Inspirational life

Prof. Randy Pausch passed away on July 25, 2008. What a life he has lived ! His work and lectures will continue to inspire future generations. He will be remembered as great researcher and more importantly as a great teacher. Surely,everyone would love to have a mentor like him.

In India, we always have a pessimistic outlook towards life. We try to escape the challenges in our life by blaming the system. People like Prof. Pausch are excited by challenges. They look upon these challenges as opportunities. They are not afraid of failures. They learn lessons from every failure as well as every success. Optimism coupled with passion is key to whatever they have achieved in life. Not only do we shy away from problems but also force others to do so. We do not want to see a change in the scheme of things. Our inertia makes us oppose the people who try to change the system.

There is always a complaint especially from the elder generation -- there are no role models for children and youngsters in the society. I think they need to open their eyes and look around. Prof. Randy Pausch, Barkha Dutt, Prof. Stephen Hawking, Dr Kalam, Prof Narlikar -- there are plenty of people who inspire the current generations with their exemplary life. Prof. Pausch has taught us most important lesson -- with optimism and passion for your work you can change the world around you.

Indian Narcissism

As Indians we tend to have many false notions about ourselves. We are the most intelligent. We are the most cultured people. We are IT super-power. American industry runs on Indian intelligence blah blah blah..

I am reading the book -- "Weapons of Peace" by Raj Chengappa. On page number 68 there is an interesting observation he makes. I am reproducing it :

By the eighth century Indian science and creativity reached its zenith and boasted of such greats as Aryabhatta, the mathematician, Charaka, the physician and Varahamihira, the astronomer. But as the first millennium ended it had been reduced to a flicker. India lost its technological edge, more so in weaponry. Yet it lived foolishly in the belief of its greatness.

As Indian civilization decayed it became easy prey to invaders. Al-Buruni, the gifted eleventh century scholar employed in the court of Mahmud of Ghazni, the Muslim invader who ransacked India, wrote : 'The Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation but theirs, no kings like theirs, no religion like theirs, no science like theirs. They are haughty, foolishly vain, self-conceited and stolid ... If they traveled and mixed with other nations they would soon change their mind, for their ancestors were not so narrow minded as the present generation is.'

Surprisingly, how true these words are for the present generation Indians after their country having been through thousand years of oppressive rule ! Our society is one with high self-conceit and low self-confidence -- paradoxical yet true !

Politics of a deal

With the elections round the corner the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal is heating up. The deal has now become a tool for both the opposition and government to impress their vote-banks with their knowledge of national security and energy needs.

National interests are being compromised for the sake of elections.

The deal is surely an attempt by US to thwart India's nuclear weapons' programme. There are no assurances of continuous supply of nuclear fuels.
Our government has given in to the pressure tactics of US. Our government is trying to convince the people in the name of energy crisis -- which is certainly not going to be solved by the deal.

These are two interesting articles written by Arun Shourie in 2006 , long before the treaty had become an election issue:
Not one concern has registered : http://www.indianexpress.com/story/17492.html
Time to deal with the aftermath : http://www.indianexpress.com/story/17571.html

The articles are quite objective and highlight what is at stake and why the government can not be trusted.
The opposition is worse !!! They do not have clear understanding of why to oppose the deal but they know that by doing so they might be able to appease their vote-banks !!