During my undergrad years, parties were a big deal -- even for the teetotalers like me. They offered a momentary sojourn into a place where only simple things like rythm and dance, song and music, friends and cohorts existed. Everything else was a blur. After a long evening of partying, we'd schlep our way back to campus while our heads still resonated with the summer of '69; our lips unconsciously wondered 'who the f*** is Alice?' while someone puked his guts out on NH17. Ah, such was life!
These days I have a very different notion of what consitutes heady partying. (Yes, Mom, I'm still a teetotaler). A thought-provoking seminar. With that confession, I probably jumped one level higher in the land of boring people!
I should say a word about seminars to the unfamiliar reader. One of the biggest perks of this research business is a chance to visit labs to share your ideas with them. Being invited to give a talk from a good place is a not-so-small deal, as you can imagine.
Today, Partha Niyogi from the University of Chicago was here to talk about manifold learning. It doesn't take a Sherlock to figure out I liked his talk! After spending an hour and something at the seminar, we -- my labmates and I -- schlepped two floors up while trying to digest a few things we'd just heard. That conversation continued for a little while in one of our rooms. Manifolds and homologies seem to have replaced summer of '69s and 'Alice's. Ah, such is life!
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Da. Raj no more
It would be an understatement to call him a film actor. Dr. Rajkumar was a phenomenon in Karnataka. After 77 summers and 206 films, he breathed his last yesterday. His end marked the beginning of violent scenes that rocked Bangalore for two days. Mobs on a rampage, the papers proclaimed. Four, correction five, correction eight dead, including a policeman, they exclaimed.
Millions of his fans lost an icon. But the first family of Kannada cinema lost someone close to them. If only the masses had the decency to allow the family to grieve! Poor sons of his, they had to shout into microphones begging for calm.
The man held sway over Karnataka for over five decades, starring opposite several generation of leading ladies. Now I admit, toward the later years, it was painful to see him sing and dance. But people still flocked to the cinemas! He dominated the scene like no other. In South Indian cinema, you had MGR and Sivaji Ganesan jostling for position in Tamil Nadu. North of that border, in Andhra Pradesh, you had NTR and ANR dueling for top spot. In Karnataka though, it was Da. Raj all the way. Sure you had Uday Kumar, Kalyan Kumar, Vishnuvardhan and the like. They were no match really.
A memorable scene from one of his films? With someone like Rajkumar, one is not enough; I'll give you two: waking up in the Himalayas and breaking out into a song "naadamaya" in Jeevana Chaitra; and the plaintive cry at the end of the movie Sanadi Appanna -- "paapuuu..."
"Cut! That's a wrap", the Director has yelled.
Millions of his fans lost an icon. But the first family of Kannada cinema lost someone close to them. If only the masses had the decency to allow the family to grieve! Poor sons of his, they had to shout into microphones begging for calm.
The man held sway over Karnataka for over five decades, starring opposite several generation of leading ladies. Now I admit, toward the later years, it was painful to see him sing and dance. But people still flocked to the cinemas! He dominated the scene like no other. In South Indian cinema, you had MGR and Sivaji Ganesan jostling for position in Tamil Nadu. North of that border, in Andhra Pradesh, you had NTR and ANR dueling for top spot. In Karnataka though, it was Da. Raj all the way. Sure you had Uday Kumar, Kalyan Kumar, Vishnuvardhan and the like. They were no match really.
A memorable scene from one of his films? With someone like Rajkumar, one is not enough; I'll give you two: waking up in the Himalayas and breaking out into a song "naadamaya" in Jeevana Chaitra; and the plaintive cry at the end of the movie Sanadi Appanna -- "paapuuu..."
"Cut! That's a wrap", the Director has yelled.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Psst ... "inside" info on the India-US nuclear deal
At the University today, DESI and US India Business Council had organized a panel discussion on the recent India-US civilian nuclear deal. My dear readers, you get the scoop - even before Chidanand Rajghatta of the Times of India can write about it!
The panelists Vikram Misri (Indian Embassy), Prof. Walter Andersen (a South Asia expert) and Ron Somers (President, USIBC, formerly with Cogentrix) made a strong case for the proposed civilian nuclear co-operation agreement. I won't belabor the much-talked about points like:
I raised the question: "During the debate, the Indian left parties objected to the deal, saying it is a sell-out to the Americans; and the likes of Strobe Talbott believed that the US got a lousy bargain. Clearly, both can't be right. Who is more right?"
In response, Dr. Andersen made two points:
Talbott, by the way, was Jaswant Singh's counterpart in the talks after the Pokhran tests. The series of talks has had a tremendously positive effect on the relationship between the two countries in recent years. Anyone with even a passing interest in this dynamics should read his book "Engaging India." It's a fascinating look at history, politics and personalities. With that background about Talbott, we can safely assume that he is not pushing anyone's agenda when he opposes the present civilian nuclear deal. Rather, he has genuine concerns -- misplaced, but genuine nonetheless.
Misri, the Indian on the panel, was eloquent about India's track record in the nuclear business. He began his remarks with a landmark that I was not aware of. As early as 1944, Bhabha who is the founder of Indian nuclear program, submitted a proposal to set up a nuclear research institute. This led to the creation of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in December 1945. The Atomic Energy Act was passed in 1948 and the construction of India's first nuclear reactor Apsara began in 1955. Apsara went critical in August 1957 (56?) becoming the first reactor in Asia. In other words, as we know, the Indian nuclear program is not new.
As an aside, when I came across Ron Somers' name in the announcement, I was pleasantly surprised. If you are from Karnataka, you will probably recognize his name -- he was with the controversial Cogentrix project. That was the power project that got embroiled in controversy and politics involving Maneka Gandhi, Deve Gowda, etc. I won't go in to the messy politics. But suffice it to say that at some point, there was a legal battle that the company and Somers personally was drawn into. They were accused of bribery. Needless to say, that was a politically motivated lawsuit that was cleared up as soon as Somers left the country.
I was struck by the humility of the man in spite of those nasty attacks. He had nothing but kind words for the people of Mangalore and their support. More, he holds a special place for India in his heart since he essentially built his career there.
With some hesitation, he spoke about the business angle to the proposed deal. If the business community makes a forceful case, they might be seen as greedy, he said. Hence the measured and somewhat delayed tone. In the coming days, however, the business community will make a more compelling case. If the proposed India civilian nuclear deal goes through, there is the potential for creation of 3 million jobs -- some of that will benefit France, Russia and the UK, but the US will benefit to a large extent.
With allies like Somers, Andersen and spokesmen like Misri, we can move forward with assured confidence.
The panelists Vikram Misri (Indian Embassy), Prof. Walter Andersen (a South Asia expert) and Ron Somers (President, USIBC, formerly with Cogentrix) made a strong case for the proposed civilian nuclear co-operation agreement. I won't belabor the much-talked about points like:
It's good for India because of energy needs, brought into world order, etc.Some interesting points:
It's good for the US because of reduced energy dependence, strategic objectives (without the China angle), US business interests, etc.
I raised the question: "During the debate, the Indian left parties objected to the deal, saying it is a sell-out to the Americans; and the likes of Strobe Talbott believed that the US got a lousy bargain. Clearly, both can't be right. Who is more right?"
In response, Dr. Andersen made two points:
Although Talbott is pro-India, he "genuinely believes" that this agreement is dangerous and counterproductive to the disarmament cause. This is the view -- in substance, at least -- of President Jimmy Carter as well. Dr. Andersen disagreed with this line of thinking during his opening remarks.
He added that India had agreed to bring 14 of its 22 nuclear reactors under international safeguards "in perpetuity". Given that the US has only ONE of its 100+ reactors under IAEA safeguards, the UK has none and China has 3 (the extent of which is questionable); one could argue that India made significant concessions.
Talbott, by the way, was Jaswant Singh's counterpart in the talks after the Pokhran tests. The series of talks has had a tremendously positive effect on the relationship between the two countries in recent years. Anyone with even a passing interest in this dynamics should read his book "Engaging India." It's a fascinating look at history, politics and personalities. With that background about Talbott, we can safely assume that he is not pushing anyone's agenda when he opposes the present civilian nuclear deal. Rather, he has genuine concerns -- misplaced, but genuine nonetheless.
Misri, the Indian on the panel, was eloquent about India's track record in the nuclear business. He began his remarks with a landmark that I was not aware of. As early as 1944, Bhabha who is the founder of Indian nuclear program, submitted a proposal to set up a nuclear research institute. This led to the creation of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in December 1945. The Atomic Energy Act was passed in 1948 and the construction of India's first nuclear reactor Apsara began in 1955. Apsara went critical in August 1957 (56?) becoming the first reactor in Asia. In other words, as we know, the Indian nuclear program is not new.
As an aside, when I came across Ron Somers' name in the announcement, I was pleasantly surprised. If you are from Karnataka, you will probably recognize his name -- he was with the controversial Cogentrix project. That was the power project that got embroiled in controversy and politics involving Maneka Gandhi, Deve Gowda, etc. I won't go in to the messy politics. But suffice it to say that at some point, there was a legal battle that the company and Somers personally was drawn into. They were accused of bribery. Needless to say, that was a politically motivated lawsuit that was cleared up as soon as Somers left the country.
I was struck by the humility of the man in spite of those nasty attacks. He had nothing but kind words for the people of Mangalore and their support. More, he holds a special place for India in his heart since he essentially built his career there.
With some hesitation, he spoke about the business angle to the proposed deal. If the business community makes a forceful case, they might be seen as greedy, he said. Hence the measured and somewhat delayed tone. In the coming days, however, the business community will make a more compelling case. If the proposed India civilian nuclear deal goes through, there is the potential for creation of 3 million jobs -- some of that will benefit France, Russia and the UK, but the US will benefit to a large extent.
With allies like Somers, Andersen and spokesmen like Misri, we can move forward with assured confidence.
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