5.17.2008
One man's misery is another's LOL material
"Plan C has failed - We will follow Plan D"
This is a common refrain between my friend Abhishek and me when we are out on a trip. We end up following plans that were never and not following the ones that we made. Now Abhishek wanted to come to Hyderabad to search for a job. I think Hyderabad and Bangalore are to engineering students what Mumbai is to wannabe actors.
Abhishek lives in Lucknow and he needs to come to Hyderabad. There is only one direct train and the reservation too have to be done at a short notice. I tried the best I could using the internet but in the end Abhishek had to go to the Railway Reservation in Lucknow. He duly filled up the reservation application form and gave it to the lady sitting inside the office. The lady either hated all men or all Mishras or maybe just Abhishek Mishra or maybe she was just too helpful. She advised my friend to board Karnataka Express from Jhansi which goes from Delhi to Bangalore via Hyderabad. Since the reservation was to be done at a short notice, the only way was to reserve a seat for the entire journey from Delhi to Bangalore - but board at Jhansi and get down at Hyderabad. As such it was a a very circuitous route - but this options had to be chosen in face of lack of other options.
My friend started from Lucknow at 10 in the morning to reach Jhansi by night, so that he could catch Karnataka Express which reaches Jhansi at 2 in the night. I got a call from my friend at 1 in the night. He said "Aishwarya, I am in trouble". Which is a very euphemistic representation of what he actually said. "The train does not go via Hyderabad". We realized that the reservation clerk had goofed-up. She gave us the wrong information.
After enquiring from friends, I got to know that it would be a good idea to get down at WADI Junction from where Hyderabad is a 3 hour journey. The train is supposed to reach WADI at around 3 in the morning. So today when I woke up and took Abhishek's phone call, with my eyes still trying to go back to sleep, I could hear a lot of noise in the background. I assumed he had made the journey from Wadi to Hyderabad and now wanted to come home.
But what I heard from there was "Plan C has failed - We will follow Plan D". Skeptical, but hopeful still, I asked "Why, you going to Mauritius?" and he said "No, Bangalore". The train was running 5 hours late and after trying to keep his eyes open at 3 in the night, my friend went to sleep. Before going to sleep he told the attendant of the AC coach to wake him up at WADI. The attendant slept too. I was not too surprised because my friend has a knack of getting into things like these.
I asked him, you are travelling in an AC coach - then what is the noise all about. He said "When I cannot think of any other way, I go and sit in the toilet".
So currently, my friend is on his way to Bangalore and should be in Hyderabad by day after tomorrow, unless he decides to go for another adventure.
This is a common refrain between my friend Abhishek and me when we are out on a trip. We end up following plans that were never and not following the ones that we made. Now Abhishek wanted to come to Hyderabad to search for a job. I think Hyderabad and Bangalore are to engineering students what Mumbai is to wannabe actors.
Abhishek lives in Lucknow and he needs to come to Hyderabad. There is only one direct train and the reservation too have to be done at a short notice. I tried the best I could using the internet but in the end Abhishek had to go to the Railway Reservation in Lucknow. He duly filled up the reservation application form and gave it to the lady sitting inside the office. The lady either hated all men or all Mishras or maybe just Abhishek Mishra or maybe she was just too helpful. She advised my friend to board Karnataka Express from Jhansi which goes from Delhi to Bangalore via Hyderabad. Since the reservation was to be done at a short notice, the only way was to reserve a seat for the entire journey from Delhi to Bangalore - but board at Jhansi and get down at Hyderabad. As such it was a a very circuitous route - but this options had to be chosen in face of lack of other options.
My friend started from Lucknow at 10 in the morning to reach Jhansi by night, so that he could catch Karnataka Express which reaches Jhansi at 2 in the night. I got a call from my friend at 1 in the night. He said "Aishwarya, I am in trouble". Which is a very euphemistic representation of what he actually said. "The train does not go via Hyderabad". We realized that the reservation clerk had goofed-up. She gave us the wrong information.
After enquiring from friends, I got to know that it would be a good idea to get down at WADI Junction from where Hyderabad is a 3 hour journey. The train is supposed to reach WADI at around 3 in the morning. So today when I woke up and took Abhishek's phone call, with my eyes still trying to go back to sleep, I could hear a lot of noise in the background. I assumed he had made the journey from Wadi to Hyderabad and now wanted to come home.
But what I heard from there was "Plan C has failed - We will follow Plan D". Skeptical, but hopeful still, I asked "Why, you going to Mauritius?" and he said "No, Bangalore". The train was running 5 hours late and after trying to keep his eyes open at 3 in the night, my friend went to sleep. Before going to sleep he told the attendant of the AC coach to wake him up at WADI. The attendant slept too. I was not too surprised because my friend has a knack of getting into things like these.
I asked him, you are travelling in an AC coach - then what is the noise all about. He said "When I cannot think of any other way, I go and sit in the toilet".
So currently, my friend is on his way to Bangalore and should be in Hyderabad by day after tomorrow, unless he decides to go for another adventure.
5.16.2008
Social Sciences in the India Context
It has been quite sometime, I shifted to Business Standard(BS) from Economic Times(ET) and not a day too soon. BS' brand of serious and wider journalism enriches me more than ET's "Always Gung-ho " approach. Now, back to this post:)
"What is the India pre-Modern?" by Sadanand Menon - for some it would seem like the perfect passage to pick up for the reading comprehension exercise in CAT exam. Menon expresses his dismay at the way Indian Social Science is still viewed through the prism of English language and consequently getting straight-jacketed by the limitations imposed by "English" thinking. We need to look at vernacular sources to get more different and more accurate perspectives on our social setup. As Menon aptly says
"Our knowledge systems lack a site of the commons in an environmental sense. Our disciplines need an imagination of the commons, of the 'wide margins', where knowledge appears as open to different uses by different people".
"History as discipline must, therefore, reconfigure its relationship to the archive, given that traces of reality no longer seem available as contained in its 'proper place', like in the records-room. These now exist disintegrated across many moments of the popular media, what would earlier be considered ephemera without ordering and classification. Even more important is to listen to the unspoken stories from the margin."
Menon accepts not everything can be taken into consideration for the sake of 'vernacular' and 'commons'. He gives a nice example. The workers of Kolar Gold Mines protested with him for supporting closure of the mines. Menon's contention was that the highly polluting work environment results in 80 percent of the workers suffering from some respiratory disease while the workers (read the Union) considered the mines their 'mother', their 'anna-data'. Menon counters this belief by asking if this means that urban sewage workers should consider the sewer at their "Ganga" and speak of their work in terms of 'Holy Dip'".
"What is the India pre-Modern?" by Sadanand Menon - for some it would seem like the perfect passage to pick up for the reading comprehension exercise in CAT exam. Menon expresses his dismay at the way Indian Social Science is still viewed through the prism of English language and consequently getting straight-jacketed by the limitations imposed by "English" thinking. We need to look at vernacular sources to get more different and more accurate perspectives on our social setup. As Menon aptly says
"Our knowledge systems lack a site of the commons in an environmental sense. Our disciplines need an imagination of the commons, of the 'wide margins', where knowledge appears as open to different uses by different people".
"History as discipline must, therefore, reconfigure its relationship to the archive, given that traces of reality no longer seem available as contained in its 'proper place', like in the records-room. These now exist disintegrated across many moments of the popular media, what would earlier be considered ephemera without ordering and classification. Even more important is to listen to the unspoken stories from the margin."
Menon accepts not everything can be taken into consideration for the sake of 'vernacular' and 'commons'. He gives a nice example. The workers of Kolar Gold Mines protested with him for supporting closure of the mines. Menon's contention was that the highly polluting work environment results in 80 percent of the workers suffering from some respiratory disease while the workers (read the Union) considered the mines their 'mother', their 'anna-data'. Menon counters this belief by asking if this means that urban sewage workers should consider the sewer at their "Ganga" and speak of their work in terms of 'Holy Dip'".
Popular Government or a Sensible One
Today was one of those days when most of the opinions in the editorial were worth the read.
Double Bill
The staple two editorials talked about the disconnect between politician's intellect and the right thing to do.
First article talks about how the savings that Telecom Minister A Raja claims to have made by re-negotiating the BSNL are just notional. The delay in procuring the equipment has resulted in the loss of potential customers which is clearly visible in BSNL's slipping from the top position to the third - in terms of subscribers. Also, with the price of telecom equipment falling, there is bound to be a "saving" every time a contract/tender will be re-negotiated. The saving MAY also be , even if partially, due to the changed specifications of the tender.
Second article talks about how the government has, without a second thought, banned futures trading on a number of agricultural commodities - rubber, gram, soya oil, potato, wheat, rice, urad, tur. B C Khatua(Forward Markets Commission) and Abhijit Sen (Planning Commission) have clearly stated their belief that they do not find any relationship between futures trading and price-rise of the goods being traded. The choice of goods selected for ban also fail to make sense - a bumper potato crop and the already high price of rubber. There is a fear that these steps are being taken to give a feeling that the government is doing something.
Such actions on part of the government set you thinking if you really need a government with popular vote or a government which works - popular or not. A controversial and to an extent one sided argument you would say. Democracy is above all. But with economic and financial decisions like the ones mentioned, you wonder why we always shout that our PM and FM are some of the most able people when it comes to economic or financial matters.
Double Bill
The staple two editorials talked about the disconnect between politician's intellect and the right thing to do.
First article talks about how the savings that Telecom Minister A Raja claims to have made by re-negotiating the BSNL are just notional. The delay in procuring the equipment has resulted in the loss of potential customers which is clearly visible in BSNL's slipping from the top position to the third - in terms of subscribers. Also, with the price of telecom equipment falling, there is bound to be a "saving" every time a contract/tender will be re-negotiated. The saving MAY also be , even if partially, due to the changed specifications of the tender.
Second article talks about how the government has, without a second thought, banned futures trading on a number of agricultural commodities - rubber, gram, soya oil, potato, wheat, rice, urad, tur. B C Khatua(Forward Markets Commission) and Abhijit Sen (Planning Commission) have clearly stated their belief that they do not find any relationship between futures trading and price-rise of the goods being traded. The choice of goods selected for ban also fail to make sense - a bumper potato crop and the already high price of rubber. There is a fear that these steps are being taken to give a feeling that the government is doing something.
Such actions on part of the government set you thinking if you really need a government with popular vote or a government which works - popular or not. A controversial and to an extent one sided argument you would say. Democracy is above all. But with economic and financial decisions like the ones mentioned, you wonder why we always shout that our PM and FM are some of the most able people when it comes to economic or financial matters.
5.15.2008
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