Aye, aye, AI!

 On February 16 began this 'maha yadnya' entitled the AI Impact Summit. Yes, there is a reason why I am thus naming it. The Hindu Yogic philosophy believes in the seven 'chakras' that lead to a healthy body and a balanced mind. The AI Impact Summit, right now in full flourish in the capital, too, has outlined seven such principles for the AI to follow. 

These principles, to state them in a summary form, would harness the impactful AI in the service of countries, would improve societies, would lead to a betterment of knowledge and, most importantly, would help one and all. 

This fourth AI summit is different because for the first time a developing country is hosting it. An assertion hence it is that the world is now multi-polar. It is staged on a grand scale, too. One hundred and thirty-five countries are participating in it. Bigwigs such as Monsieur Macron of France, our very own son-in-law, the erstwhile P. M. of the currently beleaguered Britain, the heads of Brazil, Sri Lanka are there. 

Centrally significant is the fact is that the who is who of the industry are there, be it Sam Altman, Bill Gates, or the pride of India, Sundar Picchai. I listened carefully to a number of conclaves. The Google CEO believes, he confirmed, that India already has hundreds of future Picchai's who would better the here and now of India. The TCS Head, N. Chandrashekharan, too, sounded highly hopeful about this technological disruption.

Nice to hear such optimism from such bigwigs! Well, after weeks of the UGC debacle, at last some ray of positivity and hope! Yes, I do still feel that this technological revolution is not like the earlier ones. It is "intelligence" after all, 'artificial' though it may be. 

Tough it is to decide right now whether it would be a business bubble or a dystopian future as was predicted in Davos! Right now, however, with the varied cultural bonanza beautifying the event, it is indeed 'Aye, Aye, AI'!

Pratima@ The AI may open up a new job range. Would it be accessible to most all, conceptually, intellectually, difficulty wise? That is my first doubt.

 Next, the AI promises a technology driven world wherein, would knowledge be lop- sided? Already there are reports of Humanities Departments closing. Can such a future be truly human(e) or intelligent for that matter? 

Most importantly, how about the competition? Why, absolutely sad is the Galgotias University fiasco! Beware, beloved country!

Quote of the day: Four quotes today that reveal facets of the relationship between technological explosion and society. 

1) "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity." — Albert Einstein

2) "We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us." — Marshall McLuhan

3) "The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers." — Sydney Harris

4) "Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master." — Christian Lange.

Word of the day: disruption                       Disruption refers to radical change to an existing industry or market due to technological innovation. "No industry, for instance, is immune to digital disruption" would be an apt example.

Ugly is how it begins

 Remember the 2006 Nithari/Noida Pandher/Koli case? Disgusting beyond words it was. The horrible duo were man-eaters. Literally! 

Now let us turn to the notorious Epstein files. What with Rahul Gandhi winking at Hardeep Puri and thus as usual stalling the parliamentary procedure, ignoring all along all possible central and major issues to create ruckus through sheer nuisance value! 

The Epstein files, as reported in the media and social media, are much worse. Here there is every possible perversity, cannibalism of the Nithari variety seasoned with vulgar voyeurism and using minor kids as sexual toys. How such people can be called human beings is itself a question much worse than the famous Sphinx query! Devil incarnate would be ashamed to call these so-called elites his own! 

What is truly disturbing about these atrocious Epstein files is that they re-define corruption. Corruption is no longer merely monetary. I read up a piece by Sanjeev Chandorkar who relates the files to the neo-liberal/neo-capitalist mode of acquiring and centralising power. 

In Chandorkar's opinion, the elite(!!??!!) club gangs up the power brokers in various fields so as to wield control over policies across sovereign states, beyond national borders. To control them so that they do not tell tales, they are lured in to horrid activities, and blackmailed in to co-operation, and convenient silence. 

These power-hungry, power-drunk bigwigs, childish enough to 'play' ' kid' games, are not adult enough to own up their horrid wrong doings. Instead, they 'play along', destroying innocent lives while mouthing homilies about justice of all possible kinds! Satans incarnate! 

Why have I remembered such creeps at all? Well, on one of the statuses were uploaded pics of a picnic of an international school. Obviously, the kids must come from extremely affluent families to afford the fee- structure, and the unstated but very much meant donations, right?  

Clearly, these kids belong to the primary stage of 'education'. How are they celebrating the picnic feel? The pics show their party spirit! Dancing while standing on the handles of bus seats, dancing while holding a 'bottle' atop the head! A lady, could be a teacher?, is watching such antics calmly! Parents proudly parade such portraits! And the social media world wide gases about Epstein's! The devil begins, lies (in all possible meanings of this word) in details! 

Pratima@ May I share another Epstein  example?  Professors who are Ph.D.'s but cannot produce in writing (an activity wherein you can think and 'check') a single correct sentence, professors who, it is told, write books overnight,  professors who complete portions even when lectures are not conducted, professors who 'in-directly' leak question papers, professors who gladly give ten marks on five, professors who correct thousand papers in a day, professors who allow students absence from academics, professors who wear the latest designer dresses n jewellery, et al, what with the eighth pay commission (or is it the ninth?) salaries but shy from buying any books, professors who play politics in ways that could shame career politicians, professors who are better than the WhatsApp in forwarding downright n sick canards, and target every possible way individuals who possibly might be competitors! "All is well, all is well" shriek Ranchos, and everyone enjoys Epstein scandals! 

Quote of the day:                                                   "Integrity, transparency and the fight against corruption have to be part of the culture. They have to be thought as fundamental values," writes  Angel Gurria, the OECD Secretary General of Transparency International. 

Word of the day: embezzlement.                            Embezzlement is a white-collar financial crime involving the fraudulent appropriation or theft of money or property by a person to whom it was entrusted, such as an employee, fiduciary, or agent. Unlike theft, the perpetrator has lawful access to the assets but misappropriates them for personal gain. It is a serious offense leading to high fines and imprisonment.                          Such is the online definition. How to define embezzlement of ethics?

As such, such is the reality, why at all go for  "Let us learn grammar"? Who at all would care for correct usage? Most would consider it 'boring' and 'terrorising' to poor, poor (obviously not financially) learners! Better to forget the feature!

Just Juicy!

 It is the typical midday rush, traffic roaring at the usual high decibel, adding sound pollution to the smoggy air of the late winter. Suddenly from somewhere, you hear that lyrically rhythmic sound of bells tied around a cow's neck. 

The nostalgia for that peaceful rural life wafting in the astringent air makes you look for the source of that musical interlude, and then you see it, the simple sugarcane juice stand. In the corner is the machine jingling those bells, a few plastic chairs, a wooden bench, a calendar or two on the simple walls; that is the whole decor of this stall. 

The juice is machine squeezed. Some centers may add a dash of lemon and ginger while the sugarcane is thus getting machine crushed. Add a pinch of salt to it, and without any ice, too, it cools down the hot afternoon around. 

Aai used to like it, too. Often I used to buy it from a wooden crusher driven by a bullock whose owner and his wife would migrate for the season. The simple crusher had a rustic beauty of its own. At home, I used to add grated ginger and a drop or two of lemon with a little salt and cumin seeds. Absolutely heavenly, and a tad tastier than the typical homely lemon juice!

Sometimes, I used to carry home "neera", the juice of  ice apple or palm fruit, and dress it up a little with cumin seeds. She used to like it, too, like the coconut water. In fact, from the Grahak Peth, I used to buy small sachets full of the powder form of coconut water. A glassful of water and the contents of the sache would make a great drink, and she did like it. 

Solkadhi, made of kokum n curds n coriander leaves n ginger n garlic was another favourite. During the summer season, from the Grahak Peth, I used to buy one litre jars of kokum and amla  concentrates, which, too, made our evenings cool n fresh. 

Healthy juices, wealthy with minerals, et al. Wise choice indeed, unmatched, and with a zing of its own!

Pratima@The sugar cane stall reminds me of the traditional jaggery making unit where Papa had taken us during our Kolhapur visit. I remember the unit at Gursale, too, where I had gone with Ajoba, that is, Aai's father. In other words, these health concentrates are memory rich, too!

Quote of the day:                                                      Freshly squeezed, simply sweet are such nature's nectars that revitalise the taste buds! Truly heavenly concoctions whose very sip is nutrient packed perfection! Just like this quote squeezed from very many fizzy drink ads, fashionable but hardly healthy!

Words of the day:                                                  Here is a list of words related to taste. Taste adjectives may describe flavours and sensory experiences, ranging from primary tastes (sweet, sour, bitter, salty, umami/savory) to intensity and quality descriptors (tangy, rich, bland, or fiery).  Some terms (flavorful, delicious, zesty, smoky, and acrid) help define the culinary profile of the beverages, and of food, too. So says the thesaurus.                                                      As our wor(l)ds today are so full, this week let us learn grammar tomorrow onwards.

This Tale Tells a lot...

 As it is the Maha Shivratri, let me share this tale. For one thing, I love it. Want to know why? To begin with, it glorifies all that is "shiv", that is, pure, holy, 'spirit-ual'. The folk tale, moreover, echoes the beginning of the Ramayana which, in a way, proves that, in the essence, godliness is the quintessential Truth, whether the form be Shiva or Rama. 

Once upon a time, there was this wicked, vicious, heartless hunter. On the Mahashivratri day, he went to the forest for the hunt. He searched for a prey the whole day. He could not get any. Hungry he was.  He did not want to go home empty-handed though. He decided to stay in the jungle that night.

Like all crafty people, he had a cruel plan ready. He knew that at night animals would come to a water source to drink water. Thus would he get prey properly trapped. He went to the brook nearby, got himself a cone of water which he made there and then, and climbed a tree nearby.

As it was the night time, and as the no moon night was approaching fast, in the darkness he did not realise that the tree was a "bilwa" tree. It was a few minutes past the midnight. A fawn came to the waterfront. The hunter eagerly moved, and fast. In the process, from the cone fell a few drops of water, and bilwa patra, the holy leaves, on the Shivling exactly below the tree. 

The hunter had noticed nothing. Without his realising it, in the first hour of the  Mahashivratri, he had performed an abhishek. Something softer must have thus stirred in his newly emergent soul. When the fawn asked him not to kill it, he did not demur. The fawn promised to return after re-uniting with the family. 

In the second hour, it was the doe. The same process repeated itself with the same result and the same promise. In the third hour, it was the turn of the stag. In the fourth hour, that entire family returned truthfully. The hunter was so touched by it that he stood up the branch. The Abhishek this time was not meagre.

Shiva, the gentle, straightforward, kind soul that this deity is, was so touched by the unmeant prayer of the hunter that he appeared before the hunter to bless him. The hunter was truly transformed at that divine moment!

Now let me tell you why I like this tale very much. First and foremost, it shows the simple purity that is the "Shiva" principle. It proves, moreover, that Shiva is so kind and go(o)d-ly that unmeant prayer, too, pleases him. In other words, rituals do not matter as they are often mere religiosity. Most of all, I love the purity, simplicity, honesty of the deer family. Dear are animals! Hence the title of this Mahashivratri special, "this tale tells a lot"!

 Pratima@Even when this folk tale might not have a "Ma nishad: tvam" moment, it shows how the deities are kind to everyone. Hence the choice of this tale, though I had initially decided to write about the Shiv-Parvati vivah, and its symbolic signification.                                                                                                  Quote of the day:                                                       Wrote the great Adi Shankara in "Nirwan Shatakam",  "Chidanand rup:, Shivo ahm Shivo ahm." It means, I am the blessed, forever, soul-felt ecstasy, I am the pure, the divine, the heavenly. 

Word of the day: grateful                         Grateful is how I feel to Lord Shiva. I must confess that my genuine devotion for the great Shankara, the father of Ganesh, my favourite most god, has reached Himalayan heights ever since my Chardham sojourn (I forever remember every moment there/then) was truly "facilitated" whole-ly in a holy way. Not a single problem did I encounter, thanks be to all that is great, good, and divine, the " Shiv" principle ! 

Love in the Times of Market n Hatred

 After the World War II, which saw atrocities such as the Holocaust and the Hiroshima-Nagasaki tragedy, the novel as a literary genre for quite some time dealt with the theme called writing a novel. Such meta-fiction kind of texts were in a way admission of the fearsome fact; namely, after such horrendous injustices, what literary sensibility? In such times of despair burst on the literary horizon the Latin-American literary boom. The title of our blog is a take on the title of one of the major novels by Marquez, the ultimate guru of the genre. 

No, the title is not a mere word play. In a way, it, too, concedes the fact that love is an expensive proposition currently. Look at the day today; in fact, the entire week. A total genuflection it is to consumerism. The give-n-take of Valentine gifts is a market commodification of that great feel of togetherness called love, right? 

No, I am not being cynical. Love is not love when it to the markets n shops bends. Oh, no, it is not a mere heart-shaped goodie of some sort. Congested cafés/bars and overcrowded shops/discotheques may in the mode of done things be-(n)come. Let us not to the listing of typical ways of the Valentine day more details add. Poor Shakespeare must be, as it is, turning in his grave, given this take on his lovely sonnet!

May I tell you yet another reason why such a title to the blog (for) today? You must have read about/seen what happened in the North Block of the Delhi University, right? The very many videos of that horrid incident have gone viral apparently.

Well, if a query, even if it were provocative as is claimed, though the journalist's version does not make one believe so, is going to result in a mob, almost lynching, attack, with the police around, on one single young woman just because she belongs to a certain caste the mob does not like, what kind of society are we living in, and that, too, in the twenty-first century?!?

In a such a hostile climate, that beautiful feeling called love which consists of all that is the best, and would certainly make one a better human(e) being, would be rather like the Wordsworthian "violet by a mossy stone/half hidden from the eye" of such vicious, bitter, and ugly world, and it better be!

Pratima@ As a compensation,  better to read Shakespeare's sonnets or Elisabeth Barret Browing's "How do I love thee?" or Browning's "Prospice" or Edwin Muir's "Orpheus' Dream" or the story of our own Parvati and Savitri or their  modern versions, or listen to great songs, right?

Quote of the day:                                                         "Love is all we need" and "wherever we may be, with you there, it is always home" should be the best wishes for the day. What say?

Word of the day: valentine                                      As valentine means someone loved, hopefully very much, the best valentine could be your work, your pet, your family standing by you come what may, and most of all, your own self, right?

 

Women and Science

 Typically, women and Science might be considered an oxymoron. Women are supposed to be hyper sensitive which they are. That does not, however, rule out being hyper sensible! In fact, any person who is highly sensitive is sharply aware of all possible subtleties of the context, and hence can get hurt by all the subtexts that are carefully hidden. 

Such intuition is a kind of hyper rationality which is the base of the scientific enquiry. In other words, science and women are not diametrically opposed. Rather, they are complementary to each other. 

Want a live proof daily experienced? Even the most uneducated woman knows the medicinal values of every item in her kitchen, and this kind of authentic wisdom might not be codified academically. Yet it works, and most efficiently. 

In an era of Tessy Thomas and G.Madhavi Lata, why talk of the lowest common denominator when it comes to 'women and science'? Well, in a way, both of them are the creamy layer that hides the submerged iceberg of the community's attitude to women and science. Hence the attempt to prove that even illiterate women have a scientific in-sight! Long live the day dedicated to women (with-n-)in science!

Pratima@Most pertinent is the fact that the first ever science fiction, which, moreover, explores the dystopian (im)possibilities of science without a soul/heart was written by a woman who predicted almost two centuries ago what happens when man plays God irresponsibly!

Quote of the day:                                                           "Science and everyday life cannot, and should not, be separated," says Rosalind Franklin. 

Word of the day: rational                                        Rational means based on or in accordance with reason or logic. It is based in a way in the sensory experiences provided by the five senses. Such perception leads to cognition, that is, awareness/knowledge.

Let us learn grammar:                                               Let us look at another sentence structure today. It is s+v+object+object complement. An object complement provides extra information about the object. Look at the following examples. The CSK team chose Dhoni "to be the captain". The committee named her "the president" . We know a child prodigy "who completed his post graduation at fourteen". The expressions within the quotation marks are object complents which can be a noun or a prepositional phrase or a subordinate clause.

Beagle

 Beagle! The very word brings to one's mind that lovely combination of chocolate brown, white and black bundled up in a small body bursting with energy and immense love, right? Yes, my brother, Sanju, has this pedigree breed, and Tashu is one of the loveliest gifts life has to offer. 

However much I may love this cute doggie, today, I am not talking of this best buddy of mine. Rather the reference today is to this famous ship Charles Darwin travelled in during his famous voyage to South America which fed in to his re-search of the idea of natural selection. 

It was an idea that was as radical as the voyage aboard the ships Pinta, Santa Maria and Niña by Columbus who, too, discovered the South Americas, though, by accident, as actually he was looking for that "el dorado", the golden land, yes, our very own India. 

Darwin's diaries of his voyage aboard HMS Beagle made him popular as a (travel) writer. These, moreover, fed in to his radical ideas popularly known as the 'survival of the fittest'. As is always the case with monumental concepts that bring in paradigm shifts, Darwin's notion, too, was over simplified to the level of being dumbed down. Yet another example of this notorious process is Einstein's idea of relativity, right? 

Darwin's notion was revolutionary not only for the scientific world, but also for the societal set-up. The Victorian era, volatile as it was with very many radical changes, was shaken at its base, at its very core by the Darwinian concepts, however simplistically understood. 

Such a sea-change was brought about because Darwin's ideas questioned the religious base. Mankind no longer was made by Lord, the God, as His own miniature version. Rather, he was a descendant of the ape, as were widely and popularly understood Darwin's ideas which brought a paradigm shift in many branches of science! Hence this small little memoir on the occasion of Darwin's birth anniversary on February 12!

Pratima@ As my shippie brother, Raju, would accept, ships as modes of trade, whether ideational or actual, have changed destinies, Odysseys' mythical travel being yet another literary example. 

Quote of the day:                                                   "None can stop an idea whose time has come," asserted Victor Hugo.

Word of the day: anthropology                       Anthropology refers to the study of human societies and cultures, and their development.

Let us learn grammar:                                             A subject complement can be a noun or an adjective. Let us look at examples. Darwin was a scientist (a noun). Darwin's ideas were great (an adjective). This sentence construction s+v+ subject complement is often used