tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49976628176837710092024-03-05T16:09:26.803-08:00Where was I, again?Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-2338458471791229802017-09-21T01:46:00.002-07:002017-09-21T01:48:58.014-07:00Selamat datang to Bali <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Bali is pretty. Very. Many would say that it's basically a cleaner Goa, but I don't think that's doing justice to the place. I don't want to make claims about Bali being prettier or more interesting or anything, but the two are definitely different. Goa has its own beauty, culture and stories and so does Bali.<br />
With that said, here's the top few things that I took back with me this last week.<br />
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1. <b>The magical waters - the color, the majestic waves and everything below</b><br />
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The waters are indeed beautiful (and as I had remarked here about the waters in Croatia), are clearer than I ever expected. You see this remarkable color - the debate on whether its blue or green or turquoise can go on - that captivated me when I saw it first and continued to enamor me even after a week. Now, one may wonder why I should be so enamored with the blue color of the sea, given I have lived in Bombay (or at least close enough to it ) for the good part of my 26 years, one has to remember that if there's any debate on the color of the water on beaches in Bombay its in the shades of brown and olive green.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just look at the blue. Swear I've never seen it in Bombay. Ever. </td></tr>
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The sea faces are either white sand beaches like this<br />
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Or huge rocks that the waves lash out against like this<br />
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The waters around have some of the best and easily accessible corals and aquatic fauna in the world. The short snorkelling trip was proof for it and definitely inspiration to brush up those swimming skills and upgrade to diving next time!<br />
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2. <b>The temples</b><br />
Bali is a 95% Hindu region and are these people religious! They have a lot of daily temples. Of course, there are the really famous ones - the ones that have been recognized by UNESCO and all. We saw a couple - Tirtha Empel and Ulu Watu. I love Ulu Watu - it's on a cliff and offers a splendid view - the huge cliff going all the way down the ocean and huge waves coming and lashing against the rock!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ulu Watu temple is the three tiered conical roof structure you can see on the cliff behind me</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cliff that you can see from the temple</td></tr>
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But apart from these, there are temples everywhere you go. People say that if you throw a rock in Bali, you'll probably hit 10 temples and that's probably true. Cause there aren't just the temple complexes, but every home has a temple in its compound and several shops have temples just outside the door.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A temple outside a restaurant</td></tr>
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3. <b>The offerings</b><br />
Religion is clearly a big part of their lives. It's not just in temples that have been built and forgotten. Everywhere in Bali you will see these offerings. It's some flowers, sometimes a ball of rice and a incense stick in a bamboo basket. You will see it at all times at all places - in temples, in homes, outside shops, or at the door of a bar!<br />
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4. <b>The doors</b><br />
So there is a lot of artwork in Bali all around - wood, gold, silver, stone - lots of things. A lot of furniture is really intricate and ornate. A lot of walls are filled with very delicate carvings. The temples are of course very ornate. But the one thing that really stood out for me was the doors - the gates to enter a compounded space, the archways to mark the end or beginning of a city, or the door to enter a house. The gates are mostly pillars on either sides, with flat walls on the inside and pointed peaks. The doors are often made of intricate wood carvings plated with metal sheets<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-fA-X8rbSCihMM3v5Xhf62vxWU9NE_rU96ecDRidGgKbScExL9PeruLNZHgvOCsikUo9X99B98Qt1oi_Qf4efNQLYHApCYe8WbduB4wjDxNy5DYBt2XE3L1yEtiK3J5LL41K_wP7lbcCt/s1600/IMG_1487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-fA-X8rbSCihMM3v5Xhf62vxWU9NE_rU96ecDRidGgKbScExL9PeruLNZHgvOCsikUo9X99B98Qt1oi_Qf4efNQLYHApCYe8WbduB4wjDxNy5DYBt2XE3L1yEtiK3J5LL41K_wP7lbcCt/s640/IMG_1487.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to a beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to a hotel</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another hotel</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A replica of a door from the Jimbaran style of architecture<br />
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5. <b>The food</b><br />
Bali is a paradise for seafood lovers - lobsters, prawns, fish, clams! I'll let the pictures do the talking.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shell fish</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crab</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prawn or the way they call it - Udang</td></tr>
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6. <b>It's more than just beaches. </b><br />
When you say Bali, you think beaches. But it's more than just that. There's the temples, and the art that we've seen earlier. But even in terms of the natural landscape there are the beautiful mountains.<br />
The central Ubud region is home to a lot of mountains, many of them volcanoes.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount Batur</td></tr>
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It's a beautiful landscape. You can see the mountain standing tall and the conspicuous lack of vegetation on the black soil marked by the lava from the last eruption. And then of course the charming rice terraces.<br />
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Bali was great. Signing off with a shout out to the people who made the trip what it was!<br />
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Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-15362607586168642232016-09-03T11:45:00.001-07:002016-09-04T00:59:32.313-07:00That week in Sri Lanka<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There's something about photographs. They have this uncanny ability to bring back the people you were with, the conversations you had, the sounds that surrounded you and the feeling that defined the moment. And somehow, I can't think of many photographs which make me sad. Most just fill me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Now that could be because we tend to click photos when we are happy and not when we are sad. But I also think, it's because our mind selectively chooses to remember the good parts and forget the not so good ones. For instance, looking at a photo with a bunch of friends at shack on the beach, one remembers the conversations, the breeze, the beautiful sunset, maybe even the music that played but rarely do we remember the bad service or the noisy people on the neighboring table or the wave that splashed and damaged your phone.<br />
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So, there's something about photographs, which brings back a bunch of feelings and the right ones. And I've really wanted to post about the trip to Sri Lanka for a while now. Also, I'm feeling kinda lazy. Also, Sri Lanka is beautiful. So, here we go -<br />
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This was my first glimpse of Sri Lanka. Quite literally. We landed at about 9 pm at Colombo. Got into a cab straight from the airport and landed at Kitulgala where we were to raft the next day. This was the sight that greeted us when we woke up in the morning. </div>
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This was a pit stop we took on our way to Nuwara Eliya. The view was so good, you could see layers and layers of mountains and a lake long into the distance, we wished we could have just stayed there.<br />
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We did a hike known as the 'World's end' in Nuwara Eliya. This picture was what we saw as we were beginning the hike. Flat plains on both sides extending as far as we could see. The hike alternated between flat plains like above and rainforests. And finally after about a 4 km hike we reached the end of the plateau to see the 'World's end'. </div>
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Honestly, I wasn't very impressed with the view and I made it quite clear to everyone when I proclaimed quite clearly in English "This view isn't too impressive, na?" causing about two dozen other people to turn around! This was basically the end of the plateau, and one could see the valley extend ahead. Clouds had descended into the valley and it's said that on a clear day one could see as far as the sea. Clearly, the day we chose wasn't clear.<br />
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As we continued the hike after seeing the 'World's end', we passed along this waterfall. What I really loved about this view was the bright blue sky. The color of the sky was the textbook blue that you read about and the poster color blue that I used to paint the sky as a kid. </div>
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After Nuwara Eliya, we spent some time in the forests of Sinharaja. Sinharaja was quite an experience. There was no mobile network. Just one landline in the whole resort that worked. That too, only intermittently. We went on some jungle trails, jumped into some natural pools and waterfalls and saw a surprisingly large number of colorful but dangerous looking spiders. The other amazing thing about Sinharaja was the food. This was probably the only place where we had some authentic Sri Lankan cuisine. We had some coconut filled pancakes, omlettes, curries, dry chutneys and loved it all! </div>
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I can't seem to find many pictures of the two days we spent there. Probably an indication that it was good enough to keep us so engaged that we forgot to click pictures! </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">After the forest of Sinharaja we headed straight to the beach! We were staying at a relatively small place called Hikkaduwa. This was the place where the waves splashed and got us drenched. Thankfully they didn't get our food, like they did to a few unlucky tables. </span><br />
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The beach was beautiful. Showed us a beautiful sunset and a beautiful sunrise the next day. </div>
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We made a half-day trip to this quaint little town called Galle, which has a cricket stadium, a fort and a bunch of absolutely cute looking eating places, like this one here. Our evening in Galle was also interesting - we did a little bit of a cycle ride to go around the town, again witnessed a beautiful sunset and went through a couple of hours of a pan-country electricity cut-off.<br />
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So that was a glimpse of how Sri Lanka looked to us. I am going to sign off with a shout out to the bunch that really make these photos and memories come to the life! I hope we do more of these, guy!<br />
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Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-52308184568403896892016-08-07T11:12:00.001-07:002016-08-07T11:13:15.576-07:00What's wrong with the increasing reach of free markets?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over the past half century or so, there has been a definite
increase in the reach of free markets and in its vociferous proponents. More
and more things have come to be ruled by the power of the market. There are
indeed only a few things money can’t buy. That sounds bad, but really what’s so
wrong with it? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Economics of time</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When more and more things are governed by the ‘free market’,
essentially more and more can be bought by money. The result is that money becomes
more and more important and one starts measuring every activity in economic or
monetary terms. For instance, it makes economic sense for me to take a cab
rather than drive, if the work that I can do in the cab in the time that I would
have spent driving myself is worth more than the extra cost of the cab as
compared to driving my own car. The risk of this direction of thinking is that
it dissuades people from performing any daily chores that are typically mindless
and can be outsourced at little cost, such as cleaning the house, washing utensils
and now even arranging one’s own cupboard. The very fact that there is such a
profession as wardrobe arrangers tells, apart from the obvious hypothesis that
we have become lazier than ever before, the extent to which we are now so taken
over by the idea of making every waking moment useful. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>An unequal society</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These activities, as mindless as they may seem can be a
break for our brains. And more importantly, I think they are levelers when
everyone has to do them. They ensure that people respect all jobs and consequently
respect the people who do those for them. People are strong and weak, rich and
poor, educated and illiterate but there need to be some things that remind them
that they are all human, all members of the same society and there are some
things they have an equal right to. So when, everyone has to go out and throw
their own garbage in the trash chute (imagine it is something that can’t be
outsourced, you can’t ask your maid to do it) it’s an equalizer. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The growing divide</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When everything is determined by money, ones whole quality
of life is determined only by how much money one has. The amount of money one
begins one’s life with is a matter, of course, of pure chance and that now determines
the quality of ones upbringing to an increasing degree. This will then go on to
determine how much money this individual has in his or her life, leading to a
vicious or virtuous cycle depending on which side of the average you were born
in. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>How can we break this cycle?</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One way is to work towards giving everyone a similar
upbringing irrespective of where one is born. This means ensuring that every
child has access to quality education, adequate healthcare, sufficient and
healthy food, and a healthy and nurturing home. Now no one would argue with
that, right? Of course, every child deserves all this. However, this can’t
happen if the best schools in our country are private schools and the best
hospitals are private hospitals and are consequently governed by the principles
free markets. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am not against the idea of free markets. They have worked
in a lot of places and have resulted in efficiency and self- regulation, but
let’s be wary of how far we extend their reach. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Let's take a moment and think about who and what we leave behind as we praise the freedom and efficiency that the free market promises. </span></div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-61946180764724742362016-04-23T01:11:00.001-07:002016-04-24T02:42:34.644-07:00Cabs and the love for free markets<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Surge pricing by cab aggregators has attracted controversy many
times and in many places. Most agree that surge pricing during natural or
man- made calamities is inhumane and insensitive, as it allows people to make
money out of someone else’s misery. And this sounds rather repulsive, so that
issue is settled rather simply. But when we are talking about regular
situations, it sounds legitimate that people should be allowed to make money
and profit according to the laws of supply and demand, right? That’s what free
markets are all about. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Let’s for some time assume that it’s okay to apply the
principle of free markets to cab pricing. If we are applying the principal of
free markets then shouldn’t we apply it to everything related to plying cabs?
Plying cabs requires the use of public infrastructure such as roads and
highways. Maybe all roads, not just highways and expressways should be tolled
and the tolls should vary according to the traffic. Plying cabs also imposes cost
on the environment by polluting the air. Cars should be taxed according to the
pollutants they emit, and the rate of this emission should also be varied
according to the number of the cars on the road, as the same amount of
pollutants are more harmful when the air is already polluted. If this were to
be done, even then, if all the costs were passed on to the consumer, the prices
would be more when the demand is higher, but at least the increase in prices
would not be as arbitrary as the present model of surge pricing followed by
aggregators. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Now let’s look at why the principle of free markets should
or should not be applied here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">The free market believes that the ones who can pay the
highest amount for a good or service are the ones who value it the most and hence
we can bring greatest utility by letting them have that limited resource. First
let’s differentiate between willingness to pay and ability to pay. Willingness
to pay may still be an indicator of how much one values a certain good, but
what we have here is actually ability to pay. Then, is willingness to pay
really the best or only way to allocate this resource, assuming its limited?
Why shouldn’t it be allocated instead by waiting in a line? Waiting too is a
measure of how badly one needs a cab, right? Or why not just leave it to luck,
let’s have a lottery to decide who gets a cab?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Cabs are a means of transportation, and transportation is in
a way a public good. It is a necessity for people to carry on with their normal
business. One can argue that public transportation like trains, metros and
government run buses are supposed to take care if the needs of the public.
However, public transportation is clearly inadequate in most parts of our
country, and private cabs play an important role in bridging that gap. Given
this, it should be treated like a public good and prices should be regulated. There
is also the possibility that surge pricing may give drivers perverse incentives
to create a situation of artificial scarcity. Drivers can go off the Uber grid
and then come back when the prices are higher. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">All I am trying to say is we really need to rethink our faith in the power of free markets. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-67551355059588273482015-11-09T08:31:00.002-08:002015-11-09T08:32:47.728-08:00Croatia, clarity and careers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5EwNhsDcH5FdFXl7oLEUDifT-yNpcaxvO2fSBv95rN6etL9Zqv7wpOfBMLpj6ndRhZSjMufqdhGsHh6xmt0NE-TyEb_EaD9a8mlTPaCnRhBBr3C1Pr4iZtDH3qCSHamIycfadfHrILTe/s1600/IMG_3243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5EwNhsDcH5FdFXl7oLEUDifT-yNpcaxvO2fSBv95rN6etL9Zqv7wpOfBMLpj6ndRhZSjMufqdhGsHh6xmt0NE-TyEb_EaD9a8mlTPaCnRhBBr3C1Pr4iZtDH3qCSHamIycfadfHrILTe/s640/IMG_3243.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We were walking through the beautiful Vintgar gorge
marveling at the clear, characteristic turquoise blue waters. We had been
gazing at these clear blue waters for almost a week now, but we just couldn’t
get over them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rahul: Look at the clarity of the water. (For the nine
hundred and eighty fifth time)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sailee: Hmm</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anubhav: Yeah, it definitely has more clarity than our
career goals. <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-85989221152076916972015-10-28T07:46:00.001-07:002015-10-31T14:12:59.851-07:00An evening in Krakow<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr">
The right time to stop eating is when you think you can have a bite more. Similarly I guess the right time to leave a place is probably when you think you would have liked to spend a few hours more. You leave the place wanting to come back some other time. That's exactly what happened with Krakow. </div>
<div dir="ltr">
We had just one evening to spend in Krakow. There wasn't much to do there apparently. No famous palace or museum. I too had decided to go to Krakow because it was the most comvenient place from where one could visit Auschwitz. We landed at the Krakow railway station about 4 and decided to first walk to our hostel and drop our bags. The path we had to take was strewn with the sights and monuments of Krakow and we had seen half of what we eventually saw on our way to the hostel itself. We stopped at the main square for a bit to watch a group performing some hiphop street dance. The square is bound by the cloth market on one side, and two churches at two corners. All along the sides of the square are pretty looking cafes with outdoor seating. Along one side you can find a row of horse carriages. Most driven by smartly dressed young women.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAWFZ2o40K1ydrg52DA_O_XEvZnxLQenruqIYrI_Hw3WiosiYVyP70F5x_HWeGqLnAE6ct0Yb4SI8Fn8ELBoyJGVNkwHRyUXwHUCmIOu4tpJRfiQXJnTj59JRgvPM02T1KO5G9shENHrv/s1600/IMG_1614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAWFZ2o40K1ydrg52DA_O_XEvZnxLQenruqIYrI_Hw3WiosiYVyP70F5x_HWeGqLnAE6ct0Yb4SI8Fn8ELBoyJGVNkwHRyUXwHUCmIOu4tpJRfiQXJnTj59JRgvPM02T1KO5G9shENHrv/s640/IMG_1614.JPG" width="640"></a></div>
As we walked down the narrow cobble stones streets, I saw this interesting uni-cycle. Unfortunately, I was only quick enough to get a back view.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZyNIDCydlsuMpm3m0kOXXhYRBwliO-qXLL_AUeBTYxFzMuj8BxLrNuI0u5fhDUUKKWn0qfSu5ubEYZFFP6GQUlNbbPW1UCzS6O-QPQXDUYl0P0jouHX4-gIuDiUSuDY7gSG0ynLpYfIec/s1600/IMG_1621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZyNIDCydlsuMpm3m0kOXXhYRBwliO-qXLL_AUeBTYxFzMuj8BxLrNuI0u5fhDUUKKWn0qfSu5ubEYZFFP6GQUlNbbPW1UCzS6O-QPQXDUYl0P0jouHX4-gIuDiUSuDY7gSG0ynLpYfIec/s640/IMG_1621.JPG" width="640"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And soon we had reached our abode for the night - The Little Havana Party Hostel.The hostel takes its name really seriously - partying hard. They even sent us a mail saying we should cancel the booking if we didn't like parties. But it was a lovely hostel. They gave 3 free beers which I didn't care much for but also 1 free burger which was not bad and quite welcome considering we had hardly eaten the whole day. </div>
<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5M6Kugcd1a6Ws3FHRAHkBJA0RBq1DAJIwSygg5OUieUWY6o6cfaOry5JElOdpY_8vhZMk5MmXlQFgm9TfFNvoq1ucAcR8LNMupcUC55TV_5F40ecIhGlDHzcRXkMqnANNLWa-2QMbeHV/s1600/IMG_1623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5M6Kugcd1a6Ws3FHRAHkBJA0RBq1DAJIwSygg5OUieUWY6o6cfaOry5JElOdpY_8vhZMk5MmXlQFgm9TfFNvoq1ucAcR8LNMupcUC55TV_5F40ecIhGlDHzcRXkMqnANNLWa-2QMbeHV/s640/IMG_1623.JPG" width="640"></a></div>
This long hall is the cloth market. It is an old building that was historically inhabited by cloth merchants. Today it is still used as a market, but not specifically for cloth. You have an assortment of stalls ranging from amber jewelry to furs to small souvenirs.<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYz_AvUNJxsO43Wu1YuY8UXR4ih7WBxc3zdRep1YNIBC9yuw1KrQsQHAJVxB_Q-0R7zW_WpzbfxIaZeYDsJdl9lWUUmV3D_wbbc-Tx258Y5BOKpr2V8GihwoFpkc3Mt4ZMzyoBqtBwORLk/s1600/IMG_1641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYz_AvUNJxsO43Wu1YuY8UXR4ih7WBxc3zdRep1YNIBC9yuw1KrQsQHAJVxB_Q-0R7zW_WpzbfxIaZeYDsJdl9lWUUmV3D_wbbc-Tx258Y5BOKpr2V8GihwoFpkc3Mt4ZMzyoBqtBwORLk/s640/IMG_1641.JPG" width="640"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
Below is the cloth market from outside. Around the cloth market is the main square of Krakow. On different edges of the square are some churches, towers and other historical buildings. Seeing whether the building is aligned along the edge of the square or not is a good way to tell whether the building was built before or after the cloth market. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hmxDpt8fydpsYoij55VR0k0JgCmJgTPwxwpWr6h7hvFNpmEKzvqeD8XfkNU0bhvpvedZghGOGIi2TPqKVPbmCggQNrAkdZtGvE8QDe2tyOA02hecEUV_P9EOAq6kOUDSlmTXPNr8_FmW/s1600/IMG_1630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hmxDpt8fydpsYoij55VR0k0JgCmJgTPwxwpWr6h7hvFNpmEKzvqeD8XfkNU0bhvpvedZghGOGIi2TPqKVPbmCggQNrAkdZtGvE8QDe2tyOA02hecEUV_P9EOAq6kOUDSlmTXPNr8_FmW/s640/IMG_1630.JPG" width="640"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Along the sides of the squares were also several pretty cafes, all with outdoor seating. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHQ0AC6QyOyEkmCmywmxpjXVkIPIh1Gamo3BZCW_gu1Lv2Oo9j2SezAhJbBYudXepdqtozzUkoXgNhHcaLbOf4yHs-_bvDLpRA4hXgBY8vQp-De56uzNBcC2QXsiMmITm5qhYcdYoj3QO/s1600/IMG_1619.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHQ0AC6QyOyEkmCmywmxpjXVkIPIh1Gamo3BZCW_gu1Lv2Oo9j2SezAhJbBYudXepdqtozzUkoXgNhHcaLbOf4yHs-_bvDLpRA4hXgBY8vQp-De56uzNBcC2QXsiMmITm5qhYcdYoj3QO/s640/IMG_1619.JPG" width="640"></a></div>
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As the sun set we just walked around the city with a map, identifying buildings as we walked past them. There were a lot of churches, and almost every church seemed to have some concert. It looked like the churches had concerts almost every day. It was a regular affair. We decided to see one. It was supposed to be classical and film music. I could identify only one song - the track from Schindler's List, nevertheless the concert was really nice. The setting of attending a concert in a church was new to me and seemed to add to the experience. </div>
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Music in Krakow wasn't limited to concerts. There were musicians or singers on almost every street I walked on. This man was playing the violin on the street. He was playing so well that a couple of old couples started dancing on the footpath!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cofwrhd8GZCZWe-qBSow2aW5HphtKNl5HM-6tSHncdrUPLekeH8WBmhhF3OlJ2YAzDdda5_Le8by93cAgZcxoceHB1GDikxcACEY5NH7pCp1gPovCPKvMzWFUsTlqS2ShzYNBjhVySi6/s1600/IMG_1679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cofwrhd8GZCZWe-qBSow2aW5HphtKNl5HM-6tSHncdrUPLekeH8WBmhhF3OlJ2YAzDdda5_Le8by93cAgZcxoceHB1GDikxcACEY5NH7pCp1gPovCPKvMzWFUsTlqS2ShzYNBjhVySi6/s640/IMG_1679.JPG" width="640"></a></div>
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We stood by the river for a while and then hurried to see the museum of the underground city. They have apparently preserved an underground city. Alas we reached too late and couldn't see it. Then we walked all around the city looking at appetizing restaurants and rejoicing about how much cheaper Poland was compared to Western Europe. Unfortunately, we spent a tad too much time rejoicing and soon places began to shut down. Eventually we had dinner at the faithful old friend called a Doner shop. </div>
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We ended the meal with a lody each. That's what ice creams are called in Poland - Lody. You get amazing flavours and they are much cheaper compared to Western Europe - sometimes even India. 1 scoop for 0.75 cents. I had tiramisu, mango and coffee over the three days I was in Poland and loved all of them! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wWvKKaDEoqJcwsXaJb3gdEs7N_3Ndu8_F0ld0NW5eL4y4tgr40FwIexSHYL67PrYkO7RV80od0CKFpSaeSG9JlbWHENl5dmcQT25BMtUXbR3RMszPcWICrIdbEiLRbKZLm-Nze3m3bj_/s1600/20150924_224225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wWvKKaDEoqJcwsXaJb3gdEs7N_3Ndu8_F0ld0NW5eL4y4tgr40FwIexSHYL67PrYkO7RV80od0CKFpSaeSG9JlbWHENl5dmcQT25BMtUXbR3RMszPcWICrIdbEiLRbKZLm-Nze3m3bj_/s640/20150924_224225.jpg" width="640"></a></div>
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After the dinner we walked around the city for a while. Unlike some other cities, we'd been to earlier, Krakow didn't go quiet at 8. It was quite up and alive till midnight, when we finally went back to the hostel - with people in the street and street musicians keeping the atmosphere alive. I had a lovely evening in Krakow - and I know I owe it to the people as much as to the place, but Krakow was lovely and it's definitely on the list of places I want to go back to. Hopefully soon. </div>
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Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-37879177459790919212015-10-06T15:37:00.001-07:002015-10-07T00:48:32.345-07:00What I would do different if I wasn't on a student budget<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I am writing this list to my future self who may laugh at it and hopefully be rich enough and young enough to do things differently! </div>
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<li>Not eaten from super markets in Norway. Eating bread and nutella for any and every meal is indeed sad. Not eaten pizza or noodles in Paris! </li>
<li>Cancelled the train and stayed in Stavanger after the body breaking trek that Kjerag turned out to be. </li>
<li>Not take Ryan air flights from godforsaken airports.</li>
<li>Taken a river cruise or eaten at one of those boats that take you through the river in the evening in Paris </li>
<li>Eaten in those pretty looking cafes with outdoor seating in cobblestoned streets - in Salzburg, Werfen, Krakow, Koeln, Paris and i guess every European city I'll go to. </li>
<li>Seen a show and had that dinner worth 180 Euros in Moulin Rouge. </li>
<li>Taken the Thalys from Koeln to Paris. For the experience, convenience and time saved.</li>
<li>Gone inside the castle/ palace at Salzburg having done the 20 minute climb to the gate and for the better view of the city it promised.</li>
<li>Visited more museums in general. Every city I've been to has loads of museums and I haven't gone inside several thinking they are huge, I won't have time to see them properly and hence do justice to the exorbitant fee I would be paying to enter. If I wasn't on a budget, I'd probably think less. </li>
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That said, I am thoroughly enjoying going around Europe on a student budget and some of these constraints are making for wonderful stories I'll remember for a long time.<br />
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Comment with things you'd like to add! </div>
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Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-85558461122988532292015-09-21T17:50:00.003-07:002015-09-22T16:26:48.824-07:00Isn't it good? Norwegian wood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Norway is magnificent. I don't think I have the literary genius to convey how beautiful the country is. So I am just going to share some glimpses of how Norway looked through the camera. Let me add, I don't have the photographic genius to capture what my eyes actually saw either. Treat this as an amateur's attempt and just take my word for what it's worth when I say that you must see Norway for yourself. It has changed my definition of beauty forever. I am scared nothing else may seem beautiful ever again.</div>
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It was raining all the way during our train ride to Myrdal, but even the view from the rain drenched window was so pretty!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zLwAr3qvvuaowQS9Pg-B_CoFN_sT8QaJmAVLs21YLFzTO__oiQiaM1gMDIdkRxUr9ccz6gFcmPd5mvdgX_CIWo_oe5L8QVfkV48oou-70XER06Aw1-mZ3IxKN-_ndjSQBIIQzY1zjYJT/s1600/IMG_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zLwAr3qvvuaowQS9Pg-B_CoFN_sT8QaJmAVLs21YLFzTO__oiQiaM1gMDIdkRxUr9ccz6gFcmPd5mvdgX_CIWo_oe5L8QVfkV48oou-70XER06Aw1-mZ3IxKN-_ndjSQBIIQzY1zjYJT/s640/IMG_2.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">~<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXZyDtzDJMY" target="_blank">I hear the drizzle of the rain, like a memory it falls, soft and warm continuing, tapping on my roof and walls</a>~</td></tr>
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This picture somewhat captures our introduction to the fjords and is what will define that first cruise from Flam to Gudvangen. At every turn we saw yet another mountain and yet another shade of green. There was the fresh, light green of the meadows at the bottom and the deep, dark shade of the conifers on the top, that somehow gave a whole new meaning to Norwegian woods. Added to these were the dark grey shades of the rocky mountains, the white patches of snow on the peaks and the rays of golden sunlight poking their way through the clouds, which seemed to be the final stroke in this masterpiece of a painting.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4KXWqLxUiWqFWAuHj9fxsrgFcBKW1KQ4LVmRMqFVabWF0xV5_N-5gUTr1AibMHxoFFMMPES8utN8QJF-RwQn65DGu7XGCrI9PZTetM8_kw6vvcU27Qc9zmOjTcgvWmS2pm3oSzTKRHk-H/s1600/tinder_ferry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4KXWqLxUiWqFWAuHj9fxsrgFcBKW1KQ4LVmRMqFVabWF0xV5_N-5gUTr1AibMHxoFFMMPES8utN8QJF-RwQn65DGu7XGCrI9PZTetM8_kw6vvcU27Qc9zmOjTcgvWmS2pm3oSzTKRHk-H/s640/tinder_ferry.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I felt really overwhelmed by just the vastness of the geography. The mountains are tall. They are like tall walls that can keep the sun out. And the waters are vast. The tiny specks that Akshita and Avinash look like in this picture is the best I found to capture how tiny I felt. It's one of those sights that makes one think about how small and insignificant we humans actually are and how powerful the forces of nature can be. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEdK2mCfPhPZfotyQ7dMMdudZnPcBRcfPvyNfvZ3BIldyIaYQutvtfpb97ucH55SH31hJFTQXQniST7GGtmLU3_71Oxm0UxpJJUffBSvaNKEpodtfm0ymXsQtYui_vzvOASoXtAF1h6Naw/s1600/IMG_0398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEdK2mCfPhPZfotyQ7dMMdudZnPcBRcfPvyNfvZ3BIldyIaYQutvtfpb97ucH55SH31hJFTQXQniST7GGtmLU3_71Oxm0UxpJJUffBSvaNKEpodtfm0ymXsQtYui_vzvOASoXtAF1h6Naw/s640/IMG_0398.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/51509989460560064/" target="_blank">"If people sat outside and looked at the stars every night I bet they would live life differently" - Calvin and Hobbes</a> </td></tr>
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We talk about seeing things which look their straight out of fairytales, but this sight was straight out of my childhood drawing book. For years the most cliched scenery I drew was mountains in the background, a stream flowing, trees around it and a few dainty houses dotting the landscape. I drew it I think mostly because that's how I was taught to draw a scenery and I may have seen it as an illustration in a book. But I doubt I had seen such a close version of that for real.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNy3u3cRbAWkBKYcZov1UFAGiHMLU0zsTOBZWRkkNFTqspGTgiBnIlq1gbZ71_s3pK-LQwIOiOcTLgdUlYKZLtK_OZsM7dXM6-hnao4Hu1rh9GOpeduwSXEgk6NVr4C6FmAI0ZmML-ccZ/s1600/toy+train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNy3u3cRbAWkBKYcZov1UFAGiHMLU0zsTOBZWRkkNFTqspGTgiBnIlq1gbZ71_s3pK-LQwIOiOcTLgdUlYKZLtK_OZsM7dXM6-hnao4Hu1rh9GOpeduwSXEgk6NVr4C6FmAI0ZmML-ccZ/s640/toy+train.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was on the way to Kjerag. We were on a narrow, winding road that seemed to reveal a new sight at every turn.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiix0qNHPbP7RLgkrNgMnzFZwJocWPhQd4zF_aPR-sFKRu_JtBWwoZQGmh12ygLrt574V5XD73_AvQKRGzecKvlbmFP6HtOFO8jj4o3ltxmMdDClAlBePQNe4tpLa6eZL6W7W6q6L17004u/s1600/Kjerag+rocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiix0qNHPbP7RLgkrNgMnzFZwJocWPhQd4zF_aPR-sFKRu_JtBWwoZQGmh12ygLrt574V5XD73_AvQKRGzecKvlbmFP6HtOFO8jj4o3ltxmMdDClAlBePQNe4tpLa6eZL6W7W6q6L17004u/s640/Kjerag+rocks.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was on the flat stretch at the very end of our trek to Kjerag Bolton. There were mountains stretching till as far as my eyes could see. And not like I've been on a lot of mountains, but I think I've seen my fair share, but I've never quite seen rocky ones like these. I had a similar overwhelming feeling as when I had earlier seen the fjords, but in this case I think it probably was just born of fear. One thought that I think continuously ran through my mind was what if I got lost in this maze of mountains.</div>
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So yeah, maybe they weren't the mountains of my dreams but I definitely had to keep telling myself to it wouldn't be as hard as it seemed.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwSLPk_Fj8n8s7NXueHAZFoETTZjdGhf0nmZBwJWj5_4fuqoKCow9E4KkSl9-HCLdqDaNmZ-9XPEmiQtAjP7_gOJPhwfo6AKhBsVcMzO5Ucq-5Y2T2xQQvgAUQY7AWnnzy9tCbOMHBXCYD/s1600/kjerag+rocks+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwSLPk_Fj8n8s7NXueHAZFoETTZjdGhf0nmZBwJWj5_4fuqoKCow9E4KkSl9-HCLdqDaNmZ-9XPEmiQtAjP7_gOJPhwfo6AKhBsVcMzO5Ucq-5Y2T2xQQvgAUQY7AWnnzy9tCbOMHBXCYD/s640/kjerag+rocks+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">~Standing on a hill, in the mountain of my dreams, telling myself it wasn't as hard, hard, hard as it seemed~</td></tr>
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The trek was challenging and I was scared. But as scared as I was the sight of standing in between and seeing mountains on all four sides, extend till as far as my vision and the clouds would let me see was quite something. It's a pity the camera can't capture the cold wind blowing into my face and the shivers running down my back. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwjRrJTZOB_H8C6l3V_0Q6KVcRAhkzmVNFdhk2mXNN7QfGK0fJ6cvtnSpe-Gwf7Ox2k09qMnscH7JEseTWCSCDckB1Embg8jQI6oSrq070dQWj-E728G3O_x1bVq8lj-PdgHWNZNJsVj8/s1600/20150904_172953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwjRrJTZOB_H8C6l3V_0Q6KVcRAhkzmVNFdhk2mXNN7QfGK0fJ6cvtnSpe-Gwf7Ox2k09qMnscH7JEseTWCSCDckB1Embg8jQI6oSrq070dQWj-E728G3O_x1bVq8lj-PdgHWNZNJsVj8/s640/20150904_172953.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panaroma from the climb</td></tr>
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I saw this glorious sunset from a ferry in the Fjords. The water body on either side stretched far and wide till it was finally contained by the steep and rocky mountains. The sun blazed through the clouds, letting its light reflect on the water as well as the rocks and the mountains, seas and skies seemed to be competing for creating a riot of colours. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hGcO6-4H3ODZR-AjeP7VZTyz4hSsYk72fMdbwYFoyD14KXelfUhFLm8JH0JwEWL1qU43ug72whtzlWWvpOXbp2wiw2YpxCz6v0RdNtSHGo4Yu70ou_-MuIgFqkbnMWJosH8yx4Q9e8gb/s1600/bus+sunset.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hGcO6-4H3ODZR-AjeP7VZTyz4hSsYk72fMdbwYFoyD14KXelfUhFLm8JH0JwEWL1qU43ug72whtzlWWvpOXbp2wiw2YpxCz6v0RdNtSHGo4Yu70ou_-MuIgFqkbnMWJosH8yx4Q9e8gb/s640/bus+sunset.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhwdclYiGqM" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">~The sea was red and the sky was grey, I wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today~</a></td></tr>
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The riot was over. Games had been played. The colours had settled into a peaceful portrait. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEng3dMQKgUsGbznYbw6Pq-Aw38SroCoDJcdQ6djbGTWvTOPZeDAD-_5pTeRLGfZWfbFeZkjYvfN0SSERpGxpGrTjB6fUDhZImEHWIrzYxSvaPnCZuU7GEOZKuGixkuprzvIyBSaXhiYVx/s1600/sunset+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEng3dMQKgUsGbznYbw6Pq-Aw38SroCoDJcdQ6djbGTWvTOPZeDAD-_5pTeRLGfZWfbFeZkjYvfN0SSERpGxpGrTjB6fUDhZImEHWIrzYxSvaPnCZuU7GEOZKuGixkuprzvIyBSaXhiYVx/s640/sunset+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spGxLHP1n-I" target="_blank">~Shaam bhi koi jaise hai nadi leher leherjaise beh rahi hai~</a></td></tr>
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Norway was magnificent and majestic. And I don't think any of these pictures can capture what we saw and felt. Even while I was there, I felt overjoyed with the sights, which are like a never ending feast to the eye, helpless knowing that these sights were going to be fleeting and hopeful that I would somehow find a way to keep everything I saw and felt with me long after I had left at the same time. So long, Norway! Hope I see you again! </div>
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Before I sign off, cheers to the people with whom I shared these amazing sights. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYN4ji1Uzcgf0jCWOKZy5oRGyYmThYoXLQDu_U9Q5FrlIAd27f-QChg41c422-Eyl0XwBIZYPKSmThGK0EQhxrCHZkJmgFSE3jgKU-H7JgaGuPLQMXDzp6loYAxKTLxldPP7rnOd72mOpX/s1600/IMG_0439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYN4ji1Uzcgf0jCWOKZy5oRGyYmThYoXLQDu_U9Q5FrlIAd27f-QChg41c422-Eyl0XwBIZYPKSmThGK0EQhxrCHZkJmgFSE3jgKU-H7JgaGuPLQMXDzp6loYAxKTLxldPP7rnOd72mOpX/s640/IMG_0439.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAsV5-Hv-7U" target="_blank">~Good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye, singing this'll be the day I die~</a></td></tr>
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Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-87979574578492414112015-09-15T12:54:00.000-07:002015-09-15T13:01:52.008-07:00Hello, Oslo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I did some sort of a walking tour of Oslo in two parts – the first one being the day we started our Norway trip and the second the day we ended it. The rain played a little bit of spoiler both times – we all got wet and then really cold. And it wouldn’t let us take our cameras out at times. But Oslo, was basically the first European city I saw properly, after the fleeting glimpses of Koln the previous day and of Bruxelles that day while on our way to Charleroi. So notwithstanding the rain, or maybe cause of it (courtesy having lived most of my life in Mumbai or to be more precise, Thane) I quite liked Oslo.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first thing that I fell in love with were the cobblestoned streets, and I couldn't stop Sound of Silence from playing in my head on a loop. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ajd8ouC3wACRWKOo9tJU2mS282GNi8dvO1OOevu2WmiZCDJ2dgnBt5-AVEPmKD0n4J-r5Wy_jGIe2odi5JvdWpWV45xOw_XCOJLBw9_yGdW8x1qT5yDt2eIHBfyQuK6xzOHBOdZGHCZJ/s1600/IMG_0090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Click on the image to view full sized image" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ajd8ouC3wACRWKOo9tJU2mS282GNi8dvO1OOevu2WmiZCDJ2dgnBt5-AVEPmKD0n4J-r5Wy_jGIe2odi5JvdWpWV45xOw_XCOJLBw9_yGdW8x1qT5yDt2eIHBfyQuK6xzOHBOdZGHCZJ/s400/IMG_0090.JPG" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karl Johans Gate</td></tr>
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~In restless dreams I walked alone, narrow streets of cobblestone~</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The next thing I fell in love with was the bright colours of the building. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">I encountered those bright coloured buildings first in Oslo, and then kept seeing all through Norway and later in other European towns as well. I still haven’t gotten over the freshness of the colors. They are straight out of the set of 12 poster colors that I used as a kid – you could identify the poster red, cobalt blue, prussian et al.</span><br />
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Oslo, like most towns and cities in Norway is a coastal city with a harbour worth watching. I've heard Oslo has a spectacular coastline, especially at night. Unfortunately, we couldn't catch that but we did visit the harbour.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The harbour</td></tr>
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We saw all the touristy places such as the Royal palace, and the parliament. <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Honestly, I was rather disappointed in the Royal palace. The Main building at R was more imposing and beautiful than this. And maybe having seen so many palaces in Rajasthan, one just expects to see something really grand and rare.</span><br />
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Oslo, was pretty, rainy and cold. And if I am adding adjectives, how can I miss expensive? To plan your first trip to Norway is a bad bad idea. One would find all of Europe expensive compared to India, and Norway is expensive even by European standards! That first day in Oslo, was so difficult. We just couldn’t get ourselves to pay 3 euros for a coffee!</div>
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By the second time we came to Oslo, five days later, we had gotten used to Norway and bought ourselves a nice hot breakfast of waffles and coffee. </div>
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Of course, that breakfast wasn't half filling and we couldn't stop ourselves from shamelessly staring at those delicious macaroons through the store window! </div>
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Before I sign off, a big shout out to the people who I walked around Oslo with! Cheers! </div>
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Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-85914257220404214762015-07-30T12:44:00.001-07:002015-07-30T12:44:23.583-07:00The 'cloth' man<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As I read about Anshu Gupta being awarded the Magsaysay award, a memory from a few years ago flashed clearly before me. This was in my sophomore year. I used to be a part of the Entrepreneurship Cell then, and we did an annual festival that we called 'E-summit' where we invited inspiring entrepreneurs to come and talk to the students at IIT Roorkee in the hope of inspiring some entrepreneurs of our own. Anshu Gupta was one of our invited speakers. He didn't really speak about entrepreneurship. Actually, he didn't speak about entrepreneurship at all. However, his talk was without doubt one of the most inspiring talks I have ever heard. He spoke with real examples. He gave a chilling example of how in the Delhi winters, the people who work at cemeteries often sleep clutching dead bodies as it gives warmth. That story shook me then and thinking of it shakes me now. He spoke about the culture of giving and the importance of giving something that the beneficiaries actually need. He spoke about how people are always eager to give what 'they don't need' rather than giving what the less privileged might actually need. He spoke from his heart and he touched a cord. There was something he believed needed to change and he was passionate about it. What great spirit and what a great man. I feel privileged I had the opportunity to hear him. </div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-48466932398686876992015-07-02T07:17:00.000-07:002015-07-02T07:17:13.253-07:00Cutting a cake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Last week, as we walked back into
the Public Policy class, post the break, there was a cake on the table much to
our surprise. After some quick banter on being past the number of sessions when
students can opt out of the course, one of us was asked to volunteer to cut the
cake. One of the students volunteered. As he approached the cake and was ready
to begin cutting it the instructors cautioned him that he must make sure to cut
it into equal pieces. So then came about the question of how many pieces we
needed to cut the cake into. One of the students said there were 25 students
registered in the class, so 25 would be the number. Meanwhile a few students
counted the number of people present in the room and they added up to 31,
including the students, the instructors, teaching assistant and a couple
interns. Then the instructors asked if there was anyone who didn’t want to have
the cake. Two students said they didn’t want the cake cause it had egg and they
didn’t eat egg and three others didn’t want to eat as they simply didn’t like
cake. <o:p></o:p></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc423093454"><span style="font-size: small;">Right based on membership</span></a></h2>
<h1>
<o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The instructors pointed out that
we should keep in mind that the cake had been bought from the tuition fees that
the students paid for the course. There thus ensued a discussion whether that
would mean that only the students who had paid the fees to attend the course
had a right to the cake. And the instructors, teaching assistant and interns
attending the course should thus not be given the cake. We also realised that
one of the students was not present and would thus miss out on the cake.
However, if being a registered student who had paid the fees was what decided
one’s right to the cake, then he too deserved the cake. Also, this was unfair
to the students who didn’t like cake or eat egg. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Do only the ones who can pay have the right to use a resource? <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Do
only the ones who are members of a group have the right to use the resource?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Is
it fair to the ones who didn’t eat cake that a part of their fees had been used
to buy a cake that they couldn’t eat?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<h1>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc423093455"><span style="font-size: small;">Right to vote on how the cake should be divided</span></a><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The class discussed if there
should be a vote to discuss on how the cake should be divided, and if yes then
who should be eligible to take part in that vote. Would the non-registered
students also be given a chance to vote?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Immigrant rights<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Should
immigrant have rights? Should immigrants have the right to vote?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">While
there was an almost unanimous agreement on the fact that immigrants should have
access to resources like food and water there was some debate on whether
immigrants should be allowed to vote. Many said that only the legal citizens of
a state should have the right to vote. But there was a counter-argument that if
one lived in a place and paid taxes then she/ he should have a say on how that
money is used. While some countries have provisions of naturalisation by which
immigrants can become citizens many countries don’t. Even countries that do
have such provisions could prevent certain categories from becoming citizens as
the process has elements of subjectivity. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<h1>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc423093456"><span style="font-size: small;">Need</span></a><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Another aspect we considered was
‘who needed the cake more’. The cake could also be looked at as mere food and
hence someone who needed the cake more should probably be given more of the cake.
Hence we discussed if more of the cake should be given to the ones who were hungrier.
We then asked around as to who all hadn’t had lunch. We then also discussed
their reasons for not having lunch and whether or not they were legitimate. Some
reasons like having to read for class were considered in a way more legitimate
than simply being lazy to go to the mess. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Should resources be allocated based on need?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Can
deprivation be a measure to decide how a resource should be allocated? We
realised that even if deprivation were considered to be a valid way to allocate
a resource, society does not consider all deprivation to be equal. We judge the
reason behind the deprivation and try to decide if the reason is not legitimate
or not.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<h1>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc423093457"><span style="font-size: small;">Contribution</span></a><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
We also had a discussion on
whether the cake should be divided based on who had contributed more to the
course. The contribution itself could be in the form of the fees that were used
to buy the cake, the time and effort that the academic associate had spent in
getting the cake or the instructor’s idea to get the cake in the first place.
We could also consider contributions of thoughts and insights that everyone had
made to the class. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Should resources be divided based on contribution of individuals? If yes,
what kind of contribution should be considered while dividing the resource? For
instance, in this case should we just consider monetary contributions for
buying the cake or since the cake is being cut in class, the contributions that
everyone has made to the class by means of their thoughts and arguments should
also be considered?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<h1>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc423093458"><span style="font-size: small;">Deservedness</span></a><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
If the cake is meant for everyone
who was in the class, we also questioned if some deserved to be in this class
more than others. For instance, may be someone who had bid a greater number of
credits for the course had given up more to be here than someone else who had
bid less and hence deserved to be here more than others. <o:p></o:p></div>
<h1>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc423093459"><span style="font-size: small;">Representation</span></a> <o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
We also discussed if the cake
should be divided in such a way that ensured that different groups were
represented well. So should the cake be divided into two halves and one half
divided among all girls and the other among all boys when the number of girls
and boys in the class was not equal?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Should there be quotas based on categories like gender or caste to ensure that
all categories are represented equally? This could be in the context of
educational institutions, jobs, elections etc. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<h1>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc423093460"><span style="font-size: small;">Level playing field</span></a><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The instructors then asked if it
would be fair if they gave all of us similar forks and asked us to reach out
and eat the cake with those forks. The class had several concerns – the ones
who got the fork earlier would have a head start, the ones who were closer to
the cake would have an advantage etc. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">Is it fair to give equal opportunities?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">All
people don’t have the same starting point and hence equal opportunities may not
actually be equal. For instance, an award for the best scholastic performance
may not really be fair as different people have different starting points and
hence have to make different leaps to reach to the same point. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">We
extended this discussion to talk about the process by which students are
selected into institutions like ours. Even though we offer equal opportunities
by means of a single, fair exam for all, the playing field is not really level.
Looking at gender, the proportion of females in IIM A is much lower than the
~50% that we see in society. This at least in part can be attributed to the
fact that in a large part of India girls are still discriminated against, not
encouraged to study, not given the same quality of education as children and
often forced to marry early. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<h1>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc423093461"><span style="font-size: small;">Nature of the resource</span></a><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Underlying all the above
discussion was a fundamental question – what was the nature of the cake? Was it
to celebrate something or was it merely food or something entirely different from
the above two?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #2e74b5; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">The
right way to divide a resource is not universal but in fact depends on the
nature of the resource – a resource which is a necessity may be treated in a
different way from one which is not. A resource which is a necessity like water
may be divided such that every person has equal right. The same can be said for
primary education. However, we don’t treat high education in the same way.
Higher education is often allocated based on deservedness and equal
opportunities rather than being divided equally among all. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-31325863998289204352015-06-12T05:08:00.000-07:002015-06-12T05:12:16.333-07:00Why write?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have been writing since I was in early school. I thought
of poems in a spur and sometimes wrote them down. I don’t think there was any
poetic genius there, but the random words were much encouraged by dear family
to whose amusement I would often recite them. I did that for a while, but then stopped
probably when I grew up enough to realise that that wasn’t really poetry after
all. After that I mostly stuck to prose – stories, articles, book reviews,
editorials - apart from a bout of poetry in my mother tongue that struck in
high school. But I have always been an impatient writer. I am in a hurry to put
my thoughts down and find repeated readings of the same few hundred words drab
and painful. I’ve never given much thought to either my own writings or writing
in general. However, much focus on writing over the last one year, here at A
and during the last two months over the consulting intern has made me ponder
over how I write and now over why I must write. As painful as WAC was, I am now
convinced it had some merit and I’ve decided I must write more often – and
hopefully this blog will be more prolific – and this post is dedicated to why I
think we must write. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><i>Forces you to think deeper </i></u>– Thoughts often sound
better in one’s own head. Putting them down in a sentence somehow forces us to
see the gaps that exist and think further to refine those thoughts. Writing our
thoughts down, and reading them is subjecting them to our own scrutiny if not
anybody else’s. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><i>Lends structure</i></u> – I am going to be chastised for consulting
jargon here, but as much as the word is probably overused ‘synthesis’ is
important. It’s important and useful to be able to crystallise what one wants
to say in a few crisp sentences, in a manner that makes it easier for the audience
to digest what one is saying. Writing forces us to structure our thoughts, put
them into buckets and consequently makes them easier to read and comprehend for
others. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><i>Understand and accept</i></u> – One reason to write is to communicate,
and the previous point about being more structured helps one do that more
effectively. But one needn’t always write to communicate. Sometimes we write
just to express what’s going on in our minds. It can even clear the
tangle of thoughts that has conjured in our minds and help us make sense.
People often write down the pros and cons while making a tough choice. Writing lends
clarity and helps one better understand and accept ones owns thoughts. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These are some of the reasons why I think one must write -not just literary geniuses, and these may not be reasons that inspire literary geniuses - but each one of us. </div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-60229343108001106782014-09-02T02:10:00.003-07:002015-09-15T09:40:38.649-07:00The casualties of blurring lines<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
We could safely say that for a while now, society has
challenged the traditional gender roles of the ‘Man’ venturing out of the house
to earn the bread and better and the ‘Woman’ staying behind to cook, clean and
look after the children. The extent, of course, varies and one would expect
very different scenes in a thatched roof hut in a village in UP than in a
swanky twentieth floor apartment at Cuffe Parade, but there is no doubt that
the lines are blurring. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
More and more women are pursuing ambitious careers. They are
getting out of homes, getting themselves an education, getting jobs and
matching steps with their male counterparts as they too get home the bread and
butter. Well, more bread and better, but more is always good. And this is
great, but there is something I think we must pause to think about. How many
men do I see staying home, taking care of children or cooking daily meals? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh yes, that must sound like a preposterous question. Why
would I ever expect that to happen? Rather, why should I expect something like
that to happen?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think we have two concerns to address. Firstly, the
direction in which we are moving is a dangerous one. It leads to a future,
where both husband and wife go out to work, the maid cleans the house, the cook
prepares the dinner, and there is probably a hired help to teach the kid to
cycle. This is a house, but not a home and would spells the end of ‘the family
and home’ as we know it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Secondly, in our bid to create equality we have developed a
notion that certain tasks are inferior to others. Or, we could also say that
the notion that certain tasks are inferior to others is what fuelled the need
for a feminist movement in the first place, but what is certain is that we are
giving out a message, that as a society, and I include both and men and women
here, we seem to believe that the traditional male roles are better than the
traditional female roles. If I were to ask the question – do you think the ‘male
roles’ are more important than the ‘female roles’, the almost unanimous answer
I’d expect to get is a very forceful ‘No’, but that is clearly not what we
truly believe when the entire flux that is created due to this greater fluidity
between gender roles is uni-directional. Women are vying for opportunities that
were earlier restricted to men, but the reverse isn’t happening. Few men, if at
all, would rue the fact that they can’t cook as well as the women around or
wouldn’t know how to take care of their infant child. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am not saying here, that men should stop working and stay
home to take care of children, but we must recognise the fact that the roles
men and women play may be different but are equally important, and we can’t do
without either. True gender equality does not lie in women doing everything men
can, it lies in men and women being respected equally for who they are.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-56617675125533125842014-07-05T12:19:00.004-07:002014-07-05T12:19:45.109-07:00QR codes - scanning their way into your minds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Brands cast advertisements on radio and TV because potential
customers spend a significant amount of time here. They put up huge billboards
on busy roads. They insert flyers in the morning newspaper. They even find
their way into the morning newspaper. With all of these, the brand is trying to
find its way to where it expects its potential customers to be, and then
exploit that opportunity to create an impression in their minds, stay there and
eventually find a place in their lives. With more and more people spending more
and more of their time on electronic devices, it was obviously not long before
brands figured that that was the new place to be. And so it’s no wonder that
the new buzzword of the 21<sup>st</sup> century has been ‘Digital Marketing’.
Digital marketing has given brands a brand new canvass to splash on, and they
have made the most of it. Or maybe a tad too much of it, if one were to look at
it from the perspective of the end recipients, who are often annoyed with the deluge
of promotional mails, texts, advertisements which keep them from the
interesting video that want to watch on Youtube or ads which pop-up while they
play Fruit Ninja on their smart phones. All in all, digital marketing has
become a two edged sword and if you don’t do it right you run the risk of
pushing customers away rather than pulling them closer. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So how do brands exploit the great potential that Digital
marketing has to offer to find a place in their consumer’s lives but do so in a
way that is not intrusive?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the best innovations in the sphere of digital
marketing, in the recent past has been the use of QR codes for greater customer
engagement, and these abstract black and white square tiles, I think, have the
potential to be the one of the biggest game changers in Digital marketing in the
near future. QR codes, originally used to track parts in vehicle manufacturing
have become very popular in consumer advertising. QR has allowed brands to
enhance customer experience and in a non-invasive way. QR codes are being used
in virtual super markets in Korea, where customers can simply scan the QR code
for the products they want to buy and the shipment is delivered home. Starbucks
is using QR codes to reduce customer waiting time. <sup><a href="http://mashable.com/2012/01/13/qr-code-marketing/#gallery/10-creative-ways-to-use-qr-codes/50bdddbc3182972173000051" target="_blank">[1]</a></sup> Angry birds
had an eye-catching ad, which was basically just a QR code that took you
directly to the download page.<a href="https://blog.kissmetrics.com/genius-qr-codes/" target="_blank"> <sup>[2]</sup></a> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
QR codes have great potential and provide multiple avenues
to engage with customers, be it attracting customers to the brand’s websites, promotional
offers that have something on offer for every scan, or making the final step of
actually buying the product easier. And they are biggest selling point is that
they are non-invasive. They make the customers come to you rather than going the
other way round, which has three major advantages – one, it makes it easy to
identify interested customers and hence the market that the brand might want to
target, second - saves on a lot of money spent on aimless advertisement, and
third – is a great alternative to the intrusive e-mails, texts and pop-up ads. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To sum it up, I think QR codes can be the next big thing in
Digital marketing. It’s just a scan away.</div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-76297406620643824972014-02-19T01:28:00.000-08:002014-02-19T01:28:08.377-08:00Books I like -1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
I just finished reading this delightful book – A man without
a country by Kurt Vonnegut. It is by far the most delightful book I’ve read in
a long long time and like I often feel, it made me wish I’d met Vonnegut before.
But God is kind and life is long, so I shall be able to make up for lost time.
I guess. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The book is short, funny and easy to read. It’s like
Vonnegut is talking to you and about nothing in particular. He’s somebody who
likes to talk, just as he admits in the book and is refreshingly blunt. It won’t
take more than an hour to read.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These are some of my
favourite quotes from the book. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around,
and don't let anybody tell you different”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You think Arabs are dumb? They gave us our number system.
Imagine doing long division in Roman numerals”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“If you want to really hurt your parents, and you don't have
the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Only nut cases want to be president. This was true even in
high school. Only clearly disturbed people ran for class president.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“A joke is like building a mousetrap from scratch. You have
to work pretty hard to make the thing snap when it is supposed to snap.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Vietnam only made
billionaires out of millionaires. [Iraq] is making trillionaires out of
billionaires. Now I call that progress.</span>”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-24850631220094828882014-01-02T05:23:00.000-08:002014-01-02T05:23:11.468-08:00Sun, sand and no surf<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I like travelling. I like the going to new places, meeting new people, pretending to understand cultures and all. Now that I've grown up enough, I also like it, because it's considered a valid excuse to not do everything you don't want to do and not pick up all the calls you don't want to pick up. So anyway, I recently went on this trip to Rajasthan, and apart from finding excuses to avoid work and not pick up calls, I clicked a couple of pictures which I quite like. Well, I also had a lot of local food, quite a lot of which was vegetarian and still good, but that later.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYGmz_goSvYqYGJd1USF0BTJddayNTupBG67ogWCdz_Cfa7P6yKu7_0ucjDFmEqx5bLj-5IpUveQQpi0EP8zyCrnENC3-sxhwmE_krLFYDdP-i2hO8eTvfuAgeLjIiVbzaFIFNEp_DjXS/s1600/20131216_164227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYGmz_goSvYqYGJd1USF0BTJddayNTupBG67ogWCdz_Cfa7P6yKu7_0ucjDFmEqx5bLj-5IpUveQQpi0EP8zyCrnENC3-sxhwmE_krLFYDdP-i2hO8eTvfuAgeLjIiVbzaFIFNEp_DjXS/s320/20131216_164227.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">This one, at some lake in Jaisalmer is my personal favourite. The tranquility of the water shaken by the sudden flight of the birds was beautiful. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPv4Ld-7hHfI0jnOkM52Bx8pQH8sbOOSqmaDEs92hFcDgTw6alr8PLeYePANBdrmHraA-Aqhbd4EuZxGwamrMFmQrKACPHIt-kdaP0ZjVoc5vX4Sw8G7ci4pQgTTX3O_VMWGhpSz5ilaH/s1600/20131215_174552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPv4Ld-7hHfI0jnOkM52Bx8pQH8sbOOSqmaDEs92hFcDgTw6alr8PLeYePANBdrmHraA-Aqhbd4EuZxGwamrMFmQrKACPHIt-kdaP0ZjVoc5vX4Sw8G7ci4pQgTTX3O_VMWGhpSz5ilaH/s320/20131215_174552.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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You can see the impending sunset in the golden hues reflecting on the sand. </div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPa9Tm7IGKzod_BKbakZZslPXuLL3bUuoHB8M7Vl2Iwz4h_icWCODtzTE3yAs_tUcxNptnf9hKF9_tlpT93-FTGi-gHmJu2fCaHHYWWhgLhCKGw3JeeRi1T3vIBRYDgR8lt73Q5tiVhY4U/s1600/20131215_180112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPa9Tm7IGKzod_BKbakZZslPXuLL3bUuoHB8M7Vl2Iwz4h_icWCODtzTE3yAs_tUcxNptnf9hKF9_tlpT93-FTGi-gHmJu2fCaHHYWWhgLhCKGw3JeeRi1T3vIBRYDgR8lt73Q5tiVhY4U/s320/20131215_180112.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now what kind of a photographer, even amateur, would I be if I didn't get a camel silhouettes against the setting sun pic? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPqpkPfPqfmwdMT-tSNOgpgkhiFv0H9UfkeYbF3dWm2qWMD-ivXg_R3ykyByGpeJ6k3dJOmOJa6Gul1x_f27d3YtEEPmBnbpmx-ZZ49Ckqu0CAEXw4LDTLNr91SWnNcgsufdqHz9UTB70H/s1600/20131216_073521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPqpkPfPqfmwdMT-tSNOgpgkhiFv0H9UfkeYbF3dWm2qWMD-ivXg_R3ykyByGpeJ6k3dJOmOJa6Gul1x_f27d3YtEEPmBnbpmx-ZZ49Ckqu0CAEXw4LDTLNr91SWnNcgsufdqHz9UTB70H/s320/20131216_073521.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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If I had enough people reading my blog, I would announce a prize for guessing if this was sun was bidding adieu or saying hello. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIImczO4HHpE7iIDAocSnISC1ORm7CnTTsda8tYbAXGtFUvdo7rKkxdlAI3jUZK7k1DWhlTegbRrfOfyxWSBfAJaaL4SiBdJ3PV08tnph6gVwVpPrETCSHWGnX1DVlszDLbNagGTIdYmvA/s1600/20131214_100427.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIImczO4HHpE7iIDAocSnISC1ORm7CnTTsda8tYbAXGtFUvdo7rKkxdlAI3jUZK7k1DWhlTegbRrfOfyxWSBfAJaaL4SiBdJ3PV08tnph6gVwVpPrETCSHWGnX1DVlszDLbNagGTIdYmvA/s320/20131214_100427.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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There were so many peacocks! All roaming around without a care in the world. One even made the driver bring the car to a halt with a jolt as it decided to come out of a bush without notice </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxOcUcFDRi97J9-3SXWECcruvolz7VboACqq96_v4U8bCm9bTX_i4fu3WrbKaWIN_yxJ5mVKxZ8ieLzYPRstetosSlNU0PxJSjOzyByPbAPZ92LRYgDucEzQAJE4X_8rXnLs7_V2iZOjqu/s1600/20131216_175453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxOcUcFDRi97J9-3SXWECcruvolz7VboACqq96_v4U8bCm9bTX_i4fu3WrbKaWIN_yxJ5mVKxZ8ieLzYPRstetosSlNU0PxJSjOzyByPbAPZ92LRYgDucEzQAJE4X_8rXnLs7_V2iZOjqu/s320/20131216_175453.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
and cross the road. This was all in a village which inhabits people of the Bishnoi community, bishnoi standing for 29, for the 29 commandments they follow religiously. One of the 29 is that they don't hurt plants and animals, which is mainly why these beautiful animals can move around so freely here. The world definitely has a lesson to take from this seemingly community, whose villages got roads only a decade back and who still live in mud houses.<br />
<br />
And a blog about Rajasthan, wouldn't be complete without a fort now, would it? </div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-42859481675296591902013-10-15T13:15:00.001-07:002013-10-15T13:15:33.862-07:00Musings of a tired mind<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
First there was the pressure to succeed - to clear JEE, to get into another good college, to get a job and so on. Then there was the pressure to be independent. You must not depend on anybody for anything. You're always alone in the end. There came the pressure to be confident and composed at all times and the pressure to know what you want. How can you be confused? And sometimes I can almost feel the pressure to be happy. And if you can't deal with any of these then it's simple, there's just the pressure to wear your masks well. </div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-22440761693805181032013-10-07T11:20:00.001-07:002013-10-09T21:28:48.209-07:00My take-aways from Farhan Live<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Okay, I have to agree, this is not what people typically take away from concerts, so please, bear with me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1. <b>
<!--[endif]-->I hate concerts</b>. There, I said it. I know it’s an
absolutely blasphemous thing to say, especially considering I am a 22 year old
college student. But I truly hate concerts. I hate the crowd, I hate having sweaty
people all around me. I hate the blaring speakers which cause your ears to stop functioning for
the next 4 hours. I hate waiting in the neverending queue to get in, and then standing on
the 0.5 sq feet of space one gets for two hours till the concert actually
begins. And since the music, which is supposed to make it all worth it and
probably even does to some, somehow gets drowned below all of those annoying
things and when I recall the 3-4 concerts I’ve attended all I remember is the crowd, the humidity and my aching legs, I think it’s time I accept
I hate concerts. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2.
<!--[endif]--><b>Apologies are not redundant.</b> I have often felt
that once the act is done, you can’t take it back and so no matter how profuse
or genuine the apology is, it’s useless. But that’s not how we humans work. Even
though the words don’t actually make a tangible difference, they make us feel
better. The consideration of the other person somehow ameliorates the irritation.
So whether it is Farhan Akhtar apologizing for starting the show late or the girl
standing behind you who just elbowed you saying she was sorry, they are
necessary and they make a difference. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Happiness is ephemeral and meant to be so</b>. This
realization is mostly due to the lines of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDv0WSgXJVg">this beautiful song</a> - <i>Chaahat ke do
pal bhi mil paaye duniya mein yeh bhi kam hai kya. </i>The idea of what exactly is
happiness has always eluded me. I have never been able to decide how exactly
you decide whether you’re happy but at some level always believed it had to be
something lasting, with some quality of permanence attached to it. And hearing
those lines, with this cool breeze blowing into my face for the fraction of a
minute, it dawned on me that I had got it all wrong. Because for those thirty
seconds, I was happy, in spite of the crowd around, the humidity, and the pain
in my legs and I remember that moment. So it’s not as ephemeral as it seems after
all. And this one's probably a tad too profound to be based on one line and a whiff of breeze, but such things just come to you, don't they? </span></span></div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-49143531573524280262013-10-02T00:27:00.001-07:002013-10-02T00:28:44.605-07:00Arbitrary Coherence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
I just read <a href="http://www.ted.com/playlists/74/our_brains_predictably_irrati.html">Predictably Irrational</a>, and true to the reviews
I had been given, it’s an interesting read. Its use of rather ordinary events
and occurrences to reveal observations that are surprising and often bordering
on alarming is what makes it tick. And what further makes the book engaging is
how the author extrapolates these observations to show the impact they can have
on our lives. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the concepts the book introduces is ‘Arbitrary
coherence’. While talking about how we decide what would be a fair price for a
particular commodity, it says that we always compare any given price to the
first price that was registered in our minds, but the first price that got
registered is itself arbitrary, and is not necessarily dependant on the actual
inherent value of the commodity. So even though our definition of a fair price
is coherent about an anchor, the anchor itself is arbitrary.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This reminded me of another discussion I had a few days ago,
the often repeated debate about whether there is something called destiny? Whether
man decides what to do with his life or is it all pre-decided? Can one carve
his own destiny? The way I think of destiny is that we all get some signposts,
some guiding milestones. What we do with these milestones may depend on us but
the milestones itself can’t be explained. They are quite arbitrary. There may
be a coherent explanation of how one reached where they got, but going back you’ll
always come to one point that is quite arbitrary. <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-60432094146338901202013-09-09T11:53:00.001-07:002013-09-09T11:55:45.431-07:00I just smiled<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
“IIT ka naam aap ke saath lag gaya uske baad toh accha
package milega hi”, said the man sitting next to me. I just smiled in reply. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was coming back to Roorkee on the jan shatabdi, the train
that I have taken more times than any other. Sitting next to me, was this man
from the army, posted in Roorkee. His son had just taken a drop after 12<sup>th</sup>
to prepare for JEE. Once he found out, I was a student at IIT Roorkee, he
started talking and that is when the above comment came up. Rather innocent and
apparent. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn’t know what he meant by “accha package”. I didn’t bother
asking. Neither did I bother clarifying on the stark difference in the starry
ideas outsiders often have about the placements at IIT and the humble reality. Too
much trouble. It was easier to just smile.<br />
<br />
And then we wonder where those starry ides come from. </div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-66394432794537883332013-08-26T22:15:00.001-07:002013-08-26T22:15:28.641-07:00Coming back to life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s been almost three quarters of a year since my last
post, and there’s really no excuse for not writing, at least for the last three
months that have been the beginning of what looks like the most lazy and
agenda-less year I’ve ever had. It’s been three months into fifth year and I won’t
be able to answer what exactly I have been doing. There is no real agenda to any
day except making the daily trip to the department at the godforsaken hour of
9:30 (Imagine waking up at 9:30 on a Sunday, and then remind yourself that in
fifth year, every day is a Sunday), except when one realises that one hasn’t
met the dear guide in a month and shouldn’t stretch it much longer. But somehow
this ‘doing nothing’ begets more ‘doing nothing’. Once you’ve spent three hours
crawled on your bed, munching chips, engrossed in watching ‘House of cards’ it’s
almost impossible to do anything even remotely useful. </div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s just the last three months though and a lot has
happened since December. There were 5 frenzied weeks of putting up
TEDxIITRoorkee, a semester that was dominated by EDC – painful and memorable at
the same time, the never ending stream of Farewells, a vacation in China, paid
in full by the government of India, and coming back to an empty hostel and an
empty campus. All of these deserve separate posts of their own, and the
impending vella-ness might drive me to writing them. But that’s all talk and
this is it for now. So long!</div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-57535957848348193322013-02-25T12:20:00.002-08:002013-02-25T12:20:33.286-08:00The entropy of an isolated system is always increasing...<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am not sure you are going to find the observations that I
am stating in this post as interesting, intelligent or exciting as I seem to
find them right now. In my defense I have been through a couple of days of mid-sem
ghissing and just when I was getting into the groove, my department has decided to make history by postponing the midsems. Yeah, I can’t believe I am
complaining about this, but I would rather just get over with them. Anyhow,
with that rant out of my system let’s get back to the topic of discussion. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, one observes, one will find almost everything today
seems to be worse off than it was ten years ago, or six months back or
yesterday. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We complain about how better music was made in the 70s and
about how books written today will never match up to the ones we inherited from
the previous generations let alone the classics. Of course, there can be only
one P. G. Wodehouse and one Ayn Rand. We complain about how India has had more
scams in the last one year than in all years together since independence. We
complain about how the world is at a greater risk of complete annihilation courtesy
nuclear weapons than ever before. The list is endless. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The world seems to be on a downhill slope and there’s no
coming back. The quality of life is constantly degrading and the world seems to
be getting only more chaotic. I don’t know if it’s just our perception or it’s actually
true but it seems that the second law of thermodynamics has proof in more than
just the absence of a perpetual motion machine. </div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-68612043022414838572012-12-28T04:29:00.004-08:002013-09-22T19:09:36.614-07:00The Harvard Resume<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It’s been long accepted that it’s
a fierce race out there, and the smart thing to do is prepare oneself to brace
it well. Preparation can, of course, begin only once the destination has been
decided. And it’s never too early to decide. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There are kids today, who have
decided they want to take the JEE right in class eight, and what follows this
clarity in vision is five years of dedicated single minded working towards the
set goal. And then the kid fulfils his goal and finally enters the hallowed
gates of these prestigious institutions, left quite without a goal for some
time, having achieved the single objective he had. However, you must always
have a goal as only then can you prepare and you must always prepare. So it
isn’t long before our kid has found yet another goal. The clarity in thought is
almost enviable. He knows what he wants, he is in a place where there’s no
dearth of success stories to look to to and emulate and he will soon have figured the best way to
get there, and then it’s just a matter of doing exactly the right things at
exactly the right times for the next four years. The path is set. A tad too set
I think. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I have always been envious of
this kind of clarity in thought and aim, and maybe this is just a case of sour
grapes, but I have begun to sincerely believe that our generation has gotten
trapped in a CV making rat race. For everything you want to be there’s a <i>Harvard Resume,</i> the perfect profile. And
there’s a race out there to get as close to this <i>Harvard Resume</i> as one can. So, eventually one’s objective, the
destination one is working so hard towards is but a Master Resume. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>And there’ll be plenty who may see no reason to
change this, but I think it’s rather ironical that resumes which are supposed
to reflect upon an individual’s personality have now begun to dictate it. </i></span></div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-22445931100356173092012-08-31T11:06:00.000-07:002012-08-31T11:08:07.203-07:00The August post<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Honestly, I’ve started this post (as the title suggests) just because I’ve had a
post every month for the last three and I’d like that to continue for whatever
it’s worth and because I’ve spent the last hour trying to figure where to study
from, for the six subjects I have, for the impending mid sems and I think I
deserve a break. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If I had to describe the time since the last post, it’s been
busy. I’ve completed my internship, come back to R, gone back home for a week
and back to R again. There’s so much happening, but if you ask me pin point
exactly what, I don’t think I’d know. Yet as I try to write this post, thoughts
seem to be flowing freely. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everyone around is busy doing what they can to ensure they
can do what they wish to do once they pass out of here in a year’s time. I
still have a year to go for all that, but I can’t help wonder what is it that I
want to be preparing for. I am rather disappointed that even after three years
of college education I am almost as confused about what I want to do for a
career as I had been when I first came to R. What I regret is not that I don’t
like what I came here to do – Chemical engineering, but that I haven’t yet
figured what I do. No doubt I can see more avenues now, and understand better
what they mean but the lack of clarity is somewhat disturbing. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But a line of thought I am growing to believe is that there
is not necessarily something like figuring what you want to do forever, that’s
going to keep changing. You just got to do what you like at present and move on
to something else when you feel the need to. </div>
</div>
Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com0National Highway 58, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India29.8542626 77.888000229.744083099999997 77.7300717 29.9644421 78.04592869999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4997662817683771009.post-32113151864188969012012-07-10T11:12:00.004-07:002012-07-10T11:12:44.524-07:00Sometimes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes I really wonder from where I acquired notions that
I’ve held on to for long. They’ve just been there for all time, and then one
day it seems ridiculous you ever believed such a thing. Oh well. </div>
</div>Saileehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287177635782345223noreply@blogger.com3