KaNaad's Korner

Dada

2008-05-08T11:07:00.002+05:30

Tuesday, May 6 2008, at the Mulund Toll Naka, Eastern Express Highway

BCCI's Bodyline Bowling: Attack of a Monopolist

2007-09-01T12:04:00.000+05:30

Update [7 Sep] -

The anti-monopoly watchdog in India, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC), has initiated an investigation against the Indian board over its reported threat of a life ban to players joining the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

See BCCI faces monopoly investigation

The rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) has been grabbing headlines for a while, and the war of words between ICL and the BCCI has been escalating. Courts have given verdicts, current and former cricketers have taken sides and the media has played its part in sensationalizing the story.

The discussion so far appears to have focused mainly on the ICL's role as an unlicensed, unaffiliated body that is promoting itself without knowing exactly what it wants to be - is it a complete alternate cricketing structure? Is is a 20-20 cricket league? Is it an opportunity for players long on the fringes of the BCCI's national team, forever ignored by the selectors?

From an economics perspective, it is none of these. In pure economic terms, ICL is a competitor challenging what looks like an established monopoly. It is instructive to identify the market that the monopoly operates in and conduct a proper analysis.

The BCCI's "business interests" are mainly in selling broadcast rights (television, radio) of live cricketing events, selling official merchandise, tickets at the grounds and so on. Of these, the broadcast rights are the major revenue earner and the most contentious issue. The ICL's chief sponsor, Subhash Chandra, started it only after failing to match or exceed a bid for the rights to telecast BCCI events on his channel, Zee Television. Let us focus therefore on the "broadcast rights" issue, the main revenue source for the BCCI and the bone of contention in this debate.

Starting with the antitrust basics, what is the "market" that the BCCI has allegedly monopolized? How can it be properly defined? How can antitrust economics be properly applied to determine whether the BCCI possesses or is attempting to illegally maintain a monopoly?

"Broadcast rights" are a revenue source because they in turn enable television, radio or other media that acquire these rights to sell "advertising slots" to advertisers. Thus, in essence, the BCCI is merely a "content provider" that enables advertisers to show messages to a specific audience (one that is interested in cricket matches). Thus, the right economic analysis is NOT "control over cricket played in India" - but rather, the sale of "advertising slots".

Any analysis of monopoly must begin with a proper market definition. The next question then is whether an alleged monopolist has "monopoly power" in this properly defined market. The usual analysis begins with the "narrowest" market definition and applies the "Small but Significant Non-transitory Increase in Price" (SSNIP) test. The central question is: can an alleged monopolist in the properly defined market "profitably" implement a SSNIP? If the answer is yes, the analysis proceeds by expanding the market definition until a SSNIP becomes unprofitable. If the SSNIP is profitable only in a very narrowly-defined market, the "market power" held by the alleged monopolist is negligible, and thus, does not satisfy the "monopoly" criterion. [Note: If the market is already monopolized, a SSNIP may not be profitable since substitutes may be relevant at the monopoly price. The correct analysis however is to consider demand substitution at the "competitive price". See SSNIP and cellophane fallacy].

Let us consider the smallest market that the BCCI operates in - this may be defined as the "advertising slots" for a single match involving a BCCI-approved team (India, India A etc.). Can the BCCI profitably implement a SSNIP in this market? It is possible - especially if it is a match that has few substitutes (e.g. a world-cup final involving India, an India-Pakistan match of importance etc.). However, defining a market as a "single match" does not permit analysis of any increase in price as "non-transitory" and is more akin a one-time event, a single round of a multi-round game.

Broadening the definition, let us consider advertising slots for "matches involving the official BCCI India team" over a substantial length period of time. At present, BCCI has a monopoly over these advertising slots, through its ability to control the broadcast of these matches. Given that BCCI's team is widely acknowledged as the "Indian National Team", it is clear that there is no perfect substitute. Now consider some of the substitutes available to the advertisers:

International cricket matches not involving India - Given an advertiser that is attempting to promote her product in India, these appear to place no constraint on the BCCI's ability to profitably implement a SSNIP. A SSNIP in BCCI's charges for broadcast rights will not result in the advertisers taking their business to an Australia-Pakistan match (the quality of cricket played may be better - but from a pure economic perspective, the advertiser cannot substitute the size of the audience for an India match by advertising in such matches).

Cricket matches involving other "India" teams - These are also under BCCI's control and therefore not valid substitutes.

International sports events involving Indian teams or individuals - No other sport in India matches the popularity of cricket. The prices for advertising slots for non-cricket team sports- football, hockey, or other team events or individual sports - tennis, billiards, chess - etc. are "much below" than those for cricket. A SSNIP in cricket advertising slots may push some advertisers towards these other sports - however, the SSNIP will still likely be profitable.

Other advertising slots - "sporting events" attract a certain audience - and advertising for with other content (e.g. television soaps, sponsored television shows, reality television or game shows, live concert telecasts, movies) is an imperfect substitute for cricket advertising. The per-second rates of some of these events may be comparable (e.g. the Filmfare awards) - however, the target audience reached by cricket is not duplicated by these events.

Not advertising through these media - clearly, no advertiser will "fully withdraw" advertising from television or other media in response to a SSNIP by the BCCI.

It is apparent that the BCCI wields "monopoly power" in the "advertising slots for cricket featuring Team India". In fact, an even broader market comprising "advertising slots for cricket featuring teams from India" may be monopolized by the BCCI.

The effects of a monopoly can be seen along dimensions - increased price (already seen in the advertising prices), reduced consumer choice (variety) and reduced quality.

The reduction of variety is obvious in world cricket, especially in comparison with other team sports. Unlike other sports such as soccer or basketball, cricket does not have "club teams" that are composed of talented players drawn from the various countries that play the sport. Unlike basketball - in which the NBA, US College Basketball and international basketball - all follow different rules and therefore, provide variety, cricket is confined to the ICC's rules. The pace of innovation has been slow (e.g. 20-20 or fielding restrictions in ODI cricket etc.), and has often been a response to challengers (e.g. The Kerry Packer alternative is credited with several innovations such as coloured clothing, day-night matches, limited overs cricket etc.). The number of international stars in cricket is capped by the number of international teams playing the sport and also the strength of his team. Thus, many high quality Aussies, Indians, Pakistanis etc. must wait their turn (sometimes for over a decade) to play for their teams while lesser players get the opportunity to compete internationally for teams such as Bangladesh, Bermuda or Zimbabwe.

The reduced quality came to the fore during the most recent cricket world cup. By including several fringe team (under the presumed goal of "developing the sport"), the world body permitted teams that wouldn't be competitive at the club-level in Australia, England or India, to compete with much superior teams, resulting in a large percentage of one-sided games (of reduced quality to consumers interested in watching a keenly contested match). Such mismatched contests are omnipresent in the present structure of cricket.

[One must acknowledge here that the pride of seeing a "national" team compete may not be substituted by city, county or club teams. However, the soccer example - with its immensely popular club teams - and a world cup every four years - proves that alternate structures that preserve international teams while allowing club teams to prosper are feasible.]

The BCCI's pronouncements after the announcement of the ICL and the unveiling of its initial list of players may then be seen as efforts to maintain its monopoly. The BCCI raised salaries for its players in domestic teams (as an employer of cricket players, the BCCI possesses "monopsony" power - i.e. it is the sole source of demand for cricketers), it threatened players with a life ban and that they would not be allowed to represent "India" (raising barriers to entry), it declined to make its stadiums available to the ICL (raising barriers to entry) and even roped in the ICC and other boards to prevent their players from joining the rebel league. It also barred coaches and officials joining the ICL from any current or future ties to "official" Indian cricket (e.g. Kapil Dev was removed as the head of the NCA, past-player's pensions were threatened).

The BCCI is bowling a lot of deliveries that would be considered "unfair" competition at a minimum (and "illegal" under several countries' laws). Let us hope that the ICL successfully ducks some, hooks other to the boundary and overcomes this "bodyline" attack to deliver some spectacular cricket!

द रिलक्टंट फंडामेंटलिस्ट

2007-06-04T15:33:00.000+05:30

सलाम! तुम्हाला काही मदत हवी आहे का? असे दचकू नका! माझी दाढी भरघोस आहे खरी, पण माझं अमेरिकेवर प्रेम आहे. मला वाटले तुम्ही काहीतरी शोधताय. पण खरे तर तुमचा हा शोध साधासुधा नाही, ती एक मोहीमच दिसतेय. ह्या शहराचा माहीतगार रहिवासी आणि तोही तुमची भाषा जाणणारा - मला वाटले मी तुम्हाला ह्या कामात काहीतरी मदत करू शकेन.

तुम्ही बुचकळ्य़ात पडलेले दिसताय - ह्या दाढीवाल्याला कसं कळलं की मी अमेरिकन आहे? छे छे, तुमच्या गोरया चमडीवरून नाही - आमच्या देशातही विविध रंगाची माणसं आहेत, तुम्ही त्यातल्या वायव्य सरहद्द प्रांतातले म्हणून सहज खपाल. तुमच्या कपड्यांवरूनही अंदाज बांधणे मुश्किलच आहे. तुमचा हा रुबाबदार शर्ट आणि त्यावरून चढवलेला हा झकास एक खिशाचा सूट डे मोईन, आयोवा मध्ये कुणा युरोपियन टुरिस्टलाही मिळाला असता. तुमचे बारीक कापलेले केस, आणि त्याहूनही महत्वाचे म्हणजे ही भरदार छाती - तुम्ही नक्कीच रोजचा दंड-बैठकांचा व्यायाम करत असणार - हे एका विशिष्ट प्रकारच्या अमेरिकनाचे लक्षण आहे खरे. पण तेही कारण नव्हेच, सगळयाच देशातले खेळाडू आणि सैनिक साधारणपणे सारखेच दिसतात. नाही, खरे तर मी तुम्हाला तुमच्या "ढंगावरूनच" ओळखले. नाही नाही, असे रागावून पाहू नका - अपमान म्हणून नव्हे, नुसते एक निरीक्षण म्हणून मी हे म्ह्टले.

वरील विलक्षण वाक्यांनी सुरू होणारे मोहसीन हमीद ह्या पाकिस्तानी लेखकाचे "द रिलक्टंट फंडामेंटलिस्ट" हे दुसरे पुस्तक प्रकाशित होण्याआधीपासूनच गाजते आहे. वाचकाला तात्काळ खेचून घेणारे हे पुस्तक सुरुवातीपासून शेवटपर्यंत आणि वाचून संपल्यानंतरही वाचकाच्या मनाचा कब्जा घेते. पाश्चात्य आणि तिसरया जगातील तुटत असणाऱ्या नात्याचा वेध ह्या पुस्तकात घेतला आहे.

लाहोरमधील गल्ली-बोळांतील एका छोट्याशा हॉटेलमध्ये दोन व्यक्तींची गाठ पडते. गोष्ट सांगणारा दाढीवाला मनुष्य म्हणजे चंगेझ नावाचा एक तरूण पाकिस्तानी. तो ज्याच्याशी बोलतोय ती व्यक्ती कधीच वाचकासमोर येत नाही. त्यामुळे चंगेझ सांगत असलेल्या गोष्टींवरूनच समोरच्या माणसाबद्दल तर्क-वितर्क लढवावे लागतात. अशा काहीशा चमत्कारिक परिस्थितीमध्ये वाचक कायम संभ्रमात पडतो, आणि गोष्टीची एकच बाजू ऎकत असल्यामुळे साहजिकच समोरच्या अमेरिकनाच्या भूमिकेबद्दलही विचार करू लागतो.

अशा अविश्वासात सुरु झालेला हा संवाद मग चंगेझच्या बोलण्यातून उलगडत जातो. चंगेझ अमेरिकेतील प्रथितयश अशा प्रिन्स्टन विद्यापीठाचा पदवीधर आहे. इतर परदेशी विद्यार्थ्यांप्रमाणेच तोही आपल्या वर्गांतील अमेरिकन विद्यार्थ्यांपेक्षा कांकणभर सरसच आहे. प्रिन्स्टन मधून बाहेर पडताना अवघ्या एक-दोघांना मिळणारी अंडरवूड-सॅमसन ह्या प्रथितयश अमेरिकन कंपनीतील नोकरी चंगेझला सहज मिळून जाते. त्याचबरोबर एरिका नावाची एक सुंदर अमेरिकन मुलगीही त्याच्या प्रेमात पडते. न्यू यॉर्क सारख्या जागतिक शहरात राहणारा चंगेझ कामाच्या धबडग्यात आणि एरिकाच्या प्रेमात बुडून जातो. अमेरिकेचा काठ धरणाऱ्या इतर परदेशी तरुणांसारखीच अमेरिकन समृद्धीची स्वप्ने बघू लागतो. ह्या सगळ्यामध्ये त्याच्या मनात मात्र कुठेतरी पाल चुकचुकत राहते.

लाहोरच्या घरची, तिथल्या ताज्या अन्नाची आणि तिथल्या बालपणाची आठवण मधूनच डोके वर काढते, कुठेतरी खुपत राहते. वरवर पाहता अमेरिकेत पूर्णपणे रुळलेला, तिथल्या वातावरणाशी एकजीव झालेला चंगेझ आपल्या देशाचे मागासलेपण आणि दारिद्र्य विसरू शकत नाही. त्याचबरोबर मोहेंजोदारो सारख्या प्रगत संस्कृतीचा वारसा सांगणाऱ्या, हजारो वर्षांचा इतिहास असलेल्या आपल्या संस्कृतीचा अभिमान आणि त्या तुलनेत आजच्या जगातील पाकिस्तानचे स्थान त्याला अस्वस्थ करते. त्याचे हे वेगळेपण आणि संवेदनशीलता इतर कुणाच्याही लक्षात आली नाही तरी एरिका समजून घेते.

एरिकादेखील एका विचित्र परिस्थितीत अडकली आहे - तिचा लहानपणापासूनचा मित्र आणि प्रेमी असलेला ख्रिस काही वर्षांपूर्वीच कॅन्सरने गेला. त्याच्या जाण्यानंतर एकटी पडलेली एरिका आता कुठे त्या धक्क्यातून सावरतेय. पण ती ख्रिसला विसरू शकत नाही. तिचे आणि चंगेझचे संबंध अशा प्रकारे एक विचित्र प्रेमत्रिकोणात बांधले गेले आहेत. भूतकाळात असलेला हा तिसरा कोन चंगेझच्या प्रेमाच्या आड येतो. वैयक्तिक पातळीवर अशा गोष्टींना सामोरा जाणाऱ्या चंगेझच्या मनात एक भलतीच गोष्ट एक वादळ निर्माण करते - सप्टेंबर ११, २००१ !

कामानिमित्त फिलिपाईन्स मध्ये असलेला चंगेझ वर्ल्ड ट्रेड सेंटरची इमारत कोसळताना बघतो. आणि पहिल्याप्रथम त्याच्या चेहऱ्यावर उमटते हास्याची एक लकीर. आपल्याच ह्या प्रतिक्रियेने चंगेझ दचकून जातो. आजवर दडपून ठेवलेले स्वतःबद्दलचे अनेक प्रश्न अचानक उफाळून येतात. अमेरिकेला परतताना विमानतळावर चंगेझची झाडून तपासणी होते. आजवर आपल्याच विचारांत गढून गेलेले न्यू यॉर्कचे लोकल प्रवासी त्याच्याकडे वळून वळून पाहू लागतात. ऑफिसातील इतर लोकांनाही अचानक तो पाकिस्तानी असल्याचा साक्षात्कार होतो.

चंगेझच्या मनातील ही घालमेल सुरु असतानाच एरिकादेखील ख्रिसच्या आठवणींत हरवून त्याच्यापासून दूर जाते. पाकिस्तानच्या सहकार्याने अमेरिका अफगाणिस्तानवर हल्ला चढवते. आजवर टेलेव्हिजनवर फुटबॉल आणि बास्केटबॉलसारखे खेळ बघणारे अमेरिकन्स आता युद्धाचा अमानुष खेळ बघू लागतात. आणि चंगेझ बदलू लागतो. लाहोरला धावती भेट देतो. आपल्याच घरात पाऊल टाकताना चंगेझला विचित्र वाटते. जुनाट घर, पोपडे निघालेल्या भिंती, आजूबाजूची गर्दी हे सर्व काही त्याला अनोळखी आणि स्वतःच्या अमेरिकन जीवनापासून फार दूर आणि विसंगत भासू लागते. चंगेझ पुन्हा दचकतो. आपल्या घरातील ह्या बदलावद्दल विचार करताना अचानक त्याला जाणीव होते - बदल घरात नसून स्वतःतच असल्याची!

लाहोर वास्तव्यात चंगेझला भारत-पाकिस्तानमधील तणावाची परिस्थिती दिसते. आपले आप्त-स्वकीय युध्दाच्या छायेत असताना स्वत: अमेरिकेला परत येणे त्याला कठीण होते. पाकिस्तान आणि अमेरिकेतील हे फरक पाहता-पाहताच चंगेझला आपल्यातीलच विसंगती, दुभंगलेपण दिसून येते. विचारांच्या अशा गर्तेत सापडलेला चंगेझ अमेरिकेला परत येताना दाढी वाढवून येतो.

चंगेझच्या मनात इतिहास आणि वर्तमान तसेच आपलीच स्वप्ने आणि भोवतालच्या जगातील वास्तव ह्यांमधील अंतर वाढत जाते. अमेरिकेला येणाऱ्या लाखो परदेशी तरूणांप्रमाणेच भौतिक सुखाची स्वप्ने बघणारा, अमेरिकन मुक्त संस्कृती - उदारमतवादीपणावर विश्वास ठेवणारा चंगेझ मग काहीशा अनिच्छेनेच अमेरिकाविरोधी विचारांकडे आकर्षित होतो. आजवर स्वतःवर संपूर्ण ताबा असलेला, दोन जगांतील फरकांतूनही आपल्या आयुष्याचा तोल सांभाळून असलेला हा अमेरिकाशिक्षित पाकिस्तानी तरूण हळूह्ळू एक "रिलक्टंट फंडामेंटलिस्ट" बनतो.

आपली गोष्ट सांगताना चंगेझ समोरच्या अमेरिकनाबद्दलही सांगत राहतो, वाचकाला खुणावत राहतो. त्याच्या उजव्या बाहीखाली काय दडले असावे? लाहोरच्या ह्या पुरातन भागात तो काय बरे शोधत असावा? बरोबर तासाच्या ठोक्याला त्याच्या फोनची रिंग का बरे वाजत असावी? आणि, तो सतत संशयाने आजूबाजूला का बघत असावा? अनेक प्रश्न वाचकासमोर उभे राहतात. आणि हा सस्पेन्स पुस्तकाची संपूर्ण दोनशे पानं टिकतो.

अमेरिकेचे आक्रमक स्वरुप जगापुढे येणे आणि चंगेझचा तोल ढळणे ह्या दोन्ही गोष्टी एकापाठोपाठ घडतात. वरवर पाहता साध्यासुध्या वाटणाऱ्या गोष्टीदेखील असाधारण मन:स्थितीत असलेल्या माणसावर चमत्कारिक परिणाम करतात. जगावर आधिपत्य गाजवण्याची सवय झालेल्या अमेरिकन सरकारची सप्टें ११ नंतरची प्रतिक्रिया अशीच प्रमाणाबाहेर आक्रमक झाली. स्वत:च्या भूमीवरचा हल्ला पचविण्याची ताकदच अमेरिकेकडे उरली नाही. "लिबरल" मुक्त विचारसरणीची, आविष्कारस्वातंत्र्य, व्यक्तिस्वातंत्र्य, लोकशाही मूल्यांचे माहेरघर असलेली अमेरिका मागे पडली आणि तिच्या जागी अमेरिकन पद्धतीचा फंडामेंटलिझम - "US" v. "Them" - ची उद्दाम भावना आली.

हल्ल्यांनंतर सगळ्या जगाची साहजिकच मिळालेली सहानुभूती अफगाणिस्तान आणि पाठोपाठ इराकवर हल्ला करून अमेरिका गमवून बसली. ह्या देशांतील लाखो सामान्य नागरिकांचे आयुष्य अमेरिकेच्या अतिरेकी आक्रमक वृत्तीमुळे बदलून गेले. साहजिकच ह्या दोन्ही देशांमध्ये आणि जगभरच्या संवेदनशील नागरिकांमध्ये (त्यामध्ये मोठ्या प्रमाणावर अमेरिकनही आलेच)अमेरिकाविरोध वाढला.

अमेरिकन संस्कृतीच्या वाढत्या प्रभावाखाली येणाऱ्या आणि अमेरिकेच्या चुंबकीय क्षेत्रात सहजी आकर्षित होणाऱ्या आजच्या भारतीय तरुणांसमोरदेखील हे विसंवाद आहेत. वरवर पाहता अमेरिकन पद्धतीच्या श्रीमंतीला, चंगळवादाला रुळावलेल्या लोकांच्या मनातही काहीतरी खदखदते आहे. अमेरिकेची श्रीमंती सहज आपलीशी करणारे अनेक वरकरणी मॉडर्न लोक आविष्कारस्वातंत्र्य आणि व्यक्तिस्वातंत्र्यासारख्या मूल्यांना मात्र स्वीकारु शकलेले नाहीत. दुर्दैवाने अमेरिकादेखील आपले ते स्वरुप विसरू लागली आहे.

दहशतवादी हल्ल्यांनंतर जगाकडे एका वेगळ्या, उद्दाम दृष्टीने बघणाऱ्या अमेरिकेची ही तसबीर चंगेझ त्या निनावी अमेरिकनासमोर उभी करतो. ही तसबीर वाचकालाही विचारप्रवृत्त करते. पौर्वात्य आणि पाश्चिमात्य जगातील मोठे आणि सूक्ष्म फरक ह्या कादंबरीची पार्श्वभूमी आहेत. एकाच वेळी मॉडर्न जगाचे आकर्षण आणि आपल्या परंपरेचा अभिमान असलेल्या तिसऱ्या जगातील नवीन पिढीचे संभ्रम ही कादंबरी मांडते. अमेरिकेचा दुहेरी चेहरा - साम्राज्यवादी, मुजोर, दादा देश आणि बाहेरच्यांना सामावून घेणारा मेल्टिंग पॉट - देखील वाचकासमोर येतो. कादंबरीतील चंगेझ आणि समोरचा अमेरिकन ह्या दोन्ही प्रवृत्तींची प्रतिके आहेत.

प्रत्येक वाचकाला आपापले पूर्वग्रह तपासून पाहायला लावणारी, जगाच्या पटावर उलगडणाऱ्या राजकीय नाट्याला वैयक्तिक पातळीवर आणणारी ही कादंबरी. जरूर वाचा!

मोहसीन हमीद ह्यांचा जन्म लाहोर, पाकिस्तान मध्ये झाला. त्यांनी अमेरिकेतील प्रिन्स्टन आणि हार्वर्ड विद्यापीठात शिक्षण घेतले. "Moth Smoke" ही त्यांची पहिलीच कादंबरी गाजली. ती दहा भाषांमध्ये अनुवादित झाली आहे.

द रिलक्टंट फंडामेंटलिस्ट

लेखक: मोहसीन हमीद
प्रकाशक: पेंग्विन-व्हायकिंग
पृष्ठे: १९२
किंमत: रु. २९५/-

Flowers

2007-06-02T23:05:00.000+05:30

My eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness of the theater as I entered. The darkened space also had an invigorating smell - "dhoop" - incense was being burned. I noticed ornate, circular stone vessel at the center of the room, with a narrow platform hanging above it. Spotlights were trained on the vessel which was filled to the brim with water and white flowers. The light reflected off the water and illuminated the platform slightly. A figure draped in a white cloth was sitting at the far end of the platform, leaning against a few steps that separated it from us. That was Rajit Kapoor, the lead - and only - actor performing Girish Karnad' new play, "Flowers".

There were murmurs all around. The small theater was packed to capacity. The stage was surrounded on three sides by the audience, their eagerness apparent as the hour neared 7 pm, the scheduled beginning of the performance. Precisely at that time, the music started. Sparse, serious tones interspersed with the sounds of crickets chirping. The figure in white got up, turned around, carefully climbed down the two steps that separated it from us in the audience, and the performance began.

It is near midnight, the Priest said. He was looking disshevelled, even in a smart dhoti and angavastram. His face seemed weighed down with some great worry, while his tone tried not to betray any of it. The stars were in the sky, and the Scorpio it seems, was about to enter the water.

The priest narrated his story, maintaining a level tone. The platform was an extension of the temple, surrounded by water. It was a Shiva temple, where God takes the form of a Lingum. The priest's story was one of a powerful romance that drew him in and wouldn't let him out. A love that seemingly destroyed his routine life, and brought him to this night, narrating his story as he contemplated his life.

He loved his wife he said, and respected his chieftain. As the temple priest, he worshiped God above all else. He spent hours alone with God - discussing things important and mundane. His many hours of the day were spent decorating the idol with flowers. He conducted every ritual with great attention to detail. His life had a steady rhythm, of devotion, of ritual, of complete devotion. His routine was disturbed in the strangest of ways, when a courtesan visited the temple to seek blessings during a week long celebration. What followed were events unlike anything one could imagine, and brought him to this night of rigorous self-examination.

Girish Karnad's latest play is a monologue. It is a timeless story, set in no particular place. It plays on the themes that have dominated his work - the nature of God and religion, virtue and morality and the dilemmas associated with these. It is the sparsest of his works, distilled to a bare minimum. Yet, it is powerful and unforgettable.

Rajit Kapoor's performance was masterful. The tone of his voice, the strength and fragility it conveyed, the manner of speech - accelerating in excitement and slowing down in love - and the way he crossed and uncrossed his legs all made one forget that it was a play and he was an actor. The audience was mesmerized and transported to this timeless world. The minimal lighting and sound were in keeping with the nature of the play.

An hour and a half later, when the performance finished, the audience was in a trance. It was a theater experience unlike another. I felt fortunate to witness it.

The Rockstar Historian

2007-05-12T00:39:00.000+05:30

I just returned from the publication event for Ramachandra Guha's India After Gandhi. Guha gave a wonderful account of his book and its main characters. In style and manner, his speech was nothing short of a rock performance. His eyes, the nervous energy of his movements, rapid speech interspersed with sips of water and a booming voice, combined with a mastery of the subject at hand - Ramachandra Guha is as wonderful a speaker as writer. He conveyed the essence of the book, some of the best stories, and the primary evidence for some of his striking conclusions, and most of all, his command over the subject. All in all, Ramachandra Guha has rockstar appeal coupled with a historian's studiousness.

A rare and valuable combination indeed. Time to read the book!

The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh

2006-08-31T16:19:00.000+05:30

The novel is spread over more than a hundred years, in sub-continental settings ranging from Burma, to coastal India (Eastern and Western) and Malaya. Ghosh uses extensively researched facts to create a wonderful, arresting setting for the story. He opens the book with the fall of Burma to the British with this fabulous opening sentence:

There was only one person in the food-stall who knew exactly what that sound was that was rolling in across the plain, along the silver curve of the Irawaddy, to the western wall of Mandalay's fort. His name was Rajkumar and he was an Indian, a boy of eleven - not an authority to be relied upon.

Starting with the subsequent exile of the Burmese royal family to Ratnagiri, Ghosh runs through a century of events and many generations of characters in a book that alternates between the closely pictured personal lives of its characters and wide ranging social and political issues engulfing the sub-continent. He does a great job using such wonderful material to weave a captivating story. The writing is somewhat varying in quality, ranging from mostly sublime to somewhat trite in a few places.

Covering such a large period of time necessarily means that Ghosh picks and chooses the places and periods where his narrative goes into extensive detail. In such places, the book is languorous, describing the setting and emotions in fabulous detail. The visual imagery is striking. The royal palace in Mandalay, and the royal family’s forced removal are captured in such words that one can almost see the events unfold in front of one’s eyes. The teak trade, the dizzying geometry of rubber plantations, and the myriad working class occupations of colonial times are brought forth.

The characters in the first generation, Rajkumar, Dolly, Saya John, Uma and others are fascinating personalities. Born in uncertain times, many to unknown parents, these people without moorings of family find themselves taking whichever opportunities come their way. Yet, rather than be drawn along the stream, each of them stands strong. From Dolly’s dedication to the royal family, to Uma’s independent thinking, and Rajkumar’s entrepreneurship, the reader sees real people whose lives are constructed and change before their eyes. The next generation however, is rendered more as stereotypes – the artistic, liberal minded Dinu, the obedient handsome son Neel, and the innocent soldier Arjun. They appear to be in the novel to represent certain viewpoints or ideas, not as full of surprises as the earlier generation.

Ghosh uses this backdrop and cast of characters to narrate a tale of multiple countries under British colonial rule. The novel expresses the opinions of the rulers and the ruled, conflicting yet each very believable. The role of the British Indian army in the maintenance and expansion of the British empire is well captured, as is the revolt by its soldiers in the WW-II era. Throughout, Ghosh's characters are true to life, and yet represent the larger reality of the world.

A fabulous read.

संतोष प्रोव्हिजन स्टोअर्स

2006-08-31T16:15:00.000+05:30

वस्तूंची उपलब्धता जाहीर करणाऱ्या (एकाच दगडी पाटीवरील) दोन सूचना:

येथे सुगंधी मोदक पीठ मिळेल.
येथे रिकाम्या सीडी मिळतील.

Omkara

2006-08-10T15:30:00.000+05:30

Saw this film yesterday: very well written and very well made.

Two of the best and well thought out reviews/comments on the movie are on blogs, rather than a conventional medium. Both are wonderfully written, worth a read. Read this for a mostly positive review focused on the movie itself. Read this for a more negative review, focused on the movie's departure from Othello.

My two cents:

- Multiple references to Ramayana, in a Shakespeare adaptation. More than the UP gangland setting, these make the story strongly Indian. Of course, desi gaalis and mannerisms play a part too.
- The "sarat ghodon pe lagaayi jaati hai, sheron pe nahi" (Bets are placed on horses, not lions) has to be one of the most well written lines projecting bravado.
- The film is an exciting fusion of genres, stories, dialog and all other elements, drawn variously from folk culture, great cinema, and bollywood kitsch. The item numbers Beedi and Namak are good examples. Some of the background music doesn't work that well.

Much more could be written, and deserves to be written about one of the best Indian movies of the year. For now, I am content to have watched the film and read the above two reviews.

The Indian Dentist and the Holocaust Survivor: Vikram Seth's "Two Lives"

2006-08-09T12:24:00.000+05:30

Amardeep Singh has posted a detailed comment on Vikram Seth's new book. It is now on my list of books to buy.

The changing face of India...

2006-07-25T22:11:00.000+05:30

India is changing, removing layer upon layer of accumulated dust, to reveal a "shining" economy.

Two television advertisements symbolize this change:

1. Lifebuoy for women (from the makers of "tandurustee ki rakshaa karta hai Lifebuoy")
2. Fair and handsome (from the makers of "Fair and Lovely" fairness cream)

Another quote symbolizing the new India:
"India: From self-reliance to Reliance"

Thane Mayor's Half Marathon (Varsha Marathon)

2006-07-23T20:58:00.000+05:30

Today, I walked the half-marathon organized by the Thane city mayor. It was supposed to be flagged off from the Thane Municipal Corp. headquarters at 8.30 am. I reached there on time, but the race start was delayed for multiple reasons. I also had not entered officially for the race. Thus, I started off along the race route on my own at about 8.45. I had already decided that I would walk the whole distance, may be run a little bit for fun.

The route was - TMC - Highway service road to Teen Haath Naka - LBS Marg to Mulund checknaka - Wagle Estate - Kores Colony - Vartak Nagar - Pokhran #2 Circle - Vasant Vihar - Ghodbunder Road - highway service road to Teen Haath Naka - Hari Niwas - Back to TMC. A big chunk of the route was new concrete streets, other parts were half done tar roads or roads full of potholes (or pot-wells or pot-lakes!). Along the route, there was the new Thane to see - the tall apartment buildings, with commercial security and the new stores that had replaced the old factories, mixed with older, smaller, dilapidated-looking buildings yet to be replaced, and some jhopdis. The route went all the way to the foothills of Yeoor and cut through a fair chunk of the new Thane across the highway.

Some sundry notes, in no particular order:

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the initial stretch of the marathon was set up. Road blocks had been erected, there were signs at every kilometer, and there was police presence at every major intersection, stopping vehicles from entering the route. There were also a lot of Palika Safai workers, who apparently had just finished cleaning roads along the route. Only some traces of the garbage that usually lines some of the streets could be seen. There were also several waiting spectators.

I walked the first 4-5 kilometers by myself, before the real participants in the race passed me, near the Yeoor foothills. The lead runner, and several others chasing him at that point were barefoot. There were quite a few women also running (I counted a total of about 25-30 that passed me).

The barefeet runners were easily identified by the slapping sounds their feet made against the roads. The runners with sneakers by contrast, made a much softer sound.

The course had way too many potholes, little stones, and other hazards along the road to be running barefeet. The hard surface of the tar and concrete couldn't have made it any easier. Kudos to all those barefeet runners!

I am quite sure thousands of rupees were spent on the huge banners all around the city, with huge images of Uddhav and Bal Thackeray, Anand Dighe, Mayor Rajan Vichare, all and sundry local sena leaders, and even, Matoshri Thackeray, and Matoshri Dighe. There were also two large shamianas at the starting point, a huge sound system to drum up enthusiasm, and so on. Why didn't some of this money go to support the lead runners who were running without shoes on? The stated aim of the marathon was to prepare state runners for national and international events. Couldn't proper gear be provided, at least to the lead runners? (It appears that the only group of elite runners that had some shoes on were from the Army). The money spent on erecting huge banners of people who in their entire lives have probably never participated in any significant athletic activity, let alone a marathon, could've been better spent that way. Shiv Sena, and Shiv Sainiks, are you listening?

Apparently, more than 50,000 participants had registered for the marathon. No more than 500 must've passed me by the time I finished the race. Where did all these people go? (Well, there are some answers: There were not 50,000 participants for the full distance - the women's race ended at the 15 km mark, the children's race was even shorter, the senior citizen's race was a couple hundred meters at best, and most vitally, the participation numbers were inflated by the compulsory registration of schoolchildren from the municipal schools. Again, the publicity needs of having organized the largest marathon ever triumphed any realities!

A big thank you to the much maligned and oft neglected civic workers - police personnel, safai workers and the numerous other city officials who contributed to the event. The police and safai workers had been out in the rain since 6 am, making arrangements.

Apparently there is another marathon this coming weekend (30th July). The Mayor's Varsha marathon was a Satish Pradhan promoted event for the past 16 years. Now that he has switched from the Shiv Sena to Congress, it seems he's taken the marathon with him. So one week after the Sena-sponsored marathon, there's going to be a Congress-marathon. Amazing that the civic authorities can be subjected to the stress of hosting two marathons, for such petty political reasons

By my obervation, the largest cheering crowds were in the lower middle class areas, where people were on the streets in huge numbers. They were enthusiastic, cheering everyone on with "Come on", "Bhaago", "Run" and so on. By comparison, near large apartment buildings like Kores, Runwal and Hiranandani complexes, hardly anyone noticed the runners.

Heavy rains started around the time I was near the 16 km mark, and continued for about a half hour. Incredible to walk in such rain! Fortunately, during most of this time, I was on the pothole-free stretch.

Around the 19 km mark, my thighs started cramping up. At this point, I had to start running, for that was the only way to avoid the pain in the thighs and keep going.

Oh, yes. My time for the half-marathon distance was 3 hours 5 minutes.

Blogs, Freedom of Speech and Indian Democracy

2006-07-20T20:31:00.000+05:30

This week has seen a lot of activity in the Indian blogosphere due to the Indian government’s attempts to block certain blogs. Repercussions of this activity have been everywhere – the news was important enough to merit a piece on the technology news website news.com, a special half-hour show on NDTV, an Times of India editorial, several front and inside page news items in major Indian newspapers, and even this editorial in the leading Marathi newspaper, Loksatta. Indian Bloggers, as a group, succeeded in creating enough pressure on the government and the blog ban seems to have been lifted today. Several factors regarding this entire episode merit some thought and discussion.

Enforcing the ban: Who erred?

It has been made abundantly clear by several observers that the effect of the Indian Government’s request to ISPs was to remove access to millions of blogs hosted by blogger, typepad and geocities. Several interesting factors here:

It has now come to light that the Indian government’s list was specific to certain blogs. It would thus be wrong to consider this as equivalent with blocking in such countries as China, Pakistan or Iran, where dictatorial governments restrict access to large swathes of the Internet that don’t agree with their cause. Clearly, the Indian government did not engage in anything different than what is common practice in many countries– blocking material that is offensive. For example, Germany and France both block neo-nazi hate speech websites. This type of censorship is not restriction of freedom of speech. Rather, it enforces “social norms” on the wild side of the Internet. Of course, the government did not help its cause by initially making the list of blocked sub-domains confidential.
Many bloggers have assumed or blamed Sarkari Babus (who “by definition” don’t understand technology) had come up with a list that caused blanket bans. Would someone care to explain how such ignorant and tech non-savvy civil servants would have found offensive or terrorist-written material on the Internet? It is clear that there is some government monitoring of blogs – and there is a possibility that terrorists would use blogs to communicate with each other (by writing unpublished posts in shared accounts) – and those that do the monitoring would discover some offensive material from time to time. It is time to stop the blaming and give the government officials some credit. Their confidential list is a severely restricted list, and does seem to contain at least some material that is offensive.
It seems that ISPs in India were clearly out of their depth when handling the government request. Lacking a technical means to do sub-domain blocking, ISPs should not have blocked entire domains. Informing the government of this fact before enforcing the blocking would have been a much more sensible approach. It is not clear why the babus get all the blame while the ISPs go scot free.

Blogs as a medium

The rapidity with which news spreads around the blogosphere has often been a useful feature of blogs. The Gaurav Sabnis v. IIPM issue is well known among Indian bloggers, and was initiated and vigorously pursued by bloggers. In the present instance, bloggers have shown themselves to be a rather impatient community, holding the government responsible even before all the evidence was available.
The influence of bloggers in pushing the mainstream media was clearly seen in the way print and television media picked up the issue within a day of it being posted on blogs. Although the effect of bloggers as citizen journalists has generally been overstated, their impact cannot be ignored.
As enterprising bloggers showed the way to get around the blocks (Tor, pkblogs.com, and proxies), it was clear that the ban, like other attempts to restrict information on the Internet, would not completely wipe out access to this information. Of course, it increases the cost of access and sometimes that may suffice to curtail freedom of speech.
As Lawrence Lessig argues in his Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, without citizen vigilance, the openness of the Internet is under threat by architectural changes. Bloggers, watch out against big brother!

Democracy in India

It is an encouraging sign that the several thousand bloggers in India seem united in their voice for freedom of expression, irrespective of their political or other beliefs.
At least in this particular case, bloggers have displayed firm belief in the idea of democracy in India. Even though they might be accused of being too quick to compare the state to autocratic regimes, it is comforting that democracy is an entrenched value in so many influential minds. This optimism must however be tempered by the bloggers constant references to the foreign media’s coverage of India as a beacon of hope, thanks to its democracy. The belief in democracy must come from within, not from outside.

Social networks of soccer

2006-07-16T10:01:00.000+05:30

A nice visualization of "passing" in football as a social network. Data used are from the world cup finals. Notice how the playmakers - Makelele, Zidane, Pirlo - seem to have a lot of passes directed to them. See Visual Complexity for many more networks.

A poem on Bombay, by Aadil Jussawala

2006-07-15T12:15:00.000+05:30

Amardeep Singh has put this excellent poem on his blog, along with some thoughts after the Mumbai blasts.

The Black Cloud

2006-07-13T09:19:00.000+05:30

Over the last couple of days, I read science fiction after a very long gap. The book was Fred Hoyle's 1957 novel "The Black Cloud". It is good science and good fiction.

- The portrayal of the scientific and political establishment of the late 1950s - early 1960s is excellent. Particularly, in the aftermath of the atomic bomb, and the ongoing arms race, the societal responsibility of scientists is a central issue in the book.

- Another interesting aspect is the prescient description of the various uses a digital computer may be put to. Some of those such as speech recognition, voice synthesis, complex mathematical calculations, and so on have already become real.

- Its a quick read - the plot moves pretty fast, there are few important characters, which are reasonably well developed. The story does have a couple of twists, but does not indulge in any kind of sensational surprises.

- Its the first science fiction book I've read that actually contains derivatives and other mathematical notation to explain some calculations made by the characters. In fact, many scientific principles are discussed in way more detail than in most science fiction books.

- The portrayal of Britain's decaying power, and of the helplessness of non-industrialized nations is spot-on.

On the whole, a fun book to read.

Wake Up: AR Rahman with 150 All Stars

2006-04-17T09:30:00.000+05:30

I went for this concert yesterday evening, at the Eastern Michigan University convocation center. AR Rahman (as with many other people) is my favorite Indian music composer from the present times. I was curious about the concert, knowing that he wasn't on a big tour with a lot of Bollywood personalities, but rather performing with 150 all stars.

The all stars, apparently, were students from EMU and from Miami University, Ohio. They had learned and reinterpreted Rahman's music in their own style. It was a refreshing look at Rahman's music, performed in a style alien to Bollywood.

Choir singers, a four-violin and cello string section, many drums and cymbals, a tabla, flute and keyboards (Rahman) formed the orchestra, conducted by Ethan Perry. The concert began with a very powerful rendition of "Ramta Jogi" and "Taal Se Taal Milaa" from Taal. The mostly Indian audience was a little surprised by the multiracial group, singing in perfect Hindi. Their voices were strong, and a little different in key from the originals.

The concert proceeded on an interesting pattern - live music and choir-style singing of Rahman's songs, interspersed with "karaoke" of Rahman's recorded music with live singing by Rahman himself, Vasundhara Das, and a couple of young singers from the choir. It even included a dance performance that used Rahman's "Rang De" from a CD! On the whole, an odd mix of performances!

The choice of songs in each particular style was very good. The choir performed some songs obviously suited to their style (Veerapandi Kottayilae, Thee Thee, and a fabulous rendition of Zikr), Rahman and Vasundhara Das crooned/ lip-synced some songs (Khalbali, Dil Se Re, Maa Tujhe Salaam for Rahman; Shakalaka Baby, Ik Onkar, Yaaro Yaarodi for Vasundhara Das). The young white American who performed "Rang De Basanti" was fabulous - with his "twanged" punjabi; the group of girls who performed "Paathshaalaa" fit the rebellious mood of the songs well.

On the whole, an enjoyable experience.

Some notes from the concert

- Rahman seemed to be enjoying himself, listening to the choir perform his songs in a new style. He appeared to be intrigued by the idea, and impressed by the results.

- After almost every song, a different announcer came on stage and heaped lavish praise on Rahman - talk about beating your own drum (and also, "preaching to the choir!")

- The EMU president made a speech welcoming Rahman and his music to the institution. After the intermission, Rahman was handed a key to the city of Ypsilanti by the city mayor. Quite a honor!

- It was announced that Rahman is funding and providing other support for the first "Conservatory for Western Classical Music" in India, to be set up in Chennai.

- Indians in America don't seem to behave very differently from those back home. There were more catcalls, whistles, rude gestures, and other kinds of bad behavior than any other event I have attended in America. I wonder what it is that makes us such bad spectators.

- The global nature of music was made amply obvious. As the choir singers of many backgrounds twisted their tongues to get the Tamil and Hindi sounds right, I thought of the quite unreal scene in front of me. I have witnessed Western Classical concerts with a multiracial orchestra. I hadn't imagined seeing such a performance of popular hindi music. It was inspiring to see that so many young people of diverse backgrounds found this music enjoyable, and could perform it so well! Seems like great days are ahead in terms of musical collaboration around the world!

Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi

2006-04-11T07:33:00.000+05:30

One of the most acclaimed Indian movies of 2005. I saw "Hazaaron... " on VCD. It is truly a different movie by most hindi movie standards. It stands out in many aspects, most importantly the top-notch performances in leading roles by Kay Kay Menon (who has recently begun to receive the attention his talent and screen presence demand), Shiny Ahuja (supremely confident in a terrific role) and Chitrangda Singh (wow! she sets the screen on fire!), and small but effective parts by other actors.

Hazaaron is set in the late 1960s through 1970s period in various North Indian locations. The director, Sudhir Mishra, truly brings this period to life. The language, clothes, and setting all seem very real. Neither is there any attempt to "glamorize" the past, as seen in the lavish sets in melodramas such as "Devdas" or "Parineeta" nor the big scale of the unknown past of 1857 as seen in "Mangal Pandey". The music, costumes, dialogue and situations are all straight out of the 1970s. More than anything else, the film succeeds in capturing the India of 1970s - full of uncertainty, youthful energy, and idealism.

The film is a series of really quick scenes - the story moves very fast, from Meerut to Delhi to rural Bihar, and from the late 1960s to the later period of emergency rule and naxalite movement. The quick cuts, and lack of "obvious" dialogue leaves a lot of room for interpretation, a valuable characteristic for a movie such as this. It is highly entertaining and provocative. Through each of the lead characters, and the different directions their intertwined lives take, we see various forces at work on the minds of young people in that period.

Hazaaron succeeds at two levels - in telling the story of its characters and in telling the story of that period. It is a classic love story, with true to life characters - each moving to their own rhythms, each dreaming their own dreams. This story is set against the backdrop of a nation in a period of turmoil. I was impressed by how the movie conveyed the essence of each character - how their thoughts and motivation leads to actions that may seem irrational to an outsider.

There are three central human characters in the story. Siddharth, Vikram and Geeta. They are all college students in an unnamed Delhi college.

The idealist Siddharth, a rich father's son, moved by leftist thought and the extreme divide amongst the haves and have-nots, decides to leave the pleasures of the city and his born with a silver spoon life for a stint in rural Bihar, joining similarly motivated young people in the naxalite movement. His revolutionary, non-compliant nature is conveyed through very simple things. He calls his father by the name Judgesaab, in a firm refusal of the personal relationship , preferring to stress the class divide between the masses of poor and the very few rich. In spite of all his revolutionary spirit, he cannot give up his love for Geeta, a college sweetheart, herself conflicted in many ways.

The pragmatic, go-getter Vikram, the son of a Gandhian is skeptical of Siddharth and his Marxist friends. He has keenly observed the corrupt bureucracy, sycophancy, and the way the world works. He believes in working for his own upliftment, whichever way possible. He succeeds in almost anything he tries - property deals, brokering agreements between government and businesses, and keeping politicians appeased. A true lobbyist, broker, a man seemingly with no ideals but his own gain. Yet, he is defeated in many ways - the idealistic Geeta, whom he loves, is in love with Siddharth; his Gandhian father, for whom he cares refuses his help, choosing to go to jail during the emergency. No matter how much money or power he earns, he cannot win the respect or love of those that matter to him.

And Geeta. She is torn between her love for Siddharth and a sincere desire to do something good, and her middle class fear or pragmatism on the other. Geeta is unsure of what her dreams really are. She drifts, she searches, she loses and then she wins. Geeta is the most fascinating character of the movie.

As the characters progress towards their future, we see India through their eyes. Geeta is most likely the character viewers will identify with - the many forces pulling her in many directions, all at once, a thousand desires unfulfilled. Yet, while the outwardly strong Siddharth and Vikram discover their failings, Geeta finds her strength. Many missteps along the way, but by the end of the story, Geeta is firmly set along a path that I believe will be hers throughout life. The changes are remarkable and very moving.

A truly amazing film, on many levels. I could probably write hazaaron more words, and yet not say enough!

Breaking the spell

2006-02-04T19:36:00.000+05:30

Daniel C. Dennett, the author of The Mind's I and Darwin's Dangerous Idea, among other books, was at the University of Michigan yesterday with a lecture introducing his new book Breaking the spell. It was a highly entertaining and humorous presentation. His juxtaposition of the pictures of thousands of people gathered at the Vatican and Mecca, participating in religious ritual with those from the super bowl and other sporting events had the audience in splits.

The new book proposes a scientific study of religion. Hirak has posted an excellent summary of the presentation.

विंदांना ज्ञानपीठ !

2006-01-09T10:06:00.000+05:30

ज्येष्ठ मराठी साहित्यिक आणि कवी विंदा करंदीकर ह्यांना भारतीय साहित्यातील सर्वात प्रतिष्ठेचा ज्ञानपीठ पुरस्कार जाहीर झाला आहे. ही बातमी वाचताच आलेली पहिली आठवण म्हणजे विंदांच्या बालकवितांची पुस्तके - अजबखाना आणि एटू लोकांचा देश. अगदी लहानपणी आईबाबांनी ह्यातल्या वाचून दाखविलेल्या काही कविता अजूनही लक्षात आहेत. आहेतच त्या खास! ( अर्थात आता मात्र विंदांच्या इतर कविता वाचायल्या हव्यात ! )

विंदांच्या अजबखान्यातील माझ्या आवडत्या काही कविता:


मैफल
एक झुरळ
रेडिओत गेले;
गवयी होऊन
बाहेर आले.
             एक उंदीर
             तबल्यात दडला;
             तबलजी होऊन
             बाहेर पडला.
त्या दोघांचे
गाणे झाले
तिकीट काढून
मांजर आले!

आटपाट नगरामध्ये 
आटपाट नगरामध्ये
नाही होत चोरी;
हुशार मुले काळी; आणि
खुळी मुले गोरी.
             आटपाट नगरामध्ये
             किती किती मजा
             प्रधान भरतो पाणी; आणि
             रस्ते झाडतो राजा.
आटपाट नगरामध्ये
नाही चालत नाणी;
एक शेर गुळासाठी
दहा-बारा गाणी!
             आटपाट नगरामध्ये
             सुटी नाही, बाळा,
             सांग कशी सुटी असेल,
             जर नाही शाळा?

एटू लोकांचा देश :  वाङमय
जर कोणी
कविता केली,
प्रथम पुरतात
जमिनीखाली
             पण जुनीशी
             झाल्यानंतर
             शहाणे करतात
             जंतर-मंतर !
मग कवितेतून
रुजतो वृक्ष;
फुले येतात
नऊ लक्ष !

एटू लोकांचा देश : शिक्षण
एटूंच्या देशांत
सक्तीचे खेळ;
मुलांना नसतो
शिकायला वेळ

म्हातारे देतात
परीक्षा शंभर;
मेल्यानंतर
कळतो नंबर !

Indian Ocean's Black Friday Soundtrack

2005-12-31T09:49:00.000+05:30

This is an awesome soundtrack from an awesome band. I have long been a fan of Indian Ocean's unique blend of Indian, Jazz and Western music. The result of this fusion is that music that one cannot stop listening to. Sometime in the last year or so, Indian Ocean's music for Anurag Kashyap's controversial film about the Mumbai bomb blasts - Black Friday - was released. The soundtrack is very good, and seems very situational, with tracks titled as "RDX", "Memon House", and "Bomb Planting".

The soundtrack also includes three songs performed by the band - Bandeh, Badshah in Jail and Bharam Bap Ke. The lyrics by Piyush Mishra are very good, and the music is unlike any heard in Indian movies before. It is very Indian Ocean, and seems directly suited to the theme of the movie.

A few days back I was listening to some of Indian Ocean's early albums. I realized that Bandeh is loosely based on their song "Torrent" from the self-titled album "Indian Ocean". Also, "Bharam Bap Ke" is an updated version of "Brisk Lonely Walk" from the same album. Both tracks were purely instrumental in their original incarnation. The added lyrics and vocals, as well as the use of additional instruments (probably sarangi) in the new versions gives an entirely new feel to the tunes. It is amazing what such talented musicians can do when revisiting some of their older material!

And how I wish I could attend a live performance by Indian Ocean sometime soon!

Rosa Parks

2005-12-02T07:53:00.000+05:30

Today marks 50 years since the day Rosa Parks refused to vacate her seat on a bus, and sparked the movement that changed America forever. The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority paid its tribute by marking Rosa Parks's seat on its buses. Simple and wonderful tribute!

The Argumentative Indian

2005-12-02T07:38:00.000+05:30

Disclaimer: As an Indian, I have a stake in what the "Indian" character is perceived to be. In my own view, I regard it to be inclusive and broad-minded, open and welcoming to ideas, proud of its own heritage and respectful of others. Prof. Sen's book makes great arguments towards such a view. I must humbly admit that what is below are just the themes I discovered and thoughts I had upon reading the book. I do not consider myself qualified to comment on the book; rather I restrict to how it appealed to me.

The title itself is intriguing, characterizing an entire nation as "argumentative". The book is a superb ride through the history, culture, religion, philosophy and politics of the Indian subcontinent. The perspective is modern, and very strongly in support of India's pluralist tradition, tolerance and encouragement for heterodox views. Prof. Sen addresses the issue of India and Indianness using the cultural, religious, philosophic, and historical record of India in many ways. Importantly, from this record, he draws connections, shows parallels and provides context to a lot of contemporary questions about India. I see the book as a guide to Indianness, that focuses on a particular aspect of being Indian - the rich heritage of reasoning and argumentation about important questions. Prof. Sen explains the argumentative tradition well, and himself presents compelling arguments in the discussion of various current issues facing India, from the nuclear bomb to gross inequality.

The book is a collection of essays written over the past several years. The essays have been woven together in the book's theme. The four sections of the book, "Voice and Heterodoxy", "Culture and Communication", "Politics and Protest"and "Reason and Identity" are all based on Prof. Sen's many decades of research into these issues. Prof. Sen draws on results from his work in the economics of poverty, famines, and gender and class divisions. He uses a rich variety of documents, from religious texts such as the Vedas and Upanishads to modern Indian thought expressed in Tagore, Nehru and Gandhi's writings and Satyajit Ray's cinema. He relies on many foreign records of India in the past, such as those by Alberuni, Yi Jing and others. The arguments made by Prof. Sen are forceful yet put forth gently, with great care to respect a different point of view. He considers each narrow view carefully, and rejects it with great reasoninng.

Some of the important questions that Prof. Sen addresses include

The historical record and present state of India's argumentative tradition. From the Vedas to the current democratic process, India's record of debate, dialog and discussion. How argumentation and reasoning is a truly indigenous tradition, not an influence of the west.
The heterodoxy inherent in Hindu tradition. How does the concept of Hindutva being advanced by communal forces relate to Hinduism? In particular, how Hindutva restricts itself to a narrow, incomplete view of Hinduism, belittling a great tradition.
India's global connections. How does (and should) India relate to the world - in the past and the present.
The Indian identity. How do religion, class, caste, language and other factors relate to beind Indian. How is identity "defined", not "discovered" by an individual, and why it matters.
Mistaken perceptions. How the western perception of India as a "mystical land of spirituality" is mistaken, in view of India's achievements in philosophy, science and literature. How do Indians' perceive India, and how that perception is influenced by Western beliefs.

This book is great reading for anyone with an interest in India. I believe it is required reading to understand being Indian.

Tiger's whimper

2005-11-28T04:57:00.000+05:30

As the Shiv Sena stands on the threshold of disintegration, Kumar Ketkar's words from a year ago ring true. Check out the article, in particular this concluding passage:

Today the Sena has become a pathetic shadow of its supremo. With no ideology or faith to hold on to, with no organised set-up apart from the undependable network of frustrated and militant lumpens; with no second line leadership or charismatic successor, the Shiv Sena stands on the threshold of disintegration. The internecine rivalry between Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, as well as between Joshi and Rane will soon consume the outfit. As for the Icon that has presided over the Sena's fortunes, it has become a mere Cut-out.

The Lone Surfer Tour 2005

2005-11-21T08:03:00.000+05:30

Yesterday evening, I went for Davy and Pete Rothbart's (buddies from my ultimate frisbee group) "Found" show. They had been on tour across North America, doing shows in 51 cities in 54 days (wow!). The tour was to promote Davy's (awesome) new collection of short stories "The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas" and to share and collect new "found" stuff.

Davy puts out the "Found" magazine - a collection of notes, to-do lists, letters, diaries and all kinds of other things - lost by their authors, and subsequently "found" by someone else. It is a rather odd concept - printing a magazine of found objects and creating a show based on it. Davy makes it work and how! He imagines the remainder of the persons' lives, from the snippet that he gets to see. He writes stories about them. He weaves their notes into anecdotes, and some ribald comedy. And Pete writes songs, sometimes based on found stuff, borrowing and extending lyrics, and adding his own touch, to create songs such as "Damn! The Booty Don't Stop" (You've to hear it performed live! Its awesome, vulgar, funny, an absolute blast!!). Together, they are terrific entertainment!

Davy's book, "The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas", is a collection short stories. Here's what he says about his inspiration for the title story, and his book:

A few years ago, I was driving on a small two-lane highway through rural Kansas when I saw a bizarre and riveting sight—-a teenage kid had slung a surfboard between two dead tractors in the middle of a cornfield and was balanced on top, like he was practicing how to surf. Here he was, thousands of miles from either coast, the sun setting in glorious colors behind him—-I was mesmerized and sat there watching for ten minutes or so, and then I drove away; I don’t think he even saw me. But that image of him surfing in the cornfields stuck with me, and my curiosity about him kept growing more intense, so finally I decided to write a story about him, imagining what his life was like and what might have happened had our paths intersected. I called the story The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas (Montana is the name of a tiny town in Kansas) and it’s the title story of my new book.

I just finished reading a few other stories from the book. They are really good. The heroes of Davy's stories are mostly young men who haven't found a path in life. Narrating in the first person, Davy provides the reader a close-up of his characters. Davy's stories are set in odd places across America - an old people's nursing home in Florida, a strip joint in a Mexican border town, a prison in Michigan, and in the title story, rural Kansas. The characters are raw, their language coarse, and their feelings out in the open for anyone to see. They are humane, rough, compassionate, mean, lost. And just when it seems that they've "found" themselves, the world seems to crumble around them. Thus, a lost love, a sad father, and a congenitally lying dead friend. Davy's characters don't find redemption - that would be too easy. Rather, they are left alone to themselves. In a way, the stories are just like the found stuff Davy works with - snapshots of a stranger's life, accidentally found.

Hats off, Davy! (and yeah, see you on the field soon!)

Midival Times

2005-11-10T07:23:00.000+05:30

A wonderful album, fusing techno beats and Indian classical music. Kudos to the Midival Punditz ! Try the NPR feature here for a sample, or read the review at ethnotechno.

The Cost of War

2005-10-16T19:27:00.000+05:30

The cost of war in Iraq crossed $200,000,000,000.00 this weekend. According to National Priorities Project, that's the same as the cost of fully funding global anti-hunger efforts for 8 years.

This is just the measured economic cost of war expenses. The lives of those killed (Iraqis, Americans, British, and others), the violence that's spread in Iraq, and the damage caused by future terrorists created by this war are unmeasurable.

Freakonomics

2005-10-10T06:00:00.000+05:30

I read this over the weekend. A well-written book that explores how much truth "Convention Wisdom" holds. Or how economics describes the actual world. The book explores many diverse topics, including parenting, racial and cultural issues, crime, and other matters. The common point is the use of data and econometric methods to analyze the data to draw conclusions. Several commonly-held beliefs are shown to be unsupported by data, while several surprising ("freaky") results emerge from the analyses.

A nice collaboration between a smart economist, and a quality writer. Worth a read, just for fun and also to know a little bit more about the world.

Grand Canyon Trip

2005-09-16T11:07:00.000+05:30

The last weekend of August, I hiked the Grand Canyon - rim-to-rim. The travelogue and a few pictures are here. Comments/feedback welcome.

Grand Canyon is awesome. A must-do hike.

Bombay First - McKinsey Report on Mumbai

2005-08-23T08:57:00.000+05:30

Post-flood, there's been a sharp increase in the news coverage and expert articles on Mumbai. There have been several suggestions from various people. Among all the articles, opinion pieces, discussions and arguments that have filled the media, one report that has been hotly debated in the Bombay First - McKinsey Report on Mumbai.

From the corporate visionaries that see Mumbai as an image of glowing far eastern cities such as Singapore or Shanghai, sometimes with scant regard for the environment and the temperament of Mumbai, to traditional or new socialists blind in opposition to any suggestion of reform, everyone has expressed an opinion on the report.

Thus, the link above. My views and comment on the McKinsey report in a few days.

Broken Flowers

2005-08-23T03:35:00.000+05:30

A new film from director Jim Jarmusch, starring Bill Murray.

I saw it at the Michigan Theater this past Saturday. It's a lovely film - languorous - dreamy and lazy. Fascinating, with a lot of hidden meaning.

The soundtrack is awesome too.

Building a house...

2005-08-18T05:43:00.000+05:30

My friend Dan is building a 5000 sq. ft. house near Ann Arbor. Dan is quite amazing - he is a Civil Engineer; he has many different skills - and experience - with wood, concrete, and other building materials. He's doing everything related to building the house - getting land, acquiring government permissions, passing the exam to be qualified to design a house, and of course, doing all the hard work building the house. Besides, as I found out, he's a willing teacher, and very patient with unskilled laborers such as I.

It was thus that I spent a few hours a couple weeks ago helping Dan waterproof the walls. It mainly involved slapping mixed cement onto the walls using a flat, duster-shaped tool. Slapping cement on walls without dropping much on the ground, and getting it to be even surface is tricky! I have never really participated in activities that demand physical work and repetition of the same task a thousand times. This was good exercise - picking up the cement, bending the tool at a slight angle, lightly pressing it against the wall, and then moving it up with a slight wavy motion to get the finish just right. All this while standing on a delicately balanced styrofoam surface. Fun!

It was a surprise how much I actually liked doing this (ignoring a slightly sore back!). As it stands, I've never really worked much with my hands. I always had great appreciation for people skilled in handling tools, fixing things, or making objects, being unable myself to handle the simplest of tools. I admit that all through workshop practice in my engineering classes, I wasn't really sure why I was "being made" to do it - I much preferred electronics and computers then.

This was different though. After spending a day in front of the computer at office, I was surprised at how nice it felt to be outside and working. The warm weather, the smell of cement, the rock music on the radio, and the site of walls that were slowly getting waterproofed thanks to our efforts - it all had an effect. I'm definitely going again.

Kevin, Dan and I spent the better part of the evening doing this work. Later, we took a dip in Mirage Lake, adjoining Dan's property. That was awesome!

Book-tagged..

2005-06-28T06:29:00.000+05:30

I was book-tagged today, by Ajit. Here I go then :)

For every book I own and have read, I have 3 or 4 that I bought, but haven't read. And I am very comfortable with that. I think having a full bookshelf, with a lot of books to choose from is a really good idea, rather than be stranded without one. The mere thought that there are so many more books to read excites me and provokes me to read. And it doesn't slow me down in purchasing books. Even when I am not really interested in making a purchase, I still like to visit bookstores, just to browse, wander and lose myself amid the stacks of books, and the seemingly infinite world of knowledge and fantasy that man has built.

Living in a city like Ann Arbor is a great advantage in that regard. Ann Arbor is the home of the Borders bookstore chain, and has a nice independent bookstore Shaman Drum. A greater benefit however is that it has numerous used and rare bookstores such as the Dawn Treader Book Shop, After Words, David's Books, and many more. These are places of regular visits for me, and every visit holds a new surprise.

Number of books I own
I don't count, its probably around 250 or 300.

Last book I read
I often read several books at a time, switching from one to the other as takes my fancy. Thus the multiple entries below :)

The last book I finished was Absolute Friends by John Le Carre. The last non-fiction book I finished (the same weekend as the above) was From Socrates to Sartre: the Philosophic Quest by T.Z. Lavine.

Last book I bought
Being Logical:A Guide to Good Thinking by D.Q. McInerny. I bought this book as a gift.

Books That Mean A Lot to Me
Fiction: The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham, MukhavaTaa (मुखवटा) by Arun Sadhu, Catch-22 and Picture this by Joseph Heller

Non-fiction: Man's worldly goods by Leo Huberman, जग बदलले by Sulakshana Mahajan

Books I wish I had completed
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel C. Dennett

People I am tagging
Tapan | Ashutosh | Shrihari | Pradnya

Bose - The Forgotten Hero

2005-04-12T02:25:00.000+05:30

The soundtrack is masterful. The songs, instrumental versions and themes that together are the soundtrack for "Bose - The Forgotten Hero" are all wonderfully composed. A R Rahman has infused traditional songs such as "Ekla Chalo Re" and "Kadam Kadam Badhaaye Jaa" with emotion and energy, and also created some good songs on his own, the most impressive being "Zikr" - the continual chanting of Allah's name. The themes that form the background score seem to be composed to go with the situations and locations of the various scenes in the movie.

A must-buy soundtrack.

Now waiting for the movie.

Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi

2005-04-09T09:51:00.000+05:30

The Turing Test: A Coffeehouse Conversation

2005-03-12T10:10:00.000+05:30

CHRIS: If you could ask a computer just one question in the Turing test, what would it be?

SANDY: Uhmm....

PAT: How about "If you could ask a computer just one question in the Turing test, what would it be?"?

(From The Mind's I: Fantasies and reflections on self and soul composed and arranged by Douglas R. Hofstadter and Daniel C. Dennett)

The Great Indian Middle Class

2005-01-15T15:34:00.000+05:30

An insightful look at the historical roots, cultural and social behavior and economic influence of the Indian middle class. Pavan K Varma offers an excellent introduction for anyone with interest in understanding the Indian middle class.

He traces the history of the class, and the strong influence of Gandhi and Nehru's ideology. Further, he offers an explanation of the perceived subsequent ideological decline, and the role of the middle-class in subverting the nation's goals to serve its self-interest. He also explains the hypocrisy common in middle-class behavior - private practice of ritual and casteism while publicly projecting a secular image, relentless pursuit of self-interest while maintaining a belief in social justice and so on.

Varma's book cites several examples, from the Mandal commission recommendations, to the rise of Hindu fundamentalism. It offers insight into corruptness of Indian society, and critical analysis of the role played by the middle-class in the 50 years since independence.

The book is not full of statistics, or rigorous research results. It draws on common examples, probably familiar to most readers, rather than esoteric academic work. It is easy to relate to, even though somewhat simplistic in presenting the analysis. The book falters somewhat in the final chapters, where the author switches from diagnosis to prescription.

Many might disagree with the author's opinions. It is undeniable though, that it presents a hard look at the self-obsessed Indian middle-class.

Books read in 2004

2005-01-05T09:48:00.000+05:30

I started 2004 with a lofty, unrealistic goal of reading 50 books through the year, knowing at the back of my mind that it was a bit ambitious to plan reading a book a week. I got through only about 17 books (including a couple of partial reads). Upon reflection at the end of the year, I am quite happy with the variety of topics that I read about.

Here's a list of books that I read through the year:

1. Jhumpa Lahiri - The Namesake
2. Gurcharan Das - The Elephant Paradigm
3. Sulakshana Mahajan - "Jag Badalal'e" (Marathi)
4. Sulakshana Mahajan - Arthavyavasthaanche Swabhaav (Marathi translation of Jane Jacobs' "The Nature of Economies")
5. Lawrence Lessig - Free Culture
6. Bhisham Sahni - Tamas
7. W. Somerset Maugham - The Moon and Sixpence
8. Michael Frayn - Copenhagen
9. John Gribbin - In search of Schrodinger's Cat
10. Chintamani Deshmukh - Homi Jehangir Bhabha
11. Richard Posner - Antitrust Law: An Economic Perspective
12. Laxman Londhe and Chintamani Deshmukh - Devaansi Jive Maarile (Marathi)
13. Guy De Maupassant - Selected short stories
14. Robin Wilson - Four Colors Suffice
15. Peter Drahos with John Braithwaite - Information Feudalism
16. Lawrence Lessig - Code and the Other Laws of Cyberspace
17. Pavan K. Verma - The Great Indian Middle Class

Musical Nirvana

2004-12-02T05:03:00.000+05:30

Lately I've been listening to a lot of Hindustani (North Indian) Classical Vocal music. Till now, I've been largely ignorant of this genre. I preferred instrumentals, especially in the fusion style, the acrobatics in playing the instrument, generally fast pace, and a strong basis in percussion.

However, after trying out a few CDs by renowned singers such as Vasantrao Deshpande, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Jasraj, and newer singers such as Sanjeev Abhyankar and Ustad Rashid Khan, I've begun to like it. In attempting to learn a bit about the historical tradition and the musical aspects, I came across Musical Nirvana.

Musical Nirvana seems a very good resource at this stage. It gives a detailed historical account of the origins and development of Indian Classical music. The website traces the roots of Indian Classical music in the temple tradition, to the Persian influences on it, the Gharana tradition, and the change in the form and structure of the raga performance. It also has very detailed and simplified information on a number of raagas, their history, and musical structure in terms of swaras. The technical background seems useful in learning to distinguish the finer nuances of the ragas.

The site is pretty comprehensive - it contains information about the most renowned and popular artists and composers, their albums, their Gharana traditions and so on. Certainly a very valuable resource.

Four Colors Suffice

2004-11-17T20:19:00.000+05:30

A well-narrated story of the path to the solution of the "Four Color Theorem". Robin Wilson explains the theorem and the various attempts to solve it in a clear, lucid manner. The mathematics is simple, and aided by nice maps or map-like illustrations. In between the mathematics, the author weaves in interesting facts and anecdotes about the mathematicians who concerned themselves with the problem.

The path to the solution is intriguing, winding over and around the various hills of different branches of mathematics. I haven't gotten to the end yet. Can't wait to get my hands on the book again :)

नागरी भारत : अंधश्रद्धा आणि वास्तव

2004-11-08T06:48:00.000+05:30

[ Urban India: Myths and Reality ]

An article by my mother, addressing some myths about Urban India. It is available only in Marathi. Published in the "Urbanization" special issue of Aajachaa Sudhaarak (roughly translated "Progressive thought today")

The Motorcycle Diaries

2004-11-07T06:58:00.000+05:30

A fascinating film, reliving Ernesto "Che" Guevara's motorcycle trip across South America in 1952. I was most impressed by Gael Garcia Barnal's portrayal of Ernesto, his compassion, and his rage building up throughout the journey.

Fabulous locales in Argentina, Chile, and Peru, including the Machu-Picchu site make a superb background the tale of a young man out to travel - to discover the world. Very much a must-watch film.

Ultimate (a.k.a. Ultimate Frisbee)

2004-09-14T06:23:00.000+05:30

This summer, I started playing Ultimate regularly for the first time. I had tried my hand at Ultimate back in 2000 and 2001, but never made the effort to play regularly. I played three days a week over this summer. It is a great sport, with a lot of emphasis on running, throwing and catching, and overall athleticism. The best part is the spirit of the game, where there is no referee and players themselves make calls, even at the highest level of competition.

There have been several welcome additions to my vocabulary - the forehand, the backhand, the hammer, the blade, and several others (of course, these are some of the different types of throws one can employ to send the disc flying towards a teammate - and are some throws I have learned over the summer). Plus, all the running and catching has been a ton of fun. The season is close to getting over (as it starts to get cold here in Ann Arbor), and I am looking forward to going back to some indoor sports.

Weekend movie marathon

2004-08-25T10:24:00.000+05:30

This past weekend I saw 3 films, very different from each other.

Everybody Says I'm Fine | imdb
This is one of the recent (though made almost two years ago) Indian English films that I wanted to see. I first got wind of the film when I listened to the soundtrack composed by Ustad Zakir Hussain. The soundtrack is a very interesting, and entertaining mix of Blues, Qawwali, and Indian film music (and has Carlos Santana playing on the title song). The film itself is a mix of a variety of influences - most importantly, the fact that its set in moden day Mumbai means its a very cosmopolitan film. Thus, the set of characters - Bombay socialites, college kids, young romantics, a struggling actor and a powerful businessman. The small idea - a hairdresser who can read his client's thoughts as he cuts their hair - is unusual and leaves a lot of scope for creative interpretations.

I thought that the film on the whole was pretty good. The cast was fabulous, especially Rehan Engineer and Koel Purie in their so-called lead roles. The build-up of the story was gradual, building up to a climax; it was more subtle, a bit too understated rather than powerful. All the characters were decidedly one-dimensional - except for Koel's - possibly explaining why Xen couldn't read her mind.

This was a good start to what turned out to be a fabulous movie-watching weekend.

Old Boy | review
An awesome, twisted, funny, cruel, one-of-a-kind movie. This Korean movie won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival 2004. Its a fabulous film, period. The soundtrack, which uses Beethoven, techno and compositions in the western classical style is absolutely amazing - and perfectly suited for the film. The film can be very emotionally disturbing, and has been known to cause sleepless nights.

The Dreamers | imdb

Andre beats Andy!

2004-08-09T07:15:00.000+05:30

It was a great match, and I was there!

Agassi was precise and used his minimalistic style (short backswing, quick hands, close to the baseline play) to great effect. Roddick was powerful, and accurate in general, but on court I could see that he didn't have Agassi's variety. Agassi seemed to know just where every serve and every shot from Roddick was going to land. He played the angles very well, and kept Roddick off balance. Of course, almost the entire crowd was cheering for the old man, and that must've helped!

Will post some pictures soon!

फना

2004-08-05T04:43:00.000+05:30

होने दो
दिल को
फना

"Tahitian Women" by Paul Gauguin

2004-07-22T09:46:00.000+05:30

Copenhagen (DVD)

2004-07-09T08:09:00.000+05:30

A few weeks back, I wrote a post about the play "Copenhagen" by Michael Frayn. Yesterday, I got my hands on the DVD.

This is a BBC/ PBS production of the play, shot as a movie. I felt that filmmakers did a great job preserving the original dialogue while simultaneously using cinema techniques to enhance the impact of the play. The acting was fabulous.

Most importantly, the movie conveyed to me what the text of the play could not. The acting, pacing of the narrative, movement of characters and camera, and the locations used really elevated the play beyond its text.

I now want to see a stage production!

The Moon and Sixpence

2004-06-29T07:10:00.000+05:30

A truly remarkable book. The novel, based on the painter Paul Gauguin's life, is fascinating in the portrayal of the central character Charles Strickland, all the other characters, and especially the various places Strickland lives in - London, Paris, Marseilles, and Tahiti. W. Somerset Maugham questions conventional definitions, understanding and interpretation of art while portraying the great passion of creation that drives the artist. I really liked the book - its completely different from my usual selections.

Online version: Many formats or try the Project Gutenberg version

In Search of Schrodinger's Cat

2004-06-29T02:22:00.000+05:30

Looking for a book to read after Copenhagen, I became acutely aware of how much of Copenhagen I didn't really understand because of a lack of background on the fundamentals, and history of quantum physics. And then picked up this book that had been lying unread on my bookshelf for a few months at least.

It is a nicely written, non-mathematical introduction to the strange world of the quantum. John Gribbin starts from the very basic laws classical physics, and slowly builds up the tale of the quantum. He makes it an intriguing story by giving some historical background on each new idea introduced. We meet several distinguished physicists such as de Broglie, Planck, Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, Dirac, Schrodinger (and "may be" his cat!), Feynman and Wheeler. Gribbin introduces them as bright young scientists riding a tidal wave of change in the fundamental ideas. He briefly mentions their struggles with the philosophical, and practical implications of their discoveries (the philosophical ideas of "choice", "determinism" etc. and the practical implications such as nuclear and hydrogen bombs).

The pace of the book is comfortable for someone not familiar with the topics. It is a notoriously difficult subject to explain, especially since there are really no parallels to the quantum in our everyday experiences. Gribbin's book is really good, considering the limitations of explaining such a topic without going into the mathematics, and without the aid of simple visual representations.

I am now itching to read what seems to be a followup book - Schrodinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality.

The Adventures of Dennis

2004-06-24T08:43:00.000+05:30

As a kid, I read this book in Marathi, and later in English. Absolutely amazing to find it online! Especially all the wonderful illustrations!

See A little page of Russian Resources for more!

Now only if I could find all the other wonderful books from Mir Publishers, Moscow. Especially the science books! Ya Perelman's books on Physics and Mathematics.. and the wonderful stories of the discovery of each element in the Chemistry texts!

This is another reason why Free Culture is so important. Amidst the massive changes around the globe, little treasures like these books are easy to lose. Relaxing copyright control, and allowing digital archives might help save these.

मायबोली मराठी

2004-06-23T08:13:00.000+05:30

बरहाच्या कृपेने आता इंटरनेटवर मराठीतून लिहिण्याची चांगली सोय उपलब्ध झाली आहे! त्यामुळे आता मराठीतून काहीतरी लिहीनच!

(For clueless, english-only readers of my blog - this entry is my first attempt at blogging in Maraathi, my mothertongue. Going forward, I expect to write several Marathi posts)

Copenhagen

2004-06-23T07:13:00.000+05:30

Just read this wonderful play by Michael Frayn. The play features only three characters, the legendary physicists Niels Bohr and Heisenberg, and Bohr's wife, Margrethe.

It is centered around the philosophical and moral questions raised by the atomic bomb, and each individual's response to them. It would be fabulous to see a performance of this play!

Affirmative Action in Higher Education

2004-06-23T07:02:00.000+05:30

An issue that has intrigued me for quite a while now.

Prof. Tom Weisskopf from the University of Michigan presents his conclusions from a comparative review of the Affirmative Action policies in the US and the "reservation policies" in India.

A really important issue. His book "Affirmative Action in the United States and India: A Comparative Perspective" (Routledge, London, 2004) contains more details.

Night Song

2004-02-12T08:10:00.000+05:30

A collaboration between Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael Brook. An absolutely fabulous album.

Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb

2004-01-04T05:05:00.000+05:30

Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, and Peter Sellers' wonderful performances - he plays 3 different characters! Irony and satire in every frame of the movie, and yet, the same debates, and the same words are still being used to justify terrible war.

Buena Vista Social Club

2003-11-11T03:50:00.000+05:30

This is a fabulous recording. Lovely songs by an older generation of Cuban singers. They come from varied backgrounds, and have wonderful stories to tell. I first got the Audio CD from the Public Library, and then ended up purchasing the DVD. The DVD is a simple documentary that has interviews with the singers, interspersed with shots of Cuba, and with recordings of their performance in studio and concert settings.

Thank you, Ry Cooder, for bringing to light this great music.

Magnatune

2003-10-09T07:38:00.000+05:30

Magnatune is a very intriguing experiment. A combination of the Creative Commons License, some good music, and a simple online distribution scheme that minimizes marginal costs might actually make this idea viable.

The music from Magnatune that I have listened to so far seems wonderful. Indian Classical Sitar, and Bach Violin Sonatas.

May be John Buckman will turn out to be the Linus Torvalds for music. Wait and watch!

Remember Shakti: Live in Chicago

2003-10-05T21:30:00.000+05:30

I made a quick, one-evening trip to Chicago for the Remember Shakti concert at the Chicago Theater. John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, Selva Ganesh and U. Srinivas are touring the US.

Their previous albums include "Saturday night in Bombay" and "The Believer".

It was a more typically Indian concert than I thought it would be. The string players U. Srinivas (mandolin) and John McLaughlin (guitar) were in the middle of the stage with the percussionists , Zakir Hussain (Tabla, Drums) and Selva Ganesh (Kanjira, Mridangam, Ghatam) sitting across from each other on the side. They played some tunes from the 2 albums for the first hour or so. New compositions and some "jugalbandi" playing was the remaining hour.

Nice concert.

Taxi Driver and Raging Bull

2003-10-05T20:28:00.000+05:30

A few days back, screenwriter-director Paul Schrader visited Ann Arbor. The film and video department at the University of Michigan had arranged for guest lectures, and a special screening of 3 of his films - Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Affliction at the historic Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor.

I managed to go for the Taxi Driver and Raging Bull screenings. Both films are considered classics, defining films in the 1970s. I had them in my wishlist for a long time!

Robert De Niro plays the title role in both films. Fantastic performances - now I understand why De Niro is considered an actor of actors! His facial expressions, voice, body movements, and everything else he does on screen make you see him as the character he's playing - the lonely taxi driver, or the proud champion boxer.

Taxi Driver captures New York in all its moods. Through the lens of Travis Bickle, the Taxi Driver, Scorsese shows the audience New York as it is - raw and beautiful in its urban, ragged form. Night time New York, in the rain, with the lights reflecting off glass panels of stores, the taxi windshield and mirrors, is by itself worth a watch.

This capped a great two weeks of movie watching - I had seen Orson Welles' classic "Citizen Kane" just the week before.

Some photos taken over the summer

2003-09-12T08:30:00.000+05:30

I bought a new camera phone a couple months back.

I went for a nice long walk in Nichol's Arboretum. Some photos taken at the Arboretum.

Journey Planner for Mumbai

2003-08-22T05:27:00.000+05:30

Wonderful tool for getting to know your way around Mumbai. It would be nice to have a map though.

Penguin Books India

2003-07-26T09:58:00.000+05:30

Excellent listing of Indian, and India-themed books published by Penguin. I have used this site often to find books that are hard to find in bookstores in the US. These can be bought online at the few sites that are mentioned under the "how to buy" section. I especially like the India Book Club site modeled after Amazon. The only issue: Book prices here are quite high.

Kishore Kumar

2003-07-17T03:17:00.000+05:30

I just read the definitive biography of Kishore Kumar, written by Kishore Valicha, and published by Penguin India. Very analytical (given that the author has a PhD in Film Studies, that was to be expected), but contains a good number of anecdotes about Kishore-da. It also contains excellent background information on the Hindi film industry. The emergence of the stars in the 1950s (Raj Kapoor - Dilip Kumar - Dev Anand) and the differing themes and subjects of films are explored.

In the context of Kishore Kumar as a comic actor, Valecha argues that prior to Raj Kapoor's integration of the comic with the main ccharacter, "comedy" was not seen as mainstream Hindi cinema. He also goes on to describe Kishore Kumar's unique comic talents, and spontaneous energy.

In the most significant part of the book, Valecha traces Kishore Kumar as a singer through the 1950s to the 1980s. In the process, he presents nice analysis of the evolution of Hindi film music, from its classical/ folk Indian roots, to the influence of western music and orchestration. He also describes in detail the musical styles and inspirations of various music directors through those decades. Kishore Kumar's unique, untrained voice, and ability to express emotion through his voice, and improvisational skills are also mentioned in great detail, with several examples of his best songs.

Valecha also describes Kishore Kumar's personality and its various contrasting traits. The child in him that possesses boundless energy, the loneliness, the longing for the simple life of Khandwa and other uniquely Kishore facts creates a nice portait.

On the whole, it is an excellent book. I found it to be a bit too analytical for my taste.

Reputations Research in the News!

2003-06-24T03:45:00.000+05:30

Today, the New York Times featured the research project that I worked on while at the University of Michigan. And carried a nice picture of my advisor, Prof. Paul Resnick. It's great to see the research featured in NYTimes, even though the only quote from Paul was "The data are a researcher's playground"!

Online markets are certainly growing in size, and also maturing as they grow. Economic studies of these markets are certainly vital to the field. Do check out the website: Reputations Research Network.

There are several excellent research papers listed at the site. For a gentle introduction, read the Reputation Systems article.

Laughable Loves

2003-06-16T02:13:00.000+05:30

Milan Kundera is a very strange writer. I don't really know what to make of his stories. I like the stories, the characters and the narration. There is a lot of subtle humor. However, I can't really say I enjoyed the book. Its strangely paradoxical just like most of the stories in "Laughable Loves".

This book is truly a collection of short stories. The stories are all built around the same theme, and are in some way connected with each other. The first few stories build up the intensity, while the later seem to focus more deeply on what Kundera wants to convey. They are delightful and at the same time, quite sad. To some extent, the plot seems to be extraneous to the story.

Read it, and you'll probably know!

Mukhawataa ("The Mask" - in Marathi)

2003-06-11T03:54:00.000+05:30

I was looking forward to reading "Mukhawata" by Arun Sadhu for quite some time. Laid my hands on it thanks to the University of Michigan library.

Mukhawata is set in Maharashtra in two time-periods, the 14th century and through the mid-to-late 20th century. It tracks a Brahmin family over the pre-independennce, and post-independence period. The 14th century portion runs as the background story of the family, its particular traditions, and a reference as to how certain rituals come to be. It is a plot device that, while running in the past, connects strongly with the present, and sets up the stage for the goings-on.

The novel is set in rural Maharashtra, in the Vidarbha region. The local references - towns, culture and language are very detailed and wonderfully written. The everyday life in the village- agriculture routines, meals, pooja and the annual Paalakhee - are all wonderfully described. The ritualistic nature of religious practice, devoid of any real connection to a God, and the reality of the surroundings creates questions in the minds of the practitioning Brahmins. This doubt leads the different men, responsible for performing these rituals, in search of truths. Some break the rituals, others try to find its meaning in alcohol, some others see virtue in giving, and some try to find it in the family history and the deep-rooted traditions. Some break all ties with the family, and chose to run away.

While describing a patriarchal society, where the family tree is centered on the Man of the family in that generation, the author actually throws up a contradiction that is novel. He tries to identify the meaning of "family" and shows the real identifiers to be the family traditions, language, food and other issues, most of which take place at home. He notes then that its the women, who are married into the family who are responsible for continuing with and at the same time modifying, modernizing these traditions. Their influence, whichever families they come from, are responsible for the continuation of tradition as well as all changes, small and large, in the way the family lives. It is these women, who adopt the family as their own, and give it meaning.

The novel thus presents a rich new look at the known facts. The caste politics, changing climate of education, rising cities, and redcued dependence on agriculture are all part of the fabric of the story. In the novel's peak moment, which you feel coming all through reading it, the author ties these themes together. The traditional views on caste, education, religion, and human life are thus challenged and layers are peeled off to reveal the richness underlying mundane everyday existence.

Arun Sadhu is one of my favorite novelists. This is undoubtedly one of his best books.

Bend It Like Beckham

2003-03-17T13:39:00.000+05:30

And while we are on the subject, of strong women characters in movies, here's another one! This one is wildly entertaining and fun film!

Last year, Bend It.. was so popular back home in India, I watched it thrice in two months! And I have never seen so many girls in a movie theater, shouting, whistling, and generally having a great time!!

The Hours

2003-03-17T13:15:00.000+05:30

I saw this a couple days ago. It hasn't left my mind completely till now. Wonderfully depicted women characters, a rarity in cinema I watch.

I mostly agree with the positive reviews that it has received.

The Pianist

2003-03-12T13:15:00.000+05:30

Came back a couple hours ago from watching this film.. based on a true story of a jewish pianist (Wladyslaw Szpilman) caught in World War II Poland.. Adrien Brody is excellent in the title role, showing the varying degrees of extreme emotions nicely.. rest of the cast is also very good, as are all the crowd scenes, war scenes and locations.. since its based on a true story, there are not that many "cinematic" moments, but the film still had a lot of impact..

There were too many cuts jumping the screenplay from one time to the next, and the storyline was harder to make out.. I was not "moved" by the film in the same way as I was by "Life is Beautiful" or "Schindler's List".. It was a very good film nonetheless, especially in the currently emerging "war" scenario...

Other similarly themed movies I liked:
World War II: Life is Beautiful| Schindler's List
Ethnic/ religious disputes: Ulysses' Gaze| 1947-Earth
War-themed: No Man's Land

Sad Shaun: So near and yet so far

2003-03-03T13:33:00.000+05:30

"Tied matches and rain: the ghosts of World Cup past converged on South Africa in the most warped manner imaginable."

Heartbreak | Pollock: We Miscalculated | South Africa have only themselves to blame

MusicBrainz

2003-02-28T05:53:00.000+05:30

Imagine a thousand MP3 (or wma or other digital music) files which are either missing ID3 tags completely, or have incorrect tags. Absence of metadata such as album name, artist information, release year, genre and others makes it really difficult to organize a digital music collection. Complex directories-and sub-directories organized by album/artist do not really do justice to the variety of ways in which one listens to music. By genre, by artist, by album, by mood, by year and a thousand other idiosyncratic ways.

This is a notorious problem, even with legal copies of CDs, since most "free" MP3 encoding software tools do not have the capabilities to retrieve track info from online databases and write it while encoding the file. Also, many non-english language albums, and those on little-known labels do not even provide their data to CDDB or other online databases. Add to this mix the songs that you download from peer-to-peer file sharing services. What you have is a digital music collection, with highly unreliable/absent metadata.

Windows Media Player (and a lot of other players nowadays) let you overcome the organization problems through intelligent use of song metadata, allowing creation of such
playlists as "music from the 70s only", "1968 Beatles tracks only", or "hindi only" without resorting to complex directory structures in storing songs on the hard drive.

An elegant, free, open-source solution is provided by MusicBrainz. It provides a tool that analyses a music file on your hard drive, identifies it, fetches album and artist information from its database and corrects the tags in your file. In case of the song being absent in its database, it lets you identify the song yourself, and attempts to fetch data from FreeDB. Nice!

Contribute by supplying information about albums/ artists absent in their database, providing corrections for existing database entries, and approving other people's suggestions. Its free, its open source, and its distributed. I love this.

Money for MusicBrainz? An interesting "public goods" problem.

The Life of David Gale

2003-02-25T05:30:00.000+05:30

Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet - a very interesting lead pair (which is not really a pair!), an inmate on death row- an unusual plot. I picked this movie after finding out that the theater supposedly showing "The Pianist" was not showing it (or any movie) at all!

Turned out to be a decent choice. Kevin Spacey was excellent as "David Gale", a philosophy professor turned murder convict. Spacey lecturing philosophy in the classroom is a perfect fit, though his exaggerated swagger after a few whiskies, and quoting Socrates in streets in his drunken state is probably taking it a bit too far. Controlled, but a bit over the top I felt.

Kate Winslet is likeable, in the role of the prototypical "reporter". All others, except the murder victim (Laura Linney portraying Spacey's colleague at DeathWatch), do not have a significant role.

The basic theme concerns the volatile issue of the "death penalty" that is the common penalty for convicted murderers in several US states. The protagonist, Spacey, leads a group opposed to the death penalty on moral grounds. Set in orthodox Texas, that's a difficult liberal view to hold. The chief argument is that a wrongful conviction will lead to murder in a state which issues the death penalty. How David Gale's life becomes entwined with the beliefs he fights for is the movie in short.

An up-and-down film most of the time. It builds interest and suspense in some sequences (most notably, the murder scene, and the videotapes). The mysterious truck following the reporter around from day one is too simplistic though.

Search engine with very nice visualizations

2003-02-20T23:45:00.000+05:30

East-West fusion music

2003-02-19T12:05:00.000+05:30

There has been much news of late about the increasing "Bollywood" influence on entertainment in the Western world. The Oscar nomination of Lagaan in 2001, along with the bollywood-inspired revival of the hollywood musical, as shown by the hit "Moulin Rouge" and the west-end success of Andrew Lloyd Webber's presentation of A. R. Rahman's musical Bombay Dreams have just been the high points of the increasing influence of Asian culture, especially in the UK.

As far music goes, collaboration between renowned artists in the West and the East goes back in time. Most famous of all is Pandit Ravi Shankar playing at Woodstock. Another group that went a long distance in finding common themes, and exploring musical possibilities is Shakti. Shakti, with John McLaughlin, L. Shankar, Vikku Vinayakram, R. Raghavan and Zakir Hussain, is often credited with pioneering the east-west fusion concept. This group came out with albums such as Shakti with John McLaughlin, Natural Elements, and Handful of Beauty. From this original 1970s group, some members came together again in the 1990s, to perform a series of concerts under the name "Remember Shakti" with other greats of Indian classical music such as Mandolin Srinivas, and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. The albums are Remember Shakti: Saturday Night in Bombay and Remember Shakti: The believer. Definitely worth a try, if you haven't already. I especially like "Shakti with John McLaughlin" and the "Remember Shakti" albums.

While on the topic, give a try to these other bands that also play a very interesting blend of Indian/Western music.

- Mangalam is a band that's inspired by Shakti's music. Listen to a few MP3s by Mangalam.
- Karyshma

Interpreter of Maladies

2003-02-19T09:59:00.000+05:30

A lovely collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. She has an amazing gift for observing people and reading their minds. Her characters are very real, in their lives, emotions and actions. She possesses the gift of writing elegant simple prose. The book simply eases itself into the reader's mind, seemingly without effort, like eating a rasagulla! The lyrical beauty of her language, well-etched characters and powerful themes makes this collection a winner.

The Real State of the Union?

2003-02-19T09:49:00.000+05:30

With reference to the US President George W. Bush's State of the Union address for the year 2003, "The Atlantic Monthly" published a sepcial report under the title "What is the Real State of the Union?". It contains analyses of critical issues such as national unity, health care, wealth inequality, race relations, education, welfare and poverty and others. In stark contrast to the more powerful media (CNN-ABC-NBC-Fox News) that carries the strongly nationalistic, often jingoistic message from the president and his administration, the Atlantic series focuses on the fundamental issues facing the American people.

Closed due to Winter...

2003-02-17T06:31:00.000+05:30

What a weekend! 4 days back, I heard it was going to be bright and sunny, with 40 F temperatures. Turns out to be a storm, with a mix of rain and ice falling over the last 2 days. My car windows look as if they are made of frosted glass. No amount of scraping, de-icer and such help. Stuck in the apartment for lack of transport... :(

I took a walk down the street. "Closed due to weather" boards on a game parlor door, a couple of cafes open. Empty streets, and more frosted glass car windows.

And I used to think weather in Houghton was bad! Check out the Winter Carnival at Michigan Tech. Check out the photos, and statue cams.

The Warmonger

2003-02-17T02:43:00.000+05:30

"Normally, the warmonger is a person with an aura of outspoken piety and an outstanding capacity for blending his religious beliefs with his secular and who, as was said of the Spartans by the Athenians, is most conspicuous for believing that what he likes doing is correct and that what suits his spiritual and personal wants is always moral and best for the nation."

From Picture This by Joseph Heller

Blog-Surfing

2003-02-16T11:08:00.000+05:30

I have been wandering blogs the whole week, especially Indian weblogs. Wow! People out there are doing some really cool things. I have been thinking of "blogging" from a HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) and CSCW (Computer-Supported Cooperative Work) perspective.I am not so sure about the "Work" aspect, but there certainly is a collaborative aspect to blogging. Hmm, random thoughts right now, looks like I will have to do some literature searches.

Notting Hill

2003-02-16T10:14:00.000+05:30

Just saw "Notting Hill" after a while (a few months I guess). Julia's smile is alluring. Life's little pleasures!

And to think its a winter-storm-warning day outside!

Picture This

2003-02-16T09:59:00.000+05:30

Just as I start my Blog,
I near the end of "Picture This"
Strange coincidence,
or is it really?

"I am the strangest of mortals"

Picture This by Joseph Heller... a hell of a twisted book...