Zero

The numbers are many, but the zero is special,

The round and hollow leads others to follow;

In the vast and expanding space,

Find out how the number got its rightful place.

Least amused were the Greeks when it ducked the axiom of Archimedes,

Aristotle, the lighting house of the society, so much despised it,

God was summoned to deny the moron for centuries;

Thus orphaned the conception of the Babylonians,

But the Indians embraced it like their own child,

They nourished its soul, so to make it play and run in wild;

The invading Arabs saw the virtue, they took it wherever they ventured,

The number thus learned to do business in the east and the west;

The Renaissance threw the light, suddenly the number was shining bright,

No longer was Aristotle right, the zero finally won the fight;

Even strange is the twin sibling, the infinity, the limitless,

‘Cause no subtraction changes it;

Pascal, when combined the pair, Was pleased to find the Almighty there;

The poor mathematics was in trouble,

When the logic and the proof were gone out of the roof;

It takes faith to believe in the void, the nothing, and in the infinity, the everything.

Newton and Leibniz saw the roots of Calculus,

That changed the face of the craft, for once and all;

Physicists find it in the creation and destruction of the universe,

Like the Lord Natraj in His dancing pause;

Be it zero hour of the big bang,

Or the ground zero of the black hole,

Zero triumphantly appears in them all;

Nothing can be created from nothing, so they thought,

But it has all the worldly powers, the nought,

So the zero shall live on, when all of us are gone.

The Flight, the Plight and the Might

Today is a super Sunday. I participated in Bangalore Sunfeast World 10K Run in the morning. In the afternoon, I have a flight to Ahmedabad – yes, I am going home for a vacation. But the special thing about this flight is that my best friend Alpesh is going to cruise the plane in the air. So after a wonderful run, I am eagerly waiting for the afternoon to meet him on the board.

I start very early for the airport, thinking that I may encounter heavy traffic on the way to the airport, which was not the case this time. I reached much before the scheduled time, but the moment I enter the airport, I get a message from the airline that my flight will take off thirty minutes late as it gets delayed in Kolkata from where the aircraft is supposed to come. No problem, I can wait that much. But the weather gods have different plans. Suddenly Bangalore weather turns windy and rainy, with clouds covering the sky all over. In a moment heavy rainfall starts, with sky-splitting lightening and deafening roar. The mad flurry goes on for hours and the flight-delay jumps from thirty minutes to two hour. But what can I possibly do in this situation? I try to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s book, but lack of sleep and tiredness of the day full of activities don’t allow me to read – the words just fly in front of my eyes! I stop reading and sleep for some time. When I wake up after a little sleep, I come to know that the flight has delayed by another two hours – yes, you heard it correctly; total four hours delay for a two hours flight! The wait grows longer and longer, it seems like it will go on till the eternity. I turn to my iPod for some relief, but poor little music player is in no mood to help – it plays Buck Owens’s How Long Is Forever. Finally after toying around with the book, the iPod and sleep for unsuccessfully, my wait is over as the plane arrives.

I see him, dressed in impeccable white of aviators, waiting for me when I board the flight. It feels very good to see him. After a long time, we have met. I remember the days when we used to chat endlessly – contemplating about life was our favorite pastime, which continues to be the case even these days, but we don’t see each other much now because of our professional commitments. The advantage of having a pilot friend is that you get to see inside the cockpit. I sneak a look inside the cockpit – it’s full of small and large displays, buttons, knobs and what not. There is not an inch of empty space.

As my plane takes off, after a long delay, I watch out of the window – I see roads, huge buildings, houses etc. As we go up, these things get smaller and smaller. After a while, they are reduced to a tiny dot on the surface of the earth. From above, I can only see occasional lake, a river or a mountain, or just green patches of forests – the things with which the Creator made the world. And it is how it was supposed to be, until the powerful processor of human machinery, the brain, started to think otherwise. He divided the land, the rivers, the mountains, and even the God! In his quest for quality life (not sure of what quality), he replaced what was naturally provided by his own creations of machines and buildings. There is no problem in having strived for quality life but the problem with we humans is that we have consumed a lot of natural resources to produce this life we so dearly desire. And in return, we have not contributed positively to the nature. As George Orwell noted in his book, Animal Farm, “Man is the only creature who consumes without producing.” Unwittingly we are working towards our own destruction. We happily think that we are creating something unique – be it a baby or a robot. But more we create, more resources are wasted. That triggers a self-destruction, albeit a slower one. How well can we dupe ourselves! Or is it the case of the Creator disguising us? Don’t believe me? See how well our planet rotates around its axis and around the Sun, but we always feel that we are standing on the earth that always stands still. This may be the Creator’s ultimate purpose of putting brain in our heads; so that we can prepare the blueprint of our own destruction.[1] In Nature, all the things have to end; there is no special treatment for anyone! This is going to be a slow end (a billion years, may be) Remember T. S. Eliot’s The Hollow Men? :

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but with a whimper.

The plane is flying between the clouds and they create a dark, demonic print on the mind. The scene outside the window darkens the thought of the end of the universe. Now I can be wrong about this whole thing. Ask my friends, they will cheer to the fact that I am wrong in almost 90% of the cases. The case of remaining 10% is even more curious – I am plain lucky in those! Before I paint grimmer picture of the world, my thought is halted by an air-hostess. The other advantage of having a pilot friend is that all these crew members treat you royally. You can actually feel that their smile is not sugar-coated and fake.

The scene outside the window is better now. The clouds are dispersed. The evening sun is setting down in the west. Some of the clouds have worn orange linings. It’s beautiful the way different colors have painted the sky – white, black, grey, gold, orange are all filling the canvas. We are above the clouds now. From the top the clouds give the impression as if the waves of the oceans have frozen in air. I don’t exactly remember when sleep gets hold of me. When I wake up after the landing, my iPod plays the sobering thought:

Jaisi bachi hai waisi ki waisi bacha lo ye duniya,

apna samaj ke apno ke jaisi utha lo ye duniya.

---

[1] I am glad that the Creator didn’t choose George Orwell’s totalitarian recipe to destroy the world though. To be stripped of the ability to think and to revolt is worse than being shot down. You can only die once with a bullet!

Run Maadi Run!

The day has started very early today. Today is the day for the second edition of Bangalore Sunfeast 10K World Run. It is the most prestigious 10K run in the world. I got up at six in the morning. My run is scheduled at 8:10, but I leave at 6:30 with my friends as we want to watch Elite 10K Run and also do some warm-up exercises before the actual run starts.

 People from all walks of life are flocking in Kanteerava stadium this morning. A giant screen set in the stadium shows professional long distance runners competing for the top honor. While we are doing some stretching, we see a group of runners entering from the main gate. An Ethopian, Deriba Merga, is leading the pack. He finishes the race in 28 minutes and 13 seconds to be eventual winner. Pretty impressive! How fitting it is that he has bib number 1 on his chest! But he doesn’t get it easily. The runner-up, Mark Kiptoo of Kenya, is just two seconds behind him. It must be heart-breaking for him – but there can be only one winner; the life is tough!

 As soon as the female elite runners start their race, people all around us start to get to the running track. We are going to run in a few minutes now. But it’s not at all easy to reach to the track. Total 23000 people have registered for the run, and Open 10K run, in which I am participating, has 8000 runners. Eager to touch the track, enthusiasm gets better of us and we jump the barricade just to be a little ahead of other runners. Even the security person standing there watches in awe, as we get pass him. I don’t get to see the winner of female elite run, as our run starts in a few seconds. It’s like flood of humanity. In the beginning I walk, since it’s impossible to clear the rush. I just watch the people around – so many of them, dressed in different colors. Some of them are dressed up to win the costume award. The real diversity is on display here. Many of them are running for a cause – charity NGOs they are supporting: these NGOs work for destitute children, children with special abilities, aged people, women, environment, health, primary education etc. This seems to be the best way to engage people in charity work. We need to give them sense of purpose and involvement – then they will be involved in charity work. Only asking for their money is not the surest way – money alone does not bring the satisfaction, whether you are giving it away or earning it in lumps.

 The city roads wear a completely different look today. There is no usual long traffic jams. No vehicles are to be seen, and it’s a relief not to breath carbon and put the lungs to trouble. I can hear the chirping of the birds. Now that’s quite rare in Bangalore, where honking of vehicles is the only real music you can hope to satisfy your hearing senses with on a busy day. Before today, I never noticed how may trees are lined up on these roads; most of them are gulmohar trees with red flowers as their ornaments. Only movement seems to be of runners. Bangalore beats, and sometimes it beats to the different tunes! By the time I reach to the Dickenson Road, I overtake many slow runners. I notice a runner in front of me. Actually I notice his shoes, if you can really call it one. It’s a peculiar type of shoes, of military green and grey color. It rather gives the impression that it’s marriage of a sock and a shoe – only difference here is that they are locked forever in sanctity of the marriage, there is no way they can get divorce.  

            Soon I see 5 km mark on the road. Wow! I have completed half the distance and I didn’t bother to look at my timing in my watch – but there were better things to look at. I am feeling a little tired now. In a moment an aged barefooted person overtakes me, panting heavily and completely soaked in sweat. He looks like above sixty, but his legs put even an eighteen years old to shame. I draw some inspiration from him, and try to follow him. The remaining part of the motivation comes from the crowd gathered to cheer the runners. They have occupied the footpath on both sides of the roads. Some of them are clicking the pictures. I wonder how difficult it may be for them to get up early on a Sunday just to see people running and cheering them up! Two gentlemen holding a poster give us a thumbs-up. The poster happily announces, “The finish line is near. Keep Running”. 

             When I see the finish line, I start sprinting. The thought of crossing it rubs away the tiredness of the body. I see a runner in Parikrama NGO outfit. The line on his t-shirt says it all – No Difference at the Finish Line. As I cross the finish line, I think about it - that is what running is all about. It doesn’t matter what is your caste, or creed, or religion. It’s important to get the feet on the street, determination at the starting line and more importantly, the perseverance to reach to the finish line. 

Valley Of Flowers

The Road is treachery, and long,

But I keep walking on, accompanied by a birdsong;

Savoring the dream of reaching the valley,

Where flowers bloom in plenty;

 

There I see them, in all colors and sizes,

They gleam as the morning sun rises;

The lazy ones are still in deep slumber,

But they are very less in number;

 

A river stream madly runs over a few,

As if it wants to make them anew;

Pink, yellow, purple, white and red,

Smiling at me, making me glad;

 

A bee kisses the purple one,

A butterfly runs hither-thither to have all the fun;

The mountains around protect them all,

From rain, sun and heavy snow-fall;

 

A narrow bridge takes one to the vast land,

Where all the colors blend;

Some feet away lies Lady Legge’s grave,

But to think she died here is too naïve;

 

She threw herself happily around,

In the ocean of flowers, unbound;

Mother Nature turned her into a beautiful flower,

Being one of them, now she stays here forever;

 

The search is over; the daaman is all over;

Time to go, but the heart says never;

Flowers wave merrily behind my back,

I promise to them I will be soon treading on the same track.

==========================================

* In 1939 Miss Margaret Legge, a botanist deputed by the Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh arrived at the valley for further studies. While she was traversing some rocky slopes to collect flowers, she slipped off and was lost for ever. Her sister later visited the valley and erected a memorial on the spot where she was buried by the locals. The thoughtful memorial is still there.

* Lines from Andaleeb Shadani's composition Der lagi aane me...

Shafak Dhanuk Mehtaab Ghataayen Taare Naghmen Bijli Phool,
Us Daaman Mein Kya Kya Kuch Hai Wo Daaman Haath Mein Aaye To ...

Shafak = break of dawn; Dhanuk = rainbow; Mehtaab = moon

* I visited the place in July 2008, but now also I remember the sensation of touching those beautiful little flowers. A must-visit place for everyone. Check out the pictures at : http://picasaweb.google.co.in/brijesh.gajera/ValleyOfFlowers# 

Thus Spake EVMs

 

The Indian parliamentary election result is out at last! The marathon is over and the joy of crossing the finish line is doubled looking at the result. The day before everybody was anticipating a fractured verdict from Indian voters, where regional and other small parties would dominate the political scene. Many people were ready to watch a long political battle on television and horse-trading in the parliament. Some jittery stock market traders had envisaged Black Monday on 18^th May, 2009. This was natural considering the prevalent politics and chaotic nature of functioning of the country. But, as many experts on the subject would say, there is a certain method to India’s madness. Faithful says that God runs this country. Once in a year, devotees in Puri roll the Juggernaut of Lord Jagannath. Rest of the time the God runs the juggernaut called India! Completely surprised by the election results, and shocked for a moment (if you are a supporter of BJP’s nationalism sans fundamentalism, you ought to be shocked), I tried to compile a list of takeaways from this election results. Check them out:

 

·        The winner takes it all, so credit goes to Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi. This election may be coming-of-age of Rahul Gandhi. He deserves all the accolades for bringing Congress back in UP. The boy is a man now! The man in the blue turban must be the happiest man. The other day Nandan Nilekani remarked that this is the win of sincerity. As the title song of Singh Is King goes, “Dil Agar Ho Sacha Rab Sab Karde Setting, Singh Is King... ” So Manmohan’s sincerity and integrity have struck chord with the voters. But the real reason I see behind the mandate is that people want a government which is neither right nor left. As a communist leader, Mohit Sen, once pointed, India can not be governed either from the 'right' or the 'left'. India can only be governed from the 'centre'.  Farooq Abdulla also echoed the sentiments of the people when he said: People of India wants a secular India, India for every religion and place. The Congress Party has found its footing in that centre now. Read Re-centering the Congress Party.

 

·        The biggest satisfaction I have from the result is the defeat of Left parties. They seem to be living in a different time, and the world has changed more than the color of the hair of some of the veteran Marxist leaders. It’s quite an achievement of Mamata Banerjee and Congress party to oust them in their own bastion, West Bengal. The Left has to do some introspection – the people of this country no longer see what these ideologues want them to see.

 

·        BJP was hoping to come back to power, but they in fact lost more seats than last time. The message is clear for them – They cannot be extreme right and they cannot win by only shouting about the non-existent issues. They should have disowned Varun Gandhi the moment his hate speech was delivered. They have to have some soft centrist leader, like Atal Behari Vajpayee, who sensed the nerve of the people of India and tried to move BJP towards centre. They also need to understand that they cannot oppose the government only because they are in opposition. Supporting the nuclear deal, in national interest, at the time when even Congress allies were opposing it would have given them a more constructive and acceptable image. Also they badly need some young and energetic leader who doesn’t just savor the dream of heading the central government.

 

·        The most encouraging results have come from the different states. Voters in Delhi, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Gujarat have voted for the incumbent governments because of the development work carried out by them. I am particularly happy for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik. Nitish has gone ahead with pro-industry and pro-poor policies in the state of Bihar and the results are showing up. Naveen, the son of charismatic Biju Patnaik, also has slowly but surely worked on the development front for the poor state of Orissa. Though he may be called opportunist, because he parted his way with BJP just before the election, I consider him the most pragmatic leader in the country. The reclusive and aloof leader, who before joining politics, used to roam in USA writing about art, culture and travel, has not gone out of India for last 10 years. He has stuck to working for his state which has him returned to the power third time in a row. When asked about the reason of his success, he just said that he was lucky. All these state leaders, except Narendra Modi, have shown some common qualities. They work in corridors of their offices without making too much noise. There probably lies the key for the future leaders of India. It’s not only needed to work for the development, but you should be seen as someone who is modest and sincere. Modi can take a leaf out of their book – they all want to keep working for their states without much fanfare.

 

The state of Tamilnadu has shown that LTTE’s struggle in Sri Lanka was never an issue, though opportunistic politicians in the state tried to make it one. Prabhakaran’s death news also proved the same – nobody cared about it much. People of this country are smart enough to care for their own good, rather than worrying about some murderers in neighbor country.

 

Mayawati has also got her rightful place in this election. She cannot fool the people every time with her much-hyped social engineering trick. Her ambition to move the elephant to the North Block in Delhi has a major setback in this election. She needs to work for the people of UP first and show some good results in the administration. Otherwise Rahul Gandhi’s fast approaching to win the majority of the hearts in the Hindi heartland. 

 

·        To term this result as the win of positives will be too simplistic view of a country like India where everything can be explained in paradoxes. Win for Varun Gandhi is a disturbing sign. Congress’ win in UP is just a swing of Muslim votes from Samajwadi Party for now. DMK fared well in Tamilnadu not because of their governance but maybe because actor Vijaykant’s party ate away some of Jaylalita’s votes. Even Andhra Pradesh gave Congress second chance because Chiranjivee’s party shared some of the opposition votes. The Left lost in West Bengal because of negatives of Singur, Nandigram and probably nuclear deal.

 

·        But what hurts the most at this point is the role, or absence of it, of media in this election. If this election was termed as “non-issue” election, the media had contributed more to it. They were busy showing how the small parties will have bargaining power, they showed shoe-hurling and politicians fighting war of words. But no body showed real issues – the condition of people at grass root level in different states, their aspirations, the hope in their eyes, and their urge for a stable, peaceful government. The media is one of pillars of democracy alongside judiciary, executive, and polity. I see other three pillars getting stronger right now but media has started becoming a weak link. In one of the post-result debates on a news channel, somebody rightly commented that the common man of this country is not going to understand even a word of their discussion. And he was dead right! Sitting in an air-conditioned news room, they will not have pulse of this country. They also need to connect to the people of this country like some of the politicians. Read Menaka Doshi’s blog for more.

 

·        In hindsight we could have not asked for better outcome. We have a stable government now, which is pro-poor and pro-reforms. I just pray that Congress again doesn’t get bogged down by sycophancy and short-sightedness of tokenism. Also the new government has tough task to deal the extremists in the country – Naxalites and Pakistan-sponsored terrorists. Security has become important issue as Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka are facing tough challenges within. On the other hand they have to provide higher economic growth - and there lies my biggest fear. The talk for reservation in private sector has already started. That will not go well with India Inc. In last five years, the government has spent a lot of money and contributed to huge fiscal deficit. They need to tighten their purse-string now. They should not indulge themselves in financial profligacy – we have some of the sharpest minds of the country in this government, use them and devise innovative ways to take the country forward.    

 

We almost forgot that we should congratulate the election commission of the country for conducting such a free and fair election in the largest democracy of the world. They deserve thumbs up – it’s not a mean task, in a diverse country like India where every constituency presents its own problem. Nirvachan Sadan has almost turned itself into a place of worship.

 

Though, the biggest game-changer in the process was the faceless voter of the country. While we discussed endlessly about possible election outcome, he was working under sun, dreaming about a better tomorrow, for him and the coming generations. He had nothing to offer to the media in lip-service, but he made sure his vote offered this country what it really needed. He made the best choice when we feared the worst. Did I hear Jai Ho!?

A Game Of Tangram

I open my eyes reluctantly this morning as I prepare myself for a Sunday. I wish I sleep for some more time, but sleep eludes me. So after resisting getting up for quite long, I finally leave the bed. I hug laziness which is prevalent in the air. I am at a friend’s place and she is a good host, so she makes tea for me. I quietly sit in the balcony sipping hot tea with halke phulke ParleMonaco and some butter. It’s a kind of day when you don’t have anything to do and you actually feel good about doing nothing! I just keep watching some plants in the balcony and also look at the distant blue sky scattered with cotton-white clouds. Suddenly my friend drops some flat plastic objects in front of me and asks to play Tangram with her. I do not have any idea what a Tangram is, so she explains the game to me.

 

Wikipedia offers following definition for Tangram:

The Tangram (Chinese: pinyin - literally "seven boards of skill") is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective of the puzzle is to form a specific shape (given only in outline or silhouette) using all seven pieces, which may not overlap. 

 

I take a lot of time to solve the puzzles initially, and they are not very difficult puzzles. But after a while, I sort of catch up with my friend and start putting shapes in less time. Then comes a time when I complete the puzzle before her and I take pride in it. The puzzle I solve is the following one:

So buoyant by my success, I move to next puzzle and this time I decide to solve it in even lesser time. The next shape is seemingly identical to the previous one which gives me more confidence, so I start solving it enthusiastically. I think of keeping the most of the structure of previous solution intact and shuffle a few pieces here and there to get the solution. Look at the below shape:

But as laws of physics would comply to, the gravity pulls you down when you actually start flying. I try hard to put the pieces properly but instead of finishing it fast, I take a lot of time, and am still not able to solve it. I have to look into the answer book for the solution. I think had I started afresh without sticking to previous solution, I would have completed it successfully and much faster. Check the solutions below and notice the difference of approaches between the two:

Then I realize the folly of my thinking. Psychologists call it anchoring. Anchoring is a cognitive bias that describes the common human tendency to rely too heavily, or "anchor," on one trait or piece of information when making decisions. My relying too heavily on the previous solution brought me in this position. This particular type of anchoring where we depend on the immediate preceding information is called “I am as good as my last trade” in stock market trader’s parlance. But that information can be anything, not necessarily the previous success-producing fact. So what do we rely on when we make decisions? As poor humans devoid of any way to know the future, except maybe astrology and its sister concerns, we have to rely on the past information. We have to start from somewhere, and we generally take help from past successes or experiences. But my request for the friends will be not to rely too much on this bias, and start looking for new ways if one particular mode doesn’t work. It’s better to dismantle the structure sometimes and start from the beginning. Let the new shapes take form in front of your eyes!

Beauty

Beauty is in the flight of a bird,

Beauty is in a kind word;

Beauty is in the water,

And in a pot made by a potter;

 

Beauty is in the green land,

Beauty is in the touch of a hand;

 

Beauty is in those two eyes,

Where the depth of an ocean lies;

 

Beauty is in the bread that does feed,

Beauty is to help someone in need;

 

Beauty is in smiling flower even if it’s in a gutter,

Beauty is in the face which says a lot without a mutter;

 

Beauty is in the never-ending road,

Beauty is in the Omni-present God;

 

Beauty is duty, it is purity,

Aha! Beauty is simplicity;

                                  

Beauty is to care, it is to share,

Beauty is to stand up and dare;

 

Beauty is to take, and to give,

Beauty is to love, and to live;

 

Beauty is there in you, and it’s here in me,

Beauty it is when “You’ and ‘I’ become ‘We’;

 

I believed beauty was nowhere,

And, Beauty it is, now I find everywhere.