Global Desi Life

Another gem from wikipedia

2011-05-17T13:23:00.002+01:00

I quote wikipedia contributors:

Charles Eames was fascinated by the lota and considered it significant because it has become, over its evolution, exactly right. The design of the lota addresses the need of retrieving, carrying, storing, and pouring water.[3] In his The India Report, he expressed a great admiration for the lota and had the following to say about its design:[4]

“ Of all the objects we have seen and admired during our visit to India, the lota, that simple vessel of everyday use, stands out as perhaps the greatest, the most beautiful. The village women have a process which, with the use of tamarind and ash, each day turns this brass into gold. But how would one go about designing a Lota? First one would have to shut out all preconceived ideas on the subject and then begin to consider factor after factor:
The optimum amount of liquid to be fetched, carried, poured and stored in a prescribed set of circumstances.
The size and strength and gender of the hands (if hands) that would manipulate it.
The way it is to be transported – head, hip, hand, basket or cart.
The balance, the center of gravity, when empty, when full, its balance when rotated for pouring.
The fluid dynamics of the problem not only when pouring but when filling and cleaning, and under the complicated motions of head carrying – slow and fast.
Its sculpture as it fits the palm of the hand, the curve of the hip.
Its sculpture as compliment to the rhythmic motion of walking or a static post at the well.
The relation of opening to volume in terms of storage uses – and objects other than liquid.
The size of the opening and inner contour in terms of cleaning.
The texture inside and out in terms of cleaning and feeling.
Heat transfer – can it be grasped if the liquid is hot?
How pleasant does it feel, eyes closed, eyes open?
How pleasant does it sound, when it strikes another vessel, is set down on ground or stone, empty or full – or being poured into?
What is the possible material?
What is its cost in terms of working?
What is its cost in terms of ultimate service?
What kind of an investment does the material provide as product, as salvage?
How will the material affect the contents, etc., etc.?
How will it look as the sun reflects off its surface?
How does it feel to possess it, to sell it, to give it ?

Tune of the Decade

2011-04-02T01:17:00.000+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pUrpBbbH7Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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Indian achievers # 2

2010-12-25T00:07:00.000Z

Today, I discovered Fareed Zakaria, an Indian-American who has recently become Editor at large of Time magazine, with previous contributions including the likes of Newsweek. He is counted amongst the most influential journalists, a merit which has seen him being awarded the Padma Bushan.

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English lesson to self

2010-07-19T01:43:00.001+01:00

This sort of English, I can have no love for:

- "I am based out of London" (I am based IN London)

- "I did that out of choice" (I did that WITH choice)

- "inflammable" (FLAMMABLE!!)

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Things I miss about India # 3

2010-06-02T01:46:00.002+01:00

Discovering genius in random places. Case in point:

Desi work attitudes

2010-02-08T01:09:00.001Z

Desis are a hard working lot. It's clearly evident in the sweat of the labourer or the aggressiveness of the multinational corporation leader.

We strive to achieve a better life for ourself / our family / our country and make many sacrifices in the process.

But at the end of the day it's quality not quantity that counts.

I live abroad and I see footballs and cricket balls 'made in pakistan', wallets and shoes 'made in india' often. A sign of quality ? Perhaps.

But I am also surrounded by the Apple, Google, and Sony-s of the world. Symbols of quality? Undeniably yes. No desi names there.

A pardigm shift is needed for this to change, and yes it's beginning to happen, but to those who say we're conquering the world, please - we have a long way to go.

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Indians also hate Indian call centres

2009-06-05T15:05:00.004+01:00

They started off as just about tolerable, but now, even as a tolerant, calm Indian, they are getting on my nerves.

I can excuse the fake John Smith, his manager who is also coincidentally named John Smith, both obviously having completely Indian accents (or futile attempts at American ones). I can be happy when pointing out the complete uselessness of the 'power saving device' they are trying to sell to me (obviously accompanied with completely unprofessional websites / emails / 'information leaflet' = Word file with one paragraph of nonsense in attempted English.)

But today, a lady calls me, and says in a totally Indian accent with added emphasis, "how are you GENTLEMAN". WTF?! This is letting our country down!

The X = X + 1 syndrome

2009-05-07T17:51:00.001+01:00

(This content is not original content and credit goes to the anonymous person who wrote it. Although it talks of IIT-ians, I believe it can also be generally applied to Indians abroad!)

------------------------------------------------------------

When an Indian professional becomes a 'Non-Resident Indian' in the United States, he soon starts suffering from a strange disease. The symptoms are a fixture of restlessness, anxiety, hope and nostalgia. The virus is a deep inner need to get back home. Like Shakespeare said, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." The medical world has not coined a word for this malady. Strange as it is, it could go by a stranger name, the "X + 1" syndrome.

To understand this disease better, consider the background. Typically middle-class, the would be migrant's sole ambition through school is to secure admission into one of those heavily government subsidised institutions - the IITs. With the full backing of a doting family and a good deal of effort, he achieves his goal. Looking for fresh worlds to conquer, his sights rest on the new world. Like lemmings to the sea, hordes of IIT graduates descend on the four US consulates to seek the holiest of holy grails - the F-1 (student) stamp on the passport. After crossing the visa hurdle and tearful farewell, our hero departs for the Mecca of higher learning, promising himself and his family that he will return some day - soon! The family proudly informs their relatives of each milestone - his G.P.A., his first car (twenty years old), his trip to Niagara Falls (photographs), his first winter (parkas, gloves). The two years roll by and he graduates at the top of his class. Now begins the 'great hunt' for a company that will not only give him a job but also sponsor him for that 3" X 3" grey plastic, otherwise known as the Green Card. A US company sensing a good bargain offers him a job. Naturally, with all the excitement of seeing his first pay check in four digit dollars, thoughts of returning to India are far away. His immediate objective of getting the Green Card is reached within a year.

Meanwhile, his family back home worry about the strange American influences (and more particularly, AIDS). Through contacts they line up a list of eligible girls from eligible families and wait for the great one's first trip home. Return he does, at the first available opportunity, with gifts for the family and mouth-watering tales of prosperity beyond imagination. After interviewing the girls, he picks the most likely (lucky) one to be Americanised. Since the major reason for the alliance is his long-term stay abroad, the question of his immediate return does not arise. Any doubts are set aside by the 'backwardness' of working life, long train travel, lack of phones, inadequate opportunities for someone with hi-tech qualifications, and so on. The newly-weds return to America with the groom having to explain the system of arranged marriages to the Americans. Most of them regard it as barbaric and on the same lines as communism. The tongue-tied bride is cajoled into explaining the bindi and saree. Looking for something homely, the couple plunges into the frenetic expatriate week-end social scene compromising dinners, videos of Hindi/regional films, shopping at Indian stores, and bhajans. Initially, the wife misses the warmth of her family, but the presence of washing machines, vacuum cleaners, daytime soap operas and the absence of a domineering mother-in-law helps. Bits of news filtering through from India, mostly from returning Indians, is eagerly lapped up.

In discussions with friends, the topic of returning to India arises frequently but is brushed aside by the lord and master who is now rising in the corporate world and has fast moved into a two garage home - thus fulfilling the great American Dream. The impending arrival of the first born fulfils the great Indian Dream. The mother-in-law arrives in time: after all, no right thinking parent would want their off-spring to be born in India if offered the American alternative. With all material comforts that money can bring, begins the first signs of un-easiness - a feeling that somehow things are not what they should be. The craze for exotic electronic goods, cars and vacations have been satiated. The week-end gatherings are becoming routine.

Faced with a mid-life crisis, the upwardly mobile Indian's career graph plateaus out. Younger and more aggressive Americans are promoted. With one of the periodic mini recessions in the economy and the threat of a hostile take-over, the job itself seems far from secure. Unable or unwilling to socialize with the Americans, the Indian retreats into a cocoon. At the home front,the children have grown up and along with American accents have imbibed American habits (cartoons, hamburgers) and values (dating). They respond to their parents' exhortation of leading a clean Indian way of life by asking endless questions.

The generation gap combines with the cultural chasm. Not surprisingly, the first serious thoughts of returning to India occur at this stage. Taking advantage of his vacation time, the Indian returns home to 'explore' possibilities. Ignoring the underpaid and bureaucratic government sector, he is bewildered by the 'primitive' state of the private sector. Clearly overqualified even to be a managing director/chairman he stumbles upon the idea of being an entrepreneur. In the seventies, his search for an arena to display his business skills normally ended in poultry farming. In the eighties, electronics is the name of the game. Undaunted by horror stories about government red tape and corruption he is determined to overcome the odds - with one catch. He has a few things to settle in the United States. After all, you can't just throw away a lifetime's work. And there are things like taxation and customs regulations to be taken note of. Pressed for a firm date, he says confidently 'next year' and therein lies our story. The next years come and go but there is no sign of our McCarthian friend. In other words if 'X' is the current year, then the objective is to return in the 'X + 1' year. Since 'X' is a changing variable, the objective is never reached. Unable to truly melt in the 'Great Melting Pot', chained to his cultural moorings and haunted by an abject fear of giving up an accustomed standard of living, the Non-Resident Indian vacillates and oscillates between two worlds in a twilight zone. Strangely, this malady appears to affect only the Indians - all of our Asian brethren from Japan, Korea and even Pakistan - seem immune to it.

Down with Indian political leaders (literally!)

2009-05-04T19:10:00.001+01:00

Conspiracy or not, these are just way too much fun to watch!

BONUS:

Oh and apologies for lack of proper blog posts recently; my exams are going on.

Future Prime Minister ? – Part 2

2009-04-28T00:10:00.001+01:00

Future Prime Minister?

2009-04-23T18:24:00.001+01:00

Biodiversity in Indian homes

2009-04-23T18:16:00.001+01:00

The spring is here and I open my windows to let in some fresh air, reminiscing of running fans at high speed and noisy coolers. A fly has finds its way through the open windows in to my flat and now I’m trying to get rid of it. But I stop and realise that had I been in India, I would have stayed comfortably seated on my sofa.

In fact, now that I think of it, I can recall seeing all sorts of non-domesticated biodiversity in Indian houses: ants, cockroaches, lizards, flies, moths, worms, spiders, rats, mice, cats, dogs, cows, frogs, snakes, monkeys, birds and even bats! Anything I missed out?

Oh and of course, the exciting food chain demonstrations, if you know what I mean.

Pseudo-secularism

2009-04-02T01:40:00.001+01:00

Its election time, and once again, I’m disappointed, like millions of other Indian citizens.

I could write at length, analyse to the last bit, but all the mainstream media to do that quite well, so I’m just going to provide my view on one tiny aspect: ‘pseudo-secularism’.

Its a term used by many a BJP supporters. They use to mean that the ‘secularism’ displayed by their rival parties is half-hearted, and that the bottom line is that these parties are playing vote bank politics. The implication is that the BJP is not so. This is where they lose me.

How can a bunch of people who openly demolish places of worship (Babri mosque), fuel riots (Gujarat), among several other heinous crimes, go around calling themselves secular? Its an ulta chor kotwal ko daate!!

To BJP and supporters: Seriously, your actions make you the real pseudo-secularists !!! India is and has been a diverse society for ages. This is the truth. Satyamev Jayate.

The (poor and helpless) international student’s guide to living in London

2009-03-21T01:24:00.001Z

So, if you find yourself in a situation where you don’t have filthy rich parents to support you financially (but who have lovingly spent their entire life savings to just about meet your enormous international students’ fees), have no scholarship because a) you’re not eligible, b) there aren’t any, but still wish to study at a prestigious university, you are not the only one (but you are a damn rarity).

From experience, here are things you could do to get by:

1. EARNING IT: Don’t be a loser, get a part time job (or internship). Interferes with study? Then you probably don’t deserve to go to that top university anyway. People who do deserve to go there will find out other ways of getting money like:

‘Hardship funds’
Multiple part-time jobs
Easy scholarships which are minor compared to your fees but don’t need much work to get
Manipulating your situation to get any of the above (note: this does not mean lying)

2. SAVING IT: Cost-cutting should be in your blood. And I mean real cost-cutting, not ooh-look-at-that-offer. For the duration of your studies:

Replace all your food brands with Sainsbury’s basics. No to kellogs, colgate, yes to 40p cornflakes and 12p toothpaste. Eat at home as much as possible, cook everything yourself rather than getting take away or ready to eat meals (unless cheaper). Use the savings to take your girlfriend to a nice dinner.
Cycling should be the first choice of mode of transport. If the distance is too far, take the bus. Yes it will take longer than the tube, and time is money, but at least you’ll be able to spend that time with enough space, air and light to enjoy a book. At the end of the studies, sell the bike and get your money back.
Minimise the need for transport by staying close to your place of work. Cheaper places further away might not work out if the cost of transport makes up for the savings.
Stay in a long-term stay hostel, not a flat. IF you can bear occasionally having your food stolen, hardly any privacy, hardly any space, sharing rooms with multiple people whom you have never met before and some of who may have alternative sexual orientation, dirty toilets, broken showers, corridors full of smoke and smells, bedbugs, and disturbed sleep. Make friends with the people who clean the place, and as hard as it may be, the random people you share your room with. Keep your toothbrush safe; share your food.
If you’re paying for the heating, turn it off, wear sweatshirts and socks.

3. SPENDING IT: Its possible to have the same life as everyone else, as long as you’re street smart.

Get a student discount everywhere you go.
Negotiate and bargain as you would in the des. You’d be surprised how often it works.
Go to the cinema every week, but only on Orange wednesdays.
Only buy new clothes / shoes / stuff in post Xmas or early summer sales.

The bottom line: Have a happy student life!

Better than the West

2009-02-10T00:25:00.004Z

India chose to have a diplomatic offensive over military action against Pakistan in response to the Mumbai attacks in November. Did it do so out of choice or having no choice?

Manmohan Singh rightly said that military action would achieve nothing constructive. If India wanted, it could have attacked the terrorist training camps in Pakistan territory. But any such action would surely result in retaliation by Pakistan's military, may be resulting in all-out war, Kargil style, and in the longer term, more terrorist attacks.

Yet if an equivalent number of people had died in a terrorist attack in the US, UK or Israel, military action would be inevitable. The mess created by that is visible in Paletine, Iraq and Afghanistan. What India has done shows restraint, wisdom, and regard to the long term.

So all of you who say India is weak, shut up.

Root Cause

2008-12-07T23:50:00.005Z

The recent horrific attacks in Mumbai has 'awakened' the Indian public, government, as well as caused some fear and negative sentiment among Pakistan's public and media. Accusations have been made that the terrorists were 'home-grown', i.e. Indian based, whereas India finds evidence and backing by the US to say that they were in fact Pakistan based.

However, terrorism is a long term problem, and even if these attacks were not by home grown terrorists, there is a no doubt that there are Muslim communities in India, particularly so in Kashmir, which are hostile towards India. (This is NOT to say that all Muslims in India are like this). Why so?

In theory Muslims across India can command equal treatment like any other Indian, and Kashmiris especially have some privileges since its inception. But that theory has not been put into practice effectively. The real success of these would be achieved when every Muslim in India feels proud to be an Indian. This would be an enormous blow to all the terrorists who try to expand in India.

Sure it may be too idealistic, but so are all real goals. So people of India - yes we shall condemn terror, yes we shall make our government be more responsible, but lets make sure that responsibility spans across internal affairs as well as external ones.

Waging War With Water

2008-05-30T01:49:00.012+01:00

Just saw Deepa Mehta's Water. First, a view of the film. Although her previous films from 'elements trilogy' could be classified as one of those films that use controversy as a tool to generate hype and hence more revenues, this one is more pure. Everything about the film - the casting, cinematography, soundtrack, screenplay, acting and direction - oozes a brilliance that puts a halo on the film's original plot, which highlights an issue in way which keeps you from saying "yet another social issue".

The issue at hand is the plight of Hindu widows. Naturally in India, anything remotely condemning anything religious faces steep opposition from the extremists groups 'representing' the particular religion. Burning of effigies and vandalism in cinemas has become a norm. But when a movie causes violent demonstations even while being filmed, and when an entire cinema is burnt to ashes, loud alarm bells should be ringing among Indians that something that they value the most is in jeopardy - their freedom of speech.

The extent of the troubles that Deepa Mehta and her crew went through, and which led her to lose 80% of the film's budget and drove her filming activities out of the India completely, is a prime example of the lunacy of Hindu extremists and the sad state of affairs that are the Indian state governments and police forces.

And in the wider view, this is another reason why its people leave the land to enrich themselves and the lands abroad, and why India puts off business and investment. No wonder the film is recognised as a Canadian one (Deepa Mehta is a resident of Canada), and why most of the successful Indians gained their success abroad. Hats off to Deepa Mehta for a valuable contribution to an otherwise silent war that is social change in India.

Connecting people

2008-05-23T02:04:00.005+01:00

Is there a simple way to unite India? Perhaps.

How about having this in India, all over India?

Lingo kid and latent India

2008-05-09T20:15:00.004+01:00

India never stops surprising me. Recently came across 'lingo kid', a child on the streets of Mumbai, who doesn't go to school and sells peacock feathers outside Hanging Gardens in more than 6 international languages. Watch him here:

Incidentally the same kid has now grown up, but is still doing the same thing day in day out (see below), and he still doesn't go to school. Although he is an incredible spectacle, is it really worth admiring his skills or the 'wonder of India' if he, and millions other like him, perpetually do the same business for the same rates for years? It's a fact visible in hundreds of teeming towns across India which never seem to have changed every time I visit them. I fear that the continuing disparaties between the progressing India and those left behind may have disastrous consequences.

'Inclusive growth' is the buzzword of the time. Many mega-schemes of the government aimed at this - most recent one being the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme - are a failure. It is fundamentally incorrect to forcefully create jobs where there is no work, rather the rural economy should be stimulated to grow organically which would create jobs by itself. Examples of success in that regard are microfinance schemes. Capitalism wins again.

Of Streets and Soul

2008-04-18T23:47:00.009+01:00

Continuing from the last post, it must be mentioned how riding a moped or any other two-wheeled vehicle, even riding in a auto-rickshaw for that matter, is almost a 'near death experience' in Indian traffic, making it even more thrilling. To those unacquainted with the streets of India, here is how traffic would flow at a typical junction, and if you're on your feet, here's how to keep them while crossing the road (forget zebra crossings for they are seldom seen outside the capital city.)

The funny part is not how order exists among chaos or how Indian drivers manage to turn three lanes into six, but the fact that the very culprits who drive recklessly (trucks and auto-rickshaws) try to educate other drivers into 'driving with care'.

Almost every single truck / lorry in India has the slogan 'Horn OK Please' painted decoratively at the rear of the lorry as part of the entire truck's decoration. It is so ubiquitous that it is now used in popart reflecting the soul of India, rightly so. The origins of the slogan are unknown, but my guess is that phrase is 'Horn Please, OK!' (since the OK is always in another font), instructing the driver behind to sound the horn as he / she overtakes the lorry, with an encouraging 'OK'. This way the lorry driver knows to give way. On a 2-lane road I have usually seen them riding with the lane divider right in the middle of the vehicle, though this may finally be changing slowly.

The slogan may also accompanied by another one in smaller size and italics, 'Use dipper at night'. Yet everyone uses their headlamps on straight beams at night, and the flashing of lights during daytime usually means 'get out of my way' rather than the 'thanks' or 'you go ahead' it communicates in the UK. To top it off, they may also have one of many classic Hindi phrases, the most common of them being: बुरी नज़र वाले , तेरा मुंह काला (translation would't do it justice, but roughly it is: 'You of the evil eye, may your face be blackened!').

Auto-rickshaws may have similar rears, but not so commonly. An instruction to downright 'STOP' is more likely to be seen at the corner, as opposed to the central aligned messages on trucks.

Generally these vehicles combine to make traffic from hell, especially in Delhi. Drivers in Mumbai seems to have a better traffic sense. To finish off this post, I urge you to watch a short animation jointly created by Irish and Indian animators, accurately depicting many aspects of the life of a Mumbai taxi driver.

Things I miss about India # 2

2008-04-05T00:25:00.005+01:00

Riding mopeds! Note: a scooter / scooterette is cannot be called a moped. The word moped comes from the combination of the words 'motor' and 'pedal', hence you can use them like a bicycle too, in case you run out of petrol. The mother of all mopeds is of course, the Luna.

The whole process of starting the vehicle makes a kick start look boring, never mind push button starts. The greatness of the vehicle can only be imagined by thinking of the endless numbers of people it has liberated in the context of transport - especially working women, people in lower and middle income groups in both rural and urban areas.

Heck it was even exported to the US under the name Kinetic TFR!

More English

2008-03-24T16:20:00.008Z

Lets clarify yet more confusion caused by the great English language! This can also happen to non-Indians.

Indian English. UK English. Notes.

Cellotape. Sellotape (brand). Adhesive tape derived from cellulose.
Duct tape. Duck tape (brand). Apparently duck came first due to its waterproof nature, and then came duct as it was beginning to be used in ducts around the house.
Vacuum cleaner. Hoover (brand).
Pen. Biro (brand).
Brinjal. Aubergine. Or eggplant in North America.
Lady's finger. Okra.
Rubber band. Elastic band.
Scale. Ruler.
Rubber. Eraser.
Copy. Notebook.
Purse. Wallet. Yes, I'm talking about males here.
Gum. Glue.
Orange. Satsuma / Clementine.
Private school. Public School. Meaning a school independent of the government.

Be at ease - outsource your life!

2008-03-11T03:36:00.003Z

Before the word Bangalore comes into your head (it probably has by this point, anyway..) I'd like to mention Esquire magazine, which features another comical article I've become fond of. If you really want to know the extent of outsourcing, save yourself from reading through a few hundred pages of Tom Friedman's The World is Flat, and read this article instead. You won't be dissappointed.

Indian English

2008-03-06T03:02:00.019Z

This is the funniest wikipedia article (starting from around the middle of it) I've ever read. Its funny because its true, and because I've innocently made many of the grammatical, phonological and idiomatic 'errors' mentioned in the article myself. Call it an obsession with perfectionist language; I don't care. Here are my favourites:

Not differentiating between sounds of 'v' and 'w'. I got made fun of in high school because of this. When that happens, you really don't want it to happen again. So here I was a few days ago, trying tirelessly to explain to my friend the difference in pronunciation between 'vet', 'wet', and 'whet'....urgh! what a huge waste of everyone's time!
Lack of 'dental fricatives', e.g. the sound of 'th' in 'thin'. High school again - back then it was being asked to say 'thirty three and a third'. Fun.
Words borrowed from French being pronounced using English rules. My French is decent enough to have proper boo-kets (bouquets) but it would be fun to have a ren-dez-wus (rendezvous) sometime.
Progressive tense in stative verbs: "I am knowing it" or "She is knowing the answer". This one caused a massive misunderstanding and subsequent outrage in our student union; luckily I don't have the ability for such usage.
Word order: "My all friends are waiting". My Hindi is decent but perhaps not strong enough to influence my English to such an extent!
Agreeting to form of question rather than content. "You didn't go?" Yes, I didn't. I was going to prove the whole world wrong with this one middle school.
Another classic: use of 'only' as an intensifier. "It was she only who cooked the rice." Though I cannot remember, I must have done this a few times.
Yet another classic: "Open your shirt" for "take off your shirt", "off the light" for "turn off the light."
Pronouncing 'h' as 'ech' instead of 'eych'. My grade 5 colleagues couldn't stand this.
Use of the Latin word 'cum' to mean 'with'. Nothing wrong with that!
Skipping verbs: "What I did?" instead of "What did I do?". I have some class, thank you.
Invented words: While 'postpaid' does not seem sensible, (how can it be paid if one is still to pay for it?), 'prepone' should be given an award for completing the English language. I'll happily enforce it on my non-Indian colleagues. Not only does it make sense, it shows how hard working we Indians can be, doing things ahead of schedule! UPDATE (18 May 2008): A new word I saw in the Indian press today: 'degrowth'. I assume it means 'decline in growth'.

Indian Achievement

2008-03-01T04:11:00.005Z

Being a typical die hard Indian, I shall in this post, start a series of posts on Indian achievement, at risk of contributing to the bombardment of such material you may already face. If its any consolation, I shall aim to expose the lesser known aspects.

My starting point is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. Born in Mumbai, he has been the longest holder of the post of Music Director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. I am talking of course about Zubin Mehta. He had originally started studying medicine (surprise surprise) but dropped after two semesters to move to the Academy of Music in Vienna (unofficial capital of classical music). Apart from conducting in Europe and North America, formidable achievements of his include peace-making and improving diplomatic between the likes of the US and the Soviet Union; India and Israel.

Some more trivia: his first wife divorced him and married his brother Zarin Mehta, who has held the post of Executive Director of the New York Philharmonic. Yep, you guessed it, their father Mehli Mehta was also a keen conductor, founder of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra in 1935.

Healthcare in India

2008-02-23T14:59:00.007Z

If you follow the Indian media closely, you've heard of the advances made by Indian pharmaceuticals companies globally and and rise of India as a major 'medical tourism' destination, offering world-class medical facilities at a fraction of the price one would pay in the west. Great. But what about the common man?

It is well known that the situation is rural India is bad enough with absent doctors and poor infrastructure. The situation in urban India can only be called slightly better.

The average person living in India comes across fake doctors, fake medicines, genuine doctors giving un-necessary treatment, or 'their own' tablets (given in small paper bags) which are accepted because the common man knows of all of this, and chooses the safety that comes with getting it straight from the doc, be it without any indication of what it is. Then you have centres offering hundreds of alternative therapies, some of which are not therapies at all but more bizarre displays. Of course, all of this is when the person has access to 'healthcare'.

A recent article by the Economist quotes a senior Delhi Medical Council official claiming that fake doctors outnumber genuine doctors in India. They cater mostly to lower income groups (which form a large part of India's population). But with telecom operators, retailers, insurers, builders aiming precisely for such high volume markets, can a business model be worked out to provide them with decent healthcare too in a similar fashion? To me this seems to be the only way out of the vicious circle which is formed between population growth and declining health care availability. [More research needed].

Cultural journeys

2008-02-17T02:50:00.013Z

So I'm in another seven hour coach journey through English countryside happy to have bypassed hefty British train fares and gain a few hours of the only sort of time when I'm able to read a novel. I find a window seat too whose real comfort lies in what's below the window: the heating vent. Along comes my neighbour who is hesitantly settling down on his seat. His girlfriend is sitting just behind him. Being polite in a quintessentially British sense, they will never ask me to move, not even in a polite way. So I give up my seat and settle down on the aisle seat behind me, where the girl was. The girl says thanks many times and so does the guy.

Soon after I settle down on my new seat, I realise I haven't actually settled down. I can't. A mass of round flesh is occupying the crucial space required by my right shoulder and arm. The flesh is young and being pumped with louder-than-headphones-can-handle music, cola and Nintendo DS visuals before a mobile phone rings. "At 11". Damn, he'll be there until the end. "Can you bring some cigarettes? ... No, they ran out... Are you listening to what I'm saying? No, you're not! They last a week! A week has seven days! This is the eighth day!... Love you, ma."

I forget about the discomfort I'm feeling and ponder - Amen to Indian family values and practical politeness! Family values - everyone knows of. Practical politeness can be best described using an example. Readers' Digest found Mumbai to be the rudest city on earth because people don't hold doors open for people behind them and don't help someone who's dropped papers on the floor. What RD fail to realise is that its a city where the rat race results in endlessly overflowing trains in which people hunt to find the infinitesimal space, yet the same people offer their hands to help up the guy running alongside the platform, because they know his boss will fire him if he doesn't get on that train. In the words of Suketu Mehta, "That's opening doors."

Integrated India

2008-02-06T22:52:00.002Z

The stark contrasts and diversity found in India are tough to parallel. For example, take this news article about matrilineal tribal custom in the state of Meghalaya. Its at odds with the rest of India and the world in general, but in principle there's nothing wrong with it.

Being one of the few such tribal societies in the world today, it can be argued that had a Uniform Civil Code been implemented in the Constitution of India, these customs would surely have disappeared. India being a land proud of maintaining its customs for thousands of years, might not let that happen, and well - does not need to let that happen.

Yet other elements of Indian society urgently demand such a code to be put in place to avoid social breakdown. The challenge posed is clear: India must not let its diversity be at odds with its integration, even if it requires, in the words of Gurcharan Das, the 'million negotiations of democracy'.

England

2008-02-05T21:43:00.003Z

A picture can say a thousand words.

This is how I might describe England.

(Photo is original not edited; captured by me)

Mothertongue Outlet

2008-01-25T17:31:00.000Z

वाह अब मैं हिन्दी में लिख सकता हूँ ! (Wow I can now write in Hindi!)

तुमको देखा तो यह ख़याल आया
ज़िंदगी धुप, तुम घना साँया ...

Short films

2008-01-24T01:28:00.000Z

Just watched 'Little Terrorist' - a short film by Ashwin Kumar, nominated for an Oscar. Haven't seen something so sweet and simple in a long time. A must watch!

If you find it boring, then a contrast is 'Fallen Art' by the incredibly talented Polish animator Tomek Baginski.

(Random) Things I miss about India # 1

2008-01-14T18:43:00.000Z

Missing the motherland quite a lot lately. But exactly what is it do I miss, or is it just nostalgic feelings? So here I start off a series of posts where each post will contain one random thing I miss about India, i.e. in no particular order. Posts will be labelled TIMAI.

#1 : clear cool starry nights, clear cool chirping-birds-full mornings. Comes to mind straightaway in comparison to the mostly dull, rainy, and windy weather prevalent in England.

Returning home

2008-01-09T19:05:00.002Z

Had an interview today. My interviewer was telling me how he had studied in Germany, then the US, came to work in London, and then went back to Frankfurt, purely because of a desire to be home. This shows that Indians aren't the only people in the world who want to go back home if they could. The same could be said for my Polish friends.

Yet the interviewer came back from Frankfurt to London. Indians remain here. So do Poles. Why? Quality of life? No. Something which never gets mentioned or is often bundled with quality of life, is a kind of 'peacefulness factor'. One stays where s/he feels at peace with her/his inner self. Most 'feel-at-peace-with-yourself' place in the world? There is none; there are as many as there are people in the world.

Aftermath

2007-09-27T00:31:00.001+01:00

Okay, it seems that twenty20 is likely to gain popularity after that immensely exhilirating final. You've seen it all in pictures, on TV, in the news... or have you? Besides the cheerful celebrations, there has been a sad aftermath at the same time:

1. Shoib Malik's rather apologetic 'thanks' to Muslims all over the world -- caused outrage by Indian Muslims and non-Muslim Pakistanis alike. Many reasons why this might have happened: was he scared ? (think Bob Woolmer conspiracies). A case of miscommunication due to poor English perhaps? Whatever the cause, spare the man; he's a good cricketer!

2. Hindu-Muslim clashes in Rajouri (J&K) and in other parts of India. Did not see a single mention of this on TV news, and even online I had to dig it out. Comparing the different sources which do have this story, I can say that some Pakistani sources do seem to have exaggerated the story. Kashmiri sources have a slightly different way of presenting the news; some describing the Rajouri incident as a mere misunderstanding between two groups of people - not labelled by religion - and some clearly describing a apparent religious basis, and involvement of hardline groups like the Bajrang Dal - as opposed to the common man. And the national news? Well you know that most of them are
pathetic...

The saddest thing of all? In this global infomation age, a person who keenly seeks out information still cannot obtain it. Oh well, i'd still like to believe Darwin: "The Truth Will Out."

20-20 Cricket: bowl out

2007-09-15T10:54:00.001+01:00

Just found out after yesterday's India vs Pakistan match in the World 20-20 championship what a bowl-out means. Unguarded wickets ! Thats's just not cricket. Dumbing-down of the sporting world.

New beginning

2007-09-15T10:53:00.001+01:00

Here I enter the blog world. Lets see how far this goes.