Luck

 As we were about to leave the resort, someone had the bright idea of distributing keychains as memorabilia for the event. But, there was a snag. Our team had 40 people but there’re 30 key chains. Again, an overly enthusiastic verification engineer came up with the most cliched solution. We all submitted chits with our names on it and the winners are picked randomly. I fancied my chances. After all, the odds of me getting one is 3 in 4. But, I was in the unlucky ten. I thought, I must be born with heaps of misfortune. Otherwise, how could I explain the event. And, it had a fantastic appeal too. Saying I achieved success despite wretched luck is lot cooler than saying otherwise. 

Years later, I came across an article in newspaper. A terrorist organisation called Boko Haram kidnapped about 300 girls aged 14-16. Basically, girls who’re in high school. Very few of them returned to their homes. Most of them were victims of horrific sexual assaults. Some died. My biggest worry when I was their age was preparing for class tests. Was I lucky?

  Boko Haram is an organisation based out of Africa. Well, it is unfair to compare myself with someone from Africa, isn’t it? It’s only fair to compare with someone from similar socio-economic status. In the Syrian civil war, the number of refugees was estimated to be close to six million. Another six million people were estimated to be internally displaced. In a population of 23 million, close to 12 million people moved away from their homes. The odds of a person becoming homeless in Syria was 1 in two. It’s not far fetched to imagine the scenario where a huge number of well to do people, the ones in similar or better socio-economic status than mine, had to run away from their home. Some of the refugees from Syria went to Libya through brokers charging heavy fee and then tried to cross Mediterranean Sea in a Dingy. If they reached the other side, are they lucky? Or, if they didn’t reach the other side, are they luckier?

  About four lakh people died in India during the multiple waves of the pandemic this year. Having been through Covid ourselves, I’ve seen personally how difficult it was to get an oxygen bed, a Remdesivir dose. I know people who couldn’t manage it in time, not for the lack of effort. Whom did the luck favour? I guess, it’s easy to blame luck when things don’t go our way. But, it doesn’t get the credit it’s due. This year, I learnt to be thankful for all the luck I received over the years.

  On this note, I wish you all a very happy new year filled with joy and luck, hopefully, you don’t need to rely on the latter

 

Dr Romantic-2

 There’s a scene where Cha Eun Jae starts sobbing on phone, talking to her mother. Her mom asks her if she’s okay. She responds, “I’m okay. I am very, very happy today.” For someone who had been topper all her life, who wanted to stand up for herself in a family full of doctors, it was a huge turning point. For the first time, she finished a surgery without throwing up, collapsing or running away from OT, out of fright. Such a heart warming moment! All of us have to face our battles. No battle is smaller than another. That scene evokes emotions such a moment could bring. 

  By now, some of you would’ve guessed what the series is. It is “Dr. Romantic-2”. I got addicted to K-drama in this lockdown. I'm a sucker for medical dramas and Dr Romantic ticked all the boxes. I loved the first instalment of the series and started watching the sequel. Having seen so many series with botched up second seasons, I didn’t pin much hope on this one. But boy! Could I be more wrong? This one turned out to be one of the best series I watched till date and the one I keep watching again and again.

   Unlike other Korean dramas where the lead cast is super efficient, honest and with all the superlative qualities(a dark past is a must, of course), this one has a very relatable hero and heroine. They’re the underdogs fighting the system. You root for them to succeed professionally and get together personally. And, the series doesn’t disappoint you with artificial setups to create love. In a scene, Cha Eun Jae is anxious if she can go to the OT without drugs. At the same time, See Woo Jin is performing an operation which requires him to repair diaphragm tear. He immediately calls her up and asks her to take over the surgery. He assures her that, in a case where she can’t complete it, he’ll wrap it up for her. In the Kdrama world filled with elaborate and out of the world ideas to profess the love, this one shines the brightest.

  It doesn’t shy away from picking sensitive subjects. In one of the episodes, a paramedic is brought to hospital brain dead. She was portrayed as a very gentle soul who became victim to a violent act. The girl had agreed to donate her organs. On the very same day, there’s a convict who needs a kidney transplant. Cha argues with Seo that the convict should be given her kidneys. But, Seo loathes the idea. How could her sacrifice give life to such a horrible criminal? The paramedic’s mother listens to their argument. She initially hesitates to donate her daughter’s organs but finally gives in. But, this is such a thought provoking issue. When I went to give my biometric details to get my driving license, the inspector asked me if I’d be willing to donate my organs in case of an accident. I signed up for it but it stirred me. For someone who had just learnt motor cycle, it made me confront my own mortality, and imagine what such an event could mean to my dear ones. Imagine going to a mother who just lost her kid to ask for his/her organs. While it’s easy for anyone to sign up for a donation, the toughest decisions have to be taken by the people who are left behind. I wish the series had dwelled in more detail on this theme, but maybe it’s too much to expect from a commercial series.

  It also portrays the struggles the lead cast have to go through in their personal relationships. Cha never wants to be a doctor, but becomes one to keep her mom happy. She finds it hard to oppose her mom. But, in one of the scenes, she asserts herself against her mother. She takes a moral stand against her mom, in support of Seo. Again, strong content and impeccable execution. 

 All in all, it's a series with brilliant writing, good performances and some medical drama, of course. A highly recommended series

 

P.S: I forgot to mention the most important reason to watch this series. Her Eyes!!

 

A trip to earth

 Nykaa is watching her favourite influencer Ariana go live. She had been excited about it all week. Her feed was filled with Ariana’s pictures and songs. Suddenly, house alarms blared. The speakers in her room announced, “Nykaa! Mr. Keres heart just stopped. The quick response team has been informed and they’re on the way. Estimated time of arrival is ten minutes.” Nykaa called her mom immediately. “Yes Nykaa. I know”, Arya responded. “But you know how it’s with me. It is quarter ending time and I can’t afford to waste a minute. I suggest you go to the hospital with your dad. Besides, you can watch the recorded video later.” Nykaa sighed, “Mom, this isn’t fair. You know how eager I was to watch Ariana today. You’re using the power differential in our relationship to get undue advantage.” Arya shouted, “Nykaa! Watch your language. Don’t you forget that I made your breakfast today. If you continue behaving this way, I’ll have to ground you.” Nykaa realised that her outburst isn’t going to work today. She decided to take a conciliatory approach and pleaded, “I’m sorry mom. I’m just stressed that I’ll miss out today’s show.” After few moments, Arya responded thoughtfully, “Don’t worry Nykaa. Neither of us needs to go. Let the quick response team do their job. Enjoy your show.” And, the phone beeped. 

  Ten minutes passed. The door bell rang. The quick response team sprung into action. The body was quickly shifted to the ambulance. Arya told them the situation and they were empathetic to her and assured her not to worry. As soon as they reached hospital, he was moved into ICU. The heart stopped ten minutes ago. So, all the body parts were deprived of oxygen for the ten minutes. That meant, all the cells are now dead. The operator entered the social security number of Keres. The computer flashed his details and the machine started whirring. It’s a 3d printer and it started printing the organs based on the DNA that was associated with Keres. First the heart, lungs, kidneys and spleen. A couple of robots came forward and started the surgery. They cut open the body of patient and started replacing part by part. Finally, blood was pumped in and brain was inserted. The entire process took about half one hour. Then, Keres was moved into memory regeneration room.

  Here, the operator retrieved his memory from the database. His most recent memory was from two days ago. The state mandated everyone to upload their memory once every two days. After crushing the agmar rebellion, the state learned that it’s easy to control the citizens if it knows what they’re thinking. There was a widespread opposition to the idea. However, the state prevailed. It argued that the policy is necessary to save citizens when there’s a brain death. It also promised them free treatment in such cases. The civil society celebrated victory for getting these concessions. However, there have been data breaches to the central database. Such data breaches have been very costly to the governments in power as they lost their majority

  Keres went through the memory regeneration process and was promptly discharged. He went to the patient waiting room and looked for Arya or Nykaa. He was told that none of them accompanied him to the hospital. He thanked them for saving their life and took the bus back home. But, he kept thinking about how he was left alone in the hospital like a homeless person. Was it all worth it? He spent years trying to build comfortable life for his family. But, there’s no one beside him, except death. 

  He came back home. They had the customary family dinner at home. Arya asked, “How did the hospital treat you?” He responded with a dry, “fine.” The table became silent again. After about a week, Keres called for a house meeting. Everyone sat at the table, rather impatiently. He started, “I don’t feel loved. I feel horrible” Arya retorted, “Not this again Keres. How much more love do you need? Didn’t we take a vacation last year? Why the constant need for love?” They went back and forth for a while. Finally, Arya spoke up, “let’s go to the doctor that we saw last year” She made an appointment with him for the next day.

  The doctor is a warm friendly guy. He had a bright smile and his bespectacled eyes reflected the wisdom the old age naturally brings. He said, “There’s a new therapy we recommend for patients with this condition. It’s a cocktail of chemicals like dopamine, oxytocin etc which can make anyone feel love. It’s especially popular among our young customers. Why don’t you try it?” Keres beamed at the suggestion. He took the appointment for the next Friday and spent the week in anticipation.

  The day arrived. He was taken into a room filled with colourful lights. It looked more like a discotheque than a operation theatre. The lady greeted him with a warm smile and asked, “Your first time?” He nodded. She said, “Nothing to worry. It’s just an injection.” After a couple of minutes, she gave him a dose of the injection and he passed out. The next day he woke up, a bit confused. He was feeling even more depressed. It was supposed to make him feel better, isn’t it? Now, Arya is concerned. They visited the doctor again. He started slowly, as if he’s about to break a dreadful news. “I think, your recent operation has affected your brain in an irreversible way. Our chemicals don’t seem to work on you” Arya asked, “What’s the solution, doctor?” Doctor said, “We recommend two regimes for such patients. One is, your family should take couple of months off and spend time with each other.” Arya asked, “What’s the second option?” For all such patients, we recommend a trip to Earth. We found that spending an year on earth can rejuvenate such people. There are some people especially specialised to deal with these cases.” Arya smiled. “It’s decided then. Keres, I’ll book your tickets”

  Keres boarded the starship which takes him to earth. As the pictures of trees and mountains flashed across the screen, his mood lifted. He started whistling, after a long time.

 

 

Sita!!

 It’s a winter afternoon. Two men were hiding behind the tree observing kids play in front of an Ashram. One of them clearly in tears, other gazing them in silence. The silent one says, “Brother, I can see our childhood in them. Lava clearly has inherited your archery skills.” No response. “Brother!”, he called out concerned. “Lakshmana! I would like to see Sita before we go” They tiptoe around the trees towards a hut. As they are about to enter, a voice calls them out from behind the tree. “I wish not to see you here” The voice unmistakably Sita’s. They can see her shadow near the door.

  “Sita! It’s so great to hear your voice again. How are you?” asks Rama. Sita says, “I am doing well. How is everyone in Ayodhya?” “Our days are filled with sorrow. Not a day goes by without us thinking about you”, replied Rama. Sita says, “it’s good to hear you but, please leave immediately”

Rama responds, “I never got to talk to you before you left. All I can say is that I merely discharged my duty as the protector of law. You can never understand the anguish I had been through to make the decision. But, it is my duty to uphold the dharma.” His voice clearly trembling. “Any respectable judicial system gives the accused a chance to defend herself. You didn’t give me the opportunity. When Ahalya was cursed to become a rock due to no mistake of her own, Gautama Maharishi showed her a way to get out of misery through you. But, despite knowing my innocence, you condemned me to a punishment without giving me a recourse. Which school of justice taught you that?”

  “I tried to argue your case in the council. But, the council of scholars decided that it is wise to send you away. I could not make an exception for you. That would set a very bad precedent.” Rama pleaded. “Women are extremely vulnerable during pregnancy. That is the time when they require great support from the family. I was banished from the kingdom in such a turbulent time. Which council will make such a decision? I know. A council without women. A council without women making decisions for women”

  “I am sorry Sita. Can’t you excuse me at least as a husband?” There was a long silence. “I love you”, she whispered. “You’re there in my every thought and my every action. I see you in Lava and Kusa. Husband and wife are like two wheels of a relationship. If one fails, the entire vehicle falls. You made a decision on our relationship without asking me. If you told me your decision, I would’ve gladly left. I wish you had trusted me more”

  Time passed between them. One could hear other’s presence. That seemed like an oasis in the desert for both of them who longed for each other. But finally, the two men departed as the darkness descended

(You can read the first part at https://rohitkuppili.blogspot.com/2021/10/rama-and-vashishta.html)

 

PS: The story is my imagination and views are personal

Rama and Vashishta

 Breakfast is in full swing in the lunch hall. One could hear the laughter ringing from far off. The camaraderie shared by the brothers is envied across the kingdom. After the breakfast, Lakshman pulled Ram aside. “Brother, Is it possible for you to excuse me from administrative duties for couple of days?” he asked sheepishly. “Why Lakshmana? Is something wrong”, Ram looked concerned. “Urmila wants to visit Kashmir before she goes into labour. The legend in Mithila is that if a pregnant lady visits Kashmir during her pregnancy, the child will look like snow”, he responded grinning. Rama laughed and said, “Take as many days as you want Lakshmana, Urmila’s wish is our command.” Lakshman thanked him and took his leave. 

  But, Ram was getting flustered. He remembered the time during Sita’s pregnancy. He commanded Lakshman to leave her in forest to carry out his duty as a king. “Ah, how have I failed in my duty as a husband. I haven’t been at her side when she needed the most. My kids would be growing up without knowing their father. How I wish to tell them that they are the heirs to the mighty Ayodhya!”, Ram collapsed in despair. He sent a word to his minister that he’s unwell and asked him to perform duties in his absence.

  It’s late evening. Guards brought the news that Sage Vashishta has come to see him. Ram changed himself and went to the door to welcome the sage. After exchanging pleasantries, Vashishta asked Ram, “Why are you looking so flustered Rama? What’s bothering you?” Ram hesitated for a moment and asked, “ I sent Sita away to forests to fulfil Rajdharma? But, I have failed in my duty to my wife and kid. Did I make the right decision?” 

  “Rama! You know what the washerman said. He said, "Rules apply only to the common men. Our rulers are beyond that." If that’s the perception among people, it is hard to uphold Dharma. You did what is necessary of you as a king?” Ram responded, “Oh learned one! The entire world knew that my Sita has done no mistake after Agnipravesha. Isn’t it unjust to send her away because someone said something without proper knowledge. What about me? I’ve been longing to see her all the time. What mistake have I done to suffer this punishment? What sort of Rajdharma is this that causes misery to people who have committed no mistake”

  Vashishta says, “Rama! I agree that your family have been wronged. But, it is the duty of your family to put your country before yourselves. Your decision is necessary to uphold justice in the kingdom. Your action shows the world that everyone is equal before law. What sins have all the soldiers who fought your war against Ravana committed? Why should they fight for you in your rescue mission of Sita? It’s their duty for their motherland. This is your duty towards your kingdom.”

  Rama asks, “My decision would’ve been correct if Sita committed a mistake. Sita hasn’t committed any mistake. In Lanka, Vibheeshana turned against his brothers to side with righteousness. He turned against his entire country and fought war with us for the sake of Dharma. If he’s praised for taking Dharma’s side even if it’s against his duty for his kingdom, why is it wrong if I do the same?”

  Vashista responds, “Rama! Your duty is to express your views in the council, which you’ve done very elegantly. But the council decided to send Sita to forests. It would be unwise of you to have opposed their decision. If you override the council in matters pertaining to you today, you could do it for someone else tomorrow. It’s a slippery slope that you’ve to avoid”

  “Am I a weak person for grieving over this? Am I a bad king for being emotional”, Rama asked his final question.

  “Emotions are part and parcel of human life. In this avatar, being born as a human, it is necessary that you experience the pains and pleasures of life. Honestly, that is what gives the ruler empathy to make good decisions. A king who can not feel pain is as good as a rulebook. What use is a rulebook when it has to decide on matters that affects lives of millions of people. Your story will be a shining example of how humans have to live in adversity. Worry not Rama! Your sacrifices will never go in vain”, with this Vashishta took his leave. After a long time, the goddess of sleep bestows its boon on Rama

  

PS: This story is entirely my imagination and views are personal

 

SPB

When I was working with TI, I came to know that SPB was doing a live show in National college grounds as a part of Bangalore Ganesh Utsav. I had a lot of work that day, owing to a release in office. Till late evening that day, I had no intention of going to the show. However, by some stroke of luck, I made up my mind to go to the show at the last moment. The ground was full by the time I went in. I squeezed myself through the people to go as close as possible to the stage. That day he was performing Kannada songs. Even though I had functional knowledge of Kannada, I didn’t know any of those songs. I was standing with a group of Tamilians who kept requesting for a Tamil song. I joined them and started asking for a Tamil song. Suddenly, it started lashing out heavily. I was dejected and getting ready to leave. Out of nowhere, he started singing oruvan oruvan mudhalali. Instant goosebumps moment. The grounds came alive. I shouted till my voice became hoarse.  Never did I imagine that’d be my first and last time seeing him alive. That’s my most precious fan moment.

  My love for him and his songs started in childhood. As a kid, I used to hate Mondays. Our school used to start at 9AM and last all the way till 7:30PM. My only consolation was an hour of Paaduta Teeyaga that used to come at 9:30PM in ETV. No matter where I am and what I’ve to do that day, I used to sit in front of TV along with my parents for the programme while eating food. Undoubtedly, the star of the show was SPB. The way he used to explain the musical intricacies of songs, the nuances of expression required was enthralling. I especially used to love it when he explains the meaning of those lyrics. Human emotions are so complex to understand. Even with the most powerful super computers in the world, scientists are not able to decode emotions. What better way to understand them than by travelling with the writer through the song. The program started in me a life long obsession for songs making music an integral part of my life.

  Not just me, I believe SPB has become an integral part of every Telugu man’s life. There is his song for every moment and a moment for every song. When in sorrow, he pulls you up by saying

చుట్టమల్లే కష్టమొస్తే కళ్లనీళ్లు పెట్టుకుంటూ కాళ్లు కడిగి స్వాగతించకూ 

ఒక్క చిన్న నవ్వు నవ్వి సాగనంపకుండా లేనిపోని సేవచేయకు

While teasing the lover, he croons as 

నాకన్నా నీకున్న తాకీదులేంటమ్మ నా ఎత్తు నా బరువు నీకన్న మోరమ్మా
నేనంటే కాదన్న లేడీసే లేరమ్మ నాకంటే ప్రేమించే మొనగాడు ఎవడమ్మ

He’s with you in class day dreaming with

చందమామను అందుకుని ఇంద్రభవనాన్ని కడతానురా 

పడవంత కారులోనే బజారులన్ని షికారు చేస్తానురా

సొంతమైన విమానములో స్వర్గలోకాన్నీ చుడతానురా 

అపుడు అప్సరసలు ఎదురు వచ్చి కన్ను కొడతారురా

 He gives you hope by saying

చిటికలోన చిక్కబడ్డ… కటిక చీకటి కరిగిపోక తప్పదమ్మ… ఉదయ కాంతికి

On the occasion of his death anniversary, as he says in one of his songs

తరలి రాద తనే వసంతం తన దరికి రాని వనాల కోసం. 

అదే విధంగా గంధర్వులని  చేరలేని మన దరికి వచ్చిన ఈ గాన గంధర్వునికి ఇదే నా నివాళి

Gandhi Jayanti

After my grandfather passed away, my grandmother came to stay with us. One day I asked her if she met Mahatma Gandhi.  “I didn’t see him. But, your grand father used to proudly tell everyone that he met Gandhiji and even touched him”, she said gushing. Her response surprised me. Because, they used to live in a very remote village called Kuppili. I remember having to walk 6 KM to reach that village in my childhood. Thankfully, its very well connected now. The very fact that Gandhiji was able to meet someone in such remote corner of country well before independence is fascinating. Not just that, I’ve never seen my grand father wear anything other than Khadi clothes. He told me that he took a pledge to wear Khadi throughout his life. How could a man convince so many people to take such an oath? How could a man influence so many people to give up their jobs to fight for an abstract idea called freedom? If that can’t convince someone that he’s a great leader, nothing else can

   I used to think that Gandhiji got more credit than he deserved. We have an impressive number of freedom fighters like Nehru, Patel, Bhagat Singh, Gokhale and the list goes on. Why should Gandhi get so much credit? Google tells us that British have colonised 171 countries in the world. It was said that the sun never set in the British Empire. It crushed the 1857 rebellion which was fought by the combined force comprising of Hindus & Muslims, Farmers, Sepoys and artisans, Armies of Awadh, Mughals, Jhansi and so on, ruthlessly. The crown seemed invincible. Imagine yourself living under such a rule. All of a sudden, you hear a story. A person came from south africa and successfully fought against the British with the help of farmers. He also led another successful agitation in Khaira and got the Britishers to waive the taxes on farmers. And what did he fight with? Truth and Non violence. All you need to do to fight against the mighty and unassailable empire is to speak truth, not hurt anyone, wear and use only Swadeshi. How simple is that? It is easy to see why his ideas appealed to so many people. They were honest, simple to follow and they were rooted in Indian tradition. Our epics extolled Harishchandra who spoke nothing but truth. Non violence is central tenet in two major religions born here, the Buddhism and the Jainism. It takes a huge amount of courage to even tread the path of a Bhagat Singh or Khudiram Bose. But, the path laid out by Gandhiji was simple to understand and easy to follow, from the first glance at least. That’s what made him so successful

  There’re so many great leaders across the world. Why should we make big deal about Gandhi? In my opinion, Gandhi stands out even in the pantheon of greats. It is easy to win over the hearts of your friends. Winning over the hearts of enemies is the herculean task. When religious violence ravaged India during the partition, we didn’t have enough resources to control violence on both the borders of our country. The then governor general, Mountbatten took a call to send the troops to border with West Pakistan. Gandhiji was sent to the eastern border. After Gandhi reached Kolkata, an angry mob surrounded his house and demanded to see him. Gandhi’s host was frightened for his safety. But, Gandhiji went out to talk to the protester. After an hour, the entire mob sat down and offered prayers for peace in India. Such was his persuasion power. In South Africa, where he was thrown out of a train, there’s a statue acknowledging his greatness. When I visited London last year, in front of the British Parliament, the law making body of country he fought against, there installed his statue. It might look diminutive like he did, but there’s no doubt in my mind who stands the tallest. 

PS: The incident in Kolkata was narrated by Balaji Viswanathan in one of his Quora answers

Quantum - 1

I’ve been reading a bit of popular science articles on quantum mechanics recently. In this post, I’d like to share a bit of what I understood, because I found it really exciting. If any of you find inaccuracies in this post, let me know. I will fix them

   There’s so much jargon and equations involved in learning quantum mechanics, which makes approaching the subject scary. Half of what I read goes over my head. But, the physics underlying those equations seems beautiful. Let’s begin this post by answering a question, ‘What’s the difference between classical physics & quantum physics?’

   Let’s take a bike moving at the speed of 80KMPH from Bengaluru to Chennai. We’re assuming that the road is perfectly straight without speed bumps, there’s no traffic and the bike is going to maintain its speed forever. How do we describe the bike? We can say, the bike is currently(at 10PM on 16/09/2021) 30KM away from Bengaluru going towards Chennai at the speed of 80KMPH(speed + direction gives us velocity) with no acceleration. If someone asks us where the bike will be at 11PM, we can say that it is going to be 110KM away from Bengaluru on its way towards Chennai. There’s a certainty here. 

  In Quantum mechanics, there’s a loss of certainty. It’s a bit like the real world. In a real world, the bike will never be able to maintain a constant 80KMPH. There’re speed bumps, there’re toll gates, there’s traffic, there’s friction, the road isn’t perfectly straight, there’s the minor issue of driver fatigue too. So, Quantum mechanics gives us the probability of the rider position. It can say, the driver will be 110KM away from Bangalore on way to Chennai with probability 0.33, 100KM away with probability 0.25 and so on. If the rider makes a huge number of trips from Bengaluru to Chennai, we can test out if the probability values are accurate or not. In Quantum mechanics, the state of particle is given by wave function and it indirectly tells us about the probability.

   Secondly, how do we calculate the wave function? To do that, we make some assumptions, like boundary conditions. For example, we could assume that a school going kid will be present within the premises of school on a working day. So, we assume that the probability of kid present outside of school is 0. Similarly, if we add up all the different probabilities of the kid present in each place in school, we should get 1. In simple terms, it means that we’re assuming, the kid will be present in school and not anywhere else. Similarly, we try to characterise the system and solve its hamiltonian. Basically, we solve some equations by placing some more constraints of energy and use that to get the wave function. We will see how this will be used later in the post. 

   Thirdly, the most important principle of Quantum mechanics in so far as I understood it is hidden within name. It’s quantisation. What’s Quantisation? Let’s say someone told you, I’ve some notes of money in my wallet and asked you to guess a note. What would you guess? You could guess that I’ve a 10 rupee note, or a 20 rupee note, a 50, 100, 200, 500 or a 2000 rupee note. You’ll never guess that I’ve a 72 rupee note in my wallet. Because, we all know that RBI doesn’t print a 72 rupee note. So, that’s an illegal note. Similarly, quantum mechanics postulates that the observables of system are quantised. For example, it states that the energy/momentum/position/velocity or any other observable can only take one of the allowed values for that observable. It never takes illegal values. If we know the wave function of the particle and characteristics of the system, we can calculate the probability for the observable to be one of the quantised value. If we recall our high school physics, we can find some examples. The angular momentum of electron is quantised. Similarly, the energy of an electron is quantised.

  How do we calculate what quantised values does a measurable like energy take? Usually, we characterise the system in form of a Matrix. For example, to calculate energy of a particle in hydrogen atom, we first characterise the system as a Hamiltonian Matrix(My understanding is that most of the research in quantum mechanics deals with figuring out these matrices for various observables under various conditions). The eigen values of this matrix are the quantised values that our electron is allowed to take. This is another postulate of quantum mechanics.

  Okay, now that we’ve quantised values, how do we calculate the probability that electron’s energy is particular eigen value? All we need to do is to write wave function as a linear combination of its eigen vectors. The square of normalised coefficients of these eigen vectors gives us the probability corresponding to that eigen value. To give an inexact parallel, we can think of it as a factorisation in powers of primes. For example, 56 can be written as 8 * 7 which is (2^3 * 7). So, when we reduce 56 as multiples of powers of primes, we get that it has 2 raised to power 3 times, and 7. Here 2 and 7 are similar to eigen vectors. Their powers, 3 and 1 can be treated as their coefficients or the terms which help us determine the probability that the observable takes a particular quantised value. Their squares would be the odds of that particular value. For example, it could take value corresponding to 2 as 3^2 I.e 9/10 times. And value corresponding to 7, 1 out of 10 times

  

Malayajata

 After winning Lanka, Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya with Sita amidst a huge fanfare. People showered flowers over the royal couple all along the way. It seemed as though the Gods are showering flowers from the heavens. The ears reverberated with the chants of ‘Jai Sri Ram. Sita Mata ki Jai’ The celebrations never ceased in the city of Ayodhya. It seemed that no force can touch the invincible Ram. However, he was getting tormented by endless nightmares. He often woke up mid sleep screaming ‘Sita! Lakshmana!’ The queen was very worried. She summoned the royal doctor. He was flummoxed too, as Lord Ram showed no other signs of sickness. This went on for a while

One day, one of Sita’s maidens told her about Malayajata. It’s a flower which grows in Himalayas in once in a million years. Legend has it that, Dhanvantari got impressed with the hospitality of the local Jatava tribe and gifted it to them for hosting him. The flower is a cure-it-all. Lord Ram and Sita visited Jatavas to try their luck. The tribe, known for their hospitality, offered the king a concoction made of Malayajata flower. Instantly, he got cured. 

  Cut to the modern day, the hamlet is still inhabited by the Jatavas. From high up, it looks like a misplaced green dot in a white and brown portrait. Modernity bypassed the village from its periphery. Numerous adventurers visited the village to explore the famed Malayajata flower. No one in the recorded history of humans saw the flower bloom from the tree. However, the locals worship the tree with utmost devotion. The women decorate the tree with twigs, flowers, and leaves from surroundings. It’s said that the birds endemic to the region protect the tree from being inhabited by migrant birds. No one has ever seen a bird on the top of the tree.

 

  This legend has attracted a man called Rajan. He is a renowned botanist. He stole a branch from the tree to his lab. Through the latest advancements in science, he modified the genetic sequence in the branch such that it flowers every year. He went back to the Malayajata tree and grafted the genetically modified branch, unbeknownst to the tribe. 

 

  The next year, for the first time in the recorded history, the tree bloomed. The Jatavas are ecstatic. They organised a huge feast. The chief delicacy was the concoction using the flower. The custom in these feasts is that the tribal lord begins eating, the entire tribe follows. As soon as he takes a sip of the concoction, he collapses on the floor vomiting blood. The feast is over.

  So, coming to the final question. Is the legend wrong, or the science?

PS:This story is completely my own and not derived from any other source

  

  

 

How is our data used?

It’s no secret that the entire world is worried about the privacy of citizens. There’re concerns that modern companies know way too much information about us. This post is my thought experiment where I try to explain how I think our data will be used by Google to deduce information(As mentioned, this is a thought experiment. I'm not sure if Google does this or not)

  Let’s start with a simple use case scenario. I want to setup a Kirana store and I approached Google to help me. How can Google help me? To begin with, it can tell me average cost to lease a store in different parts of city. This is child’s play. It can tell me the potential of a given area. For example, let’s assume if everyone in the colony is using google pay exclusively to make payments. Google knows the monthly expenditure of people in the colony. Furthermore, Google made it mandatory to turn on device location before making payment. So, Google can also tell me the revenue of each shop present in the colony. What else can I know from Google? It’s a common observation that people prefer to shop with someone who shares a similar background. For example, a Telugu person might prefer shopping with a Telugu shopkeeper. Google can deduce these patterns and tell me. It knows that I speak Telugu from my Youtube & browser search history. Even if I’m cautious and always use private browsing, it can deduce the IP address associated with my phone and correlate it with my searches. Similarly, it can deduce the mother tongue of the shopkeeper. From this information, it’s trivial to make the above connection.

  Is that all? No. Google can help me manage my inventory. For example, people from the colony might be going to a rice mart 5 KM away from the colony to purchase rice every month. It can be inferred that, no one is selling rice at cheap price in the colony. So, Google can suggest me to stock up rice and sell it at a particular price to make profits. Similarly, it can tell me exactly what items should I stock up on, what items are not necessary. 

  This is how browser history and location can be used to glean information from us. Now, let’s go a bit deeper. Can Google know who is dating whom? If I’ve to make a guess, I’d say yes. If I’ve the data that Google has about people, how would I figure this out? Let’s take a hypothetical case where I’ve to figure out who a person named Vijay is seeing. First thing I’d do is to guess the gender of person. That’s really easy. Vijay would’ve searched for ‘best razor to buy’. Or, he’d have searched for ‘Should guys remove their shirt before entering sanctum in Kerala’. It’s also trivial to know his sexual orientation from browser history. Let’s say that, he’s a straight guy. With these two data points, I’ve cut the search space for the potential girl friend. How do I proceed now? I will make a list of IP addresses of girls he has hung out a lot with. I also record the locations where he hung out with these girls. That cuts down the search space even further. I can eliminate most of his female colleagues by using the fact that he will be within their proximity mostly in office premises and not in restaurants and malls. Okay, a person might hang out a lot with siblings too. How do you distinguish a girlfriend from sibling? That’s easy. If Vijay is staying with his sister, both share the same home. They might have similar usernames. They might be located at same place on the day of Rakhi. There’re huge number of ways to deduce just based on data if the girl is his sister or not. That leaves us with the final question. How do we distinguish girlfriend from a girl friend. Again, we can deduce this from locations of people on valentines day, purchase history of the person before meeting the girl. We can also deduce this based on the kind of locations they meet.

  I personally think, any question about us can be answered comfortably with the kind of data Google/FB/Amazon has about us. You might be able to cheat yourself but you can't cheat Google. Beware!

 

Baahubali

 I watched the first part of Baahubali in Vinayaka theatre on its first day, first show along with two of my colleagues. After witnessing the interval scene where Baahubali single handedly saves the people from getting crushed under the monumental statue of Bhallaladeva, all of us thought Rajamouli has completely lost it. We compared that scene with Balayya’s stunts like the one where he reverses the train by slapping his thigh. After the movie was over, all of thought that the movie was well made but might fail at the box office. Defying our predictions, the movie went on to become the biggest grosser in the history of Indian cinema at that point. That, obviously raised an interesting question. Why did the movie succeed?

  Before I attempt to give my opinion about the question, I would like to tell about an interesting article I read recently. The article discusses persuasive ad techniques. It says that there are three ways to sell a product, Pathos, Ethos and Logos. The Pathos technique involves appealing to the emotions and feelings of the customer. For example, Patanjali markets its products as swadeshi products and tried to appeal to the patriotic sentiments of the people. Ethos involves using credibility to sell products. Toothpaste ads are the best examples for this technique. ’99% of dentists in India believe that Colgate helps you avoid dental problems’. Since dentists are the authority on the subject, we believe, Colgate is the best toothpaste. Third technique is Logos. This is the age old technique where we try to persuade people using logic. For example, ‘vaccination prevents Covid as per carefully conducted medical trials, so please get vaccinated’

  Now, let’s understand how Baahubali was sold to us. We all remember that it was marketed as the pride of Indian Cinema, the magnum opus etc. Here, they’re using Pathos technique to convince us. They’re appealing to our patriotic sentiments to sell the product. Similarly, numerous reviews talked about how South Indian films are a class apart from the Bollywood. Such reviews appeal to the emotions of people belonging to the South which is the main market of the movie. Then, there’re promotion events. The entire film industry came together to sing paeans about the movie. People like Karan Johar called it the master piece. However, there were some reviews where they criticised the movie for not giving enough space for the female protagonists. Of course, the movie had a great story, brilliant action sequences and breath taking visuals. That is the Logos. 

  The movie ended in a cliffhanger, ‘Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali’. This unleashed a publicity blitzkrieg for the second movie. The entire country discussed why Kattappa killed Baahubali. That was a marketing master stroke. However, all the earlier techniques were used too. It was again marketed as the pride of Indian Cinema, it was again praised by everyone. Added to that, they made sure that the earlier criticism was addressed. The reviews were all praise about how the women of the movie were so powerful and how the movie stood for feminism. Thus, they managed to woo another section of audience which criticised its first part

  This is not to say that it’s a bad movie. It definitely is an extremely well made movie. It created a huge market for South movies across India. It had become the torch bearer for fantasy movies and paved the way to make movies like Spiderman etc within India. This is just to say that he movie had achieved such stupendous success because of a brilliant marketing campaign which ran in the background. This is to doff the hat for those who silently worked in the background to create the history

 

If our world becomes Hogwarts

Yesterday, I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire again. Fantasy movies are my escape from the monotony of the daily life. While watching the movies, I was wondering what I’d do if I possess similar magical powers. Voila! We’ve a new blog post

  My vote for the most disruptive magic power goes to apparition. While work from home has many pain points, one major benefit is it removes the necessity of travel. It saved me close to two and a half hours of commute every day. I get a lot more time to pursue my hobbies these days. Imagine a world where everyone having an ability to apparate. It’ll be a world without Amazon, Indigo, Swiggy, Walmart. It’ll be a world where you could have Pongal in Chennai for breakfast, tea in Himalayas, Biryani in Hyderabad for lunch and coffee and dinner at Coorg. Imagine the privacy issues. Paparazzi would’ve given you exclusive footage of Virushka’s wedding. Imagine the security issues! It has potential to become the doorstep delivery of terrorism. Imagine the Kumbh Melas. Actually, don’t! BBMP would be so relieved. I used to pray everyday that I don’t want to be stuck near the under construction Koramangala flyover. God heard my prayers and now I moved out of Koramangala. Even God realised BBMP will never finish its work. Apparition would be a god send

  Coming next, my vote for the lazy man’s charm goes to the summoning charms. Oh, I kept glasses on the table. No problem! ‘Accio glasses’. I misplaced my pen somewhere. ‘Accio pen’. I lost my mobile. Not an issue. ‘Accio mobile’. Whose mobile is this? Ahh, it’s okay. This one is better than mine. I lost the love of my life. ‘Accio …’, sorry, even the magical world can’t help

  My vote for the most desirable magic power goes to the time turner. There are far too many moments in the history that I’d love to visit. I’d love to see how the people lived in Indus Valley Civilisation. I’d want to witness the teachings of Buddha. I want to visit Nalanda in all its glory. I want to be present when Sankara is debating with Mandana Mishra. Ugh, I don’t know Sanskrit. Can I take my smart phone with Google translate along? How nice would it be to witness the pride of Andhra, Bhuvana Vijaya! Personally, I’d go back to tell myself that my life will be much better than I ever hoped for. Is this the future me conveying me that everything’s going to be okay!?

  What about Legilimency? Could we’ve read Modi’s mind about demonetisation months before it was announced? I’d love to read HR’s mind while negotiating my offer. Did my crush like me too? What a shame! I should’ve asked her out. World will be a much better place if people realised the hurt they caused others. On a second thought, maybe it’ll still be the same

  Finally, Hermione. Why’s Hermione in the list of magics? Because, Hermione is the magic(Maybe Emma Watson is :)

 

Puja ceremonies

 Have you guys ever sat through Puja ceremonies lasting several hours? Recently, I had to do that every day for eleven days straight. To give a bit of context, our family priest called my dad and told him that, I’m going through a bad phase. So, it’s advisable to perform some rituals for Shanti. I was dead against it initially. I thought it’s an unnecessary expense and didn’t believe in such things. But, finally, I agreed to take part in it. Sitting through such ceremonies for hours together without any other distractions meant I had ample time to ponder on existential questions

  Firstly, What’s the purpose of Puja? I tried to understand the chants the priest is performing. Most of them seemed to praise the God for various deeds he has done to save the humanity/universe. If God managed to listen to them, what does he think? If ever I’m part of a meeting where everyone praises me non-stop for 2 hours, I’d be frustrated (I’m not saying, you guys shouldn’t do it. Who am I to stop you ;) ) Surely, He/She won’t fall for that

   Then comes the part where we listen to stories. There’s a definite pattern to these stories. Most of them say that, if you do this puja, your sins are washed away. If you perform mistakes while doing these ceremonies, great disasters befall you. Surely, God isn’t so petty that he takes revenge on the beings he created over material reasons

   So, what then could be the reason? I observed that all these ceremonies, no matter how cheap or expensive have something in common. That’s charity. All the ceremonies exhort us to donate food/clothes/money to the needy. There is prasad that will be distributed to everyone at the end of the ceremony. Ultimately, it seems to me that all these ceremonies are intended to serve the maxim, ‘Manava Sevaye Madhava Seva’

   I’ll end this writeup with a small side story. One of the priests told me that the ceremony has to be performed by Brahmins. Because, they observe strict rules in their daily life. It seemed to be a rule invented to create exclusivity among beneficiaries. God didn’t mind meat from Bhakta Kannappa who’s a hunter by birth. Would he care for such rules?

 

Ramblings about freebies

 Recently, I’ve been to Srikakulam. I went to Vizag on flight and then took a cab from the airport to our home. The driver was a talkative guy, We chatted quite a bit. In the course of the discussion, he said something thought provoking. He said, “Government is giving free money to every one to get votes. That’s making people lazy and people like him have to work throughout the day to earn their bread” At that time, I agreed with him and moved on to other topics but the topic haunted me ever since. 

  It seemed to me that the answer isn’t straight forward. On one hand, utilising the money to invest in capital expenditure seems like the right thing to do. It creates assets which generate future revenue. It also creates employment during and post the investment phase. Despite its obvious advantages, why does the government dole out the money to people instead? To understand the answer, we need to rewind a little bit. In may 2020, Government imposed lockdown to contain the pandemic. This move destroyed the livelihood of millions of people. A lockdown implied people couldn’t go out to do business affecting the economic activity. This violates the fundamental right which allows people to earn their honest livelihood in any part of India. Due to the lack of income, these families struggled to make their ends meet. This in turn violates the right to life, guaranteed by the constitution. This right encompasses the right to food, right to shelter, right to education for children and right to the basic health care. It’s imperative on the Government of the day to make sure that these basic needs of life are met. So, when Government is doling out cash to the poor during the pandemic, it’s not doing them a favour. It’s discharging its constitutional duty

Now that the economic activity is resumed, should the government stop giving free money? The answer is again no. The economy has not resumed to the pre-pandemic levels. Unemployment is at a record high. If government stops supporting the poor, it leads to lot of social problems in the long run. It might mean, a lot of children might drop out of school. This risk is particularly high because a lot of children lost an year worth of studies due to pandemic. Once they lag behind in the curriculum, in most cases they don’t catch up. This problem is more intense in children from low economic background who could not afford a quality education through online classes. This in turn, deepens the economic inequality. Secondly, the pandemic has impacted everyone in one way or the other. The health care costs have risen across the board, from the very poor to the very rich. Some families have lost the main bread winner pushing them from above poverty line to below poverty line. There is a necessity to support them too.

   Governments started giving sops long before the onset of pandemic. Was that justified too? I think, it’s a much harder question to answer. For example, the successive governments in AP have run a scheme to waive the farm loans. This had the unintended side effect of farmer not paying loans in the year of election. That in turn led to banks refusing to lend loans to farmers for the fear of increased bad loans. However, in principle, lending economic support to farmers makes sense. In India, majority of farmers depend upon rains for agriculture. Even when the monsoon is good, most farmers don’t make a lot of money due to raised costs of fertilisers, seeds, irrigation(power), supply-demand mismatches. There’s a lot of risk involved with farming. For the risk taken, the amount earned isn’t commensurate. For people working in private sector, there’s an appraisal every year. As the experience of employee increases, his/her wages and his/her standard of living increases. Being a part of formal sector, he/she can avail loans for financial necessities. In case of farming, there’s no such benefit. Every year, the return depends on a huge number of factors and the money they receive is not stable. They aren’t part of formal sector and hence, don’t have similar economic benefits. Considering all this, I think it becomes the duty of government to support farmers in short run and make farming sustainable in long run

  Let’s all hope things return to normalcy soon, that Government isn’t forced to give out huge amount of freebies.

Independence Day

Last year, I was talking with my cousin’s son. I asked him about the significance of Independence Day. He told me, it’s the day when Britishers left India. In other words, it’s the day when Indians started ruling themselves. That got me thinking. Is that what independence means? There are several despotic regimes across the world which harass their own people. Are those people independent? All the Indians living abroad are ruled by the people of different nationality. Are they not independent?

  I started reading a bit more to understand its true meaning. In 1816, a man called Granshaw killed his servant because the servant accidentally knocked off his hat while raising the umbrella. The courts refused to prosecute Granshaw stating that it is a needless expense to conduct a prosecution for a crime that’s manslaughter at best. Our history is littered with incidents like this where the Englishman was favoured over the Indians. Independence is the equality before law. Independence is about justice reaching people irrespective of their class, caste, race, sex or religion

  In the British India, all the higher positions are reserved for the Britishers. For example, an Indian Sepoy could never rise to the position of general of an Army. Independence is Chaiwallah becoming the prime minister of the country. Independence is not facing discrimination by the colour of your skin, the language you speak or the cap you wear.

  The then British Government wanted to bring constitutional reform to India. To this effect, it formed a commission, without Indian representation. In Lahore, a small group of people protested against this decision, carrying the black flags. The group was led by none other than the Punjab Kesari, Lala Lajpat Rai. The police brutally charged him, eventually leading to his death. Independence is the ability to voice one’s opinions freely without the fear of persecution. Independence is the ability to protest for what’s rightfully ours

  Independence is about living a decent life, and dying a dignified death. Independence is about the hope for a better tomorrow. Independence is everything more than the tricolour and the anthem

  I wish you all, a very happy independence day!