A delhi boy whines and opines. Mainly about science, economics and politics. And the quirky things in life.
The meaning of words can drastically change by changing a single vowel. As we can see here:
On a related note, I was at a restaurant recently that was running a special promotion:
“Buy one Cutty Shark Bottle and get the next one free for Rs. 250/-”
Except the name of the whisky is Cutty Sark and not Shark.
Obscure Humour. Love it.
If the parents want their children to have primary education in English, they are not committing any crime. It is not illegal or opposed to public policy. The choice of medium of instruction is left to the parents and children. The decision of parents to impart education to their children in well-known international language like English cannot be bypassed, forgetting the hard realities of life [emphasis mine]
– Karnataka High Court in a recent Judgment
Every once in a while a news item comes along that brightens up your day. Today was that day.
For sometime now, about 3,000 unaided (don’t get a penny from the government) schools in Karnataka have been facing the threat of closure. Their only crime: having the temerity of using English as the primary medium of instruction. That’s all.
The cultural police of Karnataka decided way back in 1994 that children in primary and secondary schools could only be taught in Kannada and some other Indian languages like Urdu, Hindi, Telugu etc. English was out. This was probably justified on grounds of foreign cultural “invasion”, erosion of values, decline of Indian languages and so on. This wide ranging order affected all the schools that had been teaching English to mostly poor little toddlers. The rich were not affected because they already sent their kids to posh and long established English Medium CBSE/ICSE schools that were outside the direct ambit of the order. Now its not hard to understand why poor Indian parents are desperate that their children learn English and why this was just so bad for all the school children in Karnataka.
The Indian Constitution, on even a cursory reading, gives its citizens linguistic freedom and the right to pursue professions and callings relatively unmolested. So the Karnataka government couldn’t really stop children from studying in English. Especially if the school they went to did not get any funding from the state. This was lost on the minister who managed to pass such a jingoistic order way back in 1994. If you have read Yes, Prime Minister you will realize that this is precisely the kind of initiative that a politician cannot oppose in public. It is like cow slaughter or banning dance bars. How many politicians will be able to comfortably come out in public and say that people who don’t believe that the cow is sacred should be able to eat beef? Or that the ban on dance bars is unfair? Similarly, this was one of those orders that just got notified and stayed on the rule books because no local politician could be seen to oppose it. Elections are fought on 3-4% swings and you’d rather not take a stand and risk irritating the “Sons of Soil” constituency which is quite strong in Karnataka. Given that it was also a simple government order, and not a Bill, there was no room for sabotage in the legislature, during which each politician would have publicly sworn their commitment to Kannada and then just let the bill die an easy death in some backroom (most politicians can be pretty rational people). This brings me to another issue on which I must vent: our parliamentary system is so weak and our executive so strong that we simply keep passing boilerplate legislation through which you can drive a truck by issuing notifications, exemptions, circulars and other such bureaucratic devices cheerfully called “delegated legislation.” The American Congress on the other hand zealously guards its domain and frames laws so specifically that no scheming additional-joint-provisional-whatever-secretary and his evil overlord minister can pass wide ranging policy changes. This way stupid initiatives die a silent death in a parliamentary committee instead of passing out unimpeded through the executive order route (as it probably did in this case).
Thankfully, due to the inherent creakiness of the Indian state and our lack of commitment to real action, the implementation of the Karnataka order has been fitful. Some schools kept teaching English on the sly. Every time a government in Bangalore reached new lows it would resurrect “safe” issues like “Tamils are stealing our water”, “Farmers are in Danger” and in this case “Ban English” from the classroom. They now had the 1994 government order handy to threaten schools with “derecognition” (a term that has acquired a particularly Indian feel to it).
Court cases against this government order were filed way back in 1994 in the High Court of Karnataka by the aggrieved English medium schools. After mulling on it until the cud became rancid and fermented our Justices have finally said in 2008 that the government order is against the Indian constitution. Phew! It took 14 years. By the way, the timing of the judgment should not be seen as a coincidence. This judgment has come soon after the inward looking Gowda & Co lost power in Karnataka. Perhaps the Noble Justices thought that delivering the “landmark” judgment under the BJP government would be safer because the party would not seriously pursue an appeal in the Supreme Court. And this would ultimately keep the legacy of these Judges alive. But don’t worry, this judgment too will go on automatic appeal to the Supreme Court to save (future) ass on all sides. And maybe allow some previously unappreciated Supreme Court Justice to make his own definitive “landmark judgment.” After which, the poor High Court Justices’ 319 page judgment will no longer be read, studied or referred to in the press. Dammit. High Court Justices want their own legacy too!
Anyways, this curious political dance has come to an end and children can finally go back to learning their A, B, Cs in Karnataka. Post High Court decision, there will probably be another round of bribe taking from “renegade” English schools in Karnataka. Soon they will be “regularised” (another word that Indians have adopted as their own. Its actually a sister term to derecognition. Derecognition is the older sibling because its threat always comes before eventual “regularisation”). Now, the appeal in the Supreme Court will only be pursued half-seriously to act as a lever for school managements who refuse to pay up regularisation “fees.” Meanwhile, the next landmark judgment from the Supreme Court heads our way a few years from now. That judgment will essentially say the same thing as the Karnataka High Court one, but with greater literary flourish, a greater anguish for the “weaker sections of society” who desire social mobility through English and a few more pages of ink (319 being the lower limit).
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Resources for the non-jaded and eager.
[Merinews] Can government impose the medium of instruction?
The above article has some nice background information
[The Telegraph, Calcutta] Court speaks up for language right
[Zeenews] Karnataka HC order on Govt`s order on languages in schools
[Sahilonline] Private schools free to choose medium of instruction
[Khaleej Times] HC trashes Kannada as medium of instruction
[The Hindu] Primary education only in mother tongue violative of the Constitution: HC
[NetIndia 123] Primary education only in mother tongue violative of the Constitution: HC
But even when [someone has spurious cases filed against him] the law eventually does not punish, the processes of the law are itself a punishment
This quotation is by Rajeev Dhavan, Senior Advocate, Supreme court. He has written a wonderful article in Mail Today on the Ashis Nandy case.
Essentially, the Indian Judicial System is so slow and broken that filing a case that will eventually not stand any scrutiny itself is punishment. The Indian Penal Code gives a lot of powers to the police and magistracy to harass an innocent citizen if the Political Masters want that.
As a very famous Chinese curse says: “May you be involved in a legal case in which you are in the right”
The Human Brain
If there has been something constant in my life, its been the desire to understand how things “work.” The brain is the center of our universal experience but is still not adequately understood. Because of the importance and mystery of the human brain I’ve always wanted to understand how it “works.” I’m not part of the camp that believes that the brain is divine in origin or radically different in some way and thus not amenable to methods of rational, scientific inquiry. No. The brain is an exquisitely complicated and subtle machine with trillions of components. Still, it can be understood and it is being understood. We know more about the brain now than 10 years ago and immeasurably more since a 100 years ago. Large swathes of the public still think of the brain in terms of the language of a bygone era: the Ego and the Id of Freud. Or maybe they’ve seen movies like One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and think of mental institutions as frozen in time; still administering shocks and sedation. Its an unfortunate stereotype because other parts of the medical profession like cardiology have become über cool (with some help from medical dramas 
). Terms like pacemakers, defibrillators, artificial hearts, bypass and triple-bypass have entered into common parlance. Neurology to a lot of people still means Lobotomies and Grand Mal seizures. Its partly the failure of the field to communicate its achievements and partly because medical progress in understanding the brain has been comparatively slow. We have been hindered so far because the brain is the most complex organ in our body.
Nevertheless, Science continues to make amazing advancements in the understanding of the brain through disciplines like Neuro-Biology, Genetics, Chemistry, Artificial Intelligence and Psychiatry. The state of the art has advanced quite far till now. Consider this: We can see what parts of the brain are involved in real-time thought when people are put into a functional MRI scanning machine. So if you are thinking visual thoughts, the visual part of the brain lights up on the screen. If you are having sexual thoughts then the sexual centers light up. This technique is constantly being refined and holds a lot of promise in treating diseases and understanding how the brain functions as a living system. All this is non-invasive live imaging. Sample another development: Scientists have come up with external robotic limbs that monkeys can learn to control through electrodes planted in their brain. And then there is a whole field of anti-depression research that has understood the functions of neurotransmitters in our brains. Today, there are specific medicines available that target one or two neurotransmitters in the brain instead of raising the level of all of them as older drugs did (e.g. SSRIs). For some people, SSRIs and other newer drugs have literally saved their lives.
The Female Brain
My fascination for brains in general and females in particular caused me to pickup The Female Brain by Dr. Louann Brizedine some weeks back. The book is an informative and fun read. There are lot of sweeping generalizations about the behavior of the sexes throughout the book which can make the book seem a little too simplistic, but putting in caveats and “your mileage might vary” statements everywhere would have made things equally tedious. This is not a book for “experts” but Dr. Louann has nevertheless tried to be scholarly with over 100 pages of notes and references tucked away at the end of the book for the benefit of boffins and reactionary critics.
My recommendation is that you read this book to get a good overview of the workings of the female hormonal system and its effects on neurotransmitters and emotional centers of the brain. Dr. Louann shows us how hormones play an important role in a woman’s mood, desire to mate and rear children and communicate with other humans. She explains how estrogen and testosterone influence the wiring of males and females at birth all the way through puberty and beyond. One does get the feeling that Dr. Brizedine tends to blame hormones for everything (given that is her area of specialization) but there are places where she adequately defers to genetics, upbringing, diet and environmental conditions as a way of explaining female behavior. This is not only a book on hormones; there is a fair amount of evolutionary psychology i.e. why women behave the way they behave from an evolutionary standpoint. I’ve read a lot of Richard Dawkins and Matt Ridley in the past and these arguments do have a certain appeal for me.
The book is peppered with stories and case studies of crazy teenage girls and their crushes, infidelity, divorces, postpartum depression, sexual problems, love and marriage. Dr. Louann uses her deep insight into female psychology and medical expertise to treat these patients. Most of these stories have a happy denouement which may give some readers a false belief in the efficacy of the drugs and theories Dr. Louann is promoting. But its a minor quibble.
Dr. Louann Brizedine comes across as a kind woman who sincerely believes in the equality of sexes. The prose is friendly and non-feminist. She has a balanced viewpoint that both sexes have evolved slightly different brains because of the different roles they have played throughout history and that no brain is “superior.” Female brains are better at certain tasks and Male brains are better at certain tasks. Men and woman are partners, she seems to emphasize throughout the book. As a man, I found the book very helpful in furthering my understanding of the women in my life. I came away touched, and infused with a greater appreciation of their innate abilities.
Sidharth’s Rating 4.0/5.0
Interested in Science & Mathematics. Open Source Software. The Internet. Economics. Politics. ++ Fun Stuff ++
Drink a River at Volga!
Volga is a venerable bar in Inner Circle, B-Block, Connaught Place in New Delhi.
Its a great place to have chilled beer or whisky (why drink anything else?) in an air conditioned Art Deco environment. The world may have changed but Volga remains stubbornly the same. This is reassuring, especially, if you’ve not had a good week, month or even a year. Or years for that matter.
Age apart, Volga is certainly not shabby and the interiors are in good condition (check out the ceiling). In fact, Volga looks straight out of a 1960s movie set. Helen would not feel out of place if she did a number here in one of her signature garish gowns set to some vulgar filmi music. Alas, there are no exposed midriffs and “you are my majnu” looks to be had here. Far from it. There is absolutely no entertainment at Volga. Kids, they don’t even play “Summer of 1969″ here, so stay away. You may possibly hear some synthesized “Mughlai” music if you know what I mean. “Drinking” is considered serious business at Volga. You may might as well call alcohol “Daaru” here.
Service is good though. The waiters are experienced old timers and you know they are sizing you up as soon as you step in. There is none of that chirpy “May I help you!?”, Hundreds of Buttons on my shirt or “Ring the Bell if you had a good time!” kind of stuff going on. But still, there is a kind of relaxed efficiency that makes you feel that you are in safe hands.
The best time to visit Volga is in the afternoon on a holiday (magazine in hand) when it’s nice and peaceful. In the evenings it can be quite busy with Men everywhere. If its a female then its probably a tourist. There is a “family section” upstairs which just has to be the perfect place a typical drunk forces his wife to go, as part of a quid pro quo deal after a Hindi movie, perhaps. Actually, the concept of a “family section” at Volga is so oxymoronic that drinking there has become one of my 1000-things-to-do-before-I-die.
The biggest draw of Volga is undoubtedly its Value for Money. Volga’s prices are simply rock bottom in an shopping district that has got one of the highest rentals in India* . Volga is the place to go when you’re with the guys or are saving up money for the next trip to TGIF with the girls.
Sidharth’s Rating 3.0/5.0
“Nostalgia” boost of 0.5 means I give it a final score of 3.5/5.0
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* You can probably bet that Volga is a rented establishment protected from ruinous Connaught place rentals by the Delhi Rent Control Act. Hence the low prices there. God bless Socialism.