Human shield - an Easy Target

It was September of 2011. The entire nation was discussing the mesmerizing, valiant effort that Rahul Dravid put up in the England test series. Everybody praised that poster boy of the gentleman game for having his name on the Lord's honors board. No one cared two hoots about the fact that the then Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, D. Subbarao's term was coming to an end. People did not take to Orkut, Facebook and Twitter to raise support for an extension of his term. It was however, of course extended understandably by Dr. Manmohan Singh. In fact, it is to the credit of D. Subbarao and the Prime Minister during his term, Dr. Manmohan Singh, a former governor himself, that the post of RBI governor has gained popularity.

Why do people now so want Prof. Raghuram Rajan to continue badly? He of course is a firebrand officer, keen to bring about changes and tremendous reforms. It is very true that Dr. Rajan has brought beautiful reforms like bringing down inflation and reviving the banking sector among many other things. Bringing about such reforms is the purpose of the Apex bank of India. Is Dr. Rajan being glorified for doing justice to his job honestly? But why not D. Subbarao back then. In fact, Duvvuri Subbarao is credited to have steered India safely through the 2008 Great Depression even though he had to tackle with it right from day one at office. Does that not demand similar glorification?

They steered change

Individualism

This is no political campaign for elections nor is it a cricket game, for us to glorify a single person, support him and pray he works well or plays well. No, this is the head of an institution which more or less controls the economic policy of the country. No, the RBI governor is not a representative of the people. He has got higher responsibilities and of course requires to be highly qualified for that. He is unique among people. He understands things which common man cannot. A daily wage labour has no clue what inflation means and how it happens. All he is worried about is, Why is the tamaatar that I bought for thirty rupees a kilo two months ago is now hundred rupees a kilo? Now, just because we have information at hand easily, let us common men not pretend that we understand how Dr. Rajan brought about the real wonderful changes so well. In fact he definitely is dynamic, especially as he talks about Make for India to boost Make in India: a brave explanation. But no, we do not understand what CPI, WPI, NPA, LA etc mean. He spent years understanding economics. We did not. So, people, let us not pretend that we support Dr. Rajan for the reforms he dutifully brought about.

Swamy and Swaminomics

So then why is that people support Dr. Rajan fervently and want him to continue even after he himself expressed to go back to teaching? Definitely it is because of one person: Subramanian Swamy. Giving importance to his claims is as bad as giving importance to Donald Trump's claims about making America great or Gautam Gambhir's claim that he will make a comeback to Indian team. Or are people scared that Subramanian Swamy can convince people with his claims? Anyone who know the professor Rajan would say how good his credentials are. He is capable of making the common people understand the subject through is teachings. Definitely he is going to do very well there. He at least will stay away from fake admiration. Here, people have stooped to levels as low as glorifying Dr. Rajan for watching a cricket match from a non-vip gallery. It is interesting to see Amartya Sen speak for Dr. Rajan. Other 'dignified' people like Swaminathan Aiyar, economist brother of Mani Shankar Aiyar says that Raghuram Rajan gone is billions of investment gone. All this is only a way to get back at Swamy. If Dr. Rajan is being glorified just because Subramanian Swamy opposes him, and is being used as a human shield and made an easy target, it is an insult and disrespect to one of the finest economic thinkers in the world at the moment. It would be an insult to the nice economists the country has in plenty if people are convinced that investments won't come without Rajan.

He steered the ship like a true captain

The prime minister, in an interview recently, very rightly said that the appointment or extension of an RBI governor is an administrative matter and need not attract media attention. In his address to the U.S congress, he praised Paul Krugman, a possible hint that Rajan is not wanted by his government. Who the government appoints is, like it always has been, upto the government. It would of course be their downfall if they don't appoint someone as competitive as Dr. Rajan or D. Subbarao or Y.V. Reddy or many other well deserved governors we had. This is no fashion or cinema related institute. Of course, certainly with the appointments of the Chauhans and the Nihalanis, it is quite natural for the common man to be scared!
It would be wise for the one-eyed king to not poke himself in the only good eye!

Speed Thrills!

"Wooooo!!" Mahati heard her friend who was riding pillion on the motorbike that whizzed past their scooter. "Shit, shit, shit!!" she also heard her friend on another scooter who was already throttling at maximum after regretting slowing down. Just as she was being nudged by her pillion on the scooter, "Cmon, accelerate, go after them," another friend on a 250 cc motorbike overtook all the three bikes in the front. All the friends were enjoying themselves. They were all returning from a weekend party organised in a pub in a swank locality in the city. The pub was one of the few places in the city that was open till late in the night. They stopped while returning at a restaurant famous for its Biryani which also stays open late into the night.

Mahati and another friend who were sober took driving charges. They were well in the speed limits when a policeman stopped the group. The sober ones did the talking. The high ones did the acting. They convinced the policeman that they came to have food and went into the restaurant realising that they really were hungry after the dancing and a lot of dehydration. They were energetically charged and still high. The sober ones took to riding scooters, not realising the huge mistake they made, that is to give 250 cc motorbikes to drunken drivers, when they could instead be given 110 cc scooters. It all started when one scooter and started a fun race with a motorbike. Mahati was in the front, oblivious to anything happening behind her when the race intensified and people sped past.

On the last bike, the drunk guy and his even more drunk pillion were humiliated being in the very end, that too possessing such a motorbike. They decided to show who the boss was. As they sped past Mahati to overtake others and lead the race, she could only see them as a blur, a streak of black and red in the bottom and bright colours on the top. Fourteen kilometers were covered in a matter of ten minutes. The road was narrow and unimportant in the peak of the day. So the police never bothered about it, even in the night. The signpost bearing the speed limit only stood there as a mute spectator, as an unwanted piece of scrap, as if it did not belong to that place. The non functional CCTV camera stood there, like a scarecrow, hopelessly trying to control a few who respected its presence.

The road gave no room for them to overtake, so they decided to take the 'royal' route. They found a gap in the median and jumped into the opposite lane, easily speeding past the rest of their friends, booing them, booing their scooter and a mediocre 180 cc motorbike. The function of a vehicle is no longer easy transportation. It is the style and the looks (added to the Indian obsession of mileage). Just as they found another gap in the median so as to enter the race track, a truck came into view from the curve onto the road. The 250 cc motorbike's brakes were good enough for the price spent on it. The tires were as good as they are being advertised during cricket matches on TV. The sudden brake resulted in a wheelie by the 250 cc motorbike and overjoyed by this achievement, the biker shifted to the race track and sped away, winning the race, justifying the bike.

Mahati was not happy. She just spent time alone. She stopped talking to her friends. They did not bother. They had important things like Johnny Walker to deal with right then. They all slept through the day. They were all too preoccupied to read the morning newspaper which read, ".....................The fatal accident occurred when the car driver had no time to apply brakes when the truck stopped abruptly, because of a rash motorist breaking rules."

With attention comes motivation

22 April 1998,
In the heat of Sharjah, there was a storm, popularly called the ‘Desert Storm.’ The epi-center of this storm was a twenty five year old cricketer, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Amidst the chanting of ‘Indiaaaa Indiaa’  and ’Sachiinn Sachinn,’ as he stormed upon the bowlers, charged and lofted spinners for sixes, pulled fast bowlers for fours, he took the world of cricket by storm. People were not only stunned but mesmerised by his unique straight drives, cover drives and late cuts. VVS Laxman, on the other end would have felt wonderful for having partnered Sachin in the show. The Aussie bowlers would have thought why on Earth it had to be them on the receiving end. The spectators would have felt more than satisfied for what they had paid for. Cricket freaks would have been like, ‘Maybe it is time we call him God.’ And fifteen hundred miles East of Sharjah, young cricket aspirants would have padded up, inspired to go on to the field and prove themselves. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli are two among those hundreds of cricket bhakts.
If one asks Sachin what inspired him to take cricket seriously, he definitely mentions the 1983 world cup victory by the Indian team led by Kapil Dev. Surely, that is a milestone in the history of sports in India. No sport is followed as passionately as team sports. Because it is a team. In an individual sport, one can only like a single person but to support a team is more exciting because one gets to support an individual as well as the nation/team one loves. Maybe if India had won the FIFA world cup before winning the cricket world cup, those hundreds of youngsters would have gotten inspired to take up football and who knows, we would have won the 2010 football world cup! It is that spectacle of winning a huge sport event for the first time that led Indians to get motivated towards something. That created a hope that we could dominate and rise on the world platform in some form to prove ourselves. That moment of pride led to India loving cricket like it does now. This however though, eclipsed another moment of pride for India: an Indian-born had won the Nobel prize that year!

Sachin took the Aussies by a storm and Indian cricket to a higher level

25 March 2016,
In the heat of Mohali, amidst the chanting of ’Indiaaaa Indiaa’ and ’Viraatttt Viraatt,’ a twenty seven year old Kohli stormed upon, once again, the Aussie bowlers. The way he paced his innings, running singles when his partner Yuvraj was injured, converting the singles into doubles once Dhoni came in, then going after the bowlers once he got the momentum was what a well matured cricketer would do. People were not only mesmerised but stunned by the way he constructed his innings. Rohit Sharma who got out cheaply must have felt why he is unable to play such well-tempered innings despite having immense talent. The Aussie bowlers might have thought, ‘Why we??’ The audience, reiterated why they love cricket and cricketers. Cricket freaks are like, ‘Maybe it is time we call him God.’ Young cricketers are padding up, inspired to go to the field and prove themselves.
Once in an interview, Rahul Dravid, a true mascot for cricket mentioned that the difference between a cricketer and a nurse is that the cricketer appears on the television. Well, that does make a huge difference, does it not? The media is interested in cricket because people are playing well and cricketers are playing well because the world is looking through the media. With greater attention, comes greater motivation. Why else would players, be it Sachin, Saurav, Dravid, Dhoni or Virat always thank audience for their support. In fact, Virat Kohli mentioned that the audience kept him going. Definitely media attention is what creates stronger teams for the country. And it is not that attention inspires people to play more. It is the vice versa, inspired people receive a lot of attention. With great motivation comes great attention!!

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What an innings! Virat stunned the cricket world

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What an innings! Virat stunned the cricket world

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What an innings! Virat stunned the cricket world

It is good to know see women’s cricket being given importance by the media. It might be the first time that post match shake-hand of women’s cricket in India was shown on TV. That is a good sign even though the prize money for women’s cricket is peanuts. Will the attention lead to a rise in the pay-check?

Hopefully in the future,
In the heat of Gwalior, the fort city of Jhansi Laxmi Bai, amidst chantings ’Indiaaaa Indiaa’ and ’Mithaliiii Mithalii,’ the cool headed Mithali Raj would be playing her signature cut shot and the straight drives, disrupting a strong lined Aussie bowling like it is nothing. The crowd and the nation will go berserk. Somewhere in those millions, few hundred girls will be inspired to pad up, inspired to go to the field and prove themselves!

From Mukhi to Talkie - Gravitational Waves

We have seen in the James Bond movie, Golden Eye when Sean Bean falls to death on the huge antenna in Puerto Rico. 'For England!' He fell onto the largest dish antenna in the world. It is a radio wave detector and works exactly like the Direct to Home dish antennas that we have at home. This type of an antenna is very powerful over the traditional rod antennae in that the gain is quite high due to its parabolic shape. To detect electromagnetic waves, fractal antennas are used (open up your phones, you will find one) and are efficient apart from being space efficient. But these are not the only waves that are discovered. Scientists in the future are going to face a crisis, for the amount of knowledge one should possess about a subject is increasing enormously. Exactly a hundred years ago, one of the greatest men to have ever lived, Albert Einstein predicted the existence of a new set of waves called the Gravitational waves and the doubts were confirmed in 1993.

Celestial bodies in space-time

 The universe is so huge and old that time and space are certain dimensions (to know more, do not contact the author, contact your nearest library). The best illustration for this is the famous stretched plastic sheet on which heavy objects when placed, create a curvature. However, the universe is not just a plane and this sheet or the space-time is everywhere, say. Now if there is a disturbance, just like ripples in water, there would waves created, called Gravitational waves. The mathematics behind it is much more than just four lines in English as above. It is quite easy to visualize this in terms of ripples in water when two bodies revolving around each other merge to form a single mass. Gravitational waves were first asserted to a binary pulsar (basically two star collision). This was 1.3 billion years ago, roughly when the Earth was learning to form continents. It is exciting enough to know what happened to Netaji Subhash Bose not more than hundred years ago. Now imagine if you could know what happened much before San Jose formed!

LIGO confirms G-wave

To understand optical interferometry, one should understand light (of course, no one did completely). What we all know about light till now should be revisited, forgotten and changed. Light can be defined using two things: phase and polarisation. Phase would be enough for now. When two light waves of same wavelength with a constant phase difference meet, they interfere constructively or destructively. This is the principle essentially used by a Michelson interferometer. The two arms in a Michelson interferometer are not of the same length. This extra length in one arm provides extra distance for light to travel through it and when it hits a mirror, it goes back 'later' than light from the other arm. This gives rise to temporal coherence, i.e phase difference due to time. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a huge Michelson interferometer. The gravitational wave when it reaches the interferometer, distorts the space dimension, thereby changing the relative length of both the arms. This gives rise to temporal coherence which is observed when laser is passed through both the arms and thus the distortion in the arm length can be found out which gives all the information one needs to know about the gravitational wave. Indeed it would be like un-muting a talkie movie. From a silent movie (mukhi) to a talkie movie! 
Ironically, one can call this an achievement of the optics community.

LIGO Livingston interferometer. Each arm is so long that both dont fit into the same frame 

Actually, more than the gravitational waves, the interferometer is a scientific and engineering wonder. The mirrors literally are suspended in thin air. The up-gradation to the present LIGO is like replacing a two gear system with five gear system, it dramatically increases efficiency. Same thing with the mirrors, they were improvised from a single pendulum to four pendulum. The arms are as long as 4 Km because the distortion created would be so small that it is tough to identify it. Even the laser used has a high coherence length. To avoid noise from Earthly things like traffic, dogs barking and men sneezing, two non local interferometers are built to corroborate the data which happened recently. Both the interferometers in Hanford and Livingston gave the same readings. There are similar projects VIRGO in Europe and IndIGO in India(coming soon, say in just eight years by which the entire universe could possibly be mapped).

The confirmation of gravitational waves not only proves Einstein to be a super human, it also helps mankind in its understanding of the universe and encourages generations to come to be curious without consequence.
For Curiosity!   

That Thick Line Difference

Just like the gravitational wave detection has given renewed energy to science, it would have been a huge boost for technology had Lance Naik Hanumanthappa lived. It would have been a boost for human perseverance, a boost for the hopes of an entire nation whose people are constantly quarreling on issues which on any other day are considered unnecessary. It is humanly impossible to survive under 30 feet of snow for six days and equally impossible to find the human who did the impossible. Kudos to the men.

On the very same day when the country is mourning the tragic death of nine of its soldiers and praying for the recovery of one brave soldier, it is quite unfortunate to see students protesting for a convicted and punished terrorist and even more, threatening to destroy India. The word, students is to be highlighted here. These are students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, one of the most progressive and prestigious institutions of the country and they have not obtained permission for the same protest! It is one thing to raise voice against the suppression of the people of Jammu and Kashmir or even have separatist demands but it is a nonsensical thing to threaten the country which is taking care of the education of the students, giving them complete freedom to express their ideas. The students are expected to have the minimum intelligence to differentiate between the freedom given and the freedom to be taken.

Is it that they protested capital punishment? Is it that they felt that the terrorist who planned the attack on parliament was given an unjust punishment? Is it that they wanted to protest in solidarity with the people of Kashmir even when Kashmir is time and again given privileges? Is it that they are protesting against the Indian army without whose presence in the valley, there probably might be no human beings living, forget living peacefully? There actually is a very thick line of difference between protesting against unjust punishments and protesting for anti-nationals. Any sensible person would know the difference. Even in case of any of the above options, the protests showed no such signs. The only message the students sent was that they are proud of the path taken by the terrorists!! Even the separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani who has come out in support of those students have never made such derogatory statements. Why would he? When he never wanted a separate Kashmir in the first place!!

This protest is no different from the protests and prayers that happened in the University of Hyderabad for another terrorist. Before protesting, people, especially students should introspect if they are protesting against capital punishment or if they are praying for the terrorists! One could have always asked, 'Why not similar punishment to Aseeemananda?' or protest when Ajmal Kasab or Ram Singh were hanged. It would have been legible but this kind of passive support to terrorism is not a good thing since if the students of JNU, who the nation looks at as intellectuals do such a thing, what would the common man know about what is right and wrong?!  

Water, Water Everywhere...a Resolution

I have never taken a new year resolution. Why, I never even took a resolution. I just took decisions influenced by my surroundings and inspired by people. It is time I have my influence on my surroundings and maybe inspire people. A new year resolution might be a nice one to do that. A resolution, not regarding my character, attitude or habits, but about what and how I can do to change something for good this year.

Mahati is not used to going to the fast food restaurants for dinner. For her, like many other Indians, the occasional dinner outside was in a Udipi or a North Indian restaurant, where she would order Chinese noodles. The waiter asks if she wants mineral water or regular for which her reply would be regular water, which is served for free along with the dinner. However, she one day went to a fast food restaurant to eat chopped vegetables stacked between two bread pieces for an amount at which she could go to Mumbai, buy those vegetables and return. Used to drinking 'regular' water during dinner, she asked for it. She got a reply that she has to buy bottled water only. She asked for just tap water, not even the fancy RO-UV protected and filtered water. The restaurant which boasts of baking their own bread apparently did not have a tap in their kitchen! The regulatory authorities should take a look into this matter: A restaurant's kitchen not having a water tap.

Not a drop to drink!

Not only there, an ice cream shop which has items ranging from pasta to pista ice cream on its menu had only one glass to serve water in. A bakery which had seating arrangements could not afford to have a water dispenser. A pizza shop which earlier had a water filter removed it. In fact, the same shop provided a Pepsi  for free with the pizza but could not give a glass of water. Poor workers. They get water from their home. Well, a waiter in a restaurant gets his own water bottle from home! What's happening to the country?

Is this all to facilitate the sale of packaged drinking water. Water that is filled from the same kitchen tap and sealed, added with some salts which the person about to devour a 2000 calorie burger does not require?? Of course, the sale of bottled water will rise. Not every one can remain adamant like Mahati and not buy bottled water. People are made to buy them . The surroundings are arranged accordingly. The advertisements are created to scare people into buying tap water filled and stored in plastic!

I am not sure if there is a law in India that mandates all eateries to provide free pure drinking water. If there is, it is not working. But I am sure there is enough water to satisfy the needs of the people. We are just unable to use it properly and are wasting it. This is my resolution. I will join those who seek 'Free Basics.' The basic elements of air and water to remain free at least (purity has gone down the drain long ago). I will spend money for those added salts if I want to. But otherwise, I want water for free. Maybe Zuckerberg will join and support Free basics too.

Another day, Mahati went to a stationary shop to buy color pencils. She felt thirsty. The boy in the shop gave her a glass of water from a pot he kept in the shop!

Rail India Rail!!

One might always wonder, 'why a separate budget for railways in India!' Well you wouldn't ask if you dig just a little into what wonders this public enterprise is doing out there! Mahati is working on a research problem to look into how the oscillations of a train coach depend on its speed. She went about researching on what factors decide the speed of a passenger train in India and found out that it depends on details which she never bothered about ever!! Certainly, running a train in India is more complicated than manning a flight anywhere.

Mahati first went to the public relation officer to request access to details of train functioning and train accidents. In the building, she is surprised to see posters everywhere saying one thing: save energy. Indian railways would be soon moving to LEDs everywhere, solar powered stations at major junctions and the south central railway already uses 5% biodiesel. Plants are under construction to recycle water used in the railway station to grow plants and beautify the station premises. Mahati approached a peon, for it is such people who know the best as to what lures who in any department. All he had to say was that it is practically impossible now-a-days for corruption in railways. Thanks to the digital revolution, even contracts are mostly given out through e-tenders. There is pension adalat that takes place every month. The offices are all exceptionally well maintained. Railway stations are also quite well looked after, if not for public littering every where.

Yes, it s true that the Indian railways tries to offer the best it can, where as those benefiting by it are not that generous. That brings the topic of train accidents. While atleast 70% of train accidents are those where a tipper lorry has collided into a train at unmanned crossing or that a lot of people die when they try to cross the tracks instead of using the railway over bridge or an inflammable material being carried illegally by a passenger goes off, it is quite appalling to know that the majority of casualties that occur are those which occur to passengers who foot-board when they have ample space inside. Mahati felt disgusted when she read about an accident which occurred because bicycles were hung from the train windows. We definitely need to learn to respect the train transport.

It might be proud to think of bullet trains in India. But the speed of a train depends on hundreds of factors. One, the tracks, of course. In India, the most disastrous thing for a bullet train is the rail. Experts from China and Japan have been warning us about the curvy rails we have. We do love curves, yes. But not in railways. If we need faster trains, we need straight, level tracks which is not possible in the present scenario. Well, how could it be possible when a passenger in the last coach can see the engine and the front the coaches! Second, signalling. The red-green signal we just notice while we are on a moving train serve a lot of purposes including measuring the train speed and wheel rpm. The coaches, the couplers between coaches and other parameters are the third important parameter. It is interesting to know that the gravel which is around the tracks has particular measurements and there are complicated machinery to take care of this size. A trolley goes on a track, inspecting: keeping those which comply the required range  and discarding the rest. With the new forged wheel system, average speed would go as high as 150 kmph for certain trains with disc brakes reducing the wear and tear to a large extent.

Not an easy job. From signalling to coach design; from metallurgical technology to environment management to catering services, there is a lot to be taken care of in the Indian railway and there is hardly any research going on in this huge industry which is the eighth largest employer in the world! Certainly, all that bullet train money could go into R&D in railways-will lead to faster and safer trains. It would be good if Indians realise the importance of railways. Indian trains carry as much as Australian population everyday! Proud of Indian railways!