Geospatial education and awareness in India

 I was a part of a team at #IIRS #Dehradun, which developed the #Biodiversity #Information #System #BIS. During my stay, I #collaborated with several #researchers and came up with a #few #publications which do have some #citations according to my #Google #Scholar profile.

During my stay at #IIRS Dehradun, I learnt that #ISRO has always been taking the #leading #position in #geospatial #research and #training, and #applying the same on the #field for #cartography and #decision #support. Further, the #Indian #Institutes of #Technology #IIT were also maintaining a constant and healthy competition in the research, mostly at #masters and #doctoral #levels.

In the year 2007, I was on a #train #journey to Hyderabad and was reading a #book titled "Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation" by #Lillesand and #Kiefer. A couple of #passengers asked me as to what my #occupation was. I told them that I was a PhD scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur #iitkanpur #IITK. To their inquiry as to what was the domain of my research, I told them it was #geoinformatics . They probed a bit more, and I told them that I worked with #aerialsurvey #techniques such as #LiDAR and before IITK, I was working with #remotely #sensed images from #satellites (#remotesensing). Incidentally, the responses of the passengers told me that they had no idea that such kinds of research was going on in India. I was pretty much #disappointed with their #reactions. "Perhaps there is less #awareness!", I thought so to myself and continued reading.

It is 2022 now. India is discussing its #Geospatial #Policy. At the same time, I came to know about a #comment made by a pretty #senior #academic, that "#Geology is the same as Geoinformatics". Therefore the question "from 2007 to 2022, did the public awareness about Geospatial Technology change?" Essentially such comments are pretty #dangerous, too #generic and #irresponsible. It is imperative that #geospatial #researchers in India, organise a #large #awareness programme pan India to spread the knowledge about geospatial technology and its large scale benefits.

Before ending, I would like to stress that Geoinformatics and any of #geology, #geometry, #differentialgeometry, #geotechnicalengineering, #geostatistics, #geophone, #geodesy, #geographicinformationsystems, #geodesics are NOT the same, albeit that they may have mutual overlaps at some places!

#education #change #india

The "trained" bully market

In the year 1997, MP Bhoj (Open) University organised a 28-day workshop at Bhopal. The workshop was on #Wavelets. People from the #Engineering backgrounds as well as the #basic #sciences attended the workshop.

Amongst the resource persons of the workshop was Prof. U. B. Desai, who was then the faculty member of the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Bombay. #IITB

Prof. U. B. Desai and his team of M. Tech. students told us about the #Linux distribution named #Slackware. The team had installed the OS on a hard disk, and brought the hard disk along.

Incidentally, the OS #failed to boot on the #computer system at Bhopal. The entire team got together and I saw them recompiling the Kernel, and configuring it as per the hardware present there. Even the mouse, which was a PS/2 type mouse, and not the serial port one, as available earlier, needed to be configured.

What does this essentially imply? The #Operating #System #operatingsystem is strongly dependent on the #hardware on which it is installed. Today's operating systems, which often come pre-installed (OEM), are configured for the hardware. If you buy the operating system from the market, the kernel detects the hardware from a known list inside a data file located in the installation media. If not found, usually the media asks for #drivers.

So what happens on older hardware? Why do giant OS vendors or equipment manufacturers stop their support for a particular OS?

There is only a specific set of hardware that especially the close source ones support, or maybe choose to support. So when computers with old hardware traditionally become outdated or obsolete, their support is withdrawn by their vendors. Newer operating systems keep on supporting #obsolescent hardware upto a limited amount of time.

Incidentally, it appears that there is a #fashion and #trend amongst the fresh generation of "trained" professionals to advise upgrading the RAM or upgrading to a new OS on the pretext of security, but it only results in a lower performance of the machine. The processor, the number of cores, the number of threads and the material of the motherboard all collaboratively contribute to the performance of a computer.

The so-called "trained" professional bully market is on the rise to stamp its ignorant face on the newer students, and they must be beware of it. 

Musings on the Communist Manifesto - I

(invited article for Mulyayan)

Introduction 

In the year 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels came up with a pamphlet, which they named “The Communist Manifesto”. The document bases its arguments on the then existing inter-class struggle, between the two classes, namely the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. It is important to evaluate the relevance of this document in the 21st century with reference to the definition, struggle and the plan of action mentioned in this document, in the Indian context.

In the course of this discussion, I will refer to the softcopy of “The Communist Manifesto”, that I downloaded from Project Gutenberg, Sparknotes – where a commentary on the Communist Manifesto is hosted [1], and the general knowhow about the cultural tapestry of India, and economy.

In this article, I do a comparative analysis of Indian culture and habits vis-a-vis “The Communist Manifesto” (TCM) and then attempt to conclude on the fitness of “communism” in the Indian context. Therefore, the following section introduces the basic definitions, required for this discussion.

Definitions 

If one were to refer to Merriam-Webster, communism is defined as a form of governance, where the government owns the things that are used to make and ship products. Wikipedia says that the upper middle class (haute bourgeois), the medium middle class (moyenne bourgeois) and the lower middle class (petit bourgeois), all come together to construct the Bourgeoisie. Furthermore, the Oxford concise dictionary defines the proletariat to be the set of working class people. Also, it is commonly agreed that there is a continuous, back-and-forth migration between the petit bourgeois and the proletariat. According to the TCM, the bourgeoisie is the owner of the instruments of production.

In India, it is commonly seen that there are three main classes, with their own sets of social moralities – (1) the upper class, (2) the middle class and (3) the lower class. As per the communist definition, perhaps, the middle class is divided into HIG, MIG and LIG (Higher, middle and lower income groups).

Contrary to the communist  “agenda”, the struggle perceived by the communists is against the big guns like Adani’s and Ambani’s, inspite of the amount of employment generated by them for Indians.

The geographical and temporal context

TCM begins with the following words “A spectre is haunting Europe -- the spectre of Communism. All the Powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Czar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies.” Therefore, it is very clear that TCM talks about a political strategy in a very Europoean context of the 19th century.

The proposed political angles 

To understand the political angle of TCM, it is necessary to read the following paragraphs:

“… that the first step in the revolution by the working class, is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling as to win the battle of democracy.
The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degrees, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralise all instruments of production in the hands of the State, i.e., of the proletariat organised as the ruling class; and to increase the total of productive forces as rapidly as possible.”

Thus, winning the battle of democracy as a first step implies that there must be a set of people who would be willing to run for the elections against the existing government. In the current scenario, it is well known that running for the elections costs a lot of money, and therefore for the labour class to gather that amount of money might be a utopia. So there must be an assumption in the TCM, that there would be patrons amongst the bourgeoisie to facilitate this.

Therefore, let us assume for sometime, that the fund is raised for the electoral expenses, and that the election is won by a majority – by the proletariat. As a consequence of the win, TCM proposes the following steps for improvisation of a system:

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c., &c.

Analysis of the points of action

Let us now analyse these points of action in the Indian context.
1. Abolition of all property in land and the application of all rents of land to public purposes: 
This means that the land is not the property of an individual or a ground of individuals. The land is the property of the Government. People living on a piece of land will pay revenue to the Government. Since land is government property, in a communist regime, the government will have the power to snatch the land, when and where necessary. The payment of any compensation will not be therefore necessary. In the current scenario, where many cities are being developed as SMART cities, land acquisition is being carried out. It is being observed that there are multiple lawsuits / cases pending in the courts, regarding “proper” compensation for the acquisition.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax:
I assume that progressive or graduated income tax means that professions at various levels exist. In that context, a “graduated” income tax is comprehensible. However, it is not clear why the income tax has to be labelled “heavy”. While there was a seemingly democratic will to run for elections, is it the intent of the communist to punish the ex-ruling class?

Let us for the sake of an example, consider the case of a Goldsmith. While selling jewellery he cheats the customer regarding the number of carats. How would that be recorded?

Since India is traditionally known to be an agricultural country, the farmer is exempt from paying the income tax, as provided by the Income Tax Act, 2013. In a communist regime, will the farmer be required pay a tax?

3. Abolition of the right to inheritance: 
The rights of inheritance in India are defined by the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the Indian Succession Act, 1925 and the Quran, where successions is religiously discussed. I am not aware of the succession rules of other religions of India. Attempting to abolish or change these “religion-based” rights of inheritances would open up pandora’s boxes and speeches on uniform civil codes and personal laws.

It is also not clear in the context of TCM, that if the father has worked hard to earn his living and gather some property, who shouldn’t the wife, son or daughter be eligible to inherit the fruits of the hard work?

4. Confiscation of property of emigrants and rebels: 
While the word emigrant is clear, the communist manifesto does not define the word rebel, since one of the words preluding the points of action is democracy. So I go to the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary and find the meaning for the word rebel. And it says - “a person who opposes or fights against a government”  This implies, that there is no scope for a personal opinion in a communist government.

5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and exclusive monopoly:
In India there are nationalized banks, wherein RBI is the ombudsman. To some extent, these banks help in storing the money of the people. Since a communist regime talks about exclusive monopoly, it means that there is no space in the market for any other government or privatized bank. Given this scenario, and the techniques of modern computer warfare, (assuming that the bank would rely on computerized accounts, pass books and cheques), it would be perfectly possible for any outside agency or conspirator, to loot the tax-payer’s money from the bank’s coffers.

6. Centralization in terms of communication and means of transport: 
As on date, India is experiencing the democracy of the media and the communication channels. There are multiple news channels, and each with a different flavour. There are different communication networks in terms of mobile, postal, etc. People can chose which channel or media to use for updates, news, or entertainment. Given a communist regime, this variety will no more be available. This has a big loophole. A single, government controlled communication channel is susceptible to large scale snooping.  Therefore, if there were a pretty casual telephone conversation amongst two friends criticising the government, under point number 3, the assets of the two interlocutors may be confiscated by the government.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan: 
This point talks about the instruments of production owned by the state and therefore one may wonder, if there were a possibility of private ownerships, under this point of action. Since the proletariat aims to “wrest” all instruments of production, this is not a possibility. Therefore, I see a society where everybody is wearing the same kind of shirt, the same brand of shoes, the same pair of glasses, and if there were a factory producing hair dyes, it might be mandatory to wear the same dye for everyone, ignoring the fact whether one requires it or not. The cultivation of waste lands and improvement of soil quality are issues that need to be supported in an Indian context.

8. Equal liability of all to labour; creation of industrial armies; especially for agriculture: 
The merit of this point is the emphasis on agriculture. In the light of the food security act, passed by the Government of India, focusing on agriculture would be a huge boon for the people. If we juxtapose this point with point number 1, it would imply that the farmer will not possess the land, but would be working for the state. Most of what would be produced by the farmer would be taken away by a communist government and would be put in grain silos. This may open an opportunity for people in power to steal from the silo.

In India, one can choose to become an industrialist, a scientist, a manager, a white collar job office guy or a blue collar job labour person. The Indian constitution does not impose any restriction on the choice of profession. The choices are usually governed by the intellect and bent-of-mind of an individual. On the contrary, this point apparently implies that everybody could be “forced” to do a certain kind of work whether he likes it or not. Moreover, this opens a window for the existence of an authoritarian overseer for the errands to be run by people in the communist regime. In summary it can be said that this point ignores the fact that everyone cannot do everything.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country
This point implies that agriculture should be treated equally as any other production industry. The equable distribution of population over the country, in the current scenario, would mean that all parts of the country should have equal opportunities for employment. If we juxtapose this with point number 8, it is an addendum to ensure that everyone has equal liability of all to labour. However, this point ignores the fact that a uniform spatial distribution of all industries, may not be a feasible idea in a country like India. Also, as on date, agriculture and agricultural produce are likely to suffer from pollutants and therefore, if done in an unplanned fashion, the distinction between town and country can become a nightmare.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production. 
This point mentions “public” or government schools which would provide education. But does this mean that there is an opportunity for private education? Does this open a hidden window for elitist education?

Child labour is already a crime, and has been handled by the Child labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 [4]. However, I am personally aware of issues where children are working, and when concerned voices were raised, the parents of the children responded with two options – “Either our child works and brings in money, or he steals from people”. TCM does not provide and answer to this scenario. This might sound like a stupid justification for child labour, but this will continue to be a “worthy” argument, until the people of India make concerted efforts to facilitate the fundamental right to education, as provided in the Constitution of India.

It is also not clear, what TCM means by combining education with industrial production. With whatever experience I have, it might mean any of the following: (a) Educated students be presented as marketable products (this might have a hint of slavery), (b) students be provided vocational or industry oriented education; or (c) people learn while working in the industry. It is not clear from the manifesto about the fate of scientists, doctors, teachers, engineers, literary people etc., but if we juxtapose this with point number 2, it might be an indirect implication for their existence in a communist regime.

Relevance of communism in India

The last few lines of TCM, read as follows:
“The Communists turn their attention chiefly to Germany, because that country is on the eve of a bourgeois revolution that is bound to be carried out under more advanced conditions of European civilisation, and with a much more developed proletariat, than that of England was in the seventeenth, and of France in the eighteenth century, and because the bourgeois revolution in Germany will be but the prelude to an immediately following proletarian revolution.”

It is mentioned earlier that TCM was written in the context of Europe, and therefore these few lines reaffirm my interpretation of the same. However, the following lines make us to raise our eyebrows:

“In short, the Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things.”

In my interpretation of this sentence, this is what an academician would call “hand-waving”. It is a casually made loose comment for the rest of the non-European nations. Marx was probably focusing on America, but I think he forgot his geography in that while.

India is a nation with a 5000+ years cultural history and existence. Although attacked by vandals, many a times, unlike other countries, India has been able to retain its cultural and social fabric. It has been able to preserve its scriptures and moral values (to some extent). Therefore, a communist government turning the whole social and political order of things seems more than unlikely. Further, TCM is also not clear what would happen in situation of conflict. For example, Marx’s version of communism has talked about rebels (see earlier section) and methods of handling them. The manifesto does not make any provision for a coup attempt on the government. In fact, making a provision for the handling of “rebels” is similar to making provisions for apostacy in a certain religion.

Labour conditions in India 

India, has a share of its own class struggles: the educated vs otherwise, the “cultured” vs the otherwise, the “elite” vs the otherwise, the “north Indians” vs the “south Indians”, “brahmins vs non-brahmins”, “the higher castes vs the lower castes”, etc etc. Amongst these, the labour conditions, and its corresponding class struggles are the most startling. As mentioned earlier, there is an issue of social morality dividing the classes. When there is an interaction amongst members of various classes, people in the “socially” higher class tend to bully the people from the “lower class”. Bullying in the Indian society starts from taunts about cleanliness and education, but making sure that both aren’t available for the “lower classes”. Inspite of a very well-written constitution with provision of fundamental rights, there are only a countable few who would desire to have these right facilitated. Since this Oppresor vs Oppressed system is highly prevalent in India, even amongst the self proclaimed “holy” communists, (Yes, they do the same things in their personal lives), it cannot be said that the TCM has proposed a very ideal lifestyle.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed some aspects of “The Communist Manifesto (TCM)” and the relevance of these aspects in the current Indian context. It is seen that TCM, contains a lot of words favouring the labour of a country. However, given the political angle of TCM, it is highly likely that a communist government can become totalitarian, a thief and also a hoarder. Thus, in my humble opinion supporting a set of communists in India will be equivalent to bearing a totalitarian government.

[1] http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61
[2] http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/communist/section1.rhtml
[3] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communism
[4] http://www.childlineindia.org.in/child-labour-prohibition-and-regulation-act-1986.htm

Uncomfortably Numb: 2014 & 2015

In 2015, and the last year 2014, I haven't written a lot. You may find a brief analysis of the reasons in this blog. One can agree that life gives us lemons, but one has to find the opportunity to make a lemonade out of it. However, opportunities presented themselves from time to time, and I hope I made the best of it. 

Before I get into the nitty gritties of the description of the events, I would like to personally thank Anand Hingway, Dr. Bharat Lohani and Pragya Kirti to sort of push me to write again. 

2014 began with a bang. Two of my papers, found acceptance in the international community. The joy of finding the name of the college in the area of Geoinformatics, and that too in an international arena was immense. Almost at the same time, Dr. Chinmaya Das, a colleague from IIT Kanpur, joined the MGM Campus. While we were discussing on the various aspects of collaboration, I found interest in the colourful 3-dimensional visualizations through a software called PyMol. While at school, I had found Biology to be a repulsive subject mainly owing to the gory dissections and the videos of surgeries that I saw, but this was another facet of Biology before me, after the Landscape Characterization Project, where I had worked with Dr. P. S. Roy (Oct 2000 - Jan 2003). 

On a very positive side, one of the best points of 2014, was Dr. Bharat Lohani visiting our college and giving presentations to the college audience. I watched with curiousity how people were overwhelmed with the pure simplicity with which an IIT Kanpur professor conducted himself and delivered his lectures. 

January 2014 also saw the entry of a certain negative character, let us name him Gurughantal, along with his life partner in our campus. For the lack of complete documentation* with me, I cannot reveal the name of this person, but in the next six months or so, this person along with his wife, destroyed the beautiful and congenial environment that was at the campus. Their behaviour included placing false allegations on people, especially misusing the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013. They were the alumni of a very reputed institute of India, and did everything to put their alma mater to shame. This included blackmailing students who were not in their good books, harassing female staff members who would not comply with their misgivings by sending emails to them at the oddest of hours, forging laboratory records, pushing the supporting staff to destroy the laboratory glassware and taking credits for what other people had done and contributed. Fortunately, following parallel investigations from their previous workplaces, and pattern observations on social network feeds, enough data was found to eject / terminate Gurughantal's services from the campus. Even while Gurughantal left the campus, his wife vitiated the atmosphere with wrong pieces of information amongst the students, while playing a victim's card and resigning herself. On later conversations with the students, it was revealed that the recruitment of Gurughantal and his wife had miserably backfired, for no academic commitments had been fulfilled / completed. Students reported massive shortcomings in the practicals conducted and faculties found several shortcomings in the newly "prescribed" syllabuses. 

2014 ended on a rather gloomy note. While Gurughantal was dismissed from the campus, Dr. Chinmaya Das was to take his position. In the early evening of December 31, Dr. Das was attacked by some drunk robbers. He was hit on the head by a bottle. The local administration downplayed the incident by calling it an isolated incident of petty robbery, but I have reasons to believe that Gurughantal and his evil allies were behind the matter. 

2014 also told me in as many clear words that status quo shall remain. Paulo Coelho's Alchemist mentions that if a particular incident happens twice, it would happen for the third time as well. It did! Evidences and parallel events communicated that too. It became clear how matters like the length of socks, half pants and aloo parathas with lightweight butter were matters of World Tragedy, and the status quo wasn't. It also became clear how eating Aloo Parathas would get me killed, but drinking unfiltered water won't (sarcasm). Willingness, expression, reason and rationality all became mutually independent vectors in 2014, as far as I was concerned (Immanuel Kant was already confusing enough). 

2015 welcomed me with a visit to IIT Kanpur, and the first thing I did on reaching the campus was to visit the guy selling peanuts in the campus. On several past occassions, he had many stories to tell, and I was eager to listen to him again. I was amused, being currently placed in Maharashtra, as how he called the simple BHEL as BHELPURI, and how he excused himself by saying that the PURI often turned soggy in the winters. The two mornings I witnessed there, were full of joyful jumping on the streets. I comprehended why the Alumni used to be so excited when they visited the campus. 

In April 2015, I was on the field, on a survey project for the student, when suddenly my brother called me up and said that mother might have to go for a major operation. Understandably stressed and worried, I had to leave the campus for Chennai, completing the syllabus in a hurry. Dr. V. S. Pradhan and Dr. S. B. Shinde were kind enough to let me off, during this period, while they took some burden off my shoulders during this time. 

Mother was taken in for surgery at the Apollo Speciality Hospital, and with the good wishes pouring in from all sides, she came out hale and hearty from the operation theater. Rakesh was at my brother's side as earlier (in 2008). At the same time, there were a lot of good wishes pouring into my "wall" of the social network. Many messages that said "Tell me if you need any help" were specially heart warming and consoling. Dr. S. D. Deshmukh, thank you for remembering me in these hours. 

I would specially like to mention the names of Dr. Dattatray Regulwar and Dr. Sanjay Jamkar who readily visited my college on a single request and presented their work in a workshop meant for people interested in the domain of patenting. Both the professors handle so much of work, that I guess, I have to observe them for a month to learn time management skills. 

I was invited by the Government College of Engineering Jalgaon for conducting a five day workshop in LaTeX. This was one of the things which I didn't do earlier, and this told me that I can sustain six hours of lab sessions at a stretch, for five continuous days. The reactions were generally positive, and I got some more feedback on how to do it better the next time. Dr. Mohan Nerkar who appeared to me as a big foodie, make special attempts to give me the taste of Jalgaon food. In this connection, Shri Dnyanesh Gaikwad tolerated my evil and not so evil jokes till late night while dropping me back at the Guest House after dinner! 

My maternal grandfather Shri Sameer Basu, whom I fondly called "Dadu", passed away quietly one one morning, after several months of being unwell. It wasn't clear how he suddenly developed a lung infection and then left this world. Very strangely I couldn't be there physically, while the last rites were being performed. As one of my cousin brothers put it, it was the end of an "era". 

2015 ended with cups of tea, pretty charming smiles and a gloomy, lonely evening. It was as Baudelaire said "Le ciel est triste et beau comme un grand reposoir; Le soleil s'est noyé dans son sang qui se fige".

 Few days later Dr. Bharat Lohani reminded me start writing again. I'd told you sir, "I always need someone to give me a kick to start up". You did it again, positively. I wish that, for all the readers of my blog, this year be full of productive work and positiveness. I wish that, you get the discretion to identify the Gurughantals and immediately lock them in their places where they should belong. I wish that you be welcomed with smiles and warmth to wherever you go. I wish you a Happy New Year.

==================================
*It is brought to notice that all documentation regarding the bad activities of Gurughantal are available with the campus administration. Requests for making them available online, have been received as well. 

Thus breaks my silence ...

Over the past year and a half, I have been maintaining an eerie silence, in terms of not expressing. The last 18 months were spent contemplating about people, observing them, interacting with them, noting their good points and of course learning from the bad ones. 

One can always talk a lot about how to be good, maybe one or two would quote from some religious literature, borrow from the ancient scriptures or refer me to some exposition on positive thinking. 

But alas! The Rhesus factor component in my blood is missing, and thus time and again, I have been forced to note those points, which I, as a person, would not like to have. 

People, in general, have this wonderful capability of fitting to a mould and likening other people to a certain stereotype. For example, some of the great stereotypes I have been hearing all my life are: Punjabis don't care for their women, they only know about money, bengalis are bloody cowards, Andhrites are the direct descendants from the monkeys mentioned in the Ramayana, Biharis have nothing better to do rather than sit and shit on the sides of their roads, and so on. I am, purposefully, not referring to any of the religions, because it might bring in a debate which of course is not relevant to this article. 

People, also in general, have this wonderful capability of "judgement". One can "judge" another one, without even meeting. One can "judge", whether someone is a criminal, just by listening to certain undocumented whispers, and one can judge by listening on the phone, that whether the interlocutor is drunk to the fill. The opposition to such judgements have no existence. A mere refusal to accept a judgement would be equivalent to the commitment of a blasphemy in pure semetic terms. "Thou shalt be whipped", they would exclaim, and would attempt in every way to make one's life miserable. 

In the book, "Don't be such a scientist", references were made to "gut feelings" and certain sexual inferences were drawn. It is a question I have often contemplated about. Do people judge other people by estimating how many wives one has? Do people base their opinions on other people by designing utopian fantasies and then believing in them? A gut feeling based opinion, in my experience, is rarely substantial. One would need an ample amount of experience in holding an "opinion" based on gut feelings. It would not be inappropriate to infer, based on the book by Randy Olson, that those reliably trusting gut feelings have nothing better to do than fondling their own selves between their legs. 

In the absence of pleasure from fondling, the next orgasmic activity that people rely on is make people's lives miserable. Such people love to "force" their decisions and beliefs on others. They wish to control who enters your house, what clothes you wear, what socks or underwear you like, what food you eat, with whom you interact, with whom you talk and so on. Perhaps on a later stage, they would also like to choose who you mate with (although the arranged marriages aren't any different). A mere refusal to comply with the ridiculousness is met with humongous attempts to victimise you in one way or the other, which might include (but not limited to), sending emails to female employees at 2:30 AM in the morning. It might include (but not limited to), writing about how unprofessional certain people are, even with their most constipated bowels, which makes them stay awake at 03:00 AM in the morning, farting away in bliss. Such people often believe that they have gone "mainstream", whereas all they have done is bullshit themselves. 

I would definitely not want such people in my life, and I aspire to meet better ones and learn from them.  

The Karma Confusion

(for "mature" and broad minded audience only)


It is said in the scriptures that the decision whether our souls would be saved or not, would be based on our actions. In the Hindu perspective, the philosophy which I adhere to, it would mean that the decision would govern whether my soul would be exposed to the procedure of rebirth, in some life form. In the Christian philosophy, the decision would govern whether my soul would see heaven or hell. (I am specifically not pointing to other philosophies because I do not know much about them. I save myself from the habit of commenting on things which I do not really know about!).

Now, if there is any God (I am not still sure, if there is any), in His (I am also not sure if God has a gender) perspective all souls should be equal, independent of the life form (the physical form of the body). It is in this perspective of equality, that I have a question.

Consider a sequence of incidents and a list of life forms; a human, a cat, a donkey and a cow. The human is a hardworking washerman earning an honest living by washing clothes. The cow has recently given birth to a calf. The donkey and the cat are pets to the washerman, the donkey usually carrying the washed clothes back from the washing place, and the cat saving the household by eating away the rats. One fine morning, the washerman has a fight with his wife, he goes to the river with the soiled clothes, washes them and puts the clothes on the donkey's back and shouts on the donkey. The donkey was feeding on the grass by the side of the river, gets annoyed with the washerman and gives him a kick on his groin. The washerman writhes with pain, but returns home with the clothes. He goes to milk the cow, with the recently born calf tied at another corner, and the cow kicks the washerman again. Somehow, the washerman manages to milk the cow. After half an hour, the washerman keeps the boiled milk at the corner of his house and goes outside to nurse his injuries. In the meanwhile, the cat feeds itself on the milk kept for the children and the wife. The Washerman returns home, sees the empty container of milk, gets angry and beats the cat badly.

At this point there is a huge earthquake, and the world is destroyed. Now it is decision time:

1. The washerman complains that he has been honest throughout his life, but he has had to bear sadness and pain due to the cow, the donkey and the cat.
2. The cat says it has been faithful to the washerman and feeding itself was the only way to keep itself alive. The washerman beating the cat was not justified.
3. The cow says that her milk is first for the calf and then for anybody else and therefore the washerman is not justified about complaining.
4. The donkey says that it was feeding on the grass peacefully and the Washerman's anger was not justified.

It can be seen that it is the same incident, the same story, the same set of life forms, but Karma changes perspectives according to the character and dharma of the person. Therefore, in our perceptions of the Karma (that is the life forms on earth), a decision on who would go to heaven or hell is not possible.

Now, can we conclude that thieves, backstabbers, nymphomaniacs, kleptomaniacs, pedophiles, sadists, psycopaths cannot expect to be judged on the same platform as normal people? Would the normal people agree to be judged on the same platform?

 This is my Karma confusion!

Directives for men: The Sexual Harrassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

At the outset, I would like to thank the women who agreed to deliberate with me on the various issues (in person and over the phone), with respect to the professional and social interactions between two different genders are concerned. I would also like to thank, Ms Archana Gondhalekar, whose speeches I listened to, two times.

I would like to clarify here that the word gender used in this article are limited to "Male" and "Female" only, although the terminology, as on date, has been extended to include LGBT also. It is also worth mentioning here that this article has been written with Indian people in mind, therefore the international audience might find some terms incomprehensible.

This article deliberates on the various implications of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, and the corresponding rules, for men. Why was this act needed? In the society, mostly the rules are drawn out for people who do not "fit" to an acceptable social norm.

The history of this act, goes back to the days when an Angan Vadi worker, Smt. Bhawari Devi dared to protest against child marriage. Child marriage, at that point of time had been declared illegal, and therefore Bhanwari Devi had done nothing wrong. Some of the villagers aged from 20 to 70, perhaps with a feeling of malice, or with a motive to "set her right", gangraped her. As expected this lead to litigations, formations of sexual harassment guidelines and lately the creation of a parliamentary act in 2013.

Directives for men on the various aspects of sexual harassment in the purview of the act 

Unwelcome advances and physical contact 

One of the many points mentioned in this act is about "Unwelcome advances". Men might wonder on this point. How does an individual decide, what is welcome and what is unwelcome? Consider this example. You are enjoying a warm cosy evening with your family, while there is a knock on the door. The "guest" is someone whom you do not like. Even if your background or previous generation has taught you, "Atithi Devo Bhavah" (The guest is divine), you might have to politely ask the person to leave your house. Arguing similarly therefore, the woman (your colleague) would tell you what she "likes" and what she doesn't.

The dress and the seduction 

When it comes to sex, sexuality, and expression of sexuality, men happen to think in binary. If I were to quote many feminists, I would write "Men live with their brains between their legs". When it comes to women, their expressions are two fold. First comes attraction, and then comes seduction. Therefore, if a woman is wearing an amply revealing dress, it does not imply "Come and have sex with me!". Instead, it means "Look at me! I am beautiful!". Stop misinterpreting the dress as a gateway for sex or sexual advances.

She hugs other boys, so she should not mind if I hug her! 

No! At the workplace, hugging is completely inadvisable! In my opinion, hugging is an act of intimacy, whether it be a "feeling" of father-daughter, or "boyfriend-girlfriend" or "brother-sister" or "teacher-student". Keep all your hugs, caresses, touches at home, while you leave for the office.

Also, "she hugs other boys, so she should mind if I hug her" sounds illogical and similar to "She has sex with her boyfriend, she should also have sex with me!". A woman has the right to chose, who she loves, who she marries and with whom she has intimate relations and moments with. In no way, can a man dictate that.

Can I touch her hand? 

It is worth mentioning here that women rely on their sixth instinct to distinguish between touches. Therefore, you can touch her hand only if you seek her permission first. If she refuses, stay away. In the best case, avoid any thought of touching the hand, or any other part of the body. In my opinion, in the light of this act, it is advisable that women be greeted either with a courteous bow, or with a polite Namaste. All that nonsense about "professional behaviour requires shaking hands" can go for a toss.

Verbal conducts of sexual nature 

The act mentions "Sexually coloured remarks" which might confuse men too! Many men are habitual of vomiting adult jokes at the slightest provocation. Many also use double meaning. Men, therefore are confused when women make sexually coloured remarks either on themselves or about some other people in the public. In such cases, it is advisable to stay away from controversy.

No double meanings which might lead to misinterpretation or malicious use of "setting you right". Whatever, the case may be, however hard a woman might try to get some double meaning out of you directly or indirectly, keep your tongue in control.

Non-verbal conduct of sexual nature 

Staring at women 

Men are confused about the staring clause popularly used by women, owing to the following different reasons:

1. It is natural for a man to look at a woman irrespective of his marital status. So, how can one avoid looking? 
2. Men have the habit of staring into empty space with a thoughtless mind. They might keep on staring into the empty space for hours together (this video from the Canadian comedian Russell Peters tells us a lot). Can this be misconstrued? 

In my opinion, the act relies on the sixth instinct of women. As per the women I have conversed with, a woman would know, if a man is looking at her in the "wrong way". However, men are advised that the "sixth instinct" or the "gut feeling" may misfire in some cases. However, women are also usually watchful about the event occurring repeatedly over time. Therefore, do not keep looking at a woman for more than 5 seconds, when you are not talking to her.

Showing pornography or asking for sexual favours 

Seriously? Are you a nymphomaniac / pervert? It is a serious NO! However, "close" you might feel, the woman is to you, in no way should such acts be committed!

Is this act necessary? 

Yes! It has been observed that women have been subject to continuous harassment in the society. With time, these events are on the rise. It is therefore fair enough, that women are given a platform, a strong one at that, to voice their views and raise objections, against certain age old practices.

Is this act biased towards women? 

 No! The preamble of the Honorable Indian constitution and the Honorable Indian constitution itself, rule out any gender bias amongst the citizens of the country. Therefore, in this country, no law can be founded that is biased. In the context of this article, refer to clause number 10, in the rules document, where it says that complaints with proven malicious intent shall be dealt with the same severity as those mentioned in clause number 09.

How do I certify my integrity? 

The former Director of IIT Kanpur, Prof. S. G. Dhande, had repeatedly said during many orientation programmes for the new students that "You should have your certificate of integrity in your pocket". It is a shame that honorable men, or men with their integrities in place would have to resort electronic devices to certify their integrity in the light of this act (malicious intents cannot be ruled out).

1. In this context, make sure that your workstation / workplace has a camera / CCTV mounted, and that the video feeds have sufficient backup. Also make sure that you have enough space to move away if any unwelcome advance is made upon you. 
2. Always prefer a working place, where there is a fellow worker or workers watching you (for most of the time), inspite of your innate quest for privacy even at the workplace. 

Your relations with colleagues (male or female) 

Workers who work day in and day out for generating good academic records, peer-reviewed publications, patents and have their names mentioned in the annual reports of the organisation they are working for, need to take special care. The risk of jealous colleagues thinking of "setting them right" is high.

Further, as far as my conversions with overtly performing colleagues go, people in India, inspite of the Honorable Indian constitution in their hand, have not learned to respect others' rights to their own opinions. It is quite possible that jealous colleagues (male or female) might feel that the best way to stop you from performing (to set you right) is to allege sexual harassment against you.

On the positive side, protection exists in the form of rule 10, although, on the flip side, it would be best to avoid crossing swords with anybody.

How to begin a conversation with a female colleague?

Frame the question well in your mind. If unsure, write it down on a piece of paper. Make sure that there is no double meaning, vulgarity, white or dark sarcasm in the question. Do not sneak up to the woman from her behind (in case she is sitting with her back towards you). Call her politely and ask if she has time for a question. If she says yes, proceed with the question. If she replies in the negative, just walk back to your seat and do not insist. If she is interested, in what you were saying, she would ask you later. If she does not, you should get the hint. 

What to do if I find a female colleague staring at me? 

Just as males find it sensually pleasing to stare at women, women too, once in a while, like to feast their eyes. However, this is NOT at all an invitation for physical proximity or activity. She might be a spy for someone, and might be keeping an eye on you, as well.

In summary

The infamous Canadian actress Sunny Leone sums it up well in this video, where she complains about a co-contestant wrongly "touching her". To paraphrase the conversation, "When a woman says NO, it means NO. It does not mean YES, and it doesn't mean MAYBE!"

References: 

1. The Sexual Harassment of Women (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013; Last accessed April 10, 2014. http://wcd.nic.in/wcdact/womenactsex.pdf 
2. The Sexual Harassment of Women (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act - Rules, 2013, Last accessed April 10, 2014. http://www.lawyerscollective.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Sexual-Harassment-at-Workplace-Rules.pdf 
3. Constitution of India (2008), Last accessed April 10, 2014. http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf 
4. Russel Peters: Women are thinkers, Last accessed April 10, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoHxb4zMa1Q 
5.  Sunny Leone complains against Amar Upadhyay, Last accessed April 10, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPVRXJoD1Ac

An open letter to Lord Voldemort

Dear Lord Voldemort,

You may fail to recall this incident, but I do not. In fact, I cherish it with a sprinkle of pepper and salt everyday. Your lame attempts to teach arithmetic to your kid, and his replying that 1 and 1 make 11 still brings a lot of amusement to my peers and colleagues.

You may wonder why I chose to call you Voldemort. Don't! Because, believe it or not, your demeanour and spirit lie akin to the Dark Lord in J. K. Rowling's creation of the Harry Potter series of books. You consider disagreement as a personal threat, and your habit of throwing the weight where it isn't even necessary is a sharp indicator in that direction. Pardon me, if I call you a Bolshevik as well.

I do not know why, but it seems to me that you breathe and live under the belief that the world needs a messiah or a saviour, all the time. Did you misinterpret the following message from the Bhagavad Geeta? Did you see yourself as a mighty saviour yielding the Sudarshan Chakra?

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ||
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे||

"Mujhe change chaahiye!" is and has been your motto! Yes, change is good, if for the better. But, still better is improvement! Improvement comes from knowing a system, by understanding what might have gone through the minds of the people while they framed the "holy constitution", rather than sheer, abrupt and unprepared change. What was riding on your mind? Satan? Couldn't you understand, that changing a "system" or an ecology might alleviate the problems, but would bring in a new set of issues that you might be hitherto unaware of? If you know what the problems were, couldn't you lead the people to trust the system and improvise it? But no, your evil ego overcame the sheer common sense that one might expect from a person of your stature.

It is amazing that you trusted a set of people who first preached on your behalf that you were a messiah, a leader of fresh change. The same set of people used your name, and threatened various units in the campus. The same set of people were found abusing you and kicking walls and windows in the campus. I named them the "Smart Munnas", but if I were to use a Harry Potter simile, they were the "death eaters", with no life / opinion of their own, but feeding on the ideas and happinesses of other people.

There were also a small set of people who wanted the people to benefit. Call them the Mensheviks if you will, but they were ready to cooperate for the sake of the system, with YOU. But you saw them as a threat.

You lay your belief on them, who would merely seem to ejaculate on your "holy" command. You never stayed inside the endroit and you think you knew all the people? You didn't. But instead you wanted to threaten all the people who wanted to help and improvise.

People asked mysterious questions during the various gatherings, didn't they? You think, we didn't understand? You were wrong! You lay your belief on those, who favoured you at one time, but forged signatures to vote against you. You think, we didn't know? You were wrong! Each and every time, the advice from a small group of us was to avoid clashing against the big rock. But, they didn't understand. Did you, consider our position?

You threw away the most hardworking guy away from the endroit, the one who used to work 12 hours a day, without seeking any extra remuneration? Our only understanding was that you were overcome by your Satanic ego, to prove that you were the boss and trying to "save" the endroit. The hardworking guy, went away and so did the practices of systematic working. Total disarray was visible.

You never, reconsidered your decision did you? Perhaps, you would, when you grow old and feeble, Voldie.

Our only hope was that you left your ego, and saw reason.

Sincerely and yours truly.