Hail India..
Celebrate India's 56th Independence day with words from Arun Shourie!

Am eagerly waiting the second part of the article..

:-)

Two Eggs..
So I was given two eggs when I visited this 100 floor building.. And the one who hand-delivered the eggs to me had time to explain to me that both the eggs were identical.. And they will break when dropped from a particular floor in the building and all the floors above.. When dropped from any floor below that particular floor, the eggs wont break when dropped..

My job was to find out from what floor will the eggs start breaking.. And I had to do that in a minimum number of attempts.. By 'attempt' I mean a drop of one egg..

I was given the freedom to break both eggs in the process.. Provided I give him the answer.. In the minimum number of steps..

I seem to have a method.. But want to check out if someone has a better one..

Coke, Pepsi and Pesticides..
Here is a report that talks about a survey conducted recently on the pesticide content in popular drinks sold in India. Most popular drinks have tested with content levels far higher than what is considered "safe" in western countries. The side effects listed does make it look scary.

Interestingly, Times of India reports that the reason for this could just be that the water used by these industries are not regulated by any clear norms by the Indian Government. The bottled water industry supposedly has stricter regulatory requirements as compared to these soft drinks.

Important to note that the levels of toxic pesticides in these same soft drinks sold in USA and Europe are well within the safety limits. Now does this mean that Coke and Pepsi have standards tests in these countries(as part of their production process?) to check for pesticide levels but dont have them in India - just because the govt. does not have a regulation and these tests might mean extra cost to the company?

This point leads me to this article wherein Swaminathan points out to a retailer(Carrefour) who has successfully adopted western standards in Indonesia and which inturn has helped improving the overall standard of food produce sold in that country. But the scenario we have now with Coke and Pepsi in India probably just shows that MNCs don't always do that. They are ready to bend their standards according to the regulatory rules in the country they operate if that makes business sense!

0 + 1 = 0..
Okay, so what is the problem with the comment counts at my blog (and a few others).

Can someone throw light?

To History's Refuge..
I guess Tony Blair doesn't want to be smart..

Why else would he really say History will forgive?

Pressure does these things to you, maybe..

Before you forget..
Just a reminder..

A war did happen couple of months back..
A few reasons were given for that by the people who waged..
A regime was indeed overthrown..

And a few people do talk about it even now..

Do you all remember? Do you have something to say on this still? Or is it old wine? Is it out of fashion to talk about it anymore?

Or are we going to stand by the modern paradigm - "Victory changes everything"?

Let me know..

I guess I need all the luck you could wish me! :-)

The Last Laugh..
From what I see on TV, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has an eye for humour. He has shown himself to be someone adept in coming up regularly with carefully constructed tautologies, beautiful contradictions and amazing absurdities.

The latest from him beats all his previous ones for the simple reason that it has the "last-laugh" ring to it.

As some people find it ultra-fashionable to call these days, Victory changes everything. Whatever it changes or doesn't change, it does give the victors a chance to have the proverbial "last-laugh". Now they can say whatever they feel like, not thinking about criticism of any sort.

Rumsfeld yesterday announced, with his usual wry smile on his face, that he never believed that American troops could find the WMDs! He said, never ever, did he think or say that the troops could find what the UN inspectors could not.

There was silence in the press room. Well, if you thought someone was going to jump up and say, "Holy Heavens, that was what we were telling you all the time, Mr Rumsfeld!" - wait! He had an add-on to his statement.

He said the troops' job was not to locate the WMDs but rather to locate those Iraqis who knew where the WMDs were!

One sure way of solving a problem, is to eliminate the problem. Say that the problem does not exist. Rumsfeld is playing a prolonged variation of the same game. Shifting the target. Keep a target and if looks like you wont get there, say that, that wasn't my target in the first place, and continue as things come along.

As a wonderful next step in this gambit, let me suggest this to Mr Rumsfeld -

"As you all know, the aim was never to locate the WMDs, but rather to locate the Iraqis who knew where the WMDs were. Our war time intelligence reports tell us now, that all the Iraqis who actually knew that, have died in the War!"

Check-Mate!

"Oh, how unfortunate for you, Mr Secretary!!", let us all reply, nodding our acknowledgement!

-Untitled-
If you think somebody is being unfair to you, just let them be..
For one of these days, they will get bored of being unfair, and start being fair to you, just for the heck of it..

:-)

That One Talent!

When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide,
Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent..
...
John Milton, On his Blindness


GH Hardy, in his book "A Mathematician's Apology" argues about how the "gifted" people of this world, once they realize that they have a "gift" or "talent" should pursue it and achieve whatever they can in their lifetime. To quote,

"If a man has any genuine talent, he should be ready to make almost any sacrifice in order to cultivate it to the full."

He presents his case in a safe manner, telling us that the majority of people cannot do anything specifically well. So this is not applicable to them. But for those who clearly have a gift, Hardy urges them to pursue it to their best.

Only economic necessity and age, according to Hardy, are plausible excuses for not pursuing something that one can do exceptionally well. He has pretty harsh words for those who miss out.

"... (it) would be silly if he surrendered any decent opportunity of exercising his one talent in order to do undistinguished work in other fields. "

I have met a lot of people with little talents doing what Hardy calls "undistinguished work". Ask me, I would say in most cases, it is indecisiveness more than anything else that makes them do what they do and not pursue their talent.

It takes a bit of courage probably, for the sheep to not follow the herd. And the sheep doesn't have it. :(