Women reservation bill in India

The Congress led coalition government recently managed to get the Women's reservation bill passed in the 'Rajya Sabha' (upper house of the Indian Parliament) recently. As things go in India, this was not without the usual hungama - thanks to a bunch of illiterate goons masquerading as honorable MPs. But that aside, we should poise to think about what this bill is about. According to this bill, 1/3 of the seats in the parliament (drawn by lottery) will be reserved for women. So consider the following scenarios:

A. A male career politician spends 15-20 years of his life in winning the confidence of the voters from a certain constituency (less if your mother is the Congress president or if you dad or uncle died as chief minister) and gets elected to the parliament. Now once his term is over, he wont be able to contest that seat for the next 2 terms (by laws of statistics) - which means his political career is doomed. So what would he do in that situation, he will field a proxy woman candidate - conveniently, the wife. And our voters - timid cows as they are, will go and happily vote for the wife. So the letter of the law if obeyed - but does it really solve the problem for which this law is being proposed?

B. A second situation: suppose a woman candidate wins from a seat - not a proxy candidate as mentioned in Case 'A' above, but a real candidate who has worked hard in that area for development. Once her term is over, she won't be able to contest an election from the very seat that she has worked hard for - in the next 2 terms - which is 10 years! Who would remember her after 10 years - our collective memories are very short. We remember things until the next big tamasha. So, how does this bill emancipate women.

For some time, I thought a better thing (and harder thing) would be to make it mandatory for political parties to field 1/3 women candidates in the election at every level. So if the Congress party fields 450 candidates all over India in the general elections in a year, make it compulsory that at least 150 of them are women. This is fairer than drawing lotteries every time and ending up with Case A or B.

But all this begs a even more fundamental question - do we really need to reserve seats for women? I think this is a very patronizing attitude. We should strive to create equality at lower levels - at the grassroots level - at the level of political parties and organizations. This would be immediately be seen and felt by the common man. We don't need reservation for women or for any minorities at the highest level. But creating a level playing field is a much harder problem - and you will find hazaar kurta-clad buddhi jeevis speaking dime to a dozen in any number of TV channels how this bill will solve all our problems.

Shame on the Indian politicians. And shame on the Indian people - who don't and won't care who they elect to the Parliament. I think they deserve it.

As for the bill, my only hope is those 7 MPs who make hulla gulla in the parliament - I hope they make some more noise when the bill is placed in front of the Lok Sabha. If they cannot stop it - at least they can stall the process - albeit for all the wrong reasons.

Good bye Linux

After 10 years of love hate (mostly love) relationship with Linux, I finally bid good bye. Like any affair, I occasionally feel the pangs and hear 'baby come back' in my head. But I think I have outgrown it. I started using Linux on the desktop in 1999 as a student in IIT Kanpur when a fresh lot of Slackware loaded PCs arrived one fine morning at the computer center. It was love at first sight. I have stood by Linux through thick and thin, wrote my Ph.D thesis on it. The high point was of course Ubuntu and how (like dellusioned flower children) I hoped that this would surely be the thing. Sadly, Ubuntu too disappointed me - too many papercuts, no baseline, blah blah. I am a little sad - and I do have a little partition on my home computer with Jaunty (which only my wife uses every once in a while). But also I feel a huge load has lifted from my shoulders. I have now embraced OSX with both arms and its a good feeling when everything works without having to break things apart. Well goodbye my love - I really thought it would work out. Well maybe some day Linux will become a popular desktop but there are too many broken bits to make it even remotely useful. Maybe I'm getting old :)

Example in logical thought

Watch O'Reilley argue in this video - now you know how some people haven't evolved beyond some point. Nature can be quite cruel sometimes.

Realplayer 11 for Linux: New deb package

Like countless other people, I use Realplayer 11.0 on my Ubuntu Linux. Traditionally, one has two routes for installation - either download and install the deb file from http://www.real.com/linux or use the medibuntu repository.

The problem with using the "official" deb is that it has countless (31 actually) dependencies - many of which are just not needed. The medibuntu version is plagued with (a) no progress bar (b) crashes in Jaunty.

So, here is a new deb file which is a repackaged form of the official deb with the right dependencies put in. If you have a deb based Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Mint etc), you will be prompted to start installation using the gDebi installer. BUT - I suggest that before taking the leap, you (a) uninstall any realplayer installation using synaptic (b) close your browser.

http://uploading.com/files/IWLOP9XX/RealPlayer11GOLD.modified.deb.html

It works for me - I hope it's useful for you too.

नटखट बैंगन NatKhat Baingan

Talking about dinner while sipping evening चाय, my wife and I were gripped with these sudden बैंगन (brinjal) pangs - and reminisced the way our neighbors in Dhanbad would dish out आलू बैंगन की सब्जी with रोटी and पराठा (flat bread). So, while another gloomy Tonga fish something dinner was looming large in the horizon, we decided to give it a go - it was decidedly tangy - so we named it नटखट बैंगन - hope you like the name . It is surprisingly easy and can be made within 15-20 minutes. Here is the recipe ...

1. Cube potatoes and brinjal, dice a little onion and tomatoes
2. Keep a few slit green chillies aside
3. Heat oil in a pan, add पाँच फोरन (paanch phoran) - when it begins to sputter, add the onions and a few chillies - saute until the onion turns translucent.
4. Now add potatoes and saute for a couple of minutes.
5. Add (half a teaspoon of each) cumin powder, dhaniya powder, turmeric powder and red chilli powder and fry for some more time.
6. Now add the brinjal - mix well with all the stuff in the pan, add some salt and cover and cook on low heat for 5-7 minutes.
7. Now bring the heat back up, add diced tomatoes, a little aamchur (well, a lot if you are in an experimenting mood) and - oh well, some beaten curd as well. Add a pinch of kasuri methi for added flavor.
8. Cover and cook again for a minute on low flame.
9. Enjoy with रोटी or नॉन which can be bought at your grocery store. Trader Joe's here in Pasadena stocks some whole wheat tortillas which taste exactly like चपाती.

A few poems by Nida Fazli

1. खट्टी चटनी जैसी माँ

बेसन की सोंधी रोटी पे खट्टी चटनी जैसी माँ

याद आती है चौका बेसन फुकनी जैसी माँ

बान की खुर्री खाट के ऊपर हर आहट पर कान धरे

आधी सोई आधी जागी थकी दोपहरी जैसी माँ

चिडियों कि चहकार गूँजे राधा मोहन अली अली

मुर्गे की आवाज़, घर की कुण्डी जैसी माँ

बीवी बेटी बहन पडोसन थोड़ी सी सब में

दिन भर एक रस्सी के ऊपर चलती नटनी जैसी माँ

बाँट के अपना चेहरा माथा आँखें जाने कहाँ गई

फटे पुराने एक एलबम में चंचल शोख लड़की सी माँ

Himan Mukhopadhyay - Adieu

Himan died a couple of months ago.

She had a website on geocities [http://www.geocities.com/ihar_cheye_hotem_jodi/] where I found a couple of her poems and some information about her. You can read them here in this PDF document.

Himan, rest in peace. You will always be in our heart. You were one of the most amazing persons I have ever met. And yes, I will always cherish fond memories of the 'Vanilla Biri' (Vanilla flavored tobacco).

The pitiable state of industrial development in Bengal

This is an editorial from Ananda Bazar Patrika (1st August, 2008). It laments the state of industrial development in the Indian state of West Bengal and in particular the foolish mentality of the people in the state who are opposed to the idea of industry in the state.

Here is a PDF version of the article. Reproduced from ABP.

Bangla Rhymes - বাংলা ছড়া

Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language possessing a history and tradition of at least a millennium, with a rich tradition of folklore and folk literature. Folk rhymes form an important part of this tradition.

Syed Mohammed Shahed from Dhaka University has written a fine article on this together with a nice collection of rhymes. Here is a collection of Bengali rhymes in PDF and txt format.

Don't forget to send me your own collection of Bangla rhymes - I will add it to the PDF file with proper credits. Also, my Bangla spelling is not what it used to be. If you spot any errors, please feel free to send in your corrections.

First, kill a medium sized dog :)

China, apparently, has banned all 'fragrant' (read DOG) meat in its Olympic restaurants. Strange are ways of Mao-land but that definitely piqued this armchair chef's curiosity. How would you cook a dog - wedding style, no less? Hmm - according to this article, you start by killing a medium sized dog. That did it for me. I can just about handle the thought of clammy testicles staring sadly behind the poor doggie's penis (yum!) - but kill a medium sized dog ? No way. Fuck off.



So much for cultural dogmas.

Don't let me keep you - so here is the recipe ...

1. First, kill a medium sized dog, then burn off the fur over a hot fire. 
2. Carefully remove the skin while still warm and set aside for later (may be used in other recpies) 
3. Cut meat into 1″ cubes. Marinade meat in mixture of vinegar, peppercorn, salt and garlic for 2 hours. 
4. Fry meat in oil using a large wok over an open fire, then add onions and chopped pineapple and suate until tender. 
5. Pour in tomato sauce and boiling water, add green peper, bay leaf and tabasco. 
6. Cover and simmer over warm coals until meat is tender. Blend in liver spread and cook for additional 5-7 minutes.

OOoLateX : Using LaTeX in OpenOffice documents

OOoLatex is a set marcos designed to provide latex support into OpenOffice. Complex equations can be inserted as images, the latex code is saved into the image attribute while simpler equations are expanded into symbol characters to be inserted as text.

Here are the instructions to install and uninstall this package on Ubuntu 8.04 with minimal hassle. Thanks a million to Toufik on the Ubuntu forum who posted these instructions originally. If you are on the Ubuntu forum and find these instructions useful, now is the time to thank Toufik for such a useful post. It is godsend for scientists who love OpenOffice to prepare slides that have loads of equations. And LaTeX rules in equation land.

Step 1. Install the dependencies

sudo apt-get install texlive imagemagick epstool

Step 2. Install the fonts.

mkdir OOoLatexFonts
cd OOoLatexFonts
wget http://mesh.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/ooolatex/OOoLatexFonts.zip
unzip OOoLatexFonts.zip
cd ..
sudo mv OOoLatexFonts /usr/share/fonts/truetype/.
sudo fc-cache -f /usr/share/fonts/truetype

Step 3. Install the binaries for EMF
This involves installing the latex2emf program.The easiest way to install it is to grab the binaries directly from the OOoLatex website: http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...roup_id=150801

• Ubuntu i386 or 64bits choose latex2emf_Linux_i386_binary.tar.gz

• Ubuntu PPC choose latex2emf_Linux_PPC_binary.tar.gz

• Others, you'll need to compile from source (grab OOoLatexEmf_noarch_src.tar.gz)

Once downloaded, go to the directory where you've downloaded:

tar -xzvf latex2emf_Linux_i386_binary.tar.gz
cd latex2emf_Linux_i386_binary/
sudo ./install.sh

The installer installs the binary latex2emf into /usr/bin/ and the library libEMF.so.1 into /usr/lib


Step 4. Install the oxt file
And finally, you can now install the extension! But first download the extension here:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...roup_id=150801
At the time of writing this post, the latest one was OOoLatex-4.0.0-beta-2-linux.oxt
There are two types of installation. The administrator mode is useful when installing for a lot of users but each user is not allowed to modify the configuration (most notably the shortcuts), only root can do that. Therefore I recommend, for normal user, to install in the single-user mode.

• In a terminal :
  Single-user Mode
  

  /usr/lib/openoffice/program/unopkg.bin add OOoLatex-4.0.0-beta-2-linux.oxt

  Administrator Mode
  

  sudo /usr/lib/openoffice/program/unopkg.bin add --shared OOoLatex-4.0.0-beta-2-linux.oxt

Note that you'll have to accept the license.

Usage
After installation, try +M and +K (the default shortcuts). You can also add the OOoLatex Toolbar: View > Toolbars > OOoLatex

The module Equation transform a LaTeX code into an image. Two formats are proposed: .png and .emf. You probably know PNG, this is a kind of "normal" image. If you rescale it, you'll see pixel. A way to circumvent this problem is to increase the resolution (dpi) but you'll get larger files! Or to use the EMF format which is a scalable image: the equation is vectorised and don't loose resolution when you rescale it! This is probably the better choice but you need then some binaries (see above). Selecting an equation and opening the equation dialog box allows editing of the equation.

The module Expand was called Inline in the first versions of OOoLatex. Basically, it transforms (expands) the LaTeX special characters into ones that are usable by OpenOffice. This is done (partly) via the STIX general fonts. The interests of Expand is to include LaTeX characters directly in a sentence without requiring the insertion of an image (as in Equation). Apparently not all LaTeX code can be expanded, that's why a list is offered in the dialog box.

To Remove
Remove the extension:
Single User mode:

/usr/lib/openoffice/program/unopkg.bin remove net.sourceforge.ooolatex

Admin mode:

sudo /usr/lib/openoffice/program/unopkg.bin remove --shared net.sourceforge.ooolatex

Enjoy ! And remember to thank Toufik !

Ghalib: Two couplets

1. तेरे वादे पर जीयें हम - तो यह जान झूठ जाना
के ख़ुशी से मर न जाते - गर ऐतबार होता

वादे : promises
जान : love, endearing word for beloved
झूठ : falsehood
ऐतबार : belief




2. आते हैं घैब से - यह मज़ामी ख़याल में
ग़्हालिब सरीर - ए - खामा नवा - ए - सरोश है

The mysterious subjects that I address are coming from up above
O Ghalib, the noise coming out of your pen is the echo of the angels ...

घैब : heavens
मज़ामी : subjects
ख़याल : thoughts
सरीर - ऐ - खामा : screeching noise made by oldtime pens (kalams) while writing
नवा - ऐ - सरोश : voice of the angels

कैसे जुदा हो गये

To all my loved ones ...

तुम ये कैसे जुदा हो गये
हर तरफ़ हर जगह हो गये

How far we have drifted apart -
I see you everywhere
in all directions ...

Fantastic VIM color schemes

I am a born again vim user - back from emacs bloat land and much chastised I would like to think. I found a really nice post about using vim colors (both for the terminal and gvim) - and it made my day. My favorite is candycode - but why should *you* agree.

Here is the page : New Color Scheme for VIM

And another - ColorSchemeMenuMaker script

How to install: Just copy the colors/ and plugin/ directory under $HOME/.vim/

If you have problems with the plugin, get rid of it (on older versions of vim) - simply copy the colors/ directory under $HOME/.vim/ and you should be able to see and use them in the gvim menu - Edit/Color Scheme

Have fun !

Ujjwala Din

ঐ উজ্জ্বল দিন - ক্যালকাটা ইউথ্ ক্যোয়র্
(Originally by Subir Sen)


ঐ উজ্জ্বল দিন, ডাকে স্বপ্ন রঙীন
ছুটে আয় রে লগন বয়ে যায় রে মিলন বীন
ওই যে তুলেছে তান - শোন ওই আহ্বান .

তারি সুরে সুরে বাজে গুরু গুরু
হোক গানে গানে পথ চলা শুরু
আজ অন্তর অন্তরে প্রান্ত প্রান্তরে
কন্ঠে ছড়াবো এই গান
ছুটে আয় রে ...

আয় আয় রে ছুটে, আয় বাঁধন টুটে আনি
মুক্ত আলোর বন্যা
আয় সুপ্তি ভাঙাই, আয় শান্তি জাগাই
এই শ্যামলী ধরনী হবে ধন্যা

ঐ আকাশে বাতাসে দোলা লাগলো
আজ জীবনে জোয়ার বুঝি জাগলো
নব উচ্ছ্বল উচ্ছাসে, উদ্দম উল্লাসে
ছন্দে জাগাব এই গান
ছুটে আয় রে ...


-----------------------------
उज्ज्वल दिन (Calcutta Youth Choir)
Originally by Subir Sen


ओइ उज्ज्वल दिन, डाके स्वप्न रंगीन
छुटे आय रे लगन बोये जाय रे मिलन बीन
ओइ तो तुलेछे तान,
शोनो आह्वान

तारि शुरे शुरे बाजे गुरु गुरु
होक गाने गाने पथ चला शुरु
आज अन्तर अन्तरे, प्रान्तर प्रान्तरे
कन्ठे छड़ाबो एइ गान
छुटे आयरे . . .

आय आय रे छुटे, आय बाँधन टुटे आनि
मुक्तो आलोर बोन्या
आय सुप्ति भाँगाइ, आय शान्ति जागाइ
एइ श्यामली धरनी हबे धोन्या

ओइ आकाशे बाताशे दोला लागलो
आज जीबने जोयार बुझि जागलो
नब उच्छल उच्छासे, उद्दम उल्लासे
छन्दे जागाबो एइ गान
छुटे आयरे लगन बोये . .


-----------------------------

Ujjwala Din (Calcutta Youth Choir)
Originally by Subir Sen

Oi ujjwala din
Daake swapno ro.n.geen
chhuTe aaye re lagan boye jaay re mEElan been
oi to tulechhe taan
shono oi aaohbhaan

taari shure shure baaje guru guru
hok gaane gaane path chalaa shuru
aaj antara antarE praantara praantarE
kanTHe chhaDaabo ei gaan
chhuTe aaye re ...

aaye aaye re chhuTe, aaye baa.N.dhan TuTe aani
mukto aalor bonya
aaye supti bhaa.N.gaai, aaye shanti jagaai
ei shyamali dharanI habe dhonya

oi aakaashe baataashe dola laaglo
aaj jeebonE joWar bujhi jaaglo
naba uchchhala uchhaasE, uddama ullasE
chhande jaagaabo ei gaan
chhuTe aaye re lagan ...

Convert Flash Video (FLV) to mp3 in Linux

This post tells you how to convert FLV from Youtube or similar websites to MP3 format. This was requested by my friend Dimple who wanted the MP3 version of a Bhangra track from Youtube. This is just my notes from what I did to get the final MP3 file. I am running Ubuntu Gutsy on a Intel box.

1. Install the miro player
2. Launch miro (from Applications->Sound & Video->Miro. You should now be able to search, play and download the flash video from Youtube. The file will be saved in ~/.miro/Movies/YouTube/ and will have extension .flv
3. Now the important bit - you need to install the packages ffmpeg, lame and id3ed. You can install them on Ubuntu by invoking the command (in a terminal window)
   

   sudo apt-get install ffmpeg lame id3ed

4. Descend into the miro Movies directory

   cd ~/.miro/Movies/YouTube

5. Now using ffmpeg command, convert myfile.flv downloaded in step 2 above to a wav file (all one line - do not break the following into multiple lines)
   

   ffmpeg -title 'My File' -i myfile.flv -acodec pcm_s16le -ac 2 -ab 128 -vn -y myfile.wave

6. Now create an mp3 file from myfile.wav (created in the last step) using lame

   lame --preset cd myfile.wav myfile.mp3

7. Edit the id3 tags of your newly created mp3 file using the id3ed command

   id3ed myfile.mp3

8. Enjoy :)
   

ATI 1600 + fglrx + Dell 2407 WFP and all that

Well, I am really chuffed about finally getting my 24'' Dell 2407WFP monitor working with Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 beta.

Pi

Pi

Wislawa Szymborska

The admirable number pi:
three point one four one.
All the following digits are also initial,
five nine two because it never ends.
It can't be comprehended six five three five at a glance,
eight nine by calculation,
seven nine or imagination,
not even three two three eight by wit, that is, by comparison
four six to anything else
two six four three in the world.
The longest snake on earth calls it quits at about forty feet.
Likewise, snakes of myth and legend, though they may hold out a bit longer.
The pageant of digits comprising the number pi
doesn't stop at the page's edge.
It goes on across the table, through the air,
over a wall, a leaf, a bird's nest, clouds, straight into the sky,
through all the bottomless, bloated heavens.
Oh how brief - a mouse tail, a pigtail - is the tail of a comet!
How feeble the star's ray, bent by bumping up against space!
While here we have two three fifteen three hundred nineteen
my phone number your shirt size the year
nineteen hundred and seventy-three the sixth floor
the number of inhabitants sixty-five cents
hip measurement two fingers a charade, a code,
in which we find hail to thee, blithe spirit, bird thou never wert
alongside ladies and gentlemen, no cause for alarm,
as well as heaven and earth shall pass away,
but not the number pi, oh no, nothing doing,
it keeps right on with its rather remarkable five,
its uncommonly fine eight,
its far from final seven,
nudging, always nudging a sluggish eternity
to continue.

ye mujhe kya ho gaya

Indulged in some vintage Gulzar ... from the movie 'Sathya'।

Listen to the full song here ...


बादलों से काट काट कर, कागजों पे नाम जोड़ना
ये मुझे कया हो गया
डोरियों से बाँध बाँध कर, रात भर चाँद तोड़ना
ये मुझे कया हो गया

BaadloN se kaaT kaaT kar, kaagzoN pe naam joD।na
ye mujhe kya ho gaya
DoriyoN se baandh baandh kar, raat bhar chaaNd toD.na
ye mujhe kya ho gaya.

Abysmal Grammar on NDTV's Cricket Website

I was mortified to read this piece on the NDTV cricket website - makes me wonder how they hire their journalists and editors. While it's great to know that Bhajji's charges have been dopped - thanks to financial arm twisting by BCCI (which is great), enjoy such marvels as

• ... charge came after Sachin Tendulkar, Ponting write to ICC judge
• ... Justice Hansen from New Zealand, has heard the stump microphone recording
• Harbhajan fined 50 percent of match fee on a lesser charge.
• ... Ponting had asked judge to downgrade charge.
• He is not supposed to attend because he delivered the previous judgement.

Hmm ...

[LINK here] Racism charge against Harbhajan dropped Anjali Doshi Tuesday, January 29, 2008 7:55 AM (Adelaide)

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The racism abuse charge against Harbhajan has been dropped. Harbhajan fined 50 percent of match fee on a lesser charge. The downgrading of Bhajji charge came after Sachin Tendulkar, Ponting write to ICC judge. Harbhajan, Sachin, Ponting had asked judge to downgrade charge. The letter was also signed by Clarke, Hayden and Symonds. Earlier, the Appeals Commissioner, Justice Hansen from New Zealand, has heard the stump microphone recording. Ricky Ponting left the hearing after deposing, and in what could a sign of a thaw in the relationship is that Sachin was escorted to the hearing by Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O' Connor. The hearing began at Adelaide this morning at around 6 am IST. It is a two day hearing conducted by an ICC-appointed Appeals Commissioner, Justice John Hansen from New Zealand. Mathew Hayden and Michael Clarke, who were within ear shot distance and party to some of the arguments will also be there, along with the two on field umpires Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor. A notable absentee will be ICC match referee Mike Procter. He is not supposed to attend because he delivered the previous judgement. BCCI's concerns In case Harbhajan is not cleared of the racist slur, BCCI has kept the option of curtailing the tour open, even if it invites a fine. The BCCI isn't happy with the decision to use transcripts of the stump mic audio during the appeal. Since this evidence was not used in the first hearing. The BCCI insists that if the racial charge is upheld then the tour will be called off. However they say that if the charge is converted to one of abuse then that would be acceptable. The BCCI is not happy with the decision to use transcripts of the stump mic audio during the appeal. Since this evidence was not used in the first hearing, the BCCI insists that if the racial charge is upheld then the tour will be called off. However, they say that if the charge is converted to one of abuse then that would be acceptable. Support gathers In a sign that the entire Indian team is rallying around Harbhajan, Team India is staying put in Adelaide till the hearing is over. The seven ODI players who left India on Monday for the ODI series have also been asked to reach Adelaide. The decision to travel to Melbourne will only be taken after the verdict of the appeal is out. India is scheduled to play one T-20 match in Melbourne, before the triangular ODI series begins on February 3.