Believe it or not

http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/spotquack.html

I think we are amidst bombardment of healing types - both traditional, modern and whatever modern claims as alternative. So, I take each - and observe how my body behaves - reacts in shorter as well as longer term. I don't fear lead poisoning or any excess in my blood, pressure - for well, it is better to experiment rather than buy into anything! And, what best do you have rather than your own self. So, I have tried on myself allopathy, homeopathy, acupressure, reiki and ayurvedic.

Well, none - take it none of it is a panacea - or the magical potion. Nothing happens overnight. Nothing works unless you are able to get to the way you can observe your body. Observe and accept those that you have inherited, observe those that are changing and well, observe observe every day. Every step, every breath.

I think the skeptics are up against Dr. Chopra. http://www.skepdic.com/ayurvedic.html
They are not fond of mind control bringing body control. Well, full marks to you for questioning everything without research. But, do you care to go through all the articles in medical journals - or even question the research there, the sample size, the assumptions, and well, do you have all the information - uncertainty principle eh?!!!

"Many claim that their products or programs offer "optimal nutritional support."
But they conveniently neglect to tell you that a balanced diet provides the nutrients most people need and that government guidelines makes balancing your diet simple

Who forms the government guidelines - which people and on which corporations' board do they sit. They may be honest and could genuinely believe in their products. If masses should believe them, then why can't masses believe the quacks!

This is like - you want everyone to be broad-minded, but won't be broad-minded enough to accept that people can be narrow-minded!!!

I haven't read a single Chopra book - saw the cost and left it at the counter - may be a few pages that a friend loaned. But, then, I can say that your attitude to a situation can bring about physiological changes - don't believe me - try it. If that is what Chopra says, well, I have seen it happening. We can choke our arteries of the neck through anger - or bring up acidity through jealousy. Try it, experiment - allow jealousy to take over - see what it does to your system! So, well, the digene helps, and so do lime juice and buttermilk too but you see what the root is?!!! May be Reiki can heal you (I don't practice it)! But, your attitude change can minimize the damage - (may be thats what they mean by prolonging life)!

Our vigilance on what we put in our minds can help. If you still inherited sickle cell anaemia, I understand your feelings. But, you can help other unnecessary unwanted things.

Quota (Il)logic

Over the last one month, all that I am hearing is the quota row. I have read innumerable articles on rediff.com - particularly by Rajeev Srinivasan, one rare editorial, various columns and Letters to the editor in The Hindu, seen a hopeless interview by Karan Thapar on Arun Shourie's book, and desperately tried to control the urge to post my views, but I could not. Especially, after reading the most hilarious comment that came in from pro-reservationists who don't want the creamy layer removed -

"If you want the creamy layer removed, let the creamy among upper castes also not compete for the other 50% in general category...."

Ha Ha - How brain twists logic and calls it logic??????!!!!!! What stopped the creamy layer from competing in the general category and excelling in it? Does 27% for OBCs mean 73% exclusively for so-called forward castes? Does not 73% mean General Category - meaning anybody and everybody including ABC/BBC/CBC/CNBC everybody can compete!

Would 100% be sufficient for those who feel left out? I would particularly like to ask the well-to-do, salaried, city-bred, but "historically-deprived" and "socially not forward" people. It is fairly easy to predict the result of such an action. Let us say 100% is given in Indian Institute of ***some blah blah**** learning, still there will be sub-communities claiming "more backwardness" and fighting for reserving . Backwardness the facade over incompetence!

And, I don't expect half the population to understand this, as probably that is not the way universe is designed! :-)

Education of our times!

Read

Education today and tomorrow

I was going through various food blogs that I found this very interesting site through raniraja. Thanks raniraja.

During my schooling, I used to enjoy all cultural activities that I participated in. I enjoyed my music and crafts classes as much as I enjoyed Mathematics or talking of abstract things in Physics. But, now what do I remember of "Differential Calculus" and how am I using it in my day-to-day life???

As I delve deeper into this, what do I see the next generation moving towards - a state where everybody wants to be "known" or make quick money. So, a B.E or an M.B.A is the in-thing in India - in fact a B.E and an MBA. Why does an engineer not want to do engineering and manage business??? Fresh college graduates turn into fresh MBAs. If everybody wants to manage whom will they manage???

The other disaster is the standardization and globalization of education - it feels so sad to know that I too am a factory product! I have to make extra efforts to go back to my roots from which I was withdrawn - for instance, I need to make extra efforts to understand classical Tamil poetry although I can gather the emotions from them pretty much! I need to look at a Sanskrit English dictionary for enhancing my Sanskrit when resources were so abundantly available that I could have conversed in Sanskrit!!!

Gives me more reasons to cry! Why did my ancestors take up Government jobs? Why did they leave their villages and their original professions? Now, I long for the greenery of my native place, the temple, its kuLam and our ancestral house! Of what use is a string of degrees, if it is not helping a person make crucial life decisions!

If education should do anything, it should open one's mind - it should make one creative - assimilate and absorb and help him act, not store, spit in an exam and discard!

The ideas present in this paper are universal - we need not take it as something relevant only for India. This is something that is needed all over the world. We need to learn life skills - not buy a certificate!

Musical musings - II

Which is greater - the lyrics or the tune??? pAttukku mettA mettukku pAttA? (Are lyrics for the tune or is the tune for the poetry)

Naturally, many people, barring a few exceptions, get attracted to the tune. The lyrics and their meaning come later. That is why music transcends languages. The tune appeals to the emotions, to which lyrics just seem to give a definite structure. The tune directly touches the heart - lyrics are a matter of the intellect, to which generally, the appeal goes a little later.

With that generic observation at the back of our minds, should we then say that we can modify the lyrics the way it suits us? Would it matter if we said mArayum instead of marayum? It does. Although the sense of tune easily appeals, what gives meaning to a song is the lyrics. Why are they important? There goes a story of Kumbhakarana who wanted to get a boon from Lord Brahma after severe tapas. He wanted nirdEvatvam (that is a state without any dEvas or deities), instead, by the play of Goddess Saraswati, he uttered nidrAvatvam (a state of only sleep). As a result, he slept for 6 months.

The simple side-effect of understanding the lyrics is that it will make us remember the song, otherwise, we might be left only with the tune and say ta-na-na-na, when we have forgotten a particular piece in the anupallavi or charanam.

There is a reason why each akshara in the tune is placed at a particular beat. It makes sense for the tALA - the kAla pramAna. It makes sense to sing it at that beat and not changing it. However traditional it may seem, the pAthAntharam should not be compromised.

So, yes, music is a wave of emotion. However, music is complete only if it appeals at all levels - emotional, intellectual, spiritual. One might say that - sangeetha gnAnamu bhaktivinA? Of what use is the knowledge of music without bhakti? That bhakti should give one the gnAna of understanding the import of the lyrics in the way the composer has envisioned it and experience the spiritual that he/she has brought about in it. Jnana mosaga rAdA? Lord will you not grant me wisdom and understanding?

Hear me out!

Hear me out!

D(Th)is-service age, is one that has never-before encountered capabilities. It places the customer at the top of everything. Well, he is at the top with no vision as to what is happening underneath. Whether you are a convenience seeker or not, you have to go through the "sweet voice" at the other end that makes you press only 12 digits before you can get to "talk" to another unknown voice; this time it is Meera. Last time it was Shweta and Meera has no clue about what Shweta told me. Any query anywhere else is directed to the "voice". Listen to the voice - excuse me, hello! can somebody listen to me? I happen to be a customer! If you are a platinum customer, may be, it is another issue. If you are one of the numerous smaller fish, do you affect the topline in any significant way?

This is the age of service from anywhere - everything is entered in a centralized database. Rani will tell you that your outstanding is so much; so will Noel, because even though Rani has entered in the database to check the cover you "dropped" as was advised by Rahul, nobody has really checked. Jacob says that he can get his seniors to look while Kripa has to be explained the whole story for another half an hour; all this over a line that is not toll free and I, as a customer, am paying for dis-service that is supposedly personalized as advertised in the service provider's webpage and ads on TV. You decide to make a racket of withdrawing everything. Meanwhile, Srikant calls you to tell that the same service provider is pleased to offer you more and more of dis-service!!! LOL!

Earlier, there was much hue and cry over politics shadowing real customer service. Well, what would you call me suffering at the hands of a competitive private enterprise that is in an environment of equal competition. Meaning, it is the same everywhere; you either have 12 digits or 15 before you get to talk to the "voice". Oligopolitics eh???

I almost decided not to buy any products here afterwards, but then, sigh! nirvana is not so easy to attain. However, shh! don't tell anybody - I have kept all my money as gold coins hidden in a big vessel dug in a corner of my house and secured it by means of a cryptic code, which is in a page in a dusty book somewhere in the corner of my library, so that Enid Blyton's heroic children can hunt the same!!! :-)

P.S: The names are all fictional, obviously. I still feel there are lots of positives to the current age customer service. It just has not yet come of age!!! Much of what I have written may sound pretty similar to how my professor Mr. Pratapgiri talks. No wonder that it was his inspiration and my frustration that made me pen these - so, by no means a completely original article. I must admit that, being his student, I thought it a right to copy his style of speaking! ;-)

More on copyright

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1359149.cms

While it is true that the Prof could have given due credit, the circumstances forcing him to do it is necessity to maintain minimum level of published articles, to maintain the position of prof and move ahead in one's career. This is sad. If the intent was wrong and his articles really did not seek the permission and clarification of the original author, well, I guess, he has to resign.

However, this brings a very interesting thought. The point is that the whole academia and technological industry is getting way too paranoid about intellectual property and protection. In this situation, we will have to patent every single algorithm we write for our company. Why, because everybody is doing. Why, because you want to have enough patents in case somebody files a suit. Your company needs those patents/copyrights, because, it is in a world full of such patents and copyrights.

Tansen was a great singer and Raag Mian-ki-malhaar is attributed to him. Some other remote guy in some village in India who doesn't have a clue of who Tansen was, rediscovers it just because of his keen musical sense. So, did he violate copyright??? Should Tansen really claim the right for the Raag?

To a large extent, this is western way of thinking. Oriental cultures, never ever bothered about it. Oriental cultures had, may be, trade secrets which passed down through generations - from grandfathers - fathers - sons. We say Edison invented the light bulb - but remember that he got to patent it first - it was a close contest. To say this doesn't mean that Edison was not a genius. To keep thinking of copyrights & violations will only close our thinking, when as we grow, we need to open out more.

Knowledge is there to be shared - not kept closed. Knowledge is there for everyone to acquire and use - no one can claim it is theirs and theirs alone! Theory of Relativity is not Einsteins'. Einstein is a genius who let his acumen and imagination travel that far! The greatness of the great people lies in their humility.

Imagine what the world would be without any such patents and copyrights
1. Much cheaper and affordable - for there would not be any legal fees
2. Much more open
3. There will be genuine trust
4. Society will strive for knowledge and will not be caught in survival instincts (eat food, make money and reproduce, get a so-called social image!)

So, what do we do now??? Be hypocrites! Agree intellectually that knowledge is meant to be free, but still get our algorithms patented. Yes - because, we need money. We will get money only if our company gets it and company is in an environment of such sick lawyers talking legal gibberish who only aim at extracting more money out of our company. I don't say all lawyers are bad, but, it is fundamentally money that is driving everybody into this.

If all that we seek is fleeting, that is what it will be - momentary! There is a saying in Tamil - Man aasai, pon aasai, pen aasai - desire for land, gold and woman - these are sure shot ways of destruction! It is upto us to be moderate with our desires and eliminate those that are hurdles to peace of mind! It is upto us to draw the line between inaction and non-action! It is upto us to seek peace of mind!

Code need not be a bore!

Have come across some funny error messages, funny documents. Would like all those who happen to read this to share whatever funny stuff they've found!

tar cvf road.tar
tar: Cowardly refusing to create an empty archive

---Ha Ha....I am sure that is what the Bangalore city corporation keeps doing!!! :-)

kill politicians
bash: kill: politicians: no such pid

---Ha Ha..

killall politicians
politicians: no process killed

---Read as no persons killed!

And the best one that I've seen so far is in Oracle alert logs -

*** SESSION ID:(1000.1) 2006-03-18 18:02:51.720
Background process SMON found dead

----Ha Ha Ha ..... the body was found in the lake. Luckily, there was a pid from which identification could be made! Police found that OOM killer was on prowl! :-)