Monday, December 19, 2005

Non!


So it's that easy? A city of 6.5 million people can be renamed just because one litterateur felt like it would be the right thing to do and a myopic chief minister was only too happy to give his blessings? Firstly, the whole exercise seems pointless. Bengalooru is simply Kannada for Bangalore just as Dilli is Hindi for Delhi. In Chennai's case, Tamilians had always been referring to the city as Chennai even as the rest of the country called it Madras. But in Bangalore's case, it is just the same name pronounced differently. So if the state government's policies are to be consistent, they will have to rename Mangalore as Mangalooru, Mysore as Mysooru and Chickmaglur as Chickmaglooru. This will most certainly involve various costs in terms of both time and money.....costs that the indebted state government can do without! Moreover, there is an implicit message that is being sent out to all the talented people from all across India and the world moving into Bangalore when the local appelation becomes the city's official name. A message that says that the Garden City is not as welcoming as it once was.
If names of places can be changed simply according to certain politicians' whims sans any referendum, I shudder to think of all the possibilities open to Sonia, Laloo or Advani followers to impress their 'leaders'....all MPs and MLAs have to do to ensure themselves a lucrative portfolio the next time is to name their constituency after their party president or the latter's kin (eg. Rabrinagar, Rahulpura !!!!).
One attenuating factor is that, looking around us, we know that the change in name is not going to matter significantly; Bangalore will remain the liberal pluricultural city that it has always been. We only have to ensure that the wrong signals that are attempted to be conveyed from the name change do not really reach the intended targets.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Caught in a time warp!

I have finally finished reading 'Is Paris Burning?' by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins. I had been reading it for the past two months and have thus been living through the events that occured in Paris from the 19th to the 26th of August 1944 every night before going to bed. Anyone who's read any work of the authors of this book would know of their capacity to effectively transport the reader in time and space.As is characteristic of the style of Lapierre and Collins, a lot of effort in research has been undertaken to provide the reader with the smallest of details ( such as the colour of a dress a particular Parisienne had worn on Liberation day) which is what makes it seem like the events in the book are unfolding before one's own eyes.
The book is about how Paris narrowly escapes from being reduced to ' a field of ruins' as Hitler had planned it, to avenge the desruction of German cities by the Allies.The title of the book comes from Hitler's angry words 'Brennt Paris?' addressed to the chief of his general staff when he learns of the surprise attack of the Allied forces on German strongpoints in the heart of Paris.Hitler had repeatedly given instructions to the commander of Gross Paris Dietrich von Choltitz to ensure the capital was completely destroyed if it were to fall into Allied hands.
Apart from the actual battle for liberation, the book also describes several other conflicts that could have delayed Paris' timely liberation.These include the political fued between the Communists of France and Charles de Gaulle and the skirmishes between de Gaulle and the authorities in Washington.Further, it describes the moral dilemma that von Choltitz went through when he was instructed to execute orders which, he knew, if carried out,history would hold him guilty.
The passion that went into the efforts to save Paris comes across throughout the book.Overall, the book makes interesting read for any history buff.

Here's something that has made the experience of reading the book very interesting for me: I had read Catch 22 by Joseph Heller just before I started reading 'Is Paris Burning?'.Now, Catch 22 is famous for Heller's caustic sarcasm and is aimed at pointing out the meaninglessness of war.It blatantly rubbishes the idea of 'a hero's death' and other such romanticisms associated with war.So, while reading about the nationalisitic fervour of the young French man who took to arms to save their beloved capital and the American GIs who executed the orders they were given unquestioningly, I was constantly reminded of how these sentiments , in a way, contradict what is depicted in Catch 22.Moreover, I happened to watch two WW2 based movies - ' Schindler's List' and 'The Pianist' while I was reading the book.It then seemed like the book deals with an insignificant part of the much larger horrific event that was World War 2.

It does seem like there can never be no such thing as 'too many books' or 'too many movies' about World War 2 if we are to try to understand its actual impact on the lives of people and nations!

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Ajji

Music soothes no more
It is merely a reminder of your melodious voice and of all the songs you taught me.
A source of boundless love, comfort and warmth, an epitome of serenity, an undemanding giver,
By instinct, you chose to reminisce of reasons for cheer when your pain had rendered us all joyless;
You chose to be content , unaffected by all the troubles that came your way;
We see you Ajji, in all that could make us smile.
We were still learning from you the art of appreciating simple pleasures, of acceptance and of gratitude,
We are now left to learn these precious lessons without the teacher who taught by example.
Ajji, with each passing day, your absence has become harder to accept.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

You are reading my journal

The Lake Superior State University has included the word 'blog' among several other 'misused, abused, over-used or useless' words of the English language that ought to be proscribed. It appears in the 2005 Banished Words List along with phrases like 'wardrobe malfunction' and 'pockets of resistance'. Somebody who nominated for 'blog' to be 'banished' would like to see words like 'diary' and 'journal' being used instead ( since blog comes from weblog = web+log i.e, an online journal).
Some of the other words in the list indeed deserve to be there ; anybody caught using 'safe and effective' , 'all new' and 'and more!' again should be put through rigorous courses in vocabulary amelioration that require them to learn words like 'absquatulate' , 'spifflicate' and 'sternutatory' all day long as punishment. 'Blog' seems to be the most innocent word in that list- it really doesn't deserve such harsh treatment- what say, fellow keepers of online journals?

Sunday, September 04, 2005

In my defence..........

.......It happens the world over- southerners speak differently! In the one year that I have been in the Great Indian Melting Pot, Mumbai, I have endured excruciating analyses of my accent when I speak Hindi by well-meaning friends, casually curious strangers and certain chauvnistic compatriots. There have been several theories about the accent that mine resembles the most- the venerated Sonia accent, the distinct Rajni accent( this would be my personal favourite if I had to vote) or the angrezi accent of Lagaan fame.....and the list , to my exasperation, is growing! I have tried real hard to speak Hindi 'normally'- but the accent just keeps coming back ! That set me thinking- maybe this is all due to some really powerful linguistic influence that south Indian languages have on their speakers. But then I remembered the classes I had while learning French where we were taught how the Southern accent is different from the popular Parisian accent. It was then that I realised- this is a global phenomenon- it happens everywhere- the US where SAE( Southern American English) is studied as a seperate dialect by linguists, it happens in Britain, Spain, Japan....! I say we ought to accept the South Indian accent just as a distinct southern accent has been accepted in all these other countries and let it stay that way- it has its own charm! (it really does!... and to those who do not buy that-you need perspective, meri aankhon se dekho zara!)

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Where rationality abounds

Ever wondered where the 'rational agents' in Economics text books actually lived? Anyone who has serious reservations about the assumption of rationailty in Economics must visit our quaint ,charming institute for research in Economics located on a little hill in Mumbai's periphery. You will then discover the world of convex and even lexicographic preferences, utility maximization, constrained optmization, Nash equilibria and most importantly, monopolistic competition on a scale that's inconceivable in the outside world!All decisions here from the choice of subjects and supervisors to the choice of a seat in a class-room are made after resolving carefully defined optimization problems.You can actually figure out what your roomie will be doing in the week-end with the help of a neat mathematical model !Studying Economics here is like one of those fantasy movies where the viewer becomes a part of the plot and there is simply no escape till the movie ends! An invigorating ambience for the study of Economics, this!
Need any help visualizing an Arrow-Debreu equilibrium? One visit to IGIDR , Mumbai could solve all your problems :-).

Monday, August 29, 2005

J'y suis arrivée!

Enfin, un blog à moi !
Merci beaucoup Mamta pour l'encouragement!