Mr. M. K. Gandhi and Nathuram Godse

We recently celebrated Mr. M. K. Gandhi's 155th birth anniversary. Some people celebrate it every year, some don't, and to each his or her own. As for me:

I don't believe he was a Mahatma. I also have my disagreements with him on many counts and align myself more with freedom fighters like Subhash Chandra Bose, Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and others. But agreements and disagreements aside, he was at least a man with some principles, he struggled for a good cause in his own way, and didn't live a life just dedicated to the pursuit of money, power and women. Not too many people qualify to this level.

I would rather befriend a thousand Gandhis than give even five minutes of my time to the person who shot him when he was old, frail and unarmed, the first terrorist of Independent India, the spineless, impotent, coward Nathuram Godse. Thhoooo!!!

I just call him Mr. Gandhi, not Mahatma Gandhi, but do respect him and think well of him. And I think this is a fair viewpoint, far more fair than those who disrespect him while they themselves wouldn't have, and do not, accept a single personal discomfort for any higher cause, leave alone going to prison in a struggle for the country's independence.

(And no, I don't think highly of Lal Bahadur Shastri.)

The Sheer Perfection in Evolution!

Here's something so simple, so in our faces in daily life, yet blows my mind every time I think about it:

Most of us know this: All solids are associated with 'elasticity' to some extent: you apply a force, it deforms, you remove the force, it regains its original shape. In contrast, fluids are associated with 'viscosity': when you apply a shear (tangential) force, it flows while offering a frictional resistance to the force.

Now, many biological tissues are 'viscoelastic'. For example, the synovial fluid in your knee joint lubricates the joint through its viscosity, while also absorbing some of the shock your knee experiences when you walk or run. It has both properties: the 'viscosity' of a fluid and the 'elasticity' of a solid!

How cool is that! How intelligent and concerned evolution has been! Every little thing taken care of so completely!

Trust me, every little detail of how our own body functions and the physics involved is no less fascinating than all the galaxies, stars and black holes out there :)!

I fell in love with fluid mechanics in my second year of undergraduate studies (1992) and continue to be fascinated with the subject (30+ years!).

Midsemester Exams and Breaks at Colleges/Universities

I've said this before, I say it again:

The right time to have a semester break in colleges/universities is right after the midsemester exams. It (a) helps the students diffuse examination stress and freshens them up for the remaining part of the semester and (b) allows faculty members to check examination answer scripts efficiently and declare marks as soon as students come back from the break.

What many colleges/universities have started doing instead is continuing classes right after exams and giving semester breaks during festivals instead. The supposed logic is that students can travel home to be with their parents during Holi, Diwali, etc. This has three drawbacks: (a) students don't get the much needed stress release right after exams, (b) answer script checking gets delayed because faculty members have to now distribute time between their lecture responsibilities and checking answer scripts and (c) students miss out on celebrating festivals with their college/university friends - something that actually goes a long way in deepening friendships that last for a lifetime!

And alongside the above, another thing I've said before and say again: Have only one set of midsemester exams in a semester. Some colleges/universities have two sets of exams during the semester and then an end semester exam. This is excessive! Education cannot only be about preparing for exams all the time! In fact, students have to be gradually brought to a point where they understand that education is important because it enhances the quality of their lives, and they need to appreciate and absorb knowledge regardless of whether someone is going to test them or not! Having too many exams is the easiest way to have students miss this point entirely!

Research Red Flags: Paper Retractions

Below is a bar graph depicting the Top 10 countries in the world when it comes to paper retractions. My remarks:

1. I've said this before and I gladly say it again: China is NOT a model to emulate when it comes to anything, leave alone a noble profession such as the pursuit of knowledge. This is not a statement on everyone from China. I've met some fine Chinese students during my graduate school years in the US. But China as a country doesn't understand ethics - period. And we Indians know this all too well from direct experience! From the Indo-China war of 1962 when they infiltrated our territory with the slogan "Hindi - Cheeni Bhai Bhai" (Indians and Chinese are brothers) before suddenly attacking our soldiers, to what they did to Tibet, to what they are still doing on our North East border, they are known to be without any sense of right or wrong. And this shows in their research ethics too. China is simply someone to be wary of as a potential predator, nothing more than that.

2. The USA needs to course correct. They've been knowledge leaders for too long, have earned too much respect globally over the last several decades, to allow themselves to be No. 2 on this list.

3. I'm ashamed that we are in the Top 3 of this list! All our talk of the great "Indian Values" just went down the toilet, didn't it?

There is one, and only one, correct approach to research: Get onto a problem that really interests you, or a problem that you genuinely believe is important to solve, and keep at it till you have something significantly useful to say. Then, and only then, put it out as a research paper or conference presentation. Every other approach is dishonest at some level or another and belongs in the dustbin. (And stay assured: All lies eventually surface and bring shame. Far better to climb rankings steadily and solidly than try to cheat our way up and get embarrassed on the world stage like this!)

Note: Further below are the worst offenders from our country. Dig up the names and email addresses of Directors, Chancellors, Vice Chancellors and CEOs of these universities and send them love letters. Congratulate them on setting an example for our students and inspiring them to get ahead by cheating their way up instead of sustained, steady, hard work.

Vegetarianism NOT Essential to Hinduism

I'm surprised that Hinduism is still being correlated with Vegetarianism! This is just plain nonsense!

We Punjabis are non-vegetarians, Marathis are non-vegetarians, Bengalis are non-vegetarians, Telugus are non-vegetarians, Assamese are non-vegetarians, Orriyaas are non-vegetarians, Malayalees are non-vegetarians, and dear Idiots, even Kashmiri Pandits are non-vegetarians!

Have we gone mad or something?

A certain amount of meat is needed for a healthy and strong body. By all means we must eat that much meat. If you eat more than what is necessary, it's a problem. Not otherwise.

The article below is an example of what this vegetarianism myth leads to 👇:

Gujarat more audience of war than participant? State has high nationalistic fervour, but ranks low on army recruitment – Firstpost

I have no desire to see our nation becoming a Khakhra-Dhokla nincompoop nation that is devoid of all strength and valour!

Every so called "Guruji" who preaches vegetarianism as a pre-requisite for spirituality and religion needs to be rejected. These fools simply don't know what they're talking about! They'll weaken the whole nation with this nonsense!

No wonder we've been invaded so many times! No wonder!

A Case for Course Correction: Navratri and Garba

As Navratri celebrations unfold every year, we see the following three things happening. All three are distortions of the truth and we need to be on our guard and not let our minds get swayed. Here goes:

1. Most Garba Dance events use film songs. This is a complete nuisance. Navratri is a celebration of the Nine Nights of Mother Durga. The whole point is to worship the Mother. We come together and celebrate Her Divinity with Devotional Songs (Bhajans) and Dance joyfully to the same. That's Garba. It is an opportunity to remind ourselves that there is a joy and celebration higher than worldly pleasures. In fact, it is our understanding and appreciation of this higher joy that enables us to stay steady as we go experience the joys and sorrows of the world. Dancing to film songs during Navratri celebrations defeats this whole purpose!

2. In recent times there has been a push for vegetarianism and poultry and meat shops face resistance. This has no context whatsoever. There are many Hindu communities - Bengalis, Orriyas, Assamese, Rajputs, Kashmiri Pandits - that do not forsake poultry and meat products while celebrating divinity. This is a personal and community choice that is best not interfered with. To each individual his or her own and to each community its own. (And how do you expect poultry and meat businesses to make a living every time you force them to shut their shops?)

3. In recent times there has also been a whole lot of hullabaloo every time a Muslim is spotted at a Garba event. This is madness! I reject Islamic extremism as stubbornly as anyone else (I also reject Sikh, Christian and Hindu extremism with the same stubbornness) and am perfectly alright with exercising caution and not allowing extremist elements to disrupt celebrations anywhere. But those who want to celebrate with us must be welcomed with open arms. And examples abound of Muslims participating in Hindu festivals not only at the level of celebrating but also at the level of helping with decorations (many Muslim women are experts at Rangoli designs) and singing devotional songs for the Mother.

There is a reason why we celebrate Divinity frequently in the din of our life and challenges in the world. Let's not forget that reason and miss the whole point.

Dating and Choosing Partners!

I've always found it strange how most people date and choose their partners.

I too feel that a basic level of fitness and upkeep needs to be a part of one's personality because these aspects say something about how much you value yourself. But this much in place, love and relationships are matters of the heart! One needs to be with someone who has a beautiful and caring heart, and then just love them with all your heart! This is beautiful even when life is going well, and it is everything when life takes a downturn (it usually does at some point in time or the other!) because then such people stay even when others don't (which too happens!).

And most people seem to completely miss this! Instead they make their choices based on just physical attributes! Boobs, Butts, Biceps, Phallus! And some stretch the physical attributes part to a whole another level - they go for stuff like "the Exotic look", "the Asian look", "the Brazilan look", etc. etc. etc. Then others are obsessed with "what someone reads", "what kind of music one listens to", and so on and on... As if one were ordering a dish off a menu!

None of this is important at the core. Only the heart is. A heart that loves is beautiful, charming, attractive.

Haven't you ever looked into someone's eyes and seen love just beaming out? That! Go for that!

Article 370 Needs to Stay Gone!

I invite you to read this article: Omar Abdullah Article 370: "J&K Faces Existential Threat": Omar Abdullah On Article 370 Scrapping (ndtv.com)

Ha ha...the sheer nerve 😅!

I've been opposed to a lot of actions of the NDA government over the last ten years. But one thing I have supported wholeheartedly is the scrapping of Article 370. Even us secularists know that Kashmir before January 1990 and Kashmir after January 1990 are two different Kashmirs with two different political realities.

The minute you drove out Kashmiri Hindus (and how! my residential society and school absorbed some of them in early 1990s, so we know the truth!) you lost all moral right to expect any special status of any kind! Simply forget about it. A far better question to mull over is: Itna behudaa kaam karne ke baad bhi hamaari namaaz qabool hoti hai kya?

All citizens will live with equal rights and privileges in this country. There will be no special status for any religion, no reservations based on religion, no special status for any state with this religious majority or that religious majority, no part of this country is going to succeed in any separatist agenda. We are, and are going to stay, the Secular Republic of India. Those who don't like this are certainly welcome to emigrate to other parts of the world! With our very best wishes!

Left Hand vs Right Hand Driving

I invite you to read this article: Left-Hand Drive Vs. Right-Hand Drive – Which Is Better? - Newspatrolling.com

Then reflect on the following points:

1. A right hand car is easier to control, and hence safer, for a right handed person. Similarly a left hand car would be easier to control and safer for a left handed person.

2. It's far more intuitive to think of the "right side of the road" as the "right side to drive" when learning driving.

Instead of trying to choose between driving conventions in the USA vs driving conventions in Europe, why not simply do the following:

Drive on the right side of the road using a right hand or left hand vehicle depending on whether one is right handed or left handed. Since the majority of the global population is right handed, this would mean, for the most part, right hand vehicles driving on the right side of the road. And for the left handed folks, all we will need is a big sticker on the back of the car letting the vehicles behind clearly know so that they don't have a problem with hand signals in case indicators fail for some reason.

Doesn't this make simpler, more intuitive, sense?

The Varied Names and Colors of Terrorism

I invite you to read this article: Germanwings Flight 9525 - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The wikipedia article above describes the deliberate crashing of an aircraft by Andreas Lubitz, a German Copilot.

This article classifies the act as a murder-suicide. I have read other articles that let us know that Andreas Lubitz was suffering from some psychiatric problem (but still had a license to fly).

Now just imagine if this guy's last name was Khan or Hussain or some other Muslim name.

What would the conclusion then be, how long would this crash have stayed in the news, and what would be the repercussions?

As far as I'm concerned I classify Andreas Lubitz as a terrorist. Ditto for gunmen who open fire on innocent folks in classrooms, shopping malls, and anywhere else. If you kill unarmed people who pose no threat to you, you are a terrorist.

I'm guessing he was White Caucasian Christian - but do not believe these are important details. A terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist.

Flight Safety and Cell Phones

To this date, fliers have to be cajoled and reminded into switching off their cell phones in Indian skies. Just a couple of weeks ago I had to snap at a fellow passenger who was on his phone even when the aircraft was already in final position for take-off.

We need a mechanism to detect active cell phones and have them switched off before push back from the boarding gate. Anyone who doesn't comply: de-board them and suspend them from the skies for a few months.

Likewise, a check during the flight for any cell phones that might not be in Aeroplane Mode and a check for all phones switched off before descent starts. Suspend defaulters from the skies for a few months.

Safety first, then cell phones, gizmos and gadgets.

Baseball vs Cricket

Some 20 something years ago when I was a grad student in the US I used to insist in my arguments with my American friends that cricket is a better game than baseball.

I stand corrected.

Baseball is more interesting! And safer! (the penalty for a pitcher trying to hit the batter on the head is immediate ejection from the game - as it should be)

[Although I do still maintain that American Football is a no-good, over aggressive, hyper macho sport that is incorrectly named. Soccer is the real football.]

Information Technology vs Computer Science

For students wondering about the difference between doing a B. Tech. in Information Technology vs B. Tech. in Computer Science:

Information Technology is just one subdiscipline of Computer Science. If you do a B. Tech.. in Computer Science, IT jobs are always available to you.

On the other hand, if you do a B. Tech. in Information Technology, many jobs in Computer Science may be beyond your training level.

B. Tech. in Computer Science is the better option - any day.

This is why even IIITs offer Computer Science programs, not Information Technology.

Don't just go by whatever buzzword is in vogue at any given time. Go for what will train you for a broader range of jobs in your overall area of interest.

Computational Sciences at IIITs

Here's a suggestion that might be helpful for information technology institutes:

Start Masters and PhD programs in Computational Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology). This will (a) open up computer applications in a variety of research topics at your institutes and (b) bring in faculty members who can offer a range of electives for your undergraduate students and make their academic programs more interesting.

Computer programming applications stretch far far beyond developing apps - and its in our best interests to not lose sight of this!

Web Series Review: Maharani

Saw the web series Maharani recently. My comments:

The purpose of cinema and TV/web series isn't just to reflect society's reality as it stands today. It is partly that, but also to set higher benchmarks of aspirations in society.

We need politics based movies and series that show the public demanding, and politicians delivering, on opening schools, colleges and universities, opening hospitals, setting up industries and factories so that people get more employment, cracking down on corrupt policemen and policewomen, setting up more courts and increasing the number of judges so that trials end sooner.

Politics can't be just about religion and caste. Well made movies and series can start bringing about this change. This series not only completely fails on this count but further fuels the caste-religion political mess we've been embroiled in for the last few decades. Two thumbs down 👎 👎.

Note: My views on combatting backwardness are here: A Four Point Algorithm to Combat Backwardness

Gurugram: Unwarranted Hindi-ization of Gurgaon

The name Gurgaon comes from Gurgaanwa in Haryanavi. It is the correct name to keep in Haryana.

Gurugram is a forced Hindi-ization that is both unnecessary and ought to be unwelcome anywhere outside the Hindi belt.

The way forward in a multi-lingual, multi-cultural, country such as ours is being open to learning a bit of each other's languages. For example, we've lived in Bengal and Maharashtra for extended periods of time. And although I can't speak either language fluently, I've picked up a bit that makes it possible for a Bengali or Marathi who doesn't know Hindi or English fluently to still communicate with me. A bit of effort from my side, a bit theirs, and we shake hands - as friends 👍.

5 Day Week: A Different Interpretation

Here's a simple thought that I believe is seriously worth considering:

365 is perfectly divisible by 5: 365/5 = 73.

If we redefine the week to be 5 days long, and have a holiday to rest after every four days of work, then we have a perfect 73 week year with a perfectly fine work-rest balance.

And every leap year, we have one extra day with a different name at the end of the year (say "leap year day") to adjust for the extra day. And then simply continue with 1st day of the week on 1st January as the year changes.

This seems more consistent to me with the natural cycle of Earth competing one trip around the Sun every 365 days.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments fields below.

What are we teaching our children?

Several years ago when I was on the faculty of IIT Delhi I went for an IIT-JEE Exam Invigilation duty to a school in Delhi. As you entered, there was a quotation in large font for all students to read everyday. It went something like: "Power is not given, it has to be snatched."

What you are seeing today in the society at large is nothing but the result of such rubbish put into children's heads early on.

You and I are here only for a few decades. What is our short lifespan in the context of life on Earth?

Forget power! What power? Look around you, resolve to leave this world a bit better, a bit more beautiful, when it's time to leave. And work towards that objective incessantly, relentlessly. That's a life well lived.

Blind Children and Their Parents

A thought that might be worth mulling over by parents of blind children:

Maybe, if it doesn't affect one's profession and livelihood and only with the advice and approval of an eye specialist, one of the parents can donate one eye (and the other step in if there's any complication for the receiver or donor in the years to follow). If there's an issue with matching blood types or something else, have a donor registry that allows parents of different children to cross donate.

I don't think this is a big sacrifice to make if your child can experience vision. And it can open up the child's life and life experience profoundly...

Thoughts?

Adopt a child!

Here's a thought I've held for a long time because I really feel it has merit:

There are many many children in orphanages/foster-homes awaiting adoption by a good family. Some who might have lost their parents, some perhaps abandoned.

Maybe we are too caught up with the notion of "bearing our own children", maybe we can consider adopting a child instead. For what or who is one's own child but someone you love and raise?

For those who wish to have children, this completes your dream as well as gives a child a home and parents and loved ones he/she will call their own.

And those who don't want to have children: See if you can locate a well meaning orphanage/foster-home and help them with improving their facilities and amenities and spend time with the children there.

Think about it.

Fabindia: An Initiative I'm Proud Of!

This is one initiative I'm endlessly proud of 😊: https://www.fabindia.com/

Personal comfort and style preferences aside, to which each of us is obviously entitled, purely on aesthetic merit, I throw an open fashion challenge:

Come, bring as much global fabric and fashion as you can muster. Indian, hand drawn, designs on fabric will match whatever you have :).

What this part of the world has done with fabric is simply nothing short of genius :).

[Food for thought: The Euro-American fashion #industry has impacted the whole world. The East, while no less brilliant with fabric, form & color, hasn't responded in proportion, hasn't invested enough in #advertising what it has to offer. One doesn't see too many Europeans & Americans wearing Eastern ethnicwear. Isn't this interesting?]

A HR firm to be wary of...

I'm sure there are many HR firms out there promising everyone illustrious careers if they just cough up the money and engage them. Here is one I had the misfortune of interacting with about a year ago, and advise caution with:

https://www.shine.com/

Here is a succinct summary of how my interaction with them unfolded:

Step 1: Incessant phone calls from a sweet talking, polite, female representative urging me to pay a fees of just Rs. 7500/- to avail their services.

Step 2: Since the amount wasn't that high, and I was job hunting at the time, me falling for the con and making the payment.

Step 3: The sweet talking, polite, female representative disappears and in comes a snappy, ultra busy, dude who never has more than 2 minutes available. In those two minutes he asks if I would like to become a VC here or Dean there vagairah vagairah ...

Step 4: Magically, one gets shortlisted for a Deanship interview withing 2-3 days (this might also explain why applying through regular channels often gets you no response (sabka hafta fix hai bhai!))

Step 5: Come interview, once again a sweet talking, friendly, female voice introduces herself as the HR representative of so and so university and asks a few questions.

Step 6: Within a few hours, the snappy, ultra busy, 2 minute dude calls, and announces graciously: "Sir, Heartiest congratulations! You have been successful in the HR interview for so and so university!"

Step 7: Now the whammy: Before the next round of interview, you will need to pay a fully refundable Rs. 35,000/- for your security check.

Step 8: Without bothering to waste the dude's time with "hey man, will the money get refunded even if the next round doesn't work out?" and venturing to guess (I believe, intelligently) that there are probably 50 chaps paying Rs. 35,000/- for their security checks, and only one will get eventually refunded, I spell out their con and forbid them to ever call again.

The calls still haven't stopped. Now both the sweet talking female voice and the 2 minute dude have disappeared and a computer talks to me instead. But I still don't use cuss words because I'm resolved to stay a gentleman.

Stay sharp! Don't allow such con jobs to thrive!

The Importance of Post Graduate Education

Every single university that has achieved excellence globally has done so by emphasizing post graduate education and research. MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Princeton, Purdue, Cornell, Oxford, Cambridge ... you name it.

And we have decided to stay in eternal obeisance to undergraduate students.

We are biting ourselves on our own arses.

If any university provides undergraduate education, it has to do it well. This goes without saying.

But if we are on a "oh we are so good..." trip merely because we can teach undergraduate classes, we, I repeat again for emphasis, are biting ourselves on our own arses. We are being immature, foolish, and I believe, intellectually lazy. Plus the excessive importance we give our undergraduate students results in way too many of them thinking they are "somebody" without having proven themselves in the real world first.

PS: Just to be clear: By research I DO NOT mean chasing quantitative metrics. That's the other extreme of nonsense. There is a clear middle path that aspires for excellence in both teaching and research. That's the only academically sensible path that has ever existed, and ever will.

Spirituality, Materialism and Consumerism

One can certainly live a spiritual life while living in the world if one is anchored in wisdom.

But if anyone tells you that there is no conflict between spirituality and materialism or consumerism, know for sure that they haven't a clue of what they are talking about. There is a difference between materialism and using just as much material as is needed for a comfortable life, between consumerism and consuming what is good for us in the right quantity. This difference is critical to understand.

Materialism and consumerism hook you to the world, which is ephemeral, fleeting. We are here today, gone tomorrow.

Stay hooked to the spirit and enjoy the world sensibly while you are here. If you get this, you are on to something! Something precious, something beautiful!

Web Series Review: Raisinghani vs Raisinghani

Presently watching the web series Raisinghani vs Raisinghani.

Not impressed with what's being normalized here 👎.

The series is on Episode 72 now and there haven't been even two episodes in a row at any stage that have gone without attempting to pull attention towards women using unnecessary skin show (as an example, see picture below). Women themselves need to be objecting to this. Be intellectually competitive and demand that people pay attention to you for your intelligence, Skin is the easy way and it distracts from your competence (which, I assure you, you have in abundance!). Shun this shallowness!

And Puhlease! (With due respect to my European and Americal friends) moulding ourselves after Euro-Americans is not a sign of evolution! We formally rejected the hypothesis that the white man spread himself all over the world to "civilize" us colored natives on 15th August 1947 when we booted the Brits out.

Globalization is one thing; letting the west say "heel boy!" to you is quite another! Absorb from all world cultures, but firmly respect your own alongside!

PS 1: The female lead proudly declares that she recycles her clothes every six months and buys new ones! Really? What kind of a value system are we encouraging here? Forget about addressing poverty, we are actually cool with our "heroes and heroines" showcasing how they splurge their wealth like this? Seriously?

PS 2: Aur haan, daarubaazi kuch zyaada nahi ho rahi? Not one family or social gathering without everyone with a glass of liquor in their hand! Not one! Really? Occasional drink hum bhi enjoy karte hain, but is the message really that one can't socialize or have fun without liquor?

PS 3: If you pay close attention, you'll realize that there is some "pravachan level" pushing of western culture and thought throughout. As if adopting a western outlook on life will make us more evolved. This is patently unfair. The East has its own cultural richness and depth of thought - not just as contained in Indian philosophical systems such as Vedanta, but in works of philosophers such as Confucius, the Tao Te Ching, the teachings of Zen masters, the different schools of Buddhism. Why should the East mould itself after into the West to feel evolved? I can understand that a conversation between the East and West can be enlightening for both. But that's not what's getting pushed here! Such efforts need to be viewed with skepticism!

PS 4: The most recent "pravachan" seems to be "it's alright to have an abortion if you get pregnant before you are ready to raise a child". My blunt response: Cut this bullshit! The right way is simply: "Folks are in too much of a hurry to get laid today. Make something of yourselves first, stand on your own feet, be mature and settled enough to raise a child, then have sex". Relationships aren't just about sex for heaven's sake! Unless you are a victim of sexual assault, if there's a child in your womb - you are responsible for it. Period.

"Jazz is Supreme" is a "Black Supremacist" Statement.

I said this about the blues once, I say it about jazz now:

It is one of the musical forms present in the universe. And it is no more, or no less, important than any other form.

Ditto for Indian classical, ditto for Japanese folk music, ditto for African music, ditto for western classical, ditto for country, ditto for rock n' roll, ditto for prog rock, ditto for heavy metal, ditto for pop, ditto for every form of musical expression you can think of.

Statements like "so and so musical form is "the best"" are deeply immature statements that betray a very shallow understanding of art and culture. Music, art, poetry, these are expressions of the heart, our souls! Let's not reduce these to our age old cave-mannish tendencies of arguing, fighting and establishing "supremacies".

Every single form of musical and artistic expression has enriched our lives. To each his or her own.

The End.

PS: "White Supremacy" and "Black Supremacy" are two sides of the same dirty coin. The way forward is for everyone to shake hands, embrace each other, and live as one family with love and understanding as our guiding principles.

Analysis and Aesthetics: Finding the Balance

I think this is an important post to mull over:

You will meet some folks who lean heavily towards an intellectual frame of mind and way of life. They are logically astute and perhaps excel in some intellectual sphere such as STEM, philosophy, economics, law, history, etc. - but they might lack in aesthetic appreciation, they may not be able to understand how people feel, may lack emotional depth and not appreciate subjects in the aesthetic sphere such as art, music, dance, etc.

On the other hand, you will meet some folks who are very aesthetically refined, have emotional depth, can understand how others might be feeling at any given time easily and may excel at some subject(s) in the aesthetic sphere such as art, music, dance, etc. - but they may lack analytical depth. For example, someone might be a great musician but not understand the physics of sound, or a great painter who doesn't understand the physics of light and colour, or a poet who empathizes with strife and turmoil and writes verse to awaken humanity but doesn't have a keen understanding of history.

What we need to aim for in ourselves is a balanced, comprehensive, development of the mind and heart:

Consider yourself carefully. What is your leaning? If you find yourself analytically sharp but lacking in emotional and aesthetic appreciation: work on that. Maybe pick up art or music or dance as a hobby and spend some time on it every day. On the other hand if you find yourself to be emotionally sensitive and well refined aesthetically, but lacking in intellectual depth, pick up some subject(s) in the intellectual sphere that you think might interest you and spend some time with it/them every day.

Do you see what I'm saying? We need to develop ourselves holistically and become balanced, well refined, personalities - and be humble enough to stay "works in progress" right till the end of our lives.

Gratuity: Earning One's Tip!

For those of us who go out to restaurants occasionally or get food delivered via swiggy, zomato, etc., here's my tipping philosophy:

If the server or delivery person is prompt, efficient and polite: I definitely tip.

If not, I definitely do not.

There are places that openly declare that if there are more than a certain number of people in a group, a service charge is levied as part of the bill. This is transparency and I respect it.

But there are also places that have started directly including service charges in the bill for even solo customers - with the legal provision (that they ought to display but don't) that if the service is less than satisfactory the customer has the right to have the service charge removed. I've exercised this right more than once. But that is not good enough. Please allow me to explain:

Firstly, many customers get intimidated by social pressure and keep quiet even in the face of poor service. Secondly, how much to tip is entirely the customer's decision. Percentages such as 10 or 15 % are simply guidelines suggested by the hospitality industry. They cannot be hardwired in billing as a compulsion.

I personally encourage the culture of tipping prompt, efficient and polite service, but at the same time emphasize that earning a tip is NOT a right. Tips are NOT part of salary. Tips are extra personal earnings that must be deserved, and when given, must be accepted gratefully and gracefully.

Temples and Gold

I invite you to read this article: Stunning Temples Made of Gold | themindcircle

The article above lists four temples around the world, including two in India, that have used gold in their construction. The Kashi Vishwanath temple also has domes covered by gold. If you google, you'll find more temples in India (and possibly elsewhere as well) that have used gold in their construction.

I can understand expensively built temples if craftsmen, artists and painters are paid to create beautiful structures, idols, carvings and artwork. A lot of our ancient temples have done this, are magnificent, and I respect them.

But where is the sense in using gold to construct temples when a very large number of people in the country, as well as the world at large, are reeling in poverty? What kind of religion and spirituality is this?

A shortcoming with the blues...

This post expresses what I consider to be a shortcoming with the genre of blues music as I'm familiar with this form of music. But the same arguments may well apply to other forms of music too. The intention here is certainly not to single out the blues for criticism.

Consider the following standard 12 bar blues chord progression:

Am (2) Am7 (2)

Dm (1) Dm7 (1) [First change: 1 to 4]

Am (1) Am7 (1) [Second change: 4 to 1]

Em7 (1) Dm7 (1) Am7 (1) Em7 (1) [Closing with a turnaround 5 to 4 to 1 to 5]

Now this 12 bar structure must have been an innovation at some point in time, and I compliment the blues community for making it, but a whole lot of blues musicians are still stuck at it (or minor variants of it)! Why? Write down all the chords that you can form from the notes of the blues scale, innovate further, write blues songs with more interesting chord progressions and closures!

Talking about the blues scale, another innovation was the discovery of the blue note. Again, I compliment the blues community for making this innovation. But it is crazy how they keep going "Oh the blues, oh the blues, there's no other music like the blues..."

Why? Haven't other parts of the world innovated? Why is the blues scale "more important" than scales in the middle east or eastern parts of the world? Consider the scale C D E G B C for example. Just play it for a while and you'll see that it's beautiful too, it has its own feel, its own ambience! Why would it be any less or more important than any other scale?

Cultish mindsets are best avoided! If we musicians won't be open and bring the world together through perhaps the only language that has the power to unite and heal today - the language of music - then who will?

And even for a #musician at an individual level, I'm unable to understand why you would devote your entire life to just one or two scales? Why would you want to "exclusively" be a blues, or country, or rock, or jazz, etc., musician? Why? Over 30-40 years of playing music, why wouldn't you diversify, why wouldn't you pick up interesting scales and sounds from all over the world and enrich yourself?

[Note: I'm of course talking within the context of the equal temperament system of western music in this post. That other temperaments exist and have their own place in music is in itself something worth elaborating upon, but I leave that for another post.]

[I also invite you to read: Keep Your Emotional Self Intact

Feminism and the Yin (Female) - Yang (Male) Balance

The Yin (female) and Yang (male) aspects of nature are present and need to stay in balance in every aspect of life, including personal, domestic and social lives.

The corresponding terms in Sanskrit in the context of personal, domestic and social lives are Streetva and Purushatva.

Go back about 40-50 years and we had excessive patriarchy: excessive purushatva and subdued streetva. Feminism stepped in as a correcting force and steadily brought in balance. However, over the last 15 years or so the objective and nature of feminism changed to bring about a female dominated society - which is just as wrong as a male dominated society - instead of a balanced society. Today, this imbalance is openly visible all around us if we just open our eyes and look. One of the strategies to bring about this imbalance has been highly biased anti-men laws that makes it near impossible for men to take any legal course against exploitation in relationships and marriages. I call this perverted avataar of feminism "feminazism".

I highly recommend following Deepika Bhardwaj's LinkedIn account: Deepika (Narayan) Bhardwaj | LinkedIn

Deepika is doing excellent work in addressing this imbalance and will be greatly helped if more people become aware of the cases she has been digging our and pursuing steadily over the years and the documentaries she has made.

Brilliant work!

Self Respect in the Global Village

This was in Summer 2006. I was on a one way ticket back from the USA to start my academic career in India. We had a paper accepted at a conference in Germany around the same time and my post doctoral supervisor suggested that I stop over at Munich to present it on the way.

Online applications for visas had just started around then and I started to fill out the required form for a Schengen Visa. Something was going wrong, the form kept getting stuck at some point repeatedly and I had to restart the form from scratch every time. I honestly did try but when I faced the same problem multiple times, I decided to fill the form offline, take a printout of the filled form, attach hard copies of all required documents, and try and resolve the issue at the embassy.

Rented a car, drove the five hours of driving to Chicago, waited my turn, and eventually got to the interview booth. The lady at the counter was super nice. She understood the difficulties I was facing, gave me a copy of a "help points sheet" and asked me to just come back after I had completed filling the online application. I asked her if there was any way to proceed with the hardcopy I had brought because that was fully filled and had all required attachments - and I had driven in five hours for the interview! She smiled, and again, very courteously explained to me that she wouldn't be able to process my application without the online formalities completed.

So far so good.

Then suddenly this man comes out from the office behind her and snaps at me very rudely (and unnecessarily because the lady had explained the situation already) about asking the questions I asked and making the request I made. I didn't like the way I was being spoken to but as a first instinct I just shrugged my shoulders, thanked the lady, and said I would come back with a fresh appointment in a few days.

But when I was downstairs and just about exiting the premises, I made a decision that I still respect myself for. I went back up, told the lady very politely that while I appreciated her interaction with me, the gentleman had left a very poor impression of her country in my mind and I would not be stopping over.

I flew straight home.

There's a lesson here. During one's education or when it's a matter of earning the family's bread and butter, one puts up with poor behavior occasionally because that's just how the world is. Some folks are sensible and some are idiots. But short of such "essential circumstances", I refuse to let anyone dent my self respect. No way!

I had done the research that was going to be presented at a conference they were hosting and I was going to spend my money in their country! They were in a position of complete gain! There was no "charity" involved on their part! And yet that man couldn't be polite about such a simple thing! And if that was the behavior I encountered before even setting foot in their country, why would I expect better behavior inside?

This is a lesson I gladly pass on to others as well! Unless something essential is on the line and you have no choice but to put up with a bit of nonsense, never ever ever let anyone put you down. Never. Be steady where you are, be firm about who you are, do your work, live a good life, love your loved ones deeply, be happy. This much is enough. Then if you are respectfully welcomed in other parts of the world, go by all means. Else, just forget about it. It's unnecessary.

Maternity Leave in India

At present women get 6 months of maternity leave in India.

This is an insufficient period of time. A child needs tremendous maternal attention for the first year after which it can be steadily acclimatized to distributed attention from multiple people.

Maternity leave has to be at least one year long.

Arguments such as: "Well, how about 6 months maternity leave for the mother followed by 6 months paternity leave for the father? Work distribution needs to be "gender equal"" are meaningless in this context. Home is not "workplace" and there's a difference between wanting to bring a child into the world and raising it vs being co-workers at a company.

The child's wellbeing comes first. Period.

And a child literally yearns for its mother for the first year. If you've missed observing this fact, you're either not observant or not sincere enough about parenthood. The responsibility of changing this is all on you. Not on the child.

Addressing Suicides at IITs: My Viewpoint

There have been 40 suicides in IITs in the last 32 months (more than 1 every month).

I'm as concerned as anyone else but my diagnosis is probably different. Consider the following points:

1. Today there are a total of 17,740 seats in all IITs put together. While one exam (IIT-JEE) does not define anyone's long term potential (read that again), it does give feedback on one's level of preparation in Science and Mathematics at the end of 12th Grade. After having been a student at IIT Bombay and having taught at IITs Delhi, Kanpur, Varanasi, Goa and Dhanbad, I can assure you that ranks lesser than about 5000 indicate a level of preparation lower than what's required to grasp the level of rigor at IITs. We need to reduce seats in IITs and increase them by the same amount in NITs, IIITs and state government colleges. 5000 probably won't sell for politicians and their constituencies, but a reasonable cap does need to come in. I repeat: Reduce seats in IITs and increase them by the same amount in NITs, IIITs and state government colleges. And this whole cause will be helped if parents understand that "hamaare bacche ko IIT karana hai" is not a higher goal than their child's well being and happiness. Hardworking and committed students can, and do, succeed from anywhere. Being an "IITian" is not a prerequisite for a successful and happy life.

2. All students coming through affirmative action quotas (SC-ST-PD-OBC-Gender) will be served well if they go through the 1 Year Prep Course (facility already available but not used widely enough) before starting their degree programs. One extra year of investment in one's education is well worth it in the long run. The JEE cut-offs for affirmative action quotas are usually much lower than General Category, and minus the prep course preparation they tend to struggle.

3. Make a certain attendance percentage mandatory. Several IITs are still lax on this front. This results in students lounging around in hostels when classes and labs are on, many of these students drift into excessive video gaming, internet addiction, alcohol, drugs and porn addiction. Weeks slip by and when exams arrive many of them panic and rush to counselors. But it's often too late to help and many of them either end up failing or getting very low grades. This feeds back into their psyches, dents their confidence, and students who were perfectly good to start with start struggling with psychological issues and depression. A lot of this can be addressed by the simple requirement of insisting that students come to class.

4. The above 3 points focus on the undergraduate student population coming through the IIT-JEE. Implement similar strategies for Masters students coming through GATE and JAM.

5. Maintain rigor in PhD admissions instead of reducing the bar to take in and graduate more PhDs to climb rankings faster. As an example, I myself was part of a PhD interview panel for aerodynamics at IIT Kanpur in 2011 where many students coming in after having completed their Masters weren't even able to write down the governing (Navier-Stokes) equations of their subject on the blackboard. I maintained, and still do, that these students were not ready to start their PhDs and should have been asked to come back for a fresh interview after 6 months. But my colleagues resisted my stance fiercely because their promotions depend on "how many" PhD students they graduate. And this constraint has been brought in because university rankings in the western first world paradigm depend on "how many" PhD students the university graduates every year. But our third world realities are different and it is the students who suffer the most - both in coping up during their PhD programs and in the job marker after graduating.

Once the above five points are in place, counseling services and student support systems will definitely help. But unless we honestly confront and address core issues, every other strategy proves ineffective in the long run.

Academic Productivity: A Misnomer

Please give this careful thought:

The concept of "productivity" applies to factories. It makes sense to ask questions such as "how many cars or pencils or cell phones does a factory produce in a year?"

In contrast, the right questions to ask in academia are: What has a researcher discovered? What questions has he asked? Which longstanding questions might he or she have answered? How has a field of knowledge moved forward fundamentally or how has the human condition improved dramatically owing to someone's research?

Compare the questions I have just posed to: How many papers have you published this year?

The concept of productivity is best left to factories. Academics must stay introspective, deep, searching.

The one concept that has caused perhaps the most damage to academia is the concept of tenure tracking based on "productivity".

Academics will be far better served if we base tenure decisions on: a) Quality of classroom teaching, b) Quality of undergraduate project mentoring, c) Quality of Masters theses guidance and d) Quality of PhD theses guidance. This will bring the focus back to who universities were established for in the first place: Students! Alongside, encourage faculty members to work on really challenging problems and give them awards/promotions when significant breakthroughs come. And till someone's research moves forward appreciably, simply don't promote them. This in itself is incentive enough for academics to pursue their research with intent. Who would like to stay an assistant or associate professor forever? Undervaluing quality teaching and quality project/thesis guidance while emphasizing "produce something somehow" by pressing the "tenure gun" against someone's head and threatening their livelihood is self defeating, it weakens academics. Do you see what I'm saying?

The question of course is: Can qualitative judgments be made and trusted?

My response: If we trust our students and peers enough to talk in detail with them, take their feedback, and then apply our mind to ensure that everyone is above board and the feedback being received is genuinely academic, I don't see why not.

We need to (very urgently) bring back a culture of introspection, depth and intellectual rigor in our universities and make them what they were mean to be: Centers of Education. The very nature of the society we are creating depends on that. And if you just step back and watch carefully, things are falling apart really fast.

[I also invite you to read: Strike a Pause: Introducing Tenure Track In Indian Academia: A Case Study In Insincerity (strike-a-pause.blogspot.com)]

The Good Life

Think about this deeply:

Today, as a society we have linked "the good life" exclusively to how much money one has. Living in a good neighbourhood in a decent house, having decent amenities at home, wearing good clothes, sending one's children to decent schools, being able to go to a good hospital when sick: everything is simply linked to one's bank balance. This has resulted in a society that encourages making money quickly in whichever way possible. In some sections of our society this has taken things to the extreme that parents cut short their children's education and engage them in earning money - the thought process being "what's the point of education if one can earn money without it"?

Now this is deeply unhealthy! Undervaluing knowledge and education will result in a society with substandard doctors, engineers, scientists, lawyers, judges, teachers, professors, police officers, administrators, writers, musicians, painters, and so on, very very quickly. In fact, can you sense that this is already happening? Worse, societies that undervalue knowledge and education also have a higher crime rate as people start engaging in criminal activities: theft, drug dealing, prostitution, etc.

A society bereft of knowledge is not only a low quality society, it's also guaranteed to become a society dependent on foreign powers. Nations that lead are also nations that invest in keeping their societies knowledgeable. This has always been true. And it will always be true. Self sufficiency depends very strongly on how knowledgeable a society and country are.

We need to bring a shift and figure out ways to guarantee a good life to the following three sets of people:

1) People who have put themselves through an advanced level of education and are committed to using their knowledge for the society's benefit.

2) People who may not have been able to go through traditional education due to personal or family reasons but have developed a skill or an art form on their own to an advanced level and are committed to using their skill and art for the society's benefit.

3) People who engage in social work and dedicate their lives to serving the poor, the destitute, the orphaned, the abandoned.

We have to stop expecting the studious, the scholarly, the learned, the artistic, the skilled, the compassionate, the caring, the servers, to "be good" on their own expense while we give a comfortable life only to those who somehow run around and make money.

This will bring back balance in our society.

Are you able to see what I'm getting at?

Nalanda University: A Brief History Lesson and Some Homework

A brief history lesson and then some homework:

I. Brief History Lesson:

Nalanda University was attacked three times:

First attack: Mihirakula (Huns)

Second attack: Shashanka (Gauda Dynasty, Brahmin)

Third attack: Bhakhtyar Khilji (Muslim)

II. Homework:

1. Read about Mihirakula and Shashanka. Where were they from? Which religions did they subscribe to? Which form of God did they worship?

2. Ask yourself: Why is it that we are only taught about Bhakhtyar Khilji but not Mihirakula and Shashanka? What's the agenda?

Be sharp, very sharp! Know that whenever history is taught to us with distortions and omissions, there is a "Divide and Rule" political agenda behind it.

The truth is simply this: History is full of wars, violence and destruction by people of ALL faiths, ALL sects. And the only sensible way forward is this: QUIT FIGHTING! LIVE TOGETHER! LIVE AND LET LIVE!

Progress and Development is possible ONLY if we stop wasting our time and energy in fighting with each other and work together to take the nation forward. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. Period.

(Note: As you reflect on the post above, bear in mind that I have supported the present government every time they acted to cancel minority appeasement freebies (Haj Allowance, PM Iftar Parties, Triple Talaaq, Article 370 - Kashmir lost the moral right to ever demand anything in January 1990). But from 2019 to 2024 their speeches and IT Cell actively spread hatred against ordinary Muslim citizens. Not only can this not be allowed, it is fundamentally nonsensical. To understand this better, I invite you to read: Strike a Pause: Why Push Away Muslims? (strike-a-pause.blogspot.com))

Crimes Against Women: Nirbhaya!

Today is the 14th Year of Remembrance of firm justice served for one of the most horrific crimes against women this country has seen: Nirbhaya (Crime: 16th December, 2012; Culprits hung to death: 20th Match, 2020).

Ghastly though the crime was, stunningly forceful was the response. The nation rose as one, our policework immaculate, and the legal system pursued the case relentlessly till justice was delivered when all four culprits were hung to death on 20th March 2020. Alongside, no stone has been left unturned and no effort spared to spread awareness (through movies and tv series made within the country - that's how a people move forward, through self-criticism and self-evaluation from within) and make laws protecting women stricter.

Given the superlative response from a third world country that is beleaguered at so many levels, I don't think it would be unfair to seek the nomination of 20th March as Worldwide Justice for Women Day.

I emphasize the need to earmark such a day internationally with this article that ranks countries by rape statistics: Rape Statistics By Country 2023 (datapandas.org)

India is ranked 95 (1.81 per 100K) with USA and UK ranked at 13 (27.31 per 100K) and 14 (27.29 per 100K) respectively. Such data underlines a point I often make: There isn't necessarily a 1-to-1 correlation between economic and military might and refined social values. We have our challenges and there's much improvement to be made, but we are still firmly ahead when it comes to respect for women. It is an undeniable fact that most Indian men respect women deeply and, if needed, would put themselves in harm's way without a second thought to protect women around them.

As for people like Leslee Udwin and the BBC who tried to portray India as the world's ghetto for women, here's some timeless sage advice: Charity begins at home. Document and showcase the ills of your own society before starting on your next world tour to enlighten the non-whites. Here's a possible starting point for such self cleansing: Students are turning to sex work for extra money but experts warn universities are ignoring the issue | The Independent | The Independent

Moral of the story: For fees, or for pizza and wine, university students prostituting themselves is a level of moral degradation that takes away your right to point fingers at others - period.

With the data in the article above that covers all the three worlds - the first, the second and the third - I submit once again: Given the superlative response to the Nirbhaya crime from a third world country that is beleaguered at so many levels, I don't think it would be unfair to seek the nomination of 20th March as Worldwide Justice for Women Day.

I hope this post serves to kickstart a campaign on the internet that leads to the tabling of such a proposal at the UN.