Is the Next Silicon Valley Taking Root in Bangalore? - New York Times

From NYT:

BANGALORE, India, March 19 — Twenty young engineers, mostly from the Indian Institute of Technology, India's premier technology school, peer into computer monitors in the no-frills office of Read-Ink Technologies, a start-up company housed in a small building in the bustling Indiranagar neighborhood of this city.

Bangalore's flourishing outsourcing companies, including Infosys Technologies and Wipro, have attracted worldwide attention with their global clients and tens of thousands of workers. Less known are the many technology start-ups, like Read-Ink, that have taken root here in recent years.

The new firms are drawn by the region's big pool of engineering graduates, many of whom have expertise in esoteric new technologies. That advantage, coupled with labor costs much lower than those of Silicon Valley, is starting to turn Bangalore, long a center for lower-end outsourcing services, into a center of higher-end innovation.

Some of these firms are self-financed, others have capital from the West. Some are run by foreigners. Others are founded by Indians, including returnees from overseas.

Read-Ink, one of the self-financed operations, is developing an advanced handwriting recognition software that can read scanned forms, claim forms, medical records and even digital tablets.

Its founders, Thomas O. Binford, a retired computer science professor from Stanford University, and his wife, Ione, a former manager at Hewlett-Packard, arrived here four years ago with five suitcases. They say they are now close to signing up their first business customer.

The signs of this shift toward high-value work are becoming more visible. Executives at Silicon Valley Bank, which is based in Santa Clara, Calif., and provides consulting services to technology and venture capital firms, said they were seeing twice as many Indian start-ups looking for capital investment than even a few months ago.

"Our technology and private equity clients are leveraging India at an unprecedented rate," said Kenneth P. Wilcox, chief executive of Silicon Valley Bank and SVB Financial Group.

When the members of the Bangalore chapter of the Indus Entrepreneurs, a nonprofit network for entrepreneurs, collaborated with the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham to sponsor a business plan competition last month, they were stunned to draw 125 entries vying for the $150,000 top prize.

At the same time, Bangalore is becoming a hunting ground for venture capitalists looking for promising investment opportunities, such as Promod Haque, managing partner at the venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners in Palo Alto, Calif.

About 40 percent of Norwest Venture's portfolio companies, or about 20 companies, have development operations in India, mainly in Bangalore. "More and more people are figuring out that Bangalore is a critical step in making start-ups capital-efficient," Mr. Haque said, explaining that cost savings here can help stretch initial investment funds.

Mr. Haque is taking a hybrid approach to investment. He pairs entrepreneurs of Indian origin who have returned to India (many have spent time working in Silicon Valley and elsewhere) with Western executives who have marketing and management expertise.

One of his investments is Open-Silicon, a two-year-old silicon engineering company. Its chief executive is based here, but its headquarters and marketing chief are based in Sunnyvale, Calif. "Like Open-Silicon, which has most of its customers within a five-mile radius of its headquarters, many technology start-ups are servicing American and European markets," Mr. Haque said.

Indrion Technologies, another new Bangalore start-up, has six engineers working on embedded semiconductor solutions for sensor-control networks. Its co-founder and chief executive, Uma Mahesh, a computer science engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, is optimistic that he can attract venture capital because innovation among India's new companies is "a very believable story for investors."

Perhaps not surprisingly, this increased start-up activity in Bangalore has caught the eye of influential American lawmakers. Many American political and business leaders have said they are worried about a technological brain drain from the United States to places overseas.

Representative Jerry Lewis, a California Republican who is the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said that he was trying to find a government agency to sponsor projects in areas like nanotechnology, semiconductors, energy and pharmaceuticals, and possibly to collaborate with agencies in India.

"We are figuring out what kind of support and funding is needed from the Congress," Mr. Lewis said in a phone interview, adding, "The issue is not so much about losing innovation leadership as it is about how to make innovations happen on a cheaper scale and how to make more of it happen."

That Bangalore can be an incubator city for start-ups is demonstrated in Read-Ink, which the Binfords have financed entirely from their savings and retirement fund. They live and work in the same building, saving on rent. The ground floor contains a kitchen and employee dining room as well as the Binfords' bedroom and employees' guest rooms.

Mrs. Binford also runs an all-night accounting back-office service for American customers. "It is a small service with seven accountants," she said, "but helps cover the costs."

Improving the accuracy of handwriting recognition beyond what currently marketed software products offer is a complicated technical problem. "Current products have an accuracy rate of 80-85 percent; ours will be a 5-7 percent improvement," said Mr. Binford, Read-Ink's chief technology officer.

But in getting there, the Binfords have struggled to recruit and retain the best engineers in a competitive market. They said they had deliberately stayed in stealth mode for fear of talent poachers.

There are other growing pains. Finding venture investors at the early stages of a start-up business can be difficult because the majority of investors prefer to make safer later-stage investments. There is also a lack of homegrown innovators serving as role models.

"The entrepreneurial heroes of the Valley are accessible to many people," said Sabeer Bhatia, who moved from Bangalore to the Silicon Valley and co-founded Hotmail, later acquired by the Microsoft Corporation.

Sridhar Mitta, president of the Bangalore chapter of the Indus Entrepreneurs, said, "We are not going to be another Valley anytime soon," but he added, "The city can match up with Boston or Austin as a competitive place to start up innovative product companies."

Is the Next Silicon Valley Taking Root in Bangalore? - New York Times

Very, very isolated

Smack in the middle of the country, geographically. But so far from the mainstream every other way - economically, socially, politically. Here's half a million people living in the middle of nowhere of China. I was surprised to read that (a) Islam is thriving and (b) in many towns in this area, not a single Chinese or Chinese-speaking people lives!

China, like every other big country, is a study in contrasts. Seems like we are yet to figure out how to take the whole country forward, and not just the big bling-bling cities. In fact, you don't have to go to middle of the mountains in China to see poverty like that. About a mile from Washington, DC, if you head in a south easterly direction, you will be transported to a whole new planet. Or hop on a plane from DC to Bombay; walk out of the airport. You'll see the infamous slums of Bombay.

Deep in China, a Poor and Pious Muslim Enclave - New York Times

Unequal growth in China

The wagging fingers of western we-know-it-all media has started talking about unequal growth in China; about how a large segment of the population is not seeing the benefits of the country's hugely impressive growth rates. Seems like the powers that be in the Chinese government (like who else has power there, I wonder) has decided to do something about this deepening divide.
China's Premier Promises Protections for Farmers

Nuclear separation scenarios

More on the nuclear reactor separation plan. Here's the numbers game in yesterday's Hindu.

The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Nuclear separation scenarios

Good Nukes, Bad Nukes

Ignatius gets it right - almost. The nuclear issue seems to dominate President Bush's visit to India that begins today. The bottom line is that if the negotiator can reach a workable agreement on India's nuclear status, it will mean an end to decades of isolation of the Indian nuclear energy establishment. It opens up much-needed sources of fuel for the Indian civilian reactors. Going by reports in the media, there seems to be intense ongoing diplomacy promising a photo finish by the end of the President's visit.

The latest numbers doing the rounds is a 65:35 split, i.e., 65% of the reactors will come under international safeguards. That will mean NSG (nuclear suppliers group) countries can supply fuel to those reactors and take away spent fuel for reprocessed. The remaining 35% will be military reactors that fall outside the purview of the agreement. India will continue to exercise complete control over those. This number is an improvement over the 70:30 split that the previous BJP-led government had almost agreed to. There seems to be some unanswered questions about the fate of future (yet-to-be built) reactors. And the hyped Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) may be kept out for now.

India needed that push to demystify - to some extent - its nuclear energy and weapons programs. It was a logical next step after heralding its status to the world a few years ago. Of course, this won't happen overnight. It is heartening to know that the process has been hastened.

Now, to the Ignatius article in today's Post: he distinguishes between the nuclear ambitions and programs of India and Iran using 'good nukes' and 'bad nukes' - a' la Bush's 'good vs. evil' argument, one wonders.

Incidentally the New York times has come strongly against the proposed deal crying its hypocritical to de facto admit India into the nuclear club while lecturing countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and South Korea against pursuing nuclear ambitions. It is like saying, if you are sneaky enough, if you are patient enough, we'll let you into this elite club.

Ignatius, without referring to NYT, agrees with the hypocrisy argument. But it is enlightened hyprocrisy. The world, we all know is fueled by pragmatism and not idealism. In that spirit, it makes sense to recognize India's responsible behavior with the proposed agreement.

Why do I say Ignatius gets it almost right?
The Indian foreign policy establishment has long strived to de-hyphenate India and Pakistan in the eyes of the world. It has had much success in that regard. But I can see them wincing at the end of paragraph in Ignatius' piece:

The world is ready to accept India as a nuclear power because its actions have given other nations confidence that it seeks to play a stabilizing role. A world where behavior matters gets the incentives right: It forces Iran to demonstrate its reliability so that, over time, it can be seen in the same league as India and Pakistan.

Good Nukes, Bad Nukes

Port Security Humbug

So the administration wants to award port security contracts to a UAE-based firm. And just about everybody in the US Congress - Republicans and Democrats alike - is opposed to the idea. This makes for perfect political posturing, and you hear jingoistic statements like "let Americans control America's security." Conveniently though, they forget the disclaimer: Except when UK controls port security! You see, for years now, a London-based firm has been handling this business!

The Congress is saying it will kill the proposed deal. Democrats, in a rare instance of demonstrating any spine, are saying they will join in sinking it. Bush has vowed to veto any legislation to block this deal.

Or may be Democrats are wagging their fingers just like they did when threatening to filibuster Justice Alito's nomination. Everyone, including the Democrats, knew that the nomination was a done deal. But hey, the cameras were rolling!

In any case, this is just another instance of the us vs. them syndrome. To the Americans, anyone in the greater middle East (except for Israel) is a 'them'. If they sport turbans or flowing robes, they must be terrorists, no? Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Port Security Humbug

Goodbye, tata

Its true what they say about death and taxes. There's no running from either. But what they don't tell you, what they can't tell you, what you can only know is how much it sucks. Well, death, at least. For its sheer finality. Earlier this week, on Sunday morning my 80-something grandfather passed away. Regular readers of this blog may recall him I referred to him in this entry.

To me - not that the world revolves around me - but, this was the probably the first time I was left with a vague sensation of having undergone a thoracotomy without morphine or such. Remind me to send a memo to all those new-age and old-age gurus who preach peachy optimism of the "It will always get better" variey. "Ah, not true", I say. Just when you think it can't get worse, guess what - it can.

All the comforting thoughts in the world - at least it was a quick (and hopefully painless) death, he had lived a full life, he was surrounded by his family just the day before, etc. - do little to lessen that hollow feeling. It sucks, in a very deep and profound way.

Flash back to Saturday night, when it is Sunday morning in India, thanks to the magic of time zones. I sit down to dinner. Barely two chews later, my brother calls up. In an apparent euphemistic message, he says tata is in the ICU (tata translates to grandfather in Kannada. Said with soft "t"'s). As I dial my uncle's cellphone, I cling to a moment of self-created deluded naivete that was shattered by a "Naresha, sad news" greeting. What follows is an extended period of utter helplessness and pangs of nostalgia.

Back in days when life, as I knew it, was simple, my grandparents lived in a quaint little old town Mysore (Maisuru), about 3 hours from bustling Bangalore, which we called home. About a decade ago, they moved to Bangalore, to where most of his family lived. Before that though, almost every vacation from school meant a much-anticipated trip to the town of palaces, parks and grandparents. During our stay there, thanks to tata, we were assured of treats from Shyam Rao bakery (the taste of rusku still lingers on ... ) and evening trips to Cheluvamba park. And how we enjoyed exploring the zoo with him! Or the boys' outing to the railway museum, where we hopped on and off old, rusty trains under his watchful eyes; ogled at the maharani's luxurious coaches. And ended a perfect evening with sweet coconut water.

Not that it was all a party during those days. You see, he and I had very different ideas on how to spend the first part of the day during vacations. He believed in the get-up-early routine, whereas I was in love with the back of my eyelids. Every morning he used to read Kumara Vyasa's Bharata, not too quietly, I might add. Later in the day he would quote verses, explaining the literary beauty in that book. The geeks that we were, we loved it.

One of the things that I loved most was when the two us would go down to the bus stop in the morning and watch those red buses. Sitting there beside him, sometimes on his lap, reading the numbers on the bus, I was happy. As I was when he regaled us with tales of elephants -Drona, Balarama and the like- and Dasara.

He had a way with kids. A picture that many of us who knew him will carry in our mind's eye is him sitting on his favorite chair, one leg crossed over the other knee forming a square, where one of us grandkids or greatgrandkids gleefully gooed gibberish. And he sang lullabies (for the record, my favorite: eesha ninna charaNa bhajane) or talked to the baby in baby-speak in a way, only he could.

Religion and spirituality was a big part of his life. Apart from the usual festivals, an annual Gita chanting during the winter month saw several people at my grandparents'. A couple of years ago, he was briefly hospitalized and the doctors wanted to observe his condition for another day before discharging him. But he insisted on going home to perform the rituals on the anniversary of his mother's death.

Stubborn, he sure was! Ironically her's, my great-grandmother's that is, was the first death I remember. I was all of four, old enough to prefer long pants and shun shorts, when she passed away. That evening, a bunch of us squeezed into a taxi and headed down to Mysore. I saw him in the verandah. He bent down and said with a wistful melancholy, "nammamma hogbitlu kano" (roughly translated, "my mother's passed away").

One thing that mattered very dearly to him was people. He wanted them to remain close, to be connected. May be that is why he built bridges for a living, as an engineer in the public works department. Every time we spoke, in person or over the phone, he had a come-back-to-Bangalore message. And I am sure he said that before I boarded the plane after my previous visit. It has been a little over two years since. In the past two some days, I have tried to recall what he said last. I remember the blessings and the nice things he always said. But that snapshot in time of how exactly we parted, that eludes me. Its funny. When you meet someone, you don't think its going to be the last time you are going to see them. May be then we'd remember more clearly.

At the end of our vacation in Mysore, he'd accompany us to the bus station to see us off. Invariably, he'd shed a tear as he waved to us before the bus departed. Now, his bus has departed for the last time. I wasn't there to wave goodbye. Its my turn to shed a tear.

China series: To release or not to release

Turns out they - the Chinese government - didn't release the film "Memoirs of a Geisha" in their country. The publicity surrounding the film's release here in the New Age Empire, I thought, was excessive. After all that jazz, the critics have come out with a "yeaaaah...we were waiting for... this?!"

At the risk of being politically incorrect, I'll say this about the trailers I saw. The movie is about Japenese geishas ("skilled workers" in Japanese; "high-class prostitutes" in Chinese) played by Chinese film stars, made in English. All this transcultarism and language hybridization results in dialogue delivery that can at best, be described as robotic. I don't if it was the white face make-up or their discomfort with English, but their words lacked any emotions. I haven't seen the movie, and my comments are based on a 4 minute trailer.

Anyway, to get back to the censorship story, LA times says,

"CHINA'S DECISION TO BLOCK the release of the film "Memoirs of a Geisha" has nothing to do with the film's political content, which is nil. Nor is it related to the fact that Hollywood has mangled a story about a rarefied Asian icon from a bygone era, the geisha. Beijing's reasons for censorship are even more distasteful: racial prejudice and cultural competition between China and Japan."

An elephant's memoirs - Los Angeles Times

Korea's generic boy band boy

Like we didn't have enough Justin Timberlakes and Backstreet-what're-their-names-boys, here's an addition to the list: from Korea no less!
Not surprising I suppose. I have heard the white boy- boy bands have a HUGE following in places like Japan, Korea and such.
The Ambassador - New York Times

A Date With Tradition

Given the hooplah surrounding China and India, I thought I'd keep track of its coverage in the American media. Here's the first in that series:
The Asian Americans are lobbying (I know that's a dirty word these days!) to get Chinese new year on the American holiday calendar.
A quote from the article: "The Italian Americans have Columbus Day, the Irish have St. Patrick's Day and African Americans have Martin Luther King Jr. Day," said Lau, 60, a manager at the Environmental Protection Agency who lives in Columbia. "But the Asian American community has nothing. It's like we're not real Americans."
A Date With Tradition

Real politique

In three corners of the world, new realities came to bite in all the wrong places this week. Canadians saw a peaceful change of government after the latest general elections. Liberals will be licking their scandal-inflicted wounds for a long time while the
conservatives occupy centre-stage after about a decade.

In the middle east, Hamas' clear victory in the elections wasn't a welcome development to most of the world. A party that celebrates violence and has annihalation of its neighbor on its agenda is not exactly someone you'd want at the conference table, much less the dinner table! On the other hand, Hamas rode the magic horse called democratic elections to power. These elections were supported by the US with words and money - atleast $50 million of it. When elections throw up uneasy answers, do you question the principle of democracy or do you deal with the reality that it presents? If President Bush's answer at yesterday's press conference is an indicator, it is fair to say the administration is one hundred percent clueless!

The paralysis in diplomacy can't last long, of course. If the US and EU can deal with dictatorships in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Pakistan, they'll find a way to deal with a Hamas government in Palestine. In time, Hamas will moderate their rhetoric. Its easy to shout, lecture and engage in subversive tactics when you are not the buck-stops-here guy. But Hamas can't do that now. They have to use this chance they've been given. And govern.

Further east, India celebrated her 57th republic day to commemorate the adoption of the constitution. I use the term 'celebrated' very loosely here. A day or two earlier, the Supreme Court delivered a stinging rebuke to Buta Singh who stepped down as governer of Bihar. Last year, Buta Singh in a colossoal abuse of the constitution, dissolved the state legislature. The Central Cabinet signed off on the idea without batting an eyelid. Or may be they did bat an eyelid - it was a midnight meeting when they signed. The ink was barely dry when a groggy-eyed Indian President who was in Moscow at the time affixed his rubber stamp. But, wait. It gets better. In spite of the resounding slap in the face, Buta Singh vowed to take salute at the republic day parade. Have they no shame?!

The same week saw another constitutional crisis, this one in the southern state of Karnataka. Dharam Singh's Congress government supported by Deve Gowda's is on the brink of collapse. Karnataka's governer Chaturvedi had asked Dharam Singh to prove his mettle on the floor of the house today. The day brought with it a rancarous legislative session. But no vote. In a seemingly desperate move to cling to the chair, Chief Minister-for-now Dharam Singh didn't seek the required vote of confidence. The constitution, for all its voluminous speak on ridiculously meaningless and moral policing acts, is mostly silent on this important issue. Where does the authority of the executive -the governers and the President - stop?

But if there is a common thread across these very different political climates, it is this. People don't like inefficiency and corruption. It is only a matter of time polticians pay a price for it.

Peeping Tom

Some people gleefully accuse President Bush of being intellectually challenged. They say he is too simplistic; that he sees things in black and white; that he doesn't take a nuanced approach. All that is besides the point. I think a highly underestimated Bush would make a good scientist. Before you get your panties all twisted, let me illustrate with a very recent example. A few days ago, we learnt that Bush had authorized domestic spying, ostensibly in response to the continued terrorist threat. To say the least, it raised more than a few eyebrows and the administration quickly realized it was losing the domestic debate.

In what can only be described as a brilliant move, Bush's minions came up with a time-tested strategy: rename the problem. Domestic spying became terrorist surveillance. Now, who in their right mind can oppose 'terrorist surveillance'?!

Not to be cynical about it, but that's how a large part of the research world in engineering works. If something doesn't work, change the problem you were trying to solve! And whatever you propose, make sure it has a cool-sounding name. A cute acronym gives you bonus points. Without taking away the merit of the work, CONDENSATION algorithm (CONitional DENSity propogATION) is an example. The counter-cynical view? Sour grapes!

Bush Thanks NSA Employees

Buy a plane, get cash back!

Apparently, the car salesman down the street is not the only one to offer cash back! Airbus is paying money to airlines to fly its A345/6. These airbii are designed to fly half way around the world. Singapore Air, for example, deploys A345 on SIN-LAX (Los Angeles) and SIN-EWR (Newark, NJ) routes. Boeing's answer, 777-200LR (long range) that completed flight testing a few weeks ago, is a better product, they say.

Seattle must be grinning!
Airbus to offer cash back on A340 as 777 stretches lead-24/01/2006-Flight International

Bangalore, Karnataka Bihared

Not too long ago, Laloo Prasad Yadav's reign came crashing down after his debacle in the state assembly elections. Bihar, notorious for its lawlessness and chaos, seemed to have taken one step in the right direction after innumerable mis-steps. It would be foolish to think we've heard the last from Laloo, the self-appointed kingmaker. Like cockroaches, he has shown the capacity to survive any political outcome of even nuclear war proportions. His shrewdness may be commendable, but the sheer stupidity of the people who propel him into office again and again and again, is shocking.

The thing about cockroaches is that their remarkable reproducing rate allows them to not only outlast, but outnumber anything that can threaten their existence; feeding on virtually everything in their habitat. If its Laloo-roach in the north, its DeveGowda-roach in the south. A self-appointed kingmaker in the state of Karnataka, the former PM has held the state government, now on the brink of collapse, under a tight leash. The humble farmer, as he tirelessly reminds us, has toiled hard to make sure every project in Bangalore is either scrapped, or worse, suspended in time. His excuse? The best interests of the people, of course. Never mind that the voters gave a resounding slap in the face at the recent panchayat elections. Never mind that Bangalore is crumbling, according to every Bangalorean's assessment of the city.

As if his pathetic posturing was not enough, he has set off a whole new political drama. The players: the constantly cribbing Chief Minister Dharam 'cry baby' Singh (DS); the son of the soil Deve 'secular' Gowda (DG), his sons DG Jr.-I, DG Jr.-II.

DS is running a coalition government supported by DG's party. DG, increasingly peeved at not being able to regress Bangalore into a village, decides to withdraw support. DG Jr.-II enters into a pact with the main opposition party (BJP) and claims to have the backing of an overwhelming majority of DG's party. They want to form an alternative government. It is blatantly obvious the sycophants in DG's party wouldn't have the nerve to rebel against the 'man'. Much less when taking sides against the man, in favor of his son. DG is being shrewd, of course. He cannot shake hands with his sworn enemies, the BJP.

The question is whether the people of Karnataka see through this factitious facade or will the ensure that Karnataka is Bihared?

Up, up and away!

NASA's probe is racing away from our earth to keep a date with the icy queen at the edge of the solar system. Pluto will have to wait for more than 9 years before out little friend is within her winking distance. And wink at each other, is all they can do as our man-in-a-hurry scurries past her after a mindnumbingly long interplanetary cruise. A wink and a blink later, he is blowing kisses at Charon, Pluto's moon. Wait, it gets more romantic. After flirting with Pluto and Charon, he disappears into the Kuiper belt as he hunts for a planetary object to take a peek at.

Are we there yet?

My grandfather in the news!

Stand up, speak up, shout out. That's what my grandfather does when things don't work the way they are supposed to. He may be 80 years old, but that does not stop him from making all the right noises. As reported here, the State Bank of India had not bothered to fix a 'software problem' that cost senior citizens interest that rightfully belonged to them. I'm glad to know my tata had a role in correcting the wrong. Here's a quote from the article: "Says 80-year old S Nagaraja Rao, an accountholder with the Sri Nagar branch of SBI in Bangalore, "I have five deposits of Rs25,000 each. At 9 per cent rate, every quarter Rs563 has to be credited to each of my accounts. But the actual amount that got credited used to be Rs550, Rs553, etc." Each time he had to contact branch officials to get the correct amount credited to his accounts."

Google this!

You know you have arrived when your noun becomes a verb. For example, in Washington people don't take the metro (city's rail transportation) to work; they 'metro in'. I don't search for an article online; I 'google' instead. Bangalore was added to this noun-to-verb lexicon recently to denote the idea of outsourcing. The spelling bee cries, "Can you use it in a sentence, please?"

TI bangalored its chip-design last week. (Well, may be not). Or, Joe Engineer, a resident of Santa Clara, CA was bangalored following the companies large scale downsizing in its US offices.

Why did I bring this up? First the background: Today, the state government in Karnataka (of which Bangalore is the capital) 'lost confidence'. A rough analogy is the recall of California's has-been Governor Gray Davis. Except, in Karnataka's case, the legislators pulled the rug under the sitting Chief Minister (the Parliamentary equivalent of the governor).

The Indian Express proclaims this change in power structure with "Congress Bangalored, Gowda's son walks in BJP arms". Gowda, a former Indian Prime Minister has been a trouble maker for the past few years. Surely, welcome news for BJP, the right wing political party. They haven't had many good days recently - either at the state or national level. For the first time, BJP will have a shot at governing Karnataka, albeit jointly. Let's see how badly they hurt the state.

Kristof: India v. China

This is bound to raise a eyebrows. Kristof, writing in his column today, compares India and China. I know, I know. So does everybody else these days. Must be the season of the 'other'. There's talk about outsourcing to the back offices in India; laments about loss of manufacturing jobs to China; praises for the gay themed movies (Brokeback mountain won the big prize at Golden Globes yesterday!).

Kristof gets many things right: Indian emphasis on education, a Prime Minister who knows what needs to be done. In characteristic style, he is blunt: "And while China has been exceptionally shrewd in upgrading its infrastructure, India has been pathetic. India's economic future is marred by its third-rate roads and ports.... The bottom line is that the once-great nation of India is reawakening from several centuries of torpor, and facing less risk of a political cataclysm than China. India is poised to again be a great world power. But over all, my bet is that China will still grow faster and win the race of the century. I'm going to tell my kids to keep studying Chinese, rather than switch to Hindi. "

I moved! Well, virtually...

From now on, I decided to blog here instead of my official site www.cfar.umd.edu/~cuntoor . I was hoping I could move my old posts to this blogspot and spent the better part of the past hour trying to do that. No luck yet. Looks like the timestamp is out of my control. This site won't allow me to move my old posts with the dates they were written. Too bad. So, my old pearls of wisdom will have to be trapped on the cfar server!

Remembering Friends

It has been a while since I cyber-scribbled; chalk it up to inertia. You know how it goes. First you are busy. Then you tell yourself you are busy. And soon enough you start believing yourself – perhaps you really were so pre-occupied that you forgot to take that breath of air 1.3 seconds ago. In any case, today's newspaper provided the necessary jump potential to open the html editor, in OOo -2.0, of course. For the unitiated, that's OpenOffice.org 2.0. An alternative to MS Office. Works reasonably well but it is not immune to crashes. On the plus side, it takes far less disk space. I seem to have an obsessive need to keep as much disk space free as possible. Food for psychoanalyzing, maybe? But I digress.

Back to today's newspaper. I stumble into my office this morning after 4 hours sleep last night (for those who know me, I know it comes as a shock!). Get my “first” cup of coffee – I say “first”, because the count automagically resets itself whenever the number seems excessive! Open the front page of a couple of newspapers to get my dose of the day's news. And I find a familiar face on the front page of the Indian express! Dharmendra, a classmate from primary/high school, is celebrating a successfully completed run at the Bombay marathon. I don't mean celebrate, as in a frivolous showoff of resources or abilities. But is a poignant memorial to Manju, a friend he lost last year.

Manju was gunned down in a disgusting act of violence that cut short a promising beginning. He was an IIM, Lucknow graduate. Dharmendra, wearing a “Remembering Manju” bandana gloriously crossed the finish line. Good show, D. I never knew Manju. But how can you not admire the depth of their friendship and loyalty?

Here's the article as jpegs in two parts: part 1, part 2.