Posts

Showing posts from January, 2012

Dheet Trekkers in Chopta-Tungnath, Deoriatal

Image
Going to the hills is always a spiritual experience. The warmth and the blue of the sea-side make you cheerful, whereas the cold and the solitude of the hills make you somber, somewhat more inclined to reflect upon your existence and purpose in life. Elevating you to great heights only to make you feel insignificant to the existence of the universe... First it was Araib Hassan , who packed his bags with the usual alacrity and plunged headfirst ecstasy [sic]. His trip account and pics can be seen here . Then Danish , Kutaula and Major Khandi went there and returned with this pic, posted shamelessly here without permission. And this one…  And the awesomeness of these pics made it clear. This was to be the next destination. The time for Diwali was approaching and I could get a leave from Tuesday to Sunday.  Metallica was playing in New Delhi on Friday, 28 th Oct, and tickets for the same had been booked years ego, so I would get 3 days, from Tuesday to

On Innovation, Or The Lack Thereof

Inspite of having the IITs and holding some of the toughest college entrance exams in the world, we in India lag far behind the West when it comes to innovation and invention in the fields of mechanical, civil and electrical engineering. However, we are as good as any other nation, if not better, in innovation in the field of software development. It is worth thinking about what could be the reason why the West is so advanced in these fields whereas we lag behind. Even the R&D departments in our country do little other than validate field results and homologate western technology to suit Indian needs. I was once listening to Steve Via’s for the love of god when it occurred to me what a wonderful piece of engineering laid in the small earphones in my ears. But long before this speaker saw the mechanized mass production in factories, and long before it came to be invented in a laboratory, there must have been someone who must have put a piece of paper or a leaf from a tree be