an education system without the basics of agriculture, is pathetic. And ironically nobody questions this. Why? Because education is considered, unconsciously, by us as a way to escape doing hard work. All we, as Indians, want is to escape the tough conditions of our country and probably land up in Europe or USA. What we fail to realize is that all that the Indian education system prepares its subjects for, just like in the British age, is to become clerks. Of course, now we are much more efficient clerks and the word officially recognizes us by outsourcing a lot of their work to our country. But then who feeds the clerks, who keeps their cities clean...? What we, as an independent nation, have not been able to do is to make our citizens appreciate the importance and the dignity of labor. As a developing nation, we have a lot of people who would do these supposedly menial jobs. But what of the time when we become a developed nation(as our president foresees in 2020)? With the kind of disrespect we have for work, I doubt that we would ever become developed. The chances are that we would starve ourselves to death before becoming developed. This is certainly not the India of my dreams. I do not want my countrymen to die of hunger. I'd rather they lived in a more primitive way, but with dignity and respect, even with the most "disgusting" of the jobs. That is the India of my dreams. I dream of an India where, we would, as Indira Gandhi said " work more and talk less". This is not to undermine the rich tradition of Indian debating, which I very much respect and am proud of, especially after reading "The Argumentative Indian" by Amartya Sen, but I think that a time in history will come when we would have to choose to come out of our reverie and start pure and simple hard work. Only then, I think would we be able to live in a world as Rabindranath Tagore describes as :"..where the head is held high...".
PS: This stream of my thought was triggered after I read the autobiography of Booker T. Washington(Up from Slavery).

Clockwork Orange

Today two of my friends went home. It feels pretty lonely here at college with most of the friends at home, the remaining few of us just pass our time lazily. Of course, I am to blame for it as I doomed myself to the toughest and the most hectic three months of my life with a workshop and a really grilling internship. But then I wonder if it is worth it. The "rational" mind that I have been destined to develop through my 18 years of education says that that's the best I could do. After all I need recommendations and papers in order to get through to good universities abroad, don't I? But then I really wonder if its worth it. You know, working so hard, living away from parents and all. I guess I am doing all this because I enjoy putting myself into trouble, that's the only way to make one's life a bit interesting(and challenging), otherwise its all the same. Its just like being a clockwork orange. And believe me, that's something I really dread.

I Dare to Dream Big

Today, 6th July, is the death anniversary of one of the greatest visionaries of India, Dhirubhai Ambani. I am really proud to study in the only institute of higher learning named after him. Probably it is this relationship between us that makes me dream big for my country. Just imagine, a petrol pump boy taking over the reigns of the complete market of India within a span of few years. Converting the country into a net exporter of petroleum and running an organization with discipline in a country famous for just the opposite. Sam Pitroda might have created the PCO revolution but it was the vision(and a Gujarati businessman's drive) that propelled India to the next level, that of mobile telephony. This person had the guts to think big and not be weary of making profits wherever possible(I don't think he believed that business was for charity). Hats off to Dhirubhai.