Rumi Nations

October 15: We inch towards (or gallop towards -> depending on how you feel about this year) the closing of 2012. I don't know if the present month of October has been more frenetic than the rest of the months. But it feels to me as if it has been. So I am inclined to do a running summary of the month as a diary entry for future reference. Among the many October surprises have been the *win* attributed to Romney in the first Presidential debate as we approach the quadrennial presidential election in the U.S. Felix Baumgartner jumped from 40 kms up in the atmosphere and thanks to the magic of TV, perhaps billions of human beings -- sitting in their drawing rooms, waiting at the airport lounge, drinking beer in the bar or elsewhere -- were witness to the successful accomplishment of this feat of superhuman dare-devilry. There are not many records to be made left to make - this was one of the last for the forseeable future and the door is now closed on this one as well. U...

When household robots are around in the future, I wonder how they will be designed. Suppose, you want to have water. You can get it on your own. Suppose you are busy and want someone else to bring it for you. You would request someone in your family to bring it -- Johnny, can you get me a glass of water, please? You will not say -- hey, fucker, why don't you move your ass and get me some freaking water? I would imagine Johnny won't be so pleased (and worse if it was your wife that you were addressing and not Johnny) if you adopted the second tone. Now imagine you have that household robot. Would the robot be designed to respond the same way no matter how politely or impolitely you asked it for water? Or, may be, Hitachi or Honda will program it in such a manner that if you ask it for water in an impolite manner, it will coolly bring the water (hot) and splash it on your face.

Today, the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani was hijacked for some time by Naxalites ... One more incident showing the growing threat posed by the movement. One wonders how much of the movement is idealistic, what portion is self-serving, how much pure terrorism, what portion is out of coercion, etc. I think the same combination is at work also in other places as well: be it Kashmir, or Taliban infested Afghanistan, and the many trouble spots in Africa. It would seem therefore that it won't do much good to look at any of these problems as a one-dimensional law and order issue and try to crush them using crushing military strength. Recently, I read that the Government of India was considering banning pre-paid mobile services in Kashmir as that was being misused by the terrorists ... imagine, the Govt. does not mind alienating 38 lakh innocent civilians to inconvenience a few thousand outlaws!

President Obama is pondering what to do about Afghanistan. General McChrystal has asked for 40,000 more troops in addition to the existing 65,000 already on the ground. The American military planners are trying to implement a policy of trying to win the hearts and minds of the local people and marginalize the Taliban. Many others have tried to conquer the rugged terrain that is Afghanistan and failed. America's recent 'success' in Iraq has given it hope that it can adopt a similar policy in Afghanistan. But it's sobering to realize that Afghanistan is almost 50% larger than Iraq with almost as many people. The people of Afghanistan are fare more poor and less educated that the people of Iraq. The population of Afghanistan consists of numerous tribes. American forces in Vietnam totalled more than 5,00,000 at their peak but failed in their mission as they failed to win over the local population. Hopefully, whatever America tries in Afghanistan will take into account all t...