Terrorism: An accessory to power?

Terrorism with all its negative impacts has emerged to be one of the most troublesome hurdles that humanity has faced in its struggle towards a peaceful, prosperous and thereby happy society. Of course this has led to the problem being studied by different people holding views that range across the widest spectrum of socio-political and even economic ideologies on the nature and cause of terrorism. In this article I shall lay down a few of the ideas that I have garnered on the topic of terrorism from my understanding of the problem and by contemplating on it.

Terrorism is almost universally seen as an evil. I say almost universally because there is a group, albeit extremely small in number relative to the entire canvas of humanity, that live by the gun and are actively engaged in acts of terrorism that clearly see some benefit from the practice. It is only in understanding this benefit and destroying it that a lasting solution to the problem can be found. Terrorism can be seen as a form of warfare which departs to a great deal from traditional and conventional modes of warfare. Terrorism can be traced back to the French Revolution and ‘The age of terror’ that immediately followed it. It mainly involves carrying out kidnappings, bomb attacks, hijackings and other such crimes in order to instill terror in opponents. They differ from criminals in that they swear allegiance to a cause which is almost always political in nature. Acts of violence and the pursuit of power have been almost inextricably linked to each other since time immemorial. Like two sides of a coin one has always been considered essential for the other. It is only rarely as when Mahatma Gandhi led our national freedom struggle that alternative paths have been adopted but almost always these paths have been difficult and requisite of an immense patience and understanding from leaders which is rarely seen. Thus almost inevitably struggles for power tend towards the adoption of violent means.

At this point I would like to emphasize the fact that I am not weighing my opinion against the struggle for power. Power is required to make positive changes and minorities and oppressed peoples certainly have an inalienable right to power. While justifying this right to power, it is violence or in particular terrorism as a means to it that I oppose. I say terrorism in particular because armed revolutions have also been used in the ascent to power. In fact terrorists often latch on to the revolution bandwagon labeling themselves as bold revolutionaries working for a better future. But here I would like to showcase the primary difference between successful revolutions and a majority of modern terrorist movements. All successful revolutions in the history of human existence have been backed by an oppressed majority working against an oppressive minority. It may be the stories of the revolutionary soldiers and the generals that lead them that may have made it to the pages of the history book but it is in fact the support of the majority that led them to victory. No government no matter how total its control over the batons of political power namely the police and military can maintain its power when weighed against the will of the majority of the population that it governs. Terrorism on the other hand often entails the struggle fought for the rights of a minority against a bigger and stronger majority. Thus the factor that leads revolutions to victory i.e. the power of the masses cannot work in favour of terrorist movements.

The uplift and political empowerment of this often oppressed minority is essential but terrorism as a means to it is certainly untenable. This is so because of many factors. One of the primary causes for terrorist activities is the antagonism between groups of people. The militarily weaker/politically oppressed groups often try to catch the public eye by orchestrating strikes on militarily soft targets that carry symbolic weight. The attack at the Munich Olympics and the September 11 attacks are cases in point. But such strikes while indeed catching the public eye shift the attackers almost certainly further away from the intended solution. For such attacks only increase the antagonism between conflicting groups. The attacker gains nothing in terms of the main ideas of their struggle (no lasting political empowerment or gain) while on the other hand the victim of the terrorist attack moves further down the dark path of vengeance where no forgiveness or compromise can be seen and they become stronger in their resolve to totally vanquish their foe. Thus such strikes are strategically equally suicidal to the Pearl Harbour strikes. Temporary glory and worldwide attention is a large price to pay for final failure.

Today we live in a world that has grown weary of continuing feuds based on old rivalries. Today more than ever before people wish to have peace and hence a better time for compromise and amicable solutions has never before been seen. Moderate and visionary leaders on both sides of the argument should be ready to sit together and discuss a lasting solution to the problems that plague their communities. These discussions should be held with an open mind and a readiness to make compromises by both sides for lasting peace. People have undeniably grown tired of armed struggles in the face of increasing global economic problems and the still unaddressed demon of poverty. The futility of armed struggles in achieving a lasting solution is all too evident from the continued, decades long conflagrations in the Middle East, Kashmir etc.It is important that political leaders seize this opportune moment and time in history and shift towards a pragmatic, moderate and effective strategy of negotiation. It is only by this that our attention can shift to the real problems that plague humanity and work can be directed towards engineering a bright and safe future for our race.

I saw Kerala Café and I loved it

I happened to see the movie Kerala Café today. A portmanteau of 10 short films linked together by the common chain of Kerala Café, a café in an unspecified but typical railway station somewhere in Kerala. The movie left me with the wonderful feeling of having read a good anthology of 10 well selected short stories. To start off there was ‘Nostalgia’ which starred Dileep and Navya Nair among others. In my opinion it could be called one of the weaker links in the entire movie. The humorous take on nonresident Keralites struck a chord with me as it showed characteristics I have often noticed among NRKs particularly of the older generation. However I felt the treatment could have done more justice to the good theme. Next came ‘Island Express’. It was probably my favourite among the 10 movies. The actors Maniyan Pillai Raju and Prithviraj in particular did full justice to their characters in this narrative in which 4 mini narratives converged to form the crux of the story. This one could well be called the microcosm of the movie as a whole. The journey of discovery that Jayasurya’s character undergoes is also a high point however the background rendition of ‘Saare Jahan se Achcha’ wasa bit over the top I felt. The next two movies were ‘Mrityunjayam’ a supernatural story with a twist in the tail which Jimmy and Hari who saw the movie with me liked the most and ‘Lalitham Hiranmayam’ which was a take on marital infidelity and its repercussions in the wake of a tragedy. While Mrityunjayam was very well cast with Thilakan playing an important role, Suresh Gopi looked a tad too old to be paired with the 2 heroines in Lalitham Hiranmayam. The fifth story was the extremely entertaining ‘Happy Journey’ with Jagathi living up to the high standards expected of him. The transition his character undergoes over the course of a bus ride is well depicted. The female lead in this segment also does a commendable job.

The next section of 5 movies began with ‘Aviramam’. The state of the economy and the straits to which money or the lack of it can drive people forms a common theme in the 4 stories beginning with this one. This story has Siddique and Swetha Menon in the lead and shows a man driven to desperate means for the sake of his family whose comfort he had always striven to ensure. The next story is ‘Off Season’ with Siraj in the lead. Though it has a mainly comic vein running throughout it, the moment when the character realizes that pain has the same meaning no matter what language you speak or what colour your skin is, is one of the more poignant moments in the movie. Following this movie is the story titled ‘Bridge’ that talks about the pain of loss of something or someone that one loves, which is self imposed due to helplessness in one case and forced perhaps due to a lack of understanding in the other. Salim Kumar’s performance is very convincing and the pain he experiences becomes difficult not to empathise with for the viewers. The next story ‘Makal’ shows a family grabbing desperately at a possible opportunity to rescue themselves from their state of abject poverty, an act that leads to a heart rending climax. The final movie is ‘ Puramkazhchakal’ starring Mamooty and Sreenivasan. Despite being pretty short it becomes the perfect climax to the movie and causes one to despise our habit of quickly jumping to conclusions and judging others without really understanding them or what they are experiencing.

In conclusion this movie made me laugh, made me think, made me feel sorry for some of the characters and basically ran the whole gamut of human emotions. A bold endeavour that is stunningly executed and a must watch for all Malayalam movie lovers.

The Onam Legend and a Mythical Incongruence

Onam is once more upon us. The season when people take their traditional ‘mund’ (a swathe of white cloth wrapped around the waist much like the North Indian Dhoti) down from the shelves and dust them off to parade their traditional fervor to all. The season when people struggle to sit cross legged on the floor and try to appear comfortable as they slip morsels of the sumptuous treat half into their mouth and half onto themselves. The season of all this and so much more. But these days like almost every other feast/festival known to man, it too has become essentially commercialized. The feast has come to be associated with external gimmicks and its true spirit is perhaps lost in all the glitz and dazzle. This view; though it has been doing the rounds for some time in some of the discussions on the subject; and particularly in my memory, in mine and I guess other Malayalam classrooms; came home all the more strongly to me when I celebrated this Onam with my family to realize that many of my youngest cousins and even my niece didn’t know the legend behind Onam. Now this legend was something almost all of us knew when we were children and I guess almost all my readers (that’s what 2 or 3 of my friends?) would know it. But still here goes for the sake of posterity or that random soul who may due to some quirk of fate or chance end up at this blog.

Kerala it is believed was once ruled by the benevolent Asura Mahabali. Now benevolent and Asura are two words that mix as well as oil and water I must say, because an Asura by definition is one who does not possess any good in him. However Mahabali turned out to be of a different cut and his reign was apparently characterized by happiness and prosperity all round. A very popular folk song from Kerala when translated concludes that it was an age when there was no lie in all the land and all humans were equal. Now good though Mahabali may have been Asura as he was, trouble was bound to pop up and it did in the form of his son Banasura and the Asura guru Sukracharya who decided that an Ashwamedha yajna (rite) would be done in Mahabali’s name. Now this yajna when completed would make Mahabali the unquestioned king of the three known worlds (ie the over world (heaven), earth and the underworld (land of the dead)). Being an Asura it was decided by the Devas that it would be dangerous to bequeath such power on Mahabali. As is their vaunt the Devas beseeched lord Vishnu the preserver to protect them and vanquish Mahabali. Heeding their request Vishnu took the form of a dwarf Brahmin as his fifth avatar and appeared at the venue of the yajna seeking alms from the king. Mahabali was an astute devotee of the lord Vishnu and had taken the vow of charity. Thus he asked Vamana to request for anything he wanted in spite of his guru Sukracharya’s (who had seen through the ploy) advice. Vamana meekly requested for land as would be covered by three of his steps. Then assuming his Universal form Vamana covered the entire earth and the heavens with two of his steps. He then requests the king for place to take the third step. Mahabali humbly offered his head to the Lord. Impressed by his devotion Vamana decides to grant him a boon. Mahabali is said to have requested to be allowed to visit his subjects once every year. Having granted the boon Vamana places his feet on Bali’s head and pushes him down to Patala. It is this event that is commemorated through Onam and it is believed that every Onam the great Bali visits his subjects to ensure their welfare.

Now coming to the second part of the topic there is an interesting incongruence associated with the Mahabali legend and another legend regarding the creation of Kerala. It is believed that Kerala was created by Parasurama by reclaiming land from the sea god Varuna. However it is interesting to note that Parasurama was the sixth avatar of Vishnu thereby coming chronologically after Vamana. Then how could Bali have ruled Kerala which apparently had not been created yet. There are people who explain this off on the basis of different interpretations of the Sanskrit text. It is claimed that only a part of the land was reclaimed by Parashurama and by others that it was the advancement of Lord Varuna to encroach the land that was blocked by Lord Parasuram. But all do not adhere to this point of view leaving us thus with a bone of contention regarding the two avatar legends most commonly associated with the beautiful state of Kerala.

A Vision for our Nation

Come another AUGUST 15 and Indians at home and abroad are filled with an immense surge of patriotism as they celebrate another Independence Day. Plastic flags fluttering in cars, patriotic songs blaring from speakers and status messages and nicknames changed to reflect patriotic fervor; the changes are difficult to ignore. But as the day passes and things ease down one observes that little has actually changed. At this juncture I believe it will do us much good to view in retrospect where we stand as a nation today after 61 years of independence.

Our independence as a modern nation began on the 15th of August in the year 1947.Free from nearly one and a half centuries of imperial hegemony our motherland stood with head held high and bright hopes for a glorious future. Clothed in magnificent robes and decked in jewels bought with the blood and tears and sweat of our great freedom fighters but marred with the gash of communalism that had already raised its head, our pioneering fathers led by towering personalities like Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel pledged themselves to the building of a modern and self sufficient nation. Today 61 years hence hindsight on what we have achieved and how far down the path of progress we have travelled is called for.

One of the most heartening features with relation to the history of independent India is the fact that we as a nation have kept the flame of democracy alive in the face of many adversities. This is indeed something to be proud about. It is very common these days to compare and contrast the progress we have made with that achieved by China in the same period of about 60 years. But what one forgets is the sacrifices in terms of fundamental rights and freedom that the common Chinese man has had to make for the sake of that progress. How heavy is the price of progress that demands the uprooting of entire homesteads and the shifting of thousands of people and destroying of thousands of acres of forests for the construction of dams and industries? And any voice raised in protest is quelled. What value is there in progress if the nation sees naught in crushing the voices and spirit of its youth under the cold steel of battle tanks? What one must remember is that the nation is created for the sake of the people and not vice versa. A nation has its existence only through its people and hence the suppressing of their rights does not augur well for it. Thus the adherence to democracy as a cornerstone for our political process is something I take great pride in and the maintenance of it in all its beauty and power is an important political vision that I hold for our motherland. Having talked about its maintenance I would also emphasize that it is not something that allows us to be complacent. While it does exist, democracy as our nation practices it is far from perfect and making the democratic system more effective and efficient as a political system is a task that needs dedicated effort if our nation is to progress in the future.

Shifting from the political to the economic front, we see a slightly different scenario. While our founding fathers showed immense wisdom in deciding in favour of a democratic system the socialistic system to which they bound our nation’s economy was perhaps not the best choice. It is true that the socialistic setup initially allowed our nation to develop heavy industries and form a backbone for our future development, but our persistence with the socialistic model caused us to lose focus and squander our strong start. This is because the continuing success of a state run enterprise is dependent on the capacity of the sate to coerce workers to make sacrifices for the sake of profits. That this would not work in a democratic welfare state was clear and the fact that we took so much time to delink our industries from govt. control has cost us dear. However it is no use to cry over spilt milk. We have lost our impetus in primary industries. I believe that our attempt now should be directed to achieving a dominant international position in emerging technologies and processes rather than try to catch up in basic industries. While maintaining our growth and fundamental robustness in large if not profitable heavy industries we must strive to cover the income deficit through avenues like nanotechnology and genetic engineering. It is fortunate that providence at this moment in history has given us a chance to take pioneering strides in these fields. Our progress in high technology sectors like space and missile technology should be a guiding light for us. The scientific acumen of our intelligentsia has a proven track record in terms of high technology. Visionary steps need to be taken to tap this immense potential and develop such cutting edge technologies. Thus my vision for India in the economic sector envisages a pioneering position in emerging technologies on the basis of which we can emerge as a world leader of the future.

The above essay thus summarizes my politico-economic vision for our motherland on her 61st Birthday. This vision calls for dedicated effort on the parts of us as citizens of this great land to realize it. We should be willing to make short term sacrifices for the sake of long term gains while ensuring that their benefits seep down to all levels of the society. It is by ensuring such equable distribution of benefits and advantages of progress that socialism can be achieved in our nation in the true sense that our founding fathers intended it. Misguided steps have already lead us astray at points in our short history as an independent nation. It is often said that India is 50 years young and 5000 years old. This is true in more senses than one and the rich pages of our history as a nation held together by common convictions and the common sense of nationalism that can be traced back to the vary dawn of our history when the peoples of Jambudveepa where held to have a common ancestry and destiny are proof for it. We should learn the lessons that this history teaches us to ensure that we will never again repeat the mistakes of our past. Thus a a vibrant India having an efficient and democratic political system, leading the world in the technological innovations of the future and ensuring social justice and equality of advantage and opportunity to all is my vision for our Motherland India on her 61st independence day.

Why we can’t achieve a Grand Unified Theory in Science

The arrival at a Grand Unified Theory (GUT) has been a pursuit for a large number of scientists throughout the later years of the development of science. It has remained a matter of passion particularly for physicists. It was believed as a last pursuit of Einstein that evaded him even in his deathbed. Recently I was reading a book by Eric D Beinhocker titled `The Origin of Wealth’. The book aims at introducing and expounding the view of economics as an `evolutionary’ rather than `equilibrium pointing’ mechanism. Anyways be that as it may, the book is particularly critical of traditional economists choice of assumptions far removed from actually existing conditions in the economy. Economists in their rigour to attune economics made assumptions a la the scientific process of postulating on the basis of assumptions.

It is the nature of these assumptions that will form the core of the argument of my piece today. Assumptions have been an inexcusable part of the scientific process since the advent of modern science in the late renaissance period. Often these assumptions are very skilfully arrived at and their utility in solving a majority of scientific questions is beyond argument. Every student of science knows from proving his Bernoulli’s theorems and Gas laws how necessary such assumptions are. It is not these assumptions mind you that I see as a cause for our incapability to reach a GUT. It is rather the scale of the assumptions that I feel is the underlying cause of our failure. Science in its broad sweep covers matters as varied as that pertaining to the charm and colour* of the quark to the speed at which galaxies move away from each other. Scientist have reliably arrived at conclusions regarding such parts of nature as varied in terms of magnitude as quarks and galaxies based on assumptions that vary in their order of magnitude accordingly. The order of magnitude of these assumptions in their variance forms a basic dissymmetry that prevents the unification of scientific theories. This is because these assumptions are generally outside the set of the experiment and are not explained by the conclusions regarding the experiment.

Thus I believe that it is only by ensuring a minimum set of assumptions that we can work towards a unified theory. Thus minimum set should be well defined and capable of being the basis of all our scientific endeavours. Such a set would probably originate at a microcosmic level. It would of course call for a reworking of quite a few of our explanations for macro cosmic phenomenon on a rigorously mathematical basis involving umpteen numbers of calculations. This would require computing power far beyond tens of magnitudes of what we have in supercomputers today.

Hence I believe that in the present scenario we should be satisfied with what we have in terms of macro and micro theories based on assumptions with the corresponding scale and forego the quest for a GUT.

* This colour is not our traditional pigment but rather a term that scientist use for a particular trait of the quark

FISH! FISH! FISH! er Fish

(This is a prehistoric article. Slightly lazy so i thought i would upload this one. Hf)

Sept 11th 2001. No I’m not adding to the already endless list of articles written on a far too blown out event. Rather I’m relating the incidents that made it one of the bitterest days in my life.

The sun rose bright and shining as usual. However, I rose along with it, which was extremely unusual. It was the day of our Inter House Quiz.

I walked into school with a cocky ‘know it all’ attitude. The sight of the other participants preparing was the first sight that set my heart beating at a rate that is scientifically considered slightly higher than normal. But not enough to make my hand quiver as I announce my name.

The grueling rounds of quizzing started fairly well and my team progressed at a fairly even pace. Then came the question ‘What or Who was Pol Pot?’
I apply my world famous, er I mean ‘class famous’ logic and think ‘Since a teapot is used to make tea, a polpot should be some sort of cooking vessel used to make a drink called pol’. I shoot out the answer. The wry smile on the quizmaster’s face tells me that I am as far away from the answer as Bush is from responsible. (No offence meant). Later I came to know that Pol Pot was an inhumane leader of the Khmer Rouge party that used to rule Cambodia.

And so the Quiz continued until the Speed Round at the beginning of which I found my team stranded at the fourth position. My teammates and I wait eagerly for the questions. The tension is mounting. The question came like a jolt out of the blue. ‘Which animal would you associate with pisciculture?’ The obvious answer was fish and I screamed it out. Unfortunately in my eagerness to finish out the question, it came out something like this ‘FISH! FISH! FISH!’

The answer had an effect that was entirely opposite to my aim. The whole auditorium burst out laughing along with the Quizmaster, wasting our precious seconds. Ever since that day, I have carried the nickname ‘Fish’ with me. Wherever I go, whatever I do, I’m always ‘Fish’. Haste makes waste after all.

Time for the Second Green Revolution?

The days are a changing in the land of the Ganges. The quintessential " whatever will happen we cant be the best" attitude of the Indian people which even our beloved President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam criticised has it seems been replaced with a " come what may we are the future superpower" attitude in India. The soaring stock market is an indicator of the buoying confidence of the investment sector in India inc. While all this may be all good and gung-ho so to say i feel that we must take a moment to pause and take stock of the situation that we are really in. It is true that the services sector and to an extent the manufacturing sector are seeing days that are rosier than any that exist in the memories of any generation of Indians who are alive today.The globalisation and open market economic policies rung in back in the early 90's with our present Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at the helm seem to have started reaping in their benefits in many folds. However all may not be as rosy as it seems. Our agricultural sector as any person who remembers his geography lessons from school well enough, knows is the backbone of our economy. In fact it has been so since the earliest traces of our Civilisation has existed.We are lucky to have had a true renaissance in this sector when with the help of Dr Norman Barloug our very own Dr MS Swaminathan( the father of the Green Revolution in India) ushered in an era of increased productivity and high dividends. However the sheen of that achievement is fast fading. The Green Revolution that ensured that our country never faced a famine post independance inspite of our rapidly growing population was confined to the production of wheat and the success was never exactly be reproduced in the sector of paddy cultivations. It is indeed time for a second Green Revolution as our President keeps reminding us. This time providence may not aid us with a foreign scientist willing to help out developing nations .For we seem to have grown out of that tag and become something of a big brother nation ourselves. Our path will have to made by ourselves. AGricultural institutions all over the nation should be imparted with a greater impetus and better incentives in order to usher in a second Green Revolution. Only then can the base of our econoomy be strengthened sufficiently in order to ensure that the rapid strides we are taking in other sectors are consolidated