Japan in September

Japan in September was a sweltering mess. It has been more than two decades since I have been so hot. I sweated buckets and the heat with all that humidity was almost relentless. People are gritty and very hard working with an all encompassing fascination with technology. I spent a lot of time traveling with almost a new city every day. Trains are amazing in terms of punctuality, orderliness and attention to detail. I finally got to travel on the Shinkansen, which considering the time it was first introduced still continues to fascinate. Despite all the naysayers here, I still think we need to have such superfast connections here in the country. Especially considering the mess we have at the airports in the eastern corridor. Ever tried to take of on time during peak periods from Philly, New York, Newark or Boston you would know what traffic jam is all about. Put weather in top of that and it is really painful. Japan is well connected with such trains and mostly use planes for longer distances.

I was very impressed with Kyoto, its older quarters and the beauty of the country side. Went to Kofu the wine country and even had a great dinner sponsored by Daihatsu in a vineyard, sampling some of the local vintage. Food everywhere was great. I would recommend Japan except not when it is hot.

August in Toronto

August in the northern climes is always pleasant, especially up north in Canada. This year we spent a wonderful week in Toronto with Anil and family. The cosmopolitan hub which Toronto represents comes to its liveliest corsendo during this peak summer month with everyone trying to take in every bit of the summer breath as possible before the long winter drag begins. This is amply demonstrated in the summer festival downtown with all kinds of local food, music, jugglers et. al. I like Canada, a more serene, less stressful neighbor with vast skies and land to boot. Next time I will explore the local street food in Toronto and take in some of the local music scene.

Baba, Babus and the Bungling Congress

Baba, Babus and the Bungling Congress

Looking at the drama unfold in Ram Lila grounds in New Delhi I am astounded at the folly of our Indian polity. A baba arrives in a private jet and is met with a motley group of senior ministers too terrified at the prospect of what the baba would do. Black money and graft and a long struggle to introduce a bill in parliament which in every self respecting democracy would be a no-brainer. Sitting here in the US I am reminded of a rather red faced President on National TV admitting to an inappropriate relationship not because he had a change of heart but due to an independent investigator and agencies such as the FBI which are outside the control of politicians and bureaucrats. So why the reluctance and delay.

Indian government has become a pure money collection agency for whoever is in power. Congress of course designed the system so whenever they are in power the graft is relentless and so aggregious that even the most die hard congress supporter would have a hard time defending them.

I made up my mind to leave the country because of Indra Gandhi and I see her progenies have kept up the lofty traditions. guys like Kapil Sibal and Digvijay Singh have replaced Devkant Barua and his ilk.

I hope the spark of change ignited by the common folks such as Anna Hazare is kept alive by the long suffering masses. I will be here waiting an watching and hoping.

Jairam Ramesh and the Indian Academics

What was once a shining beacon of scholarship in the Asian context with the likes of Raman, Bose and others have now degenerated into a morass of poor quality research. I applaud Jairam Ramesh for raising this issue especially since such statements are generally followed by a lot of shrill outrage from the parties at which this was aimed. The bottom line is that even looking at the top Institutions such as the Indian Institute of Science or the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research there is very little output in high impact science. I see a huge upsurge however in China. Some may argue that China has put in a lot more resources, however India has had a much longer and frankly freer system in place which instead of growing has decayed. The huge difference is that in India no proper accountability and reward system is implement, instead we have a strange inclination towards seniority. What needs to be done is to make academics truly independent and let the rewards be given on the basis of output. It should also start by ensuring good top line hires. We need to separate top line hires from those needed for purely teaching duties, with top line researchers given selective classes to teach and time for running their respective research groups. Institutions should be unshackled from the Ministry (Jairam are you listening). Do not let the Babus control these institutions, but give them the financial and academic independence they deserve. This starts by hiring the best Directors for the IITs and Universities. I have seen enough political lackies get appointed who have no management experience. Once appointed, these directors should be given the independence to shape the their respective institutions.

I hope I see some of this happen in my lifetime.

Hi jst got news of the Left ouster and so its from the sloths to absolute always a no no for the future of bongs

2010 the 50th Year

Folks, this was in many ways the seminal year. I got to the half century mark, something I never imagined or planned to be at when I was growing up. It was such a distant thing. I was amazed by the 'Icomomist' magazine on their feature article this December issue related to the idea that people generally get happier in their old age. Even though individual cases differ a lot on the whole I have to agree with the conclusions. I am a testament to this, I am much more mellow and relaxed over the middle aged hill so as to speak. This year though was seminal in many ways, I got closer to India, did reasonably well in getting my research funding together, and more importantly got a new groove together to follow for the final tryst with life. Most important though is the fact that I can truly claim to be happy.

This is most important thing in a persons life, believe me I have seen things from the other end of the spectrum.

November in India

Spent the thanksgiving week in India. Weather was pleasant and was good to see the parents. Delhi remains the same stink hole with a few minor changes. First is the new airport. Definitely a major improvement over the older one, however did not match the hype. If you look carefully the airport is full of warts, I saw naked wires, bad construction and poor planning. On the arrival side, baggage handling is very very slow, and the immigration hall gets packed with a lot of confused people standing around. This remains unchanged from the previous airport. Outside the parking situation is better but the touts remain. Exit roads are new but traffic is terrible. Also a new metro connection between Rajiv Chowk and Gurgaon which runs close to home (Green Park station). Once more poor construction quality all over. Management was also poor in the sense that the trains were overcrowded and slow.
One the whole the reason for this visit was the marriage of Sushant with Neeti. Very nicely planned wedding with top notch arrangements. Handsome couple and emblematic of the new India. Confident and ever hopeful of their future. Best wishes to them.
Bandana had a great reunion with her relatives 'the Khandelwal clan'. Since this is the first of the many such weddings of the next generation we hope to have more such reunions often. Getting close to 50 these reunions are great and very important.

A Summer Week in Shanghai

Reached Shanghai for the 8th International Symposium on New Materials for Electrochemical Systems organized by Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Shanghai at this time of the year is steamy and wet. However the city never ceases to amaze me with the level of growth and sheer force of its development. Stayed a the Jianguo Hotel on Caioxi Road, which was very centrally located. Was received by Dr. Wen Wen at the airport, he is doing very well and at the present works as a staff scientist at the new Shanghai light source. He seemed to be well settled with all the trappings (car, apartment and socially as well). It was a good conference with a lot of papers and posters from students and postdocs, exuding the confidence and energy of China. I am posting some of the pictures which I took in Shanghai during my brief but enjoyable trips out of the hotel into the usual tourist places in Shanghai.

Most visited spot was in the bund area where the muddy Huangpu river bends with the very impressive sky scrappers over on the other side called Pudong. I have a video of this posted to show the impressive scale of the buildings. Nanjing road on the other side is the usual tourist area with shops and touts selling imitation stuff such as watches etc. Visited the famous bare M on the bund which is located in building no 7. Also went to the old Shanghai with its crowded markets and bustling commerce. One of the highlights was Dongtai road where amongst more quieter environs one could browse among the many antique shops selling exotic stuff such as the Mao's red book etc.

On the whole was a memorable trip, one among many to be made to this emerging economy.

See video a thttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAUvH7fAtBg