Inspired by Bangalore traffic, I have come up with this poem. Do let me know if it can be called so:
Bad traffic! Slithering, smoke-spewing traffic!
Like a dying dragon, punctured at every rib
Choking like a burning rope!
Directionless, emotionless, spasmodic
Like a mortally wounded multi-headed monster!
Tangled, intertwined, choked
Like serpents in an embrace!
Can be expanded the next time I get stuck in a traffic jam.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The danger of genius
In Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card comes up with an interesting hypothesis - as a species, mankind ensures its survival by producing geniuses every once in a while. That's the gift of evolution to us. We keep straining ourselves till we produce a genius, who invents the wheel, sets up an empire.
I quite agree with him, as our superiority can only be partially be explained our spectacular thumb, or our high levels of 'intelligence'. We would have survived, I am sure of that, but wouldn't have touched a population of 6.76 billion. Either we would have been wiped out by diseases, or could not have inhabited regions with extreme climates. Or simply, there wouldn't have been adequate food. The world would have been a different place had it not been for the likes of Edward Jenner (smallpox vaccination), Louis Pasteur (germ theory), Tesla (developments in electricity), or of course, Einstein. Forget about television or radio waves, I am sure that more than 95% of us cannot manufacture iron, or glass, without guidance even if these products are an elementary part of our lives.
But I wonder if this theory works in the reverse as well. That is, mankind also produces evil geniuses once in a while to control our population. Like Hitler (70 million killed in WW II, about 12 million through 'ethnic cleansing'), Genghis Khan, Timur the Lame (100,000 on a single day) or Napoleon (killed about 550,000 through the Russian invasion). In fact, world population has increased by about 5.1 billion from 1900-2008, a period of just over a hundred years. Compare that to the growth from 50o BC to 1900 AD - an increase of 1.6 billion over more than 2000 years. The scary deduction thus is that when the next evil genius comes, the casualties are going to be much greater. Unless I am being a Malthusian soothsayer.
We could have very well annihilated ourselves during the Cold War, but thankfully, better sense prevailed. What could be the next "Moment of Apocalypse"? It could be climatic disasters, but then the culprit would be the collective genius of mankind, for not controlling global warming or the destruction of the ozone layer. Any contagious disease could be disastrous too, considering that the world is now such a small place. But I would place my bet on wars - that's how we have worked traditionally. The motivation this time, however, would not be gold or oil or religious relic. It would be food.
I quite agree with him, as our superiority can only be partially be explained our spectacular thumb, or our high levels of 'intelligence'. We would have survived, I am sure of that, but wouldn't have touched a population of 6.76 billion. Either we would have been wiped out by diseases, or could not have inhabited regions with extreme climates. Or simply, there wouldn't have been adequate food. The world would have been a different place had it not been for the likes of Edward Jenner (smallpox vaccination), Louis Pasteur (germ theory), Tesla (developments in electricity), or of course, Einstein. Forget about television or radio waves, I am sure that more than 95% of us cannot manufacture iron, or glass, without guidance even if these products are an elementary part of our lives.
But I wonder if this theory works in the reverse as well. That is, mankind also produces evil geniuses once in a while to control our population. Like Hitler (70 million killed in WW II, about 12 million through 'ethnic cleansing'), Genghis Khan, Timur the Lame (100,000 on a single day) or Napoleon (killed about 550,000 through the Russian invasion). In fact, world population has increased by about 5.1 billion from 1900-2008, a period of just over a hundred years. Compare that to the growth from 50o BC to 1900 AD - an increase of 1.6 billion over more than 2000 years. The scary deduction thus is that when the next evil genius comes, the casualties are going to be much greater. Unless I am being a Malthusian soothsayer.
We could have very well annihilated ourselves during the Cold War, but thankfully, better sense prevailed. What could be the next "Moment of Apocalypse"? It could be climatic disasters, but then the culprit would be the collective genius of mankind, for not controlling global warming or the destruction of the ozone layer. Any contagious disease could be disastrous too, considering that the world is now such a small place. But I would place my bet on wars - that's how we have worked traditionally. The motivation this time, however, would not be gold or oil or religious relic. It would be food.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
The problem of the United States
To my mind, the only person capable of cleaning up the US financial mess, is Mr Wolfe from Pulp Fiction. For what the US needs now is a person who is focused, not afraid of taking unpopular decisions and doesn't mind getting his hands dirty (although Wolfe delegated the task to Vincent and Jules).
For now, US is content with pumping money into banks to control the panic, which is passable as a short-term solution. But that isn't likely to cure the chronic malady, because it is rooted deep in history, somewhere in the early 80s. The Fed has just been postponing the pain by pumping liquidity after every crisis, encouraging people to spend more, and achieving a temporary illusion of growth. The last time the Fed wisely dealt with a crisis was in the 1970s, when Volcker increased the interest rates to 20%, successfully putting an end to a stagflation scenario. For the US, the going was good from 1950-1970, when the country produced more than it consumed, ensuring healthy employment and a robust currency. Lets go back into history to have a closer look.
After World War II, the US pulled itself out of the Great Depression and was in a much better shape than the rest of the world - the European countries were battered by bomb damage, and the Asian/African ones had suffered centuries of colonization. Not only did the war create over 17 million jobs in the US, the country escaped virtually unscathed compared to its competitors in Europe. As a result, by the early 1950s, Americans owned 80% of the world's electrical goods, controlled two-thirds of the global productive capacity and produced over 60% of its oil and 66% of steel. Resources were plenty, and even a blue-collar worker earning less than $2 per hour could afford a lifestyle that the rest of the world envied. To get an idea of the kind of life an ordinary shipping clerk enjoyed in the 1950s, refer Life magazine's Nov'1951 issue, which published a photo of all the food that the Czekalinski family consumed in an year.
During the early 1950s, US exported more than what it imported, resulting in an impressive trade surplus of about 4% of GDP. The tables started turning in late 1970s, and by 1998, US was running a trade deficit amounting to 4% of GDP. As a result, the highly skilled jobs at factories started vanishing, and US citizens started consuming more of foreign stuff - starting with the Japanese automobiles and electronic goods. Ideally, people should have either started saving more, or built home-grown industries to cater to the growing consumption. But that never happened.
to be continued...
For now, US is content with pumping money into banks to control the panic, which is passable as a short-term solution. But that isn't likely to cure the chronic malady, because it is rooted deep in history, somewhere in the early 80s. The Fed has just been postponing the pain by pumping liquidity after every crisis, encouraging people to spend more, and achieving a temporary illusion of growth. The last time the Fed wisely dealt with a crisis was in the 1970s, when Volcker increased the interest rates to 20%, successfully putting an end to a stagflation scenario. For the US, the going was good from 1950-1970, when the country produced more than it consumed, ensuring healthy employment and a robust currency. Lets go back into history to have a closer look.
After World War II, the US pulled itself out of the Great Depression and was in a much better shape than the rest of the world - the European countries were battered by bomb damage, and the Asian/African ones had suffered centuries of colonization. Not only did the war create over 17 million jobs in the US, the country escaped virtually unscathed compared to its competitors in Europe. As a result, by the early 1950s, Americans owned 80% of the world's electrical goods, controlled two-thirds of the global productive capacity and produced over 60% of its oil and 66% of steel. Resources were plenty, and even a blue-collar worker earning less than $2 per hour could afford a lifestyle that the rest of the world envied. To get an idea of the kind of life an ordinary shipping clerk enjoyed in the 1950s, refer Life magazine's Nov'1951 issue, which published a photo of all the food that the Czekalinski family consumed in an year.
During the early 1950s, US exported more than what it imported, resulting in an impressive trade surplus of about 4% of GDP. The tables started turning in late 1970s, and by 1998, US was running a trade deficit amounting to 4% of GDP. As a result, the highly skilled jobs at factories started vanishing, and US citizens started consuming more of foreign stuff - starting with the Japanese automobiles and electronic goods. Ideally, people should have either started saving more, or built home-grown industries to cater to the growing consumption. But that never happened.
to be continued...
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The irony of M G Road
Amidst all the brouhaha about pub culture, isn't it ironical that a road in Bangalore, named after Mahatma Gandhi, is also the guzzler haven of India?
Adding insult to injury, Renuka Chowdhury attempted to remedy the pub incident by twisting Gandhiji's call of 'jail bharo' to her own 'pub bharo'. Pubs, you see, are the fundamental right of the urban upper-middle class. So much so, that the subsequent furore eclipsed the relatively muted demonstrations after 26/11 attacks. People were more enthusiastic in sending undergarments to Mutalik than they ever were in sending relief to flood victims. Anyways, lets go back to Gandhiji.
Considering that Bapu was a strong proponent of nationwide prohibition, it is disconcerting to note that a road named after him probably has the highest density of pubs in India. In our usual manner of tokenism, the Govt has ensured that we pay the bare minimum respect to the Mahatma, and still keep revenues from liquor flowing by enforcing prohibition in Gandhiji's janamabhoomi, Gujarat.
But Bapu had made his wish very clear. He stated that if was made dictator for a few hours, his first act would be to close all liquor shops, without offering any compensation. Very strong words from a generally mild man. I wonder if the India of today is as far from Bapu's dreams as current Pakistan is from Qaid-e-Azam's (Jinnah).
And I wonder how Bapu would have felt taking a stroll on the MG road of our times. As a friend of mine used to say 'Agar Mahatma Gandhi aaj zinda hote, to phir mar jaate'.
Note: If you are wondering whether I am against alcohol, the answer is yes. You can read it here. Although I do agree that prohibition rarely works, the point is that do we want it to work? If we consider closure of pubs as an assault on our fundamental rights, I don't think so.
Adding insult to injury, Renuka Chowdhury attempted to remedy the pub incident by twisting Gandhiji's call of 'jail bharo' to her own 'pub bharo'. Pubs, you see, are the fundamental right of the urban upper-middle class. So much so, that the subsequent furore eclipsed the relatively muted demonstrations after 26/11 attacks. People were more enthusiastic in sending undergarments to Mutalik than they ever were in sending relief to flood victims. Anyways, lets go back to Gandhiji.
Considering that Bapu was a strong proponent of nationwide prohibition, it is disconcerting to note that a road named after him probably has the highest density of pubs in India. In our usual manner of tokenism, the Govt has ensured that we pay the bare minimum respect to the Mahatma, and still keep revenues from liquor flowing by enforcing prohibition in Gandhiji's janamabhoomi, Gujarat.
But Bapu had made his wish very clear. He stated that if was made dictator for a few hours, his first act would be to close all liquor shops, without offering any compensation. Very strong words from a generally mild man. I wonder if the India of today is as far from Bapu's dreams as current Pakistan is from Qaid-e-Azam's (Jinnah).
And I wonder how Bapu would have felt taking a stroll on the MG road of our times. As a friend of mine used to say 'Agar Mahatma Gandhi aaj zinda hote, to phir mar jaate'.
Note: If you are wondering whether I am against alcohol, the answer is yes. You can read it here. Although I do agree that prohibition rarely works, the point is that do we want it to work? If we consider closure of pubs as an assault on our fundamental rights, I don't think so.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Dracula: Prince of Darkness (movie)
Cover of Dracula - Prince of Darkness
The movie begins with how Van Helsing disposed Dracula in the last movie, and finally, brought peace to Transylvania. Until, of course, our four British tourists arrive for a vacation. While in a local tavern, the tourists come across a priest (Andrew Keir), who tells them not to visit Carlsbad by all means, and if they still choose to go, they should at least stay away from the castle, which by horror-film logic tells you that they would soon be cooling off their heels in the God forsaken place. The only progress in the thirty odd years has been that while the victims in modern day films (invariably teenagers) end up in the devil's lair usually because of a sabotage, our fellows literally walk into Dracula's abode.
After that, it is only natural that one of them would be used to bring back Dracula from death, which is done quite dramatically for a film of the 1960s. In fact, the director (Terence Fisher) is very much in control of his matter till this point. Its only when Dracula wakes up that the movie goes astray. The Count does not achieve much in his ephemeral life, except creating a few fanatic, albeit mindless minions. Never for a moment you feel that the Prince of Darkness, now awakened, would unleash his dominion of terror. But that's not his fault actually. Deducing from the fact that Christopher Lee chose to play his role as Dracula silent because of the poor dialogues, the director probably never really intended this to be a Dracula-focused movie. The only saving grace is Barbara Shelley, who beautifully plays the transformation from a fearful, upright British lady to a nasty vampire.
That said, in Hammer films, Dracula never has much hope. He can be scared to death by anything that remotely resembles a cross, has to compulsorily sleep in hallowed ground and stay away from sunlight, and he cannot even swim in running water. To counter that, he does not even have superhuman strength, a sine qua non for supernatural beings in movies. All he possesses is basic hypnotic skills and slightly overgrown fangs. Nothing compared to the demons you see in contemporary cinema like Wes Craven's or Coppola's Dracula (remember the scene in the latter where Dracula puts a cross on fire and flies away contemptuously?). Hence, I would rate the "horror factor" somewhere near 3/10, which means a fifth grader can watch them alone during night, with all lights switched off.
The question arises, why did I see it. Well, simply for the quaint English dialouges. I should also mention here that Hammer films did give an everlasting legacy to Bollywood horror movies - Horse carriage chases! Not tongas, mind you, but proper British stagecoaches galloping across rural India. Watch Veerana and Purana Mandir if you don't believe me.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
BMTC buses - helpful website
Mapunity has started an extremely helpful website for people who wish to travel by BMTC buses. You just need to type in the name of the origin and the destination, and the website would recommend the routes to you, along with a map that charts the intermediate bus-stops. If there is no direct bus, the website also suggests alternate routes where you can change buses. Unfortunately, Bangalore follows a hub-and-spoke model, so buses follow "popular" routes, which are not necessarily the shortest. Unless your office/home is close to to KR Market, Kempegowda Bus Stand or Shivaji Stadium, or is located on one of the popular routes (like Madiwala-Wilson Garden-Bangalore Club), you would need to change buses often.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Wonderful poetry by John Prine
I came across these brilliant lines by John Prine in an equally brilliant review of "The Revolutionary Road" by Roger Ebert.
Blow up your TV, throw away your paper,
Go to the country, build you a home.
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches,
Try an' find Jesus on your own.
Blow up your TV, throw away your paper,
Go to the country, build you a home.
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches,
Try an' find Jesus on your own.
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