En route

Sur Bane Hamaara

2011-01-24T21:10:00.002+05:30

For those of us who were not initiated in to classical music appreciation, and to whom the fondest memory of television is still Doordarshan of the nineties, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Dr. Balamurali Krishna represented Indian classical music. The reason was the widely popular musical "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara", which opened with the voice of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Hence his demise today leaves a void not just in the Indian music landscape, but also in hearts of many non-connoisseurs of Hindustani music like me.

I do not know anything to tell about his Kharana or his profoundness with Khayal. But still, I can vouch that his rendering had a power to tell word-less stories to the film-songs-trained ears of mine.

For me, his appearance in "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" or "Ek Sur" (the official name of the song) is enough to make memory of him eternal. Written by Piyush Pande, composed by Ashok Patki, directed by Suresh Mullick and telecasted first on the Independence Day of 1988 after Prime Minister's speech, "Ek Sur" was a celebration of the diversity of India. It almost caught the status of the unofficial anthem of India. Covering fourteen languages and as many cultures, it was literally a free tour of India from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, from Kutch to Assam.

Those were the days when I did not realise that nationalism, even when superior to regionalism and casteism is something that had to be slowly replaced with the feeling of universal brotherhood. Wish I could select a song that celebrates universal brotherhood to dedicate to Pandit Bhimsenji's memory tonight.

ബോധി കോമണ്‍സ് (Bodhi Commons)

2010-11-01T22:38:00.003+05:30

സീസറും യേശുവും കൊള്ളയടിച്ചിട്ടും, കൊന്നൊടുക്കിയിട്ടും,
വറ്റാതെ നില്‍കുന്ന മനുഷ്യന്റെ സര്‍ഗശക്തിക്കു
തങ്ങളില്‍ തങ്ങളില്‍ സംവദിക്കാന്‍,
ലോകത്തോടുറക്കെ പ്രസംഗിക്കുവാന്‍.

വിഷവാതകം പോലെ മനുഷ്യനെ ചുറ്റിനും മൂടുന്ന
അധിനിവേശങ്ങളെ ചെറുത്തു നില്‍ക്കാന്‍,
അബദ്ധസിദ്ധാന്തങ്ങളെ തിരിച്ചറിയാന്‍,
കപടവിശ്വാസങ്ങളെ തച്ചുടയ്ക്കാന്‍.

സമത്വസുന്ദരമായ ഒരു ലോകത്തെ
സ്വപ്നം കാണാന്‍, സൃഷ്ടിക്കാന്‍.
അതിനായി ഒത്തുചേരാന്‍, പഠിക്കാന്‍,
സംഘടിക്കുവാന്‍, പോരാടുവാന്‍.

ചിന്തകള്‍ തന്ന തണലിന്റെ കീഴില്‍ പണിതുയര്‍ത്തി ഞങ്ങളിന്ന്,
കാറ്റാടിക്കഴകളെ ചകിരി പിരിച്ച കയറും,
വിയര്‍പ്പും, പ്രതീക്ഷയും കൊണ്ട് വലിച്ചു കെട്ടി,
ബോധി എന്നൊരീ പൊതുവേദി

തളര്‍ന്ന കൈവിരലുകളും, അല്പം നീരുവെച്ച പുറംകഴുത്തും,
തളര്‍ത്തുനില്ല തെല്ലുമീ രോമാഞ്ചത്തെ.

I know what you are thinking.

2010-06-06T11:29:00.003+05:30

Two nights back Vinita, my wife, said to me : "I know what you are thinkng."

I was surprised. I asked :"How come! Do you follow me on Twitter?"

I slipped to sleep somewhere in the middle of the long lecture that followed from her.

When the past takes a flight and alights on your present.

2010-04-12T21:14:00.006+05:30

I do not have an adjective to qualify the happiness that you feel when a leaf from the past takes a flight and alights on your present. The name of the flight that my past chose to fly yesterday night was Joby Joseph.

Joby was the conscience of my lab during my master's studies at IISc. He was then working on his PhD thesis topic : "Why only two ears? - Some indicators from the study of source separation using two sensors". In fact, with out making a big fuss about it, he was showing us all that two ears are indeed enough for us to be sensitive about the world around us. I have learned a lot from being with him and admiring him all the while. But it seems that the only thing he ever tried to "teach" me was bird watching and he failed. His skill at spotting birds is pure magic and its futile trying to learn it. After PhD he had moved on to NIH Maryland to pursue post doctral studies in neuro science and has been there for last five years.

That is the leaf from the past. And see how it alighted onto my present

Today at 2.30 pm while attending a class, I got a call on my mobile from an unidentified number. As usual, I didn't bother to return the call. But when I reached the department, the security told me that some one had come for me and got my mobile number. He showed me the visitor's register and there I found these letters - J, o, b, y, J, o, s, e, p, and h. I couldn't believe it. I returned the missed call, but there was nothing to be heard from the other side. (Later I found out that his phone had a dysfunctional microphone.) Then I got it confirmed that Joby is in campus and in fact will be giving a lecture in ECE department at 4 pm. I rushed to the venue and there I met with my past.

I hardly understood any of the biological terms that he used. For a self proclaimed theoretician like me, his work seemed so frighteningly real. He cuts open the head of grass hoppers by hand and implants sensors in them to directly record the field potential at the scale of single neurons. The last two slides had quite a surprise in it. The penultimate one was a photo of his home laboratory. It was quite surprising to know that these kind of experiments could be performed using equipments that will fit well onto a single table and costing no more than a few lakhs of rupees. The last slide contained portraits of each one of his lab team - fellow researchers, technicians and students. I do not recollect any presentation which ended with such a slide.

Joby has not changed.

But IISc has.

At least according to him and one of our famous friend - Natasha - the nature lover and the nature photographer . After the talk we and one more friend took a walk to what according to them was once the corridor of life in IISc and what is now a construction site with four massive buildings nearing completion. The area near D-gate and the air field. Both Joby and Natasha seemed to be really depressed at the loss of such biodiversity. I had to admit that I had never noticed the richness there when it was there.

Even when people walk together, they see, hear and smell very different worlds. Some just see, hear and smell the tensions inside their heads. Some see the buildings, hear the roads, and smell the dust. Some see the trees, hear the birds, and smell the flowers. For example, now Vinita is seeing the rain and I'm seeing an LCD monitor! Wish I had a greener heart.

Dangerous Knowledge

2010-01-10T19:49:00.003+05:30

This is a 90 minute documentary telecast by the BBC two years ago on the biggest leaps made by mankind in understanding the foundations of mathematics. Any serious student of mathematics would have already found that it qualifies for the genres Drama and Mystery - but at a much more abstract level. The documentary does good justice to the drama and mystery part of the history and does not do any damage to the math part. The investigation is traced by narrating the contributions of four great investigative and imaginative minds - Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing.

Faculty Shortage in Indian Universities

2010-01-06T21:00:00.003+05:30

This is a letter that I'm emailing to members of the task force setup by MHRD to look into shortage of faculty in our universities. I'm also linking this blog post in the email letter. Hence please read and post comments.

Dear Professors,

I came to know from newspaper that the Ministry of HRD has set up a task force to look into shortage of faculty in our universities. I also learn that the task force will design a performance appraisal system for the faculty in such institutions. In this regard I would like to express some comments.

About me :

After completion of my B.Tech in Electronics and Communication from College of Engineering Trivandrum and M.E. in Signal Processing from IISc Bangalore, I have worked in the industry (Private owned) for about a year, then as a lecturer in Government Engineering College Bartonhill, Trivandrum (Kerala State Government Institution) for around 2 years, and then as a lecturer in NIT Calicut (Autonomous Institution under Central Government) for another 2 years. I had resigned from NIT Calicut last July and am currently pursuing my PhD in CSA department, IISc.

The comments that are expressed in this letter are judgments made from my experiences (good and bad) in the above places.

I. On attracting and retaining good people in academia :

Four things that (I believe) will attract and retain good people to academia are

Entry level qualification requirement,
Sufficient monetary compensation and career advancement prospects,
Meaningful work culture and
Prospect for academic growth.

1. Entry level qualification requirement :

Most of the universities, even those with significant undergraduate teaching load, are restricting permanent tenure only to candidates already with a PhD. This single factor alone will reduce the number of academia aspirants by many orders in magnitude since Indian academia looses most of its young brains to the Industry not after PhD but immediately after their under-graduate or post-graduate degrees. Hence, hiking the entry level qualification to improve the quality of academia is a short sighted strategy. Instead, our academia should catch good people right after their graduation or post-graduation offering them not only a permanent tenure but also a promise for academic growth. I'll elaborate on academic growth part under point 4.

2. Monetary compensation :

I think this point is already well discussed (as evident from media reports) and I personally think that the present pay revision has put the compensation at reasonable levels (especially when comparing with the same for our primary school teachers). I even believe that too much money may attract the wrong people into academia.

Career advancement schemes are reasonable in autonomous institutions with flexible cadre ratio and rotation schemes. But the vacancy based promotion scheme still existing in State Government Institutions have left many people disillusioned and forced some of them to quit.

3. Meaningful Work Culture :

A meaningful work culture plays a very important role in retaining our best recruits. Shortage of faculty and excessive work load have reached a mutually destructing loop in many universities. I understand that a heavy teaching load is inevitable in the higher education sector in a country like India with limited academic resources and a large knowledge seeking population. But, the the excessive administrative jobs (admissions procedures, campus networking, stock verification, tender tabulations etc.) that come on the already stretched teaching staff in such places is unjustifiable and can be corrected. The failure to recruit permanent non-teaching staff and the attitude towards the value of a faculty member to the system are the key factors contributing to the situation.

Most of the service rules for teaching staff are still modeled on the ones originally designed for administrative jobs and hence comes as a misfit in many occasions. There is no reason why a rule like prohibiting public expression of ones views (to the media for example) should exist in a university. After all, education is not about hiding information. A good academic culture demands, among other things, a flexible work pattern, and freedom of public expression.

4. Prospect for academic growth :

Every faculty member should be permitted and encouraged to update his knowledge and skills periodically by going to better centers of learning. The various staff development programmes surely help in this regard. But the most important step in this direction was the FIP/QIP schemes through which a faculty member could avail a deputation to do higher studies in any of the reputed institutions in the country. This scheme is severely being discouraged in many institutions now, NIT Calicut for sure. Instead, these places force the faculty to do their higher studies on a part time basis in their own home institution. This is another short sighted strategy which not only over stretches the faculty, but also forfeits a chance of larger exposure level for the institution. Instead, our universities should encourage their faculty members to do higher studies at the best universities around the world, providing them QIP deputation/Study leave etc.

The third and fourth points are precisely the reasons why I, and also a few other colleagues of mine, had to resign from NIT Calicut.

II. On performance appraisal system for faculty :

Personally, I don't believe we can improve the teaching quality of a faculty by providing external incentives. Teaching is a profession in which the rewards are immediate and visible in the eyes of the students in front of us. Instead, what the system should do is to facilitate good teaching by providing a work culture of freedom and interaction.

III. On promoting good research :

This again is something which is bound to fail if we think short term. We cannot promote good research by forcing the already stretched faculty to publish. In the medium term, we may encourage and facilitate research among existing faculty by providing funding and time. I'm incompetent to comment on what would encourage good research among faculty. But i guess it should be our level of curiosity and peer recognition.

What is more important is that, we should groom our next generation into serious research and this can be done only by good quality teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Hence it is critical to ensure that the pressure on faculty to publish, patent etc, should not be at the cost of sacrificing the quality of teaching.

Conclusion :

If I can take the liberty to suggest a few action items that might help in the cause, then the list will include

Keep the entry level qualification to a minimum and provide timely opportunities and encouragement for higher studies.
Encourage FIP/QIP schemes and also leave/sabbatical for study purposes.
Recruit sufficient non-teaching staff and give more value to the time of a teacher.
Amend the service rules to fit to the needs of an open and non-hierarchical academic culture.
Encourage research among faculty but do not force it so as to make her compromise on the teaching effort.

Dear Sir, I hope at least some of the points mentioned can be considered in your discussions. I'll also publish this letter on my blog so that others can express their comments on it.

Footpaths make all the difference

2009-11-24T21:40:00.003+05:30

“The single biggest difference between the infrastructure of an advanced nation and a backward nation is its footpaths, not its highways,”

Enrique Peñalosa, the former Mayor of the Colombian capital Bogota tells to The Hindu.

I have never before heard anyone speaking about ensuring an enjoyable street life within your city life. And ever since I heard that (which was this Sunday), I'm missing my home town (Thiruvananthapuram). In particular the Rajbhavan road from Kawadiar to Palayam and the dear friends with whom I had enjoyed the walks along them.

I wonder how this one phrase - street life - covers so much of the things that I miss when I'm out of home town. Am I street sick?

സാഹിത്യം, സംഗീതം, ശബ്ദം‌ - നിങ്ങളുടെ സ്വന്തം

2009-11-24T21:19:00.009+05:30

An audio version of my last post! (As if the lyrics was not enough :-).

Music direction is evidently absent, and the rendering is done by the only one who would dare - your's truely. Thanks to blip.tv for hosting.

എന്താണെന്താണെന്താണ്

2009-10-19T23:54:00.002+05:30

എന്താണെന്താണെന്താണ്, സ്വപ്നം കാണണതെന്താണ്?
ആരാണാരാണാരാണ്, സ്വപ്നത്തില്‍ ചിരിപ്പിച്ചതാരാണ്?

കളി പറയും മുത്തിയോ, കളിയാക്കും ചേട്ടനോ,
കേട്ട പാട്ടിന്‍ ഈണമോ, നുണഞ്ഞ പാലിന്‍ മധുരമോ?
എന്തു കണ്ട് ചിരിക്കണ്, എന്തിന് കാലിട്ടടിക്കണ്,
എന്തിനു ചുരുണ്ടു കൂടണ്, എന്തിന് മൂരി നിവര്‍ക്കണ്?

എന്താണെന്താണെന്താണ്, ഇങ്ങനെ ഞെട്ടണതെന്താണ്?
ആരാണാരാണാരാണ്, നീട്ടി തുമ്മിയതാരാണ്?

പത്രം നോക്കണ അച്ഛനോ, പത്രാസ് കാട്ടണ അമ്മയോ,
പിണങ്ങി നില്ക്കുണ ചേട്ടനോ, തൂങ്ങിയാടണ പാവയോ?
എന്തിന് ചുണ്ട് പിളര്‍ക്കണ്, ആരോട് നീരസം കാട്ടണ്,
ആരെടുക്കാന്‍ പിടയ്ക്കണ്, എങ്ങോട്ട് നോക്കി കരയണ് ?

എന്താണെന്താണെന്താണ്, ഇങ്ങനെ ആടണതെന്താണ്?
ആരാണാരാണാരാണ്, കുട്ടനെയാട്ടണതാരാണ്?

വിരുന്നു വന്നരോളമോ, തേടി വന്ന തെന്നലോ,
ഓടി വന്ന കാലുകളോ, വാരിയെടുത്ത കൈകളോ?
ആരുടെ കയ്യിലിരിക്കണ്, എങ്ങോട്ടേന്തി നോക്കണ്,
എന്തു വര്‍ത്താനം പറയണ്, എന്തു കണ്ട് ചിരിക്കണ്?

എന്താണെന്താണെന്താണ്, ഇങ്ങനെ മിന്നണതെന്താണ്?
ആരാണാരാണാരാണ്, തേച്ച് കുളിപ്പിച്ചതാരാണ്?

എണ്ണ തേപ്പിച്ച അമ്മയോ, തമിഴ് ചൊല്ലണ അക്കയോ,
പാട്ട് പാടും ചോലയോ, ചിലങ്ക കെട്ടിയ മാരിയോ?
എന്തിന് ശ്വാസം പിടിച്ചത്, എന്തിന് കൂവി വിളിച്ചത്,
എന്തിനു കാലിട്ടടിച്ചത്, എങ്ങോട്ടു പോവാന്‍ കുതിച്ചത്?

എന്താണെന്താണെന്താണ്, മിണ്ടാട്ടമില്ലാതതെന്താണ്?
ആരാണാരാണാരാണ്, പാല് കുടിക്കണതാരാണ്?

കുളി കഴിഞ്ഞ വാവയോ, പുത്തനുടുപിട്ട സുന്ദരനോ,
ചുവന്ന ചെറിയ ചുണ്ടുകളോ, പല്ലു വരാത്ത മോണകളോ?
നമുക്കു ചാച്ചിയുറങ്ങണ്ടെ, പുതിയ സ്വപ്നങ്ങള്‍ കാണണ്ടെ,
സ്വപ്നം കണ്ട് ചിരിക്കണ്ടെ, വീണ്ടും ഞെട്ടിയുണരണ്ടെ?

വാവോ വാവോ വാവാവോ, താളത്തിലാടിയുറങ്ങിക്കോ.
വാവോ വാവോ വാവാവോ, കണ്ണും പൂട്ടിയുറങ്ങിക്കോ.

Perfect Surprise

2009-09-13T21:12:00.004+05:30

The eve of Safdar's noolukettu ceremony, I had taken Nandu out to the caterer's and had a plan to surprise him with a new dress for the function. This is the conversation that happened while coming out of the caterer's place.

ഞാന്‍ : എടാ, നിനക്കു surprise എന്ന വാക്കിന്റെ അര്‍ത്ഥം അറിയുവോ?
നന്ദു : അറിയാം.
ഞാന്‍ : എന്താ?
നന്ദു : പെട്ടെന്നു കിട്ടുന്ന prize!

Today he was showing me some of his homework. This is something which happens once in a blue moon. So I took some interest and tried to bring some improvement to his English writing. After a long discourse on the difference between being correct and being perfect, I wrote a question for him from his text book and asked him to write a perfect answer for the same. He took the book to next room and came back after a minute or two.

അച്‌ഛാ, ക്വെസ്റ്റ്യനില്‍ perfect എന്ന വാക്കും കൂടി എഴുതി തരുവോ? അല്ലെങ്ങില്‍ എന്നിക്കു ആന്‍സര്‍ perfect ആക്കാന്‍ പറ്റില്ല.

Safdar Sudev

2009-09-12T23:14:00.007+05:30

... thus was the little one named on his 28th day since birth.

Safdar is a Farsi word (صفدر). Many around me call it a Muslim name, but I call it a human name of Persian origin. It translates to courageous in English.

All that was incidental. But my affinity for the name was because of the admiration for Com. Safdar Hashmi, the revolutionary and writer who is most known for his street theater movement. Most importantly, his vision of a People's Cultural Movement.

By the way, Safdar was also the name of one of the main characters in the my first (and hither to last) drama. (Thirasseelaykkapuram - which Raghu and I had scripted for NITC Staff Club). I also had a student at GEC Bartonhill with the same name who incidentally happened to be the College Union General Secretary.

Sudev is a mashup of SUdheera (my house name), DEepak and Vinita. It was very difficult for me to accept any special rights as father when it comes to second name.

Sudev, by chance, also happens to be the name of a descendent of Harishchandra and a great grand father of Rama (Info from Sri. Harikrishna, NITC).

So that's how he will be known - Safdar Sudev. At home, we will just call him Aju.

Along with the naming ceremony, there was also the rituals of a noolukettu. Here are the photos and a video.

Safdar 28

छोटाकूस बडाकूस

2009-08-25T21:44:00.030+05:30

छोटाकूस ... बडाकूस ..., दोनों भाई जिगरी दोस्त। सूरज जैसा बडाकूस, चंदा जैसा छोटाकूस। साथ रहे तो दोनों खुश, इनकी यारी बहुत खूब।
	रोता है जब छोटाकूस, दौड़ कर आता बडाकूस। गोद में लेकर छोटे को, लोरी सुनाता बडाकूस। साथ खेले तो दोनों खुश, इनकी यारी बहुत खूब।
इनके बीच की भाषा में न वाक्य है न व्याकरण। इनके बीच की हंसी को न समझे कोई बाहर से। बात करें तो दोनों खुश, इनकी यारी बहुत खूब।
	छोटाकूस... बडाकूस ..., दोनों भाई जिगरी दोस्त। सूरज जैसा बडाकूस, चंदा जैसा छोटाकूस। साथ रहे तो दोनों खुश, इनकी यारी बहुत खूब।

पाप्पाकूस

This is my first genuine attempt at children's literature. Thanks to my wife, my father in law and my friends Raman and Nilesh for the corrections.

If you are seeing cryptic things, then it may be because you don't have a Devanagari font in your system. On a debian system,

# apt-get install ttf-devanagari-fonts

as root is all that you need to do.

Else, you can read a PDF version here.

A new life springs

2009-08-18T22:21:00.007+05:30

Abstract

A boy was born to Vinita and me on this Sunday at 1.22 pm (IST). The delivery was in Bangalore (Manipal Northside Hospital).

Minutes [Last two days]

Aug 15, 2009

Morning : India commemorates 62nd independence day. Jo Chechi and Aji Chettan (Vinita's sister and brother in law) arrive at Bangalore for a weekend visit to us. MuSa (Dr. Muralikrishnan, Faculty, NITC) comes to meet his better half. Mummy is already with us since last month. A typical getto menu - lunch with shark fry and prawns theeyal, 56 and jokes.

Evening : I and Aji chettan take Vinita for a NST testing to Manipal Northside hospital. They give Vinita a buzzer to press whenever the baby moves so that they can take the foetal ECG. Baby refuses to move. Mother is warned yet again of keeping the baby starved and is sent to canteen. Baby responds after three glasses of horlicks. The test goes fine. When asked about when we can expect the delivery, the doctor gave the usual reply - we can't tell, may be you will need to come back tonight itself.

Night : MuSa and Jasine join us. Jo chechi's special green chilli and pepper chicken curry, home made ari pattiri, our house owners' home made pizza, tender coconut water and Smirnoff Twisted V Green Apple Vodka. MuSa's kachchery, my evergreen melodies, 56 with Jasine leading the team with me and Aji chettan. MuSa stops at 2.5 as promised (he had decided to ride back to IISc). I and Aji Chettan share the remaining 10 between us without favoring either way. We part at 1 am and I go to bed. Mummy is floating a few rumors of my speeches at bed. Don't believe any of them even if you happen to hear one.

Aug 16, 2009

Morning : [5 am] I wake up hearing Mummy and Vinita quarreling. Mummy says its a fluid loss, but Vinita insists that it is urine. By 5.15, mummy wins the argument and decides that we should go to hospital. I get out of bed quickly, feeling unusually more alert than a usual post booze morning and gets ready. By then it is almost sure that it is a fluid loss. I and mummy drive Vinita to hospital. We walk into the duty nurses' room at 5.45 am and with in a few minutes I see most of them on their heals. Vinita is taken to the labour ward. Mummy says, if its a fluid loss, then they won't wait any longer. The sisters call up our gynecologist (Dr. Manonmani) over phone and are doing something on her orders.

Mean time, Aji chettan, Jo chechi and our house owners (Santhosh and Sevanthi) joins us at the labour room corridor. Dr. Manonmani comes at around 7 and rushes into the labour room. After half an hour she calls me inside and tells me -

"The fluid loss is a bit high and we have artificially compensated. But we have to take the baby out today itself. We will first try for a normal delivery by inducing some pain by medication and wait till afternoon. There is nothing to be afraid of."

I said OK to everything. (I was already very impressed by the doctor during the many consultation visits that we had made to her.) I come out and tell this to others and mummy is visibly shocked but in control.

After 20 minutes, doctor comes out and starts scolding me because Vinita took tea in the early morning and that has added to her gastric problems and that she was continuously vomiting. Then she calms down and tells me that its OK, they have given antacids and that the pain inducing will start after Vinita settles down. The doctor then leaves. Nothing much happened then and Sevanthi manages to squeeze news out of whoever comes out of the labour ward.

At 9, mummy, I and Jo chechi were allowed inside one by one with the strict warning that we won't be allowed inside any more. Vinita was looking tired but recovering. By 9.30 we could hear Vinita crying of pain whenever someone opened the door. Pappa joined us in between. He too had decided to join us on the weekend since everyone is going to be here.

The previous day's boozing began to take its toll on me. My head was burning and my stomach was almost giving me away. I skipped breakfast and was half asleep on the waiting chair, pulling my head up whenever someone opened the labour room door. Doctor had paid one more visit during this time.

Noon : At around 1 pm, we saw the doctor running into the room again. In 10 minutes a dark and stout looking ayah walked with her glows on. Many were going in and out, but this particular ayah had taken my attention because of her strength of look and confidence in steps. In 5 minutes a call went out for the Pediatrician and he also was seen rushing in. Every one was now sure that something is going to happen.

At 1.30 the stout ayah slid open the door and appeared poked her head out with a smile (for the first time in the day.) and shouted -

"Yaru Appa?" [Who is the father?]

I stepped ahead. She looked at me and said -

"Super Kolanthai." [Super baby]

and then one more sentence in tamil-kannada which no one could make out. Pappa claimed that the the third sentence was "Penn kolanthai" [Girl Child]. Mummy refuted and debate started. Pappa won the debate. Mummy slid the door half open and called inside -

"Boy or Girl?"

Ayah's voice came from inside -

"Male Boy."

The pediatrician brought the baby out wrapped in a blue flannel. Eyes closed and as pale as snow. He said -

"It is a heavy baby. We will keep him under observation for 4 hours to check for hypoglycemia"

and took him to a blue room on the opposite end of the corridor.

The uncertainties ended there. Vinita came out after another 2 hours - delayed mainly due to another emergency delivery in the same labour room. We shifted to a normal room. The baby was brought out for his first feeding. In between Jasine came out laughing to inform everyone present that the baby wasted no time in starting to suckle and showed no signs of stopping. He was taken back to complete the probation period and then at around 6 pm he joined back with his most trusted companion.

From A Closer Look

Post Script :

It is been two days now in hospital, and probably one more day should suffice. Some more snaps are available in my Picasa Album. [All clicked with flash and AF assist forced off.]

A Closer Look

What lingers with me as the the lead trailer clip after these few days is the scene of that ayah stretching out of the sliding door and shouting - "Yaru appa?".

Status Update

2009-08-04T17:51:00.003+05:30

Till July 29, 2009

Lecturer in Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering,
National Institute of Technology Calicut.
deepak at nitc dot ac dot in

From August 3, 2009

PhD Student in Department of Computer Science and Automation,
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
deepakr at csa dot iisc dot ernet dot in

rorrim

2009-05-20T18:46:00.004+05:30

Where is life lost in living;
Where is wisdom lost in knowledge;
Where is knowledge lost in information.
~ T.S.Eliot

Simplicity for Sale

2009-05-12T18:40:00.006+05:30

Rs. 16,150/- (Rupees Sixteen Thousand One Hundred and Fifty Only)

PS : This was on sale at Khadi Gramodyog Emporium, Kozhikode, Kerala.

rubber stamp

2009-04-29T15:34:00.004+05:30

This is a symbol by symbol copy of an SMS that I received while at lunch yesterday after a few missed calls from the same number.

Sir, i'm (name) frm s4ec. Our value eductn prjct is 2b prsntd 2dy at 2pm. V need u 2 sign n dis rprt. V jz came 2 knw abt tat nw. Cn v gt it signd ryt nw? Wer r u? Do u hav cls nw?

I was his/her group's guide for the value education project.

-----
rubber stamp

- noun

device with a rubber printing surface that becomes coated with ink by being pressed on an ink-saturated pad, used for imprinting dates, addresses, standard designations or notices, etc., by hand.
person or government agency that gives approval automatically or routinely.
approval.

[Ref : http://dictionary.reference.com]

I did not vote

2009-04-17T19:43:00.003+05:30

... and I'm ashamed to say so.

Forgive me my fellow countrymen for not fulfilling the most important responsibility as citizen of a democratic country.

This is the first vote that I missed since I turned 18. I'm 28 now, and a Non-Resident Trivandrumite. And that's what I have become.

Engineering Education

2009-03-26T17:59:00.007+05:30

... thoughts on B.Tech ECE curriculum at NITC
March 26, 2009

Introduction

Premise

There is something wrong with present state of undergraduate engineering education at NITC.
There is hope for change.

Justifications for the premise

General conversations, blogs, reduced level of motivation in students and teachers - none of them conclusive, but very indicative of something wrong somewhere.
Lot of people are agreeing that there is something wrong somewhere and analyzing the reasons and trying to take corrective measures. Seems a good time to pitch in and help in a way that I could.

Purpose of this article

is not to

prove or disprove the premises or
to find the culprit

but, it is to

investigate a bit into what could be wrong where,
provide a (very subjective) list of things that can be done to bring about a positive change and
to give a specific UG curriculum in tune with the above spirit for the B.Tech program in ECED, NITC.

Disclaimers

I may be wrong.
But I firmly believe in this now and I will believe thus till someone convinces me otherwise.
I will always remain open to anyone who wants to convince me otherwise.
I limit myself in these thoughts to the cognitive domain.

What could be wrong and where?

Many students feel that

they are forced to study and not inspired to study.
they have very limited freedom in choosing what to study with in their chosen degree program.
lecture is not a very effective means of learning
labs do not encourage actual experimenting
they are forced to write too many exams
they have very little time left for extra curricular activities

(this is a generalization of what was expressed over a few conversations and not based on any scientific survey)

Some faculty feel that

students may be right
students are not college ready as they used to be in the days when they left school after 10th standard.
change in society's priorities have changed the priorities of students too.

What can be done about it?

Soul Searching

(I'm limiting myself here to the cognitive domain responsibility
of the system. I'm unprepared to comment on the affective domain
responsibilities)

the primary responsibility of an undergraduate educational system should be

to inspire,
to set free,
to give time and
to give resources to the students.

the secondary responsibility is

to help them with their learning and
to evaluate the outcome

Who and hoW

I think we are already doing a pretty good job with the secondary responsibilities. But we can improve a lot on the primary responsibilities

	who's job	how (mainly)
to inspire	teacher	Every teacher has her own way
to set free	curriculum	More types of degree (basic, major + minor, major + honors etc like the ones suggested by IITB) Minimum number of core subjects and a larger pool electives, seminars and projects Freedom to trade between a lab course, a theory course or more project work
to give time	curriculum	Lesser contact hours per week Lesser number of courses per semester Lesser total credit requirement Lesser number of exams
to give resources	system	Open labs and custom equipments Open discussion platforms (student and faculty) Open library and net access Out of syllabus talks, workshops

The new teacher should

(in her own unique way) inspire the students to learn
mentor the students in their process of learning

The new curriculum should

give more types of B.Tech degrees

Minimal B.Tech (something to the tune of 120 credits)
B.Tech with major in one discipline (120 credits) and a minor in another. (30 credits)
B.Tech with honors in one discipline (150 credits)
B.Tech with one major (120 credits) and two minors (60)
B.Tech with honors (150 credits ) and research output (30 credits)
...

have lesser total number of courses and credits

About 4 courses per semester. 2 of them may have a lab component.
On an average of 15-16 credits per semester for the week student, 19-20 for the majority and 23-24 for the exceptionally motivated student.

give a smaller pool of core courses and a larger pool of electives.

The choice of what goes as core may be based upon the corresponding GATE syllabus.
Can have lab or project based courses in the pool of electives.
Can have seminars based contact courses in the pool of electives

flexible way of earning the credits with in a course (exams + seminars + project + lab demonstration)
participation based evaluation component (rated discussion forums, voluntary seminars, ...)

The new system should

leave the labs accesible to students any time
allow students to initiate purchase of custom equipments using system funds
provide a collection of open online discussion forums (for various subjects)
arrange out of syllabus talks and workshops regularly (and allow students to invite experts whom they want in campus)
provide platform for students to give voluntary presentations to larger audience

A proposed curriculum for B.Tech in ECE

The choice of core is mostly based upon EC GATE syllabus.

No	Course	Sem	L	T	P	C
1	Linear Algebra and Vector Calculus	1	3	1	0	4
2	Engineering Mechanics	1	3	1	0	4
3	Physics for Electronics (??)	1	3	1	0	4
4	Computer Programming	1	2	0	3	4
5	Professional Communication	1	0	2	0	2
6	Electronics and Computer Workshop	1	0	0	3	2
	Sem Total (S1)		11	5	6	20
7	Transforms and Infinite Series	2	3	1	0	4
8	Engineering Graphics	2	2	0	3	4
9	Logic System Design	2	3	0	3	5
10	Electromagnetic Field Theory	2	3	1	0	4
11	Economics	2	3	0	0	3
	Sem Total (S2)		14	2	6	20
12	Probability and Statistics	3	3	1	0	4
13	Network Theory & SPICE Lab	3	3	1	3	6
14	Solid State Devices & Devices Lab	3	3	1	3	6
15	Signals and Systems	3	3	1	0	4
16	Physical Ed / Value Ed	3/4	0	0	2	P/F
	Sem Total (S3)		12	4	6	20
17	Differential Equations & Complex Analysis	4	3	1	0	4
18	Electronic Circuits and Circuits Lab	4	3	1	3	6
19	Micro Processors and Micro Controllers	4	3	1	3	6
20	Random Processes and Analog Communication Theory	4	3	1	0	4
21	Physical Ed / Value Ed	3/4	0	0	2	P/F
	Sem Total (S4)		12	4	6	20
22	Linear Integrated Circuits & IC Lab	5	3	1	3	6
23	Digital Signal Processing and DSP Lab	5	3	1	3	6
24	Elective 1	5				4
25	Elective 2	5				4
	Sem Total (S5)					20
26	Communication Theory (IT & DC) and Communication Lab	6	3	1	3	6
27	Control Systems	6	3	1	0	4
28	Mini Project	6	0	0	3	2
29	Elective 3					4
30	Elective 4					4
	Sem Total (S6)					20
31	Major Project + Electives	7				15
32	Major Project + Electives	8				15
	Grand Total (Majority of Students)					150

Electives

Department electives should be in at least two pools (Electronic Systems and Devices, Communication and Signal Processing) ... and the department should ensure that at least 6 electives are offered from each pool in each semester.
Any student who opts for honors in his major should be allowed to take PG courses as electives.
Any elective course in any department should be a global elective for other departments.
A student can opt for any number of global electives, but she should ensure that she will take at least 120 credits from the department curriculum.
A student can choose to schedule her project and elective load between semesters 7 and 8 so as to facilitate those who wish to do a project with an industry or another academic institution.

Conclusion

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled."
~ Plutarch, On Listening to Lectures

Thirasseelaykkappuram

2009-03-01T19:41:00.013+05:30

NITC Staff Club presented a Malayalam drama for the entire institute community on Feb 20, 2009.

The Video
The Script
The Team

Please watch and comment.

PS : If you want to download the file and view it later, you can right click here and save a 700 MB version of the full drama.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

If I were a frog ...

2009-01-16T17:56:00.008+05:30

It is long since I posted anything on this blog.

Two things are primarily keeping me busy these days. One is the course on Electromagnetic Field Theory which I'm offering for the first time and the other is a small play that the teaching staff at NIT is going to stage shortly. Further details about the play are confidential right now but will be made public (including the script and the video if possible) as soon as the play is staged.

As long as I'm in these two, I don't think I'll be able to write anything new here. Hence, in order to break a long silence, I thought I would break it by reproducing a speech that I had prepared for my 7 year old son (Nandu) two months back. The topic given to him was "If I were a frog ..."

Here it goes ...

I tried to jump with my legs;
But I couldn't ...

I tried to swim with my hands;
But I couldn't ...

I tried to open my eyes;
But I couldn't ...

Suddenly I realised. Oh! I'm in a chloroform tank.

Now I remember. I was caught in a sack when I was playing with my friends in the full moon of yesterday night. And I remember well. Because, that will be my last full moon.

Tomorrow I will lie, torn but alive, on a dissection table with future doctors of mankind looking down at my beating heart. Knowing not, what it beats for. And tomorrow's moon will see my corpse basking in the moonlight.

Respected judges and dear friends,

Thank you.

PS : He delivered it at the staff club's children's day competition and claimed first place B-)

Is D ∩ ABC non-empty, atleast?

2008-10-19T12:41:00.008+05:30

Let A = {Things which can increase the happiness of the larger society}
Let B = {Things which I'm capable of doing well}
Let C = {Things that I will enjoy doing}
Let D = {Things I'm doing now}

ABC = A ∩ B ∩ C
(∩ denotes intersection)

Questions :

Is D = ABC?
Is D a subset of ABC
Is D ∩ ABC non-empty, atleast?

An attempt to answer these will be in my thoughts for a few weeks from now, and possibly will be the content for my next post here.

Inspirations for the attempt were from a regrouping of few SFI comrades (TK, Naga, Biren and yours truely) at CET last week and a 2005 talk by P. Sainath titled "Globalising Inequality" which I watched yesterday.

(Similarity to the hedgehog circles of Jim Collins is acknowledged. It was Bharat who told me about them first.)

[Facutly in] CHARGE

2008-09-24T19:20:00.008+05:30

What is the role of "faculty in charge" in various activities happening in a college campus?

Administration allots every non-routine and many routine administrative work to faculty. It might be because they believe that their job ends once the work is allotted. Getting hold of someone responsible for not doing that work is as good as (or sometimes even better than) getting that work done.

All student activities need a faculty "advisor". It might be because, for the administration, it a priori fixes the scape goat if something goes wrong. For the students, it gives a liaison officer to the administration.

So being a teacher in a college campus, you never know where and when you will step on a charge. It's like walking on a charged mine field. If interested you can read about the charged mines that I have stepped on in my three and a half years as a teacher. In fact this blog post was triggered by the above.

There are positive, negative and neutral charges. A positive charge is a kind of charge that charges you up. A negative charge is one which does the opposite and a neutral charge is one which does neither.

Charges can come either as orders or as requests. The second is very difficult to refuse, but the first is impossible.

Some charges can be transmitted from one faculty to another. It can flow even against the existing field. The barrier potential is different for different faculty. Barrier potential is defined as the work required in bringing a unit charge from infinity to the person.

Charges can be transmitted over a wire, especially those terminated with RJ11 or RJ45 jacks.

Charges can be stored and sometimes storing the charge does increase the potential of the storer.

Charges are particles - they take up (your shelf) space and time. And they have a mass too.

Charges are waves - they cause interference patterns.

A moving charge can produce a magnetic field. You can observe it as deflections on a special type of compass called the head. The deflection due to the magnetic field is often perpendicular to the direction of motion of the charge.

Charges are mortal. After death, they go to reports and home pages.

Love in the time of Chickenpox

2008-07-29T23:13:00.002+05:30

In fact it was a rediscovering of a love - my love affair with solitude. Ramuvettan told me right when the blisters on my back were confirmed to be those of Chickenpox - "It will be a time to recollect yourself." After a painful stretch of three days when my eyes were also ordered to rest, things suddenly changed. Rest of the fortnight was bliss. This is the summary -

ഖസാകിന്റെ ഇതിഹാസം (The epic of Khasakh) - O. V. Vijayan
The Unbearable Lightness of being - Milan Kundera (It was abandoned midway a few months back)
ബോബനും മോളിയും - ലക്കം 15 (Boban and Molly, Volume 15) - Toms
മിണ്ടാപ്പെണ്ണു (Mindapennu) - Uroob.
19, കനാല് റോഡ് (19, Canal Road) - Sreebala K. Menon
Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins (One-third way through)
Introduction to Topology and Modern Analysis - G. F. Simmons (Part I)

Other things that made the pox-time special was that it was the first time my wife got a chance to play the role of the master and caretaker.

Even at the cost of a few days of leave without pay and a few permanent pits in the skin, a chickenpox vacation is worth availing.

എനിക്ക് മരണമില്ല

2008-06-06T16:29:00.002+05:30

എനിക്ക് മരണമില്ല.
"ഞാന്" മരിക്കാതെ എനിക്ക് മരണമില്ല.

ജീവനോടെ ജീര്ണിക്കുമീ
സ്വപ്നങ്ങള് മണ്ണ് ചേര്ന്നാലും എനിക്ക് മരണമില്ല.

Insubordination

2008-03-28T12:06:00.005+05:30

The word insubordination always brings to my mind a memo issued to me and Remesh Sir by Mr. Mahadevan (when he was principal of GEC Bartonhill) a week after we had entered his office with some 35 other faculty members to register our protest against his vulturous preying on the week.

That you, Mr. R. Deepak had broken into the chamber of the undersigned on the ... Your act amounts to insubordination, gross disobedience, indisciplinary behavior, dereliction of duty and instigating other staff members to revolt against the principal ....

I had since then cherished that memo as a certificate of merit and throned "insubordination" as a virtue. But today, the word insubordination flashed in my mind for an entirely different reason.

For last few months I was feeling that I don't get time to think nothing [1]. Even today, when I had no classes to engage (thanks to Raagam 2008) , I was still frustrated about the lack of mental free time. Today in my office room, I started searching the Internet for that lost time; I began reading articles about time management for teachers. It was then that Devi Chechi came to to clean the room. So I left the room for her, fetched some water and went to the nearby PG classroom which was deserted (thanks again to Raagam 2008).

There I was thinking about why people spend so much time planning for what to do and so little time planning for what to think (and what not to). Is it not because of that lack of planning for what to think that the joy of thinking nothing has become so rare for me?

Then I looked out of the window on the left, right into the dense green leaves of trees flanging our building. Greenery always brings to my mind a glorified picture of my childhood vacations at my grandparents' place. This time, it also brought two questions along.

Does greenery bring the same class of feelings to everyone?
Does greenery (or the lack of it) around you during your childhood have any lasting impact on your value system?

I left the first question unanswered since the second one had more exciting prospects.

If you grow up in a pristine environment, you imbibe the value that humans are subordinate to nature and that they have to learn and adapt themselves to live in this nature. They get to know the joy of subordination to nature - the joy of falling from branches of the guava tree, the joy of getting bitten by ants living in mango trees, the joy of getting frightened by the mooing of a cow, the joy of running to shelter when rain strikes you by surprise, the joy of the pain of lemon thorns under your feet, ...

In a city you grow up seeing how man has conquered and reshaped nature to fit to his petty needs. You get to know the arrogance of insubordination to nature. You see water made to flow your way, you see wind made to blow your way, you see fire packaged in red cylinders arriving on cycles at your door step, you see earth shaped to hold your house, you see the skies scared off further high by the sky scrappers. You might end up believing that every thing can be done according to your plan.

You end up believing that you can even plan and find time to think nothing.

--
[1] Thinking nothing is my favorite pass time. Most of my blog posts on en-route are nothing but an afterthought of thinking nothing.

I got married.

2008-03-03T16:51:00.010+05:30

Decisions in life have never been crisp for me. I cannot mark a single date for most of the important decisions in my life. The process of such a long stretched decision making often leaves me with a rich treasure of emotional excursions but with no definite (one blog) answer to the reasons behind the final decision. The case with my marriage was no different.

Vinita and I got married on Feb 16, 2008 at Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi Kshetram, Kollam. The event was effectuated and enlivened by a few close relatives of Vinita and a few close friends of us.

"But is not an event in fact more significant and noteworthy the greater the number of fortuities necessary to bring it about? Everything that occurs out of necessity, everything expected, repeated day in and day out, is mute. Only chance can speak to us" ~ Milan Kundera (Unbearable Lighness of Being)

I was of a marriable age, and the divorce case of Vinita was nearing verdict when we met at Government Engineering College Bartonhill as colleagues. We were sorrowfully happy to realize that we understood each other quite well and quite effortlessly. It took a string of fortuitous happenings and introspective and societal analysis before for we slowly landed onto the decision of spending the rest of the life together. Though impossible to foretell, we had to make sure that Vinita's five year old son Nandu won't reject this idea outright. I had a few chances to meet him and our interaction boosted our confidence and joy.

I discussed the matter out with a few close friends of mine, and each of those interactions proved over and over again that I'm not the mad one out. Then I discussed it with my mother who was expectedly shocked and stated her firm refusal of my proposal. It was during that time that my brother's marriage got fixed and so Vinita and I decided to postpone the next step till that marriage was over.

Looking back, those ten months now seems to have been a blessing in disguise. If not for those ten months, I wouldn't have been so confident to answer in negative any questions about whether I'm acting in an infatuation.

Meanwhile, the news leaked out among the lady faculty of GEC Bartonhill, mostly through a well wisher who pained herself by assuming that she too is responsible for this fate of mine. Wish she had known better about my ways of decision making in life. But here again, it was for the better. With every new person coming to know about our affair, we were getting the feel that our affair is more and more natural.

In between I moved out of GEC Bartonhill to join NIT Calicut. In company of extreme liberals named MuSa and Ramuvettan, who believed in me more than I myself did.

The week after my brother's marriage was over, I found time to announce my state and my decision to my father. Expectedly, he too spared no words in trying to convince me of my madness and in stating his refusal to accept my decision.

I took the conscious decision of keeping my other relatives (including my brother) uninformed for two reasons, both of which are painful to me.

Those who don't support will take pains to convince me against this, which they won't realize to be futile until I go ahead and do it. Then not only do I take them through the pain of my decision but also through the pain of my disobedience to them.
Those who do support, will find it it a very hard time to try and talk to my father. Not only would they be powerless to convince my father, they would also end up being in the betrayer's list of him.

So all that was left to me was to go ahead and finish the legal formalities of marriage and then give my parents a second chance.

What happened then was not a planned flow of events, but a landslide of shocks, probable conspiracies, sternness, unconditional support, will power, conviction, unsuccessful attempts, soothing concern, crisis management, unexpected helps and finally the ritual marriage at Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi Kshetram. The time was 5.30 in the evening and none of the people involved would have rested their mind or body for a second that day till that time.

If life had agreed to tread the plans chartered by mortals, then on Feb 16th, we would have signed our marriage under Special Marriage Act in front of the Sub-registrar at Kollam.

But, it seems that life wanted to speak to us again in the language of chance.

Am I what I think I'm?

2008-02-15T17:00:00.002+05:30

Whether the answer is an yes or a no, its only what I think, and not what it is. Just a perception and not reality.

How do we find anything about the reality without distorting it by our perception of it? May be I'll find out tomorrow.

What does it take to 'write'?

2007-12-29T23:19:00.000+05:30

To me, 'writing' is a conversation with you. You are an infinitely patient and positively criticizing listener.

Before publishing any of my sentences to the world, I discuss it with you as long as it takes for it to reach a level of clarity and impact. Writing, many a times, turns out to be a process of crystallization of vague thoughts into a clear structure. And I like it that way. I loose the joy of writing if I wait till the crystallization is complete in thought. And we share the innate joy of watching an idea crystallizing into a sentence.

I like to be with you only when we have a room all for ourselves and I don't have any imminent deadlines to meet. I never take you along when I go out for work or to party. I don't tell you good bye when I leave and never tell you when I'll be back. I never call you when I'm out, or answer your calls. But you don't complain.

In fact you never complain. That's according to me your worst habit and that's the reason I love you most and that's the reason I write so less, and thats the reason I enjoy writing the most.

I know that you are nothing but a ghost of my own creation. But I can never believe so. At least, not when I'm writing.

Fish Pond

2007-12-13T17:16:00.000+05:30

I joined as lecturer in NIT Calicut yesterday. Inside the administrative block , on the ground floor, there are two small fish ponds. Some big gold fish were swimming in one of them in company of an angel and a turtle. I was waiting there for some reason and my mindless eyes were on those gold fish for a long time. When my mind joined the eyes, it started a conversation with them.

Fish (to me): Which direction should we be swimming?

My mind (to me): Ahh, It's that same old Alice in Wonderland question

'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,'
'I don't know where. . .'
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,'

My mind (to me): Ohh, let me not be so philosophical. Let me try, if I can help those fishes. Think. Think.

think ...
think ...

My mind (to the fish): It doesn't matter which way you swim. What matters is that you have to swim.

[Post Script]

We are just two lost souls, swimming in a fish bowl, year after year.
Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

~ Roger Waters, David Gilmore, "Wish You Were Here" c. 1975 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd.

സുഖമോ ദേവി

2007-12-08T20:23:00.000+05:30

"സ്വപ്നത്തില്‍ നിന്നും യാഥാര്ത്യ്‌ ത്തിലേക്കുള യാത്രയില്‍ പരമാവതി പൊട്ടിച്ചിരിക്കാന്‍ ശ്രമിക്കുക. ആ പൊട്ടിചിരിയാണു ജീവിതം എന്ന റിയാലിറ്റി. ചെറുപ്പം ചെറുപ്പകാലത്തു തന്നെ കളിച്ചു തീര്ത്ത കലാകാരന്മാരായ എന്റെ രണ്ടു സുഹ്രുത്തുക്കള്‍. കുഞ്ജുവിളയും സൈമണ്‍ മാത്യുവും. ഇവരുടെ ഓര്മയ്ക്കു മുന്നില്‍ ഒരു നല്ല സിനിമ എന്ന എന്റെ ആഗ്രഹം ഞാന്‍ സമര്പ്പിക്കുകയാണു. നിങ്ങള്‍ വളര്ത്തിയെടുത്ത, നിങ്ങളുടെ വേണു നാഗവള്ളി."

ഈ സിനിമ ഞാന്‍ ഇന്നു ഒന്നുകൂടി കണ്ടു.

ഇത്തവണ, ഇതിലെ സണ്ണി എന്ന സൈമണ്‍ മാത്ത്യു എന്റെ അടുത്ത സുഹ്രുത്തായ പ്രിയന്റെ ചിറ്റപ്പനാണു എന്ന തിരിച്ചറിവോടു കൂടി.

വേരുകള്‍ തേടി

2007-11-29T18:39:00.000+05:30

deepak@kaayaloram:~$ ls /root/
ls: /root/: Permission denied

Two Cities (Not A Tale of)

2007-09-09T08:06:00.000+05:30

There are two Trivandrums that I see. One that I see from the driving seat of my Maruthi Zen and the other that I see from the window seat of a City Bus.

No no, I'm not talking about the Trivandrum of the haves and the Trivandrum of the have nots. Even when I understand that it is an important topic to write on, I don't have statistics to do that. Now, I'm just talking about the looks of the city.

I had left Trivandrum in Island Express[1] in July 2002 and returned driving my Zen in March 2005. I've given the Zen to workshop yesterday for a round of patching and polishing and so he will be away for this whole week.

Ever since I had returned to Trivandrum, I was mostly seeing the city from the driving seat of the Zen. And I too had the waves of surprise, nostalgia, appreciation and back pain. But today, with him in the workshop, I took a City bus from Peroorkada to Statue, and got a window seat on the left row. Since I wasn't going for anything urgent, I was just absorbing the view of the city as a function of space while the bus accelerated and braked its way through the same old city. And again a new wave of surprise, nostalgia, appreciation and back pain rolled over me.

From the driving seat of my car, I see the city as an arrangement of roads, traffic islands, traffic signals, turns and parking spaces. From the bus I see the city as a string of shops and people waiting in the bus stands. (A third way of seeing the city is when I take a walk with some of my friends, and then I hardly see the city.)

Is the first view when I traverse the city with a purpose and the second when I just absorb the journey? Is the first about the results and the second about the details? Is the first about the me of today and the second about the me of yesterday?

No no, I think the first is about me keeping myself busy in thoughts.

Am I depriving me of a sweet joy by keeping myself busy in thoughts? Plans, analysis and purpose. Are they all conspiring to take away a different view of this world from me?

Ahhh. Its analysis again. Stop.

Notes:
1. Thats not that train's official name since ages, but people just don't call it Kanyakumari Bangalore Express. Local historians say that It was originaly named after Wellington Island in Kochi.

Democracy in action?

2007-07-23T19:25:00.000+05:30

An SMS conversation.
July 22, 2007, 2 pm at VHSC School, PMG.

1. My SMS to Biren, Divya and Baiju Sir :

Am I seeing democracy in action? I'm in ward sabha of kunnukuzhi ward on behalf of my principal. More than 90% here are women.

2. Reply from Baiju Sir :

Its not for nothing that India is hailed as the biggest democracy.

3. Reply from Biren :

Let us not glorify it seeing it as a surprise. In Kerala at least, we know democracy is in action at ground level. It is only that we never participate in it. So its a time to pity on us.

4. My reply to Baiju Sir, Copy to Biren :

I'm hunting in the terrains of my memory to recollect even one meeting that i have seen in which women outnumbered men.

5. Reply to Biren :

Ya true. I pity you. And you can pity me.

6. Reply from Biren to 4 :

Almost all saksharatha classes were like that.

7. Reply from Biren to 5 :

May be its time u are out of that US. Keep it up. I have to go a long way to be out of that. So let me pity myself.

8. From Biren :

BTW, who is the councilor there? Kunnukuzhi Manoharan?

9. Reply to Biren :

Ya. This is some experience da. And I know, this too won't contribute to any action from my part.

And it didn't. My headache defeated my excitement, and I left the place at 4pm after the meeting, but before the group discussions.

For those not familiar with the process of decision making under janakeeyasootranam :- Ward sabha in corporations and grama sabha in panchayaths are the most basic units of democracy. Its a place where direct democracy is supposed to be exercised. All the residents of that ward can attend the meeting and put forward their requirements from the government for the next year. This would include things like road to their place, electricity, water, employment opportunity etc. These requirements have to be made into informal project proposals. The councilor will take all these projects to the corporation where joint projects would me made out of it.

Naga, I know these kind of gatherings will be a routine for you. Thats why I didn't SMS you.

Finishing Skills

2007-07-19T21:32:00.000+05:30

I have this odd (or is it?) habit of starting to read a new book before finishing the one that I have been reading then. Its quite usual for me to be reading two or three books at the same time . Usually I'll end up having one book for the lazy mood, one for the alert mood, and one for the inspired mood.

By the way, I'm a very slow reader and sometimes very disloyal to books. I abandon many midway and those which I finish, I take ages to do it. That is the reason why I keep out of bibliophile gangs. Reading never comes to me naturally. Unless it is such a well written book. Classics like Idiot and Love at the time of cholera were abandoned mid way. Thats the kind of a Brutus that I'm.

But this last month or so, I have almost lost count of the books that I have left open on my table.

Hyperspace, A scientific odyssey through parallel universes, time warps and the tenth dimension by Michio Kaku.
Source : Rajani, my student and hence no due date!
Genre: Popular Science
Status: Two parts of the four part book.
Comment : A very informative and research provoking book.
The Magical Maze by Ian Stewart.
Source : British Council Library - Already renewed thrice. Due date Aug 9, 2007.
Genre: Popular Math
Status: Into the fourth chapter. Out of eight chapters.
Comment : Informative and easy read.
A Devil's Chaplain - Selected Essays by Richard Dawkins.
Source : British Council Library - Already renewed thrice. Due date Aug 9, 2007.
Genre: Essays, Evolution.
Status: Just a few paragraphs.
Comment : Not yet.
Chaos - Kramamillayimayil Kramam (കയോസ് - ക്രമമില്ലായ്മയിലെ ക്രമം) by K. Babu Joseph
Source : Randhir Sir, my colleague and hence no due date!
Genre: Popular Science, Malayalam.
Status: Two of eight chapters.
Comment : An introductory stuff.
The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru.
Source : British Council Library - Already renewed once. Due date Aug 9, 2007.
Genre: Politics, History, Philosophy.
Status: Into fourth chapter. Out of 10.
Comment : I'm determined to finish this one. The inspiring thoughts in the book which inspired me to dream but failed at inspiring me into action have bred another blog. - Orphaned Dreams
Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. Just got it two days ago.
Source : College library, GEC Barton Hill.
Genre : Philosophy
Comment : Promising.

Classes are beginning. I have lost hope in me now. I don't think I'm going to finish any of the above. How many things do I leave unfinished.

Dear authors, forgive this trespasser.

Oranges

2007-07-13T20:05:00.000+05:30

[I had originally posted this some time during Feb 2007 in my class website (glassroom) under the tag introspection. The server crash there had wiped out this along with so many other articles. But today I stumbled upon an off-line copy of this in my hard disk. So I'm reposting it here.]

Christ Nagar School, my second home during upper primary and high school education, was celebrating her annual day on Feb 9, 2007. It was hard to resist when the present vice-principal, Thomas Mani Sir invited me that afternoon to come to the function in the evening. When I came to know that Vimal was also going to be there, I had no second thoughts in going there.

After the PTA executive meeting at college, in which I somehow managed to stay awake, there was still about an hour left before the function. So I went to Museum compound, made two rounds of brisk walking and then retired to one of the garden chairs. I had timed the second round in my stopwatch and noticed that I could complete one round (which by the way is said to be 700 meters) in 6 minutes 28 seconds, and made a quick mental calculation to satisfy myself that I'm keeping over the 6 kmph mark (100 meters per minute).

While on the chair I was wondering looking at the pigeons there - "I know the mechanics behind how these birds fly, but do I know how they manage to get that forward thrust along with the lift?" Hm, may be it is the shaping of the wings, but I was wondering more on why I did not wonder about this anytime till now.

When I knew Vimal was going to be late, I washed my face at the museum canteen and proceeded to drive to Christ Nagar. After parking my zen on the road, I walked down the lane past the imposing and unforgettable crescent shaped school building and to the ground where the function was happening. The function had already begun and most of the plastic chairs were already claimed. I was infact happy to find the gallery seats vacant, and promptly claimed one.

Watching the kids from there was thought provoking. The small ones, the big ones, the volunteers, the trouble makers, the crisis managers ... How do they all grow up so differently in the same school?

Then I met Rajani and her friends, then Biju Sir and family, then Vimal, then Thomas Mani Sir and also Ouseph Bhai. We discussed lot many things and enjoyed the mega cultural events. The major programs were a big concert by the students and a visualization of Kerala history from Vasco-da-Gama to present. Some factual errors like substituting the "urumi" of Unniyarcha with a "vadi vaal" could be ignored considering the effort that has gone in.

We left at around 8.45 pm, I and Vimal promising to return the next day morning to help Mani sir configure the moodle installation.

Next day morning at 9.15 when I reached the ground, I found the plastic chairs waiting for the truck. I was thinking aloud to Vimal about my days at school. When the volunteers used to assemble at school on the morning after every big function to fold all the steel chairs and stack them back in the go-down. When I told this to Mani Sir, he said :

"Those days are gone. Now parents don't allow their children to volunteer for physical labor"

I was thinking of the orange in the food pack that we volunteers used to get after stacking all the chairs.

PS:
Moodle is up and ready in Christ Nagar.

Alice in Wonderland

2007-06-28T20:47:00.000+05:30

Two days ago (on June 26, 2007) - it was farewell party by the 2003-2007 batch EC students of GEC Barton Hill. The fellows had intimated us poor teachers the previous day that the function would begin at 11 am and had asked us not to bring our lunch to college that day. When the function didn't start even by half past twelve, I was telling to myself - "Hmm, I understand vengeance, but it shouldn't have been over food."

Anyway, the function started shortly, and after HoD and one or two people addressed the gathering, the students obliged to serve us the biriyani. (I was committed not to speak before food.) So after the staff had the biriyanis and the students had their ice creams (they wanted to end the party with food, I suppose), it was speeches' time again.

From last evening, I was thinking about what to tell my students on this important occasion. These two weeks, some of my B.Tech batch-mates (Rajeev, Sajith and Me) were having a very serious e-discussion on what Rajeev stated as The need to fundamentally reconcile "work" and "social responsibility". Since the spirit of that discussion was still hurting me, I decided to speak on those lines to my students.

So this is the jist of what I had spoken then - sans the repetitions and with more polished English. [This is noted down from memory. So those of who had heard the speech, please don't expect a transcript.]

Respected colleagues and dear students,

This is an occasion when memories and dreams wage a war to claim the emotional space inside you. Though, I understand that memories have much more chance to win, today I choose to speak more about the dreams.

With in about two to three years from now, most of you are going to make the most important choice in you lives. You are going to choose what you are going to with the rest of your life.

I know most of you are employed and many of you have more than one job to pick from. But I don't really consider that as any choice.

Some of you might have already wondered on what is the purpose of their lives. I don't intent to give an answer to that here. But in that process, some of you might have realised that it is impossible to remain happy when there is no happiness around you. And that you find the most happiness only when those around you too are happy. I'm addressing those who feel so.

Here again I don't have a one word answer on what to do. But there are some options that have come to my mind at different points in time. I'll try to present them here in an order of decreasing risk levels involved.

1. Join Politics

I have great respect to all politicians - except for those who are hand pulled to the chairs of power by their politically powerful parents. Even if it is for money or power, it is still a very courageous route to choose. And if it is to serve the society, then it is the most potential choice to that end. I didn't join politics only because I didn't have the courage for it.

2. Start your own company

India requires much more jobs to be created. If all of you are going to be employees who are going to be the employers for the next generation? Even if the motive is profit, I think you will be contributing to the happiness of your society. But if you can think beyond profit, think of alternative means of ownership and alternative ways of management too.

3. Join an NGO

Non Governmental Organisations still play an important role in most parts of India. The the ideal solution is to empower the local self government institutions, till the ideal solution is reached, I think being in an NGO you can directly help a lot of people.

4. Join a technology provider for the Government.

The centres that governments have set up to provide for its technological needs are finding it quite tough to attract and retain talented engineers. Most of the time, it is this lack of talent that stands in the way of modernisation of government. I don't need to tell to you the amount of effectiveness and efficiency that proper technology can bring to our governments.

5. Become a teacher.

Now we have reached the zero risk point in the gradation list it seems. It is for cowards like me who couldn't choose the higher ranked options. But still, at-least you take solace that you can speak about those options to your students! Here again many at times, many a people would have told you on the good that a good teacher can do to the society. [These days I'm actually wondering more on what bad that a bad/careless/uninformed/... teacher can do to the students].

6. Keep doing (for life) whatever your first employer makes you do.

But here again, try to do some service part-time. Be with the ones on the other cubicles, but then see the men on the street too. My personal experience so far tells me that part time activism doesn't take you that far. But again, I have some friends who have shown that it needn't be so.

I don't believe or advice that anyone of you should take one of the first 5 choices immediately. Each of it requires lot more of learning. Lessons from life and lessons from a relevant higher study. But when that point in life comes when you decide to choose, make the choice from a wide set of choices rather than choosing between this company or that company.

And don't postpone that choice for too long. Not more than 2-3 years. Coz, the constraints on you are only going to increase.

And if any of you decide to choose any of the first five options or for that matter, anything except the sixth, do leave me a note. I would love to share your joy.

Keep in touch. Keep mailing. Keep blogging.

--

Post Script: [From Alice in Wonderland]

'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,'
'I don’t know where. . .'
'Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,'

Fixing broken glass

2007-06-11T21:28:00.000+05:30

Glassroom, my website, was shattered by a server crash. Every meaning was lost because the meaning was not in the individual bits and pieces of the glassware but in their sequence and structure.

The list of losses is big.

The user accounts of all.
All the stories posted so far and the comments to them.
All the configurations and tweaks that I had done.
...

But not always do losses strike me quantitatively (read "as an enumerated list"). How this loss strikes me is as the loss of shared memory of a community. A case of Traumatic Amnesia.

But the community has to survive. Please join in folks (create new accounts) and start talking (posting stories and comments).

I will also try and add a feed from glassroom onto the sidebar of this blog.

Comments Please

2007-06-09T15:46:00.000+05:30

After having my second birth in blogam, I was a bit surprised (read "let down") to see that no one was commenting on my posts. Remember that it is the same me who was surprised one year back to see some comments on my posts even without having told anyone that i have a blog. That was when i knew nothing about RSS and Atoms and feed readers. (From there, i have learned so much so as to dare giving a lecture on Web2.0 to an audience of teachers and PG students in CET).

Thanks to nasia@exaggeration again for telling me that i had accidentally disabled the comments option. That was unintensional dear readers and critics (i hope there is audience), and please do comment if you were planning to. I love to hear from those who hear me.

By the way i'll also try and put up a "recent comments" block on the sidebar.

Humanly Impossible

2007-06-08T19:20:00.000+05:30

Another batch of my students had their last and final B.Tech theory exam today. Its my third batch of students passing out. At the principal's office I met three of them who were there to discuss with him about giving a memorandum for liberal valuation of some of the papers.

What are the top N reasons why students fail in engineering colleges now?

Sir, the valuation was very tough. There are cases of students who have failed to score 40 marks inspite of having written more than 40 pages.
My comment : Unacceptable.
Sir, the question paper had so many problems. We were thorough with the theory but we couldn't do any of the problems.
My comment : Unbelievable.
Sir, in the programming lab we were asked to write our own programs. We had studied all the programs in our lab record, but the examiner was not ready to ask any of them.
My comment : Injustice.
Sir, only some one who knows what we studied in S3 could answer those questions in the S5 paper.
My comment : Unethical.

But today, from those three at the principal's office, i heard a very strange reason on why the S8 Artificial Neural Network exam was tough.

Sir, we needed to think as well as write.
My comment : Humanly Impossible

ഡോക്ടര്‍ ഗ്സ്പാര്‍ ആര്നെറി

2007-06-07T20:06:00.000+05:30

ഡോക്ടര്‍ ഗ്സ്പാര്‍ ആര്നെറി
എന്തെന്തൊരു വൈഭവശാലി !
കൌശലമുള്ളൊരു നരിയെപ്പോലും
കെണിയില്‍ വീഴ്ത്തും കെങ്കേമന്
കൂറ്റന്‍ പാറ തകറ്ത്തീടും
ചൊവ്വയ്ലേക്കു പറ്ന്നീടും
കണെത്താത്തൊരു നക്ഷത്രത്തില്
ചെന്നെത്തമാ ഡോക്ടര്ക്കു !

So many things made this vaccation (May 2007) special to me. One thing (not the most important one by any count) was the collection of russian stories (translated to malayalam) that i took from Divya. She hand picked the books from her collection and also decided the order in which I should read them.

മായാലോകം - a wonderful collection of juvenile fantasies.
പുഴയിലെ ദീപങ്ങള് - role models, role models, living role models... we had many, but who among us will become one to our next gen?
കടലോരതു ഒരു ബാലന്‍ - spotting goodness
ജീവിത വിദ്യാലയം - a man's richness is to be measured by the diversity of his experiences
മൂണു തടിയന്മാര്‍ - Doctor Gaspar Arnery ...

ന്യൂറ, സുവോക്ക് - unforgettable characters - but to me, someone so mine.

had i read all these at an age meant for them, would i be different from what i'm now? hm ... any way it wouldn't have been as different as it would have been if the driver of the sumo wasn't as responsive as he was when the feat threw me onto his tyres.

what is the apriori probability that i'm what i'm among the infinitely many possibilities? sure its zero if the infinity is uncountable and i believe it is so. but zero probablity events do happen. or would i be what i'm?

... so unlucky is this world. me being different was an almost sure event which didn't happen ... and so lucky is me - compliment of an almost sure event that did happen.

i'm not chokking, but i don't want a hand around my neck now. so ...

Separater

2007-06-07T19:30:00.000+05:30

Saturday, September 09, 2006
ഇനി ഞാന്‍ ഉറങ്ങട്ടെ (Let me sleep now)

- that was my last posting here. was it that nothing was happening with my life since then? NO. NO. so many things were happening. Now even Blogger saves your drafts automatically!

so much has happened since Sep 9, 06. i'll do the recollection some time in december. but what brought me back here were two blogs. exaggeration by my ex-student nasia and tvmtalkies by my friend brahma (alias bvn).

i know so much can be done on a blog. but who cares.

it doesn't come out. it is stuck. it hasn't taken shape (read words). its swelling. i'm chokking.

and i need firefox2 - Even now Blogger doesn't have a spell checker.

ഇനി ഞാന്‍ ഉറങ്ങട്ടെ (Let me sleep now)

2006-09-09T14:19:00.000+05:30

After visiting Subin, Amina and their son (who was named Nevin Subin the next day), I went to Biren's house to drop Divya. There I found a copy of "ഇനി ഞാന്‍ ഉറങ്ങട്ടെ" (Ini Njan Urangatte) lying there. I was feeling a bit low then and was unable to progress through the other books that I had started (Russel's An outline of Philosophy and Remarkable Mathematicians). But "ഇനി ഞാന്‍ ഉറങ്ങട്ടെ" happened to be one of those clutching works that reads itself out for you. It read out itself for me in two days and left my mind wandering then on.

This is the third work based on Mahabharatham that I'm reading after Bhaarathaparyadanam by Maraar and Randamoozham by MT, and I would regard this only below the other two. But like the other two, this too stengthens my amazement and respect for the epic of epics. I wonder if there is any better reference for sociology, psychology and philosophy.

Here, the emotional turbulence inside Droupadi leaves you with some answers and so many more questions.

Silence in The GoST

2006-07-29T22:45:00.000+05:30

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy is one book that had left me worshipping the author. Though I started reading it to improve my vocabulary skills during my preparations for GRE, I was caught, whirled and drowned in the intense current of emotions that run through the story. She tells me in punctilious language the feelings that I always had but could never give words. The intensity of emotions and the wisdom of observations are all breath taking.

To put here all the lines that knocked me off the floor would take pages. To illustrate her richness of imagery, let me collect the various pictures of silence that she paints at different locations in the story.

The silence sat between the grand-niece and baby grand aunt like a third person. A stranger. Swollen. Noxious.

Silence hung in the air like a secret loss

The silence gathered its skirts and slid, like Spiderwoman, up the slippery bathroom wall.

The silence was unsure of this compromise

And Ousa the Bar Nowl watched the pickle-smelling silence that lay between the twins like a bruise.

In the factory the silence swooped down once more and tightened around the twins. But this time it was a different kind of silence. An old river silence. The silence of Fisher People and waxy mermaids.

The silence dipped and soared and swooped and looped like a figure of eight.

Nature's Numbers

2006-07-24T18:20:00.000+05:30

Another one of the catch from British Library. A book by Ian Stewart on the mathematical secrets hidden in nature. Presents a very pleasant view of mathematics. But didn't impress me much with his overall message.

Excerpt

Mathematicians are forced to resort to written symbols and pictures to describe their world - even to each other. But the symbols are no more that world than musical notation is music.

Evolutionary explanations of human behaviour

2006-07-24T17:58:00.000+05:30

The membership that i took very recently at the British Council Library was first put to use in borrowing this book by John Cartwright.

A very informative and readable book that I would recommend to any one wondering why humans behave the way they do most of the time. I warn you, that it might let you down; especially if you are a person who believes that there is a purpose to life.

Two lines from the book that stayed back with me

One awesome implication of Darwinism, that many find difficult to stomach, is that there is no ultimate purpose, design or destiny to the natural world. Natural selection is not driving life to any purticular end or goal, although it is capable of producing intelligent beings such as ourselves wo can worry about this.