Born a few thousand years too soon!

Finished reading Hyperspace by Michio Kaku, mind stimulating concepts. I am sharing one here. Types of Civilizations - Type I, Type II and Type III. We are not talking about different social groups here on earth. We are talking about universe wide civilizations. What are these civilization types and how are they different? Let's start with ourselves. We just arrived on the scene, in last 100 years or so we developed some rudimentary scientific capability, we are not even Type I civilization, we are Type 0 and we don't count. The essential difference between these civilizations is determined in terms of their ability to harness more and more energy, as higher energy is the key to unlocking universe’s many mysteries. However, by no means does it mean that there won’t be yet more mysteries to unravel once what are known are unraveled. Type I civilization is what controls energy resources of an entire planet. It can control the weather, prevent earthquakes, manage and channelize volcanoes, harvest the energy of oceans and has explored the solar system. Type II civilization is that controls the power of the sun itself. It does not mean passively harnessing solar power; it means actively mining the sun for its energy, being able to divert it for a specific purpose, to energize massive machines, which cannot be energized by any other planetary energy source. This civilization will begin colonizing the local star systems. Type III civilization is the one that controls the energy of an entire galaxy. It has the ability to harness the power of billions of star systems. It has mastered Einstein’s equations and can manipulate space and time. They probably have also unraveled the mystery of multiple dimensions.

Michio Kaku reckons, that a civilization like ours, Type 0, given our rate of growth, may reach Type I status in a few centuries, from where we are at this point in our development. Thing to keep in mind, life on earth began3.5 billion years ago, we have been in Type 0 status for approximately 3.5 billion years! Given the exponential growth of civilization, a Type I civilization has the potential to transition to Type II in approximately 1000 years. That is when it gets the ability to create Federation of Planets, like in Star Trek. It has mastered the art of manipulating gravitational force by wrapping space-time and hence can reach nearby stars.

Advancing to Type III may take a few more thousand years. Type III civilization will be able to harness the power of entire galaxy, wrapping space-time will be routine way of commuting and doing trade. It will perhaps be able to harness the galactic center, which has millions of super massive Blackholes with virtually unlimited energy. Leveraging that energy, Type III civilization may be able to unravel the higher dimensions and throw some light on why the Big Bang happened.

Given what may lie ahead, I guess I was born a little too soon. I had like to believe that there is rebirth, so that I can come back again in future, to learn and know more about us and things around us!B

Women - How frustrating it must be!

How frustrating it must be, when one realizes that most of your decisions are not yours to make, that most of your life choices are picked by someone else, that you have a voice, but someone else speaks for you. That, in short, is life of a woman in India.

It starts right from birth - whether a female foetus will ever see the light of the day, to growing old respectably - whether she will be taken good care of or not, and everything that happens in between.

The birth of girl child is dependent on the sex of other children the parents may have, the beliefs of in-laws and the society that she is taking birth in. The chances go down considerably, if parents already have girl child and the in-laws are overbearing.

Once born, whether she will get good food or good education depends on whether there is enough left after male sibling's needs have been taken care.

Nearing marriage age, whether she gets a compatible partner or not is all about chance. In our arranged marriage system, it is true for the boy as well, but in case of girl, it is more so. She has to really count on her good luck to land into a good, considerate and loving family. She does not marry a man, she marries an entire family. Hence forth, it is not just the husband who makes the decisions for her, but his extended family members consider their right to do so too. Whether she is able to pursue her ambitions, interest or professional carrier, as she desires, is dependent on how others in the family feel about it. When to have children, when to go to her parents house, when to relax during the day, what day to wash clothes and hair, what to cook, how to cook, what to wear and countless other items, are handed down to her as advice, that "must" be followed. If she dares to not follow the advice and the so called "culture" of the family she married into, she opens herself to cold stares and barbs, at the least, and unspeakable consequences, at the worst.

The most frustrating, I guess, is the time and stage when the oppressed takes on the role of an oppressor. This happens at middle age in life of a woman. During world war II, Nazis had appointed Jews as guards at the concentration camps, these Jew guards were many time more ruthless on their fellow Jews than the Nazis. Something similar plays out here. The executioner however can never be at peace, can one?

Later stage in life, the roles reverse one more time, now the oppressor is again weak and meek. There is new lady master in the house, and the cycle goes on!

 

Tackling Poverty

Key is agriculture reforms. However, there is very little that has been done in this area. Huge workforce is engaged in agriculture, but they are under employed. Too many people keeping themselves busy, doing too little. Not that they are lazy, just that there are not many opportunities. Govt must create an environment where the percentage of population involved in agriculture comes down considerably, allowing consolidation of farms, enabling mechanisation and adoption of efficient farming techniques, resulting in improved productivity.

It is a waste of time and effort to make small farms productive beyond a point. By throwing small handouts to them from time to time, their misery is only being prolonged. Suicides will continue, even with Minimum Support Price regime, free electricity, no tax and waiver of loans from time to time.

Effort should be made to move people out of agriculture into other sectors of economy. Migration of population to urban economic hubs should be encouraged and facilitated. Government on the other hand has been trying to just do the opposite, with schemes like NREGA. Government pays to keep the people poor!

Government should set a growth target of 5% for the agriculture sector, up from dismal 1.5 - 2%. This can not be achieved by throwing money and some crumbs at an inefficient system. The system must be overhauled. It starts with putting someone in-charge, who has the zeal to fix it. Not someone like Pawar, for who agriculture is one of the many things that he does on the side, while he gets some time from Indian politics and International cricket politics.

Till the time that Indian agriculture does not pull its own weight, it will remain a drag on the overall Indian economy, keeping people in perpetual poverty. I wonder what is government's long term vision, if there is one.

Indian Economic Revival - Another Chance Squandered?

Under the political stewardship of the father of India's economic reforms, it is surprising that this government has violated some of the very basic good economic governance principals.  Or is it that this government became so delusional about the amount of wealth or the consistency of maintaining the growth of the heady days of 2006 and 2007 that it took gamble with its finance, which are now coming back to haunt it. Or is it that the people who pushed for some of these economic programs (Sonia Gandhi and Coterie) came from non economic backgrounds and with no leadership vision to see what is right for the nation over next many decades vs. the here and now. Have we again squandered our chance of providing decent living to our people that is not based on grants, but rather on providing people the opportunities to earn it themselves?

Government came up with a bill NREGA - National Rural Employment Guarantee Act - 2005, that guarantees 100 days employment to any adult in the Rural area. However, it is missing one crucial component, guarantee of commensurate output from the States/ Municipalities that execute this program. For all practical purposes, central government just provides wages to people, if they show up for work, even if there is no work.

On one side, people get paid for doing mostly nothing productive, on the other side, the productive part of economy is being starved of labour. People from the farmlands of Punjab and Haryana can testify this. No labourers for the sowing and harvesting seasons.Whosoever is available asks for wages that are many times over what was normal. Labour intensive construction industry is hit equally bad.

It is a double whammy, while the govt is spending tax payer's money on unproductive work, that too something that is locked down for years to come, it is creating supply side constraint for productive part of economy that depends on flow of labour. In a labour surplus country the government policies are creating labour shortage. We are squandering our only competitive advantage in the world, large pool of cheap labour. It is not surprising that we see high inflation in these areas.


Another bad economic decision - Petro products price regulation - When UPA came to power in 2004, under Manmohan Singh, it brought the petro product priving under government control. Contrary to what one would have expected from an economist of Manmohan Singh's stature, he turned the economic logic on its head and killed the open market that was created by the previous NDA regime for the petro products. Many private companies lost their investment and many foreign companies that wanted to enter India, in petro retailing, just pulled their investments out. Now, for last few years, the government is trying to undo its doings by deregulating the petro prices. Once step forward, one step back and a decade lost.

There are so many such instances of economic blindness that it is not funny. 

Tet

Lunar new year is the biggest festival in Vietnam. Locally it is called Tet, short for Tet Nguyen Dan. This year it was on 10th Feb, holidays extend from 8th till 18th. The festivities are comparable to Diwali in India. Markets get decked up, frantic buying happens. Entire population it seems comes on the road on their two wheelers, zipping in all directions. If you want to see a kamikaze in action, this is the place and time! Folks on two wheelers driving on the wrong side of the road, not even on the sides, but middle of the road, ploughing right into the incoming traffic!

Pictures of Old Quarter streets. I found shops laden with different kind of lamps and shinny decorative material.

One site, that you probably wont see anywhere, people transport fully grown Marumi Kumquat trees, laden with fruit, on their bikes! Huge pots are tied to back seat of the bikes that zig-zag their way thru' heavy traffic, that seems to come from all directions at you! Another tree that people buy, for prosperity and happiness during Tet is Peach Flower.

The one below is Marumi Kumquat. In the background, you can probably see a barber. There are a plenty "Barber under a Neem Tree" in Vietnam.

The bushes with pink flowers are the Peach Flower trees.

Government agencies beautify the gardens and roads with flower beds and decorative lights. Hoan Kiem Lake, near Old Quarters, in Ha Noi, is a popular tourist attraction place. The garden along the lakeside is beautiful. Tons of people descend on the garden and click their way to happiness and joy!

Happy New Year!
 

Courage

Courage is often described with reference to someone doing something heroic, under some very stressful, risky or threatening situation. But that is hardly a true measure of courage. Even the most docile of the creatures may exhibit courage, if faced with life threatening situation and left with no option. Courage, in my opinion, is the ability to walk the path that one believes in, when other easier alternatives exist. Courage is displayed by seemingly very ordinary people doing very ordinary tasks. Courage is to do the right thing, when you know the right thing.

Chandni Chowk of Vietnam

Old Quarters in downtown Hanoi is the Chandni Chowk of Vietnam. A must visit place for foreigners. Narrow streets, people on foot, on two wheelers, whatever cars you see are taxis ferrying foreigners in and out of the place, small shops, smaller shops, hole in wall shops, street vendors. Then there is more, people who only own stools, small stools placed on the sidewalks. Stools so small that your knees almost touch your chin when you sit on them. The owner gets you what you want from nearby restaurants and shops, while you sip your beer, watching the world go by before your eyes. Beer is cheap, the one on tap, not sure about the hygiene, costs less than USD25cents. Bottled one, safer, costs USD75 cents.

One popular street intersection is called International corner. This is where you find folks from allover the world, sipping there beers and talking loud.  Weekends have the night market going. Some streets get closed to the vehicular traffic, temporary stalls come up, you can move up and down and get good bargain on lots of stuff.

One word of caution, just because beer is cheap don't drink yourself silly! :)