ExpertDabbler

Don Norman on Education

Pretty good read

Everybody loves a good road in India, except those who get killed, and their families perhaps. It may sound odd if I say good roads are not necessarily good for India, at least with the existing habits of road users. But that’s the truth.

In India, I would dare say there is a direct relationship between the quality of the roads and the number of fatal accidents. Better roads equates to more fatal accidents. For e.g If one compares the Nilgiris Ghat highway and ECR road, the number of fatal accidents will be infinitely higher in the latter. Reason - speed kills. While one may be constrained to drive at 60kmph in Nilgiris because of the terrain, a well laid road like the ECR removes all such constraints. There is no concept of speed limit here. There are people who consistently make to Pondy in about 80 minutes from Thiruvanmiyur, a distance of about 130 kms – the road is not multi-lane FYI.

While there is nothing new in all these things, what makes me really worried is that India at last is getting into the habit of building multi-lane highways across the country.
Which means it is much more dangerous to violate traffic rules in future than it has ever been in the past. One can violate traffic rules in South Avani Moola Street in Madurai and yet nothing would happen. But doing the same in OMR would mean somebody will get killed – it can be the violator or the victim or both.

So what is the way out?

It is common knowledge that people in urban India have substantial western influence – from food, to clothes, to movies to English speaking ability. Given this urge, it is surprising that we are all Indians when it comes to following traffic rules - one of the few traits where we can ape the west for good. I think one of the main reasons behind our inability to ape the west in adhering to traffic rules is that most of the educated junta have no clue about how traffic systems work and drivers drive in the developed countries. They can see what suit a white man wears, they understand the language he speaks, but they cannot see how the traffic system works there. At least I had no clue till I made my first and only trip abroad. This is one of those things which one has to see it to understand it.

Why not leverage this ‘ape the west’ mentality here with the help of Videos? I think we, the educated masses are not getting enough opportunities to feel ashamed about our driving habits.

We should be shown smartly made videos which shows how the traffic works in developed countries vis-à-vis India? These can be played in strategic locations like Petrol bunks, bus terminus etc. I think this will definitely arouse some curiosity if it the message is kept subtle.

I would say there is a reasonable chance that the English speaking Indians would subconsciously try to ape the west on this as well. Even otherwise, Heck, what’s wrong in trying this? We have nothing to lose by trying it. As it is, we are losing people everyday in our roads. How worse can it get?

I agree that there are considerable infrastructure constraints in India. The population here is unbelievable, there is zilch traffic enforcement. But honestly I think the fundamental issue is the drivers and the mind set more than anything else.

I do not think having good roads alone will bring down traffic related deaths. History suggests that with our road habits, it is likely to go up. There is no weekend without accidents in ECR. In the famous IT corridor, I find stray cows sitting right next to the center median, gravel distributed all over the roads at night – riding two-wheelers require special skills here, policemen keep road dividers in the most ridiculous of spots, vehicles are parked for one- third of the road, MTC trailer buses swerve from left lane to right with relish. Despite all this, cars and buses ply at about 80-90 kmph by default. In short we have a crude but effective method to bring down the population.

The above outlined solution may or may not work. But I am certain we need to find a solution on war footing. And anything which makes sense and does not cost a bomb should be tried out. Because anything which causes us to lose a few lives a day is no less than a war – be it roads or terrorism.

Q: Chiranjeevi?

A: Dhairiyasaali!

There are lot of things you can do. But watching Pursuit of Happyness on your father’s anniversary should not be one of them.
I did just now and feel for it.

This was an unusual weekend for me in many ways. I was mostly at home, yet mostly offline. I was reading Thanneer Vitto Valarthom – Part 1 by S.Gurumurthy. For Dummies, this is a collection of Gurumurthy’s writings in Thuklaq over the years.

Many readers would promptly label Gurumurthy as someone belonging to the upper caste and who is inclined to Sangh Parivar and just ignore him. I think it’s easy to label someone; all it takes is a single sentence. But we should remember that a lot of details will be lost under that label, and the loss is ours.

Gurumurthy’s arena comprises of religion and its political implications, economics, and society. He thinks India as a nation can improve only if the main parameters – religion, economics and society are configured in a certain way.

Of all the subjects he discusses, I am most impressed with his writings on economics. Here is one person who can write about economics without complex graphs, equations, ‘jalliadi’ statistics about GDP, GNP, fiscal deficit, etc and that too in Thamizh!
I would like to think I have attained more clarity on economic concepts from Gurumurthy than any other writer. I think it’s far better to learn about economics in ones own mother tongue than in English from Milton Friedman. If you want to read about economics in simple Thamizh, look no further.

On religion, he is very categorical in stating that Christianity and Islam, being Abrahamic religions which believe their paths are the only way to salvation, are the root cause of all religious troubles – from religious conversions to terrorism, which I agree with for the most part.

However, I am less inclined to his views on caste, women’s rights, and his high handed views of Kalaacharam. Some of the core issues of caste, the injustices meted out to less privileged, the way women have been exploited in this country over the years are simply moved under the carpet as ‘paarambariyamaana nambikkaigal’. He even implies women were given respect and that’s why were ‘protected’ in our society. He argues women’s rights are less important than ‘women’s respect’. This is like saying, “I have a pair of parrots, and I respect it so much that I protect it in a cage so that outsiders and other animals cannot attack it. For, my entire family economics and gouravam revolves on those parrots’. Well, whether they want such kind of respect is for the parrots to decide, not me or Gurumurthy.

He is very tactical in equating nationalism with the rise of Hinduism and stating that it was during the times of Periyaar that national pride was at its lowest ebb. While this is true, I think one should also consider the reasons for that. Here he conveniently leaves aside the reasons why E V Ramaswamy had to move out of the Congress, why national independence was even considered undesirable, and the behavior of the then wealthy “orthodox” lawyers of Tamil Nadu, etc.

I am also neutral to his views on Kanchi Mutt. His first chapter, I suspect, was strategically made to be on Kanchi Mutt. Perhaps he wanted to make it clear that he is from a particular background with a particular set of beliefs. Kanchi Mutt is more like a cultural icon I guess. I have seen references to it in various wedding invitations I receive from my Brahmin friends, even though the people getting married and their current behaviors have no connection whatsoever with the Mutt. It’s more like, ‘If you are a Brahmin, you better refer to some Sankara Mutt’. Anyway, it does not matter to me. That’s the best I can say at this point.

All said and done, I think it’s a refreshing read. At a time when all intellectuals earn their bread by criticizing anything and everything, here is someone who is bold enough to put together a framework and write a series of articles espousing it in thamizh. It is another matter that I do not subscribe to the ideas fully. But that should not prevent me from recommending this book.

Overall, this is one book which has to be read, debated and discussed whenever time permits if you are concerned about India. It raises some interesting counterpoints which are almost always muted by the more vocal mainstream media. The other two parts are currently out of stock. I am eagerly looking forward to reading those as well.

Price: Rs. 175
Published by: Alliance Book Company
Location: Opposite Mylapore Tank.

Read this in Jeyamohan’s blog.

Probably I should do a PhD and in that claim Rajini, Kamal, AR Rahman music, Vadivelu comedy are all nothing but the manifestations of St. Thomas teaching to tamilians.

Bah!! What nonsense is this?

I tell you this is more disastrous and idiotic than the decision of KT Kunjumon to produce ‘Kodeeswaran’.

It takes enormous control over one’s craft and unsurpassed knowledge in a community’s way of life to write a novel like ‘Gopallapurathu makkal’.

The reason I say this is because the novel does not define a single protagonist, nor a tight plot. But a community’s complete way of life was shown to me effortlessly. And this is possible only with a writer of Ki. Ra’s calibre.

References to ‘Kazhugu Malai’ in the novel made me relate to it even better. That’s my maternal grandma’s native

I love good movies, but i don’t think any one can ever make a movie out of this, except maybe Ki. Ra himself.

I wanted to write this post in tamil, but unfortunately i am not able to install NHM writer. Mine is office laptop

I think it’s only fitting that i write about a superb novel which ends with India’s Independence day, on the eve of one Independence day.

Ki. Rajanarayanan Vazhga! Happy reading! Happy independence day!

I have been wanting to write this for sometime. Let me make this clear. I am no US lover when it comes to their foreign policies.

But there is something called durable competitive advantage. Warren Buffet is always fond of talking about them.
I guess some entities - be it countries or companies have that. US is one of them. The way to play with those entities is to partner with them but be clear on our priorities. I don’t think its a zero sum game. There is lot of brouhaha going on about this being a stake sale to the US. Our PM is for once right in drawing clear parallels to the economic liberalization reforms and and how that got dubbed as a stake sale too.

What exactly is the issue? The main selling point of those who oppose this deal is the reputation of US. I agree that is a concern.

On the other hand, there is nothing concrete to suggest we are compromising on our national interest. Are we signing NPT? No.
Do we have exit route? Yes.

Assuming this deal is not perfect, do we have any alternate plans to meet our energy requirements? Nothing concrete so far.

I did read about thorium resources in india but not sure how that can be capitalized. How better is that route than the US deal? One blogger says we have 80% of the world’s thorium reserves, another web site says we have 30%. Again no clear answers.

I do not think the US can treat India the way it has treated other countries simply because India is too huge a market for US corporates.

There is always an element of risk and uncertainty in any kind of decision making, let alone the one which has a nation’s progress at stake. What I look for in these situations is the long term perspective.

Given all this, I think the risk taken by our PM seems to be a calculated risk. If nothing else, this would be seen as a risk which had a positive approach rather than fear and suspicion as propounded by the left.

Forget everything, our PM should be appreciated for just taking the time to think about our energy requirements in the future.
That in itself is a kind of achievement among Indian politicians.

Bottomline: Notwithstanding my allergy to US foreign policy, I would support the N-deal.

PS: Had this in my draft for far too long

PK:
If I still happen to see products endorsed by cricketers who win something a little more important than Velachery tennis ball cricket matches, i will boycott those products.

Finished reading ‘Brahmin and Non Brahmin’ by MSS Pandian. Just search for this title in google.

A well written book elucidating the politics of brahminism during the early twentieth century, to the non-brahmin politics pioneered by Periyaar, while gently touching the emerging overtures and ambitions of the Dalits in the epilogue. As a by product, we also get to know about Iyothee Thoss and Maraimalai Adigal.

I had a few conceptions which I thought was original, only to find those ideas were discussed and brainstormed as early as 1892 Overall a very interesting read if you have an open mind.

Caveat: This being a book written by a scholar has its own rhythm.