Puchhkad Riddle – 6

We are back with our riddle…   Saurashtra, Hyderabad, Mysore, Patiala, Travancore, Indore, Bikanare, Jaipur……it incorporates parts of Northern, Central, Southern, Western India… though it seems that we have missed Eastern part : ( ok then lets start from Calcutta … will it make a difference … not at all… as a matter of fact the answer to our question started from the same city..  Ok here’s the question  

—What is the common thing that unites regions/cities mentioned above. Naahh!!! Its not the highways but its an institute and the biggest of its kind in India ….Time for you to answer

Sizzling India

I vividly remember my childhood days when all my cousins used to go to US and European universities for higher education. Their tales of the land far far away used to be really ‘Cool’. I used to ask them so many questions that they always commented ‘You will too experience the land once you grow up’. I had always wanted to know what made the other countries click making India a secondary or a non choice country. The answer was inevitably was ‘India is atleast 50 years behind and land of missed opportunity’. Once I came to Europe and saw most of the north-western Europe, I did not found it strikingly different than a any major city of India. I instantly called my sister and discussed how thing are almost similar to India and that leaving alone the climatic conditions and Caucasian breed of homosapiens there was not any difference. She told me in the exact words ‘Kiddo, we used to be there 15 years ago. Now things have changed and changed for good.’ I was so proud of the thought that I told the reporter taking my interview for a computer magazine that any major city in EU is almost comparable to Indian city . He was so impressed by the confidence in my speech and I gained my confidence from the truth that is on the ground. India’s transformation from land of missed opportunities to the land of great opportunities is not fiction. ‘India Everywhere‘ started by IBEF at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland six months ago portrayed the vibrant economy (GDP: $ 726 Bn, Growth@ 8.4%) and opportunities for everyone in this global community. India has all the ingredients that add up to become a developed nation by 2020. India right now offers the world’s best VFM (value for money) package for any organization or an individual with intention to setup business in India.

Now my colleague (a very good friend almost family ) and I have opened a IT/ITES company recently and have already started to reap the benefits of the rapid growth in India.

Entrepreneurial mindset of the new generatioan will be interested to explore ‘the land of plenty for all’. Be it IT, ITES, Bio-Tech/Pharmaceuticals, Space, Science, Manufacturing, Logistics, Fashion Designs, Gems, Retail, Banking or Finance/Accounting Indians have worked hard to establish themselves as a quality brand. Not only the Indian and MNC powerhouses but small, medium and individual players like us too are making merry with the growth factor involved in India. It is not only the apt human resource pool that favors India but also the cultural, socio-political and natural factors that enhance India as a brand. According to McKinsey’s Michael Fernandes the retail market size in India could grow to $500 billion in next 5 to 6 years. Whoa! Who wants to miss that.

I welcome all to explore endless options with India.

Chanakya

The tunes of the song was resounding in the hall. The fast-paced patriotic song had the audience tapping. The words as well as the music was entralling, one could see. The song being sung was: Hum karen rashtra aaraadhan!

The song also appeared in the televised serial ‘Chankya’ in the early-90s. Chanakya was one of the foremost political thinkers of India. Yet, little is recorded about him. The television serial did a commendable job of portraying the life and times of this magnificent larger-than-life character. He is hardly known outside India although the political thinkers of other countries, like Machiavelli and others are well-known.

Chanakya or Vishnugupt (also Kautilya) rigorously studied The Vedas in the University of Takshashila. Isn’t it surprising that we had the first Universities in the world, Nalanda and Takshashila. And remember readers, we are still talking of nearly ~ 500-400 BC! Takshashila was very well-established as a centre of learning and Panini is believed to have written the Sanskrit Grammar here. Chanakya, in his later years, was a Professor of Political Science at this University (brilliant student, eh). He is believed to have taught with practical examples too. He is of course, most famously, remembered for his role as a king-maker (he was the mentor of Chandragupt Maurya). This was in Magadha, where he was forced to relocate after the political turmoil in Takshashila due to the approach and invasion of the Greeks. His strategic approach in observing and exploiting the weaknesses of his enemies always gave him an edge over them. He wrote three books ‘Arthashastra´, ‘Nitishastra’ and ‘Chanakya Niti’. ‘Nitishastra’ deals with the Indian way of life and ‘Chanakya Niti’ deals with the policies that he believed in and applied.

‘Arthashastra’, the most well-known of his works, is a treatise on economics, national policies, war strategies as well as international relations. It can be considered as the first organised book on economics. The role and duties of the king as well as the administration of the kingdom in terms of management is elucidated here. This book covers a very wide range of aspects regarding the efficient governing of a kingdom. For example, it not only explains how to deals with vices and calamities but also talks about discipline as well as planning of treaties! A book on similar subject yet very different in treatment is ‘The Prince´ by Machiavelli. Machiavelli was a Florentine political philosopher in the 15th century. This book, however, deals with the methods that should be adopted by an aspiring prince or by an ascended prince to maintain his reign. His views were believed to be quite extreme since he propagates the view that tyranny is the best way to maintain stability in the state. Attaining power is given supreme importance, even above morality. Isn’t it interesting to compare these two works spaced by nearly 2000 years!

Yet the world knows Machiavelli. The least we as Indians can do is to bow and remember the legendary personality – Chankaya.

Circles of light

I first remember reading the poem ‘The Bangles Sellers‘ by Sarojini Naidu back in school. The musical poem evokes many feelings in the heart and rightly portrays bangles as an Indian woman’s companions throughout her life. It brings forth to the mind the magical world of colourful glass bangles, their sweet clinking sounds and the hurried footsteps of ladies hurrying out of houses to buy them on hearing the call of the bangle sellers. One can picture them selecting the colours with the enthusiasm of small girls and comparing the more elaborately designed bangles with the plain ones. One can hear the happy expectation and excitement in their voices as they bargain for prices with the seller. A very common sight in many neighbourhoods, rural and urban. A sight that brings warmth to the heart for the joys that simple things like bangles can bring.

The sound of my Mother’s bangles was not just a sound. It represented everything that she was. I remember very often waking to the sound of her bangles as she went about her work, making breakfast for us and doing other chores to get us ready for school. I heard her before she knocked the door if she had gone out. I saw her even though she was chatting with the neighbours and I was ensconced inside the room of my house. And I also glimpsed the trying times in the silence of her bangles. Those inarticulate circles of glass symbolised all that she stood for.

Bangles are a delight of every girl. I remember wearing glaring shining pink bangles as a kid…. even to school to show them off to my friends. Glass bangles are worn by married women in many parts of India as a symbol of the holy union of marriage. The colours, however, are as diverse as the regions. Each has its own tradition with respect to the type and colour of the bangles to be worn. For instance, while the married women of Maharashtra wear green glass bangles, the white bangles (made of shell) accompanied by the red coral bangles are a common sight on the wrists of married women in Bengal and Orissa.

The one place in India where most of glass-ware is manufactured is Ferozabad, a small town near Agra. Most of the folks of this town are involved in the manufacture of glass-ware, in some form or the other. It is here that the most glass bangles are made. To make glass bangles, the molten coloured glass is pulled out as strings and coiled around a cylindrical block. This glass spring like object is then cut into bangle like structures with open ends. The open ended bangles are then reprocessed and joined as well as made uniform all around such that glass bits dont stick out at the joints. The process is, however, a slow one and involves heating and cooling of glass. Isnt it fascinating that these glass bangles pass through numerous hands before they rest on the wrists of a lady?

A city known for its bangles is Hyderabad, in Andhra Pradesh. The numerous shops lining the streets around Charminar glitter and glow with bangles. Here one can find not only an assortment of glass bangles but also the captivating stone-studded bangles. Metal bangles, spring bangles, bangles with mirrors, plain bangles, ornate bangles, gaudy bangles, slim elegant bangles or bangles shaped like squares or triangles, all can be found here. People from near and afar flock the marketplace for these bangles.

Bangles have been worn by Indian ladies since time immemorial. Excavations from Mohenjodaro affirm this age-old tradition. It is worth noting that, while bangles as ornaments can be discerned in other ancient civilizations as well, in India it became a significant tradition, particularly with respect to marriages. They are worn even today with the same gaiety and ardour as earlier, though one can see a decline in the tradition in cities, particularly in the metros. These dainty circles of light adorning the wrists of a woman are more than jewellery. Within their narrow confines are captured the joys, the sorrows, the fortitudes and the hopes of an Indian woman.

Related link: General information on bangles @ Surf India.

Puchhkad Riddle (Pocchey Laal Puchhkad)- 5

Here is the question for today. In the picture below what exactly are these people doing?

They are fighting for sure, no points for that! What else? What made Puchhkad Uncle ask the question here? What is so special about it? Jumping so high in the air while fighting – aren’t these performers great artists then! Think and tell.

Garbage fuel

Few incidents compell you to think and this is one of them, it happened around 2 years ago. My wife and I were traveling from Kolkata to Mumbai in an AC compartment of Geetanjali Express. A few moments later a couple took the seats next to ours. Going by the looks the man easily fits in the 45-50 years age group with a good family background. His wife appeared to be a foreigner. Shortly we started talking and then we knew him to be working as an engineer in some Middle Eastern country. Fine! In a short while the chaiwala came. Most of us bought a cup of tea. Now this gentleman also bought tea and started telling his wife, “see how convenient it is to use plastic glasses. Just use and throw. And our Railway Minister wants to change it to the kulhars (earthen pots) how stupid.” Now the utility of kulhars is a different story. But this attitude of “use and throw” made me think seriously of how one day this will force us to pay dearly, if not already.

In the financial year 2003-04, about 42 million tons of plastic was used in India. By 2010, it is predicted to grow to 125 million tons, making India third largest consumer of plastics. And what would we do with that entire plastic, throw it, what else? Then let it clog the rivers and canals or find its way to the stomach of cattle and kill them as it is happening now a days. Many state governments have put ban on the plastic bags, but it is still used in many other forms and becomes a hazard for our future. It takes about one million years for plastic to degrade naturally. This is not only a problem concerning India; the whole world is facing this danger.

The good news is that the solution for this problem is invented by an Indian lady scientist. Prof. Mrs. Alka Zadgaonkar from an engineering college in Nagpur, Maharashtra has invented a simple technique to convert plastic into fuel. In fact plastic is produced by polymerization of petroleum oil. Its back conversion from plastic to oil is very difficult and expensive. But Prof. Zadgaonkar’s invention is the world’s first process in which any type of plastic can be processed without much cleaning and that too economically! According to her, at an average Rs. 9.50 investment, 1 kg for plastic can be converted in to 0.6 liter of petrol, 0.3 liters of diesel and 0.1 of other types of oil. These products would fetch about Rs. 31.65!

More importantly, this setup has not remained as an experiment. But Prof. Zadgaonkar herself has taken an initiative to commercialize it. Her husband, Mr. Umesh Zadgaonkar is helping her in this process. In the year 2005 they setup a 5 ton per day capacity plant with the financial help of Rs. 5 crore from State Bank of India, which they have already started paying back. The fuel produced by this plant is bought by the industry in the region. A bigger plant with 25 ton capacity is already under construction, with it’s production already booked by the near by industry. The city of Nagpur produces 35 tons of plastic waste per day. So clearly the Zadgaonkar family has to put the future plants in other cities.

Let’s hope they succeed in this endeavour and the whole world gets a solution for such a serious problem. We ought to our share of the work to help these efforts. How? By making sure that the plastic waste is properly managed, collected separately. So that it will not mix with other types of wastes and can be disposed off properly.

To be continued…..

Related links: Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology, An article on Good News India about Prof.Zadgaonkar, Research article by Prof. Zadgaonkar on the conversion of plastic into fuel.

Puchhkad Answer – 4

Oh no! no response for our english readers!!!

We understand that September 11 will be always remembered first for terror attacks on WTC, New York. World should also remember that two great Indians, Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda gave message of peace across the world.

 This is the centennial year when Bapu started Satyagrah. He showed the a new way to the better future. An eye for an eye will make everyone blind and thus he thought of getting his point through using peaceful demonstrations in South Africa.

Swami Vivekananda spoke at the world parilament of religion, Chicago, September 11, 1893. His words were marked with truth and logic, no one can deny what he spoke. The fight against sectarian voilence and bigotry was then shunned by this world.

We are proud of our motherland that had sons like that.

Vande Mataram!!!

Related links: Satyagraha, Chicago speech.

Puchhkad Riddle (Pocchey Laal Puchhkad)- 4

Everyone in this world remembers September 11 as a black day. A day when terror was unleashed on innocent lives. But do you know on this very day two proud Indians gave message of peace and brotherhood to this world. Do tell us the name and the message that sons of India gave.

Riddle me this riddle me that?

Memoirs from my past home-coming…

Euphoria is the only feeling that an NRI feels whenever s/he visit home. The unparalleled sense of being at home and the elation of being amongst your own can never cease to exist for an Indian. It is correctly suggested that the true respect and admiration of one’s loved ones and country come when it is far off. I have now experienced the same and so have all the NRI’s, India holds very a very special place for all of us. 

The fresh smell of the Indian soil, the love and warmth of the hugs and affection of the family just can not be recreated in any other part of the world. It is no wonder that I noticed a foreigner video recording and documenting the way I met my mom at the airport.  We were meeting after a gap of six months. This was my third trip in one and a half years.

As soon as I entered the reception lobby for arrivals at Indira Gandhi International I saw a marked difference in the way India has started showing the sings of development. People everywhere were happy. Positivity always attracts more positivity. I felt embracing vibrations of positivity in the air. Unlike in the past everyone was happy, everyone was happy and proud being an Indian. 

As soon as we turned towards Gurgaon on NH-8 there were concrete signs of development, the development that everyone can witness, the development that will make India a developed state, a superpower. Symbols of growth in form of infrastructure developments are infusing people of thinking about more development in the right direction.

Next few days I visited the malls and to my pleasant surprise found their facilities exceeding any mall in any city of Europe. The self respecting feeling that we have the best, we too can produce the best and can enjoy the best has made a huge difference in the outlook of every individual on the street. Even though international super brands have made a fashion lifestyle statement, Indian brands were in no regards lagging behind. If there was crowd rushing in a McDonalds/Pizza Hut outlet, there was an even greater number of people wanting to get in a Chor Bazzar/Sagar Ratna/Moti Mahal, if there was a Christian Dior watch on the display it was rightly complimented by a Titian and an HMT quartz, all the variety and that too for everyone. Except for a rare few I do not think that there are brand on this earth that we do not get in India. Indians now know their true identity and are no longer longing for foreign brands like crazy. Indians have become flamboyant and have started to enjoy the rewards of hard work. The generation next is aware of all the new technological advances the country has made and it was heartening to find them using it for the betterment of India. I found few kids sending MMS with a picture of a road block and a traffic jam to a news channel in order to inform others. 

I felt a public mass movement almost a renaissance of sorts striving for a better quality of life. Services, be it public or private have become so much better. Though I found out that those have also become a bit dearer but no one seems to mind the price for the quality that is being provided. Buildings, cars, fuel, flyovers, roads, water, electricity, food products every major minor thing in life has experience a quality increment in India. The best part out was the attitude of the common man had changed form ‘Chalta hai’(anything will do) to ‘Only theek quality hi chalegi’(only the best will do). With that attitude I am pretty hopeful that we will become a superpower before it is theoretically projected.

Emotionally charged up after gathering lots of love and affection from my land I left for Copenhagen with a proud heart and a dream of rejoining my fellow countrymen on the path of being developed.

Twinkle * Twinkle * Little * Star *

The whirring sound stirs me out of my reverie. Amidst the swishing of leaves in the wind, the new sound rattles you. But the sight accompanying it is magnificent. It is what I have come here for. Tilting my head upwards, I behold the sky through a net of wire. A huge antenna dish (like the antenna that the cable-operator has on his roof) is moving atop a stationary structure. It is not a mean task for a 45 metre antenna to move mechanically. It is awesome. It is beautiful. Stretching my eyes over the horizon, I see few more antennae – all tilting together searching for a common goal. Located amidst the lush greenery, on the quiet and isolated outskirts of Pune, is Khodad (near Narayangaon) where I’m standing.

                    

What I’m watching is the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the world’s largest radio telescope. It consists of thirty 45-m dishes arranged in a Y-shaped configuration spread over distances of ~25 km. Work on GMRT was started ~ 1989 under the leadership of Prof. Govind Swarup and by 1995, all the 30 antennas were operational. The telescope is being used by astronomers from all over the world to study and learn more about astronomical objects emitting in radio frequencies. GMRT works in the radio regime where the wavelength is of the light is order of a metre (the wavelength of the red light that you see is about a million times smaller than a metre).

There are many astronomical objects which emit mainly in the radio wavelengths but only the powerful emitters can be detected since these objects are very distant. One of the science projects of GMRT is to detect hydrogen from very distant galaxies. Hydrogen forms a major constituent of our Universe from which galaxies formed. Atomic hydrogen emits radio emission at 21 cm. It is believed that the Universe is expanding and the distant galaxies are moving away further from us. The wavelength of light from objects moving away from us shifts to longer wavelengths (called red-shifting; this phenomenon is called Doppler effect). GMRT would enable us to detect the radio emission from hydrogen in these distant galaxies. Another set of objects that emit radio pulses is the pulsars. These are rapidly rotating objects with very high densities (20 million tonnes per cubic cm!). Besides, the radio emission from ionised hydrogen close to newly formed stars as well as from supernova remnants (explosions accompanying death of massive stars) are also being studied using GMRT.

While practical sciences are calling the shots today, it is refreshing to see India investing in fundamental sciences. GMRT was a huge project, and a lot of research went into it. Interestingly, the wired net used to make the antenna-dishes is an innovative technology by the Indian engineers. GMRT is one of the most challenging experimental programmes in basic sciences undertaken by Indian scientists and engineers.

The antennas have stopped moving and started collecting radio waves from the source. And as I retrace my steps back towards the Observatory building, I can feel the pride in my strides.

P.S: For more information on GMRT, goto http://www.gmrt.ncra.tifr.res.in/