On My Mind ...

    Courtesy :    Ed Hawkins , National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading.     https://showyourstripes.info/

To the new overlords, who think they'll be here forever; Just like all the overlords who came before them: "Agar hain khilaaf, hone do,  j aan thodi hai.  Ye sab dhuaan hai,  aasman thodi hai. Lagegi aag to aayenge ghar kai zad me,                       Yahan pe makaan sirf humara thodi hai.                             Main jaanta hoon ke dushman bhi kam nahi, Lekin humari tarah hatheli pe jaan thodi hai. Humare muhn se jo nikale wahi sadaakat hai, Humare muhn me  zuban  tumhari  thodi hai. Jo aaj saahibe masnad hain, kal nahin honge, Kiraaydaar hain, jaati makaan thodi hai. Sabhi ka khoon shaamil hai yahan ki mitti me, Kisi ke baap ka hindustan thodi hai." - Dr Rahat Indori

Climate change in a global issue. Conventional wisdom says these issues require global coordination and commitment and leadership from governments. While all of that is true, the converse is also true. Individual responsibility and change of consumption habits can have a a tremendous impact. Think about it, the governments will deliberate and then create policy that is meant to change consumption patterns. They might give better tax breaks for good behavior (solar subsidies etc.) and tax bad habits. However, I didn’t think I needed to wait around for government to incentivize me to do better. It was time to do better on my own accord. Also, waiting around for government seems stupid in this age of complete meltdown of government. So I started to make some small changes to my lifestyle. Things that were doable, in bite sized chunks. Some require a lot of change and can be hard but some are really small and yet meaningful. Here’s stuff I’ve done that might help others in the...

I am deeply disappointed today. My disappointment is further exacerbated by the fact that I am not feeling any shock. Today's unanimous verdict, is a historic injustice and further nurtures the poisonous tree planted by the Hindutva forces as it grows and encroaches over every institution of this once secular country. The supreme court itself makes the claim that the demolition of the mosque in 1992 was illegal It also agrees that the mosque was descracated in 1949 by Hindus placing idols in the inner sanctum. It also agrees that there has been continuous prayer in the mosque since its establishment in 1528 and that no conclusive proof exists of a demolition of a temple to create the mosque. Then, it goes on to award the site to Hindus. If the site belongs to the Hindus, then would the hon'ble court have asked for the demolition of the mosque in case it still stood? How can the title be transferred to the vandals? Today is another large step in remaking India as the ...

    Photo Credit: newsbugz.com W ith the election fervor up all around in India, I thought it would be a good time to put down a non-tribal view of the NDA government and its achievements. This is an opinion piece, and not a piece of investigative journalism. However, I've made all attempts to stick to facts. Here's my read on the past 5 years: Hits :  Structural Reforms:  Undoubtedly the single biggest credit that can be given to the NDA government is its willingness to tackle large problems areas and undertake structural reforms that have been pending for quite some time. Chief among the wins would be: Introduction of GST Bankruptcy laws Direct fund transfer Foreign Diplomacy Clearly, our engagement with the world has improved. It has tangible benefits. The response to our response to Pulwama was largely supportive for the first time in a long while. This would not be the case a few years ago. Clearly, the focus on this area has enhance...

Who's minding  your AI? I think it's beyond question that the single biggest buzzword cutting across the tech landscape today is AI. From the tech giants in Silicon valley and beyond,  to 1-person startups on the other side of the world, everyone is investing in AI and trying to deliver software that's smarter and more intuitive. The cloud has enabled the compute necessary for the work. The algorithms now come in nice packages just waiting to be deployed. Every single day, I see proof of concepts doing incredible things with just a few lines of code. Object recognition and tracking now seems almost easy. Route optimization, why I'll have some of that.  Of course, when I call AI a buzzword, I do it a disservice. It's not a flash-in-the-pan annual marketing gimmick that will be forgotten next year. In fact, over the last 10 years, I would say, the cloud and AI have been the 2 paradigm shifting events in the technology landscape and they are very real . ...