Friday, February 25, 2011

Dear Uncle Pai

Some years ago, when we every once in a while, we used travel by train to some place, the first thing I would on reaching the railway station(and I think I'm not alone on this one) was to go to the A.H.Wheeler bookstore on Platform 1 and buy as many Tinkles(Digests/Double Digests/Summer Specials etc.) and Amar Chitra Kathas as my parents would permit.
It was a tradition. One that I was very happy to practice.

For an entire generation(or perhaps even two) of kids, from the late 80s to the early 2000s, these comics were the ultimate source of entertainment and education. The antics of Suppandi and Tantri the Mantri failed to tickle none, everyone knew that the wily Chamataka and his clumsy side-kick Doob Doob could be up to no good and everyone loved it when Kalia the Crow rescued Keechu-Meechu from their booby traps.

"Tinkle Tells You Why" was perhaps more successful in encouraging and clearing queries about day to day life than most teachers and schools ever were. The Science lessons of Uncle Anu and the sleuth-work of Mopes, Purr and Ajay were fascinating. Everyone was friends with Kapish, Bundila, Baboocha, Shikhari Shambu, Naseerudin Hodja, Ramu and Shamu.

The Jataka Tales and the Panchatantra were given a new lease of life and helped inculcate morals into millions of children across the country.

All these, were due to the vision and creativity of Anant Pai, or as ACK/TInkle readers will fondly refer to his as, Uncle Pai. His legacy has to this date sold over a 100million copies worldwide and each year continues to sell over 3 million copies. His creations are perhaps the sole reason why kids know about Birbal, the Pandavas, the avatars of Vishnu, Chanakya, Bhagat Singh, the Mughal emperors, Prithviraj Chauhan, Napoleon, Pasteur and JRD Tata.

Uncle Pai,
I am forever indebted to you.
May your soul rest in peace.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Answers to Quiz-2

1. These countries do not have an airport. As I hinted, it would be almost impossible for Vatican to have one.
All of them have a heliport atleast. Andorra is the largest of these, both by area and population, to not have an Airport.

2. The US Government and its agencies

3. He is the only person to defeat Bjorn Borg in the French open.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Etymology

It is not a commonly known fact that my first name is not Ramani (rum-uh-nee). I was blessed and cursed with the royally distinct, very Indian name of Aditya (aa-dit-ya). If you are surprised, I don't blame you.

I have had this thing going on for a while now. Back in 4th Standard when it first happened, I was rather pissed of about it. You must sympathize with me as I was young and was the only one being referred by not my first name. It was so annoying to me that I had once even severed ties with a kid for his failure to correct what he called me. Things changed however, as I grew older. It was still a bit weird, but I started seeing the funny side of it too.

Over here, we must pause to understand the nomenclature system of Tamilians.

Folks, we don't have a surname. Big surprise, but it is true. Our system is to simply give the kid a name(often 8-12 syllables long, but that is not the point) and provide the dad's name as an initial. The Iyers and the Iyengars are what Tamil immigrants seeking jobs elsewhere conjured as there was a surname column and it couldn't be left blank.

So "Ramani" is my dad's name. Over a period of time, it's usage for me has become almost surname like. It feels good sometimes to be referred to by this name, a name which I respect a great deal. Occasionally however, things get a bit funny.

The following are true incidents.

Scene 1: PTA, Report Card Collection


Teacher (to my Dad)- He has done well sir, but can improve so much more. But don't worry, Ramani is a very good student!

Ramani (Dad)- Okaaaaaaay!

Ramani (me)- Yeah...Dad...Good Student!


Scene 2: Sunday afternoon, Dad and I at home watching TV when the phone rings and Dad answers it.

Caller- Hello, is Ramani there?

Ramani (Dad)- Yes, speaking. Who is this?

Caller- Dude! Whats wrong with your voice? And you don't recognize my voice you idiot!

Ramani (Dad, to me)-It's for you!

Then there is the Sindhi aspect to it. A small change in pronunciation and it becomes Rum-aah-nee, straight out of USA(Ulhasnagar Sindhi Association, for the uninitiated). So to the president of USA, I'd like to say, My name is Ramani, and I am not a Sindhi!

So people, call me what you will. Just remember NOT to call my home asking for Ramani!



Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Quiz-2

Answers to quiz-1:
1. These are the researches for which Indians have one Nobel prizes...Khorana, CV Raman, Ramakrishnan, Ross, Chandrasekhar
2. Karunanidhi...
3. Jack Nicholson and Michael Caine..
4. India Gate Square...these are the largest public squares

Quiz-2

1. Liechtenstein, Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco and Andorra are the only countries in the world without what?

2. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Honeywell Corporation, Chevron Corporation and GE are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th largest toxic waste generators in the world. Who is the largest?

3. Adriano Panatta is an Italian tennis player, who won the French Open in 1976. His claim to fame however is something different. He is the only person in his era to achieve this feat. Whatzit?

Game, Set and Match

Mr. Bhupati is a great tennis player, a businessman and a socialite. In some time, he is going to marry Ms. Dutta, a former beauty queen and an actress. This is just one more of those highly gossiped about nuptials between sports-persons and models/actresses. In fact, if the rumour engines are to be trusted, the wedding(in Goa :D) invitation list even includes Mr. Bhupati's dear friend, Mr. Federer!

Now this news has got me thinking about the state of Indian tennis.

In the 50s and 60s, there was a highly gifted Chennai lad who was making good name for India in the tennis circles. In an era dominated, almost overwhelmingly by Laver, Newcombe, Emerson and Pancho Gonzales, it is quite an achievement to make yourself even visible, and Ramanathan Krishnan was more than just visible. Known for his extreme finesse on court, he reached two Wimbledon semi-finals, losing both times to the eventual champions. His greatest achievement was perhaps the remarkable comeback from 5-2 down in the fourth set against Brazilian Tomas Koch to take India to its first Davis Cup final. His victory over Laver in Davis Cup(1959) and the Wimbledon junior title in 1954 were some of career highlights.

His son Ramesh Krishnan too made the tricolour a force to reckon with. Thrice a grand-slam quarter-finalist, he led India to their second Davis Cup(1987) final by defeating Australians Masur and Fitzgerald in the semi-finals.

India's best chance by far to win the tennis doubles gold were in the 2000 summer Olympics at Sydney and Athens respectively. In 1999, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati reached all four Grand Slam doubles finals, winning the French+Wimbledon double. It was a a new peak in Indian tennis. In 2004, they had quarter and semi-final runs in several events leading up to Athens. The only tennis medal yet was the Bronze medal run by Paes in Atlanta(1996), where he lost to Agassi in the semifinals.

Several controversies aside, Sania Mirza was once World No. 27.

Currently, there is only one ATP level tournament in India and barring one, all male players rank well below 200.

This sport needs some attention, and the "Bhutta" wedding is not the kind of attention it needs. Hopefully we'll have a grand-slam champion in the next 10 years.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Mind Fodder


TEDxBITSGoa had a rather interesting video, where this guy talked about how revealing to others your goals and strategies reduces your chances of actually accomplishing or sticking to them. The psychology being that when you reveal your goals, you trick yourself into believing that you are actually on the way to achieving it. So, instead of working at full steam, you mellow down(and take li8).
What you should be doing instead, is to identify your goal and a strategy you are going to adopt and keep it to yourself. That way, you make an impression on yourself that you are yet to achieve it and need to work diligently in order to get there.

This makes for rather interesting mind fodder right now, as the exams are right on top. Obviously everyone has a target in their minds when it comes to exams; a certain par score which they want to go above. Consider the case when I revealed to my friends the plan to canvas three courses over nine hours of non-stop, intensive mugging, with pauses only for water and leaks.

Surely, making a blog entry after a few hours of sitcom viewing makes the TED talk a fact to be noted...

Monday, February 14, 2011

This Lub-Dubbing thing is beyond any applied science!

The odds are 1:6.

No, these aren't the odds of the Netherlands winning against Australia in the Cricket world cup(no offence to the Dutch). These are the odds of sighting a girl in an engineering college in India. Now, if you decide to apply certain filters to this, then the chances of sighting anything plunges to an astonishingly small value.

Engineers are angels, in a manner of speaking. Let's face it, engineers have alone created more than three quarters of the jobs(conservative estimate) in the world since the industrial revolution. They've mastered construction(bridges are one of the most important economic assets of a nation), shrunk distances(anyone wants to share a cab to the airport on the 25th?), changed the way we eat(cheese isn't microwave friendly), the way we communicate(hey, gg man, ftw!) and have even made family entertainment ever so easy(all you need is a 5.1 Channel Surround sound home theatre system, a full HD 1080p screen, in a wood panelled room, the latest Blu-Ray version of your favourite movie, a Blu-Ray compatible reader and a family sized couch, not to mention, very deep pockets). Rising pollution levels and industrial accidents are only two small ways in which engineers contribute to the steady supply of the ill and the injured to the doctors. Engineers are the ultimate problem solvers and so it can be said with confidence that there are no fields in which the engineers have not made their presence felt.

Or is there?

A closer look may reveal that, these awesome problem solvers are yet to crack a very essential riddle, which students of liberal arts, humanities and commerce usually have it figured out in varying levels(the failure to figure this riddle out may be the reason that they are forced to indulge in self-help). Could it be that the selfless solving of the problems of the world for a living, may have left them too exhausted to give this particular problem, concerning themselves, a sincere try? And even if you venture an attempt, what algorithm is it supposed to be based on? And if Darwinism is to be believed, then aren't the fittest(read: geeks) supposed to be the alpha male?

As every engineer ponders over these issues today, here's wishing everyone out there, a Happy Valentines Day!

(PS- I think Bajrang Dal comprises of engineers who have given up on ever solving this riddle :) )