On addressing the current and pressing needs

I was waiting for this Karnataka Rajyotsava. It has passed by without creating much flutter. I am happy. I hope what I write now is not read by the wrong kind of Kannada chauvinists who are with the ‘whos-who’ of the Karnataka government and can make a policy change happen. Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli, Gulbarga have survived being besmirched with their Kannada influenced name in English. Apart from the odd fellows on Orkut putting up Bengalooru, Bangalore..rather its name is still alive!

Do Roma and Rome in Italian and English peacefully, synergistically co-exist or not? Some 'intellect' named U.R.Ananthmurthy was behind trying to make a Bengalooru, Mysooru, Mangaluru, Hubbali, Kalburgi out of them in English. It is already written thus in Kannada. Why impose it on English? First and foremost all these cities have been and will remain close to my heart. Bangalore --- I have had some of my education there. Mysore --- is where I have spent most of my life. Mangalore (or rather its outskirts-Surathkal) is where I have graduated from and grown. Hubli-Dharwad is where I was born and started my career.

Some people were involved in saving their own gaddi during this Rajyotsava thanks to the recent imbroglio. So, naming cities, thinking deeper, changing some part of the identity of what is it….. around 9 million people (7+1+1+0.5+0.3) could take a back seat! The government didn’t think about this when U R Ananthmurhty came up with his proposal, the fiddling with the identity of around 9 million people. That was because they felt there was a need to generate news then, due to their relative inaction in other fields, when the flutter was created, February 2007 that is. They felt (although technically speaking they are the elected representatives of the people) they represent the 9 million people so much so that they can change some part of their identity.

What is more important than anything else, is addressing the current needs to the best of ones abilities. Infrastructure. Diligent planning to accommodate future growth. What would help is to solve the pressing and urgent problems on hand. Because if one feels one leave can leave a lasting impact on his world and try and make a name for himself (by inducing such changes in the names of these lovely cities) he would probably end up making a fool of himself more than anything else. During one of my recent conversations with PSB, he said that Abraham Lincoln during his famous speech of ‘For the people, by the people….’ was addressing a current need to soothe people after the American civil war. He never intended his speech to be the enduring message to humanity it has become. His speech was ‘noticed’ much later, after a few years. Its relevance was seen in the need to nurture a democratic set-up. Very true in this context!

Sustainability is the virtue and shall always be

Sustainability is the virtue and shall always be as it is not worth it to be a nihilist .
It just isnt.

Nihilism looks romantic in movies and art but does not work in life. So, stop being an intellectual hypocritical person and make any work you do sustainable.

The Soooper Manivannan - what a man!

Manivannan: “Am I talking to an audience where everyone is from an engineering background?”

We: “Yes”

Manivannan: “Vivek Pawar had asked me to talk on integrity to the employees of Sankalp.

Well I shall take some time to get to the point I would like to make.

Can someone tell me what entropy is?”

Pijush: “It is the degree of randomness of ….(trails away)”

Manivannan: “Correct…Now someone tell me what happens when the entropy of a system increases?”

Audience: “It is excited to the next state.”

Manivannan: “Now, what does a body do when it is at a high energy state?”

Niket: “It radiates and tends to come back to its lowest energy state.”

Manivannan: “Partially right in the context! Can you repeat what you said so that everybody in the audience can listen to it once again.”

The statement is repeated to the audience.

Manivannan: “Our famed scientist Albert Einstein had said that each body has finite amount of energy. So, can someone tell me what a lie is?”

Mrinal: “Something which is not true.”

Manivannan: “(Laughs) Yes, anything which is not based on facts is a lie. For each act of ours in life, we have to spend energy. Am I right? Now, when each one of us possess finite amount of energy, now think about it, is it feasible to lie?

Now, the question is how much does each one of us lie. I want each one of you to think back and tell me about how much you lie and tell the truth.

Audience: “A 40-60 ratio.”

Manivannan: “Yes. 40-60 ratio. I say the ratio is even worse for Indians!

What many of us do is spend our energy when we speak on things 60 % of which are not feasible.

Lets take a rather odd example. If we ban blue denim jeans in the HDMC office, and my boss asks me to report anybody wearing blue denims, and one such day I find my close friend wears blue denims. My boss asks me that day whether anybody in the office has worn blue denims. Now, I choose to lie. I say no. So, if he is satisfied by my reply he keeps quite. Otherwise, my boss has known this friend of mine to be fond of blue denims. He asks me what trousers has that friend of mine worn. Now, I will have to spend extra energy to cook up a lie and tell him some colour.....Black. You get it don’t you? If the boss has seen my friend that day then I will have to circumvent this problem with another lie.

See, each one of us has limited amount of energy. Keep putting it in things which will give you value for your investment. To lie incessantly does not fall under any category

She turns SIXTY.

I remember ten years ago, I was a 7th std kid wearing a cap made the previous night with chart-paper and the Swarna-Jayanthi (Golden Jubilee 50th year) carefully drawn on it by sketch pens!

Ten years....I was too small to ponder on stuff then!

I am told, many in 1947 (those who werent Indians, but other International Observers) thought such a perceived nation with astonishing diversity without a firm raaj (British) would just not hold on for long !
But she survived, as an entity, whose identity is now DIVERSITY. This is cliched I know, but its a profound statement made cliched!

This is always true of sustainable systems.

The one that is not predicted to be a star success often happens to be one.
Just look around you..let this statement marinate in your minds and you'll see what I mean!

In which other country can you find tropical rain forests,bio-hot spots(western ghats) and the desert; sub zero cold,the tallest mountain range and an ocean named after the country,a leper begging next to a parked Honda Civic and a Merc CD 230s ( I witnessed this in Delhi's Chandni Chowk).
I can go on and on. Those were my impromptu thoughts when I thought of her diversity.

There is never anything absolutely right in India. So is it, with sustainable systems. There is no right or wrong!By allowing everything to exist (co-exist?) India maintains equilibrium. No hasty decisions.Slow...steady...like a Giant Sequoia...stable because nothing spectacular happens. Yet when others decide to take notice...they realise they are facing a giant.

SIXTY. And its just the end of the beginning, isn't it?

On the propensity to swindle money - Corruption

Usually most of the corruption in this world occurs due to the fallibility of the human conscience.People do not think twice before using 'public money' or any 'public service' for 'personal' gain. This is what is known in the western world as "graft". In the western world, what is termed as 'corruption' in India, is cleverly hidden away under "costs". The ruling class in India suffers at the hands of public.