Modernize!

I've been reading translations of Satyajit Ray's Feluda detective series with my eight year old. While the mysteries are interesting enough, what sticks out as a sore thumb is the fact that they have not been "modernized".

Let me explain.

Feluda thinks nothing of lighting a cigarette as he mulls over his case. At the time the story was originally written, smoking probably wasn't considered a health hazard and Satyajit Ray wrote what he did. Fast forward to the present where we now know all about the evil health effect of smoking, and guide our children away from the concept. Naturally the eight year old wants to know why Feluda is indulging in a smoke when we "all" know that's it's not good for health!

It would have made the books so much more acceptable if the translator had eliminated the bits around "puffed at his cigarette".

It isn't as if this has never been done before. In the Noddy series' created by Enid Blyton, the naughty black golliwog has been replaced by nice sweet Dinah Doll who is also black.

Why can't we do the same?

A Climber will not Creep

I've lived in a typical urban environment all my life, without much real contact with flora and fauna. The closest I ever came to nature while growing up was when I grew bean seeds for school. Of course, I studied botany in school and learnt about creepers and climbers, all the while scratching my head trying to figure out the difference by looking at grainy pictures in text books.

Fast forward to the present day, where I decided to grow a kitchen "garden". I planted beans and with the help of sticks, tried to get the plant to cover a grill. The bean plant was smart, it got the idea pretty quickly and latched onto the grill -- and kept climbing. It climbed till it reached the top end of the grill. That's when I thought it would start to grow sideways (you know, be a grown up and all that ;-)). Instead the plant, climbed all the way down and then back up again! Surely a climber, not a creeper.

That's when I really understood the difference between climbers and creepers.

Mint, on the other hand, never grew more than six inches tall; but began invading space horizontally. A creeper perhaps?

I'm looking forward to more such revelations as I get to be one with nature via my kitchen "garden"...

I Too Had a Dream

I've just finished reading "I Too Had a Dream" -- by Dr. Verghese Kurien; autobiography of the man who put India on the map as the world's largest producer of milk. The person who was responsible for Operation Flood, for our favorite Amul and Dhara brands.

Dr. Kurien has come in for a fair amount of criticism during the course of his work. He takes on the criticism head-on -- he did what he thought was in the best interest of the task at hand. Some decisions obviously came out better than others, since it is only hindsight that is 20/20.

Which brings me to my point.

In today's world, apart from the silent majority, there are two classes of people. One is the evil, corrupt lot that feeds off the silent majority. The other comprises of good *human beings*. By virtue of being *human*, they make do mistakes but basically have their hearts in the right place and want to do the right thing for the silent majority.

It is this "human" element of the good class of society that the evil class successfully exploits in order to (very successfully) deflect attention from their own evil deeds, and thus to continue to prey on the silent majority.

In movement after movement for social change, the human beings at the helm of trying to bring about good get viciously attacked over issues ranging from petty and frivolous to downright false.

And yet, tragically, each time, the evil class succeeds in "winning over" the silent majority and  halting the very change that would have been good for them.

Flipkart, Too, is a Cheat?

Update (11/11/2011): Flipkart customer service called saying it was an error and the book is now listed at Rs 295, with a discounted price of Rs 221. I was offered either store credit or a refund. I opted for the former and have received it. 

_________________________________________________________

I am extremely disappointed to be writing this blogpost.

I ordered the book "I Too Had a Dream" from flipkart.com. It was advertised at Rs 395, and marked down to Rs 296. I dutifully paid Rs 296, and waited for the book to arrive.

The MRP printed on the book delivered by flipkart was Rs 295.I feel terribly cheated by this underhand way of marking up and then marking down a book. It is a book I wanted to read; I would I have bought it *anyway*. Why this charade of offering a discount?

Also, isn't it downright illegal to sell it for MORE than it costs (even by a rupee)?

_________________________________________________________
More Flipkart horror here.

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Finally, Anna Hazare has decided to call off his 12-day old satyagraha; the Indian Parliament has passed a unanimous resolution on three basic issues of Lok Pal.

Chetan Bhagat summed up the situation well (on Times NOW): this way of getting the government to act is not comfortable; however if this is the ONLY way to get the government to move, so be it.

If my choices are corruption-galore with the current structure and way of legislating v/s a satyagraha to bring attention to the anti-corruption movement, I will choose the latter any day.

This is only the beginning. I can bet that the political class is waiting for all the outraged citizens to get back into their lives and allow the movement to die a quiet death. It is now upto we-the-people to keep up the pressure and ensure that strong anti-corruption legislation gets passed and then implemented.

On a lighter note...

Somebody sent me this joke, which is worth publishing!

Anna ki shaadi hui hoti to yeh andolan kabhi na hota.
1. Kahan ja rahe ho?
2. Akele tumhi ko padi hai anshan karne ki
3. Ye Kejriwal ka saath chhod do
4. Ye boy-cut baal wali Kiran kaun hai...? baar baar bagal mei akar kyu baithti hai.
5. Shyam tak aa jaoge na
6. Pahunchte hi fone karna

What about Irom Sharmila?

A section of people who denounce Anna Hazare's fast, do so by invoking Irom Sharmila. They say Irom Sharmila has been fasting for much longer than Anna Hazare, so how can you support Anna Hazare? What about Irom Sharmila?

To me, it seems to imply that in order to support one cause, a pre-requisite is to support every other cause that uses the same means of protest. Otherwise my support for my cause is suspect.

This line of reasoning seems totally bizarre to me. While I have no doubt that Irom Sharmila is a brave lady who is supporting a noble cause selflessly in the face of government apathy, I don't see why Irom Sharmila's fast should stop me from supporting the anti-corruption movement?

Every Indian is Anna Hazare

The draconian UPA ruled by Manmohan Singh, (aptly christened Sardar Winston Churchill by Shanti Bhushan), has shown its true colours. Anna Hazare was arrested from his place of residence. When he asked what his crime was, he was told by police that they were "following orders".

Manmohan's mouthpieces (this time they're Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and Ambika Soni) kept up their shrill rhetoric of rubbish. Kapil Sibal taunted how well team Anna is being advertised. Yes, he is, Mr. Sibal, and without an advertising budget at that. His cause is being advertised by the people of India -- for free.

With our every word, our every action, we support Anna Hazare and the right to peaceful protest.

Diamond traders in Surat spontaneously downed their shutters. Lawyers all around the country spontaneously went on strike and protested. Thousands thronged the Chchatrasal stadium in Delhi and courted arrest. Working professionals took to the streets in Bangalore. Mumbai citizens courted arrest. All over the country, citizens poured out in spontaneous protest.

All over the country, citizens support Anna Hazare, the right to peaceful protest and a strong Jan Lok Pal bill.

Each one is Anna Hazare.

The Draconian UPA 2

The wolf has finally cast off its sheep's clothing. The draconian UPA 2 has revealed its true colours -- far from being an elected representative of the people of India, the UPA 2 is an erstwhile Egyptian style autocracy that cannot bear peaceful protest by its own citizens.

After much dithering, Manmohan Singh and his Congress cronies have refused to let the citizens of India, led by Anna Hazare, launch a peaceful protest against the cancer of corruption that has all but destroyed every institution of the nation. Simultaneously, the barking Congress dogs (Manish Tiwari leads the pack this time, taking over from Digvijay Singh) have been unleashed in an attempt to slander Anna Hazare, while at the same time daring him to contest elections. 

Well, Manish -- we the citizens of India return your dare -- we dare you, your cronies and your ring-leader Manmohan to do the same. Particularly Manmohan, who has never ever had the guts to face us, the people, in a election.

Shame, shame, shame.

Peaceful Protest is a Fundamental Democratic Right

When India was ruled by the British, oppressive as the rulers were, they did not stop peaceful, non-violent forms of protest such as satyagraha.

Fast-forward to the present day, when "free" India is ruled (the word "governed" no longer applies) by a corrupt coalition of politicians led by Mr. Not Clean -- Dr. Manmohan Singh. Dr. Singh and his Congress cronies are hellbent on protecting the de-facto "Right to Corruption" that presumably allows them the clout that they currently have. So scared is the ruling coalition of a strong anti-corruption law, that in "free" India, a group of legitimate protesters are unable to get permission to launch a peaceful agitation.

If it weren't such a gross insult to democracy, it would be laughable that a peaceful protest was being scuttled. To me, the current UPA 2 is even more draconian and high-handed than the erstwhile British rulers of the past that my grandparents fought to overthrow.

Shame!

Estimation Models

I was recently tasked with creating a model to help determine duration for a particular kind of work. Working through making the model a reality I began to appreciate its value.

A targeted estimation model is a good tool to try and understand the impact of specific factors on the work at hand; also a useful tool for what-if analysis. It can be particularly handy in helping stakeholders understand the various factors considered and their role in arriving at the predicted duration of work.

The more specific a model, the more useful it is likely to be. One-size-fits-all models result in extremely iffy results that often fail to account for the unique factors and constraints of particular kinds of work.

Useful as models are, it's important to strike a note of caution about them. Data emerging from a model is, in the end, a prediction (guess) and NOT the gospel truth. If the initial understanding of the models factors and constraints turns out to be close to the way they play out in reality, data emerging from the model will serve as a useful guideline. At no point should the data emerging from a model be considered absolute.

Appeasing the Speed God

The traffic police of Bangalore city recently put a multitude of "half" speed breakers  in place across busy roads of my area. For the uninitiated, a "half" speed breaker is one that exists only on the side of the road where the intention is to slow traffic down, e.g., just before a cross road.

The traffic police probably thought it was a master stroke of careful budgeting while also achieving targeted speed control. So far so good.

What really happened?

In Bangalore, most drivers believe speed is God. Fools risk the wrath of the One Above if they slow down at cross roads or at speed breakers or even to stop themselves from mowing others down. However, it's not pleasant to be bumped on a speed breaker when driving at breakneck speed. So these worshipers of Speed God devised another method to please their deity. The wonderfully pious drivers started to swerve to the *other* side of the road, each time they approached a speed breaker on their side!

No prizes for guessing that this led to total chaos not to mention close shaves for the hapless drivers on the non-speed breaker side of the road.

Fortunately, the traffic police quickly caught on to the mess they inadvertently created, and overnight the speed breakers were all extended to cover the entire road.

This led to two things:
1> Folks being forced to slow down for no reason because the speed breakers were uniformly extended, irrespective of which side of the road they were needed.
2> The Speed God worshipers got nasty bumps as they swerved to the wrong side of the road, only to be met by ... a speed breaker.

While I must admit I enjoyed the spectacle that <2> created, it does sadden me to live in a city where people think of driving rules as mere advisories to be flouted at will.

This is not Democracy

The legitimate voice of the people of India has angered the corrupt Manmohan Singh-led Congress "government".

That's why a satyagrahi and his supporters were lathi-charged and teargas shells were fired at them. Baba Ramdev is asking for money that the corrupt government stooges have stashed away in their Swiss bank accounts be returned to the rightful -- the people of India. He launched a fast -- a satyagraha -- a tool given to us by the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

The corrupt Congress wants no part in what it perceives as the anti-corruption "drama". After all, if the people of India get their legitimate wish of a corruption-free India, where will it leave the Sonia Gandhis, the Kapil Sibals and their families who are now totally dependent on the hard-earned money of others?

Kapil Sibal proudly said, "Let this (the arrest of a yogi) be a lesson for everybody". This statement has torn away the last shred of pretence that India is a democracy. At this moment in time, India is an erstwhile Egyptian-style dictatorship where the people of India are being taught "lessons" by the dictator and his (her? Sonia Gandhi?) henchmen.

I was never a Baba Ramdev supporter, but now I am totally against the Congress and their high-handed dictatorship.

Shame, shame, shame!

Beat the Heat the Mango Way

Mangoes have the ability to convert a scorching Indian summer into heaven. They lend themselves to a variety of mouth-watering food:

• Kalonji: Made from raw (and therefore sour) mangoes, this is a sweet and sour mango pickle. Easy to make, lovely to eat.
• Instant Pickle: Finely sliced raw mangoes with chilly.
• Panna: Again, made of raw mangoes, a lovely summer cooler (and one that's supposed to be great to combat summer dehydration)
• Mango Sabzi: that's made from mangoes that have either been cut a tad before they've fully ripened or else have got over-ripe. Yum with rice and khichdi.

And of course, the ripe fruit cut and enjoyed raw -- numerous varieties -- alphonso, bangampalli, langda, chausa, imampasand, saakhrekutti and so many more ...

Mr. Not Clean

There was a time when I had tremendous respect for Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minster of India. An economist in politics -- he was Mr. Clean -- a politician untainted by the scourge of politics, a whiff of fresh air who promised to bring in economic policies for the uplift of the nation.

Not any more. Dr. Singh has allowed his political allies to loot the exchequer, looking the other way while scam after scam makes the nation poorer. It seems that no price is too high if it allows his party to cling to power. While he may not personally have pocketed any money, as captain of the ship that plunders India, the responsibility for *each* scam lies with him. The buck stops with *him*.

As for economic policy, what kind of economics make the common man pay Rs 71 for a litre of petrol, the price of which is actually Rs 25, plus taxes?

Petrol is used to transport goods and services. Therefore making people pay more for petrol actually causes prices to spiral higher -- more inflation.

Lowering taxes, however, would mean less moolah for greedy politicos to line their pockets with, who might then not be as willing to prop up Dr. Singh's government. Therefore, it is obviously preferable to break the back of the common man, rather than to do the right thing by lowering taxes.

Dr. Manmohan Singh -- I now have zero respect for you and believe you have squandered away the right to don the mantle of Mr. Clean.

Development -- At What Cost?

Dr Binayak Sen was recently granted bail in a sedition case by the Supreme Court, who observed that just as having a book about Gandhi present in a home doesn't make the residents Gandhian, having Maoist literature doesn't make Dr Sen one himself.

He was on a (must-watch till the last second) program  on NDTV, and spoke eloquently about the poor, who were statistically in a state of famine, and for the first time in the history of India -- the state was systematically dispossessing them from their means of survival in the name of "development"  (which he termed "structural violence").

As India becomes more "globalized" and "liberalized", the rich become richer, the poor become poorer, and worse, are denied the right to survive -- by law. The state is able to ride roughshod over these essentially voiceless people in order to provide people like you and me -- "development".

We would do well to take look at our never ending need for more-more-more and face the real cost of our lifestyles and aspirations -- on the ecology, the environment and most importantly -- our fellow human beings.

It is time to find a better way ...

Kaleidoscope!

Browsing through the toy section of a store, a set of cylindrical objects caught my eye. The label that read "Kaleidoscope -- made in China" sent me down memory lane.

When I was a child, kaleidoscopes were one of my favorite toys. They were simply assembled (possibly by the seller himself) -- three mirrors set in a triangle with broken bangle pieces in the center. It was loads of fun trying out various kaleidoscopes before zeroing in on the one that was the most colourful with the most unusually cut bangle pieces.

Today's "made in China" ones don't make the grade by a long shot. They don't seem to have any moving parts (bangle pieces) and the only real change of view is if you change the colour of the light source against which you hold them.

The wonderfully creative, hand-assembled kaleidoscopes of my childhood are nowhere in sight. Has "organized" manufacturing and retail killed the simple creativity of the yesteryear?  Taking away with it the small-scale entrepreneurs who are now either unemployed or doing dull low-end jobs devoid of creativity?

I really can't see that this is a change for the better in any way.

Expensive Superstition

Akshaya Tritiya and the aggressive jewellery marketing campaigns around it set me thinking about the origins of this festival (and another that is very similar -- dhanteras).

According to tradition, some metal (usually in the form of jewellery) bought on these festivals leads to prosperity. It is quite likely that the original intent was to encourage saving on a regular basis in what was possibly the only investment instrument available in the yesteryear -- gold.

Fast forward to the present where it is now superstition that makes people buy gold at exorbitant rates on those days, believing that any other time of gold purchase will not bring as much "luck".

Of course, there is no dearth of jewellery stores who specially hike rates on those days and make a killing...

Olden Ways, Golden Ways?

In today's worksheet based school culture, it seems to me that new-age schools have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

In the yesteryear, math. was taught to children in special "math." notebooks that had pages filled with squares, with each cell meant to hold one digit. That meant a child who was doing (say) long form multiplication (such as 327 * 48) could clearly see how the tens and units of the numbers stacked up. The implication of the "0" placed before beginning multiplication with 4 was fairly obvious. It also helped in giving perspective of size such that the main number could me made to fill most of the cell, with the carry-over (if any) written as a small number on the top left of the cell.

Fast forward to the present day. Math. is now done on pre-printed worksheets where the calculation area is plain white space even for children as young as 7. This means that a child dividing 678 by 7 does not have the perspective that the dividend is actually 096. I have seen the 9 being written right above the 6 of 678, thus losing perceptive of the principles of division.

Another fallout of worksheet based schoolwork is the lack of space of young (and therefore large) handwriting. I have watched struggles over trying to fit answers in worksheets that are a mix of 4-lined, 3-lined, 2- lined and no-lined workspaces all provided over the same weekend. Handwriting that had been perfected in the Montessori world is now a confused mess due to the varying size and nature of the writing area provided by worksheets.

Of course, there are people who argue that handwriting isn't important in today's day and age, but, I don't see why we can't help our children to write well. And surely nobody can argue that place value isn't an important math. concept, which a specialized book makes easy to grasp.

New age schools would do well to examine and work towards a solution to what is an easily-fixed problem.

Let Truth Prevail

The last few weeks have seen a smear campaign of unparalleled viciousness unleashed against the civil society participants of the Lok Pal Bill, particularly the father-son duo of Shanti and Prashant Bhushan.

Broadly, three allegations were mada against the Bhushans:

• A CD where Shanti Bhushan claims to Amar Singh that Prashant can fix a judge for Rs 4 crores,
• Land allotment in NOIDA that is supposedly from Mayawati's discretionary quota, and
• Stamp duty "evasion" over purchase of an Allahabad ancestral home.

The "sansani khabar" 24*7 sound-bite Indian media showed themselves in very poor light, making no attempt to separate the wheat from the chaff, while setting themselves and their on-camera panels-with-obvious-agendas up as kangaroo courts. Some of the print media resorted to publishing just plain lies.

With the "free press" playing a such a mischievous role, how are the people of India supposed to learn the truth?

Now for the silver lining. The Outlook newsmagazine has attempted to present a balanced view. So has Tehelka, which even went so far as to publish an apology and highlight facts that it had got wrong.

The article "The smears. And the facts about the Bhushans" is worth reading in its entirety.

Let's hope that the truth, which has emerged against all odds, will also be allowed to triumph!

Corruption Kills

A factory operating out of a building with every exit locked and windows barred with iron grills caught fire killing its night-shift workers.

If corruption wasn't rampant in our nation, would the owners have dared to run a factory that flouted the most basic fire safety regulations and hadn't even got an NOC from the fire department? It is likely that the owners thought they could pay off the fire department official if he showed up to object; if he turned out to be scrupulous, there would be the friendly neighborhood politician to pressurize him into keeping quiet.

Is it also corruption at play that arrests the managers while making no mention of the owners? (Update: the article above has been updated to state that one of the managers is also the owner)

As this blog post by Jo Chopra McGowan points out, "Our health, our safety, our routines and our attitudes are all created, infected and reinforced by corruption."

Tragic. My heart goes out to the families that lost their loved ones...

Hatchet Therapy Indeed

The article Hatchet Therapy in Outlook news-magazine sums up the anti-Bhushan smear campaign while posing 10 unanswered questions:

• When Amar Singh says the CD is doctored, how come the CFSL concluded it is not?
• If CD isn’t doctored, how come Mulayam Singh’s 2006 lines match verbatim with 2011 CD?
• Which forensic reports can you trust when there are different CDs doing the rounds?
• Why is the Congress talking in two voices after relenting before the Jantar Mantar protest?
• Does Digvijay Singh’s attack on the Bhushans have the OK of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi?
• Was the Noida farmhouse land scam issue leaked because the CD story was losing steam?
• Are the Bhushans being attacked because they have stepped on too many toes?
• If the Bhushans are made to leave, will the smear campaign stop or will it go on?
• Could the relentless attacks result in a totally watered down Lokpal bill?
• Is the Congress endearing itself to voters with its tacit support to the attacks?

***
Other media houses show themselves in extremely poor light, with the Indian Express, which was once known to be a crusader for the truth, writing up just plain lies around land allotment to the Bhushans, mischievously ignoring the facts. The NOIDA Development Authority CEO is on record saying "We had about 160 applicants and 97 or 98 of those have got the plots so far and the Bhushans were among them. We are still interviewing the applicants and more applicants may get plots if they qualify".

Another individual who has been paraded by our "impartial media" is Vikas Singh who has been slandering the Bhushans from dubious, if not false, moral high ground.

Swapan Das Gupta sums up what the Congress is trying to do to anti-corruption legislation. It is no mystery why -- years and years of pillaging this nation along with their allies means that an effective anti-corruption law will have most (if not all of them) cooling their heels in prison for a long long time.

Satyamev Jayate.

Stop Corporal Punishment

A class 8 boy, who was recovering from a brain tumour, was hit on the head by his teacher because he was unable to stand up in class as punishment. It sent him back to hospital.

The teacher's excuse -- she didn't know he'd had surgery so thought he was free game to be smacked around. Irrespective of whether the boy was healthy or not, the teacher had no right to strike him. Our children are NOT free game for random teachers to exercise power over and use as punching bags to remove sundry frustration.

Also, while I am not aware whether corporal punishment in schools is banned by law, the Supreme Court's views are definitely on the record against it, thereby making it contempt of court to physically punish children in school.

This is not the first instance of corporal punishment being highlighted by the media. Which is why I am shocked that despite all the outrage that has been expressed against corporal punishment over the last few years, teachers still don't get the message.

Not only should the law come down strongly on teachers who practise corporal punishment AND principals and school administrators who hire them, what is also needed is a concerted effort to make educators aware that corporal punishment amounts to contempt of the highest court of the land and is therefore punishable by imprisonment.

Corporal punishment is also against our children and surely does not in any way help forward their education.

Stop corporal punishment now!

A Request to the Civil Society Activists of the Jan Lok Pal Bill panel

A sincere request to all the civil society participants of the Jan Lok Pal Bill panel. Please do not quit the panel.

We the people of India are watching a vicious smear campaign being unleashed against  you by govt and non-govt representatives (the Singhs Digvijay and Amar being at the forefront of it). The "free press" instead of practising journalism, has morphed into a mouthpiece of the corrupt with no intention of letting the truth triumph. Despite all the allegations being proved false *with* documentary evidence, the media is still attacking you in the hope of getting a sleazy soundbite (and maybe a generous scrap from the corrupt pie?)

• The CD has been verified to be doctored by two independent laboratories of impeccable repute
• The Noida Development Authority stand by the land allotment and has transparently explained the process
• Justice Santosh Hegde's integrity is above reproach  

Yet, the soundbite media continues to hold out the pail of mud so the lowest of the low have an easy time sloshing it around.

This kind of relentless mudslinging causes emotional trauma -- since each of you are personally people of high integrity and ethical standing. I understand that it is painful to see your character being tainted by lies and falsehood. Pain is what the corrupt want to cause -- enough pain so that you retreat from drafting the anti-corruption bill and let them continue to rule the roost.

Do not hand the corrupt a victory. For the sake of the nation -- I urge you to bear lies and smears and stay in the panel to help draft a strong Lok Pal Bill.

Satyamev Jayate.

What Happened to Investigative Journalism?

The Jan Lok Pal Bill movement is awash with mudslinging on the civil society participants of the drafting committee. Anonymous CD's claiming the Bhushans can fix sitting Supreme Court justices, land allotment "scams" created on the fly, stamp duty "evasion" discovered overnight, Santosh Hegde being told he's partial and politically motivated, and who knows what else yet to come.

What saddens me most is the role of the media. I don't see a single media house even *attempting* investigative journalism. Instead it's all about hurling microphones in the face of civil society activists and asking questions that range from irrelevant to downright stupid.

To elaborate, when the CD controversy emerged, the Bhushans got the CD verified by two independent and respectable laboratories in India and the US. Their findings were made public. Responsible journalism would have analyzed the track record of the laboratories, what the findings exactly stated, where else the laboratories had weighed in, the impact of their analyses in the past and therefore the probability of their analysis being correct (or otherwise) in this instance.

Instead, to date the media continues to say the Bhushans "claim" the CD is doctored, while harping about a government laboratory claiming the CD isn't doctored. The government laboratory, in a CYA measure, also stated that it needed further inputs to be sure. That of course has been lost in the noise.

It would, of course, be laughable to suggest that the media has done *any* investigation into the techniques and equipment used for analysis by the various laboratories. No one in the media has made ANY attempt to find out who is behind the CD either.

All of this makes me wonder whether the media is as uncomfortable with a strong Lok Pal Bill being implemented as are the corrupt who are clearly trying to scuttle it. Have the media denizens gotten so used being thrown generous scraps by the corrupt political class? We have heard of enough scandals that involve our media "stalwarts" who brazenly continue to be on air despite ample evidence indicting them. 

Now, to another point.

The Bhushans, Santosh Hegde, Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare are honest, upright people who are NOT personally corrupt.
 
Let's, for a hypothetical moment, assume that all of the civil society participants are indeed corrupt to the core. Why, then would they be trying to draft an anti-corruption bill against THEMSELVES? And -- isn't it then in the interest of the nation to have a strong Lok Pal Bill under which they can then be prosecuted?

I support the civil society activists and all their hard work in trying to make the Lok Pal Bill a reality. I trust that other fellow Indians are wise enough to not fall for mindless sound bites and give this nation a chance to move out of the quagmire of corruption it has descended into. The results of various polls conducted by diverse sources give me hope. We the people of India WANT a strong Jan Lok Pal Bill, support our civil society activists, and can see through the media shenanigans.

To conclude -- a word of advice to the media. Use the time until the Lok Pal Bill becomes reality to clean up your act instead of siding with the corrupt to try and scuttle it.

Satyamev Jayate.

PS: More about the Bhushans here.

Forty Percent Slower

HDFC bank advertises that one can withdraw cash at their ATM's upto ~40% faster using their FastCash option.

I did just that -- only to be treated to an Apply for Personal Loan screen where the only options were Yes and Ask me Later.

Now, withdrawing cash at an ATM (once you've reached the machine for your turn) is about a 2 minute job anyway -- the "40%" that FastCash saves you is about 30 seconds. Which gets eaten right away with irritating screens around Personal Loans (and credit cards?).

HDFC Bank needs to show just a *little* more respect for the IQ of its customers!

To express this in Twitterspeak: #HDFC Bank FastCash #Fail

Perfection Will Always Be Illusory

A seven year old girl underwent plastic surgery in order to avoid bullying. Apparently she was being teased because her ears stuck out, and her parents wanted to protect her from it.

To be honest -- my first reaction was to judge the parents harshly. We've all been teased while growing up; our children get teased too. The thing to do is to learn to stand up to it. An oft-reiterated message in my home is that you don't become what others call you -- you have to understand and internalize that fact and therefore deal with teasing accordingly. Also -- the more you react to a bully's words, the more pleasure he or she will derive out of saying them.

Then, as I thought about it some more -- I realized how lucky I am. I live in India where it *is* still possible to live without being completely depressed about one's "look" -- particularly at the age of seven. Most seven-year-olds I've seen don't really have strong opinions of what they (or others) should look like.

This little girl, on the other hand, lives in the US -- the land where the way you look matters above all else to most people. Body image is paramount and while cosmetic companies are making a killing already, cosmetic surgeons have decided to cash in too.

Having said that -- isn't it scary? Seven is hardly the age for a child to be worried about the way she looks. What's even scarier is *other* seven year olds with such strong opinions about what is or isn't the "right" look.

If we push children to believe that there is a "perfect" look, how much of their lives will they spend hating their natural look and striving for something that is an illusion?

Every child is beautiful and we ought to be able to let our children believe it as well...

I Support the Citizen Ombudsman

While civil society is mostly ecstatic about participation of the citizen sector in drafting the Jan Lok Pal (Citizen Ombudsman) Bill, intellectuals have an issue that this movement is "subversive of representative democracy", with others going on to accuse the civilian panelists of the committee of being power-hungry publicity seekers. 


Irrespective of the intellectual viewpoint, I believe what has happened is a positive step for a number of reasons.

• We send elected representatives to parliament to enact our will, and given that they are not experts, they consult subject matter experts to draft bills. Civil society has participated in the writing of other bills (such as the Maharashtra RTI Act to name one) in the past, so there is already a precedent. (At the time of the those other bills -- none of the intellectuals raised objections about their voter rights being trampled upon)
• This bill is unique in that it is asking thieves to police themselves. A tall (if not possible) ask of people who have already shown themselves to be of poor moral standing (viz., politicians). If, despite the scams, you need further proof, please read ex-Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy's statement.
• Left to the government alone, the Lok Pal Bill will be a waste of the paper it gets printed on, being advisory in nature and not having powers to either recover embezzled funds or send the guilty to prison.
• We need to give people the tools to fight corruption NOW, not in some uncertain future. For each day that the corrupt thrive and siphon off hard-earned taxpayer money, more and more children go naked, hungry and without an education to give them hope of escaping poverty. Each day that corruption goes unchecked further calcifies the "ovarian lottery effect" that Warren Buffet has spoken at length about.
• The Jan Lok Pal Bill will be passed (if at all) in Parliament by the "elected" representatives of the people, so if the intellectuals feel very strongly that we don't need an anti-corruption tool, they are free to lobby their MPs to vote against it.

This of course, is not the end. The bill has a long and arduous journey before it turns into law. It *will* get watered down in the drafting committee and may even get thrown out of parliament (every corrupt politician's secret hope).


Once enacted it will not lead to a magical end to all corruption. What it will do is provide the people of India with a powerful tool with which to attempt to fight corruption, in much the same way as the RTI. It will also give some semblance of hope to *other* bills like the RTE, in that the funds set aside might just end up getting used for their stated purpose.


I support the Jan Lok Pal Bill.


PS: An interesting counterpoint to the intellectual view is here.


PPS: A debate around whether the civil society should be drafting laws. Harish Salvi wonders why the masters (people) are faulted for telling the servant (elected representatives) who to do. Sandhya Jain claims Anna Hazare's fast was a hoax!

Educating Indian Children

The Minister for Education, Kapil Sibal, and Anna Hazare exchanged words over the Lok Pal Bill, with Mr. Sibal claiming that the bill would not educate a child, and had nothing to do with state sponsored education.

Actually Mr. Sibal, the Lok Pal Bill *will* help educate children. The current government expenditure on education makes its way into the pockets of your colleagues, and bureaucrats and contractors connected with the education ministry. A small fraction of what is put aside actually goes into building school infrastructure and educating children.

If there are checks and balances in place, the money is more likely to reach government schools to provide infrastructure and teacher salaries, thereby educating children.

Corporate Greed

I've just finished reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. Although written more than a decade ago, not only does the book ring true even today, what's more -- it seems that conversion of skilled work to minimum wage jobs carried out by an unskilled workforce has become a pan-industry phenomenon.

Industry after industry is looking to "templatize" and "automate" work so that they can hire minimally skilled people at minimum wage (or less) in order to enjoy even bigger profit margins. While I will not get into the ethics or the social consequences of this approach, as a consumer, I can't help but notice how interaction with various businesses (ranging from cell phone providers to retail stores) is getting more and more dumbed down and therefore frustrating.

The following examples amply illustrate my view.

A few months ago, I complained to Airtel --  my cellphone service provider about receiving SMS spam despite being registered on DND. I duly received a complaint number and was told that the messages I was getting were from "another provider" who had been informed. The complaint was "Resolved" and therefore closed. The SMS spam continued unabated and I tweeted about it in frustration. The twitter arm of Airtel got involved and asked me to write to them -- which I did. A few days later, they wrote back saying that although I was being harassed by messages, statistically they were doing well at reducing spam. Duh? What kind of an idiot says that to a customer who has a genuine problem? An unskilled, minimum wage worker, no doubt. The SMS spam continues unabated till today, with tagged SMSes (presumably form Airtel) hitting my number with stunning regularity. Thanks to mobile number portability, I am actively shopping around for another provider.

***

I visited Total Mall and spent one horrifying hour trying to checkout. Smart managers would have hired extra hands for holidays; trained cashiers would have known how to unlock and operate tills. A skilled workforce would no doubt plan ahead for extra footfalls on public holidays, in addition to being quick at scanning, billing and bagging items. None of that was in any evidence at the store. Total was probably looking to maximize profits without a care to customer experience. I, for one, am never going back there. A little bit of googling revealed that neither are other disgruntled customers.

Which brings me to my point. When corporations try to maximize profit  at any and all costs, customer experience reduces to such an extent that customers begin to vote with their wallets and leave. This is a gradual process and therefore it is hard for a business who is focused on greed to the exclusion of all else to notice. (Total Mall did not take written feedback from me, despite my offering to give it). Only when it begins to hurt the bottom line, do they wake up. They pay exorbitant fees -- bring in management consultants who come in and state the obvious, while simultaneously laying off an already stretched and unskilled workforce.

By which time it is probably too late anyway.

Total Mall is a Total Flop

Although I usually avoid chain stores, I had the misfortune of visiting Total Mall at Madiwala in Bangalore today. Aside from the fact the layout was completely non-intuitive, fruits and vegetables were not too fresh, grocery shelves were partially and messily stocked, and fresh food counters weren't staffed, what was *most terrible* was the checkout experience.

Today, being Ugadi in Bangalore -- the store was reasonably crowded. You'd think that a "big" retailer would have projections about expected footfalls and customers and would have enough check-out counters open at 11.45 am. Wrong. There were *less than half* (about 4) of the check-out counters open, with serpentine queues haphazardly leading upto them.

After waiting at the same point for 15 minutes, the supervisor was approached to open extra checkouts. He responded by saying that it would take about 15 minutes and said something about staff not showing up. Twenty minutes later someone sauntered in to open *one* additional counter, but then couldn't get it working because it was locked. At that point, I told a checkout associate that I wanted to speak to the manager. She gave me a sullen look and refused to say anything. When I asked her if she was the store owner, she nodded. Only when I said that I would then give HER feedback did she point me to the supervisor, who again said things like people haven't come in, etc. I asked to speak to the manager and he immediately called the manager (Shankar) *who did not show up to speak to me at all*.

Instead a Mr. Mathew smilingly came along and asked what the problem was. At that point, I had already waited for *45 minutes* at checkout.

I gave a him a piece of my mind and he continued to make excuses and say how it was a holiday and people had worked till midnight the previous evening, etc. When I pointed out that we were practically packing our own groceries, he finally grasped how out-of-control the situation was and then began making phone calls to open tills and get additional help.

The total time I took to checkout -- 1 hour. That's right -- 60 minutes!

Which brings me to my point.

How is it that Total Mall fails to plan additional staff hands on a day that is a holiday and additional customers are likely to come in? How is it that the "Customer Care Associate" (Matthew) can say things like -- people worked till midnight that's why we don't have enough staff at 12.30 pm the next day? Whatever happened to hiring additional hands when needed? How is it that people working the tills aren't trained enough to even know how to unlock them to get started?

To summarize -- how is it that Total Mall really doesn't care about customer experience? Unless the management is arrogant enough to believe that an hour to checkout on a holiday is just dandy?

Time is the most precious resource in my life, and a business that has no respect for my time will not get my business. I'm never going back. Goodbye Total and Good Riddance.

(Just in case you are wondering where I do shop -- the answer is here.)

World Without Borders

My blog has seen visitors from Canada, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, UAE, UK, Ukraine, and the US.

We truly live in a world without borders :-)

Update: Also Chile.

Kuwait.

Germany.

Moldova.

This is not Science

A few months ago, my then 7 year old signed up for the Grade 2 "Science" Olympiad and came home with an NSO "Workbook".

Flipping through the workbook, I was hard pressed to find any "Science" in it. It was a mish-mash of topics ranging from "Occasions, Festivals" and "Family" to "House, Housemakers" and "Occupation". As I watched him work through it, some of the questions left me wondering exactly *who* created the material and what the motivation behind it was.

One question was "Who cooks food in a family?", with the options being Aunt, Mother, Sister and All of These. "Who is called the head of family?" asked another. The options were Father, Brother, Mother and Cousin. No prizes for guessing what the right answers were. Now, even if the correct answers to these questions are "Family Dog", not only do I fail to understand how this can be called Science, I am also completely amazed that we choose to thrust gender stereotypes down the throats of impressionable young minds in this day and age, without *any* thought to how the world has changed and how each family may be unique in its own way.

To me it seems that the "Science" Olympiad, although run by a not-for-profit organization, is really a way of making a pretty packet for the organizers, science and sensitivity be damned!

As someone who has her degrees in pure Science, I find it hard to stomach this brutal misuse of the term "Science" to make a quick buck.

Earth Hour

It's Earth Hour today and the chairman of Western Australia's largest sustainability program says Earth Hour is tokenistic and a waste of time.

For the most part, I agree. I see "preparations" on for Earth Hour around me; it strikes me as a way to "get involved" without making any real lifestyle changes that have lasting impact and yet feel good about having "done one's bit".

How many folks that enthusiastically ready for "get-togethers" really plan to make ANY change to reduce their carbon footprint? Mostly, discussions veer to how *others* should make sacrifices to sustain the carbon footprint-heavy lifestyles of the elite.

The only possible advantage of Earth Hour will be to light the flame of inquiry and then concern in young minds who may then be spurred to do something to save their planet...

Recent Reads

It's been a while since I updated recent reads. The pace of reading has slowed down considerably owing to being very busy, however, I've managed to read:

• How Much Should a Person Consume -- Ramchandra Guha. A history of the environmental movement across the world, and the ways in which it plays out in different countries. I found details of the Indian environment movement very gripping. Although the book turned out to be quite different from what the title leads one to believe, it was a thought-provoking read, and has definitely forced me to be aware of the consequences of each lifestyle choice that we constantly make.
• Banker to the Poor -- Muhammad Yunus. The autobiography of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winning pioneer of micro-credit. A very powerful, very inspiring read. The author makes a compelling case for lending to the poor.  
• Shogun -- James Clavell. Very interesting read -- a fictionalized account of Japanese (and European) culture at the time of the Japanese Shogunate.
• The Lord of The Rings -- J. R. R. Tolkien. Good read, and it certainly seems like the Harry Potter series has been very liberally "inspired" by this epic. I would have liked to get to know the dark lord Sauron a bit better :-P
• Emperors of the Peacock Throne -- Abraham Eraly. *Very* gripping read about the life and times of the Mughal era. Highly recommended.

I am currently reading:

• The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Life of Business -- Alice Schroeder. I almost two thirds done with the official biography of Warren Buffet. Reading it along with "How Much Should a Person Consume" has been interesting -- the life of a guru of the capitalist way, read alongside with what naked corporate greed unleashes on the native population of a country.
• Fast Food Nation -- Eric Schlosser. I've just started this book about the history of fast food in America. So far, it's a good read.

I've also read aloud the first six books of the Will Solvit series (trashy IMO), books of the Mr Men/Little Miss series (funny), At Least a Fish by Anoushka Ravishankar (very nuanced and a good read), Tales of Danger by Ruskin Bond (vividly written -- the words paint pictures), and am currently reading aloud Tales and Legends from India -- also by Ruskin Bond.

Light Indicators

Of late, the Bangalore traffic police have been aggressively adding indicators at signals. These indicators count down the number of seconds to the next light change. While they work well when you are stopped at a red light, the effect they have while counting down from green to red is something else altogether. They unleash a paranoia among drivers who look at the reducing amount of time and honk continually while trying their best to speed in bumper-to-bumper traffic!

I wouldn't be surprised if the frenzied psyche of the drivers at a green light counting down to red actually leads to accidents!

Those who can ... Do

In the old days, the saying went "Those to can do, those who can't -- teach!".

Fast forward to the present where it has morphed to "Those who can, do; those who can’t, set up a conference call to outline targets for doing."

:-P

How Much Should a Person Consume?

I've just wrapped up reading "How Much Should a Person Consume?" by Ramchandra Guha. The book makes interesting reading, particularly the parts that talk about the history of the Indian ecological movement. As it is Guha's style to treat history as a living continuum, rather than merely a thing of the past, book traces Indian ecological movements right upto the present (or 2006, the year the book was written).

Today, I was part of a parents gathering asked to come up with ways to save the earth. Listening to group after group brought home that we are indeed "ecological onmivores", with a sense of entitlement and an expectation of sacrifice on the part of others less fortunate than us to help us sustain our lifestyles while somehow saving the earth.

Some of the ways to "save" the earth espoused by the group:

• Build dams to collect and save water (What about the flora, fauna and people who inhabit the areas to be submerged by the dam? Not to mention the climate changes that dams bring about in the areas that they are built)
• Stop using airplanes (This was said by someone who looked much traveled -- he described how the airports used to be empty and now are "more crowded that railway stations". Flying planes into the ozone layer resulted in pollution according to him!)
• Control the population (The same person who wanted "aam janta" to stop flying also said that basically more people meant more carbon dioxide in the air. Well then -- shouldn't he have refrained from having children? What's also ironical is that this person's offspring are likely consume more ecological resources and do more damage to the environment that the children of the have-nots)
• Teach children how to save the earth (While it is important to teach children to be aware of their surroundings -- respect nature, re-use, re-cycle; they are being subjected to extreme views of what the world will be like in "2070". This frightens them. Surely this is not the desired impact?)

There was however, one voice which was a ray of hope in the group (no it wasn't mine ;-)). One parent spoke about how complicated and sophisticated our lives have become -- lives that take away from the planet without giving back. This is true. If only we step back and simplify our lives just a little (by little), we will go a long way to leaving our children a living planet.

Our Children Need Human Moms

Amy Chua's "Tiger Mom" article in the WSJ prompted this blog post.

I'm (an Asian/Indian) mom and there are some guiding principles of her parenting style that I totally agree with:

• Nothing is fun until you're good at it (and I believe when you're good at something, the sense of achievement does wonders for your self-esteem)
• As a parent, one of the worst things you can do for your child's self-esteem is to let them give up
• The best way to protect ... children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away

That said -- I totally disagree with her ways of actioning these principles.

Every child does NOT have to be good at the violin, piano and math. Children have varied talents. Instead of forcing a child to be good at something that YOU the parent care about, figure out where your child's aptitude lies. It's not that hard -- expose your child to a variety of activities (including academic ones), watch the keenness with which he participates in them and *listen* to what he tells you about them. From personal experience, I can vouch for the fact that a child will enjoy the practice and challenge in subject matter that  aligns with aptitude.

If your child is involved in an activity that isn't working -- *help* him ease out of it, without letting him feel that he isn't "good enough" for it.

If you are able to discover the aptitude of your children and help them get good at it -- then you are truly preparing them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.

Let tiger moms bring up tiger cubs. Human children need human moms :-)

P.S.: Quora has an interesting discussion of Amy Chua's article.

Let School Days Be School Days

The Ayodhya verdict. A public fight between CM and Governor of the state. A state language "sammelan". What do they have in common? No prizes for guessing -- forced closure of educational institutions by state diktat.

We are ruled by a government that publicly proclaims it will not be able to protect the safety of our children as they travel to school in their *well-marked* school buses and sit down to study in their classrooms. By a government that suddenly decides it is better for schools to shut down because a state language "sammelan" is being held.

Maybe (and there is no evidence of this) the government wins brownie points with it's electoral constituency -- but what about the impact on children? Parents?

Sudden school closures force working parents to stay away from office as well. Is anyone tabulating the economic loss? Un-planned school holidays also result in weekend school days to complete "syllabus". That's extremely taxing on children AND parents, not to mention disruptive of any weekend activities and plans.

The current CM seems to believe his opponents are driving him out of power and is resorting to mumbo-jumbo to fight their "black magic". I don't know about the black magician opponents, but voters like me certainly will -- during the next election.

Do Marks Matter?

In today's non-overtly-competitive educational environment, children get graded (based on mark bands) for their performance in assessments. Most often, grades are only made available to parents and are not shared with the children. No mark-based class ranks.

Therefore, no real anxiety and/or seriousness towards "assessments". No anxiety is good. No seriousness?
Let me explain. When marks are lost due to careless mistakes or overlooking things that a child *does* know -- it makes little difference to the child. The typical reaction in a non-marks-hyped environment is "so what?"

That's as far as the child is concerned. But ... how does this impact people around the child? Most importantly -- how do teachers react? Teachers who have been in the field from before the "new-age" schools became popular find it hard to let go of the judge-the-child-by-the-written-word syndrome. They continue to put tremendous emphasis on the written word -- using it as the final benchmark to judge the child.

When will our education system truly change to embrace the child for what he or she is instead of beating around the written-word bush?

Attitude Matters

Today was a day of trying to locate a Nintendo DS "repair shop". Googling the Nintendo website took me to a Japan address when I clicked the India link!

Some amount of studying the problem of the non-working Nintendo pointed to a battery issue. Now the place where one can find batteries is a watch shop, so we headed off in that direction. There was also a separate agenda of buying a wall clock to replace one that had died recently.

While waiting for the shop assistant of the watch shop to finish attending to another customer, we browsed and located a clock that was quite nice.


Finally it was our turn. As the shop assistant turned the screw to try and understand what kind of battery was housed in the Nintendo, the owner of the shop walked in.  He took one look at the Nintendo and said disinterestedly, oh I'm pretty certain we wouldn't have what is needed (without even looking at the battery) -- told the shop assistant to "leave it", in a tone that clearly implied that I wasting their time. In a shop where I was the only potential customer. I asked where would get the battery and the shop owner replied that he didn't know in the same "don't-waste-my-time" tone.

I left without buying the clock that I had intended to pick up and went to another shop -- this time a departmental store that also carried batteries. I showed the shop assistant the Nintendo and he asked if the old battery was still inside. When I confirmed that it was, he pulled out his tool set and opened the battery case. He looked at the Nintendo battery and said he didn't have batteries of the kind. I asked him if he could confirm that it was indeed a battery problem, and, *even though he KNEW there was no sale to be made*, he tested the battery and confirmed that it was dead. He even ventured a guess of where I would possibly get the battery (not a camera store, madam, please try an electronics repair shop).

What I find amazing in this cut-throat retail economy is that the owner of the "mom-and-pop" watch shop, whose USP is supposed to be personalized service and customer relationships, couldn't care less about helping someone -- who save for his you-are-wasting-my-time attitude, would have bought a clock from him.

No prizes for guessing where I finally bought the clock from ;-).