Run of the mill

Racial Prejudices

2012-01-22T07:53:00.000-08:00

Racial Prejudices

That was a beautiful Manchester evening (really, believe me!) and I was on my way back to United States after giving job interviews in England. I must say my trip was successful for I have got the job and joyful as I have met my best friend whom I had not seen in a month of sundays. I was supposed to catch a flight from London Heathrow to JFK New York the following day. As there were no flights that reach London very early in the morning from Manchester, I had to take a bus from Manchester to London. The bus was to leave Manchester by mid night, so I had a nice and relaxing dinner, chicken ticka masala (apparently national food of Britain) for which I paid only 5 pounds. I was happy to know that Indian food is popularly priced in UK in comparison to USA. I reached the bus station sooner than expected. Having heard from people that Manchester is not very well guarded I did not dare to adventure in the city all by myself that late in the night. So there I was, waiting in the bus station, perusing “Is it just me or its nuts out there” by Whoopi Goldberg on my kindle (thanks to my wife for that!). Seated in front of me was a middle aged Indian looking man dressed to nines. After a while he looked at me and smiled, and I smiled back. He said in Hindi “aao idhar bhaito!”, I thought no harm in chatting up with a fellow citizen , so I accosted him and started making a conversation.

He introduced himself as an assistant professor working at Lahore University, Pakistan. I was delighted to know that for I had never met anyone from Pakistan till then in my life and I held no animosity against citizens of my neighboring country. We started talking about general things; much to my surprise began with weather (getting English habits even before I moved to UK). And the topic in cards came up in our repartee, i.e. RELIGION. I said I accede peoples’ faith in God and I have no qualms about it. I also told him about my atheistic views. He tried to argue with me, not about Allah but in general about God, how the presence of almighty God would make everything peaceful and calm, how solacing it is to believe in man upstairs and things alike. But when I took my weapons out he was not successful in putting up counter arguments. We were at logger heads about the subject matter and decided to give the slip. We then moved on to different aspects of our cultural history and politics. How bad politicians in both our countries are and how corruption is the root cause of our miseries.

Our focus suddenly shifted to getting bureaucratic work done in fair and simple way, with special reference to obtaining VISAs and also the way we are treated at airports. He started talking about how challenging it is for him and his fellow mates who truly believe in Islam. He said just because few people do something awful in the name of religion, everyone else has to suffer. I said I knew people who have gone through the ordeal. I agreed Muslims have tough time especially when in abroad. He proceeded to say he was doing some studies in France and he had hard time getting VISA initially. And when he finally got it French consulate refused to give VISA to his wife who was obviously wishing to join him. He was telling all agonies about not having his better half with him and how important it is for him to do the research in Europe. I said I know how he feels and I told him I am in the same boat. He continued to say it’s not fair to generalize things to which I agreed with him completely. I told him how awful it is to know just one thing about one community and treat everyone else in that community based on that one single idea. In fact I suggested him to listen to author Chimamanda Adichie’s talk on Dangers of single story.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

After a while couple of Romanian girls were passing by. He immediately pointed them out to me and said be very careful when you are around them. I was puzzled having not known beans about them. I asked him “why must I be cautious?” He said Romanian girls are thieves and they have no moral values. I was slightly taken back and said surely not all Romanian girls are like that. And I told him we were just talking about stereotyping and he is doing the same. I also said he is doing the same thing that he was accusing others doing to him. I did not feel right in embarrassing respectful old man any further and tried to talk something else.

In reality I do not blame him completely for his remarks. It is instinctive to stereotype things. I am not saying it is right thing to do. All and sundry have prejudices against a particular race, religion, cast or nationality. Very few good people on earth probably do not generalize things. Majority of us consciously or unconsciously have presumption and prejudices but refrain from acting in any way that negatively affect others. Very few bad people do things that harm others, not because they are preyed upon, but pure rancor propels them to do awful things. Researchers have found that racist behavior is primary cause for many hate crimes. On the other hand racial prejudices, which many of us have, are mostly because of ignorance. It is not exactly racist to have racial prejudices. Racism and racial prejudices are different. Little learning about anything is dangerous, so it is very important to bring awareness about any prejudices, so that we do not become racists. As Chimamanda mentions it is important, very very important indeed, to learn about all aspects of a community, so that we do not judge people when we meet them.

Lessons learned from Indian Philosophy

2011-03-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

Lessons learned from Indian Philosophy:

1. Do not find a reason to be Happy

2. Give 100% in whatever you do

3. Do not delay Important-No urgent things so that they become Important and Urgent
4. Sing happily

5. Do not find intentions in others’ mistakes

6. Take people as they are

7. Do not be a football of others’ opinions

8. Give more, expect less

9. Good idea is to implement a good idea

Life, Love and Largesse

2011-02-06T10:40:00.001-08:00

Life, Love and Largesse

Is success more important than living your life?

Is living your life more important than being loved?

Is being loved more important than loving your beloved?

Is loving your beloved more important than helping the helpless?

Hollywood Vs. Bollywood

2011-01-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Actors (from hollywood and bollywood) have vast impact on general public. The influence can be both positive and negative, and it does not just stem from the way actors portray their characters in films, but also how the actors lead their lives. For once let me talk about all positive impressions these actors have on common man. What I want to present in this post is try and juxtapose the philanthropic nature of hollywood and bollywood actors.

Keeping aside how woebegone the personal lives of hollywood actors are, in all honesty I feel that they bequeath to the humane society more than their counter parts in India. Do not get me wrong, I love Hindi movies as much as I love English movies besides the fact that both industries compete in producing second-rate movies. Bollywood produces more movies than Hollywood and more people watch bollywood movies than hollywood movies. And it is only fair to say actors from bollywood have more influence on Indians than hollywood actors on Americans.

Hollywood uses its power to up-hold social justice around the globe where as bollywood uses its potential for self-indulgent pleasures. Hollywood actors not only donate their money but also their time. Oscar winning actor, Sean Penn, spent almost a year in Haiti looking after people who are the victims of earthquake and try to bring some solace in their lives. You name any successful hollywood actor, he/she surely is associated with philanthropy. Even 16-year-old pop singer Justin Bieber is known for his charity work. You rarely find such a gesture from bollywood actors. Our very famous Khan-trio are seldom in news for their philanthropic acts. It may not be fair to universalize as there are few philanthropists in bollywood, but in general philanthropy is off the wall in bollywood.

While Hollywood actors care about the whole world, Indian actors would not even look after their own fellow citizens. Angelina Jolie is not in lime light just for her kinship with Brad Pitt or for her lesbian past but equally reputable for her humanitarian efforts. She is UNHCR good-will ambassador. In 2006 alone, 8.5 million dollars was donated by Brangelina. I am making no bones about it in saying not even one bollywood actor come close to her humanitarian accomplishments.

Actors have engaged themselves politically in both film industries, more so in India. While Hollywood actors proved themselves to be good public servants, our very own actors are making a mint. For example, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proven to be a great politician, and our very own member of parliament Govinda did not even care to attend parliamentary proceedings 10% of the time. Govinda spoke only twice in parliament for less than 2 minutes in his entire political career. Again it’s hard for me to compare Indian politicians and bollywood actors; I simply can’t choose lesser of two evils.

It is not just actors, it’s also businessmen, sports person contribute positively to the world in the west where as in India sadly but truly philanthropy has fallen byway side. When we compare Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to our businessmen, they have done nothing for common Indian, let alone whole world.

I understand cinema is the only source of entertainment to our middle and poor classes in India. But I think bollywood actors are given undue importance. They only take and don’t give back. And I also completely understand how one is not obliged to do charity or philanthropy. My argument is they should be treated just for what they are. But in our country we build temples for those selfish morons and treat them like demigods. In totality we Indians lack community consciousness.

P.S. Having said all I am sure there are benevolent bollywood actors and people from other arenas strive for common good, I respect them, but lot more should be done from our communities for the love they receive from us.

Who is responsible?

2010-10-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

Who is responsible?

It drives me to the wall seeing the way media and Indians (residents and non-residents) reacted over the seemingly failure of Indian government’s initial attempts to organize Common Wealth Games (CWG). I am partly despondent because of the corruption, lack of organizing skills from the government officials but what disheartens me most is the attitude of common Indians. I know it’s not news to any one of us, either about corruption or the mindset of Indians in general.

I have been keeping abreast of how the games are being organized over the past 1 year and I reckon we are making cogent progress in several fronts. Rome was not build in a day; and I accede to the fact that we ought to do lot better. But that “WE” include you, me and the government, not just the government. Over night one cannot expect all citizens and politicians of India to be genuine, honest and law abiding; it is not happening; so why expect unblemished CWG preparations?

NDTV showed a picture where one security officer, who is supposed to shepherd CWG preparations, was relieving himself in front of a big CWG poster. Who is responsible for that demeanor? Delhi chief minster Sheela Dixit or shameless security officer? I would not be surprised if the same security officer accosts the media and sells few more awful pictures that he had captured in the interest to make some money. More than half of the volunteers had dropped off after receiving expensive free kits; doesn’t it speak of our attitude towards the issues and then the very same “US” grumble about everything that is not done properly.

Even (self proclaimed) unbiased new channel CNN reported quoting “hard evidences of child labor in CWG preparations”. Any sane Indian (photographer is an Indian!) who has seen the photographs would understand that the kids shown those photographs are not child laborers but the kids who are too young to go to school and loitering around with their parents. Does that mean that India does not have child laborers; no there are millions of them. But the way the western and Indian media has pointed child laborers in India in this very particular instance is not justified.

We have been dragged through mud many times by our fellow Indians and foreigners. We handled it in the past and we continue to do the same. If India, as a nation, attempts to do any thing, whole world (including fellow Indians) will look through lenses to find faults. Does that mean we should bow our heads and stop progressing ourselves? Hell NO, we will learn, just like we have been learning ourselves in various fields and we shall progress, sky is the limit. Some might say cake is not worth the candle, may be it is true, but there is beginning for everything; this is just the beginning in one front, which lays foundations to our greater deeds.

Being critical about government or any thing for that matter is good to an extent. I am not carrying water for the government but our quibbles should also be accompanied by ventures to solve the problems and it is not just by preaching what should be done but rather by doing / aid in facilitating what should be done. There could be few people who have put their selfless efforts to make CWG a success. If we keep looking for what has not been done properly and blame the entire team, the genuine guys would lose interest eventually and by mere fault finding we will never be able to achieve any thing as a whole country.

In my books, it is not solely Sheela or Kalmadi or MCD who is responsible for the mess; it’s the proclivity of Indians that is failing us. I am not saying that every one should join politics to clear up the mess, what I am saying is, just be a perfect citizen. What might also get us to the destiny soon will be the change of callous attitude that has been deeply ingrained in our minds over decades.

Confuzzled

2010-04-02T18:28:00.001-07:00

Confuzzled:

If there be God please forgive me. I have been experiencing a “crisis of faith” on and off for many years and strained every nerve to have faith in God: but in recent past my endeavors to have faith in God had gone astray. The vicissitude of my views is certainly not because my wishes have been rebuffed or world has been unfair to me but for the very reason that I see the world around me and try to think through my mind.

I have been a fervid Hindu all through out my life and like most of the Hindus I am receptive of other religions. I am not skeptical about the veracity of any religion, but the very existence of the man upstairs. I understand the solace one gets by feeling the presence of God in one’s life and appreciate the importance of religion in keeping up the morals of people. But, I am a law abiding citizen, I surely know what is right, what is wrong and definitely do not want “men or women of cloth” preach me (often they don’t follow themselves) what is righteous. Truth of the matter is my resentment towards these God men/women exacerbates when the very existence of God is oppugned.

My common sense and little knowledge in evolution biology mock me every morning when I keep the sacred mark on my forehead. “Do you really have to fool yourself Kiran? Your mother is not here, she would not know whether you are praying every day or not, why do you care? ” is what I hear my mind saying. The answer is I am at logger heads about the existence of God and to which I can no longer turn a blind eye.

I think it is perfectly normal for every adult to have this crisis of faith, whichever religion he/she inherits from parents. It has not spared Mother Teresa, who was a sacred cow and an epitome of compassion and humanity. In one of her letter to a reverend she writes

“as for me, the silence and emptiness is so great that I look and
do not see, listen and do not hear”

In the later half of her life she claims that she felt no presence of God whatsoever. Although I do not agree with atheists who say she was sailing in false colors by proclaiming herself pious, but I reckon what probably she did not know was that even the reverend must have had the same crisis of faith. She had the strength and courage to convey her feelings about God, where as the reverend had not.

A posteriori argument is that humankind has witnessed so many atrocities being committed in the name of religion. If there is God, who proclaimed to have mighty powers or these phony-baloney religious leaders bestow God to have these powers, what was it doing all along? My Hindu friends would bring in the concept of karma, a self fulfilling prophecy. Pardon me my dear brothers and sisters, how does it matter to me what I did in my past life (if there was one). If I helped out someone in crisis, I want to be bailed out when I am in trouble----in this very life. I have swallowed many good things all religions says hook, line, and sinker, but you do not need to scare the daylights of me in the name of God; what world needs is the moral fiber and humanitarian attempts to love and respect fellow human beings.

In all honesty, just because I have crisis of faith does not mean God does not exists, for me he does not seem to exist; but if you feel the same way as I do, think about it, you are doing no favor to yourself by living in the religious world of fabrication.

My take on Homosexuality

2010-02-24T19:05:00.000-08:00

My take on Homosexuality:

Like many of us, I was also a part of polemics over homosexuality, all right and wrong things about it. Despite the fact that many of my colleagues carry either a Ph.D. degree or at least a master’s degree, there is always 50-50 split on both sides of the debate. This tells us that presumptions on homosexuality does not always stem from philistinism and ambiguity over naturalness of homosexuality.

The exact meaning of “Naturalness” is beyond our ken; in my books as long as a thing is not genetically manipulated everything is natural, for example altruism, criminal behavior and homosexuality. I am not allegorizing these three things in any sense save the fact that people who possess these behaviors are generally in minority. While altruism is admired and applauded, criminal behavior needs to be treated cognitively. Regarding homosexuality, there is no silver bullet for it; one has to decide how it should to be taken. Since homosexuality poses no threat to any section of society, I reckon people who like same sex should be given a fair crack of whip.

Personally, I am neither a radical nor a stick in the mud, but again I am not sitting on fence in this case. If my son or daughter comes out as gay, I would not disown, would not love any less, would give all comfort he/she needs but the “very fact” would gnaw at my vitals. I would not want my kids to go through the tribulation and endure that they are different from most of us. Being a biologist, I totally understand the naturalness of homosexuality and have nothing against it, but given a chance (I know there isn’t one) I would not my kids to be homosexuals.

While promiscuity of homosexuals is often questioned, I reckon if they are treated the way they should be treated, it will not be an issue. I do appreciate the importance of monogamy but that is applicable to all sections of the society equally irrespective of religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Old guards would proclaim that the very idea of marriage would be lost, if homosexuals were allowed to marry. I do not find any ratiocination in that remonstrance. Marriage is not just exchanging rings; it is more of an understanding between two human beings and their wish to live together for life time. If two adults would want to live together they should be allowed to marry irrespective of their sex.

Some people’s argument that “by accepting homosexuality you are promoting it” is fallacious. A person is what he/she is; one might squeeze blood out of turnip but cannot change a person’s feelings. By accepting homosexuals, you are in no way changing a heterosexual to homosexual. Straight from the shoulder, by accepting homosexuality world will not come to an end, so accept people as they are!

P.S. As my title says, this blog is just my take on homosexuality. I could be wrong. If any one is offended with the content I sincerely apologize.

Mind Matters: Gossip in the Lab -- Proceed with Caution

2010-01-30T10:31:00.000-08:00

Mind Matters: Gossip in the Lab -- Proceed with Caution

- Irene S. Levine

1. Avoid gossip if you can.

2. If you must gossip, gossip judiciously

3. If you hear gossip, exercise discretion

4. Don't believe everything you hear, even if disbelieving requires, well, a willing suspension of belief.

5. Only gossip among people you know and who know you.

6. If you're a manager, assess whether gossip is symptomatic of a paucity of communication

7. Know when and how to draw the line

8. The problem with gossip is that one day it will be about you.

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2010_01_29/caredit.a1000012

Gandhi and Nehru at “Rakhi ka Swayamvar”

2010-01-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

Gandhi and Nehru at “Rakhi ka Swayamvar”

Prologue:
Gandhi and Nehru were rewarded with free passes to visit earth for their exceptionally good behavior in heaven.

Day1:
Gandhi woke up early in the morning, like he does always, finished his morning prayers and made tea with goat’s milk for Nehru and himself. Nehru thanked Gandhi for savory tea and asked about his plans for the day.

“Oh. All in a day’s work, I shall saunter around Sabarmathi ashram and maybe then I shall go for Ram Bhajan and spend my rest of the day.”

“You have not come here to do the same quotidian things that you have been doing in donkey’s years. Let’s do something different, let’s go for a movie.”

Gandhi had to grin and bear it. Both of them went to watch “Lage Raho Munnabhai” and loved the movie from beginning to end.

Nehru said “I wish I were also a tenant of the old age home where Vidhya Balan stays. Then I would get to see her every day. She is so beautiful!”

“Was it so inexplicable for you to assimilate what the movie was all about? Have you not perceived how Gandhian ways of life are revered and complied? All you could see was the pretty little lady in the movie”

“Revered, yes, complied, I don’t think so. Whoever follows your principles will be treated as screwball. That’s what happened in the movie, isn’t it? Your doctrines do not work any longer Gandhi"

“You are talking out of your hat. How can you say such churlish things about my ways of life? Do you not acknowledge that we got our independence from British through my way?”

“Huh, gone are those days and your ways, now no one would turn the other cheek if you slap, rather you will lose your 32 teeth if you attempt to do so”

After a brannigan about Gandhian principles both of them agreed to the bitter truth that Indians and people around the globe do respect what Gandhi said and followed, but it is just that very few people believe in practicing.

“Now that we have seen the movie, let’s go and find Vidhya Balan. May be we should visit some studios; those are the places where we may have better chance of finding her” said Nehru.

“You are away with fairies; you will not stand a chance before her.”

“I have been there Gandhi. Don’t you belittle my credentials, I fare much better than that ostensibly bald hero, ah…What’s his name, Sanjay Dutt. And, have you forgotten about my shenanigans with Lady Mountbatten? If I could win a Caucasian lady’s heart, why not Vidhya’s? By the way, speaking of white women, my grand children and great grand children are also good at this job. We all are fast workers Gandhi; got my drift?”

Gandhi had to agree with what Nehru said and instead of going to Yashraj studios, by mistake they ended up going to NDTV studios.

The place was well lit and adorned with various colored flowers. Poles of the frames were enswathed with bright colored silk drapes and strings of flowers. Everyone was dressed so colorful, and it appeared as if they were in a wedding ceremony. That’s when a big billboard caught their attention, it’s written with big letters “Rakhi ka Swayamvar”.

“Wait, are these people behind times? How do you mean by Swayamvar? Is it practiced in India nowadays?” asked Gandhi.

“Apparently so, I reckon it should be the same way that it used to be. In Sathyayug it was ‘Sita ka Swayamvar’, now in Kalyug it is ‘Rakhi ka Swayamvar’. Oh. Dear Rakhi! I now remember watching “pardesi yeah hai such hai piya” song in heaven, oh man! I tell you she has got the best. Even Lord Indra agreed that Ramba, Urvasi and Menaka are nothing in front of her. I want to try my luck.” said Nehru.

“So would I” uttered Gandhi without thinking twice.

“How will we go about participating, since we are only souls and can’t be seen?” asked Nehru.

“Ok, let’s get in to some of the competitors’ bodies. Looks like we are lucky, we arrived at finals of the Swayamvar. It’s a competition between you and me Nehru.”

Nehru chose a seemingly well built and smart looking guy and entered in to his body. Gandhi, to Nehru’s surprise, chose a half bald, who is an NRI from Canada.

“Why are you making this competition easy for me by choosing the loser” asked Nehru.

“We shall see who will be the loser” replied Gandhi.

Competition began, there were three finalists, and two of them were of course Gandhi and Nehru. After a round of elimination, Gandhi and Nehru stood as two finalists. In the final round Rakhi has to decide whom she is going to wed.

Rakhi: “Oh Dears, I am so glad that you both have made it to the finals. You both fared well in relationships round and won my heart but as you understand I want to choose someone who is bright as button. Now it is the final test, I shall ask three questions related to English, Mathematics and Science.
Here is the 1st question related to English:
If Ram’s mother has five sons and their names are Rama, Rame, Rami and Ramo, what is the last son’s name?”

Both Gandhi and Nehru knew the answer is ‘Ram’ but Gandhi chose to answer it as “Ramu” and Nehru said “Ram”

Rakhi congratulated Gandhi for the right answer and looked at Nehru and asked him to go back to kindergarten.

Before Nehru recovered from shock, the second question related to mathematics was asked.

“2,4,5,1 and 3 what is the middle number?”

Nehru immediately said ‘5’ even before he was asked to answer. Later Gandhi coolly said ‘3’.

Rakhi announced Gandhi as winner of the second round and gave a odd look at Nehru”

Since there was no need of third round Gandhi was announced as winner of Rakhi’s heart. They exchanged garlands. And the ceremony was over in few minutes.

Later Nehru asked Gandhi “how you can win her by giving wrong answers?”

Gandhi replied “I gave the answers which she thinks are right. I came to know her fatuousness when she said the first question is related to English. Then I realized what kind of answer she is expecting.”

Although Gandhi refused to leave Rakhi and go back to ashram, when Nehru explained the repercussion of staying back with Rakhi, he was ready to leave. Both of them left the bodies of the competitors’ and headed towards the ashram.

Courtesy: NDTV, Times of India and Google of course.

Telangana

2009-12-26T17:20:00.000-08:00

The name “Telangana’’ strikes a chord with every Indian by now. I am neither a schismatic nor against furtherance of downtrodden, who have been denied most basic amenities in a coons’ age. I am sorry that people of Telangana have been neglected with all forms of development. Government and political parties must strain every nerve to emulate the situation in Telangana. But I reckon splitting the state based on region would be like robbing Peter and paying Paul. A misstep to cover up a blunder is not the ‘solution’. It might give respite to the people of Telangana for some time, but after that they will be left high and dry.

“Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS)”, headed by KC Rao, who wrapped himself in pink flag, proclaimed to fight for the people of Telangana. Having seen TRS and KC Rao over 10 years, even dogs in street know by now what that party is all about and what it’s leader actually cares for. After losing miserably in state assembly elections and in center, the party has decided that they have to do something. And here you go; you get up in the middle of the night and decide that you want to do justice for people of Telangana and the next morning you are on fast. Come on; give people of India and Andhrapradesh a break. Few hundred people are good enough to create brouhaha and make it look like a freedom fight. All the party needed to do was throw few bucks and their job was done. Comparing Potti Sriramulu (who once fought for separate Andhra state from Madras) with KC Rao would be a Himalayan blunder. Late Mr. Sriramulu struggled for a noble cause and became a martyr. KC Rao, no one thinks so. You never know, we may have another Madhu Koda in making in the form of KC Rao.

Our political system is so corrupted that nothing constructive would be accomplished by the political parties without looking for personal benefits. They are all mouth and trousers. I support Gandhian style of protest by fasting, but not when fasting is also associated with so much of violence against public property. Gandhi did it for Indians and now TRS politicians are doing it for themselves. In my book Congress, TDP and PRP are no less evil than TRS.

Student leader of Osmania University went on record saying separate Telangana is his birth right since he was born in that particular part of the state. That’s the most irrational and incongruous thing I would imagine from a student leader. Tomorrow I will say oh! I was born in Visakhapatnam; separate country named ‘Visakha’ is my birth right. Come on; wake up and smell the coffee and do your part in clearing up the mess. I am sure the student movement in Osmania University is fueled by political motives as well.

You do see acts of humanitarianism, compassion and amity, like when students of Andhra University went on protesting for ‘United Andhra’. As I see it, those people who went on protesting for United Andhra, would not lose a penny if separate Telangana state is created. But they want to have united Andhra; it’s the feeling of brotherhood.

I anticipate that the rank and file of Telangana would be cognizant of egocentric motives of crooked, dishonorable and unscrupulous politicians and act wise by repudiating the separationists. I hope and pray for once central government would think through its head before it starts portioning the states.

My blissful experience with pain:

2009-11-29T19:38:00.000-08:00

I am sure, all and sundry must have heard about people savoring their pain in achieving their dreams. I endured the same when I ran a full marathon a week ago. I rejoiced from start to end of 26.2 miles long run.

The marathon kicked-off about 7 am on a cold winter morning. There were about twenty thousand people, from all over United States, took off from Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia. I was in penultimate coral to begin the run as I opted the estimated finishing time about 4:30 to 5 hours. I was wearing black under-armour and a white T-shirt with a caption ‘SMILE’ on it. I chose this T-shirt especially to bring out the smile in my fellow runners; for we all know how much of an effect smile has. I really felt invigorated listening to the cheering from spectators. I must say true act of altruism was shown up there. May be most of the spectators have had someone running in the marathon, but the way they were cheering all the runners was truly amazing. Several people were holding placards saying keep running, run strong, looking strong, keep-up the good work, you’re kicking ass! , personal messages for their beloved, and so on. While I was running I felt as though I was watching some sort of parade. There were several old men and women running at a good speed, looking at them running I felt even more enthused and ran faster (although I felt bad passing them). Some of the runners cheered for the fellow runners, as I heard from one of them saying “he cheers himself by cheering the fellow runners”. People made fun, said things, and laughed out loud. I heard several anecdotes as I ran along. Small kids were giving high fives to the runners. Several people ran for their Mothers to show much they love her. Volunteers were saying encouraging words to the runners. The total event was like traveling a long journey in train with enthusiastic fellow passengers and spectacular scenery outside the window.

Even though I was in pain in the last quarter of the marathon, the cheering from spectators kept me running. Having seen the kick-off, I decided myself that this is only the beginning of my marathon series, and the decision had not changed at the end of the marathon. I reached my destination in 4 hours 15 minutes although I could have done little better. My next target will be less than 4 hours. One thing I learned from this experience is “Running can also be an addiction”.

Vaishnava Janato

2009-11-29T19:28:00.000-08:00

The English translation of "Vaishnava Janato “ -Poet Naris Mehta

One who is a vaishnav,

Knows the pain of others

Does good to others, especially to those ones who are in misery

Does not let pride enter his mind

A Vaishnav, Tolerates and praises the entire world

Does not say bad things about anyone

Keeps his/her words, actions and thoughts pure

O Vaishnav, your mother is blessed

A Vaishnav sees everything equally, rejects greed and avarice

Considers some one else's wife/daughter as his mother

The tongue may get tired, but will never speak lies

Does not even touch someone else's property

A Vaishnav does not succumb to worldly attachments

Who has devoted himself to staunch detachment to worldly
pleasures

Who has been addicted to the elixir coming by the name of Ram

For whom all the religious sites are in the mind

A Vaishnav, Who has no greed and deceit

Who has renounced lust of all types and anger

The poet Narsi will like to see such a person

By who's virtue, the entire family gets salvation

For those who are interested in listening to the actual rendition of these verses in Gujarati

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2qeHKVqh2w

English translation by Unknown

Trying to be Indian

2009-11-18T18:46:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I was a part of Diwali celebrations coordinated by a group of non-resident Indians at State college. You might be wondering if it was too early for us to celebrate the forth-coming Diwali; the answer is yes, but actually we were celebrating Diwali that should have been celebrated last month. Never mind, everyone and their uncle was there to rejoice the event. Despite the prolonged delay in the festivity, what strikes with awe was the ‘verve and gaiety’ people showed in facilitating and celebrating the event. There were several stage-shows related to Bharathanatyam, Bollywood, Hindustani music, Yoga and others. All acts were performed by the residents of state college and most of them were some way or other tie in with Indian culture.

I want to talk about one particular act named “Twinkle with the stars”. Although the main theme of the play was taken from a youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DssSpNqbc64) by Revathi Sankaran , the way the program was enacted by performers was stupefying. Every one of us would have sung “Twinkle Twinkle little star” when we were wet behind ears. In this program, a group of women, who were dressed to nines, personated as if they are from different parts of India (actually some of them really are!). It was really a sight for sour eye as we watched one by one singing “Twinkle Twinkle little star” and dancing in their native style. I would say it was very comical without mocking any culture or language and am sure everyone and jack must have enjoyed. Apart from the fun, one can easily learn something from this program about India. Undoubtedly, “Unity in Diversity” that many Indians always feel proud off. It also portrays the way we Indians take anything that is as foreign as this song and makes it our own. As Swami Viviekanada rightly said we belong to a culture where we welcome everyone and everything with our open arms.

Coming back to the event, for once I felt that the Indians over here feel more Indian than the Indians who are residing in India. I don’t know why, may be absence makes the heart grow fonder or maybe we feel that we owe something more to our nation. In any case most of the non-resident Indians feel their roots with India by celebrating all events, even if they have very remote connection to India. Although we celebrate the festivals at the end of the week, we celebrate it irrespective of the fact that whether our parents or grandparents have/do not have the tradition of celebrating that particular festival back in India. We try every possible thing that makes us feel Indian and do everything to make India a better nation.

Top ten things that Biologists WOULD NOT want you to know

2009-11-10T17:31:00.000-08:00

1. We claim that we work for 10-15 hours per day. In actuality, considering the down time that we have, our working hours do not cross 8 hours per day.

2. Sometimes we intentionally do not present our negative results, which would compromise the quality of the journal we are about to publish or down-play the significance of our work.

3. Many a time our motto is just to publish research papers and do not care a straw whether or not our research directly/indirectly aids in enriching the human lives.

4. Like in politics, in Science also ‘connections’ are very important for scientists to succeed.

5. In the name of attending conferences and exchanging ideas with fellow scientists, we travel around the world and have the pleasure of visiting places.

6. Success in Science is not always positively correlated with Intelligence/Creativity. Serendipity and Zemblanity play their part in grooming scientists’ future.

7. We strongly believe in Evolution, and make fun of theists when they say god created this world in 7 days.

8. Some of us do consider research just like any other job, and work very professionally without having an iota of passion for Science.

9. Doing Science is a rat race, so unfortunately sometimes unethical paths are chosen to achieve the desired goals.

10. In general, hypothesis precedes observations. But in Science most of the times we do experiments first. And having obtained interesting results, we beguile fellow scientists by saying that we had a hypothesis and we verified that by performing experiments.

P.S. I reckon some Scientists do not practice or believe in any of the ten things (let alone all) I have mentioned. I sincerely respect and salute them.

Top ten things that Life Science researchers would want you to know:

2009-11-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

Top ten things that Life Science researchers would want you to know:

1. Most of us do not work towards developing medicine (to cure/prevent diseases). So avoid asking lame questions.

2. The kind of Science that we do is very different from what is shown in ‘Hollywood movies'.

3. We work very hard and don’t get much in return. So we are basically volunteering for good cause. Keep that in mind and ‘respect’ us.

4. We all know that Cancer and Aids are two top most killers: that does not make all of us know everything about those diseases.

5. We are not bunch of crazy people who has nothing to do other than Science. We do have our lives outside Science.

6. Rather than donating money to build Churches and Temples, fund Science, which will surely take you to heaven.

7. We do not kill animals indiscriminately. We, according to the rules of ethical committees, sacrifice their lives to save your/our lives.

8. Not all of us are going to get Nobel Prize. So stop asking whether our work is worth a Nobel.

9. Don’t believe the scientific news that you read in daily newspapers, they exaggerate our findings.

10. Not all of us are atheistic; so stop seeing us as a ‘threat’ to religion.

Freedom of expression

2009-10-18T08:04:00.000-07:00

“Why is ‘Freedom of expression’ so important?” If this question is posed, one would get myriads of plausible answers. Freedom of expression has been the driving force behind the success of humankind in all walks of life.

Once greatest minds on earth believed that earth is flat until Aristotle enunciated “Earth is not flat, rather it is globular”. And yes, this fact had created so much of furor in those days, but so what, now every soul on earth abide by the very fact that earth is globular. Many a times, many of us have an opinion that is quite contradictory to the popular belief, but only few of us would come out and proclaim what we reckon. One must understand that by not being emphatic about your legitimate beliefs, a group of people on earth, often called minority, may be affected adversely for the lack of support. Take for example, religious freedom, equality rights, domestic abuse, corruption, classism and even history. The last example “History” intrigues me most. History is the knowledge about facts or events, how can people possibly have different interpretations when it is based on events or facts? This brings me to the topic that has become ‘a bone of contention’ in Indian media recently.

Yes, I am talking about veteran BJP leader Jaswanth Singh’s recent book "Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence". Jaswanth talked about Jinnah’s secular credentials, and how he is not very different from Nehru. I am not going to reason about ‘the new image’ he divulged about Jinnah, but will take you through the series of events that took place after the book was published. This book had cost him an arm and leg. He was expelled from BJP party for arrantly supporting Jinnah. And of course the book has won him a few friends in Pakistan. The book was banned in BJP-ruled state Gujarat for vilifying Sardar Patel, a well-known freedom fighter, who hailed from Gujarat. Countless debates were followed after Jaswanth was expelled to discuss whether or not BJP and Jaswanth were right in their actions.

It seems an inane idea for BJP to throw an eminent leader, who worked for the party over thirty years, for authoring a book. Does politics forbid politicians to share their ways of thinking? Do political party members abide by party’s principles (considering that each party has thousands of principles) all the times? Do Jaswanth’s views of Jinnah change the love people have for Patel or Nehru? Many a times authors pen something that world would little note nor long remember. Some obscure statistics present that out of a million books published by the press, not even 53% of them are read to completion.

To my understanding if a banned book like ‘Satanic verses’ was allowed to publish in India , very small percent of Indian population would have read and surely it would not have had any effect on Indian masses; for Indian masses care little. How many of Indians know how to read English, and what percent of Indian population would be interested in reading books on some author’s views on Islam. Even if fewer people have read, how many would get offended by the content of the book. Even if someone is offended by the book, an answer to a book is a book.

Pseudo-franchise

2009-10-02T16:49:00.000-07:00

Maqbool Fida Husain, an Indian born world famous painter, often called “Picasso of India”, celebrated his 94th birth day in abroad. He is on self-imposed exile, as his life is under ‘threat’ from a variety of right wing activists in India. I am all ‘in’ for artistic freedom, if that does not hurt the sentiments of ‘conscious sane minds’. Although I am an ardent follower of Hindu religion, painting Hindu deities in nude would not offend me personally, but I don’t represent a billion Hindus. Like Mr. Husain has every right to paint whatever he contemplates, an ordinary Hindu also has every right to get offended. Many people would say why would Hindus get offended when there thousands of nude sculptures of Hindu goddesses placed around the temples’ walls. That is very true. But let me tell you, if your brother punishes your daughter for doing something wrong, you are all happy that your brother is taking care of your daughter; if a neighbor does it, you will go agog and pick up a fight with your neighbor. Call it hypocrisy or whatever; this is how 90% of human beings would react. One can’t find logical explanation for one’s actions all the times. Same holds true in case of Mr. Husain. A Muslim painter paints Hindu goddesses in nude that too in a sexual manner and it is inevitable that many Hindus would get offended. Do not expect that the rank and file would think logically before they act. Situation would go worse if the artist paints only mythological figures from a particular community and his intentions are clearly depicted in his paintings. In case of Husain, when asked in an interview “why he does not paint Virgin Mary, Mother Theresa or even Mohammed Prophet in nude” he refused to answer the question. I would not judge him, but will let you do so…………

Journey to earth

2009-09-26T15:18:00.001-07:00

“Hello, how are you?” asked Nehru, surprised to see Gandhi on earth.

“I am doing fine. I am sure you can’t be still alive, so what are you doing here?” asked Gandhi, equally astonished at his encounter with Nehru.

“Oh! I was in heaven, and they gave me an opportunity to visit earth, as a reward for my good conduct. I was hoping to see you in heaven ever since I checked in there; what happened?” enquired Nehru with a genuine concern, knowing that Gandhi deserved to be there.

“I was in hell all the while and I am going to get in to heaven after this trip to earth. For two pins, you never cared a button about karma concept and never listened to me when I implored you to read Gita. So let me tell you this, every human being does bad and good karma; based on his deeds, he would be directed to spend time in hell and/or heaven. Initially, he would spend his time in hell if he did relatively little bad karma and later he get to spend his life in heaven. On the other hand if he did lot of bad karma, the opposite would be the case. Now you know where you stand” smiled Gandhi with a grin on his face.

“Do you mean to say you did more good in your life than I?” questioned Nehru, bit disappointed over Gandhi’s sarcastic remarks.

“No, don’t take me amiss, I don’t mean to traduce you. It was just that I confessed my bad karma in my book ‘My experiments with Truth’. That nullified all the bad karma I did.”

Nehru for a fraction of second regretted that he did not know this eternal dharma, had he known about this he would have written everything in his autobiography. But in a jiffy he realized it’s much better that he did not write everything about him or it would have taken lid off so many things.

“Anyway, I am happy about you Gandhiji for all right things you did in your life, but you were born before your time, if you are alive now and have the courage to speak nothing but truth, you would have won yourself a crore rupees and a direct ticket to Heaven.”

“What…………… why do you think so?” asked Gandhi with a puzzled look on his face.

“Do you know about this television show, called ‘Sach ka saamna’, which is a Indian version of American TV show ‘the moment of truth’. The foibles and forte of this show are being debated on this earth as well as in heaven. In this show, host asks 21 questions that are interwoven to your personal life, whose answers would have to be either simple Yes or No. If you give right answers (basically speak truth), you would go home with a crore rupees. Polygraph machine or Lie detector, as the name suggests, examines whether a person is speaking truth or not. Even in Indralok, Gods are so tech savvy these days that everything is computerized and mechanized over there. And I tell you, Brahma is so happy these days, he gets to spend most of his time with Saraswathi” said Nehru with a glee in his eyes.
“So what is your point” asked Gandhi, still not very clear what Nehru was trying to imply.

“Ah! Same thing that I have said earlier, you would have made lots of money in your life time and also had a ticket to heaven. I envy those people who appear on the show, earn money and a have secure place in heaven. But Gandhiji………… it beats me, if you had written everything right about yourself in your book, why did you end up in hell in the first place. You confessed all of your bad karma, right?” asked Nehru.

“Nehruji, you are up the creek in this regard, do you really think 200 odd pages book is sufficient to write about all good and bad things you had done in your life. And above that we did not have lie detector to test our so called ‘true confessions’. In the similar way, 21 question and answers are not just enough to talk about person's life. Essentially, what I am trying to say is to minimize your bad karma so that you will have to spend less time in hell” said Gandhi.

Gandhi and Nehru reached and settled comfortably in Sabarmati ashram with much ease with their super natural powers. After a 'austere' meal they called it a night and retired to bed.

(To be continued)

River side

2009-09-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

It was not very rare for students’ parents to visit our tuition master (fondly we used to call him Masto). That was our evening tuition class, there was no power but the room was well-lighted with a number of kerosene lamps, and our Masto was teaching us physics. Everyone had one kerosene lamp in front of them. We were bound to carry the lamp with us, as there were no regular hours of power supply to our village. In fact, same kerosene lamp was also being used as torch light while we used to get back to our homes after tuition class. Naidu was standing trembled and was trying to answer the question Masto asked, fully aware of what was going to happen to him in couple of minutes. Home truth is Masto’s method of teaching was very peculiar, unconventional and bit weird: he used to make us know important question and answers by heart, which made many of us to do reasonably well in our board examinations. We had to memorize all the important question and answers that were taught a day before and we were asked the same questions the following day to see if we remember them at all. This method of teaching had been in practice in the best interest of students, since most of the students just wanted to pass in the board exams rather than acquiring knowledge about the subjects. This concept of “just passing the exams without having an iota of knowledge about the subjects” was very disturbing to many of the young and educated minds; but like in any other case, you follow the majority and the so called conventional (unconventional around the world) practices.

While we were in the middle of the class, Madhu’s father came and exchanged formal greetings with Masto. Madhu’s father came to express his grievances about his son. He told Masto that he was ashamed of his son’s misdeeds and his son had put him in much embarrassment. Masto was startled since he did not know what was amiss with Madhu, as Madhu by nature was a hard working and an obedient student. I must mention that our Masto knew more about our well being than our parents; since many of our parents were illiterate and they entrusted their responsibility of our well being on Masto’s shoulders. So it was an unwritten rule that Masto is responsible for our acts of delinquency. Since Madhu’s father refused to tell what exactly made him let-down, Masto called me and asked what was all about it and if I had any idea. If you are a nice and well behaved kid, it does not always come in aid of you. The same case with me; I was caught between rock and a hard place. I know I would have to face the repercussion if I told the truth but I could not help telling him and my fellow mates what had brought shame upon Madhu's father. Before I tell you the story let me take you through our village surroundings.

There were four villages surrounded by a river called Mahendrathanaya (Daughter of Mahendra) and the only factor that kept the four villages together was the village high school, Z.P.H. School, Peddaseedhi, where students from all four villages advanced their higher secondary studies. We belonged to the batch of 1991-1996. Since the school did not have enough number of teachers to educate us all the subjects that we ought to study, we were bound to take tuitions from Masto. Masto used to teach us Mathematics, Physics and English and he used to hire couple of other teachers to teach us Hindi and Social Sciences. On week days, we used to have two sessions and one in the morning and other in the evening. After the evening session we used to disperse for dinner. Girls used to stay back at their homes and we boys used to come back to the tuition, where we used to study together. Our Masto arranged the place in such a way that we could sleep there itself with out having had to go back to our homes at such ungodly hours. This arrangement primarily did some good to most of us; but some guys did make use of this opportunity and enjoyed themselves, in a negative sense of course. This is essentially because if some of us did not turn up to the tuition after dinner, Masto used to think that we were at our homes, as we were not bound to come to tuition after dinner. Some of us used to go for late night movies and few of us used to go sugarcane fields/edible plant fields and enjoyed ourselves. Since it was always in the night we escaped all most all the times with out getting caught. That’s when some of us did something in broad day light which had put us in odd position and taken away the freedom we were enjoying till then.

Here is a brief account of what happened on a bright sunny day morning on the banks of river Mahendrathanaya. Seven of us that include Ravi, Rishi, Kantha Rao, Laxman, Madhu, Kalidas and I decided to go to river to take bath. Kantha Rao and I were from one village, Theemara, and the rest of the guys hailed from the other village Thamara. Laxman and Rishi were short, well built, bold and daring and obviously these qualities made them the leaders of the group. Kantha Rao, Madhu and Kalidas were very ordinary and followed the footsteps of Rishi and Laxman. Ravi and I didn’t get along very well with the group but we were part of it. There were two different routes to reach our destination but they were connected at one place before the two paths lead to the river. As decided earlier, we met at the junction and that was actually when some of us had planned to have coconuts as our breakfast, as if they were up for grabs. Me, not being very daring to venture in to those kind of acts, decided to cut myself from the group, as I am fully aware of the situation if we get caught; Ravi, my good friend probably thought the same and joined me. The rest of the seven were determined to have coconuts, so they proceeded towards coconut plantations, unaware of the future consequences.

Letting the other guys to pursue their misadventures, Ravi and I took the alternative route to reach river. We were just playing around and trying to catch small fishes using our towels. It was nice then as the water level was waist deep, the water flow was not really high. If you were born in a village, although you miss luxuries that city kids would avail, you learn and enjoy so many things that you need in life without paying a penny. Having had the pleasure of fishing for some time, we let them go in to the river. When were about leave for our homes after morning ablutions, we found Kantha Rao running on the banks of the river. At first we could not understand what was going on, so we tried to stop him. We both failed to stop him and in no time he was out of sight. Later, by seeing the other person who was chasing him, we came to an idea what could have gone wrong. We both thanked God for not having had to join them and headed back to home imagining actual series of events that could have taken place and making jokes on that. At the end of the day, I went to Kantha Rao’s home to know exactly what had happened. His mother was bit worried and told me that he had not been to home since morning. Later, from Katha Rao I came to know that he went off to nearby town to save himself from the short comings.

What I gathered from Ravi was that the owner of the coconut plantations who was a resident of Thamara village filed a complaint in Panchayat. Since the premises of the plantations fell in Thamara Village, there was formal hearing in Thamara Panchayat. Laxman, Madhu, Kali Das and Rishi were called and they had to face the music. Kantha Rao was saved because he belonged to the other village and guard of the plantation did not know who Kantha Rao was. So we all thought it’s all over and were in raptures that Masto did not know about this incident till Madhu’s father came to tuition.

Masto was not very happy with me for not letting him know about the incident earlier. Ravi and I got bashings from Masto and we were fine with that as we were used to such bashings. What was not digestible was the kind of punishment Laxman, Rishi, Kantha Rao and Kalidas got. They were beaten up with a plank on their knees and on their fingers. So the take home message from this anecdote is not to go around and take other’s things for granted.