Visiting Nana's old place - I

It started in January 2007, I had this urge to go to nana's old place.

I always thought the place was quite interesting. Apart from all the (rather adventurous) stories of how my mom and her siblings grew up, the place has this mysterious feel to it. Its in Jaipur's old town, the walled "Pink City". The immediate neighbors are muslim families whom nana always had strong ties with. He is a lawyer, and he used to fight cases for them, apparently for free.

Having spent a good chunk of my childhood there, I have quite vivid memories of the pranks, the scoldings, the victories, the embarrassments, and the excitement of discovering new things. The historical interest in the place raises its charm. Every nook and corner is offers a chance to discover a part of history. I discovered things ranging from 1 paisa coins, nana's election posters (he fought for the CPI for a while), and small natural bonsai in the crevices of the "chauk" (the quad).

Nana's house in the whole complex is somewhat small, and thus they decided to move out in the mid-90's. I had never visited the house ever since. I put the proposition to my mom. For some reason she did not seem very interested, and the visit got postponed. I brought it up again October'07, when I was home for a fortnight. But everyone was too busy, and I wanted nana to be there most of all. So I decided to wait.

Even though the Hindu-Muslim amity in the city is not what it used to be, the families there do maintain an affection towards our family that I am immensely proud of. Thus every passing discussion on the deteriorating communal harmony in India increased my desire to go there. Finally, this January, I managed to convince mom. Even though she could not join us, nana agreed, and so did one of my aunts and her children. Nevertheless, there was one non-trivial issue. Nana is in his mid-80's. For him to make such a trip without someone driving him there would have been quite hard. The ever-determined nani decided that nana gets to go only if someone drives him to the place. There was just one potential driver, my cousin, who had quite stringent time constraints. So nana decided to get a taxi to my cousin's place where we would all collect and go together.

Nana

Dreams of the kingdom far-far away

Amid the preparation for my qual exam next month, I day-dream about the places to visit for a vacation. Home is up there on the list, as always. But I am also planning a solo trip to some other place on the way to/from home.

I read a bit about Bhutan tourism, and the idea is so appealing that I can not get it out of my mind. Finally, today I managed to search a bit about the country. Luckily, Indian citizens do not need a visa (nor a passport!) to go to Bhutan. Yay!

Two totally random, somewhat funny, fascinating and revealing facts about the country that Wikipedia describes as ``the happiest least developed country on earth" :

* Druk air, the Royal Bhutan airlines, is the only airlines that is allowed to land in Bhutan. It has a ``fleet" of four airplanes (!), and connects to five cities around the world (the farthest being Dubai, followed by Delhi!). It is owned by the Bhutan government, Ministry of Finance. Because of the monopoly it enjoys, it is exorbitantly priced, with return fare from Delhi being about $800! Seasonal flights are to/from Bodh Gaya. Evidently due to the majority Buddhist population.

* In Dec 2003, the then King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, himself led an offensive against (anti-Indian) militants in Bhutan! With his prince (who's now the king). I totally imagine someone on a horse leading through a foggy, mountainous terrain, and the militants scurrying away dropping all their weapons. Hail the king!

waaaah! I want to be there NOW!!

Artificial life forms!

Scary research!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/oct/06/genetics.climatechange

I, for one, am NOT for such research. Not before the impact has been clearly understood. Not before it is ensured that such results would not be abused.

Hell, I was concerned about secrecy capacity results in information theory, and its confrontation with open source ideas. The creation of artificial life puts my fears into perspective!

On second thoughts, wouldn't secrecy results be useful in communicating ideas involved in research that could be potentially dangerous? :-)

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On personal front : I would soon be moving into a delightful studio close to Cory hall, my departmental building. All bears, non-bears are welcome!

An unclear article on the nuclear deal

Found this while surfing aimlessly.

The article deserves mention because of the authors : Medha Patkar, Aruna Roy, and Sandeep Pandey! The article is quite speculative, for example I don't see how the 123 agreement would 'escalate the arms race between Pakistan and India', and consequently end up 'sabotaging the India-Pakistan peace process'.

Further down :

However, our basic objections to this deal stem from our opposition to the production and use of both nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. The irreversible dangers of radioactivity and its ongoing impact on health, water, and the environment are factors that are being summarily dismissed in an irresponsible manner. The whole cycle of nuclear production beginning with uranium mining, is fraught with catastrophic dangers, and as a nation we cannot use the decisions of another country as justification for our own. Places like Jaduguda in Jharkhand, Kota and Pokhran in Rajasthan, have already demonstrated the ongoing dangers of nuclear use to the common citizen.

I really don't know how Jaduguda, Pokharan and Kota have 'demonstrated' any danger? (no sarcasm here). Some citations/examples would have helped here (as well as at other places in the article). Given the respect most people have for the authors (myself included), I think they could afford a longer article detailing all their objections and reason them sufficiently.

What's the alternative? Hydro: requires dams, and I concur with Medha Patkar that there should be no more of them. Solar? Requires space, huge infrastructure. Wind? Limited availability. Thermal (coal) ? The only realistic alternative. It has low efficiency, even lower because coal in India is of poor quality, and has emissions that are quite harmful. Plus lives of people working in coal mines have been documented so often and makes a sad story every time (Dhanbad, anyone?).

Despite the apparent lack of logical completeness, I admit I find a point : that there is a need for greater discussion on the deal. I disagree with the communists, and I know that the reasons for BJP's protest are the most despicable ones. But more discussion, and public discussion : I am all for it. Maybe there should be someone quoting how many people are endangered because of coal mining, and what exactly are the 'dangers of nuclear use to the common citizen'. Though the logistics of any such discussion, given the size of the country, could be an issue, the magnitude of the issue demands it.