Science and public

Not too long ago, Big Brother decided to continue funding the enormously successful Hubble project. NASA can be justifiably proud of its baby that continues to outperform design expectations. In the next few years, NASA will send a space shuttle to Hubble to give her a new lease of life. Nice read about in the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/science/space/07hubb.html

I am simultaneously encouraged and disheartened by the recent turn of events. That Hubble will continue to soar is a source of great joy. The uphill battle that led to that result is discouraging. If convincing the administration about the continued importance of a project whose brilliant performance is impossible to miss, is such an uphill task, surely, it does not augur well for other science and technology projects that may not produce visible results right away.

How should the scientific community engage the administration and the public at large, in its undertaking? This is a question that troubles every group within the scientific community. Clearly, some groups have been more successful in making their case! Look at the dollars that have poured into supercomputing, for instance.

Last on board!

I had to travel to Boston for a meeting this past weekend and I opted to fly out early Saturday morning and get back home late the next night. My itinerary had me on the 6am US airways out of Baltimore-Washington (BWI), connecting in Pittsburgh (PIT) within a 30 minute window to arrive in Boston at 9am. (Of course, I could have taken a non-stop flight, but that would only give me half the number of miles for the same price!)

My journey had four segments in all: two each way. Baltimore-Pittsburgh-Boston and Boston-New York-Baltimore.
I didn't stick to any of the four flights however! Talk about planning...

Saturday morning:
4am: Got up n(note, I don't say woke up!); had my morning tea; took a quick shower and logged in for a quick email check. My 'quick mail check' turned out to not so quick after all.

5:05am: Look at the watch. Whoops! The flight leaves in less than an hour!

5:05:00-5:07:00: Throw in a change of clothes into the bag; stuff the printout of the boarding pass (I had checked in online the previous night). Hunt for a towel.

5:07:30: Still no sign of my travel towel. Think of giving up search.
5:07:40: Decide to do a last sweep.
5:07:54: Find towel. Stuff that in. Grab keys.
5:08:15: Turn off lights in the room; sprint to the living room; wear shoes. Run to my car. (Shoot! Its raining!)
5:09:40: Coughs to life - my car, not me.
5:10:00: Exit apartment complex.
5:12:00: Enter the B-W parkway (highway to the airport).

5:16:00: Encounter a left-lane-hugging low-life (LLHLL).
5:16:10: Flash light. And speed away.
5:18:24: Another LLHLL.
5:18:38: Still behind the same LLHLL.
5:19:35: Forced to pass on right.
5:27:00: Signs to airport... yippie!
5:33:00: Pull into daily parking garage.
5:35:23: Park car; make a dash to the nearest shuttle bus stop.
5:36:00: Come on, come on, come on! Where is the bus?!
5:38:00: Contemplate running to the terminal.
5:38:30: Reconsider - it is raining and I don't have an umbrella.
5:39:23: The shuttle bus arrives!
5:41:00: Still on bus - waiting at the traffic light.
5:43:10: First stop at the terminal. Though my flight leaves from the next terminal, alight at the first stop thinking its faster to run than wait for the bus to move.
5:43:45: Running on wet sidewalk - stupid idea. Slow down running speed.
5:44:45: Inside D terminal! Join the long security lane!
5:53:00: Still in security line. Move it, people!
5:55:10: A flight attendant cuts in front - ugh.
5:55:20: Bag, shoes, wallet, keys all go through the X-ray.
5:56:30: Finally, past security check. No time to wear shoes. Grab shoes in one hand, jacket in the other, toss shoulder bag on the back. Run, Forrest, run!!
5:59:34: Still running, dodging holiday-makers and their HUGE bags. The gate is at the other end of the terminal D-45. Run down the final flight of stairs. Turn right. Spot the gate agents.
6:00:10: At the gate finally!

Customer agent (CA): Which flight, sir?
Me: The one to Pittsburgh.
CA: Sorry, sir. You missed the flight.
Me: Is it still at the gate? Has it pushed back yet?
CA: Sir, you missed it. What is your final destination?
Me: Boston.
CA: (Typing furiously). Tell you what, I'll get you on this plane (there is a plane to Philly boarding at the moment).
Me: When does the connecting flight from Philly reach Boston?
CA: Umm.. 8:54.
Me: (inwardly, yaaye! that is a whole 6 minutes before my actual flight!) Ok. Many thanks.
CA to another CA who is handling boarding for the Philly flight: Wait, don't close the door. One more coming up.

So at 6:04am, I run down the jetway and board the plane to Philly. The last one to board the plane. Phew.

The flight and the connecting one was both quite uneventful. We landed in Boston a few minutes earlier than scheduled but spent 20 minutes taxiing (oh, joy).

Sunday evening:
My return flight is scheduled to depart at 7:00p. I reach the airport at 6 to find that my flight is delayed by over an hour. Looks like many flights are running late. The 5:00p shuttle hasn't departed yet. I go to the gate to see if I can get on that plane. Turns out I can! The plane was about to leave and they didn't have time to print a new boarding pass for me! The gate agent took my 7:00p boarding pass and sent me scurrying down the jetway with the words "open seat". Again, I'm the last one to board the plane.

A short hop from Boston to New York. The pilots decided to stay high up longer than usual due to turbulence in lower altitudes. The quick descent wasn't exactly kind on my ears. Stuffed ears for a long time is no fun!

Same story at New York's Laguardia airport (LGA) - more delays! Thanks to the magic of standby, I put my name down for the earlier flight from LGA to Baltimore, which was delayed! You know where this is going - again the last one to board! Taking off runway 31 for a gorgeous view of Manhattan on the left, we cruised at 18,000 feet for a short 30 minute flight to Baltimore.

China Vs. My Husband

Well, not my husband! This poor Chinese lady tells her heart-wrenching story in today's Post. Her husband was taken away by the Chinese authorities on charges of "intentionally destroying property" and "assembling a crowd to disturb traffic" and tortured. Torture tactics used on him and three others would easily trump the American ones. Talk about "either you are with us or against us." Sick.
China Vs. My Husband - washingtonpost.com

The Monarch Butterfly Migration

The Monarch Butterfly Migration Mystery - Donald G. McNeil Jr. - New York Times
Absolutely fascinating read! I had heard of bird and animal migration over long distances; not about monarch butterflies that cover 4000 miles roundtrip! From Canada, across the US to Mexico and back up north. Who'dve thunk it?!

Can you imagine their less-than-pea sized brains guide them in this amazing endeavor? It's not like they learn from its parents. With a life expectancy of nine months, ma and pa butterflies don't live long enough to take them on this trip even once!

Check out http://www.monarchwatch.org/

A quote from the NYT article:

"But those lifting off anywhere from Montana to Maine must aim themselves carefully to avoid drowning in the Gulf of Mexico or hitting a dead end in Florida. The majority manage to thread a geographical needle, hitting a 50-mile-wide gap of cool river valleys between Eagle Pass and Del Rio, Tex".

About time!

Finally! Someone had the "courage" to point out that the proverbial emperor isn't wearing any clothes! A leaked British report says that Pakistan, through its intelligence agency ISI, has been supporting terrorism and extremism; that it has been supporting Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Leak highlights a complex relationship

During their visit to Washington a couple of days ago, there was no love lost between Pak's General Musharaff and Afghanistan's President Karzai. Karzai did a diplomatic smack-down by not shaking hands with Musharaff in front of the clicking cameras.

English or Kannada?

On the one hand, you have Friedmans of the world proclaiming that the world is flat; praising technology and English for bringing Bangalore closer to the Bay area. On the other, you have politicians in Karnataka who want to stop kids from learning in English. Regionalism? Nationalism? Linguistic zeal? Cheap gimmick to secure votes? Perhaps all of the above.
Here's a discussion on the issue:
The Indian Economy Blog » English Language Schools In Karnataka

My first race!

DCRRC Larry Noël 15K and 3K
15k (9.2+ miles) in 1:22:12.
The numbers may not be anything to write about. It was my first race, after all. But, brag, I shall!

I have been running regularly for the past two months. In fact, this race comes two months to the day since I started. I could barely manage to run halfway around the lake before losing my breath. (A loop is 1.25 miles). Two months later, I ran over 9 miles at a pace less than 9 minutes per mile!

Yesterday, I rewarded myself with a book "The geometry of geodesics" and a masala dosa at Udupi Palace!

Dirty Dishes and Global warming

Limiting Climate Change: The Neglected Obstacle

Inconsideration is human. You see that when the US and China refuse to clean up their mess with a 'hey, it doesn't bother us!' Apparently a touch of global warming would be welcome from Chinese point of view as it would be favorable to their agricultural industry! India and Africa, the article says will be the most hard-hit.

This perhaps, is a sadly sobering reminder that nation states and their leaders can be just as inconsiderate as people we encounter in the mundane. Just this morning, I stumbled into the kitchen, still half-asleep, to make my cup of tea. With the soft groan of the AC in the background, the kitchen sink that was overflowing with my roommates' dirty dishes greeted me rather loudly. Inconsiderate, I thought as I loaded the dishwasher.

Very soon, the gurgle of the dishwasher drowned the groan of the AC. Before long, I was rewarding myself with the cup of tea and planning out the day ahead.

Will India and Africa have to clean up other people's dirty dishes? Oh wait, haven't we done that already!

Sanskrit stages a comeback in the US : IBNLive.com

Sanskrit stages a comeback in the US : IBNLive.com
Yours truly in the news!

Middle East Mess

A friend of mine commented that this blog was unusually silent on the latest mess in the middle East. I have had several discussions on the topic, often animated, with folks around here. There is talk at the water cooler, a two minute discussion on the elevator liberally sprinkled with tsk-tsks, more drawn-out discussions on the metro (that's DC's subway), and the list goes on.

The middle East thing seems to be one big unending soap opera. You can tune in and tune out periodically without missing a beat. There are always going to enough and more finger-pointing, innumerable "but he did it first"'s, ever-present pissing contests. And of course, bombs.

Who cares about the hundreds of dead and injured, anyway?

Train bombings

Unless you were hiding under a rock, you probably heard about the series of bombings in Mumbai, India. Events surrounding it and following it have been so expected that it hardly qualifies as an 'event'. No, I am not trying to be cynical. But everything about it is so gut-wrenchingly familiar that people are almost used to it.

This type of attack goes back to at least 1993 when more than a dozen bombs rocked the city - in the Bombay stock exchange, even. What happened? The city dusted itself off and life moved on. The stock markets rallied. The people stepped back on those Crowded (yes, crowded with a capital 'C') trains to chase their hopes and dreams.

This time around as well, the city that is always in a hurry, will wipes off its tears and go back to business as usual in a day or two.

The Indian government will make the usual statements. Mumbai police will detain hundreds and arrest a few. Some will face justice. But the real murderers? I wouldn't bet on them being caught. After all, Dawood Ibrahim, the mastermind behind the '93 attacks, enjoys Pakistani patronage even today.

Terrorists do the same thing over and over again. The government reacts the same way over and over again. Nothing unfamiliar. No events here.

But look at Israel. Today, we heard about their strikes on Lebanon. After a few strikes, Beirut's airport resembled the surface of moon- all three runways rendered inoperable. Why all the bombing? Hezbollah militants who are holed up in Lebanon apparently kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others. Then came the no-nonsense reaction from Israel.

Look at India and her response to all the militants holed up in Pakistan. You have to wonder, will India shed its path of remarkable restraint?

United 93

A couple of weeks ago, I saw the movie United 93. It chronicles UA93's flight into history books as one of the ill-fated aircrafts lost on 9/11. Supposedly headed for the White House, the flight came down in Pennsylvania, less than 200 miles from Washington.

The movie opened to mixed reactions from people debating whether we needed to be reminded of an attack that is still fresh in our minds. Just a couple of days ago, as a reminder of 9/11, a small plane was escorted safely out of the controlled DC's airspace by military jets. When incidents such as these serve as grim forget-me-nots, it is fair to ask whether United 93: the movie's time had come. At any rate, I don't have a problem with the movie's timing.

The more important question is how the movie is made, not its timing. And on that point, the moviemakers score well, I think. The movie makes the real seem very real -- the tension is palpable as events of the day unfold, the 'grip' heightens as the day progresses. The camera work, the abrupt dialogue, unrecognizable actors, real pilots as actors -- it all fits rather neatly. Though there is nothing neat about the day.

On the aviation aspect of the movie, too, it does a remarkably good job. Aviation geeks will probably spot a goof or two. Overall, though, the movie pays close attention to detail and gets it right.

Ethics in Science

In a Scientist's Fall, China Feels Robbed of Glory - New York Times

In recent weeks, the scientific community has had to deal with ugly episodes of unethical conduct. There was the case of the South Korean doctor whose claims of breakthrough in cloning was found to be nothing more than a fabrication. Today, the NYT reports that a Chinese computer scientist stole chip designs from a foreign company, and passed them off as products of his own research.

These are examples of irrecoverable falls from grace magnified by the greatness that could-have-been. Sad and tragic episodes, but not surprising given the way the research community functions and interacts with the rest of the society.

For a long time, the phrase 'publish or perish' captured the pressure under which every scientist functions. There is another dimension that may not be immediately obvious. In addition to continually publishing as a testament his scientific credentials, a scientist is expected to bring in the moolah. Writing proposals, presenting results -- I italicize intentionally -- has become as important as doing quality work.

Any person under the appropriate stimuli can be made to do tasks that are otherwise unthinkable. Scientists are not immune to this sociological phenomenon either. I am not trying to condone or justify such actions; but merely explaining them.

It is almost ironic to read this op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal (requires subscription). I'll summarize a couple of points.

India is rapidly evolving into Asia's innovation center, leaving China in the dust. Its secret weapon? Intellectual property-rights protection. In recent years, New Delhi has taken big steps to protect these rights, and the results have been dramatic.

It goes on to claim that India's continued adherence to and strengthening of the IPR regime will translate into rich dividends -- as an example, it says, annual revenues from Indian software exports are expected to reach $50billion in the not-too distant future.

Here we are, on the one hand, trying to sanctify intellectual property. On the other, some are abusing the scientific process and manufacturing results!

Condescensional Wisdom

In his column today, George Will mounts a spirited attack on John Kenneth Galbraith, an economist who passed away not too long ago. Now you may disagree with Galbraith's theories, but let the man rest in peace! Common wisdom flowing from the herd of masses of not-so-independent thinking says that one does not spout bitter babble toward a man whose grave is still warm. Perhaps in this regard, Will should condescend to learning from the masses!

United 93, the Movie

This entry is my take on:
Blogpourri: United 93, the Movie: Would You Watch It?

I fail to see the argument that its too soon, too traumatic to watch the movie. I too, remember the Day vividly. Living about 10 miles northeast of Pentagon, I can understand Sujatha's comments about the raw nature of that day.

There are several instances of art imitating life where you know the end even before the beginning - all those World war movies for example. For veterans of that war, I'm sure some wounds never healed. Making movies about those events does not in any way, demean their experiences. If potrayed with historical accuracy, these movies can serve as useful reminders for a long time!

Too traumatic? Sure, it was. And it still is for many. So is the AIDS epidemic. But movies like Longtime Companion, And the band played on, and Philadelphia were made. They have had a significant impact on how we even look at the subject today.

At the risk of sounding flippant, I would add that terrorist attacks like 9-11 seem to have a less traumatic impact on the Indian psyche. How many people remember the Bombay bombings today - or even the more recent Delhi bombings?

Long story short: I hope to see the movie United 93 soon - this weekend perhaps.

Parties and seminars

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!

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.

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:

It's good for India because of energy needs, brought into world order, etc.

It's good for the US because of reduced energy dependence, strategic objectives (without the China angle), US business interests, etc.

Some interesting points:
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.

Some things never change

For all the hype surrounding Pakistan becoming a 'major ally' against the global war on terrorism (sic); for all the smooth talk by General Musharaff, it is events like these that reveal Pakistani army's true stance. They are warning the people of Pakistan to stay alert against those "Jews and Hindus." (Cue: roll eyes). Fits in nicely with the 'its all one big conspiracy against the Muslims' refrain though.

Next time you bump into the powers that at be in the Pakistani camp, convey my message, willya? -- "Dude, Get a life!"

Pakistani Pamphlets Link Militants to Hindus, Jews

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