Today is the 10th anniversary of Kargil war between India and Pakistan which ended in a Pyrrhic victory for India. CNN-IBN news channel was conducting an interview with parents and youngsters to see if joining the Armed Forces was still an aspiration. Some were for it. Some were not. Watching this program got me thinking.
Later today, I was also reading the paper and it appears that China has relaxed the 'one-child' policy since their population is aging very quickly.
I took these two disparate pieces of information and extrapolated something interesting logic. Money wins over ideology. Sad but true.
The Chinese govt realized that to ensure that each household has only one child they would need to do something creative. They came up with a scheme which promised complete financial aid for the child's growth and education and health and for the family if the family adopted the 'one-child' policy. For a communist country like China this incentive was invaluable that the policy was adopted by couples very quickly. If they made a second baby the incentive was not available and they had to bear all the expenses for the two children. That was a huge disincentive to procreate. This effectively kept the population from exploding.
If China had announced that truth in plain terms as - "if our population explodes each individual will have less opportunities and less resources and a lower quality of life, so we must adopt this 'one-child' policy" would they have been successful in enforcing policy. Most unlikely. But when they threw some monetary incentives it worked! Money is the bottomline
Similarly, in the USA children who decide to join the Armed Forces have their Federal Education Loans (FAFSA Loans as they are called) waived. Which means after 4 years of service they are eligible to return at the age of 22 and go to college, fully sponsored by the Govt. For many children college education costs around $30,000 to $4 0,000 and this is not something they or their parents could afford. Also the family system is quite unstable in the USA relative to countries like India. So it is a reality that both parents might be separated or divorced and hence unlikely to provide financial support. This monetary incentive besides several other incentives make the option of joining the army very attractive.
Imagine some handouts with this message - "Please take up this risky job of defending our Nation. Your Nation needs you. The training will be rigorous and you will be deployed in extreme conditions in hostile territories like Iran or Afganistan or unstable Rwanda or Haiti. Personal injury and death are very likely statistically. But it is an honorable option and the Nation salutes your valour". Would these messages succeed in inspiring youngsters to join. A big "NO!"
Money again, in the form of Loan waivers and discounts on military quota seems to do the trick of inspiring people to enlist in the Armed Forces.
Moving on to my third and final case. India has a fantastic fauna and flora. But India is also notoriously apathetic towards wildlife conservation. Tiger populations have dwindled to mere hundreds in the wild. The future looks bleak. Animal rights leaders and champions of wildlife conservation are trying to send home the message "let us save our wildlife from extinction so that our children and their children will get to experience the beauty and grandeur of Nature". This message albeit being true has not marketability. No one is convinced. So lets go back to our drawing board and analyse this problem. Could we extrapolate from lessons learnt elsewhere. We already know we live in a cynical world. Truth is not enough. Something else is needed.
How about South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. These are third-world countries with high rates in poverty and diseases. They could not care less about wildlife conservation. Yet, wildlife thrives. There are so many programs on Discovery TV channel on conservation in Africa. How come it works there and not in India. Simple! The South-African government has learnt how to make money out of wildlife tourism. Organized safaris and expeditions bring in much-needed foreign exchange. The tribals and subsistence farmers become gun-toting forest rangers who are actively involved in wildlife conservation. The tourism industry is having the side-effect of conservation. Truth be told, human race is destructive. We will not rest until we breed and multiply and consume all resources until our own existence is in peril. Does not speak much about the most highly evolved intelligent species, does it? Maybe the collective intelligence lacks foresight?
So India needs to market wildlife tourism. If and only if that happens, can we save the tigers the elephants the migratory birds, the Rhino and all the other magnificent animals. If we can find a way to market the concept of wildlife tourism, drive home the point that watching a tiger stalk a deer in the bush brings more money than selling its pelt to Nepali tribesmen, then we would have succeeded in saving the tiger. If the Ranthambore national park makes 10 times more money from elephant back safaris and guided tours from foreign exchange from tourists then the poachers would give up their lifestyle and become tour guides! The farmers who encroach on the sanctuary will stop clearing the land and start become forest rangers.
Money again is the bottomline. No other idealogy is stronger. Money can change the course of civilization and destiny. Sad but true. Once we have enough money and all known problems have been solved creatively (population control, wildlife conservation, peaceful coexistence of countries) then we can all sit back and rock on our chairs and ponder on a little thing that has been sidelined - truth. We are a curious species!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Dark Matter
I watched this movie called Dark Matter yesterday which was Mar 31st 2009 also Ugadhi festival day in Karnataka. I was able to relate to the subject of the movie. I was also a PhD student who dropped out of the program when I realized just how stifling it was. One has to align one's goals with the goal of the advisor otherwise one will end up being frustrated. Ofcourse Meryl Streep is her quintessential self. The struggle of an individual who enters the US from countries from Asia are very vividly portrayed. I was some scenes with one loud thought "that is me!" in that scene. The life of a broke penniless scholar student with his head full of cosmology theories is so real. I was that person not so long ago. I was one of the best PhD students as I blazed through my breadth exams in Artifical Intelligence Computer Graphics and when it was time for Human Computer Interaction the college told me that they did not funding anymore to support me. My low point was having $5 in my bank account. Sweet are the uses of adversity - says Shakespeare. He is not just a playwright but a prophet. His words are so uncanny and accurate. An advisor who went on a sabbatical for a year also did not help much. I remember the night when I made the choice to quit the program. I felt the floor beneath my feet had given way and I was falling. T protaganist in the movie who's theory of the Dark matter as an explanation for the Big Bang goes against the grain of his advisor's work and hence gains the displeasure of the advisor. Similarly I too had become a black sheep. But sometimes when certains doors close in life some others open. C'est la vie! Dr.Jacob Furst entered my life as he stepped in as my substitute advisor. He saved me by transferring my credits to a Masters degree and graduating me. If he had not stepped in maybe I would have returned to India dejected. God does send his angels in strange forms.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Does GOD Blog?
I just could not resist this blog post title. Of course, if God did blog that would be interesting would it not? I surely hope God has a sense of humor when he reads this blog post.
Does God exist? A simple naive question like that throws open the floodgates for a whole slew of possible answers. Does it not? Is there even an answer, I wonder. If God does exist, what does God look like. Over the millenniums humanity has stretched its imagination to render some very vivid icons of God.
God has been represented as an elderly benevolent bearded man carrying a staff, as a man with 4 heads in 4 different directions, as an angry woman riding a tiger. Each symbolism surpasses the previous one or so it seems. Do we depict God in the likeness of human shape because we are vain and assume that we as a species are the most highly evolved?
But there are cultures where God is represented as something inanimate like a green tree or a fiery bush. Is it possible that God is formless and has a booming omniscient echoing voice. One wonders at these possibilities. What does the symbol say about the culture? Do sophisticated cultures represent God in more subtle ways and do degenerate societies indulge in grotesque representations. Who decides which is grotesque and which is sublime?
Do we need to see, touch feel God in order to believe in God? And if one does not believe in God is one doomed. And what does it mean to be doomed - does one lose the chance to enter Heaven. Does Heaven really exist. If so, does'nt living a good life suffice to earn to ticket to Heaven?
If one does not believe in God does that mean that that person is a bad person. What is a bad person anyway? Someone who does not conform in a general sense to the law of society? If someone challenges existing dogma instead of abiding by it, would that make them bad?
But if God created human beings without the ability to perceive God through the senses (touch, hearing, smell, sight) then does it not mean that God cannot expect the creation to know God.
But do we have the sense to perceive God and just do not realize it. Are dreams the channel to perceive God. What about conscience - is that a channel to speak with God?
Plenty to mull over. Not your customary light post-brunch musing on this delightful Sunday afternoon. Well, all this was triggered by a heated debate with my father and mother. I will post my thoughts on this subject soon. The year is ending. My blog posts this year have been sparse. But with the new year there is a resolution to be more phosphorescent :)
Does God exist? A simple naive question like that throws open the floodgates for a whole slew of possible answers. Does it not? Is there even an answer, I wonder. If God does exist, what does God look like. Over the millenniums humanity has stretched its imagination to render some very vivid icons of God.
God has been represented as an elderly benevolent bearded man carrying a staff, as a man with 4 heads in 4 different directions, as an angry woman riding a tiger. Each symbolism surpasses the previous one or so it seems. Do we depict God in the likeness of human shape because we are vain and assume that we as a species are the most highly evolved?
But there are cultures where God is represented as something inanimate like a green tree or a fiery bush. Is it possible that God is formless and has a booming omniscient echoing voice. One wonders at these possibilities. What does the symbol say about the culture? Do sophisticated cultures represent God in more subtle ways and do degenerate societies indulge in grotesque representations. Who decides which is grotesque and which is sublime?
Do we need to see, touch feel God in order to believe in God? And if one does not believe in God is one doomed. And what does it mean to be doomed - does one lose the chance to enter Heaven. Does Heaven really exist. If so, does'nt living a good life suffice to earn to ticket to Heaven?
If one does not believe in God does that mean that that person is a bad person. What is a bad person anyway? Someone who does not conform in a general sense to the law of society? If someone challenges existing dogma instead of abiding by it, would that make them bad?
But if God created human beings without the ability to perceive God through the senses (touch, hearing, smell, sight) then does it not mean that God cannot expect the creation to know God.
But do we have the sense to perceive God and just do not realize it. Are dreams the channel to perceive God. What about conscience - is that a channel to speak with God?
Plenty to mull over. Not your customary light post-brunch musing on this delightful Sunday afternoon. Well, all this was triggered by a heated debate with my father and mother. I will post my thoughts on this subject soon. The year is ending. My blog posts this year have been sparse. But with the new year there is a resolution to be more phosphorescent :)
Monday, July 7, 2008
soliloquy
Some of us march gallantly. Some of us plod along. Some of us just seem to be waiting to start moving. For some the destination seems too far away. For some there is no destination. For some the journey itself is an ordeal. Some look forward convinced that they can reach their destination. Some are convinced there is a destination and that is whereever they stop. Some are more interested in the journey of others that they forget their own. Some like to follow the others willy-nilly wherever they go. Some lose their way. Some create a path. Some just guide the others. Some just misguide the others - Mere roadsigns wafting in the wind. Some are eager to move but their burdens weigh them down. Each step seems wearied. All the paths abut the river of Time as she incessantly flows.
'Bam! Bam! Bam! Hello! Open the door!'.
I was interrupted in my soliloquy. I open the door a crack to see a line of uneasy gentleman peering at me in the men's restroom. My thoughts come second to the urgency of their bursting bladders. So I quickly made my exit from the restroom and ambled along into the foyer of the hotel and looked left and right. What was I? A guide, a roadblock, a lost soul on this journey? I shook my head and wandered around leaving Leela Palace and entered the busy microcosm of Bangalore, weaving through the vast crowds. The humanity engulfed me. For a few seconds I hovered over my body and levitated higher and higher. My head, a small dot amongst several that bobbed up and down on a quilt of humanity moving back and forth on the thorughfare. A few ungulates disposed their dung generously on the pavements. Motorized vehicles sped along honking adding to the melee. The smoke from their exhausts rose up making the air thick and smelly. I could not see any birds in the sky. I did feel a quiet as I flew higher. I felt better. 'Up is good, down is bad' - I told myself as I hovered high above the building roofs. I took a deep breath and closed by eyes.
'Honk! Honk! Hey! watch where you are going!' - screamed an irate autorickshaw driver
I had strayed far too much onto the road away from the sanctuary of the pavement. I quietly stepped back onto the pavement. I knew now. I plod along. There was no escaping. The legs shall walk as long as they can. The destination was no where in sight. I look around me. I look up to the skies. I was the only one who was looking up.
'Bam! Bam! Bam! Hello! Open the door!'.
I was interrupted in my soliloquy. I open the door a crack to see a line of uneasy gentleman peering at me in the men's restroom. My thoughts come second to the urgency of their bursting bladders. So I quickly made my exit from the restroom and ambled along into the foyer of the hotel and looked left and right. What was I? A guide, a roadblock, a lost soul on this journey? I shook my head and wandered around leaving Leela Palace and entered the busy microcosm of Bangalore, weaving through the vast crowds. The humanity engulfed me. For a few seconds I hovered over my body and levitated higher and higher. My head, a small dot amongst several that bobbed up and down on a quilt of humanity moving back and forth on the thorughfare. A few ungulates disposed their dung generously on the pavements. Motorized vehicles sped along honking adding to the melee. The smoke from their exhausts rose up making the air thick and smelly. I could not see any birds in the sky. I did feel a quiet as I flew higher. I felt better. 'Up is good, down is bad' - I told myself as I hovered high above the building roofs. I took a deep breath and closed by eyes.
'Honk! Honk! Hey! watch where you are going!' - screamed an irate autorickshaw driver
I had strayed far too much onto the road away from the sanctuary of the pavement. I quietly stepped back onto the pavement. I knew now. I plod along. There was no escaping. The legs shall walk as long as they can. The destination was no where in sight. I look around me. I look up to the skies. I was the only one who was looking up.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
musique est ma vie
Musique est ma vie or french for Music is my life! I got a soundtrack for lots of occasions, like at home, quiet listening, while driving etc., I listen to an assorted variety and my collection has grown over the years both in number of songs as well as the genre and artists.
YOU ARE THE MUSIC WHILE THE MUSIC LASTS - quote by T S Eliot
YOU ARE THE MUSIC WHILE THE MUSIC LASTS - quote by T S Eliot
Monday, August 13, 2007
Low Profile
Hello,
I have two friends in Atlanta who are Raj and Soumya. Very warm and kind people. Raj narrated a story to me recently and since I love stories I listened. Raj hails from Srihari kota and Soumya from Vizag. The story goes like this:
Not so long ago in late eighties India was gunning for a Space Program. Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle was a program that was to be the spear-head of many such programmes. Initially there was incredible hoop-la about this program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASLV
Ofcourse, a lot of things in India get easily politicized. The then chief minister of Tamil Nadu(a state in India), the Chief Minister of Andra Pradesh(another state in India) and the Prime Minister of India (late Rajiv Gandhi) were all invited and made appearance at the launch site in Sriharikota. In 1987 there was a launch which was nothing short of a disaster. A repeat of that event took place the following year. And another failure was to follow in 1992. Since these events happened the culture of Sriharikota scientists has changed. They do not declare openly what is going to happen. They have shed their pompous way of proclaiming to the world their latest and greatest innovations. In all, the initial failures humbled them. Nowadays, one hears of a launch in the morning of the day of launch in a small section in the newspaper. I guess the scientists have had their share of bad ju-ju and now have a healthy respect for badluck.
Listening to Raj I realized an analogous concept applicable to humans. We must also play it down and be modest. I will keep a low profile and achieve success and let my success speak for itself. So that's that. This is just a small grain of blog posting for you. But there is enough to make you think, I think.
Best Regards
Your 'humble' author!
I have two friends in Atlanta who are Raj and Soumya. Very warm and kind people. Raj narrated a story to me recently and since I love stories I listened. Raj hails from Srihari kota and Soumya from Vizag. The story goes like this:
Not so long ago in late eighties India was gunning for a Space Program. Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle was a program that was to be the spear-head of many such programmes. Initially there was incredible hoop-la about this program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASLV
Ofcourse, a lot of things in India get easily politicized. The then chief minister of Tamil Nadu(a state in India), the Chief Minister of Andra Pradesh(another state in India) and the Prime Minister of India (late Rajiv Gandhi) were all invited and made appearance at the launch site in Sriharikota. In 1987 there was a launch which was nothing short of a disaster. A repeat of that event took place the following year. And another failure was to follow in 1992. Since these events happened the culture of Sriharikota scientists has changed. They do not declare openly what is going to happen. They have shed their pompous way of proclaiming to the world their latest and greatest innovations. In all, the initial failures humbled them. Nowadays, one hears of a launch in the morning of the day of launch in a small section in the newspaper. I guess the scientists have had their share of bad ju-ju and now have a healthy respect for badluck.
Listening to Raj I realized an analogous concept applicable to humans. We must also play it down and be modest. I will keep a low profile and achieve success and let my success speak for itself. So that's that. This is just a small grain of blog posting for you. But there is enough to make you think, I think.
Best Regards
Your 'humble' author!
Friday, August 3, 2007
August August
This month is truly August in the sense that there is an august feeling in the air. Hope you understand. Named after Augustus Caesar it marks the short duration between a hot summer and onset of a cool autumn.
My blog would be terribly incomplete if I did not mention Maslow's Pyramid which is mentioned earlier in my blog of Aug 2nd(I think). The Maslow's Pyramid is a concept in psychology which tries to explain our motivations are human beings. Our actions are driven by motivations some hidden and some transparent. Uncovering the motivations will enable us to understand and predict our behavior. This knowledge is key to psychologists who try to help trouble clients by gaining an understanding of their motivations.
The base of the pyramid is the Need For Survival. This motivates us to eat and hunt for food and run and hide in a cave for shelter etc., Higher up in the pyramid above the Base layer is the need for love and togetherness and companionship and being in group because through years of evolution we have come to realize that strength in numbers ensures survival and also it is easier to find a mate and procreate species.
The third of the 5 layers in the pyramid is about secruity for individual and family. This is what makes us buy a home and buy a security system and burglar alarm. This is what makes us buy a dog for protection. We want to secure our family and protect spouse and children.
The fourth layer is social standing and respect related. Arnold shwarzanegger is now Governor of California. He needed to not just exist in the US society as a citizen and tax paying resident and a father to his family and husband to his wife but he wanted a social standing. He wanted a position in the society where respect and admiration are given to him. This is the fourth layer. This is the same motivation that drives us to throw parties once we achieve success and have get-together gatherings and share the good fortune with others. Human beings someone dont seem satisfied in just being successful or wealthy. They need to show it off to society and be recognized and respected.
The fifth layer which is higher up in the Pyramid is the need for self actualization. This means that one knows oneself and is at peace with oneself. Ideally at this phase one should stop yearning for more wealth and seek a tranquil retirement. One should stop pursuing materialistic things and look forward to a peaceful twilight to their lives.
I was discussing all this with Rishi Sinha in BITS Pilani in my second year of college and I told him how I wanted to do so much in life. Be a writer or columnist for the Times of India newspaper, be a volunteer at the hospital, makes scientific discoveries, be a good family man and raise great kids, go to Africa and help them build a well or a school in some impoverished areas and i kept coming up with more and more ideas. I am bursting with enthusiasm.
Rishi listened. He has thick glasses and his eyes look small through them. He squinted once or twice at me and said, 'Prabhakar the tip of the Maslow's Pyramid need not be in the clouds'. I was stunned. To this day I remain stunned. That is the ultimate answer to the question, 'What is my purpose and what should I do'. What I should do depends on what motivates me and what motivates me need not be an earth-shattering lofty goal. A simple goal as going to work on time and doing a good professional job and coming home and depositing pay cheque in the bank and driving safely so that I am not a safety concern for others on the road and paying my tax and being a kind person and having a kind word to say to colleagues friends family members is enough. I dont need to discover another element on the periodic table to reach self-actualization. I am already self-actualized. I just need to realize it. Besides after death I will end up in an urn as ash. All my dreams, aspirations, desires, passions and the sum total of all my consciousness will end up in a jar as ash. Since I know the destination can I not live each moment in the present time with more happiness. Surely I can make more changes now than when I am sitting as ash in a jar. I dont need to win an Olympic Gold Medal or invent something like Laser or discover something like Plutonium or a new computer language like C++ or go to warn-torn Africa and help in defusing the landmines and win the Nobel prize for Peace or save the rain forests from timber logging and save the planet or work for Nasa and go on a space walk with some other astronauts. If I make a phone call right now to my mom and tell her how much I love her and ask her how her day is going I am self-actualized. If I notice my colleague waiting for the rain to stop because he has not brought his umbrella and I got one and I offer to walk him out to his car sharing my umbrella - I am self-actualized. If I complete my deadline at office and my whole team is happy and we get a good name from the Director of company appreciating us- I am self-acutalized. If I come home to my wife and kids and I spend time with my son showing him how to build a Lego set and I help my wife in the kitchen with the dishes-cleaning - I am self-actualized. I can be stuck down on the highway by an eighteen-wheeler truck tomorrow and my last thought in my consciousness would be that I mean no one ill-will and I lived a complete life. I can close my eyes and drift in the thick murky black oblivion. Will it be life after death. Will I be cremated and end up in a bottle as ash. Will God receive me in Heaven. The rest is shanthi shanthi shanthihi!
My blog would be terribly incomplete if I did not mention Maslow's Pyramid which is mentioned earlier in my blog of Aug 2nd(I think). The Maslow's Pyramid is a concept in psychology which tries to explain our motivations are human beings. Our actions are driven by motivations some hidden and some transparent. Uncovering the motivations will enable us to understand and predict our behavior. This knowledge is key to psychologists who try to help trouble clients by gaining an understanding of their motivations.
The base of the pyramid is the Need For Survival. This motivates us to eat and hunt for food and run and hide in a cave for shelter etc., Higher up in the pyramid above the Base layer is the need for love and togetherness and companionship and being in group because through years of evolution we have come to realize that strength in numbers ensures survival and also it is easier to find a mate and procreate species.
The third of the 5 layers in the pyramid is about secruity for individual and family. This is what makes us buy a home and buy a security system and burglar alarm. This is what makes us buy a dog for protection. We want to secure our family and protect spouse and children.
The fourth layer is social standing and respect related. Arnold shwarzanegger is now Governor of California. He needed to not just exist in the US society as a citizen and tax paying resident and a father to his family and husband to his wife but he wanted a social standing. He wanted a position in the society where respect and admiration are given to him. This is the fourth layer. This is the same motivation that drives us to throw parties once we achieve success and have get-together gatherings and share the good fortune with others. Human beings someone dont seem satisfied in just being successful or wealthy. They need to show it off to society and be recognized and respected.
The fifth layer which is higher up in the Pyramid is the need for self actualization. This means that one knows oneself and is at peace with oneself. Ideally at this phase one should stop yearning for more wealth and seek a tranquil retirement. One should stop pursuing materialistic things and look forward to a peaceful twilight to their lives.
I was discussing all this with Rishi Sinha in BITS Pilani in my second year of college and I told him how I wanted to do so much in life. Be a writer or columnist for the Times of India newspaper, be a volunteer at the hospital, makes scientific discoveries, be a good family man and raise great kids, go to Africa and help them build a well or a school in some impoverished areas and i kept coming up with more and more ideas. I am bursting with enthusiasm.
Rishi listened. He has thick glasses and his eyes look small through them. He squinted once or twice at me and said, 'Prabhakar the tip of the Maslow's Pyramid need not be in the clouds'. I was stunned. To this day I remain stunned. That is the ultimate answer to the question, 'What is my purpose and what should I do'. What I should do depends on what motivates me and what motivates me need not be an earth-shattering lofty goal. A simple goal as going to work on time and doing a good professional job and coming home and depositing pay cheque in the bank and driving safely so that I am not a safety concern for others on the road and paying my tax and being a kind person and having a kind word to say to colleagues friends family members is enough. I dont need to discover another element on the periodic table to reach self-actualization. I am already self-actualized. I just need to realize it. Besides after death I will end up in an urn as ash. All my dreams, aspirations, desires, passions and the sum total of all my consciousness will end up in a jar as ash. Since I know the destination can I not live each moment in the present time with more happiness. Surely I can make more changes now than when I am sitting as ash in a jar. I dont need to win an Olympic Gold Medal or invent something like Laser or discover something like Plutonium or a new computer language like C++ or go to warn-torn Africa and help in defusing the landmines and win the Nobel prize for Peace or save the rain forests from timber logging and save the planet or work for Nasa and go on a space walk with some other astronauts. If I make a phone call right now to my mom and tell her how much I love her and ask her how her day is going I am self-actualized. If I notice my colleague waiting for the rain to stop because he has not brought his umbrella and I got one and I offer to walk him out to his car sharing my umbrella - I am self-actualized. If I complete my deadline at office and my whole team is happy and we get a good name from the Director of company appreciating us- I am self-acutalized. If I come home to my wife and kids and I spend time with my son showing him how to build a Lego set and I help my wife in the kitchen with the dishes-cleaning - I am self-actualized. I can be stuck down on the highway by an eighteen-wheeler truck tomorrow and my last thought in my consciousness would be that I mean no one ill-will and I lived a complete life. I can close my eyes and drift in the thick murky black oblivion. Will it be life after death. Will I be cremated and end up in a bottle as ash. Will God receive me in Heaven. The rest is shanthi shanthi shanthihi!
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