Kamal’s poem in a TV interview.

Here is the poem!

கிரகணாதி கிரகணங்கட்கப்பாலுமே ஒரு அசகாய சக்தி உண்டாம்!
ஆளுக்கு ஆள் ஒரு கொழிப்பிறை இருக்கியும் ஆருக்கும் விளங்காததாம்!
அதைபயந்து அதை உணர்ந்து அதைத் துதிப்பதுவன்றி பிரிதேதும் வழி இல்லையாம்!
நாம் செய்த வினையெல்லாம் முன் செய்த தென்றது விதி ஒன்று செய்வித்ததாம்!
அதை வெல்ல முனைவோரை சதி கூட செய்தது அன்போடு ஊழ் சேர்க்குமாம்!
குருடாக செவிடாக மலடாக முடமாக கரு சேர்க்கும் திரு மூலமாம்!
குஷ்ட குக்யம் புற்று சூலை மூலம் என்ற குரூரங்கள் அதன் சித்தமாம்!
புண்ணில் வாழும் புழு புண்ணியம் செய்திடின் புது ஜென்மம் தந்தருளுமாம்!
கோடிக்கு ஈஸ்வரர்கள் பெரிதாக வருந்தாமல் சோதித்து கதி சேர்க்குமாம்!
ஏழைக்கு வரு துயரை வேடிக்கை பார்ப்பததன் வாடிக்கை விளையாடலாம்!
நேர்கின்ற நேர்வெலாம் நேர்விக்கும் நாயகம் போர்கூட அதனின் செயலாம்!
பரணிகள் போற்றிடும் உயிர் கொல்லி மன்னர்க்கு தரணி தந்தது காக்குமாம்!
நாநூறு லட்சத்தில் ஒரு விந்தை உயிர் தேற்றி அல்குலின் சினை சேர்க்குமாம்!
அசுரரைப்பிளந்த போல் அணுவையும் பிளந்தது அணுகுண்டு செய்வித்ததும்,
பரதேசம் வாழ்கின்ற அப்பாவி மனிதரை பலகாரம் செய்துண்டதும்,
பிள்ளையின் கறி உண்டு நம்பினார்க்கு அருளிடும் பரிவான பர பிரம்மமே!
உற்றாரும் உறவினரும் கற்று கற்பித்தவரும் உளமார தொழு சக்தியை,
மற்றவர் வையு பயம் கொண்டு நீ போற்றிடு! அற்றதை உண்டென்று கொள்!
ஆகமக்குளம் மூழ்கி மும்மலம் கழி! அறிவை ஆத்திகச் சலவையும் செய்!
கொட்டடித்துப் போற்று மணியடித்துப் போற்று கற்பூர ஆரத்தியை!
தையடா ஊசியிற் தையெனத்தந்தபின் தக்கதைத் தையாதிரு !
உய்திடும் மெய்வழி உதாசீனித்தபின் நைவதே நன்றெனின் நை!

Einstein’s physics of illusion!

I happened to read transcript of a lecture delivered by John Dobson – Einstein’s physics of illusion.

Dobson starts out with an example from the book “The Attractive Universe” – George Valens. ” when a ball is thrown straight up, after a while it comes to a stop, changes its direction and comes back. He says it looks like magic, and probably it is. Now what we are taking for granted is that it should have gone off on a straight path without any
change in speed or direction. But you see, that also would have been the result of magic.” Dobson takes us through a journey to understand what we call this way as magic. He says this magic is something like mistaking a rope for a snake in twilight and there have to be three causes for this to happen: “First, you must fail to see the rope rightly. Then, instead of seeing it as a rope, you must see it as something else. And finally, you had to see the rope in first place or you never would have mistaken it for a snake.”

He takes us through man’s quest to trace the material universe back to square 1 or atleast to square 2, explaining how matter in the stars is made out of hydrogen when it falls together by gravity, how matter in the stars collapses by gravity blowing out star dust. He moves on to talk about relativity and deduces the inferences: “If the space separation between, two events is just the same as the time separation between those two events, then the total separation between those two events is zero.” ” We can’t see anything when it happens. We see everything in the past. We see everything a little while ago, and always in such a way that the while ago just balances the distance away, and the
separation between the perceiver and the perceived remains always at zero.”

Now, in our journey to trace this matter back, we need to find out what sort of energy in the universe makes in massive. The energy has to be potential. The universe appears to be wound up by means of electricity and gravity. He questions “What is it that exists behind our physics?”. Whatever exists behind this universe must be changeless,infinite and undivided. But we seem to be considering it finite, divided and changing. He tries to derive the answer for above question using “apparitional causation”(something that causes us to mistake a rope as a snake). “If, our physics has arisen by apparition, the changeless, the infinite and the undivided must show in that physics. But isn’t that exactly what we see? The changeless shows as inertia, the infinite as electricity, and the undivided as gravity. Had we not seen the changeless, it would not have shown up in our physics. It is the changeless which we see, and, as a consequence, that changeless shows in what we see. That is why things coast. That is what we see as inertia. That is what we call mass. Likewise in order to see the undivided as the divided we had to see the undivided, and that is what we see as gravity. It is a consequence of having seen the undivided. ”

And he beautifully concludes, using appartional causation, explaining, why matter falls together by gravity and why is the universe wound up against electricity and gravity.

Making the much awaited difference!!

Here is some thought process that has always been going on subtly in my mind, recently sped up by some articles
by NR Murthy, Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and R.A Mashelkar on the importance of research in India.

As Mr.Murthy had pointed out, India’s health definitely depends on the state of scientific research in the country. When all the developing nations are aiming at promoting fundamental research, where do we stand ? This piece of statistics was an eye-opener: “Although India produces about 400,000 engineering graduates and about 300,000 computer science graduates every year, just about 20,000 master’s degree holders and fewer than 1,000 Ph.Ds in engineering graduate each year.” “In 2007 China had 1,423,000 researchers, second internationally to the United States, which had almost 1,571,000. India by comparison had 154,800. India’s spend on R&D in 2007-08 was about US$ 24 billion compared with China’s investment of about US$ 104 billion back in 2006 and the United States’ US$ 368 billion.” India has produced less
quality research after 1950 compared to before-1950(an era of people like C.V.Raman, G.N Ramachandran and
others).

This reduction in number of post graduates and Ph.D graduates not only affects the quality of research. It also affects the capability and even availability of teachers. It affects the kind of job we do everyday, in every industry, especially IT. It is evident that most of the engineering students are going to the job market and staying there, quite complacent. Nor is the IT industry in India supporting research.(Ofcourse, how many of us here are Ph.Ds ?) Most part of innovations by all technology and product companies are done in U.S or Europe. But how long are we going to serve as cost cutting centers, majorly ? But the important question, where is the recognition ? How much does this government encourage post graduation which would lure students away from the job market towards research ? India’s low numbers in research work amounts to to lack of infrastructure in Institutions, lack of recognition, politicization and commercialization of education, and our very own crippled method of scientific education.

Investing a lot more money is not a panacea. (Especially in a country where approximately only 30% of the money
being allocated for a particular plan reaches the beneficiaries). What do we have to do ? Venky says “Embed research institutes within universities, so students have a direct experience of first class research from a very early stage”.
We will have to get over “bookish education methods.” Students should not be encouraged to just cram up for exams. Encourage students to think out of the box. Conduct more national level competitions that promote research oriented thinking among students. Create an “ecosystem of innovation” , where questioning attitude is encouraged. Students should be encouraged to study basic sciences and do fundamental research. And the most important of all, Pay researches world class salary.

We have lots of challenges to face as a country in promoting research. As Mashelkar says “The potential Ramans and Ramanujams are there even today somewhere. We need to find them early enough”. And if we do, we will not have to be just proud of Indian researchers working in other countries making miracles. We will have handful of people working in India who will bring Nobel prizes eventually.

Climate change – India’s role to play !!

Read about the research center National Institute for Research on Climate and Environment to be developed in Bangalore to work on climate change. A Great facility to have. No doubt. Our Union minister for environment says “With this India will demonstrate the whole world that we are serious about climate change”. True. But don’t we have other ways in which we can really show the world that we are acting upon climate change? Yes, we do.

India will have impacts like destruction of coastal areas, agricultural problems etc due to climate change. We are a developing nation and we have not yet figured out ways and established world class systems for immediate help and recovery help during calamities like tsunami. Our per capita carbon emission was somewhere around 0.25 tonnes in late 90s, it was 1.19 tonnes in 2006 and some articles raise an alarm saying our per capita carbon emission will be tripled (around 5.00) in 2030. Though this may be far less than the emission by other countries, the major contributors towards carbon emission, power generation, transport, (especially construction industry) are developing rapidly and we really need to become more serious about this.

But how do we put plans into action? Do we have wait until we develop a research center, send rockets to monitor green house gases, monitor forest cover and Himalayan glaciers and then act on the data and make plans?? No,, that will be really late. What is that we have in hand to execute right now? I don’t think we can change our energy strategy from coal-based to some other energy systems soon. We can put small and effective plans into place like,

1) Enforcing acts to prevent deforestation.
2) Camps to advocate people the effects of climate change
3) Create awareness, support and motivate acts like car pooling – though these are very small savings on carbon emission, but as always single drop makes an ocean.
4) Promote cultivation of wastelands.
5) And shout (literally shout, yes, the government has to make a lot of noise and create awareness) about energy conservation.

And what IS NOT energy conservation : Cutting electricity for 15 hours in villages, not providing them proper water and transport facilities, decrease in supply of fuels for cooking etc.We are a developing a nation and every citizen in the country deserves the right to use all the infrastructure and amenities needed. And we need to strike a balance.

Brown says, if countries around the globe miss the chance in Copenhagen, we may never be able to make it.. lets see what happens..

why should the Indian government be running telephone and internet services ??

Hmm… blog has also become a place to pour out frustration nowadays!!! Looks like BSNL will have an impact on my whole personality and make me an emotional, angry young woman 😉 I have had so much bad experiences with BSNL in just a month of contact with them.

Those who read this…I would suggest you not to go for a BSNL connection, especially in Bangalore! It is better to remain disconnected from the rest of the world than to have a BSNL connection 😉 You are prone to high blood pressure, mood swings, extreme frustration (may be even heart attack, who knows ;-)) if you are a BSNL customer ;-)Before you apply for a landline connection, ensure you already have a cheaper phone connection, because you may have to call so many people (starting from the line man to the deputy general manager or even principal GM) and follow up to get the connection done. If you dont know any higher official then forget about the connection 😉 the probability of anybody, who doesnt know to bribe or to influence a higher official, getting a BSNL connection is infinitesimal.

Ok. You luckily got one !! Don’t be pleased !! There is no guarantee for it to work!! It may even stop working in a week..I keep hearing about plans that BSNL has to address customer issues within 24 hours. But I lodge a complaint and ask when will it be addressed, I am told, “today is a holiday, tomorrow is also a holiday, there are already some problems” (i dunno the details)” so it may take a week..” May be what I heard was a myth !!
And every time I call the customer service center people shout at me or ask me to call somebody else!!

Now that I have poured out all my frustration, I am trying to figure out what could be the root cause of such poor service !! (Should this be called a service ??) Is everybody out there not working ? Isnt the Indian government worried about making more profit out of BSNL or even rectifying loss? I dont know if BSNL runs under loss, but I wonder if they are making handsome money, because customers like me run away from BSNL soon 😉
Is it the guarenteed job that makes people tardy and complacent ? Should there be a performance based compensation and benefits?? (That will be a wonderful idea !!!)I dont know what makes this system so inefficient.
God save BSNL and poor customers like me !!!

வீர சைவப்பூனை !!!

சிற்றிலக்கியங்களில் எத்தனை புதுமைகள் வந்தாலும், புதினங்களை சாராத இலக்கியஙகள் எழுதபட்டாலும், புதினங்கள் வளர்ந்து கொண்டு தான் இருக்கும். நரசிம்ம பல்லவனையும், வீரபாண்டியனையும் வரலாற்று விளக்கங்களால் அறிந்து கொள்ள மட்டுமே முடியும், ஆனால் அவர்களை கற்பனை மூலமாக நம் கண் முன் நிறுத்துவது புதினங்களே. அப்படி ஒரு அற்புதமான எழுத்தாளர் கல்கி

பொன்னியின் செல்வனை இரன்டாவது முறை படிக்க நேர்ந்தது. பல வருடங்களுக்குப் பிறகு. எவ்வளவு அழகிய தமிழ். எத்தனை கற்பனா சக்தி. எத்தனையொ புதினங்களை படித்திருக்கிறேன். வந்தியத்தேவனை விட இத்தனை நேர்த்தியான ஒரு கதாபாத்திரத்தை படித்த நினைவில்லை. ஒரு காலத்தில் Dan Brown வரலாற்று புதினங்களை படித்தபோது எற்பட்ட வியப்பு பொய்யாகி விட்டது. கல்கியை விடவா ஒருவர் அற்புதமாக வரலாற்றை சொல்லிவிட முடியும். அழ்வார்க்கடியான் முதல் அவனை கடிக்கும் “வீர சைவப்பூனை” வரை அத்தனை நேர்த்தியான கதாபாத்திரங்கள். குந்தவை வரலற்றில் எவ்வளவு இடம் பெற்றிறுக்கிறாள் , எவ்வளவு ராஜ ராஜ சோழனும், ராஜேந்திரனும் அவளால் அரிவுறுத்தப்பட்டிருக்கிறார்கள் என்பது முதல் சோழ நாட்டின் வளம், பஞ்சம், உணவு, கப்பற்படை வரை அத்தனயும் கண் முன் நிற்கிறது. சோழ மன்னன் ஒருவனின் பெயரில் இன்னமும் Indonesiavil ஒரு கப்பல் பெயரிடப்பட்டுள்ளது என்பதை படிக்க நேர்ந்த்தது கல்கி எத்தனை அழகாக Indonesia வரை சென்ற அந்த கப்பற்படையை எழுதியிருக்கிறார். இன்னும் நான் படித்து முடிக்கவில்லை .. வியந்து கொண்டே படிக்கிறேன், படிக்கும்போதே எழுதுகிறேன்… தொடரும்..

எழாம் உலகமும் எம்பெருமானும்!!

“”அற்றார் அழிபசி தீர்த்தல்; அக்தொருவன்
பெற்றான் பொருள்வைப் புழி.””

Yes, charity is what I am talking about !! I hardly had any idea of a big mafia abusing the fact expressed by the above kural , until I read ezham ulagam by Jeya Mohan !!
He is one of the best writers in Tamil who is able to write deep and wide!! Every word he writes to emphasize the undeniable truth comes as a bullet!! If you expect heroism, twists and big surprising events racing like a Bond movie then this may not be the book of your choice. The story flows like a stream, every now and then strikingly portraying a totally different world which we often ignore.

The story revolves around Velu Pandaram and many temples in South India(especially the ones for Lord Muruga)where his begger mafia operates.He buys and sells beggars and calls them “urupadi”. He treats them worse than cattle,but he still claims “நாம ஆருக்கும் ஒரு தீங்கும் செய்யல்ல”. The more physically and mentally challenged they are the more they survive in his beggar mafia.

Muthammai a lady with a single arm and a single leg is forced to mate with other physically challenged people to give birth to malformed children , who are sold at a very high price!! She says “எனக்க பிள்ளைய பதினெட்டாக்கும், பதினெட்டு , சப்ரிமலை படிபோல பதினெட்டு.’ கண்ணில்ல, கையிலயும் காலிலயும் ஒரோ விரலு மட்டும்தான், கூனுமுண்டு, மாறிலயும் வயித்தலயும் அடிச்சுட்டுல்லா கரைஞ்சேன்”. Ahmed, reading news paper while begging and informing fellow beggars about the recent events , erukku a girl who loves perumal (person who is like a watchdog for the beggars) madly just because he tied a nuptial knot to steal her away from a hospital, muthammai ,her son rajini kanth(a kid as physically challenged as her),kuyyan who claims to kill himself if he doesn get to eat “payasam” are all beautifully portrayed.

There is a mild humour that runs through out, among the beggars.That makes us feel that though they are “urupadis” to the world above them , they live their life as full as every other human being. Slowly we begin to feel like a part of their world enjoying their company.
unni aachi whose primary job is to gossip, kochan , Nayar stand as symbols for some evil characteristics that have been a part of man’s primitive behavior ever. The author has also mastered in nagercoil-tamil dialect.
‘Uripadi’s don’t have an assurance of the next meal , things that bother the middle class and upper middle class like pride , money , god , religion, society etc etc .. don’t even exist in their world !!! They live outside every temple,but the “deity” inside doesn’t attract them. They have their own deity “maangadi saami” , again a physically challenged beggar who sits amidst them and sings.

The author has also depicted their view on the world above them , how they look at us and even make fun !!
Survival is the only force that drives the ezham ulagam just like it drives every other life!!
The book also talks about the ill effects of institutionalizing “religion and god” and in turn commercializing devotion which is yet again a pure form of love. Pothi who is a priest in the temple says “இங்கே பாருடே பண்டாரம், இது ஆறடி கல்லு, பத்து நானூறு வரிசமாட்டு பலரும் கழுவி சந்தனம் போட்டு பூ போட்டு கும்பிடுதானுக. நமக்கு இது தொளிலு. உனக்கு முத்தம்மை, எனக்கு இது. ”

The success of the novel is clear when you finish it , you feel like every other character in the novel is questioning you how far you have understood mankind and life’s longing for itself !!!

1027 !!!

This is the number of parties contesting the forthcoming elections in India !!!
I was shocked to see these many parties contesting !!! Does the growing number of parties indicate anything positive about the functioning of democracy in India ? No.I don’t think so.We are in for more surprises , If somebody takes a survey of the amount of money spent vs the number of votes , or if someone takes a list of the number of freebies announced by every party !! Is this a healthy democracy to have so many parties contesting an important election?I don’t know.
May be this is how democracies have worked in the past and shaped themselves.India has a long way to go. I truly believe in the power of democracy and our nation!!!

The land of tears !!

I happened to read an article by Gnanavel(titled the same way) on the remains of war.Here are some excerpts…

The author goes to the refugee camp in Rameswaram and finds Rathinavel, a victim of the cruelest aspects of war.
He lived with his wife , and four children happily, in SriLanka. He had three daughters and a son,(whom he claims to have been blessed by
Lord Muruga of Kathirkamam.)And the child did look like his avatar , resembling how Lord Muruga was described , in beauty and intelligence.

His wife , on the middle of a lonely night was raped by the soldiers of the army. The next morning he could only see her dead , hanging herself.
He decided to leave the country and sold his house for a much cheaper price and using the money obtained , gets on board on a boat with his four children.They were nearing rameswaram , and before they could reach , the boat stuck and they were told to swim for life.
His three daughters didn’t know to swim , nor could he save them.He finally decided to save at least his son as his daughters told him they would go to their mother.He grabbed his son and swam for a long time , and realized the shore was far away. His son became unconscious , nor could he carry him and swim anymore.He had no other go than to leave his son , to save himself.When he left him and moved forward , he reached the shore in 5 minutes.
Then , he realized, he could have carried him along a little more and went back to water , searching for his lost son , in vain.The war has thus crushed the family of six into only one.Had he not lost his mental balance , he would have killed himself as well.

The author narrates Rathinavel’s story, and strongly puts forth the cruel faces of war. He says , “Soldiers who die become patriots, rebels who die become brave hearts, but the people ??”.War is always a crushing force , one which is trying to hoist the flag of victory over the innocent people’s dead remains.

The Grand Cosmic Symphony !!

I got a chance to understand completely and appreciate the terms that were puzzling me earlier , like “string theory” , the eleven dimensions , unification of forces and so on.I grabbed a copy of The Elegant Universe by Brain Green.Thanks to Sridhar anna.

It started with discovery of gravity by Newton and went on to describe the effort taken , then on by the physicists to know the mind of God.It was so elegant in style and narration that it easily made even laymen understand the mind of Albert Einstein,and his thirst towards the unification of forces.
And how he could not just digest the degree of unpredictability discovered by Quantum mechanics and he said ,”God does not throw dice!!”.

I wondered at the amazing work by physicists like , John Schwartz , Michael Green and Edward Witten (who unified the five different sting theories which were existing and created the M theory).The strings (open ended and closed ended) , branes , parallel universes , collision between them etc were amazingly pictured. I was always not able to fully comprehend the extra dimensions and this video made a lot of effort to make people comprehend it.It talked about , the circles representing an additional spatial dimension that is curled up within every point of our three dimensional space and the six dimensions needed for the super strings to vibrate.One more video which helps in understanding the tenth dimension is here.

Will CERN or Fermilab be able to discover the S particle , the escaping graviton ? Will string theory be proved right ??Will it end up to be a waste of wonderful mathematics and physics over twenty years ?? God knows !! But , we are all blessed to live in an era where we have awesome physicists who try to comprehend the mind of God !! And we are gifted with resources to understand and appreciate their work !!Whether string theory succeeds or not , it will always remain a fascinating idea to me!!!