Slumdog Professors

There was this intriguing post in some random blog which talked about a professor outsourcing grading papers over to countries like India where somebody who spends more time in giving feedback can evaluate papers.

The professor, Dr. Chandru Rajam says

“I like to half-jokingly point out that a mother is outsourcing childcare to a daycare provider. If you can entrust the care of your infant to a third person, any form of outsourcing should be fair game.”

Thus far so good - then comes this stupid conclusion from the author.

I am in complete agreement with Dr. Chandru Rajam. I think outsourcing grading papers is a tremendous idea. I also think outsourcing Dr. Chandru Rajam is a tremendous idea.

I am quite sure I can find better teachers at Virtual-TA willing to work for 10-20% of what Dr. Chandru Rajam makes. Heck, even 33% would be a bargain.

I am not sure what the author's understanding is of the teaching-learning in universities. Its either that his understanding is way off the mark or that the author is suffering from a severe 'Slumdog Millionaire' syndrome. This syndrome is perceptible amongst Americans whose opinions of India are based on a painted canvas of poverty, deprivation and the Taj Mahal.

You may be a vendor of a world class product/service based out of India - but its hard to deal with a Western customer for whom that doesn't matter and his entire sales negotiations revolve around his perception of how many "cents" you are paying your employees.

I can put it down as just a few cheap customers bargaining for that additional few dollars - but this trend is not gonna stop until India achieves a level of wealth for its masses and achieves a respected image in the global media (as opposed to say, China) - and our professionals are not viewed as 'cheap' slumdog professionals but as skilled professionals who can command their price in the market. A few more decades and we will show you how its done!

C. K. Prahlad

I have listened to his speech once when he had come to India - and had merely known him as the author of the book about business models in the rural areas. His recent demise made headlines and along with the news, I came to know a lot of things about him - odd tidbits like the 'C' in his initials stood for my hometown Coimbatore (nice surprise) to extensive obituaries penned by the who's who of the business and academic world.

The more I read about him, the more I was impressed. From the description of him as an academic, he definitely was one I would have loved to have as my professor.

There are some professors who teach you something that you barely remember after coming out of college. And there are those whom you are grateful to for their passing on skills that prove valuable to you later on. And then comes the rare breed of those who make people consider academics as a possible career choice. Like RaviC and CK.

Bellweather of the Chennai summer

It is summer in Chennai when traffic-policemen start sporting airy khaki topis instead of their usual blue hats.

Picture - here.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

I had bought a CD almost a year ago titled '10 hours with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan'. I had seen the tracks once and never really listened to it - a slight feeling of dismay when several tracks ran well over 20 minutes!

Started listening to some of them last weekend. His voice is mesmerizing. And completely bowled over by the lyrics too - the track Allah hoo lights upon Creation beautifully thus...

ye zamiin jab na thii, ye jahaaN jab na thaa
chaaNd suraj na the, aasmaaN jab na thaa
raaz-e-haq bhii kisii par ayaaN jab na thaa
jab na thaa kuch yahaaN, thaa magar tuu hi tuu

The time when there was neither land nor the world
nor moon, sun or the sky,
[and] when truth was not known to anyone.
At that time there was nothing except you

And another track 'Ali Ali Maula Ali' goes further -

tan par Ali, Ali ho zubaaN par Al Ali
mar jauuN to kafan par bhii likhna Ali Ali

My body chants Ali, so does my tongue
[and] when I die, then write Ali on my shroud.

patthar pe alam deen ka gaaRaa jisne
lalkaar kar Marhab ko pichaaRaa jisne

[One] who implanted the flag of faith on the rocks
[One] who challenged Marhab and defeated him.

Translation from: http://nusrat.info/

I loved the extremism of these singers in declaring their love for their beloved. How beautiful it would be if all the extremism in the world were only extremism of one's emotions towards their beloved and not extremism of harmful action at one another.

Beautiful Qawwals! But without my appreciation of the classical music , I sometimes wait for Nusrat to come over the lyrics part just to listen to the beauty of them. The music and Nusrat's voice are out of this world - in those ages, whatay wonderful platform they developed to pass down their beautiful thoughts. I cannot but say thanks to the lineage of musicians and Sufis who have given this to me.

Avatar

Watched the movie Avatar twice. Consider it the best piece of post-modernist art I have ever laid my eyes on.

The way the Na'vi people have been portrayed shows extraordinary care. The depth of the Na'vi's understanding of nature, themselves and their deity Eywa is in strong contrast with the juvenility of the humans' approach. For instance, Jake prays a half-doubtful prayer the night before the battle to the wishing tree - at which Neytiri remarks that Eywa doesn't take sides, she just keeps the balance of Life.

Avatar abounds in symbolism - for instance, traditional wisdom is the 'hometree' which is thoughtlessly brought down at the Colonel's command. Not a frame or a line is wasted without showing the contrast between the Na'vi way of life and the human approach. The human manager calls the Na'vis as 'monkey-men' whereas the Na'vi call the humans 'dreamwalkers'.

The American foreign policy seems to have been parodied in more than one instance: the Colonel grimly announces that they are gonna fight 'terror with terror' when all that the Na'vi's have are bows and arrows and only ask to be left alone. The corporate manager complains bitterly that the 'monkey-men' (referring to Na'vis) don't seem to want education, medicine, roads and all that the humans are willing to provide. A plunder of epic proportions is clothed among niceties when it has the simplest of reasons i.e. selfishness - the Colonel says they are gonna be 'humane' in their mission to clear up the space for mining operations.

Loved this movie. Hope James Cameron doesn't take another decade for his next one.

Tamil Writing

Have been reading a few contemporary Tamil writers. I confess I didn't know that the contemporary Tamil writing (prose, poetry, short stories, etc.) was so prolific and that I had a less than favorable opinion of writers & publishers. Visiting the Chennai Book Fair stalls, I had thought of publishers of Tamil books as lacking in skills and taste and the writers as vendors of second-hand ideas. Even a cursory glance at a few writer's books and their blogs proves me wrong.

I made the acquintance of a Tamil poet/writer in one of my recent trips, Ajayan Bala. He writes at http://ajayanbala.blogspot.com/. I recommend www.jeyamohan.in for anyone interested in contemporary Tamil writing. Charu Nivethitha and Ajayan Bala are two other writers whose blogs I read sometimes. I consider Charu's writings as ideally suited for regaling oneself and not worthy of any serious thought.

One aspect of writers that I find distasteful is the extent to which they go to disagree (quarrel?) with their peers. For instance, I chanced upon a post in Charu's blog - it was apparently from a reader of his blog and it spoke of another writer in unprintable language. Charu had posted that on his blog and given that a reply too - and I came to know that he and the other writer din't get along well and such verbal duels on blog posts and in writer's conferences were quite common. This I have observed in other Tamil writers whom I know, they refer to the others disparagingly and in responding to ideological debates, ad hominem attacks are the norm. Their interest in personal quabbles renders their moral authority in presenting opposing viewpoints questionable. Quite sad.

B. Jeyamohan

I recently came to know of a contemporary Tamil writer through his work in a recent Tamil movie - Naan Kadavul.

Then, started reading his blog.

Consequent to my political 'atheism' - after both the Right and Left readily demonstrated their inability to present anything convincing after the economic depression and the ever ongoing drama in Indian politics - I started loving Jeyamohan's unclassifiable views towards politics, religion and art.

May his tribe increase!

'I have done this before'

The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee was given additional charge of Finance Minister due to the operation on the PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh.

When he said 'I have done this before', one was left wondering whether he meant the heart operation... or the shuffling of ministries?

TN prefers 'change'

The Government of India has a pretty bleak record on basic amenities. Even within metros and Tier-II cities. The UNICEF says a million (i.e. ten lakhs) infants die every year in India and 40% within a week of their birth. There is so much lacking in the infrastructure for basic amenities here.

The other day, in the middle of the city, people had to put up with party workers occupying and digging up roads (to install a dais and a series of banners) for a few days. The reason - the TN Govt. was launching a new scheme.

Apparently, if you are a ration card holder and qualify for certain conditions, you get free ingredients to make sweet Pongal from the Govt. viz. jaggery, rice, cashews... FREE!

Its interesting what kind of society the Govt. is intent on rearing for the next generation. The kind of family which looks up to the government for free new clothes on festivals, free ingredients for sweets, free TVs to watch special programs. If we keep at this for a decade more, we will eventually reinvent a warcry from the last century - 'FREE'dom is my birthright! Elsewhere when Obama leads Americans towards Change, people in Chennai will still be looking expectantly at the Government for some loose change. By the way, wasn't the existing political philosophy of the state founded on something called the Self-Respect movement? I forget.

Slums next to Teynampet signal still have lanes lined with human feces. Basic healthcare is non existent. Clean drinking water is not free. When all these essentials are not free, Bravo! to the TN Govt. for their free jaggery and cashews for Pongal.

Oh, yes. Its marketing, alright. Election year. But spending on marketing, when the raison d'être of the Government is violated doesn't make much sense, does it? What next? Free pegs at the local TASMAC? Free Gold Flake Kings for Below Poverty Line families?

I just learnt that the origins of this scheme were in 2002 under the previous ADMK regime. Its like both fronts are vying for the top spot!
Ranting like this won't help even a little bit, I know. Crap.

Poo (Movie) 2008

A head turner - had a sense of watching a true rural movie after a long time (since Bharathiraja, and yes - ParuthiVeeran is of a different genre!) Vijay from the fraternity agrees.

Unexpected script. Sasi has shown some real class here and there. (for instance, the scene where the sad father looks at three characters from the entrance to his house, each look conveying volumes of script).

Its definitely not a tear jerker - and I didnt feel the movie dragging as many reviews did or as my friend complained '25 years late in Tamil cinema'. The clue I think lies in the child-like debutant actor Parvathy and her skillful acting. She carries the film on her slender shoulders easily - she literally appears on every frame. The variety of emotions that she depicts makes it a rare performance for any actor in recent Tamil film history, let alone debutants. Brilliant cameos by the guy acting as Srikant's father and other minor role playing actors. Srikant has a rather forgettable role.

The biggest let down in the movie is the music - a subject as fresh as this deserved a better score!

Spoilers ahead-
Now, the topic could easily be classified as a mushy young love tale. But it is not - there is more to Mari's tale. An upwardly mobile society where lower middle class families fight traditional village bonds in their quest for 'the next higher social level'.

Sasi gives the viewers the full sense of impending gloom right from Mari's child like love by leaving no room for suspense. Thangarasu's father is willing to upset his sister to marry off his son to a wealthy family because he feels that society has no respect for 'hard work or grey hair'. Mari's happens to be one of the hearts that get broken under the Juggernaut of progress of the Indian middle class.

This extraordinary chase for the 'next higher level' is reflected in the father's pain when he hears that his son's salary is not going to be as high as he expected.The tragedy that happens when the best laid plans fail to yield happiness is not the tragedy of Mari alone, it is of an entire Indian middle class.

Another aspect is the hidden sea of emotions with which each main character enters matrimony. Thangarasu, Mari and the new wife of Thangarasu all three enter wedlock with a sea of hidden emotions that their other half could not have guessed. This proves to be their doom. The best laid of plans of men and mice...

Why I unfollowed Guy Kawasaki

Recently I stepped in to the world of twitterers and their tweets. I linked to Guy hoping for some of glimpses of his opinions. Don't mistake me - I still hold 'The Art of the Start' to be the bible for anyone even THINKING of starting ANYTHING. But he really pissed me off.

Its not the inane self centered tweets ('I am late to work again' etc.) that characterises Guy's twitter persona. He mostly tweets about 'almost interesting' outside links ('Top 10 this-that') that are hard to classify in to a particular category.

Two reasons -
1) The sheer volume of tweets - like a burst of enemy machine gun fire within the space of a few seconds, crowding out tweets from everyone else. This one borders on plain bad manners.
2) His constant pitch for his latest venture, AllTop in his tweet-bursts. I checked that out once - and I am not interested.

Wonder how he has so many followers on Twitter. Guess people have lots more patience than I do.

Recession is Good?

I cannot believe how the US economic think tanks are still in denial about their failed corporations - They still do not get the fact that the failed corporations (e.g. Lehman, AIG) failed for a reason - bad management. They are too much identified with the problem and taking it personally. They still talk about investor confidence and the public not being ready 'to handle a catastrophe' unless the Govt steps in and helps rescue these corporations (e.g. auto makers). This is not even feigned socialism, this is just their failure to accept the current situation with their judgment clouded by super inflated images of themselves. Somebody at the helm needs to set an example and accept failure gracefully - can the President elect do it ?

Schiff puts it beautifully - recession and loss of jobs is nothing but the market forces adjusting themselves. True, loss of jobs are painful. But one can't celebrate freemarket capitalism till yesterday and shed tears about job loss in the economy the next. Recession is good. It will free up capital and resources and offer them to a better management to take up the reins and for the economy to flourish. If handled well, the US could come out of this recession with top-class corporations making the best products and services within a few years replacing the likes of GM. I think of it like the body having a high temperature or fever to flush out antibodies. One feels that the sooner this sinks in and the Govt starts acting accordingly, the sooner and less painful the recovery will be.

Combined with the perspective of Perot on the fiscal policy of US (http://perotcharts.com), I am convinced that a period of conscious recession (conscious is the key word here) will do the US economy a great deal of good and will show to the rest of the world its maturity as a free market economy. Trying times for Uncle Sam!

Did NDTV kill NSG commandos?

A few days of 'HOT' live news, 'We condemn..' press releases (interestingly by politicians and bigwigs who kids are all safely abroad away from the terror-stricken streets of metros), center spreads and editorials about the resilient spirit of India in general and Mumbai in particular. A society desperate to find victory in the sacrifices of a few heroes to relieve the pain from the appalling failure of the overall establishment.

On the other side of the fence, a mirror image of facts being reported but with the same underlying emotions. The Pakistani media accuse India of pretty much the same things that the Indian & world media have done of Pakistan (i.e. blood thirsty fundamentalists, seek an enemy in our country to hold their country united etc. etc.) But the Pakistani media has stooped to newer depths leaving the Indian counterparts far behind, that it outrages even one's normal sense of professional press conduct, leave alone ideals like nationalism. A 'zionist' plot by Indo-Israeli intelligence to target Pakistan? Within just hours after the incident when even details, let alone evidence was awaited ? - Seriously dude, this is stretching journalistic license like India rubber !

A blind upsurge of right-wing views immediately all over - and the vociferous call for Indians to be 'mard' while letting our sanity be hijacked by harmones. The Government establishment of course has a long way to go to address the question of terror.

Meanwhile, of great interest has been the activities of the media - which scavenged the attack sites to lick the last human bone of the victims to squeeze the last drops of juicy sound bytes for viewership - to put it very mildly.

Barkha Dutt came out with self-righteous anger at the allegations levelled against NDTV ('the last succour for justice to the common man' etc. etc.) All she does in her defence is leave the blame at the Govt's door after saying it is 'grossly unfair and saddening' to be left at NDTV's door. Come on! its like saying 'I technically did not break any rules because the Govt. hadn't the sense to put any!'

The NSG has a different opinion obviously and has alleged that the media coverage caused significant damage to their operations including the life of one of their commandos.
I hate what NDTV has done in this case - with all due respect to them being the last recourse for justice in this country blah blah blah... in the end they have proved they are another bunch of TRP-crazy madmen with no sense of responsibility in a situation that requires sensitivity and humane handling.

On the larger question of terror - lets just say, quo vadis India, Mr. Chidambaram?

Chennai's Day of Shame

The story here.

In an inexplicably sickening scene, a posse of TN police officers watch on silently without taking any step to prevent the manslaughter - standing technically correct on the other side of the fence. In my career, I am familiar with instances of cowardly acts of self-preservation, a hall mark of bureaucrats. But in law enforcement? - this beats comprehension.

It is possible that there could be legal wrangles that can technically stop law enforcement, but this is uncondonable behavior - and weakens the confidence of the populations in the police force, no the system of governance - to say the least.

My city's day of shame.

Surprise Element

From a movie writeup in the Hindu, Friday Review (On Location).
"Watch out for the elephant that is a surprise element, said a unit hand."
I am looking forward to it.

A Lion among men

" — We shall crush the stars to atoms, and unhinge the universe. Don't you know who we are?"

Scarcely the words one would expect out of a saintly young ascetic, especially one who doesn't know where his next meal is going to come from. In fact, almost half of Swami Vivekananda's writings become a General at war leading his armies, rather than a renunciate monk.

Hailed as the man who discovered India, one can scarce believe that such a man as this walked on this earth whose words were as thunderbolts on a tottering society.

"Tell them to brush aside their illness by mental strength, and in an hour it will disappear! ", he thundered about a disciple suffering from an illness. "Off with it! Tell them to meditate for an hour at a stretch".

"Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success." he said.

Impractical wisdom ? Too idealistic ? He set out proving this sort of naive, conventional wisdom true along with bunch of penniless monks in 1886, from a dingy house in Baranagore and set up a massive service organisation (including schools and hospitals) with over a 100 missions across India and several more around the world. No mean achievement; actually something that would make any entrepreneur proud. In fact, most entrepreneurs nowadays actually find the making-that-idea-your-life-part trying, very.

The attraction that persons like him wield over others is most likely this: One cannot classify such people under any head. They stand out with their clarity of thought and vision wherever they go. ("To ask you, Swami, for your credentials is like asking the sun about its right to shine", said a Harvard Professor) He is probably the only spiritual (?) figure of any major religion (how else to describe a chap like this?) who spoke at such length about Manliness and Fearlessness.

Here is a monk, who breaks all stereotypes one may have of religious preaching types and wrote to his fellow monks from America thus:
"A few cameras, some maps, globes, and some chemicals, etc., are needed. The next thing you want is a big hut. Then you must get together a number of poor, indigent folk. Having done all this, show them pictures to teach them astronomy, geography, etc., and preach Shri Ramakrishna to them. Go to their cottages, from door to door, in the evening, at noon, any time and open their eyes. Books etc., won't do — give them oral teaching." He taunts the overly religious monks, "Can you do all this? Or only bell-ringing?" :)

One is left with a feeling that had he lived a few years more, the landscape of this part of the world would have been very different. Tragedy that he couldn't find enough regiments within the teeming millions of India. So'ham. So'ham. His war cry still rings clear.

(Photo courtesy: www.vivekananda.org

Brevity

I am lost in the beauty of how some people put almost unintelligible ideas (for befuddled minds like mine) in crisp observations that hit you. Spent some time ROTFL over such a laconic one.

A: There is only silence. There is nothing to say about it.
B: Yes. All talk about silence is mere noise.

What clarity of thought can produce ready wit such as this! He should truly be the master of his mind. Dickens would have matched the brevity of observation with "Volumes could not have said more."

All the more funny because a world renowned neuro-scientist in his book waded through a chapter of neuroscience lingo (explaining terms like 'qualia') trying to push the same idea.

From here
"VSR writes "the problem of qualia is not necessarily a scientific problem...your scientific description is complete. It's just that your account is incomplete epistemologically because the actual experience of electric fields [for a fish] or redness [for a colourblind person] is something you will never know...there is no such barrier, no great vertical divide in nature between mind and matter, substance and spirit...this barrier is only apparent and...it arises as a result of language. This sort of obstacle emerges when there is any translation from one language to another" (p. 231)"

SAD's unkind cut to Sikhism

The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) have said that the PM should have consulted Sikhs on the India-US nuclear deal before seeking their support. "The Sikh Prime Minister of India has never consulted us (the community) on this issue. Then, how can we support him?". More here.
Of all the arguments SAD could have possibly summoned to refuse support to the PM or highlight their importance in this clearly and solely political issue, it sadly has chosen the excuse of religion.
The most recent, vibrant and flourishing religion in world history doesn't require such sad guardians who cannot treat an issue on its own merit. Its indeed an unscrupulous political outfit's unkind cut to the religion.

Untitled.

From my cold, dead hands...

திருவாசகத்தில்... (In Thiruvaasagam...)

Decad IV, verses 42, 44

Partial translation would convey:
(44) 'when spring-time's arrows of love pin one down, evern moon beams will sear' - without thinking of this, one becomes curd under the churning stick of the guiles of the doe-eyed. Without seeking to enter honey of bliss in the city of Shiva; to relish the life within, in food and clothes I indulge.