Nothing can compare with this. Nothing even comes close. Battling a horrible dialup connection and incredibly intermittant streaming audio commentary, sitting thousands of miles away where none cares about American football, I stayed awake from early morning to follow this impossibly dominating Gator performance. Few gave us a chance. But once UCLA stunned USC and we won all the tough games and gatecrashed into the big game, it all seemed like destiny. I just wish I were in Gainesville and would not have to miss all the celebrations on my way back to Florida.
GO GATORS.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Saturday, December 23, 2006
My India Travelogue: Part 1 of 5
I have planned a five part description of my ongoing India trip. Here is the first part.
Part 1: Gators in the National Championship game, me missing Gainesville!
When I boarded the flight to Milan from John F Kennedy airport in New York City, UCLA held a surprising lead over USC late in their game. The implication were pretty clear - if Florida beats Arkansas in SEC Championship game, they would have a reasonable chance of climbing up to number two in B.C.S rankings to be released next day and face an unbeaten Ohio State for the National Championship game. The stakes could not have been any higher, and me after following the college football so
passionately for the entire season, was I devastated to miss the game. There were no live TV in the Al Italia flight, and so I had to wait till reaching Milan to know that we played probably our best game of the year to beat Arkansas, and UCLA has indeed knocked off USC. I tried calling me friend in Gainesville, he never picked up the phone, since he was out in the streets partying late night. And I was already missing Gainesville.
Next day, it happened. Florida sneaked past Michigan in the final ranking and we were Glendale, Az bound. Our first national championship game in ten long years. After all the frustrations and heartbreaks of Ron Zook era,the tough wins and the never say die attitude which symbolized this team over the gruelling SEC season- it seems this team is destiny bound for greater glory. I wonder how many teams have both the basketball and football national championships at the same year?
Go Gators.
Still to come -
Part 2: A tourist in my own country, exploring Agra, Jaipur and Jaisalmeer.
Part 3: Reached Kolkata, home sweet home.
Part 4: Siliguri, A frantic trip down the memory lane.
Part 5: Kolkata, fantastic food, old friends.
Part 1: Gators in the National Championship game, me missing Gainesville!
When I boarded the flight to Milan from John F Kennedy airport in New York City, UCLA held a surprising lead over USC late in their game. The implication were pretty clear - if Florida beats Arkansas in SEC Championship game, they would have a reasonable chance of climbing up to number two in B.C.S rankings to be released next day and face an unbeaten Ohio State for the National Championship game. The stakes could not have been any higher, and me after following the college football so
passionately for the entire season, was I devastated to miss the game. There were no live TV in the Al Italia flight, and so I had to wait till reaching Milan to know that we played probably our best game of the year to beat Arkansas, and UCLA has indeed knocked off USC. I tried calling me friend in Gainesville, he never picked up the phone, since he was out in the streets partying late night. And I was already missing Gainesville.
Next day, it happened. Florida sneaked past Michigan in the final ranking and we were Glendale, Az bound. Our first national championship game in ten long years. After all the frustrations and heartbreaks of Ron Zook era,the tough wins and the never say die attitude which symbolized this team over the gruelling SEC season- it seems this team is destiny bound for greater glory. I wonder how many teams have both the basketball and football national championships at the same year?
Go Gators.
Still to come -
Part 2: A tourist in my own country, exploring Agra, Jaipur and Jaisalmeer.
Part 3: Reached Kolkata, home sweet home.
Part 4: Siliguri, A frantic trip down the memory lane.
Part 5: Kolkata, fantastic food, old friends.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Buying a Digital Camera
I must admit I am no expert on this. However since I have extensively used two different models in last three years, and did decent amount of online "research" before buying each of those, I can certainly give a few helpful suggestions in layman's terms. And no, I am not going to talk about digital SLR's, restricting myself to non-SLR digital cameras.
The most common question I hear,
I want to buy a good camera. Which one should I go for?
This question, to be very honest makes no sense. There is no absolute "good" camera, it all comes down to one's budget and intended usage. There are point and shoot cameras from maybe a hundred or so dollars to digital SLR's costing thousands of dollars with all accessories.
And the most common "mistake",
Choosing a camera based on mega pixels. I agree that they increase the "resolution". However, whats the point of an increased "resolution" if one never "sees" it? Again, I am no expert on this, but to the best of my knowledge, most computer screens have a resolution of hardly 1-2 mega pixels, and that's where most of the photos are viewed anyway. The small percentage of the photos do end up getting printed, and for the postcard size prints, again 3 mega pixel comes out extremely well. Unless one is printing out larger size photos at regular intervals, anything more than 5 mega pixel is virtually useless. Just to throw in some numbers, to print 10 inch by 14 inch photo in 200 dpi resolution, which apparently is professional quality, a 6 mega pixel camera is good enough.
So what does one need?
Optical zoom. That is what brings far away objects in closer focus, which is so essential in outdoor photos. However, high optical zoom almost always affects the image stability, and unless they come equipped with some sort of internal image stabilization mechanism, one should avoid them. Last seen, a few Kodak and Nikon models did not have that.
Other not so trivial factors,
Different cameras store images differently. Sony and Fuji uses extremely expensive memory cards, while most others use Secure Digital (SD) or Compact Flash (CF) type memory cards, which are getting cheaper by the day. Just to throw in some numbers again, today I saw a 1 gigabyte Sony memory card in Bestbuy for $50, while a same size SD card (which my Panasonic Lumix uses) cost me $4. When going for a long trip, the savings in memory do add up to a significant amount.
On a similar note, Panasonic uses their own battery, and consequently their own charger for it, which costs significantly more than standard rechargeable batteries you get off the shelf from Walmart.
So which one is indeed a good camera?
For beginners, or who are just interested in capturing those fun moments with their friends and family and may be occasional getaways, within a couple of hundred dollars they can get cameras with 4-6x optical zoom and 3-4 mega pixel. At this level, most good brands like Canon, Nikon, Panasonic or even Kodak have fairly "good" models.
For mostly outdoor photographers or those who have overgrown those point and shoot cameras, high optical zoom cameras are the solution. Among the 12x models, I would vote for Canon S3 1S or the Panasonic Lumix latest model. They are both very similar performance wise and do not have any major flaws. Being a Panasonic user, I'm slightly biased towards them, and should point out that Panasonic uses Leica lense, and the reaction time to save one photo and be ready for the next is incredibly small, compared to most other cameras. I am sure Cannon would have its strong points too. Last time I saw, they were available for $300-$350 range.
And for those people who wants very sleek cameras, and are ready to shell out more, I believe Sony and Casio have those.
Only those who want to have large print quality images should go for high mega pixel cameras, as I mentioned before.
And finally, when is the best time to buy?
Now. The price of most digital cameras, at least the ones I keep checking, are always decreasing, averaged over any long enough time period.
The most common question I hear,
I want to buy a good camera. Which one should I go for?
This question, to be very honest makes no sense. There is no absolute "good" camera, it all comes down to one's budget and intended usage. There are point and shoot cameras from maybe a hundred or so dollars to digital SLR's costing thousands of dollars with all accessories.
And the most common "mistake",
Choosing a camera based on mega pixels. I agree that they increase the "resolution". However, whats the point of an increased "resolution" if one never "sees" it? Again, I am no expert on this, but to the best of my knowledge, most computer screens have a resolution of hardly 1-2 mega pixels, and that's where most of the photos are viewed anyway. The small percentage of the photos do end up getting printed, and for the postcard size prints, again 3 mega pixel comes out extremely well. Unless one is printing out larger size photos at regular intervals, anything more than 5 mega pixel is virtually useless. Just to throw in some numbers, to print 10 inch by 14 inch photo in 200 dpi resolution, which apparently is professional quality, a 6 mega pixel camera is good enough.
So what does one need?
Optical zoom. That is what brings far away objects in closer focus, which is so essential in outdoor photos. However, high optical zoom almost always affects the image stability, and unless they come equipped with some sort of internal image stabilization mechanism, one should avoid them. Last seen, a few Kodak and Nikon models did not have that.
Other not so trivial factors,
Different cameras store images differently. Sony and Fuji uses extremely expensive memory cards, while most others use Secure Digital (SD) or Compact Flash (CF) type memory cards, which are getting cheaper by the day. Just to throw in some numbers again, today I saw a 1 gigabyte Sony memory card in Bestbuy for $50, while a same size SD card (which my Panasonic Lumix uses) cost me $4. When going for a long trip, the savings in memory do add up to a significant amount.
On a similar note, Panasonic uses their own battery, and consequently their own charger for it, which costs significantly more than standard rechargeable batteries you get off the shelf from Walmart.
So which one is indeed a good camera?
For beginners, or who are just interested in capturing those fun moments with their friends and family and may be occasional getaways, within a couple of hundred dollars they can get cameras with 4-6x optical zoom and 3-4 mega pixel. At this level, most good brands like Canon, Nikon, Panasonic or even Kodak have fairly "good" models.
For mostly outdoor photographers or those who have overgrown those point and shoot cameras, high optical zoom cameras are the solution. Among the 12x models, I would vote for Canon S3 1S or the Panasonic Lumix latest model. They are both very similar performance wise and do not have any major flaws. Being a Panasonic user, I'm slightly biased towards them, and should point out that Panasonic uses Leica lense, and the reaction time to save one photo and be ready for the next is incredibly small, compared to most other cameras. I am sure Cannon would have its strong points too. Last time I saw, they were available for $300-$350 range.
And for those people who wants very sleek cameras, and are ready to shell out more, I believe Sony and Casio have those.
Only those who want to have large print quality images should go for high mega pixel cameras, as I mentioned before.
And finally, when is the best time to buy?
Now. The price of most digital cameras, at least the ones I keep checking, are always decreasing, averaged over any long enough time period.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
A "Thank You" Note
We all love to claim academics is a solitary pursuit, Ph.D is something you do only for yourself. While that is absolutely true, its the small and not so small things along the way which helps one move along. It is kind of like that snake and ladder game, one lucky break here, a mini disaster there and always that little something away from being "done". I have seen incredibly motivated people losing it all, quitting in frustration or living a miserable existence. On the other hand there are people who enjoy each and every moment of their research career, doing what they love and loving what they do. And then there are people who just treat it like just another job and keep on surviving.
Which category I belong to? I don't think I can answer that question unbiasedly, but I would feel I oscillate between all three phases randomly. However I am fortunate to have a wonderful advisor, have settled down pretty well in this place over the years and mostly like my work. And add to all that, so far the biggest support in my workplace was my senior student. Anytime I got stuck or was looking for ideas, help was just across the room. He had solution for every problem, answer for every question, fix for every error and a "script" for getting every job done. And most importantly, he always had time to answer my stupid and not so stupid questions.
Once he suggested me to get rid of the Windows in my laptop and get Linux instead. I knew, like all of his advices, this one made sense too. However, I tried to point out to him that I use my laptop for non-Physics activities too, namely chatting or music or movie. His answer was prompt. I do not do either, he said.
So I am sure he would not read this, but here is congratulating him for graduating today. People said his was one of the better defences they have seen in a while.
All the best Craig. And thanks for getting me started.
Which category I belong to? I don't think I can answer that question unbiasedly, but I would feel I oscillate between all three phases randomly. However I am fortunate to have a wonderful advisor, have settled down pretty well in this place over the years and mostly like my work. And add to all that, so far the biggest support in my workplace was my senior student. Anytime I got stuck or was looking for ideas, help was just across the room. He had solution for every problem, answer for every question, fix for every error and a "script" for getting every job done. And most importantly, he always had time to answer my stupid and not so stupid questions.
Once he suggested me to get rid of the Windows in my laptop and get Linux instead. I knew, like all of his advices, this one made sense too. However, I tried to point out to him that I use my laptop for non-Physics activities too, namely chatting or music or movie. His answer was prompt. I do not do either, he said.
So I am sure he would not read this, but here is congratulating him for graduating today. People said his was one of the better defences they have seen in a while.
All the best Craig. And thanks for getting me started.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
An unforgettable moment
This is the view of the blocked field goal securing our win in the last seconds of the game from North Endzone, just where we were seating. And trust me, it was order of magnitude louder there at Swamp when that happened. That sure played a part.
With a potential National Championship run in the line, we came up with an improable third blocked kick attempt of the night. This team may not be winning pretty, but its showing that champion's heart. We have not lost in Swamp in two years. And thats what Florida football is all about.
Steve Spurrier said, "This could be the year of the Gators".
We sure hope it is. Go Gators.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Random Events
Reiterating for the hundredth time, I am lazy. There were a hundred things I wanted to write about, and may be I'll end up talking about a few of them. In totally random order.
Those stupid do-not-put-your-photo-in-orkut emails. I know people are dumb, but I tend to give them benefit of doubt. This, however is beyond that. The story is, some frustrated guy made a fake profile of a girl he was slightly more than interested in, putting her real photo and phone number and some not so innocent details. Naturally she ended up getting some obscene phone calls and emails. While I fully sympathize with the poor girl, I simply do not understand whats wrong with Orkut per se. Ohh well, there are actually, the major ones being its too addictive and a also a major source of spam, but certainly not this. Its impossibly easy to get a photo of you nowadays, specially if I know you directly or indirectly, and if I do not know you at all, I wont really care about making all the effort of maligning you. Its incredibly easy to harass someone online, but its almost never a complete stranger stalking you, and vague acquaintances have a hundred other ways to harass you if they are that determined apart from a few social networking websites. We always have this habit of blaming a higher being for our perils (like blaming the central government for all of our states troubles or castrating America for all the troubles in the world) and this is just a small example of that mentality.
Sharad Pawar getting the nudge. Ahh, how I loved it.
Democrats winning it all. It sure was an exciting night. It was just six years back when Al Gore came tantalisingly close and they still make fun of Florida for that. It was just two years back that Kerry lost Ohio and consequently the presidency. And the red-blue divide could not have been deeper. Now seeing big shot republicans from almost every corner of the country going down, do give hopes for the future. And few people noticed this, but a big reason for Republican Sen.Allen's downfall in the decisive Virginia Senate race was him calling a campaign volunteer of Indian descent from his opponents camp by a racsict slur.
Our fall color viewing trip. Last year I went to New England. Sometime i want to go to Colorado. But the usual suspects, lack of time and money restricted me to a road trip in Northern Georgia and Tennessee-North Carolina border in Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests. I know people up north are proud of their colors and understandably so, but we did get to see pretty good colors here, and fortunately we went right at the time of peak colors. It was fun to drive at those mountainous, sometimes incredibly curvy roads and surrounded by blooming colors and at times dense fog.
Here are the photos.
And finally, some football. After that heartbreaking, potentially season ending loss to Auburn, we are again knocking on the door. First SEC Championship game after 2000, and with some luck, onward to Glendale, AZ. But the saddest part is, after following the whole season so passionately and intensely, I'll be flying out at the exact same time of the championship game in Atlanta. Damn.
P.S - Did anyone notice that the protagonist from the "The Devil's Advocate", the bright young lawyer Kevin is from our Gainesville!?
Birthday wishes for Suchismita (5th october), Arpita (31st october), Satabdi (2nd november), Ranjani (2nd november).
Those stupid do-not-put-your-photo-in-orkut emails. I know people are dumb, but I tend to give them benefit of doubt. This, however is beyond that. The story is, some frustrated guy made a fake profile of a girl he was slightly more than interested in, putting her real photo and phone number and some not so innocent details. Naturally she ended up getting some obscene phone calls and emails. While I fully sympathize with the poor girl, I simply do not understand whats wrong with Orkut per se. Ohh well, there are actually, the major ones being its too addictive and a also a major source of spam, but certainly not this. Its impossibly easy to get a photo of you nowadays, specially if I know you directly or indirectly, and if I do not know you at all, I wont really care about making all the effort of maligning you. Its incredibly easy to harass someone online, but its almost never a complete stranger stalking you, and vague acquaintances have a hundred other ways to harass you if they are that determined apart from a few social networking websites. We always have this habit of blaming a higher being for our perils (like blaming the central government for all of our states troubles or castrating America for all the troubles in the world) and this is just a small example of that mentality.
Sharad Pawar getting the nudge. Ahh, how I loved it.
Democrats winning it all. It sure was an exciting night. It was just six years back when Al Gore came tantalisingly close and they still make fun of Florida for that. It was just two years back that Kerry lost Ohio and consequently the presidency. And the red-blue divide could not have been deeper. Now seeing big shot republicans from almost every corner of the country going down, do give hopes for the future. And few people noticed this, but a big reason for Republican Sen.Allen's downfall in the decisive Virginia Senate race was him calling a campaign volunteer of Indian descent from his opponents camp by a racsict slur.
Our fall color viewing trip. Last year I went to New England. Sometime i want to go to Colorado. But the usual suspects, lack of time and money restricted me to a road trip in Northern Georgia and Tennessee-North Carolina border in Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests. I know people up north are proud of their colors and understandably so, but we did get to see pretty good colors here, and fortunately we went right at the time of peak colors. It was fun to drive at those mountainous, sometimes incredibly curvy roads and surrounded by blooming colors and at times dense fog.
Here are the photos.
And finally, some football. After that heartbreaking, potentially season ending loss to Auburn, we are again knocking on the door. First SEC Championship game after 2000, and with some luck, onward to Glendale, AZ. But the saddest part is, after following the whole season so passionately and intensely, I'll be flying out at the exact same time of the championship game in Atlanta. Damn.
P.S - Did anyone notice that the protagonist from the "The Devil's Advocate", the bright young lawyer Kevin is from our Gainesville!?
Birthday wishes for Suchismita (5th october), Arpita (31st october), Satabdi (2nd november), Ranjani (2nd november).
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Monday, October 09, 2006
Six and oh, baby!
So the first time since 1996, our football team has started the season with six consecutive wins and no losses. How big is that? We don't know yet. But if history is offers any pointer, the last time, ten years back, we won the national championship. It can be that big.
They are saying it was as loud here as they have seen it ever in the swamp on last Saturday. I was a part of that ninety thousand plus impossibly intense crowd, which surely played a part in softening up a very good LSU football team. It was a a scrappy game at best, but we would any day take an ugly win in this conference. And that's what I like about the this team, they are finding a way to win even when things are not exactly going their way. We missed that in last few years with a string of demoralising last minute losses. Florida football is back, and this time its for real.
Somehow the four game deadly stretch, which everyone felt would be impossible for us to get out alive from, is not looking that lethal. Auburn with its one dimensional running game would be perfect for out defense and Tennessee clearly showed Georgia has no defence. The road to Tempe,AZ ( for the national championship game)would have to pass through Atlanta (for the SEC championship game) though.
Go Gators!
They are saying it was as loud here as they have seen it ever in the swamp on last Saturday. I was a part of that ninety thousand plus impossibly intense crowd, which surely played a part in softening up a very good LSU football team. It was a a scrappy game at best, but we would any day take an ugly win in this conference. And that's what I like about the this team, they are finding a way to win even when things are not exactly going their way. We missed that in last few years with a string of demoralising last minute losses. Florida football is back, and this time its for real.
Somehow the four game deadly stretch, which everyone felt would be impossible for us to get out alive from, is not looking that lethal. Auburn with its one dimensional running game would be perfect for out defense and Tennessee clearly showed Georgia has no defence. The road to Tempe,AZ ( for the national championship game)would have to pass through Atlanta (for the SEC championship game) though.
Go Gators!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Murphy's Law of Telephone Calls
When you are absolutely bored, none is going to call you and whoever you call wont pick up the phone.
When you are busy or trying to sleep, you will receive calls in equally spaced intervals enough to ruin your concentration or sleep (or both).
When you are busy or trying to sleep, you will receive calls in equally spaced intervals enough to ruin your concentration or sleep (or both).
Sunday, September 24, 2006
The 2006 Pujo for Me
So it is that time of the year again, when every alternate email or scrapbook entry in Orkut I get asks me about my Pujo plans. And if that is not bad enough, once I reply that Pujo does not really mean anything here, they start making funny noises like how a Bengali can live without a Pujo holiday.
Now I am not exactly right about Pujo here. The Benagli Associations in most big cities do organize Pujo's, albeit often just for a day on a convenient weekend. Our Gainesville is just a small college town, but we do get to go to the Pujo's in Orlando or Tampa and those are just a couple of hours drive. I must appreciate the tremendous effort put in my the organizers at all these places, after all it is no trivial thing to put together the events. However, its just not possible under the given constraints to make it feel like the Pujo's back home and none even pretends that they are.
These are more like a social get together to most people here, where they meet up, discuss about their kid's achievement and show off their latest acquired saree or jewellery, while letting their kids recite Bengali poems with a hugely American Bengali accent. Nothing wrong with that per se, except that I don't really enjoy it as a Pujo. Rather it is kind of like a day out for me with semi-authentic Bengali food and long drives with saree clad Bengali girls! (Too bad, rarely any of them to "look at" in the Pujo venue, that robs half the charm of Pujo!)
Anyway here is some moments of the Pujo at Tampa yesterday.
http://picasaweb.google.com/deepak.kar/DurgaPujo2006TampaFL
However, all said and done, I do miss Pujo back home. But I do take issues with people suggesting that I should leave everything I am doing and rush back to Kolkata during Pujo to reinforce my Bengali credentials. Apart from Kolkata, nowhere in the world Pujo is a holiday and for those of us outside Kolkata, there is realistically a very little chance of landing up there during these days. And when when you are actually away from Pujo-land, you do not miss Pujo unless you are reminded everyday!
Now I am not exactly right about Pujo here. The Benagli Associations in most big cities do organize Pujo's, albeit often just for a day on a convenient weekend. Our Gainesville is just a small college town, but we do get to go to the Pujo's in Orlando or Tampa and those are just a couple of hours drive. I must appreciate the tremendous effort put in my the organizers at all these places, after all it is no trivial thing to put together the events. However, its just not possible under the given constraints to make it feel like the Pujo's back home and none even pretends that they are.
These are more like a social get together to most people here, where they meet up, discuss about their kid's achievement and show off their latest acquired saree or jewellery, while letting their kids recite Bengali poems with a hugely American Bengali accent. Nothing wrong with that per se, except that I don't really enjoy it as a Pujo. Rather it is kind of like a day out for me with semi-authentic Bengali food and long drives with saree clad Bengali girls! (Too bad, rarely any of them to "look at" in the Pujo venue, that robs half the charm of Pujo!)
Anyway here is some moments of the Pujo at Tampa yesterday.
http://picasaweb.google.com/deepak.kar/DurgaPujo2006TampaFL
However, all said and done, I do miss Pujo back home. But I do take issues with people suggesting that I should leave everything I am doing and rush back to Kolkata during Pujo to reinforce my Bengali credentials. Apart from Kolkata, nowhere in the world Pujo is a holiday and for those of us outside Kolkata, there is realistically a very little chance of landing up there during these days. And when when you are actually away from Pujo-land, you do not miss Pujo unless you are reminded everyday!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Not the nicest post!
A few weeks back, among those inane forwards, I received this heart wrenching story.
ONE BEDROOM FLAT... AN INDIAN SOFTWARE ENGINEER'S LIFE...- A Bitter Reality
As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in Software Engineerand joined a company based in USA, the land of braves and opportunity. When I arrived in the USA, it was as if a dream had come true.
Here at last I was in the place where I want to be. I decided I would bestaying in this country for about Five years in which time I would haveearned enough money to settle down in India.
My father was a government employee and after his retirement, the onlyasset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.
I wanted to do some thing more than him. I started feeling homesick andlonely as the time passed. I used to call home and speak to my parents every week using cheap international phone cards. Two years passed, twoyears of Burgers at McDonald's and pizzas and discos and 2 years watchingthe foreign exchange rate getting happy whenever the Rupee value went down.
Finally I decided to get married. Told my parents that I have only 10 daysof holidays and everything must be done within these 10 days. I got myticket booked in the cheapest flight. Was jubilant and was actually enjoying hopping for gifts for all my friends back home. If I miss anyonethen there will be talks. After reaching home I spent home one week goingthrough all the photographs of girls and as the time was getting shorter I was forced to select one candidate.
In-laws told me, to my surprise, that I would have to get married in 2-3days, as I will not get anymore holidays. After the marriage, it was timeto return to USA, after giving some money to my parents and telling the neighbors to look after them, we returned to USA.
My wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she startedfeeling lonely. The frequency of calling India increased to twice in a weeksometimes 3 times a week. Our savings started diminishing. After two more years we started to have kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, weregifted to us by the almighty. Every time I spoke to my parents, they askedme to come to India so that they can see their grand-children.
Every year I decide to go to India. But part work part monetary conditionsprevented it. Years went by and visiting India was a distant dream. Thensuddenly one day I got a message that my parents were seriously sick. I tried but I couldn't get any holidays and thus could not go to India. Thenext message I got was my parents had passed away and as there was no oneto do the last rights the society members had done whatever they could. I was depressed. My parents had passed away without seeing their grandchildren.
After couple more years passed away, much to my children's dislike and mywife's joy we returned to India to settle down. I started to look for a suitable property, but to my dismay my savings were short and the propertyprices had gone up during all these years. I had to return to the USA.
My wife refused to come back with me and my children refused to stay in India. My 2 children and I returned to USA after promising my wifeI would be back for good after two years.
Time passed by, my daughter decided to get married to an American and myson was happy living in USA. I decided that had enough and wound-up every thing and returned to India. I had just enough money to buy a decent 2bedroom flat in a well-developed locality.
Now I am 60 years old and the only time I go out of the flat is for theroutine visit to the nearby temple. My faithful wife has also left me and gone to the holy abode.
Sometimes I wondered was it worth all this? My father, even after stayingin India, had a house to his name and I too have the same nothing more.
I lost my parents and children for just ONE EXTRA BEDROOM.
Looking out from the window I see a lot of children dancing. This damnedcable TV has spoiled our new generation and these children are losing theirvalues and culture because of it. I get occasional cards from my children asking I am alright. Well at least they remember me.
Now perhaps after I die it will be the neighbors again who will beperforming my last rights, God Bless them. But the question still remains'was all this worth it?'
I am still searching for an answer................!!!!
One is not supposed to reply to these emails, these are for forwarding and trying to make people feel guilty for no reason.
But as someone in "US of A", I could not help but make some observations.
When you are coming to an alien land to live, you have to have a life. Sharing an apartment with 5 other deshis, having no social life other than occasional deshi parties at home (which are no different from the gatherings one used to have back "home") might save you a bunch of money - but that's hardly a life. Unless you get to know the country and enjoy the American way of life, which includes but not limited to having a drink on Friday,watching football on Saturday, eating turkey on Thanksgiving and traveling on long weekends, you are not "living" in here.
That is the basic problem these software people have.They come here physically, but mentally they are still in India. They detest everything American, except the color green. They would send truckloads of those green stuff back home, to invest in property or to tuck away in a bank,robbing themselves pleasures of life. And then would marry a girl their parents would choose and would ship her here to do the cooking and cleaning. And then their kids would go to school here and contrary to "our" portrayal of them as "ABCD", wont at all be confused. They would be Americans in all sense of the term and their heart wont exactly be where the "home" is.
And then the protagonist would think if it was worth it! Buddy, you brought it onto yourself.
P.S - Birthday wishes for Saswati (8th September) and Debashree (20th September).
ONE BEDROOM FLAT... AN INDIAN SOFTWARE ENGINEER'S LIFE...- A Bitter Reality
As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in Software Engineerand joined a company based in USA, the land of braves and opportunity. When I arrived in the USA, it was as if a dream had come true.
Here at last I was in the place where I want to be. I decided I would bestaying in this country for about Five years in which time I would haveearned enough money to settle down in India.
My father was a government employee and after his retirement, the onlyasset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.
I wanted to do some thing more than him. I started feeling homesick andlonely as the time passed. I used to call home and speak to my parents every week using cheap international phone cards. Two years passed, twoyears of Burgers at McDonald's and pizzas and discos and 2 years watchingthe foreign exchange rate getting happy whenever the Rupee value went down.
Finally I decided to get married. Told my parents that I have only 10 daysof holidays and everything must be done within these 10 days. I got myticket booked in the cheapest flight. Was jubilant and was actually enjoying hopping for gifts for all my friends back home. If I miss anyonethen there will be talks. After reaching home I spent home one week goingthrough all the photographs of girls and as the time was getting shorter I was forced to select one candidate.
In-laws told me, to my surprise, that I would have to get married in 2-3days, as I will not get anymore holidays. After the marriage, it was timeto return to USA, after giving some money to my parents and telling the neighbors to look after them, we returned to USA.
My wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she startedfeeling lonely. The frequency of calling India increased to twice in a weeksometimes 3 times a week. Our savings started diminishing. After two more years we started to have kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, weregifted to us by the almighty. Every time I spoke to my parents, they askedme to come to India so that they can see their grand-children.
Every year I decide to go to India. But part work part monetary conditionsprevented it. Years went by and visiting India was a distant dream. Thensuddenly one day I got a message that my parents were seriously sick. I tried but I couldn't get any holidays and thus could not go to India. Thenext message I got was my parents had passed away and as there was no oneto do the last rights the society members had done whatever they could. I was depressed. My parents had passed away without seeing their grandchildren.
After couple more years passed away, much to my children's dislike and mywife's joy we returned to India to settle down. I started to look for a suitable property, but to my dismay my savings were short and the propertyprices had gone up during all these years. I had to return to the USA.
My wife refused to come back with me and my children refused to stay in India. My 2 children and I returned to USA after promising my wifeI would be back for good after two years.
Time passed by, my daughter decided to get married to an American and myson was happy living in USA. I decided that had enough and wound-up every thing and returned to India. I had just enough money to buy a decent 2bedroom flat in a well-developed locality.
Now I am 60 years old and the only time I go out of the flat is for theroutine visit to the nearby temple. My faithful wife has also left me and gone to the holy abode.
Sometimes I wondered was it worth all this? My father, even after stayingin India, had a house to his name and I too have the same nothing more.
I lost my parents and children for just ONE EXTRA BEDROOM.
Looking out from the window I see a lot of children dancing. This damnedcable TV has spoiled our new generation and these children are losing theirvalues and culture because of it. I get occasional cards from my children asking I am alright. Well at least they remember me.
Now perhaps after I die it will be the neighbors again who will beperforming my last rights, God Bless them. But the question still remains'was all this worth it?'
I am still searching for an answer................!!!!
One is not supposed to reply to these emails, these are for forwarding and trying to make people feel guilty for no reason.
But as someone in "US of A", I could not help but make some observations.
When you are coming to an alien land to live, you have to have a life. Sharing an apartment with 5 other deshis, having no social life other than occasional deshi parties at home (which are no different from the gatherings one used to have back "home") might save you a bunch of money - but that's hardly a life. Unless you get to know the country and enjoy the American way of life, which includes but not limited to having a drink on Friday,watching football on Saturday, eating turkey on Thanksgiving and traveling on long weekends, you are not "living" in here.
That is the basic problem these software people have.They come here physically, but mentally they are still in India. They detest everything American, except the color green. They would send truckloads of those green stuff back home, to invest in property or to tuck away in a bank,robbing themselves pleasures of life. And then would marry a girl their parents would choose and would ship her here to do the cooking and cleaning. And then their kids would go to school here and contrary to "our" portrayal of them as "ABCD", wont at all be confused. They would be Americans in all sense of the term and their heart wont exactly be where the "home" is.
And then the protagonist would think if it was worth it! Buddy, you brought it onto yourself.
P.S - Birthday wishes for Saswati (8th September) and Debashree (20th September).
Sunday, September 17, 2006
What's going on since summer?
Nothing really. Immensely predictable life of a graduate student. Only silver lining is I'll get to eat Kolkata food for a month in winter. After two years, got myself an India ticket. And a pretty good deal too on Al Italia. That's the good news, The bad new is I have to do a hell lot of work before I take off.
Summer in Fermilab was really up and down.it was a tough learning experience to start off with, but in the later stages as we started taking real data, thing became somewhat exciting. Then spent a drove up to Detroit, flew to Baltimore, ate great seafood, caught up with old friends in Philadelphia, Delaware and NYC. The drive back to Florida was through St.Louis, Memphis and Alabama. All the pictures are in here - http://picasaweb.google.com/deepak.kar/SummerTravel
I must have been missing Florida beaches, so after coming back travelled around a bit. The photos are in http://picasaweb.google.com/deepak.kar/StAugustine and in http://picasaweb.google.com/deepak.kar/Florida
Next post coming soon!
Summer in Fermilab was really up and down.it was a tough learning experience to start off with, but in the later stages as we started taking real data, thing became somewhat exciting. Then spent a drove up to Detroit, flew to Baltimore, ate great seafood, caught up with old friends in Philadelphia, Delaware and NYC. The drive back to Florida was through St.Louis, Memphis and Alabama. All the pictures are in here - http://picasaweb.google.com/deepak.kar/SummerTravel
I must have been missing Florida beaches, so after coming back travelled around a bit. The photos are in http://picasaweb.google.com/deepak.kar/StAugustine and in http://picasaweb.google.com/deepak.kar/Florida
Next post coming soon!
Sunday, July 23, 2006
"Happy Birthday" to My Blog
It was this time of last year when I was feeling pretty depressed for a lot of reasons. The work was not going so well, summer in Gainesville was extremely boring and a few of my good friends were leaving Gainesville for different reasons, not all very pleasant. I did have a blogger account before and wrote a couple of meaningless posts months back, but was too lazy to update it on a regular basis and felt it lacked focus. I was content with reading other people's blogs and admiring their writings and wondering how they have became so popular! Anyway, to cut a long story short, I revived my blog exactly a year back in the present form, partly to let the steam out initially, and so far managed to update it reasonably often, with all the the work pressure and travelling around. I would have loved to talk about more serious issues and my often radical perspectives on them but with the people kind enough to read my blog mostly showing an extreme reluctance to comment, I think it would be kind of meaningless. So it has drifted more towards a travel/photo blog with occasional personal posts and might stay that way in near future.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Along the Mississippi and Beyond
Getting absolutely bored of Batavia, I decided to do some travelling around. If I was in Florida, it is not a problem - you can always grab some people and land up in a nearby beach, I remember doing that in the middle of the night too. However it is a completely different story here - miles and miles of cornfields with nothing remotely exciting to do. I like Chicago as a city - but after a while you run of ideas to do things in downtown. So I started the trip by driving north-eastward to Indiana border. In the blinding rain I crossed over to Indiana and soon I was near the Indiana Dunes. However looking for the largest dune there, Mt.Baldy I ended up going too far east and crossed over to Michigan border (one more state for me!I would be in Detroit in a couple of weeks though). After retracing my way back, finally found the way to it and climbed up the hundred something feet up to get a majestic view of the lake Michigan.
Photos: Looking up Mt.Baldy on an rainy day and view from the other side.
Photos: Looking up Mt.Baldy on an rainy day and view from the other side.
It was an overcast day - but could not resist the temptation of driving by the lake for a nice little stretch, making little stops on the way trying to take photos - eventually all of them came up almost similar.
Photos: Driving towards and by the lake!
It was down to West Lafayette from there - meeting an old friend and making a few new ones at Purdue. Stayed there for a couple of days - generally being lazy and trying out restaurants. By now I am sure all the campus towns look unfailingly similar - mostly red brick buildings, a tall tower commemorating something and a small downtown with coffee shops and pubs.
Photos: River Wabash beside Purdue and the tower and the fountain in the campus.
On the way to Urbana-Champaign, I passed through Indianapolis, did not feel a huge urge to head to downtown, rather went to the Indianapolis Speedway. Its funny how rest of the world
follows Formula One while that is relegated to the background here. Nascar and Indy 500 grab all the headlines and that was pretty evident in the Hall of Fame Museum. I did a track tour in the bus and was told that the Formula One race race actually goes in the opposite direction with respect to all other. But going down the empty race track in a slow bus is not really fun ...
Photo: The Speedway and the track.
Next morning we started out on our grand Mississippi road trip. We did not plan much, rather wanted to explore the small town USA a bit. Almost running out of gas, heading westward to Iowa border, we stopped at a small town called Knoxville. Without any expectation whatsoever, ordered friedrice in a little roadside restaurant claiming to serve American-Chinese Food. And ended up probably having the best friedrice in USA. It was just like our own Chinese food, where fried rices are tasty enough to be eaten by itself. So after the unexpectedly satisfying lunch, we crossed over to Iowa and found ourselves in a little town called Burlington just by the Mississippi. It claimed to have the world's crookedest street, but to find that we realized this can almost be called poor man's San Francisco! The streets go up and down pretty steeply without any warning and then that little stretch of alley connecting two bigger streets is really winding.
Photo: The little streetside restaurant and the crookedest street.
Just outside Burlington, travelling up north we passed by Toolseboro Indian Mounds. Sounds kind of historical, may be they are, but they look just like, well - just mounds!
Photo: Indian Mounds.
We were trying to follow the "Great River Road", which is an official scenic byway after that point - and we had to wade through a stretch of unpaved road leaving a trail of white dust behind. It was a while we could actually see the river, but the view was indeed gorgeous at some points.
Photo: Grand view of Mississippi.
We stopped at at place called Davenport, which seemed to be popular for casinos on the river and then at a much smaller but cuter city named LeClaire, which apparently was the hometown of "Buffalo Bill". While all these small towns are critically dependent upon the river for everything and have the streets lined up with antique shops, they are not too touristy. The coffee shops still don't accept credit cards and the people around would still be pleasantly surprised to see people from India.
Then we passed through another of those towns named Clinton and which literally stank. And then we were immensely surprised to find that Iowa (unlike the neighboring Illinois) is not just flat land. To reach Dubuque, which was supposed to be our final stop for the night, we had to drive by narrow winding roads through jungles on either side, going up and down the hills. Finally we reached Dubuque, which is apparently the number one tourist destination in Iowa! It looked confusing and appeared a big city at first, but getting hopelessly lost and coming back to the same major intersection every time without any help made us realize its just not that big, just the roads are uselessly confusing and complicated. The major attraction was the Fenelon place elevator, which is basically a cable car going up a hill. It looks very primitive, and unstable. Long back it was actually used by people for their daily commute, now its more of a tourist attraction. After riding that next morning, we went to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. It was fun seeing all the turtles and fishes and the giant size lazy alligator. Upstairs they had a special "Catfish Planet",which has led me to believe that any fish, no matter how it looks can be eventually classified as a catfish! Looking for places to eat, some local people hanging out in the streets directed us to the "Brickyard". It was a restaurant cum a brewery and we were tempted enough to taste their beer sampler. I am a generally strong beer hater - but even I loved the way how they served it in miniature mugs and actually liked some of them. A variety called the "Laughing Ass" was pretty good and my friends ended up getting half a gallon for their home. And did I mention the food was good too?
Photo: The elevator!
We planned to travel straight up to Mcgregor after that, but ended up crossing over to Wisconsin and losing our way. Finally found the scenic route on that side, but instead of the river, it passed through green valleys and more small towns. Stopping for gas in one of those nondescript towns, we learned we can cross the Mississippi with with our car in a ferry. We were so excited about the novel experience we can have, but sadly realized that we are short of cash. So kept driving, till we passed this in Mcgregor.
Photo: The pink elephant!
The last attraction we wanted to visit was the Spook Cave there. It is an underground half an hour boat ride in this cave. The formations are nothing spectacular compared to the other caves I have seen, but the ride is a lot of fun. At some points you have to duck really hard to avoid getting hit in the head by low ceiling or push the boat off from hitting narrow walls in the dark cave.
Photo: Inside the dark cave.
And then it was time to get back. Before getting on to the highways, we passed through local Wisconsin highway, stopping to buy some fresh local cheese at one time and to pass slow moving horse drawn carriages carrying weirdly dressed Amish county people a few other times. And once we hit the freeway in Illinois border - it was just one long drive back home in late night.
A great trip through small towns and local attractions - a refreshing change from the big cities which we visit all too often. My next trip would be just like that.
P.S - This is the first time I am trying to post some photos inside the travelogue, rather than linking it to webshots. I am not sure if I like the idea though, primarily because I can only upload a small number of them.
Birthday wishes for Saswati (17th July), Sayantani (19th July) and of course for my mother (2nd July).
Thursday, July 06, 2006
An Untimely Obituary
He was not my classmate at any stage. Not at school. Not at undergraduate days. He was merely a student from across the campus in the same year. We did not travel together anywhere, if I disregard the coincidental bumping into each other in Las Vegas last winter. There were no reason for me to know Subhankar Nag. And then he would have remained the faceless software engineer who died suddenly in his sleep of a cardiac arrest in an alien land.
However, I did know him reasonably well. In that dingy room over the A.C.Canteen in J.U Campus, every week we used to meet for informal quizzing sessions, which laid the foundation for the revival of JU Quiz club (later named Enquiry) and the now established yearly JU-Open quiz. And I can almost certainly say - without his effort and enthusiasm - the quiz club would not have seen the light of the day. Right from fighting for a room to coaxing juniors to come - he was everywhere. And he was an integral part of the J.U team which left its mark on college and open quizzes for over a year.
Unfortunately we all graduated from JU - but I hear even after that - he was active to make sure the quizzing tradition of J.U continued. After he came here in Columbus,Ohio working for TCS - he kept in touch, even though a lot of times I was too lazy to call back. Any other people would be offended, but not Subho. He would call at regular intervals, often to tell me that his cellphone number has changed and often without any apparent reason. We would talk about the places we have been to (he was especially proud about being at the Indianapolis GP last year - he deserved to see this years full race) and he would suggest I come to Columbus one of these weekends. I asked him once what his plans about settling down (read: marriage) and in his typical voice he said, "arey boss tara kiser, ei toh masti korar somoy". (roughly translated, whats the hurry - this is the time to enjoy life). I guess thats the last time I spoke to him. Irony? You bet.
This was no way to die.
P.S - A humble suggestion - can we name the J.U.Open quiz in his name?
Here are two old dusty pictures - the first reminding me of those fun evenings and the second one is the Science Sanskriti quiz which Arpita and me conducted.
However, I did know him reasonably well. In that dingy room over the A.C.Canteen in J.U Campus, every week we used to meet for informal quizzing sessions, which laid the foundation for the revival of JU Quiz club (later named Enquiry) and the now established yearly JU-Open quiz. And I can almost certainly say - without his effort and enthusiasm - the quiz club would not have seen the light of the day. Right from fighting for a room to coaxing juniors to come - he was everywhere. And he was an integral part of the J.U team which left its mark on college and open quizzes for over a year.
Unfortunately we all graduated from JU - but I hear even after that - he was active to make sure the quizzing tradition of J.U continued. After he came here in Columbus,Ohio working for TCS - he kept in touch, even though a lot of times I was too lazy to call back. Any other people would be offended, but not Subho. He would call at regular intervals, often to tell me that his cellphone number has changed and often without any apparent reason. We would talk about the places we have been to (he was especially proud about being at the Indianapolis GP last year - he deserved to see this years full race) and he would suggest I come to Columbus one of these weekends. I asked him once what his plans about settling down (read: marriage) and in his typical voice he said, "arey boss tara kiser, ei toh masti korar somoy". (roughly translated, whats the hurry - this is the time to enjoy life). I guess thats the last time I spoke to him. Irony? You bet.
This was no way to die.
P.S - A humble suggestion - can we name the J.U.Open quiz in his name?
Here are two old dusty pictures - the first reminding me of those fun evenings and the second one is the Science Sanskriti quiz which Arpita and me conducted.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Long delayed post on World Cup
So we are well into the stage where pretenders are getting separated from the contenders, and like many I too believe that real world cup would only begin from the knock out stage. My usual favourite is Holland - and so far I have not found them too impressive - but at least they are getting the job done so far. Brazil looks far from promising in spite of all these big names, Argentina and Spain are brilliant in flashes, Italy and England look suspect, Germany is steady but dull. May be this can turn out be the most open cup ever.
However that does not matter to my fellow Calcuttans. Most of them are intense Brazil supporters - which I actually find a little amusing. ( I remember reading this in orkut - a Brazilian guy randomly landed in a Calcutta community and quite innocently asked, is there any Brazilian around in here? This was a month or so before the world cup, and a Bengali gentleman came out and replied in crisp Bengali, roughly translated which would mean, there are none right now - but you would find them popping out of everywhere once the world cup begins!). That's what I don't exactly find amusing - the pride associated with supporting a different country. Lets get this clear folks - "our" football team failed to qualify for the world cup. And "we" are not exactly Brazilians (or Argentines) for that matter. I feel ashamed when someone asks me where is India in the football map. Its disgraceful that we are simply not there. If Countries like Ivory Coast or Serbia-Montenegro, torn by civil wars or a country like Trinidad and Tobago, just a dot on the atlas can make it there, just to cite a few examples - our perennial excuse of lack of infrastructure and all sound plain hollow.
I also hear comments about Americans not understanding soccer- they not having the passion like "us" and all that. Screw the passion - the Americans have a team playing in the world cup - so they are actually cheering for their team - not empty supporters like you and me. "We" don't even understand how ridiculous this is - claiming ourselves to be the biggest supporters of another country!
P.S - A long list of birthday wishes - Somraj (31st May), Shalini (4th june), Nabanita (5th June), Munmun (10th June), Nabamita (10th June), Nabanita (13th June), Debipriya (21st June).
And Father's Day and my fathers birthday was on the the same day this year (June 18th), and in case you forgot - I had my birthday on June 13th.
However that does not matter to my fellow Calcuttans. Most of them are intense Brazil supporters - which I actually find a little amusing. ( I remember reading this in orkut - a Brazilian guy randomly landed in a Calcutta community and quite innocently asked, is there any Brazilian around in here? This was a month or so before the world cup, and a Bengali gentleman came out and replied in crisp Bengali, roughly translated which would mean, there are none right now - but you would find them popping out of everywhere once the world cup begins!). That's what I don't exactly find amusing - the pride associated with supporting a different country. Lets get this clear folks - "our" football team failed to qualify for the world cup. And "we" are not exactly Brazilians (or Argentines) for that matter. I feel ashamed when someone asks me where is India in the football map. Its disgraceful that we are simply not there. If Countries like Ivory Coast or Serbia-Montenegro, torn by civil wars or a country like Trinidad and Tobago, just a dot on the atlas can make it there, just to cite a few examples - our perennial excuse of lack of infrastructure and all sound plain hollow.
I also hear comments about Americans not understanding soccer- they not having the passion like "us" and all that. Screw the passion - the Americans have a team playing in the world cup - so they are actually cheering for their team - not empty supporters like you and me. "We" don't even understand how ridiculous this is - claiming ourselves to be the biggest supporters of another country!
P.S - A long list of birthday wishes - Somraj (31st May), Shalini (4th june), Nabanita (5th June), Munmun (10th June), Nabamita (10th June), Nabanita (13th June), Debipriya (21st June).
And Father's Day and my fathers birthday was on the the same day this year (June 18th), and in case you forgot - I had my birthday on June 13th.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Random disgruntled notes
For past few years I have been hearing about a "scientist" president, apparently whom we all should try to emulate. Never mind that he is only a technocrat, however he did at least look qualified, a bit different from the run of the mill politicians. However his passive support of the government means he loses my respect. He is just another guy interested in power and all the perks associated with it. Please stop putting him on a high pedestal, would you?
I also hear about how wonderful work ASHA and all these NGO's are doing - express even slightest doubt about them and you are labeled a heartless creature with only your own interests in mind. Now I have a question, why would we even donate a penny for imparting basic education to kids in some remote villages over there, when our government is so concerned about them getting almost automatic higher education? Did these folks even speak up against it?
I am not just being sarcastic. I know in our system president has minimum say - but so far we have not heard anything from him. I would have expected something more from a president, whose claim to fame was not dirty politics. To put it bluntly - he has failed us. About NGO's in general and ASHA in particular (since I am most aware of its activities), I never doubt the commitments of the individuals - but as a whole they are doing too little, too late. I don't want to sound too critical but doing something which should basically be government's job and hoping to do that by asking us, the poor graduate students to spend their resources hardly sounds logical to me.
I also hear about how wonderful work ASHA and all these NGO's are doing - express even slightest doubt about them and you are labeled a heartless creature with only your own interests in mind. Now I have a question, why would we even donate a penny for imparting basic education to kids in some remote villages over there, when our government is so concerned about them getting almost automatic higher education? Did these folks even speak up against it?
I am not just being sarcastic. I know in our system president has minimum say - but so far we have not heard anything from him. I would have expected something more from a president, whose claim to fame was not dirty politics. To put it bluntly - he has failed us. About NGO's in general and ASHA in particular (since I am most aware of its activities), I never doubt the commitments of the individuals - but as a whole they are doing too little, too late. I don't want to sound too critical but doing something which should basically be government's job and hoping to do that by asking us, the poor graduate students to spend their resources hardly sounds logical to me.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Arjun speak and some thoughts!
Here is a much publicized interview of Arjun Singh by Karan Thapar.
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/devils-advocate-arjun-singh/11063-4-single.html
It makes for interesting reading and makes the minister appear(?) stupid. He mostly has no coherent answers to any of the questions put forward by Karan, and worse he ends up doubting cold numbers, often coming from credible sources, when he cant defend his or the government's stand. That's expected though - considering our politicians are hardly the most qualified people - but even then, some of the comments actually are pretty hilarious.
He starts off with -
Arjun Singh: I wouldn't like to say much more on this because these are decisions that are taken not by individuals alone. And in this case, the entire Parliament of this country - almost with rare anonymity - has decided to take this decision.
A quick check verifies, anonymity : n- the state of being anonymous.
So we have to believe, as implied by the senior minister that the Parliament secretly decided to implement this? Who were they hiding from? And why they needed to be surreptitious? I always thought you needed to be anonymous when you are afraid to come out with your name, like those offensive postings on the discussion forums!
Defends his actions with -
Arjun Singh: Because as I said, that was the 'will and desire of the Parliament'.
Now only if that meant the wish of the majority of the people!
And finally admits -
Karan Thapar: I want very much to talk about that formula, but before we come to talk about how you are going to address concerns, let me point one other corollary - Reservations also gives preference and favour to caste over merit. Is that acceptable in a modern society?
Arjun Singh: I don't think the perceptions of modern society fit India entirely.
Now that he acknowledges it, and I read somewhere that his grandson studies in Harvard, it all makes sense. Does not it?
And as someone pointed it out to me , the idea of increasing the percentage of quota and then compensating the general students by increasing total number of seats is almost a mathematical impossibilty. Lets think of an oversimplified example, where the total number of seats is 100 and the prevelant SC/ST etc quota adds upto 30%. So we had 70 seats for us - now if the total quota in increased to 50% - that means we lose 20 seats. If now the idea is to increase 20 seats for us - that pushes back the quota to 50/120 or 41%. So the only way to give back 70 seats to us is make the number of total seats 140, which is almost and one and half fold increase - and effectively adding new 40 seats to quota, while our seats stay the same. I wonder how many institutes have the infrastructure to absorb that many new students without letting the quality of education drop - and at the end we would be the victims again!
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/devils-advocate-arjun-singh/11063-4-single.html
It makes for interesting reading and makes the minister appear(?) stupid. He mostly has no coherent answers to any of the questions put forward by Karan, and worse he ends up doubting cold numbers, often coming from credible sources, when he cant defend his or the government's stand. That's expected though - considering our politicians are hardly the most qualified people - but even then, some of the comments actually are pretty hilarious.
He starts off with -
Arjun Singh: I wouldn't like to say much more on this because these are decisions that are taken not by individuals alone. And in this case, the entire Parliament of this country - almost with rare anonymity - has decided to take this decision.
A quick check verifies, anonymity : n- the state of being anonymous.
So we have to believe, as implied by the senior minister that the Parliament secretly decided to implement this? Who were they hiding from? And why they needed to be surreptitious? I always thought you needed to be anonymous when you are afraid to come out with your name, like those offensive postings on the discussion forums!
Defends his actions with -
Arjun Singh: Because as I said, that was the 'will and desire of the Parliament'.
Now only if that meant the wish of the majority of the people!
And finally admits -
Karan Thapar: I want very much to talk about that formula, but before we come to talk about how you are going to address concerns, let me point one other corollary - Reservations also gives preference and favour to caste over merit. Is that acceptable in a modern society?
Arjun Singh: I don't think the perceptions of modern society fit India entirely.
Now that he acknowledges it, and I read somewhere that his grandson studies in Harvard, it all makes sense. Does not it?
And as someone pointed it out to me , the idea of increasing the percentage of quota and then compensating the general students by increasing total number of seats is almost a mathematical impossibilty. Lets think of an oversimplified example, where the total number of seats is 100 and the prevelant SC/ST etc quota adds upto 30%. So we had 70 seats for us - now if the total quota in increased to 50% - that means we lose 20 seats. If now the idea is to increase 20 seats for us - that pushes back the quota to 50/120 or 41%. So the only way to give back 70 seats to us is make the number of total seats 140, which is almost and one and half fold increase - and effectively adding new 40 seats to quota, while our seats stay the same. I wonder how many institutes have the infrastructure to absorb that many new students without letting the quality of education drop - and at the end we would be the victims again!
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