Dilip February 6, 2009
Posted by amrut in College.3 comments
Dilip Veeraraghavan passed away yesterday. He was suffering from cancer.
He was one of the best, if not the best, teachers whom I’ve had an opportunity to learn from. He taught me Indian National Movement (course name). In class he was very objective and fair in his treatment of the course material and his treatment of the class. He could bring events into perspective like no one else could. I still remember him talking about bonds issued in London for the financing of the Indian Railways in the very beginning and the booming British steel industry’s connection with the Indian railways. Why was the Indian Railways built? Sure it was built to reach into raw material sources and new markets. But firstly, because building it was profitable for shareholders. Why did Gandhi have a firm grip on India? Because he went from village to village and taught them healthy sanitation practices. (I might have told you someday that Gandhi’s greatest contribution to India was that he taught Indian villagers to shit properly. That was never from me, it was from Dilip.) My understanding of India, its freedom struggle and indeed my own patriotism is rooted in the understanding that I gained from that course. The power of his teaching was in his thought — clear and logical. And that in a subject which had earlier been taught to me by propaganda.
More than that he was a good friend. His ability to understand the unsaid was uncanny. He could sense moods. He could read meanings into breathing pauses inbetween words in a sentence. He was a social networking guru. Almost every thinking IIT Madras student in the last 15 odd years have been his friend. He listened. He understood. He cared. He adviced just enough. He joked. He laughed. When I recollect the few people who have influenced me the most by sheer strength of their character, Dilip will be on top.
He could see more than what most people could. Its an irony that he was blind. He will be remembered in the hearts and though-processes of the many who were inspired by him. We love you Dilip.
Adiga, you bitch October 22, 2008
Posted by amrut in Commentary.13 comments
Arvind Adiga has won the 2008 man booker prize for his book, the White Tiger.
Adiga has put into writing what everyone already knew but didn’t want to acknowledge – that the Indian poor exist, that they have a mind of their own and that they are in pain because of their poverty.
The book is anachronistic. It has been written at a time when most Indians are uncomfortable talking about their poor. They want to talk about the shining malls of Gurgaon and the tall buildings of South Bombay. They will tell you about their new mobile phones and their imported alcohol parties but they wont tell you about their overworked drivers and underpaid house hold helps. In years to come, when Indians are more comfortable talking about these unsettling things, this book will be remembered, bought, read and appreciated.
Even before Adiga came along, I worried about how much my driver has slept and whether I was sweet enough to my cook to not spit on my food. I cared enough for them to give them an extra hundred or two and worry about their children’s education. I hope, sincerely for this country, that this book makes a lot of people worry about their drivers and cooks. Indiahas a lot of poor people and I believe that this poverty is not going to go away by NGO-work and by donating money to the poor. The poverty will go away when each of us talk to and help the poor people in our everyday lives. Although I don’t think that philanthropy was the point Adiga was making. He, instead, says that socio-economic equality or at least a semblance of it, is in our self interest.
One reason why I am glad that Adiga won the booker is the same reason that I was upset that Arundhati Roy won the Booker and Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer. Sure they had great grammar and all that, but apart from that why should those books be remembered? What was the big deal in their books? Give me free time like they’ve had and good education and I can write those books. And writing about India was the in-thing back when these authors won. It was more about being at the right place at the right time. (Er, little harsh criticism perhaps. They did win and I cant even write a 2-pg story properly.)
Adiga’s book, on the other hand, is something out of the ordinary. If you’ve been driven by chauffeurs, you’ll realize what an accurate picture Adiga has painted. If you’d bothered to look, you might have seen those trashy porn story books in tea shops too. And if you had been friends with your drivers, they might have told you of when the back seat was being wet by forbidden juices, if you know what I mean. If I had all of Adiga’s experiences, and I could write such a book, I’d probably chicken out and sit in an air-conditioned office doing something else. But not Adiga. The man has gone out their, taken a picture of the dark side of India, put it in words and thrown it in your face.
And see how our literary critics have reacted to it – by claiming that the book is a ‘fake’. Ha! What a joke the Indian literary circle is. In India, my friend, Shobaaa De sells more than Arvind Adiga. That shows how much we avoid talking about the dirty secrets of our existence. But the Indian poor exist. And to some extent, we exist because of them. Because, at the end of the day, you do realize that the Indian economic boom is because we have cheap labour, don’t you? And we have cheap labour because there is excess supply, i.e., we prosper because there are so many poor people in India who don’t prosper and keep the rates low.
My take on this book is that this is a book that calls for social change. This is a book that you MUST read and this is a book you must gift to your parents and to your kids and to everyone you know. I’ve already gifted my copy to my parents.
That’s just about the content part of the book. What is even nicer about Adiga winning the booker is that it is not written in Queen’s English. It is not prim and proper. It is not straight out of Wren and Martin. It is rough and simple. And it is exactly the language the protagonist in the book might have used. It is a role play and it is perfectly so. It wouldn’t have been hard for Adiga to put the whole book in third person and introduce Indian niceties and use Queen’s English and write the same book in a different way. But he resisted that temptation to play to what the audience is used to and what the audience will happily lap up and shower with eloquent praise. Isn’t Midnight’s children written like that? And that is the best part about Adiga winning. It will encourage Indian authors to stop writing like what the perceived audience likes and start writing like how they want to write.
And that brings me back to the top. Adiga, you bitch. You won and you won writing something that I am sure you enjoyed writing. And I bet you didn’t worry about the audience too much. And yet you won! How lucky are you! (At the same time, thank you for your book and how nice of the booker jury to select your book.)
New story up: A matter of … August 13, 2008
Posted by amrut in Writing.2 comments
I spent good hours last month writing two new stories. One of them is still incomplete and I hope to complete it this week, but the other one is up and ready! Uploaded here (click here) – A matter of minor importance. Comment here, or privately.
(Thanks to Dr K for grammar edits. And no, it isnt based on Sam bahadur stories. Although, I must add that I was tempted to change it to ’some Nepali watchman’ on Sarang’s suggestion.)
(P.S. — Sarang, I agree with you, what ends at the India Gate should start at the leaning tower. As you put it, it has to be a monumental thing.)
Privatization drive July 11, 2008
Posted by amrut in College, General.10 comments
(… or Plan B)
Over the last year or so, whether you liked it or not, I’ve presented you with a slice of my life. I’ve made you a part of my existence. I’ve confided in you. I made little stories that I hid myself in and narrated them to you. Well, I decided to stop doing that. Also, I made a host of earlier entries ‘private’, except the ones that I really liked. I’ve been blogging anonymously for a month or so, and I like that better. I’ll still try to post my writing and some tech stuff as and when I can. But my personal opinions, my feelings, all of that, shall now be posted elsewhere.
To all those who read everything I wrote, thank you. To those who commented on the blog and in my mailbox, it meant a lot. To those who felt I made a difference to their day and told me so in those words, thank you again. It was purely by accident.
Why am I doing this? 1) I was posting personal stuff for a reason — to communicate with some people I was not able to communicate to normally. To keep them updated and to keep a conversation going with them. I figured that sometimes they knew what I was thinking and doing but I didnt know what they were thinking or doing. Its rather one way, this blogging business, unlike a conversation. I dont really mind, but its boring to tell people what I am upto all the time without getting a feedback from them on what they are upto. 2) If I post anonymously, I dont have to sweeten my words. I can call a spade a spade; dogs at a stinking garbage bin outside the Mech dept at IIT Madras an academic power hungry hyena pack who deserve to be Shunned by Elsevier; and a Nokia phone a parallelopiped box because thats what they are. I can freely tell you that some people who claim they are Passionate about Tech are actually a bunch of opportunistic liars and egoistic bastards with no moral or ethical standards. I can freely tell you how not to be a Good Friend. … Its been a long time since I’ve enjoyed that freedom. 3) For the simple reason that I need a change. Spain finally won, Federer finally lost, the Left finally left, I finally moved out of Tapti. Its that cliched oxymoron at work — these times, they are constantly changing.
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***
Oh, as an ending note — I didnt cry when I left. I dont remember what I ate on the last day. And my closest friends are still where they were always — on my gtalk list, on my address book and one marriage away from a reunion. So, really, really, I dont see what the leaving IIT senti is about. So the next person who asks me if I am sad for leaving IIT will get promptly laughed at. I mean, come on, you knew me this long, and you thought I’d be the type to feel senti? [I am a little senti about leaving Madras though, and that too, for a very specific feeling that I used to wake up to when in Madras. And its so personal that only my closest friend(s) would know it, so I wouldnt be senti about it.] [Oh, I did meet the Goat on the second last day in a manner that can be possible only by divine intervention, and we smoked the holy smoke and recalled everyone we knew and thanked God for mythical places near Shimla where Israeli taxi drivers share their #. We amused over the fact that in all my IIT life, one of my greatest regret is to be part of a Shaastra core team that didn't win How Things Work. But then I was also part of one that won. Five years to know how things work? Probably more? Considering how little I know yet, much more. Apt ending?]
***
Firefox 3 and gmail June 19, 2008
Posted by amrut in Engineering.5 comments
So, firefox 3 is awesome. The ‘awesome bar’ is awesome.* The look is awesome. The full page zoom is awesome. But what is most awesome is that gmail loads much faster.
Since Vishwa didn’t believe that gmail could load faster, I checked if firefox 3 can actually load gmail faster. And it can! A look at this site will tell you that firefox 3 (pre-release) runs javascript more than 3 times faster than firefox 2. Gmail uses ajax, which is a lot of javascript and xml. Which is why gmail loads much much faster. Any ideas on how to clock it?
So anyway, point is that firefox 3 is awesome and if you haven’t got it yet, then you can wait for your gmail to load. Muhahahaha.
________________________________
* Btw, apparently, if you clear browser history, ‘awesome bar’ history doesn’t get cleared. Bad luck for people using shared computers to browse porn. One more reason to buy a personal laptop. Or download the add-on to disable the awesome bar. But really, would you want to disable something that is named the ‘awesome’ bar. Are you that guy?
Holiday May 14, 2008
Posted by amrut in General.add a comment
(disconnected)
* They can kill the holiday, but can they kill the holiday spirit?
* I have to get some curdrice, for its been a while, where curdrice is a metaphor for home. (Nicest metaphor for home ever, btw, credit to Doesnt-want-her-or-his-name-to-be-mentioned-on-my-blog.) (Although, apparantly, (well, not apparantly!) I am not from around here and they dont really make curdrice at my home everyday.)
* Every blog, good or bad, needs a holiday. So I’ll be back with new colours and a holiday glow and stories of strange places, rain on dry earth, women in tight dresses that look like paint, romance over long distances or without contact, grandmothers, the Indian summer, planets that can wiggle their tails and lastly of people who eat food that eats food. Also, long overdue updates on SoEs and CFI shall pour in, because thats what everything does in India in July.
* Meanwhile, I shall work hard, because that my friend, is the need of the hour. And we all know that success comes through hard work, or so said the Gita (and TJ Kartik) (and also the cool dudes who founded IIT Madras).
Tangent May 8, 2008
Posted by amrut in Writing.3 comments
(Just some practice.)
My day used to start with that little green dot. It used to be red. Now it is green, for online. “Are you there?” It’s a new morning. I sipped my Nilgiris tea and thought to myself, what can we make of today? “Yes. Hi.” “… Coffee?” I normally don’t drink coffee. But then, in these days and times, ‘coffee’ is only a metaphor for conversation. “… um. No. not today.” I smiled at myself. That’s the seventeenth time she’d refused a cup of coffee, i.e. conversation. That was like her. Shy and reserved. Coffee is a big deal. Plus she is an introvert. And she doesn’t talk much. I told her once, “You are not very good at talking. I am very good at listening. One of us has to change.”
We eventually had to meet up for coffee. It is like one of those things. You wish it too much and then it has to happen just for the sake of happening. And it was brilliant. Like all enjoyable coffee table conversations, she and me, we spoke equally. Like how football games are more fun to watch when both teams have equal possession. To be honest, I thought she’ll keep quiet. And I’ll get bored, like I always do. And I’ll make an excuse and leave. Maybe it has something to do with the coffee. Perhaps it’s the feeling of being physically with each other. I’ve read that our body chemicals talk to each other without us knowing about it. Perhaps having a good time is just a few skin chemical reactions. But that apart, she seemed relaxed and she was glowing slightly and it was fun to just watch her. Straight black plaited hair. Nerdy specs. That perfect mole. Those dimples. I felt like touching them just to check where the skin disappeared. That smile. If she were talkative and shorter, she’d be just like Jennifer Cavalleri. And the brown eyes. Just slightly magnified by those glasses. Those eyes made up for the modest rack. I was never a rack person anyway, despite what some people think.
“Can I get you something sir?”
“Yes. One Assam tea.”
“We don’t have that. How about Sikkim tea sir?”
“Darjeeling?”
“No sir. We do have some Nilgiris tea.”
“That would be perfect. With lemon. And strawberry frappe for the madam.” Ironically, no coffee for the table.
“Yes sir. Thank you.” He left.
“So, I ran into her again today.”
“Oh. Whom was she with today?”
Whom was she with today? I wondered. Whom was She with, today?
Media wars.. April 10, 2008
Posted by amrut in Commentary.18 comments
… have come to Chennai.
New Indian Express relaunch = 11 April
Times of India launch = 14 April
My opinions on the English newspaper options in Chennai
The Hindu
1) Grand old lady of mount road. 2) Knows its audience well. Everybody knows that Chennai wakes up to drink filter coffee and read the Hindu. 3)Very good for local news. Every banana peel accident makes it to the Hindu. Okay-okay for national news. Very ordinary for international news. 4) Supposedly uses very good English. But this has been steadily deteriorating. Typos are very common now. 5) Supposedly good crossword. I don’t solve crosswords, so I wouldn’t know. 6) Biased towards current government always, at the centre, and at the state. If the government doesn’t want people to know about people dying in Tibet, Hindu will be careful in its coverage of the issue. 7) Shitty editorial and op-eds. But it reprints Guardian and NYT op-eds which are good. 8 ) Metro Plus used to be better. Now its a bore. How many years will one read Shonali muthualay and Sudhish Kamath? Hindu’s new youth magazine NXG is only ordinary. 9) Does a great (sometimes biased) job of covering the December dance and music festival. Fairly good job of covering city events.
The New Indian Express
1) They’ve improved newsprint quality a lot. TOI style graphics are now common. 2) Lesser number of pages than the mammoth Hindu. Less on local news. Doesn’t print much about open manhole covers in Perungudi which cause grave inconvenience to residents. Sigh. 3) Good editorial. Great op-eds. Although sometimes slightly anti Congress (and anti Sonia Gandhi). 4) Sunday magazine used to be better. Now boring. 5) New tabloid Indulge is fun to read. Much better than NXG. 6) Brave journalism. Worth buying just for the Express exclusives. 7) Used to cover city events badly, but is getting better at it. 8 ) Has brand value and a decent base in Chennai to sustain for a while in spite of competition.
Deccan Chronicle
1) The less said about it, the better. 2) City section is unreliable. They’ll print any stupid rumour. Once, they printed a bogus story on IIT. The day before the print, they’d got an official communication from IIT that it was made up. Their response was – ‘We’ll print this (the bogus story) tomorrow and we’ll print your side of the story later’. They neither printed our side of the story nor did they print an apology. After this incident, I just dont believe any story printed in DC. 3) Their billboard advertisement has a smiling girl with big breasts with a single sentence caption (e.g. – ‘Look who is smiling now’). Somehow I dont feel like reading a paper which sells itself by showing off the feminine form. I’d buy otherthings that do that — condoms for instance. But not newspaper.
Times of India
1) The newspaper which famously sent a memo to its editors saying that dying cotton farmers do not sell TOI, Lakme India Fashion week does. Which is often proven in the print area that these events get in TOI. 2) Print butts of arbitrary (but good looking) Russian atheletes (female, ob!) on the front page. Or wives of footballers. Or vague protests with the first line of protesters being big breasted DPS chicks. 3) Good overall news coverage. Great job with Godhra riots. 4) Good editorial. Good op-ed. Good guest columns. 5) Has a good marketing team that knows how to sell a newspaper. Great entry ad campaign (Next Change?).
Summary
I am very excited about the New Indian Express relaunch. I’ve been reading it for the last 10 years in Chennai. Its print quality and editing and overall look and completeness of coverage has gone from bad to worse. Except for the last 6 months or so, in which it has improved a lot. The rebel spirit with which it prints investigative and controversial stuff is very inspiring. And good op-eds. The packaging is bad. And hopefully a relaunch will settle that!
TOI launch is a good news only because it will force Hindu to mend its ways. I didnt like TOI in Mumbai (pale in comparison to HT). Unlikely that I will like it here. But then, one never knows. They do print some good stuff, like Jug Suraiya. And who doesnt like footballer wives and DPS babes?
Update on 11 April: The relaunched New Indian Express looks awesome!
Update on 14 April: TOI Chennai looks like TOI Mumbai, except that the Chennai pg3 dudes and babes are a little darker than the Mumbai pg3 dudes and babes, but that is expected. And also, TOI has Chennai flattering stuff written all over the place. Chennai is a mix of traditional and modern and Chennai is a mix of IT and industry and Chennai doesnt drink and fuck as often as Mumbai and Chennai this and Chennai that. Like we didnt already know and needed an outsider to come and tell us. Oh, my eyes are now open. I am proud to be a Chennai boy now that TOI has told me that its legitimate to be so. How badly do they want to sell? Maybe they should shape their newsprint like a bikini. Oh, sorry, thats too modern for Chennai. Perhaps a Sari. Dissapointed, to say the least.
Slumdog Millionaire review February 15, 2009
Posted by amrut in Commentary.18 comments
I liked it a lot. A very good movie, worth seeing more than once. Its a feel good movie. And I felt good.
If you didnt like it, here are a few reasons why you should like it. See if they make any sense to you.
10. Anil Kapoor.
Anil Kapoor is an actor, not a tv commercial guy, not a I-am-50-but-look-I-can-play-a-college-going-kid-romancing-a-18-year old. He is not a party-brawl-er or a to-be-politician. He doesnt even have a blog. So its refreshing to see the original Mr. India execute a good act.
9. The music. Its brilliant. I hope the Academy agrees.
8. The self-replicating top view of Dharavi. In general, the camera angles.
7. The happy kids. Especially in the opening sequence.
6. The survival instint.
In many ways this movie reminded me of City of Gods. I think that if you didnt like Slumdog, then its probably because you are too associated with Mumbai to notice the brilliance of the movie. I seriously recommend that you watch City of Gods and then rewatch Slumdog. (City of Gods is about violence in Rio. Its about two brothers, one becomes a photographer and the other a drug dealer. Its about the survival instinct. But of course, the feel of the movie is totally different. What is probably same is the very raw treatment of the things we like to ignore.)
5. The blinding of beggar kids. The resealing of mineral water bottles with quickfix.
4. Latika’s clothes. The salwars and the jeans. The yellow scarf.
3. The ending sequence. The dance at the VT station.
2. Mumbai rising as the movie progresses. Buildings getting taller. From incredibly dirty slum to “centre of the world”.
1. Latika’s chin.
Update::
1. Slumdog won 8 oscars, including best original score, best song, best screenplay and my favourite — best cinematography.
2. The review of slumdog issues that you shouldnt miss — click here.