My reflections on Indian Elections 2009

[Partly inspired by Vikram's blog on the same topic.
Check it out here -> http://vikrams3.wordpress.com/2009/05/16/return-of-the-economist-my-reflections-on-indian-elections-2009/
The same disclaimer applies here as well. All the ideas expressed below are solely my own personal opinions and you are welcome to disagree. Well, see the previous post if it helps - Celebrate the differences. I am not a an expert in Indian Politics. So kindly pardon any factual errors. Take only the spirit of the article.]

I am happy that a stable Govt. is being formed at the centre. But is that the end of it? UPA can surely put some progress on its report card but I don't think it can do anything radical to change the face of India for the good. UPA has good(!) administrators but no great thinkers. They don't have the out of box thinking. Two examples to reinforce this view. The UPA CMP says it all. UPA has a common minimum programme and sticks to it. That is what anybody would do. Any sane average person given the power would do whatever is listed in CMP. What is so great about UPA then. It is just a middle class head of a house who manages things so that there is no unhappiness and the standard of living improves gradually over the time. This is perhaps one reason why most of the other parties would have no ideology issues with congress. This is also the reason why any party could go straight and give unconditional support to UPA. Another "out of the box" example - Most of the other parties gave out radically different speeches in the least (may it be Varun Gandhi or Mulayam Singh - what they said may be absurd - but nonetheless they thought differently) while Congress remained silent hiding under the same old CMP kind of manifesto.
The most recent problem of terrorism (or is it not very recent?) has been handled in the most sluggish way. When there is someone attacking our home, we should not form committees to discuss the issue. Sama, Bheda and dana are for the human beings, not for the Rakshasas - danda is the only way (the way in which Sri Lankan Govt. dealt with the LTTE, of late).

Congress doesn't do anything radical. Congress has its own 50 year old ideas and pushes them at the slowest pace. The leaders at Congress have learnt to govern the country purely by experience, no skills there. Just as a carpenter son/daughter learns it from his/her carpenter father/mother. (Perhaps Rahul Gandhi has not learnt it very well yet and hence doesn't get to be the PM this time!) Astonishingly they do it quite well, as long as we are satisfied with only a marginal growth and development.

Only hope is that the "sustained progress" is sustained and pray that no new problems come up with the UPA on for the next term. However, progress is definitely assured as Dr. Manmohan Singh continues as PM. Yet another hope is that he would be allowed to think and make decisions on his own this time.

India is blessed.

PS: Sama, bheda, dana and danda are four of the seven diplomacy techniques kings were supposed to use in ruling their kingdom.
PPS: Rakshasas are demons, or the present day terrorists (Rakshasas were in fact, better!)

Celebrate the differences...

This post is based on an idea presented by Shri. Rajiv Malhotra in a video I watched recently. The idea is that most of the problems of the present world is because of differences. Human beings inherently look for a "commonness" in anything, and any difference or deviation is perceived to be bad. Many many problems arise due to these differences. To sort out the "differences", the difference is forcefully turned into something in the "commonness", or the source of the difference is itself destroyed. e.g. If somone proposes a radically out of the way different idea in a committee, unless someone else shares the same idea in common, it is very likely that the idea is discarded or on insistence, the proposer of the idea might even be removed from the committee. But the point we miss here is that diversity is the way of nature. Nature supports differences. It has led to evoluton as many theories propose. So many of the world's problems would be solved if we see the differences as a inherent attribute of nature and view the diversity not as a deterrent but as a natural manifestation. We could sort out the differences by "Celebrating the differences", rather than uprooting them. By this we develop tolerance and mutual respect to others and the diversity of nature. We don't thus expect everything to be in the common way and this margin for differences makes us better human beings. Differences lead to evolution, for the better if we accept them!!!

Book: The Indian Mind Then and Now

The book "The Indian Mind Then and Now" by Michael Danino is a collection of three essays which contrast the Indian mind and the way of thought at the very beginning of the human civilization and the the present day. The author is a long-time student of Indian Culture and Sri Aurobindo. He visted IISc for a talk on Town Planning in Dholavira - an Indus-Sarasvati Valley Civilization site recently discovered. He also discussed the divisive Aryan Invasion theory in the light of recent scientific findings; and how the Aryan invasion theory was formed, in a way to divide the North and South India. He also talked on how the new findings provide evidence to rule out Aryan invasion and Dravidian theories.

However, the book looks at the Indian mind at two extreme periods of Indian History: at the time of Indus-Sarasvati Valley Civilization, with a description of its material and cultural background; and in our post-Independence era, with a study of the deep imprint left by the colonial rule, showing how it affected our education system and how the Indian mind has been presently deprived of its creativity and self-confidence.

The third essay contrasts attitudes toward Nature in Western and Indian Traditions - with evidence from our sacred texts. He also argues that an approach to Nature rooted in the Indian world-view can be effective to reverse the damage done to Nature.

The book is short but insightful, bringing out various nuances of Indian culture at the required context. The emphasis on how the Indus Valley Civilization has a bearing on our culture, refuting the alien cultural invasion theory and evidence to claim that Indian culture indigeniously evolved from the Indus valley civilization is one of the highlights of the book.


Details:
Title: The Indian Mind Then and Now
Author: Michael Danino
Published by Editions Auroville Press International
ISBN : 81-87373-17-2

The present day "Joint family"

My intention in this post is to put down my views on the joint family system for the present day world with a personal example. Family is the smallest social unit, though people opine that families can be broken down into individuals (I disagree). India has a long tradition of joint families with three to four generations of family members living together. Live examples can still be found in Rajasthan where there many joint families with over 300 members each. Joint families have a huge number of advantages. The social support, value sharing, responsibility, mutual respect and resource sharing being the main ones. The support from our family is first and foremost for whatever we do. Mr. Venkatesh, (a notable Indian economist), in one of his lectures, claims that it is the Indian family system which holds Indian economy fairly stable. He also claims that the current resource crunch can be avoided if everyone lives in a family - sharing of resources.

All said, a joint family is what I would love to live in. But how practical is it in the present India?

Joint families are a rarity in Indian cities now for known reasons. "Nuclear family" is the keyword. But the concept of a joint family can be extended to the present day. That is what I would call a "Non-physical" joint family, as could be contrasted with a joint family with everyone physically living together. The abstract notions which bond the family is still there, except that the members are now not together in space.

My own example: Our family is one such well knit unit. Though all of us do not stay together, the entire family is one unit for all purposes. All decisions are taken together. With the current information age, there is no communication barrier. My mother speaks to her sister atleast for an hour each day - There is no barrier at all. We meet very often whenever possible. We celebrate festivals and other occasions together. So it is effectively a single family - but spread out in space, hence my notion of a joint family. It has all the components of a joint family.
The level of support and bonding in my family is best shown by the following incident. I had my B.Tech convocation on 31-01-2009. My entire family was present at my convocation. Two nephews, two mothers (my mother and my big-mother), two sisters, two mamas(uncles - I dont call them uncle!), my father and my brother. My sister's family had come down from Belgaum just for the convocation. This enormous family support can be expected only from a well bonded joint family. Proud to be in a Joint family!

Concluding, joint family system at the least helps us lead a value based life and develop mutual respect, in spite of differences - an absolute necessity in today's world with so many differences. A practical joint family model for the present day might make some positive difference to the world if adopted. Finally, its all in the mind and the heart.

Ajay

The Indian Identity - Part 1

This series of posts is inspired by the talk I attended on 1st October at IISc on "U-Turn Theory: How the West Appropriates Indian Culture" by Shri. Rajiv Malhotra. It provided an insightful and glaring picture of Intellectual plagiarism by the West. The speaker is the Chairman, Center for Indic Studies, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth and the Founder-Director, Infinity Foundation, Princeton New Jersey.
More details on Shri. Rajiv Malhotra can be seen here.

The abstract of the U-Turn Theory-(Source: http://www.deeshaa.org/2006/02/16/rajiv-malhotras-u-turn-theory/):
Westerners appropriate Indic ideas through a process which Rajiv Malhotra has called the U-Turn. In its basic form the U-Turn Theory states that a member of the dominant Western culture first whole-heartedly learns the Indic tradition. He or she, for a variety of reasons, then repackages it and projects the knowledge gained from India from within his/her own culture. The next thing you know is that s/he claims these ideas were always an integral part of Western culture. Some, but not all, also start demonizing the source Indic traditions using a lot of pretexts, such as calling them “world negating” or accusing them of “human rights” abuses. As an example, Malhotra has examined on how Jung appropriated much from Indic thought - including key ideas of collective unconscious, archetypes, and synchronicity - but did the classical U-Turn from Indic thought. In all, Malhotra has done 50+ case studies of such U-Turns, and each has its own story as to why and how it was done. U-Turns have played animportant role in shaping Western ideas, literature and popular culture; yet they are typically ignored in discussions on the history of ideas. The U-Turn Theory also explains that many Indians internalize the Western adaptations of Indian culture and re-import them into India: For instance, Tantric healing is more fashionable as “energy healing” or as reiki; yoga’s return to India’s Westernized middle class owes a lot to the West’s adoption of it; and Western research on cognitive science and neuroscience includes yogis who are mere “subjects.”

He went in detail explaining several examples of such a U-Turn and what should "we" do about it. The areas he covered mainly are:
- Cross Cultural Dynamics, Asymmetric Cultural Exchange
- How Indian Ideas get "Westernised" - The process
- Mainstream Press Examples
- Civilizational Darwinism
- The U-Turn Theory
- Stages in the U-Turn Theory
- Case studies of U-Turn on Ayurveda and Yoga
- Why People U-Turn
- What can we do about it
He ended his talk with a comparison of the state of India under the British Raj and now under a similar Intellectual onslaught from the west.

Each of these topics need a long discussion. I would post my comments on these topic after some thought. Meanwhile you can think too!

He is working on a comprehensive book on U-Turn theory which is scheduled to be released by mid-2009. Another book titled - "Invading The Sacred: An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America" is also available.

More details on this book here.

He stressed the significance of such U-Turns to Indian Civilization. Such an appropriation, if continued for a long time, will even lead to the complete destruction of the Indian Identity.

More on it shortly.

भवदीयः अजेयः

My Bicycle

The title seems like a first standard essay competition topic on the likes of My school, My House right. But the purpose of this post is to remind people some little things they can do to make the world last longer (The earth might have a shelf life). This is what people call micro level effort.
Facts first - I bought a bicycle(hereafter referred to as "bike") in July 2008, a Hercules Ryders, with 18 gears and suspension system for front and back wheels. Cost - Rs. 6700. Purpose - Commuting within Bangalore and IISc. I commute between IISc and home on the bike. I also hope to use the bike to commute to any place in Bangalore as I build up my stamina to ride the bike for longer time. I am using my bike regularly at IISc campus.
Now the questions -
Q Why a bicycle?
- Bicycles are "green"
- Bikes do not consume fuel. They run on muscle power. (I std level information, but worth a mention). They are emission free and hence do not make the earth, a greenhouse.
- It provides the daily requirement of exercise for legs. For the people who have a sedentary lifestyle, cycling helps. Cycling builds up physical stamina. With an average stamina (mine is below average still), one can cycle for 20 km at a stretch on peaceful roads, or atleast 15 km on city roads.
- Saves money - Low cost of investment and operation. Cost of a very good gear cycle is less than 1/8 th the cost of a decent motorbike. Operating costs are almost nil. Eg. My home is around 8 km from IISc. To and fro distance 16 km. 20 days a month(excluding weeend) - 320 km, which is 10 litres of petrol. With the GOI and GOK increasing the cost of petrol almost twice a year, cycling is a very good option.
- There is no traffic jam for Bikes. You can always take the alternate route or in the worst case, take the footpath. Bikes can help to ease out the traffic in Bengaluru which is already getting choked by traffic jams. That way, having a motor vehicle does not halp you to save time also. I take 30 min to reach the institute from home on busy traffic roads on a motor bike. I take 40 mins to reach to reach home on my cycle - Only a marginal change.
- Easy maintainence - or in fact no maintainence. Perhaps the only thing we need to to do with the bike is to check its air pressure every week and a service every 6 months.
- Long term thinking - At the rate the fossil fuel reserves are depleting, there would be no petrol or diesel in another 40 years (hope this doesn't happen) or their cost would overgrow the cost of finest precious metal and it is no longer affordable. That is when people will come back to cycling. If you are used to cycling from now, it would be easier to come back to cycling then. So get used to cylcing and build up stamina. (I know this is not a very straight argument and it is a little too much, so I leave it here).
- Cycle culture at IISc - IISc perhaps has half the number of cycles present in the entire Bengaluru. Everyone here uses a bicycle - from professors to students to staff. So having a bike makes you in some sense an IIScian.

Q Why a geared bike?
- Ease and efficiency of cycling - The purpose of gears is to maintain a constant speed of pedalling. A constant pedalling rate of 70-75 cycles per minute is found to be the most efficient. So gears ensure that the pedalling rate and effort of pedalling remain constant irrespective of the terrain in which we are cycling. However the speed of cycling varies. So, lower gears -> constant pedalling rate -> constant effort of pedalling -> lower speed -> Used on positive inclines or the "Ups". Higher gears -> constant pedalling rate -> constant effort of pedalling -> Higher speed -> Used on negative inclines or the "Downs". Hence we can become efficient cyclists.

Q Who are all into cycling?
- Sarvesh, Sunil Khajone, Aniruddha, many people at IISc and the list will grow longer by the time. Keep up the trend. Cheers.

One last suggestion - Use a bicycle for short distances, use a motor vehicle only if it is absolutely necessary.

3 R's - Reduce Reuse Recycle (The standard cliche)

Bhavadeeyah

Ramakrishna Viloma Kaavyam - A rare palindromic sanskrit Composition

रामकृष्णविलोमाकाव्यं - A rare palindromic poetry.
Sanskrit is famous for certain specialities, one of them being the Palindrome. One of them which immediately comes to mind is "विकटकवि".
This poetic composition, which was written by the scholar Dyvagyna Surya Pandita in the 14th Century, is a marvelous example of palindromic verses. It also has another speciality - This set of poems, when read forward relate to Rama and the Ramayana, and when read in reverse relate to Krishna and the Mahabharata. I have shown the first two stanzas of the poem below for a glimpse of this wonderful work.

You may download the entire document here.

Sanskrit provides us a plethora of such extraordinary compositions. I would be grateful if anyone can find explanatory notes to this poem.

भवदीयः अजेयः