Scientist, Politician, Editor… 17 January 2008

This genius was born this day in the year 1706 at Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America as the fifteenth child of his parents. He

· was one of the most important and influential Founding Fathers of the United States of America.

· was a leading author and printer.

· was a political theorist, politician, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.

· was a scientist and inventor. His greatest contribution to the world is his discovery of electricity. He invented the lightning rod, bifocals, a stove, a carriage odometer, a musical instrument known as glass harmonica, and the flexible urinary catheter. Importantly, he never patented his inventions.

· formed both the first public lending library and the first volunteer fire fighting company.

· used to play violin, harp, and guitar and also compose music.

· printed a new currency based on innovative anti-counterfeiting method.

· made eight voyages across the Atlantic Ocean and made design changes in ships.

His name is Benjamin Franklin. Let us raise our hands to salute him!

S .Gopal
….Keying in is better than idling

Birth Anniversary of a Great Man….. 12 January 2008

He was born this day in 1863 at Calcutta.

He inspired Jamshedji Tata to set up the Indian Institute of Science.

His name is Narendranath Dutta, but is popularly known as Swami Vivekananda.

He was a born leader and was good at studies, theatre, music, and sports. He questioned the validity of God, superstitious customs, and discrimination based on caste and religion. He studied at the Presidency College and Scottish Church College at Calcutta. He was interested in logic, philosophy, and history.

The turning point in his life came when he met his Guru, Ramakrishna for the first time in November 1881.

When the Raja of Ramnad in the state of Tamil Nadu was invited to address the World Parliament of Religions in 1893 at Chicago, USA, he felt that Vivekananda was the right person to represent the views of Hinduism in that conference.

Vivekananda began his address with his famous words, “Sisters and brothers of America.” That marked the beginning of western interest in Hinduism as a vital religious and philosophical tradition.

S .Gopal
…Keying in is better than idling

A Rewarding Week…. 13 January 2008

(about 300 words)

The last week (6 to 12 January 2008) was one of the most intellectually stimulating week for me. I had the good fortune of listening to four brilliant and hard thinking men of contemperory India on four consecutive evenings starting 8 January 2008. I wish the Indian politicians listened to them too! All these public lectures were held in Bangalore.

R. Chidambaram, the Scientific Adviser to the Government of India (and a former chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission) spoke about the status of nuclear energy in India. He talked on the basis of his vast experience as an active scientist as well as a science administrator with international exposure.

A. P. Venkateswaran, India’s former ambassador to China and a former foreign secretary spoke on `India and China – a comparison’. He was very cynical about India-China relations. He was not sure whether there would be any true friendship between the two countries in spite of the visit of India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh who is in China now.

Ramachandra Guha, a political and cricket historian, spoke on the `Beauty of Compromise’ (a term borrowed from Mahatma Gandhi). He felt that most conflicts in Asia can be solved by dialogue. However, on the subject of Kashmir he felt that solution was not that easy.

M. S. Valiathan, a cardiac surgeon by training and a former vice chancellor of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education spoke on the Science of Ayurveda. He traced the 2000-year history of this ancient Indian concept and practice with special reference to the works of Susrutha and Charaka and ended with the current status if research in this field in India.

In some subsequent issues of Penumbra I will try to share with you what I learnt in these lectures.

S .Gopal
…Keying in is better than idling

Blessing in Disguise.. 26 December 2007

(more than 300 words..)

I do not know if there is an expression in Hindi or Tamizh which can adequately convey the emotion of the English term `Blessing in Disguise’. But I have seen it in action many times. One happened yesterday.

It was good that I sprained my ankle. The doctor advised me to keep indoors and not to strain my leg. So the proposal to go out and have lunch at a restaurant was dropped.

I was spared of

• eating that same old naan, paneer ka sabzi, daal makhani, mixed vegetable curry, aaloo-matar rasedhar and the like
• paying a hefty bill for that
• spending some indecisive minutes to work out what amount of tip will not make us look like some ghatees (uncultured village folks)
• having to `look’ for a parking lot and stll having to walk around a kilometer or more
• popping a Digene tablet after returning home

Instead, our taste buds were lovingly delighted with

· Dahi-vada (the real ones, not the soaked-in-water types)

· Bhel Poori

· Gaajar ka halwa (the red variety)

· Mini poories, one and half inches in diameter

· Aaloo khara curry (not the very spicy type)

· Mixed vegetable rice

· Rasam Saadam (Ready-to-eat) *

· Curd rice (Ready-to-eat) *

· Freshly fried papads

· Pickles

* to suit lazy people like me who don’t like wasting energy and hand-movements to mix rice with other ingredients.

Super tasty food. Cooked at home. No waiting at the table. Served on time. Items appetisingly laid out on the table. All crockery in place. The three-in-one chef-cook-butler goading you to have one more helping of the dish you like. No payment to be made. No tips, either.

Sorry, folks. You missed it. If there is one reason why you should relocate to Bangalore, here it is!

Thank you, Radha.

S .Gopal ….Keying in is better than idling

I met a young (?) scientist… 24 December 2007

Day-before-yesterday, I had the rare privilege of meeting this young scientist at a lecture session in Bangalore.

He is Dr. T. Ananda Rao, the botanist, who

• is a veritable treasure house of eco-information.
• is actively engaged in environmental and ecological projects.
• is the author of several books and research papers.
• is a specialist in orchids (He has collected more than 140 of the 175 orchid species that are seen in Karnataka. Orchid is a collective term for a set of flowers which have a great ability to survive and grow on biological wastes which often feed themselves just by sucking moisture from the air).
• lost his wife in 1992, and who finds solace in his botanical passion.
• used to employ a friendly monkey (who would go with him on his scientific tours) to climb up tall trees to pick up orchids; he only had to bribe his friend with bananas.

He is ONLY 97 years Young…

S. Gopal …..Keying in is better than idling

Negative Role Models… 18 December 2007

(about 280 words..)

They are perceived to be next only to God, because they save lives. I agree. Hence, they are role models. Everybody watches them closely, as I did when I was admitted to a hospital.

Several actions of some doctors are, however, not worth emulating. Here we go.

· A notice fixed near the door of a lift said: `only for patients’. I found doctors using this lift even though there was another working lift designated for the exclusive use of medical personnel.

· Doctors do not need a microbiologist to tell them not to roam around canteens and other places in their white coat – the attire, which they are seen with while examining patients.

· `No footwear inside’ warns a signboard at the entry to the Radiology room; you will find doctors entering the room with their shoes on, and mind you they are not special hospital slippers.

· `Keep Silence. Hospital Zone’, says the writing on the wall. White coated ones would stand and talk loudly just below the notice. Some would zoom in their vehicles.

· Once I was in an Intensive Care Unit of a hospital for a night as a patient. The doctor interns gossiped and joked all through the night while I was lying in discomfort.

· Doctors say that smoking is bad for health, but they themselves smoke in public; in my own case, a doctor who examined me in the Casualty department was reeking of nicotine and I had to inhale the passive smoke.

Who will advise those who are supposed to advise us?

S .Gopal ….Keying in is better than idling

Holy or Unholy ?….. 12 December 2007

When there was a hue and cry about thousands of acres of government land in Bangalore having been grabbed by influential citizens, the government instituted a joint legislature committee to probe the matter.

The committee has finalised its report.

As was expected, the list contains names of politicians and their relatives, film producers and stars, real estate developers etc. However, it also includes some names that I did not expect to be there, namely corporates like IBM, L and T.

What is worrisome is that religious institutions revered by the man on the street find a place in the list. The report says that the Adichunchangiri Mutt has encroached upon about 18 acres and the Art of Living Foundation has grabbed about 13 acres. I wonder:

· What signals do these institutions send to the public?

· Are such acts sanctioned by the religious texts?

· Should the common man follow the preachings of the religious leaders or imitate their institutions in real life?

· Should we turn a blind eye to this?

S. Gopal

… keying in is better than idling

Ira: What is it?……. 9 December 2007

No, it is not an endangered species. It is rare, but not an animal though. Read on.

· Ira is a village in the Bantwal taluk of the Dakshin Kannada district of the state of Karnataka, India.

· It houses 1 231 families.

· It is completely clean, fully literate, and plastic-free.

· All the houses will soon have toilets set up with the help of the government and donation from a private contractor.

· All the plastic garbage generated in the village are being collected and sent to Bangalore for recycling.

· Ira boasts of

o 4 schools

o 3 temples

o 2 child care centres

o 1 each anganwadi, primary health centre, post office, registration centre, telephone exchange etc.

· The elders of Ira are also planning to make it a dispute less village.

· Delegations from various states of India and even other countries are visiting Ira to study and replicate the system in their villages.

Will we urbanites learn a lesson or two from Ira? Your guess is as good as mine.

S. Gopal

…..keying in is better than idling

Volunteerism in Bangalore.. 5 December 2007

Citizens of Bangalore hold a common view that the young – employed splurge money and indulge in pleasures without any concern for those who are not as lucky as they are. It’s about time this opinion is erased!Youngsters, especially those working in the Information Technology sectors, are coming together in good numbers and setting up their own voluntary groups or providing their services to existing voluntary organisations. They just don’t throw away money but actively involve themselves in activities.

Some of the organisations that are doing good volunteer work on the ground are:

· iVolunteer

· Chrisallis Performance Arts Centre for the Challenged

· Kilkilli

· Samarthanm Trust

· Asheyein

· R.K. Foundation – Clothes and Food Bank

· Baljothi Centre for the Disabled

· Project Milana

They work among the mentally or physically disabled (differently abled) children, inmates of orphanages, or young rag-pickers. They organise Christmas or Deepavali gatherings for them. Chrisallis, for example, have planned to give gifts to 10 000 children during this Christmas.

May the volunteer-tribe increase!

S. Gopal
….Keying in is better than idling

Dr. K. S. Krishnan… 4 December 2007

Today is the birth anniversay of the world-renowned physicist Dr. K. S. Krishnan. Some information about him: He · was the first director of the National Physical Laboratory. · worked under Professor C.V. Raman in the field of optics; it is said that he was partly responsible for the discovery of the “Raman Effect.” · studied the fine arrangements in various solids and the forces between atoms or molecules that keep them so. · made significant contributions in the field of thermionics, the study of electrons emitted by a hot bady, their behaviour and control. · studied how heat is distributed in solids of various shapes, namely rods and coils, when heated in a vacuum. · discovered ‘Quantum Phenomena’ in condensed matter. · was more than a scientist; he was well versed in Sanskrit, English and Tamil literature. · had a deep knowledge of Indian culture, religion and philosophy. · used to often say: Physics means facing facts. · was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1940. S .Gopal ….Keying in is better than idling