Only if everyone knew how to...

No. Won't do. One more person I know died. Only if...

A lot of people die every year because when in fatal trouble, the people next to them don't know how to react. The willingness to react is also a major problem ( more on that later ). Clueless faces waiting for an ambulance, not doing anything that may actually improve life's chances. In a country where (I'm sorry to use this line here but then...) pizza gets to you faster than an ambulance, it should be mandatory for people to know how to react. Improving ambulance travel times is a good idea but till then WHAT? Here's what I think should be done (*sigh* "Should" be done? Tired of this...) .

People should be taught first aid from a very young age. Of course they do that, you'd say. But then how many of them even remember that there is a first aid kit they can reach out to in case of an emergency? Bah ! How many even have a first aid kit at hand ? Hmmm... let me count... NEXT TO NOTHING, considering the no.of people we have. Ok. So, coming back, students need to be taught and taught seriously about this. The sheer terror that grips me when I think that maybe I'll be needing C.P.R and all I'll be having next to me are a bunch of morons, who're looking at me choking to death, is terrific. Hope you get the feeling too and agree to what I'm proposing. So, coming back again, students should know basic stuff like the back of their hands. Stuff like C.P.R , the Heimlich Maneuver, how to stop bleeding temporarily, blah, blah,... general stuff. (Note to self – no more using the word Stuff). And they should be able to administer these at a moments notice. Which brings me to the next point... Willingness.

The case of Radhika Tanwar is a glaring example. The hospital (hospitals actually, India's best included) was only 10 minutes away and it took awfully more than that to get  there. Asking for first aid would be asking to much, I guess. Why is our country like this? Where is the willingness, love for your fellow human ? If the fear of red tape and the “jhanjat” has grown more than the value of human life, then, God save us.

C.P.R

Heimlich Maneuver

So, apart from a learning how to do it, students need to be taught to DO it for real. The solution that springs to my mind is that they should be put through such situations so often (mock drills, of course) that instead of thinking about it, they do it instinctively. But then again, I have this voice inside me saying - “You're asking to much of this country”. I hope I move out of this phase. It scare the shit out of me. But a bigger question then looms – is ignorance better ? Namaste.

PS - Please do look up first aid , C.P.R and Heimlich Maneuver after reading the article. If not for the countrymen, then at least for your own loved ones. 

V for Vendetta (Book Review)

Ok. I'm floored. Totally. It was so good, that I lay for a long time, holding my head, thinking of what had just passed through my retina and imprinted permanently in my brain. I'd suggest that you read it, even before I tell you about it. Ok. So much for drooling. :-P

V for Vendetta is a graphic novel/comic, by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. The graphics are truly one of the best I've seen and the story line plays out brilliantly. It plays on your mind for a long time after you've gone through it once (and are bound to go through it once more at least). Placed in a fascist England, devastated by the effects of nuclear war, the book shows how bad the situation can get and how resilient humans are. It portrays how one man rises against the totalitarian state and gives the people a wiff of how true freedom tastes like. The novel shows how ingrained the need for order has become that we're ready to give up our freedom for the same.

Though the thought of anarchism and the process to get to it (through chaos) does scare me, these things are exactly what V (the protagonist/antagonist) tries to convince us of - our blessed ignorant state which we're scared to give up. V proposes take-what-you-want-land and -do-what -you-please-land (both courtesy Enid Blyton) which are exactly what they are as they mean. Now, the story puts forward a time when there's order without leadership - anarchy. How that is supposed to happen I don't know and I have(had?) serious doubts about whether people left to themselves will become orderly on their own (as the book says). What about the psychopaths and the power freaks? What about all the people who'll be jobless and the problems resulting from that?

Well, one thing I can say for sure - though the ideas are a little doubtful to me, the book has more or less convinced me that its possible. One word - WOW! Please do read it. Namaste.

Patterns, simulations and bird poo

You can find patterns everywhere, in your hand, in the tiles on the footpath, on your darling's face, and every perceptible and imperceptible object, events and everything in between. That's what the past week or so has been all about. A huge number of tests (four<<huge but then four>>>toil) and a lot of practicals. The tests have been generally bad, but i shan't whine. Its the practicals. Its the discussions in the practicals. I love to write 'em. Period. But then I've been rushing to complete the practicals themselves and pages lie blank in my file, begging for a discussion worth writing. And so the last few nights have been wasted trying to find a pattern in all this. Let me explain. To write a discussion, you need to have 1)performed the experiment (i mean it with a capital P) 2) you need to have thought about it as well . Now, I'll be honest and say that I've not followed both tenets at the same instant in a few practicals (not my fault) .

So to write a discussion, I've been imagining myself doing the experiment and what not. And thats where the patterns come in. So here's what I'm imagining the pattern to be :
1) You've read about the experiment and are thoroughly convinced of its utility. Easy to do at home. Done.
2) You start with the experiment itself and follow the steps diligently. Hmmm...(imagine)... Done.
3) Take the results to a teacher who sends you back because there's an efficient method to do the same thing and tells you about it. (You know this has to happen, so you should set out to discover the method yourself right around this time).
4) You go back to the teacher, who asks you something really interesting(sic) and then sends you back. (Again, the onus to find the interesting bit is on your imagination).
5) you write a discussion about the interesting bit.

Most of these steps (not necessarily in the same order) happen again and again, time after time, experiment after experiment. So a pattern worth remembering. (Such enlightening thoughts you have only when you're lying down and wondering what to do looking at the ceiling).

Now the simulation. Been fine tuning the simulation of the N-coupled oscillator. Putting in some color now. Almost done. Had decided to talk about it the most but now, after having written so much about the patterns, not so excited about this anymore. Ok. Its cool. Period. It even plots phase space diagrams (just velocity vs position plots) and they are fractals! So, as I said, its cool. Period2.

Last but not the least, bird poo. The week has been extremely generous on me regarding the number of times I've been ordained with bird excreta. I've lost count as well as any disgust. So, here's to hoping that the next week settles a few chores (practicals, tests?) and unsettles the birds targeting me. Namaste 

What's wrong with the teachers and soldiers....(Destiny's thoughts)

It was just a heated discussion on the methods that the armed forces of India take to encourage more people to join. With a serious lack of officers, the army is doing a lot to get people to get interested. All that is written in different font is just something that I thought you should know.

Now to get some facts : Today Indian Army is functioning with 12000 officers less, Indian Air Force with 1124 officers less and Indian navy with 429 officers less. Quote from (http://www.proud2bindian.in/indian-army/312-why-india-shying-away-joining-indian-army.html)
To a question of Why should the youth join the army, this answer garnered the most votes -   To get cheap beer, to learn a trade, to travel the world, to meet interesting people and shoot them. (http://answers.yahoo.com/) . Really sad.
What the army is doing ? To motivate youngsters to join defence forces, the Territorial Army flagged off a cycling expedition. (http://www.sify.com/news/indian-army-launches-campaign-to-encourage-youth-to-join-defence-forces-news-national-lbfnudcidga.html)

The army is spending a lot of money on newspaper ads and increasing incentives for the people to join the armed forces. But then its not enough, evidently.Not knowing enough facts (yet) Destiny decided to keep mum about the army but then realized that the same problems plague the education system and the talk quickly veered towards what wrong there. Here are her thoughts...


"Yes, the army is spending a lot on the full page ads it gives and the amazing incentives that an army officer enjoys (including the booze, though no one advertises that). The huge shortage the army faces cannot be for the good of the country in case of an emergency. A full page ad is well and good, but then only a few people read any newspaper (46% urban, 17% rural http://www.allindianewspapers.com/India-newspaper/national-readership-survey.html) and so not a lot of help there. With more public events, the army does get a lot of publicity but then a lot many go unnoticed. I suggest that instead of going all "look-at-us-we're-so-good-so-join-us", the army should get down to the grassroots. Serving your country is not a passion that a lot of Indians would choose over a bag of money. We should exploit this. Give a hundred bucks to students to put up posters and carry the message. They'll do it happily (with the perennial shortage of money) and also get introduced to what the army has to say themselves. Money should be spent on campaigns that target schools and let them know that jobs other than Engineers and Doctors exist.

This is just like the problem concerning the shortage of teachers in government schools. The amount of money that a govt. teacher gets is astronomical and they do much more than just teach in their respective schools. The government relies on them to do socially proactive jobs and so these teachers get to do their share for the country other than just training the next generation of the country. But then no one knows about it. Even if they do, then they decide to ignore it so that they can give high quality teaching at a public school for a measly 5000 bucks. Not that teachers should run after the money. But the govt.schools are having a serious dearth of teacher and these govt.schools serve the poorer sections of the country.

Again, people like me, who've always wanted to be teachers, should know these options exist.  I know this through my dad. What about the thousands of teachers graduating every year and not knowing what to do? The major step here also lies in spreading awareness about what options (lucrative of course) that people have and what incentives the govt. gives. With only a few people aware, most who apply get in (raising a question on the quality of the service they can provide) and so a national resource is wasted. "

So, then, people reading this, its not about the army or the teachers. Its about what plagues our country and what we can/should do. Hope everyone does their lil bit. Namaste.

PS : Check this link out : http://www.india.gov.in/spotlight/spotlight_archive.php?id=27

The Semester And Me

Ok. So an year has passed through Stephen's and me and my friends have been at the receiving end of an experiment. So here's a lowdown on all the stuff I've been through because of the new system. All protesting  people, here's what i think... (arts people, ahem, your attention please).

First, all the good stuff...

1) I have to study like crazy. Unlike my seniors who more or less idled their way through the year, we had to sit and study. People who go to college to do everything but study would not buy my argument, but then, if its education that you seek, then the semester system pretty much forces it into you.

2) For all the extra-curricular activities that certain people hanker about, I shall give you my example. I got to go to a fairly large number of quizzes, make some money on the side through the fests happening in and around Delhi and also go on a few dates (if that counts in extra curricular and all round development).

3) Teachers have been more or less forced to get down and to the point with the studies. Maybe its just my college or maybe its just me, but teachers have taken it on themselves to face the semester face on as it is. No one is absent without a reason and if this happens for all colleges, I don't think syllabus would have a problem covering itself. Yes, it would make a few teachers angry for eating into their vacation time (i suppose that would explain a lot of the protests :-P ) but then students should be rather happy that they get extra time from their teachers.

4) The syllabus. Its better suited for the time. The old one was just that - Old. Its very lucky of us to have a course that will be more up to date and not what our ancestors studied. Kudos to the people who made it. Now that I've gone through most of first year, I can see how structured it is and how everything connects. *Happy*

Now the cons..


1) Its a little hectic. Ok, I give up. Its very hectic. Not the theory classes. They are very well managed if you go home and study. Its the practicals that suck your body dry. (Art people don't worry, you won't have 'em). To blaze through 8-9 experiments just for the sake of completing a list isn't a good habit.

2) Teachers will take time to get used to the new system. Its fairly obvious that they are struggling. But then its only a matter of time. So no qualms there. Only the new fucchs would have to worry.

3) The number of classes we have in a day is amazing, when compared to the classes that people in the arts block have. But then I love my subject, so I have no problem. Its the people (yes, you artsy) who aren't used to this kind of life who'll think of this as torture.

There are a lot more I'd love to say but then I have 4 projects to submit, practical files to complete and am just emerging out of a week full of tests. So my mind (quite like the Windows system most of you use) has blanked out. Namaste. 

World Cup ! The good, the bad and the ugly!

And so we are the champions! A 28 year long wait ends. Legends are etched into national history forever. We are the champions. Congratulations India! :)
Its been truly special. From the beginning, not many trusted this team to win. But perseverance and toil paid off. The euphoria that swept the nation wouldn't have come about even if all the dope in the world was sampled by the population in a few hours. Diwali came early. People were shouting, crying, dancing and generally going mad. In a country where cricket is religion, this was expected.
Ok. Enough of the clichéd sentences. Sorry. Can't continue in the same vein. What i wan't to talk about is this - what the World Cup means, at least for the coming few (hopefully not the next 20) years.

The Good
Massive boost to the sport is one foreseeable and obvious outcome. Being world champions means world class facilities even at the grass roots levels. The richest board on the planet would surely like to keep the trophy with themselves and so money should and surely will flow like water.
The Cup means greater exposure to the game for the select few who haven't been bitten by the bug and I can testify to the fact that the euphoria is infectious.
Sachin finally got his due. Playing for so long and having every conceivable record to his name, this is the ONE he coveted the most. And the whole team dedicating the cup to him is testament to the respect and love he commands from his colleagues.
Better, stringent and more professionally managed selection process for the team.
More money for the players. More incentives for people to take up the sport for a living. More money for the Board. More money for everyone in general.

The Bad
More money for everyone in general. Its not unusual for us to get waylaid by a free flowing coffer. This has happened time and again. And I'm pretty much certain that this will happen again.
Cricketers will sell us everything from safety pins to oil tankers to condoms. Its going to be an overdose.
More cricket. As in, much much more. The calendar is filled like crazy (as if BCCI saw it coming, hmmm) and  the players will eventually tire out.

The Ugly
All the other sports suffer. For the next 20 years or so, what Kapil Dev's win did to Indian cricket, is going to happen all over again. All the other sports will(are) eventually be ignored and India will suffer on the global scale in the sports arena. The BCCI may make lofty promises about sharing money with the other sports bodies but just money won't do. And now with the World Cup in our kitty, other sports may well sit back and relax. No one's going to pay attention to 'em for sometime. May very well have some scams and make a lil money on the sly.

Corruption and match fixing is something that happens when there's money but then these can be tackled. I'll be very honest and say that I'm very scared about this last part of the World Cup saga that most people will rather ignore - other sporting activities.

Hoping that I'm wrong in my assumptions about the future (mostly the latter ones). Namaste.