One of my friends recently asked me “Is there any one solution to the entire problem India is facing?”
I retorted “EDUCATION”, he was shocked as he never expected me to reply so instantaneously, defying my own nature of pondering before speaking anything.
He replied “I believe education is not a solution but a tool to attain the solution”.
I asked him back “so what is the solution?”
He gave me an abstract answer. I was not convinced and I felt he too was unconvinced.
Later, I did ponder over his question. Is there any one solution to all the problem India is facing? In the sense, one idea to which every program/scheme of our various ministries can converge so that we can synergize all our efforts for better growth and more importantly sustainable social development.
After a long session of deep thinking, my answer remained same “EDUCATION”.
Quality Education can eradicate poverty. Education can provide awareness, to tackle problem of mal nutrition, can fight different kinds of mortality, and other diseases.
More importantly education can give ‘the feeble’ a voice of new age to place his ‘say’ in a better position to be heard.
Education can fight corruption as “If people willing to give perishes, people willing to take perishes”.
Education could enlighten people of their powers that constitution has conferred upon them.
Education could improve status of women, can mitigate gender inequality.
Education could open up new vistas of opportunities to the under-privileged, whence could improve their standard of living & family health.
Research oriented education can lead to innovation and other society-betterment findings, which can take India to the world.
Therefore, as India becomes land of new innovation and technology, production industry in India would prosper.
This can lead to capacity building in all sectors- importantly military, agriculture, power, electronics, infrastructure, steel etc.
Thereby we can export more complete competitive products & mitigate export- import trade imbalance.
And at home, Education leads to sustainable development.
Consequently, Education is one & only solution to the entire problem.
But then my alter ego confronted “it’s impossible to provide education to all the people, he he he, he laughed.”
I retorted “It is possible”
“Freaking! Quality education is expensive and majority of people are still poor” he said tauntingly.
I told him “they are all poor to afford quality education, but until they are educated, they will always remain poor”.
And, “Right to education is the silver lining”
He replied “Right to education is yet another right to corruption”.
I said ‘things would change, and this time people would not fail our constitution & education”.
He asked me “what change are you referring to? The government one after the other is playing the dirty game of cheap politics with their tainted cards.”
I kept quiet, did not reply, as I had nothing to say, for as he spoke the reality.
But then I told him” Education is the panacea for all problems”.
It has a ripple effect, you educate a man, and he would educate many. You educate a girl; you educate her & the entire generation to follow.
And, it’s true; this plant of education should have been planted 50 years before in our country, the second best time is now.
So, let’s understand the importance of education as the one & only solution.
And act prominently in this second best time, i.e. now.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Resolution, Revolution and Re-shuffle.
This is how world changed in the first month of the New Year.
Resolution
Is re-solution, you find solution to the worries of your life and take oath on a drunken (mostly) 31 st Dec night, to change your habits to alleviate your worries and make better your life.
So, into the end of January many have already given up the resolution and many still fighting, crawling, trying hard to move forward.
In here I would like to cite a scientific notion;It takes atleast 21 days for any habit to sink in and alteast a week more to show its results.
Revolution
Tunisian Revolution has come with such a surprise that, the entire world is stoned. The reason for such a reaction from the world community is that it was just common people, without any leader had over-thrown the monarch.
The king Ben-Ali had to run for his life, when agitators threatened to kill him. He flew away in his personal plane, interestingly, France refused shelter, and he finally found refuge in Saudi Arabia.
Its been understood that army had refused to fire at the revolutionaries, this enraged the king, he had dismissed the chief of army, but to ultimate vain.
Well, revolution in Tunisia has send shock waves through the spines of all the dictators in the neighborhood. I smell, democracy taking deep roots in Tunisia and prospect of further similar revolution in west Asia.
Re-shuffle
“Musical chair on the Moving ship” this is how a famous newspaper published the news of the latest re-shuffle of the council of ministers in UPA government.
There is no logic behind the move. Some say it was to pacify the various state congress where elections are scheduled to happen next year. Whereas, some say it was to remove the inept ministers, though not true because ministers doing well were also removed.
Some disgorge strident criticism on PM, only to prove them asinine, for the entire country knows he is just a handcuffed spectator.
It’s the congress president running the puppet show. What she needs to know is that its no point shuffling with the old cards, you need new cards to play the game in a new way.
Resolution
Is re-solution, you find solution to the worries of your life and take oath on a drunken (mostly) 31 st Dec night, to change your habits to alleviate your worries and make better your life.
So, into the end of January many have already given up the resolution and many still fighting, crawling, trying hard to move forward.
In here I would like to cite a scientific notion;It takes atleast 21 days for any habit to sink in and alteast a week more to show its results.
Revolution
Tunisian Revolution has come with such a surprise that, the entire world is stoned. The reason for such a reaction from the world community is that it was just common people, without any leader had over-thrown the monarch.
The king Ben-Ali had to run for his life, when agitators threatened to kill him. He flew away in his personal plane, interestingly, France refused shelter, and he finally found refuge in Saudi Arabia.
Its been understood that army had refused to fire at the revolutionaries, this enraged the king, he had dismissed the chief of army, but to ultimate vain.
Well, revolution in Tunisia has send shock waves through the spines of all the dictators in the neighborhood. I smell, democracy taking deep roots in Tunisia and prospect of further similar revolution in west Asia.
Re-shuffle
“Musical chair on the Moving ship” this is how a famous newspaper published the news of the latest re-shuffle of the council of ministers in UPA government.
There is no logic behind the move. Some say it was to pacify the various state congress where elections are scheduled to happen next year. Whereas, some say it was to remove the inept ministers, though not true because ministers doing well were also removed.
Some disgorge strident criticism on PM, only to prove them asinine, for the entire country knows he is just a handcuffed spectator.
It’s the congress president running the puppet show. What she needs to know is that its no point shuffling with the old cards, you need new cards to play the game in a new way.
Monday, January 17, 2011
WELL! THAT’S ENOUGH
I stared, agape, at the front page graphics of today's newspaper which illustrated yet another hike on petrol prices.
WHAT!! Double salvo hike in less than two months.
Amidst food inflation, this increase in price of petrol is definitely a bad omen for common people.
De-control is the name of the game. Well, Government felt pity for the oil companies and the allege burden of loss, that Government suddenly decided to de-control the price.
I had a belief that government was morally responsible to protect its people from the volatile international crude oil price fluctuations. These current developments tell me that I ‘m wrong.
I lament saying we are moving towards “no-governance”, if not bad governance.
“AAM AADMI” slogan will remain in the dustbin till next election.
And, worst is, this “AAM AADMI” would again vote these same people to power. It’s abysmally sad, and unfortunate that we are stuck between devil and deep sea.
With corruption, food inflation, petrol hike and rally of other scams, this country is definitely not looking forward, if solemn social and economic development is what we are seeking for. The country badly needs another revolution. Only time will say who leads and stands up to say” WELL, THAT’S ENOUGH” or may be as P.Sainath puts it, a change is possible not when sporadically individuals stand up to say that’s enough, but happens when ENOUGH PEOPLE TOGETHER STANDS UP TO SAY WELL!! THAT’S ENOUGH.
WHAT!! Double salvo hike in less than two months.
Amidst food inflation, this increase in price of petrol is definitely a bad omen for common people.
De-control is the name of the game. Well, Government felt pity for the oil companies and the allege burden of loss, that Government suddenly decided to de-control the price.
I had a belief that government was morally responsible to protect its people from the volatile international crude oil price fluctuations. These current developments tell me that I ‘m wrong.
I lament saying we are moving towards “no-governance”, if not bad governance.
“AAM AADMI” slogan will remain in the dustbin till next election.
And, worst is, this “AAM AADMI” would again vote these same people to power. It’s abysmally sad, and unfortunate that we are stuck between devil and deep sea.
With corruption, food inflation, petrol hike and rally of other scams, this country is definitely not looking forward, if solemn social and economic development is what we are seeking for. The country badly needs another revolution. Only time will say who leads and stands up to say” WELL, THAT’S ENOUGH” or may be as P.Sainath puts it, a change is possible not when sporadically individuals stand up to say that’s enough, but happens when ENOUGH PEOPLE TOGETHER STANDS UP TO SAY WELL!! THAT’S ENOUGH.
Friday, January 7, 2011
ESCAPIST
8:30 AM Saturday, 08.01.2011
Noida has been reeling under severe cold waves since few days. And, today it’s worse with dense fog, leading to Zero visibility.
I had a traumatic experience, when I made my usual walk for my office in the morning.
Crossing the road was dreadful. Thanks to that car driver who had switched on his headlights, otherwise I wouldn’t have been alive today to write this.
Well, it’s not a good starting to this year.
Firstly, company threatening to move all the people of my department to site, without any additional monetary benefits.
Secondly, my house owner gave me an ultimatum to move out of the house by the end of January. Freaking!!! He is coming back to stay in Noida. Sigh.
Thirdly, yesterday, my thought so Godfather in Reliance, my BOSS resigned. He said there is absolutely nothing left in the company, look for better grounds.
Lastly, in the last two years I haven’t gained any knowledge or value to make myself a potential employee for any company.
So, as world closes all the doors at me, I close my eyes to take a deep breath, to I pray, to keep faith in god, to give me strength & courage to keep me moving forward.
Sometimes, I wish I could detach myself from all these things and travel to a world of unknowns, & mysteries where tensions and worries are just past virtues, but then all the wishes are not fulfilled, right??.
But,I want to be an escapist.
Noida has been reeling under severe cold waves since few days. And, today it’s worse with dense fog, leading to Zero visibility.
I had a traumatic experience, when I made my usual walk for my office in the morning.
Crossing the road was dreadful. Thanks to that car driver who had switched on his headlights, otherwise I wouldn’t have been alive today to write this.
Well, it’s not a good starting to this year.
Firstly, company threatening to move all the people of my department to site, without any additional monetary benefits.
Secondly, my house owner gave me an ultimatum to move out of the house by the end of January. Freaking!!! He is coming back to stay in Noida. Sigh.
Thirdly, yesterday, my thought so Godfather in Reliance, my BOSS resigned. He said there is absolutely nothing left in the company, look for better grounds.
Lastly, in the last two years I haven’t gained any knowledge or value to make myself a potential employee for any company.
So, as world closes all the doors at me, I close my eyes to take a deep breath, to I pray, to keep faith in god, to give me strength & courage to keep me moving forward.
Sometimes, I wish I could detach myself from all these things and travel to a world of unknowns, & mysteries where tensions and worries are just past virtues, but then all the wishes are not fulfilled, right??.
But,I want to be an escapist.
Monday, January 3, 2011
My Karims Visit
My friend’s New Year resolution is to try all cuisines possible.
Whence & being a staunch non-vegetarian and also being in Delhi for so long , he couldn’t carry anymore of the insult of not eating at karims.
So, he slated to eat at karims near Jama Masjid, Old Delhi, after the visit to Book fair at Pragati Maidaan on the first day of the year and I adhered to his plan .
1st Jan 2011, Delhi still reeling under Cold wave, we put on our three layer protection and took off as planned. We were done with not-so-impressing (I felt last year’s was better) Book Fair by 2:30 and caught the next metro to Chandni chowk.
Well, metro rides are becoming so distressing & disgusting with the entire Delhi on metro all the time. It was suffocating ride.
But, then seeing the crowd and traffic in chandni chowk, I corrected myself as metro crowd of people was nothing to the multitude of people I saw there.
It was chaos all pervasive. We took a rickshaw to karims.
Initially I wondered how the rickshaw guy would drive through that commotion. However, what I experienced later changed my thinking altogether.
The deftness with which he drove startled me. He took the rickshaw through the “smallest gully “ I have ever seen.It was completely filled with swarms of people, small trolleys [carrying good to the shops], which were on the either sides of the lanes, bikes & mopeds all doing their circus to drive safely to the other end.
To me it looked a black hole and saw absolutely no option to get to the other end, it looked impossible. Conversely, the rickshaw guy thought "yes we can".
He took the rickshaw into this commotion and believe me, he drove through it without even halting the rickshaw even once I was dumbstruck. I looked at my friend, he looked dreaded.
Finally, we reached karims, I gave the rickshaw guy 40 bucks. As I gave him the money, an ounce of appreciation had blossomed in mind for him, for the skill he displayed, and with great awe I thanked him in my mind.
After, nearly 45 minutes of struggle to get a table, we had the highly praised karim’s delicacies.
My friend liked it, and I did not. However, my friend’s desire to eat at karims was fulfilled. So felt good about that.
The lane that comes out of karims, leads to main gate of Jama Masjid. As both of us had not visited this great mosque, we decided to have a inside tour of Masjid.
As rightly, described by all the historical and travel literature, it is a majestic structure. With reverence we toured through it.
We could see a guide-looking guy disgorging all the known English words to please a foreign group of tourists to earn his bread. Meanwhile, there was normal domestic crowd, couples, children and all sorts of people.
You could also get a glimpse of Red Fort from there. Again, I reminded my friend of our "many-times planned and failed" -Delhi Darshan. I have been here for more than 2 years & I’m yet to see Red fort, Qutab Minar & other must see places of visit of our capital. SAD, hmm... Sigh.
As we descended the large rocky steps of Jama Masjid, I could see the chaotic traffic picking up more commotion. But, this time I was not nervous, because I knew there would be some rickshawallah out there who would easily get us out.
We again hired a rickshaw, and this time it was more brutal traffic and art with which the rickshaw guy evaded everything to get us to chandni chowk metro is still prominent in my mind.
So, we reached the Metro station and again, huge swarms of people, but by now I became used to this rich profusion of people.
And, as we took a ride in the metro, back to our house, it was not the highly sought karim’s delicacies that was in my mind, but it was the adept rickshawallahs of Chadni chowk, the dynamic crowd & the streets shops selling all sorts of food and Jama Masjid that etched to my mind, like a motion picture.
That’s how my Karims trip on 1st of January this year ended; hope a long eventful year ahead.
Whence & being a staunch non-vegetarian and also being in Delhi for so long , he couldn’t carry anymore of the insult of not eating at karims.
So, he slated to eat at karims near Jama Masjid, Old Delhi, after the visit to Book fair at Pragati Maidaan on the first day of the year and I adhered to his plan .
1st Jan 2011, Delhi still reeling under Cold wave, we put on our three layer protection and took off as planned. We were done with not-so-impressing (I felt last year’s was better) Book Fair by 2:30 and caught the next metro to Chandni chowk.
Well, metro rides are becoming so distressing & disgusting with the entire Delhi on metro all the time. It was suffocating ride.
But, then seeing the crowd and traffic in chandni chowk, I corrected myself as metro crowd of people was nothing to the multitude of people I saw there.
It was chaos all pervasive. We took a rickshaw to karims.
Initially I wondered how the rickshaw guy would drive through that commotion. However, what I experienced later changed my thinking altogether.
The deftness with which he drove startled me. He took the rickshaw through the “smallest gully “ I have ever seen.It was completely filled with swarms of people, small trolleys [carrying good to the shops], which were on the either sides of the lanes, bikes & mopeds all doing their circus to drive safely to the other end.
To me it looked a black hole and saw absolutely no option to get to the other end, it looked impossible. Conversely, the rickshaw guy thought "yes we can".
He took the rickshaw into this commotion and believe me, he drove through it without even halting the rickshaw even once I was dumbstruck. I looked at my friend, he looked dreaded.
Finally, we reached karims, I gave the rickshaw guy 40 bucks. As I gave him the money, an ounce of appreciation had blossomed in mind for him, for the skill he displayed, and with great awe I thanked him in my mind.
After, nearly 45 minutes of struggle to get a table, we had the highly praised karim’s delicacies.
My friend liked it, and I did not. However, my friend’s desire to eat at karims was fulfilled. So felt good about that.
The lane that comes out of karims, leads to main gate of Jama Masjid. As both of us had not visited this great mosque, we decided to have a inside tour of Masjid.
As rightly, described by all the historical and travel literature, it is a majestic structure. With reverence we toured through it.
We could see a guide-looking guy disgorging all the known English words to please a foreign group of tourists to earn his bread. Meanwhile, there was normal domestic crowd, couples, children and all sorts of people.
You could also get a glimpse of Red Fort from there. Again, I reminded my friend of our "many-times planned and failed" -Delhi Darshan. I have been here for more than 2 years & I’m yet to see Red fort, Qutab Minar & other must see places of visit of our capital. SAD, hmm... Sigh.
As we descended the large rocky steps of Jama Masjid, I could see the chaotic traffic picking up more commotion. But, this time I was not nervous, because I knew there would be some rickshawallah out there who would easily get us out.
We again hired a rickshaw, and this time it was more brutal traffic and art with which the rickshaw guy evaded everything to get us to chandni chowk metro is still prominent in my mind.
So, we reached the Metro station and again, huge swarms of people, but by now I became used to this rich profusion of people.
And, as we took a ride in the metro, back to our house, it was not the highly sought karim’s delicacies that was in my mind, but it was the adept rickshawallahs of Chadni chowk, the dynamic crowd & the streets shops selling all sorts of food and Jama Masjid that etched to my mind, like a motion picture.
That’s how my Karims trip on 1st of January this year ended; hope a long eventful year ahead.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Quantum Machine
“! @#$%^$&$%&#$&#&#%&$%&#$&$%&#%&$%&”- This was Quantum mechanics to me.
And, I never could build on any knowledge in the realm of quantum mechanics.
But then, when I read about the Science Breakthrough of the year- the quantum machine, I was catapulted to its black hole.
To a naked eye the machine, looked a very infinitesimally small hair like thing, but it’s actually a tiny metal paddle of semiconductor. This was coaxed to dance with a quantum groove.
Machine was brought down to lowest energy state possible and then quantum of energy was provided to it and it started vibrating in such a manner that its motion could be explained only by quantum mechanics.
Bizarre theory of possibility of being in two states, certainly abstruse to me.
No, this blog is not to explain quantum mechanics or specifically the quantum machine, but this blog is to pay my tribute to those brains behind this great accomplishment.
Physicist Andrew Cleland and John martinis from university of California & their colleagues are the ingenuity behind it.
So, in this New Year, I wish them all the vey best. I hope they go ahead in transforming their studies to attain greater success.
I also hope that their findings open up new vistas of research and development, for all in the scientific realm, for the betterment of science & society.
And, I never could build on any knowledge in the realm of quantum mechanics.
But then, when I read about the Science Breakthrough of the year- the quantum machine, I was catapulted to its black hole.
To a naked eye the machine, looked a very infinitesimally small hair like thing, but it’s actually a tiny metal paddle of semiconductor. This was coaxed to dance with a quantum groove.
Machine was brought down to lowest energy state possible and then quantum of energy was provided to it and it started vibrating in such a manner that its motion could be explained only by quantum mechanics.
Bizarre theory of possibility of being in two states, certainly abstruse to me.
No, this blog is not to explain quantum mechanics or specifically the quantum machine, but this blog is to pay my tribute to those brains behind this great accomplishment.
Physicist Andrew Cleland and John martinis from university of California & their colleagues are the ingenuity behind it.
So, in this New Year, I wish them all the vey best. I hope they go ahead in transforming their studies to attain greater success.
I also hope that their findings open up new vistas of research and development, for all in the scientific realm, for the betterment of science & society.
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