Politics and Policies

Wikipedia defines politics as the process by which groups of people make decisions. In other words, the act of framing policies or guidelines is politics.

We have organised ourselves into groups, so that work can be done efficiently, because no single person can do all the work necessary for his survival, at least in today's world. You need food, produced by farmers, machines made in factories, books from printing press, electronics ... what not ! These can't be managed by a single person. If she decides to live alone, she has to forget certain things.


And because organisations involve a lot of people, each having their own opinion on every single issue, we can't go by peoples opinions, if we want to grow and reach a certain level of maturity. So, some rules are formed, which everyone is expected to follow, in addition to the personal freedom in executing the instructions.

But who forms rules ?

The people decide by majority on a group of people, who exclusive job is to form and modify rules, if and when needed. This allows others to focus on the real job.
What this group of people is the real meaning of politics.

So we must agree that politics is essential for every organisation, what to speak of the great institution, the country!

The question is who becomes the policy maker, the very 'famous' politician ?

Most people don't want to become one. That is because the word itself is loaded with qualities : corruption, crime, cruelty, lies, false promises, and all other possible bad qualities.
But they do not realise that it is them who are to blame. For many reasons :

1. Not participating themselves.
2. Not letting other worthy people participate and discouraging them.
3. Not voting at all.
   
4. Not voting for the correct person.
5. Giving politics a bad name in group conversations.

If a person thinks that good people are not in politics, why does not he join in himself ? He thinks that he is alone and what good can a single person do ? His neighbour also wanted to join in but did not due to same reasons.

If one worthy person joins in, he/she can be a hope for hundreds of others with whom he/she is in contact. They might get the courage to jump in the 'fire' of politics of the country.

Otherwise, it is like this. A teacher tells a class of 20 that we will go to this picnic only if 10 people at least are coming. One person says that he will come only if his friend comes, who in turn is waiting for someone else. This chain will go on and the students will lose the chance if enough people do not stand on their own.


It is high time now; we are facing numerous challenges which will be difficult to cope up with even with the best efforts. So it is time to make a new beginning, a new start. You have to rise up if you want your opinions to be heard and your concerns addressed.

It seems that there is a group of such people, like minded enough, so that they could give a kickstart to their ambitions of a prosperous India. They have formed a party, "JAGO PARTY". It is set up with the objective of involving the common man in the future of the country.

It offers many opportunities to every member ( if the member wants). It will be contesting the coming elections for the Lok Sabha and the state elections and will focus on national and 'real' issues.

Website link:

http://www.jago.in/home.php


I am sure there can be many others like this in India, it could be you. So let us take an oath, not to decry politics, but to help in its restoration.

Will you PLEASE finish that small amount of food on your plate ?

Just some days ago, I was in a library of some institution. It was a Saturday; not many people were around. I was reading some interesting books and was enjoying. But at around one in the afternoon, I started to feel very hungry, as I do everyday. But today atleast, I said, I must go without food. I thought that because it was a Saturday, the canteen would be closed. I was wondering whether I should walk the 2 km to the nearest eatery. But as I went outside, to my surprise, the canteen WAS open !

I went inside, had the good, subsidized food, and then went to drink water. There I saw a labourer, who must be working in the institute's gardens. He was only drinking water, no food. He had no money to buy himself even a subsidised meal, which would have cost around Rs. 8. A few of his coworkers might be lucky enough, even to be able to bring home made food in a dabba.

I had the luxury, yes, luxury to just walk some distance and buy food, in case the canteen was closed, but he did not have it.

I felt sorry for him. What can I do for him?

I don't know what I could have done at that moment.

But I think we all can together do something for them.

All people who, by God's grace, are able to eat adequately, can atleast ensure that they do not waste even a single morsel of the food they eat. It is not tough, just take an amount that you are sure to be able to comfortably eat. Better to take small servings each time and to take more if needed.

This small step from our side will benefit those unfortunate ones greatly. The cumulated amount of saved food will be available for their use.

Let us take the case of Bhaarat. Here, 27% of the total population of around

114 crores (!) is currently below the poverty line. This, while the poverty line stands at Rs. 10 per day per person!! That is , around 31 crore people are surely having a very tough time in making both ends meet.

I am not sure that those who are above this line (of supposed poverty) are far off.

So we see, that out of a 100 given people, 27 will not be able to fill their stomach, leave alone good quality food. In these circumstances, it is highly desired that all those who are well settled should look after the needs of our other citizens. We have a lot to do when in a country of starving millions, grain is rotted away in godowns but we CAN begin by not wasting food from our side atleast.

Why are we behind in Basic science research & technology

There was a time when doing sciences was an 'in' thing. It was just after India won her independence. There was a great enthusiasm and endeavour in the youth for building the nation. And, there were some very inspiring personalities too, like Homi J. Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, CV Raman , who were great scientists as well. New institutes were being set up like TIFR, DRDO, DAE, IISc etc and people had got very interesting things to do.
The people who were inspired in this generation continued good work till the 70s. But the next generation had some other opinions.

They looked forward to America and Britain for their education as well as careers, due to the deteriorating economic and social condition of India. They did good work, but it was THERE, not here. They remained in contact but did not settle in India. Even the government did not do anything significant for the devp. of sciences. Thus, the institutes suffered from both, lack of talent & resources.
There are many people who belong to this generation. Take S. Chandrashekhar, Vinod Khosla, CKN Patel, Amar Bose.
Some might argue that most of these people were in technology, not in basic sciences. But each one did fundamental research for his field, and only then could it be converted to technology.

Due to these issues, science education suffered a major setback. But the major blow came from the IITs, which the government was rigorously promoting (successfully). By the mid 1990s most people knew it that India has not many competitive facilities for basic research and the way ahead is technology education.

Subsequently, the no. of talented people in basic sciences plummeted to very low levels. Even today when I tell people that I am doing basic sciences, they express shock :
"Didn't you get admn. somewhere else ? Everyone gets into some engg coll or the other, then what happened to you ?"

The people in till 70s had done a good job, what with the development of the nuclear science, missile systems, computers, physics, and some biology too. But in the 80s, the research scene in India lost all its steam and continued to fall till about 2005, when suddenly and for good, the government woke up.

It decided to set up 5 IISERs (Indian Instutes of Science Education and Research), an NISER (National Institue of Science Education and Research), and CBS (Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences) to promote science education. Also, scholarships were announced for each of these institutes' student, to attract them.

But more has to be done. People are still not aware of the plethora of job opportunities for science students and the much improved prospects. They have to popularise these institutes. Because the public is not taking enough interest. For of the 400 seats in IISERs, only 300 people have appljed (out of the eligible 9000). And same is the story of CBS, where 26 applied for the 14 seats of the physics stream, out of a total 200 students who qualified.

Serious steps have to be taken so that the present generation gets full benefit of the upcoming fields and comes at par with the developed countries.

How to try open source software, non destructively

Having said all that in my previous posts, still pages and pages are left to be said. But let us see how do you use all 'free' softwares without throwing away your earlier ones. [I also started with the same procedure]


1. Operating System

There are innumerable OSes available. But the best according to me is Ubuntu. It is very easy & interactive; ideal for a first time user. It can play your music, office documents, games and for the internet, there is really no difference, for you can use your favorite mozilla firefox right away. MOST IMPORTANTLY : YOU CAN ASK FOR FREE CDs (yes,CDs & lots of them) which will be delivered at your doorstop, in a month's time. You start computer, insert the CD, restart with boot CD option & there you are. Freedom to try the CD without doing any change to the host computer. Truly linux anywhere.
https://shipit.ubuntu.com/login


2. Office software: Openoffice.org is the best solution, but if you need just a word processing software, then Abiword is good enough. You get both software on the linux CD, but if you want to try separately:

http://download.openoffice.org/

Abiword

3. Browsers: If you are using firefox, hoorah! It is already an open source software, believed to be the safest and fastest and is fast on its way to become the world's most preferred browser.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/


4. Music editing & recording: Audacity is a very good audio editor, which you can use to record audio being played, to edit music files & to changeit to different formats. Also you can add various effects.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

5. Image editing : GIMP is a great software for the image editing enthusiasts. It is much like adobe photoshop but free.

http://www.gimp.org/

The proprietary format

Have you used Microsoft products like Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc ? If so, are you using them since a few years ? Then you know that your older MS Office 2003 can't open files from the latest MS Office 2007. The older files used to be saved as .ppt , .doc or .xls files by default. And when you open those files in Office 2007, [COMPATIBILITY MODE] is written on the top. WHY ?
More importantly, when you tried to open your new Office files in Office 2003, it can't do that. Period.

That is it. Unless you have the latest version of Office, you can't view those files. Of course, for some users, it is just a matter of saving it as 'office 2003' file in Office 2007. But still, the [COMPATIBILITY MODE] sign will be there. Why is MS introducing a new format every once in a few years ? Surely all those minor changes could be incorporated with the older format as well. But then people won't think " Oh ! maybe it is time for the new software to be bought."

Even if you are using a pirated copy of microsoft software, because it is free, Bill Gates has something for you.

"About 3 million computers get sold every year in China, but people don't pay for the software. Someday they will, though. As long as they are going to steal it [sic], we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade."

Bill Gates, 1998 interview

Microsoft works hard to make sure their users stay locked into their products and formats.

Actually, the wonderful story that you have written right now may not be yours to see in the next decade, if it is written in a proprietary format. What is the solution ?

Open Office.

A very competent office solutions package which is free in all sense, cost as well as freedom over your own material. If Openoffice.org stops, you can unlock the text out of your documents yourself, which will be illegal in Word.

This is the story about the proprietary formats.
Freedom is here: www.openoffice.org

The wonderful point is that it also easily opens other microsoft formats like xls, doc, ppt, along with its own open standard formats 'ooxml' . You can give it a try. I'm sure it will be worth it's storage space and download time .

More info on the topic: http://www.getgnulinux.org/windows/

May be this will seem a bit too much of a worry on my side, but I hope we all realise it, realise our rights to our own freedom on content.

http://www.getgnulinux.org/windows/what_about_choice/

The software from Openoffice.org is free to download and distribute. There has recently been a try by MS to fool users into thinking that it is open but it is in fact not.

What is 'free software' ? Why is GNU/Linux better than the others ?

We all know what is freedom of speech. Anyone can express her feelings on any topic and similarly, anyone is free to comment on others' opinions. But that does not mean that every human sound we hear is free of cost. We buy music CDs, we pay the cablewalla (or DTH walla) to listen to what people are saying around the world. We pay a fee to go to school/college to listen to the lectures, whatever worth it may be having. You have to buy a music player, even if the speech you downloaded from the website was not charged.

Now, the same applies to software. Some are totally free in all sense of the word, such as Ubuntu linux. Some are not free as in the cost, but are open source, meaning you can see what is going on inside the program, what C++ commands are utilised in doing a certain procedure etc.

If you know the language, and you discover a certain fault, you can simply correct it!
Even if you do not know a programming language, you can hire someone to change the code for you. You are FREE to do things with your copy of software.

But all software is not free. If you buy that expensive copy of Windows XP/Vista, and discover that there is a fault, you are NOT ALLOWED to correct it yourself, according to the license agreement. Only a person certified by Microsoft can touch the internal components, even if you, or your neighbour is capable of doing it. That piece of software is not 'sold' to you, it is licensed, which means you have limited rights.

But is this all important ? If you have seen computer viruses, it is easy to understand.

First, microsoft will have some vulnerability in the code. Then they will release some patches for some codes, but not all. Now, some people will come to know about these faults and they will release viruses for us. Then, to your rescue will be some antivirus companies. Without them, your computer will be gone; more so in the pen drive & internet era.

If windows would have been open source, just as a knowledgeable person discovers an error, he could upload corrective patches himself, and all computers would be shielded. There would be communities & real support for that. But that would not allow the antivirus companies to sell their products. Also, no one will approach microsoft for commercial help.


So, it is like you have your car(win XP) but if it goes wrong, only the particular mechanic, appointed by MS, can correct it, however small the problem it may be. To top it, it is ILLEGAL if you open the bonnet and see what is inside.

But linux is open-source. You own it and do whatever you like with your copy and, you can sell the improvements you do, thereby making money for yourself.

More on this and the new OFFICE-2007 xlsx,docx & pptx formats in the next post. Also, why should you support Openoffice.org & the ODF format.

www.linux.org
www.gnu.org

Coaching aur school ka lafda. Who is responsible ?

A scene in school:
Teacher: why don't you people study properly in class, all homework incomplete, low attendance, not listening to lectures, what is this ?
Student: madam, I have to go to coaching also, after the school and they also give lots of homework
Teacher: But why don't you give priority to school ?
Student: Because, I will get into some good engg college, only if I study hard there, not at school.

At coaching class:
Professor: Why don't you people put in some more effort ? Why this half-heartedness ?
Student: Sir, we face a lot of pressure due to double load, coaching as well as school.
Professor: If they do not teach properly, why do you go to school at all ?
Student: It is necessary to have 75% attendance, otherwise we will be debarred from the board exam.

At home:
Mother: Beti, thoda padhai to kar ?
Daughter: Kya Maa ?? Kitna Karu ? Morning I attend school for 8 hours . Then I go for coaching for 4 hours. I need time for myself also, don't I ? Thoda time to apne liye nikaloon ?
Mother: Par phir tere marks kaise aayenge? How will you get a good AIR in JEE?
Daughter: I don't know.

This is common to see.This is not the story of the AIR<100>

IIT ? Kuch nahi.

AIEEE ? AIR 70,000.

Shayad CET/PET se kuch ho sake :-( .

Who is at fault ?
It is a vicious circle, just like the cycle of poverty->illiteracy->unemployment->poverty. See how it happens:

• School teachers think students don't want to study here, so they teach even worse

• Students think 'school se kuch nahi hoga', they neglect school. As it is, even if they try, kuch samajh nahi aata

• At coaching, students are tired. They don't do as directed.

• Then the advantage of coaching diminishes.

• At home, they are in a fix. What to study, already, i am exhausted.

At the end of class XII, most have to leave competitive exam coaching, start studying for board exams ( a class joined for this too, maybe); or even worse, some students have to do both.

It gets worse in class XII, what with the syllabus completion mania of schools wanting to top in boards. Like the famous proverbs:
'kangaali me aata gila' & 'ek to karela, duje neem chadha'

Already, studies at school were not interesting enough, and now with the pressure of syllabus completion, it becomes HELL. yes, it does.
Zero understanding in class. And due to this pressure, even good teachers forget what they know themselves, they only depend on the 'dependable' book for every little thing.

To top all this, in CBSE, students even have to do some project.Wah! Satyanash ka sahi formula.
Some smarties will copy it from somewhere. Still, some people will struggle with their projects, and get those IA (Internal Assessment) marks.

Why were schools made ?
To impart a basic understanding to the students, a common, important set of subjects, required in almost every field of study. Are we getting that ? In the name of notes, we only get only dictation from that famous, 'dependable' book. Does the book cost more than the school fee, and that's why we come to take down the notes ?

Why competitive exams ?
to gauge the aptitude and understanding of the student, to ensure that it is at least at a minimum basic level required for the field, otherwise the person won't be able to work therein. But the above factors have taken it to another level. -Coaching is a must- thinks every student. He has to now, because nothing is explained properly at school.

So, should the level of compt. exams increase ? No, that will favour those with coaching.
'Should they be made easier ?' No, that will make differentiation difficult.

What is the solution ? No competitive exams ? Or no coaching ? or no schools ? .........

Only solution is to have very good education and opportunities in all fields, be it pure sciences, technology, art, industry, finance, politics and administration.

Because, every person is special; has her own set of rare qualities, and can make it big in life.

We need the change. Now.

Divide and rule! Are we game?

It was said that the british stayed here on the 'divide and rule' policy. They created differences among us and we fought among ourselves; losing power and conceding to them.
Is the situation different now, that we are FREE ?
Turn on the TV, see the show 'indian idol' (or any such, there are dozens) where contestants from various parts of the country will compete for a title. Then there will be an emotional appeal for vote from audience.
Attempts will be made to ensure that the regional affiliations of the participants are utilised to the maximum extent. More often than not, they succeed in their agenda. If a finalist is 'Punjab da puttar' it is expected that all people from Punjab will vote for him and so on.

Reservation.period. I don't need to say anything.

Kya aap panchvi pass se tez hain ? yadi hain to shayad aap wo program nahin dekhenge. It is based on making a person feel herself down, to prove that even if she is a Ph.D., a group of class 5 students is always smarter. A new kind of discrimination.

INDIAN PREMIER(partition) LEAGUE: How can you support Kings XI despite being a Mumbaikar ? Aren't you ashamed . This can be heard outside. Even cricket is now being used to create a rift.

Earlier also the motive to divide was to rule and make money, now also it is to make more money. There are many more examples. But I am sure that we, the Indians, are not game to this motive, it will not materialise, even if it seems to, temporarily.

Are newspapers doing what they should ?

Today, I read a news item in 'Mumbai Mirror(MM)' ; a publication of the times of india. It says on the front page : policemen posing as junkies in colleges to nab the drug gangs.

Who does MM want to tell this ? The policemen themselves ? or to us, maybe we should be careful while dealing in those things the next time around.

Won't this news act as a tip off for those involved, and make them more cautious, thus making the efforts of the policemen futile ? What do these people want to project ? They want to serve up some spicy entertainment, to give some 'tehelka' ; to be cheaper than other newspapers in every sense possible. They are very successful in their plans; only thing that it is not good for the nation in general.