Sidelined Strategies in Science and Technology

Though I am a very passionate Indian at heart, I have always preferred overseas media to local ones as I think that the former are far more reliable.

This morning, CNN carried a very informative program in its `GOING GREEN' series on how geothermal resources are being used in Iceland. As usual the program was lively with input from professionals from different geothermal energy related areas. What I found most interesting was `classroom' base with students from Kenya, PNG etc.

The program made me wonder as to how amazing Iceland based geysers are used in energy production. I remember having seen geysers as a high school student when we had gone on a school excursion to southern districts of Tamilnadu (India) way back in the mid '60s. It is a disgrace that our governments and NGOs are not using natural resources such as geysers properly. I think that we should learn many things from other countries. For instance as to how the US is replacing nuclear reactors with geothermal and hydroelectric systems and how Botswana uses solar energy in its towns and villages to produce electrical energy. In fact, I and my colleagues had the pleasure of residing in solar battery powered flats inside the campus of a high school where we taught in Botswana.

Our government should rise above the intellectual base of most K-12 parents who aim for their children's `ranks' in Board exams (leaving out every thing else however important it may be) or many of our folks who aim to win `rat races' using any means (however unethical these may be).

Like many like minded people, I just don't see any logic in our Government's spending taxpayers' money in Mars mission. Instead the money should be spent in solving problems that affect common people.     

I tried to provide a link to the program, but couldn't locate it easily in the CNN website, paradoxically! 

Rock Music and Spiritualism

Some of the programs telecast over our Lok Sabha TV Channel are really very good. One such is the `Fairs of India' serial that features cultural festivals in different parts of India.  This evening's program (8 to 8 30 PM IST) featured `Banaras Utsav'. 

The program included a rock concert involving Hindu devotional music, reminding the 1960s when thousands of hippies visited the town seeking spirituality. It was nice to visualize spirituality integrated with rock music (which I guess is a pragmatic means to inspire youngsters into spirituality). I remember how George Harrison of The Beatles got involved in Hindu spiritualism way back in the '60s. The rock show as shown in the program was sponsored by Banares Round Table.

Well, when it comes to Round Table, I cannot forget something interesting that happened many years back: I was teaching Physics in a high school in a town that was 60 km away from Gaborone, Botswana. I used to go to Gaborone every Friday to attend the weekly meetings of Gaborone Round Table of which I was a member. I could always leave for Gaborone early enough to reach the meeting as I didn't have any class to take on Friday afternoons. As I was the only vegetarian there, fellow round-tablers knew my food preferences. Once we had to have our lunch in a South Korean restaurant. One of the menu items was `Ants on the tree'. I told the organizers that I wouldn't eat ants. My concern was communicated to the restaurant owner who told me that the item was simply a vegetarian side dish that included jaggery. This was a great relief from my anxiety. 

Best wishes to Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar bid farewell to test cricket last week. Though not a fan of cricket as such, I have always admired Sachin for his extraordinary cricketing capabilities and sterling qualities of simplicity, team spirit and leadership. (I remember his maiden test match played in South Africa in the early '90s at which time I was teaching physics in a high school in the region). I join numerous Sachin fans in wishing him all the best.

As I didn't have time, I couldn't write any post last week. Yesterday was an auspicious day in the Hindu calender; this was the day when Shree Mahaa Vishnu took avataar as mathsyaa many yugaas back. Yesterday was also auspicious for worshiping Kaarthikeyaa, son of Lord Shiva. Devotees worship Shree Mahaa Vishnu in his Damodaraa form (shown in the image below) during this Kaarthik month (in the Sanskrit calender). 

      

The lead story in all our media outlets today has been the successful launch of `Mangalyaan' Mission to Mars. Obviously news agencies such as BBC and CNN too highlighted this event. Well, when our Indian Government cannot handle issues such as corruption, crime rate, lack of education and basic healthcare for all its people, I just don't understand the logic behind spending Rs 450 Crores on this mission. ISRO could have spent this amount on more technically advanced projects that would benefit the common people (particularly agriculturists). (I express my views on this issue as I see it more as socioeconomic than political). 

Melodious music on mobile ads

A few decades back when TV was new to Indian households, it was fun watching good programs as there were far less commercial interruptions. Besides, commercials were more meaningful and less noisy. Well, some changes cannot be reversed as time goes by. One of these is the way in which people respond to media such as cinema and TV commercials. As anyone can easily find, many of today's TV commercials are noisy and meaningless. In such a scenario, it is really not that bad to view commercials  such as those by Airtel (mobile phone service provider) between BBC News and other programs, as they are accompanied by very nice music resembling those of Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck. (I tried to provide a link for one of Airtel's commercials but couldn't).

Fest of Lights

Today is an auspicious day for Hindus. This day is celebrated as `Diwali' meaning `Festival of Lights'. This is the day when Lord Krishna, an Avataar of Shree Mahaa Vishnu, killed the demon Narakaasura and established that the good wins over the evil, during Dwaapara Yuga. This day is also considered to be day on which Shree Ramaa, another Avataar of Shree Mahaa Vishnu, killed Ravana and proved that the good wins over the evil during Treta Yuga.

This Fest of Lights is celebrated by Hindu people all over the Global Village.

Vijaya Dashami

Today is the last day of the Dusseraah Fest and is known as Vijaya Dashami. According to Hindu scriptures, this is the day which reminds that good wins over the evil. This day is also observed by Maadhwaa community as Madhwa Jayanthi.  

Sub-atomic particles, Science and Spirituality

As far as I observe, some morning programs on our TV channels are really worth viewing. For example, those on Podhigai, Jaya and Star Vijay (with spiritual discourses by Shree Velukkudi Krishnan, Shree Anantha Padmanabhaachaariaar), ETV (with Aayurveda programs such as Jeevanjyothi), DD National (Aaj Savere), Ashta and Sanskar.   

This morning it was nice to view a spiritually enlightening interview with Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev on DD National. The interview covered spirituality, ecological conservation and democratic governance.

When Sadguru mentioned about the similarity of human beings and other things, I remembered how I used to introduce lessons on `Kinetic Theory of Matter' and `Structure of the Atom' to my Physics students by mentioning that living things (including human beings) and non-living things are made up of the same sub atomic particles and hence no different from each other except in perception. Within the animal world, many animals possess far more superior skills of perception, navigation etc. than human beings. We cannot even imagine to do many things that animals and plants do day after day. For example, pigeons fly across oceans and return to their habitats with remarkable navigation techniques, bats use ultrasonic sound to find their food or detect obstacles at night, birds make beautiful nests and so on. It is common knowledge that human beings developed many machines by carefully observing the animal world.    

But, in spite of all this we human beings do differ from other animals in one aspect viz.reasoning. In other words, we humans have the God given ability to distinguish between right and wrong. But unfortunately many people don't recognize this difference.

(In his interview Sadguru mentioned a quotation from Mark Twain, whose works left a lasting impression on me during my student days. Some of his novels were a motivating factor in writing my first published article `Racial Discrimination' in the College Magazine when I was working for my Bachelor's Degree forty five years back).           

Oasis in the media desert

In the current TV media scenario, an obvious fact is that the proportion of cultural and spiritual programs is small.This morning, Ashta channel telecast a very thought provoking program featuring the spiritual master Jaggi Vasudev.

He explained as to how imagination is not a substitute for experience. Many of us make wrong assessments about people because of relying on what others say and not from own experience. He stressed on the need to enjoy the tree and not just its fruits and observed how this is lacking today. (For example a wife who dislikes her husband but not the money and material comforts provided by him or a husband who dislikes his wife but not the home-making support that she offers). As Sadguru said, in such conditions, our perceptions will not be correct.  

I have always liked his mesmerizing speeches for their simplicity and deep meaning.