A new group

Perhaps the huge youth group that Rajiv Gandhi is forming in India will help solve many of the roadside disputes. Challenges are best met with a team albeit under deserving leadership. There are many challenges that India faces and the biggest are the divisive forces. For sake of getting elected or financial gains a few people create problems that last a very long time. For example, Pakistan wants to grab Kashmir without giving a thought to millions of muslims in other parts of India.
Fundamentalists in India use religion to get elected. Spreading awareness and forming groups are essential to solving such problems so that people do not feel alone while facing such problems. Groups usually form for negative reasons and hence groups must be formed for positive reasons too.

Life on Moon

Its great that Saturn's moon may contain life. My bet is Earth's moon contains life too.

Buying agricultural land in India

Most of the time you are breaking some law if you are buying agricultural land in India. The laws for agriculture needs to be reformed. You need to prove you are from a farming family if you buy land in India (a reminder of the caste system, may be). The intent may be to provide agricultural land a little cheaper than industrial land etc. Perhaps India must think of agricultural zones, forest zones, etc and make it a strict implementation. There are lands without record and land which is heavily populated but called forest land. So farmers cannot cut trees from their own land without breaking a law or paying a tax. NRIs cannot buy farm land, you cannot grow sandalwood or timber. Farming in India is exhausting if you want to be law abiding.

The rule is that if your yearly income is more than 2 lakhs you cannot buy agricultural land. Where did this rule come from? Beats me. Most people who do not have that income cannot afford agricultural land. So all deals involving agricultural land in India is illegal. No wonder the president of India is now in trouble. I must say its a good thing because if presidents and prime ministers of yesteryears in India had interest in agriculture the laws would not have been such a mess in the first place.

BT Brinjal

There is no harm in trying BT Brinjal. In fact BT Brinjal can offer no threat. Organic vegetables are best and the farmers (not scientists) know better than any one else about that. There are farms in India where the farmers produce organic vegetables, fruits, and grains for themselves and use pesticides for what they sell. Consumers in India must look for an organic stamp like they look for the ISI stamp of quality. Farmers are largely ignored or laws passed that affect farming are by people who understand or care little about farming. Prices of commodities do not reflect the skill, effort, nor time required to produce the same.

Increasingly plastic

Child obesity should not translate as underfed children. If growth is hampered in a child, it leads to lots of health problems as an adult. America is becoming increasingly plastic with the white house leading the trend. Whats wrong with regular people with all shapes and sizes? Exercise is good and the focus could be that people should eat healthy and exercise etc. But the focus on fighting obesity makes people worry about their self image all the time leading to a unhappy and unhealthy society. To sell products America makes it a fight against some concept of fear. Like drink dangerous tonics because you are fighting obesity, sell weapons because you are fighting terrorism etc.

The wonder about life is you exist as this mass of cells in so many shapes, sizes, colors, and forms. Its wonderful and no one should go about life not being thrilled about being alive every waking moment. Life is not plastic so celebrate.

The sad Kashmir problem

I do not understand that on one hand the constitution provides for freedom of speech and on the other hand protests are curbed by force in Kashmir. What is India afraid of? If Kashmir is a part of India and I would think it is then it is time for dialogue. Its unhealthy that the army has stayed so long in Kashmir and the problems have only gotten worse. What went wrong and what can make wrong things right is what the Indian government must find out. People of Kashmir and the rest of India wants to know how the Indian government deals with this situation. The army is not for use against one's own people. Sometimes there is no choice but in Kashmir control with an army seems to be the only method employed and for too long.

On failure

Failure is not good. It is not a preferred state. Failure makes a person unhappy. You or a system must never fail if possible. Failure is correctly unpleasant but is not the end of the world. I will never encourage failing and I hate people who do. Its always best if everyone is placing themselves and others in the most pleasant conditions. If they cannot they must not make a virtue of it.

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel - Samuel Johnson

For a few parties minority bashing is a last refuge when asking for votes. Shah Rukh Khan and his movie "My name is Khan" presents a big challenge. No matter what "My name is Khan" will be watched and quite liked too. Such is life.

Japanese cars

Japan has been able to supply very good quality cars at a reasonable price and that is the reason they dominate the market. It is amazing how when everything is so overpriced in Tokyo they keep the price of all their export goods affordable.

Science and Technology and how it works

Iran now has a really strong space technology and perhaps nuclear technology. May be even better than India and China because India collaborates with developed countries and Iran is pretty much on its own. Moreover Iran's programs will be well funded because its a matter of pride for the middle east. Scientists understand that determination is the key to getting results and politicians (or the bad scientists) think there is some magic or secret. America and the west try to control global science and technology but must remember that they lost control around the time colonization ended. It is time to understand that everyone now has to compete with talent and hard work and there are no short cuts. The faster America realizes it the faster it is on its way to recovery. America faces great many challenges and people from many parts of the world are writing America off. The people responsible for governing US neither should play the fiddle while Rome burns nor drink too much tea.

Who becomes responsible?

Now there is pressure on Indian Government to do something about attacks on Indians in Australia. Well Indians cannot police Australia. Its best that Indians who migrate to other countries understand the laws and conditions of the place they are going to. Currently Australia is not safe for Indian students and the government can issue a warning about going there. Anyways, no matter where you are one must fight to withhold justice. But there is little Indian government can do about this situation. They cannot forcefully stop Indians from migrating. It is clear that Australia by allowing Indian students in benefits from it. Indians do not go to Australia illegally.
If Australia does not benefit from Indian students studying in their universities then they must stop issuing visas. There is no compulsion on Australia's part to go about giving visas to foreigners but it sure is mandatory to provide security of life and property for people who chose to live there legally. In today's world, civilization expects that of countries for travelers else it reflects badly on the host country.

Kashmir

India must discuss Kashmir with Pakistan. Pakistan's demand for Kashmir is not valid. Muslims live in all parts of India and Pakistan cannot ask for regions in India where muslims live. It is India's job now to make sure that Kashmiris want to stay as part of India. There is no advantage for Kashmir to join Pakistan. The little influence that Pakistan has had in recent years in Kashmir has all been troublesome and negative. In other words lets hear the voice of India in Kashmir.

Crime busting

If Pakistan like Mexico legalizes marijuana then the only two organized crimes left to combat will be extortion and terrorism.

Debate of Regional vs National sentiments

There is no question that without a nation, a region is never safe. Now the Indian army is a lot more secular than the police. Why is that so? Because the selection of army candidates is done at a national level and the army therefore is quite a mix and there is not much room for regional sentiments. Whereas police recruitment is from a certain region and thereby regional prejudices carry over.

Certain institutions and resources are possible only at the national level. For example Bombay has IIT, museums, international airports, etc. This is because India thinks Bombay is important to India and develops it. This importance is not achieved by maharashtrians but by Bombayites no matter which language they speak or where they come from. Bombayites who come from all over the country bring talent, money, and energy to the city.

Regional parties however are necessary and must focus on how to get the people of a region to use the resources they have access to because of national interest and also to compete. That is a good thing and beneficial. Regional parties sadly now serve the purpose of picking up fights with hardworking and/or talented people. In other words regional parties in India play more of a negative role than positive role and its time to rethink their approach.

Rahul Gandhi and Mumbai

Rahul Gandhi must be given a safe and secure stay in Mumbai. If the center cannot protect personalities like him within the country who can they protect? It is a shame that the center has watched quietly over the years when eminent citizens of a certain religion or community are harassed or property is destroyed over petty things. These are among the shameful aspects of India.

Teaching mathematics to children

Time and again grown ups want to teach mathematics to children and want everyone to get involved. There are plenty of funds for university professors to get involved and if you say that its not your career focus you are stigmatized big time. On the other hand if university professors are funded for getting involved in high school mathematics then they must teach a semester long course. That is the only way they make a real contribution. Just visiting schools and telling school teachers that they do not know how to teach is idiotic.

Brain drain of the past century

Until recently the world experienced a brain drain because all the best people of the world came to America and contributed to the development of this country. Except for Germany and hence it was the only happening country apart from America for a long time. Even England suffered major brain drain. In recent years because of the economic downturn many people have returned home or gone to other countries. And that is why we see sparks of development in all fields around the globe.

Legalizing Marijuana

Legalizing Marijuana in Mexico will solve a lot of Mexico's problems. Manmohan Singh eliminated crimes relating to smuggling in India by reforming customs. Mexico will benefit similarly by this move. It is best drug related problems become open so that young people in trouble can find help. There is a huge difference between smoking a cigarette and using drugs but more young people today shun smoking but use drugs. It is a social problem which can be solved only in a civilized manner.

India and Pakistan

As more and more Indians leave the Indian shores and travel and come to countries like America, Indians realize Pakistanis are the closest in mannerisms and culture to Indians than any of its neighbors. Compare Pakistanis to Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Nepalis, Chinese or even the Afghans, and you get the picture. In fact Pakistanis resemble Indians more than any other group of people in the world. But when you live in India, Pakistanis are misrepresented and misunderstood and it is all about competition in cricket or as threatening to Indian security. What you cannot see from close distance is better seen from far. Indians or Pakistanis can ill afford bickering for they have many problems that need to be solved.

Leave no child behind

When they say that we must leave no child behind in education the focus is on grades. On the other hand if the focus was on learning then no child will be left behind. Ideally every child must go to a school to explore, explore everything math, science, arts, commerce, etc. and try to learn the best he/she can. There are no hierarchies in subjects except temperament. In real life a politician is more important than a scientist but you never think of becoming one as a child. If you become a politician after graduating with a math degree and was unhappy, then its a lot better if you had learned literature and enjoyed it.

Judging students by grades is impractical and education systems are increasingly filled with a certain kind of people who feel no joy in anything they do except compete with others. There are some numbers they expect to be rewarded with as life goes on. The goal of every person in this world should be to be happy and make others happy. Learning is not punishing but in the current graded system it seems so. In learning there is no failing only attempting. In education systems teachers must record what happened to a child's attempt at a subject rather than failing them because they did not get all the tricky questions of some quiz.

Amchi Mumbai

The Sena has to define what a Maharashtrian is. Does talking in marathi make you a Maharashtrian or being born in Maharashtra make you one? If people live in other parts of the country or say in the world do they stop becoming Maharashtrians? Does the Sena want the Marathi people to never leave Maharashtra? Maharashtra is a land I was born in and I hardly ever speak Marathi. But Mumbai will always remain amchi mumbai to all the Bombayites and frankly Bombayites care very little for the rest of the country usually. Why should they? Bombay is a world of its own. Now there needs to be people looking out for interests of local people but the sena's approach is unconstitutional. If the law of a land allows people to invest their hard earned money and most importantly time in a place then if some special interests groups want them to leave, then they should be compensated. In fact constitution makers all over the world should have provided for such scenarios where a cantankerous group of people want to snatch property and livelihood of others on illegal pretext. Perhaps important cities like Bombay, Delhi, and Calcutta must be declared union territory. In fact ever city must compete to become union territory so that they can get universal recognition.

5 Challenges of this century

1. Faster air transportation
2. Setting up a moon base
3. 3-d printing (powder metal deposit)
4. Civil nuclear energy
5. Integration of communication - TV, internet, phones, etc.

Aiming for the moon

To aim for the moon is looking at the future. Space explorations are as real as the ocean explorations of yesteryears. Finding water on the moon clearly spells what mankind must do. It is a shame that they did not find water before, it really undermines credibility of space exploring institutions. But better late than never.
Getting good grades in schools are not going to make you compete but becoming sensible surely is always going to give you an edge on competition.