In support of Vastanavi

I did not know who Vastanavi was not until a few weeks ago. I am no fan or a supporter of Modi either. In fact I don't like him. I have lived in Ahmedabad for a few years and am quite familiar with its dynamics. I also have some opinions about political parties now reacting in response to Vastanavi controversy and above all I always have had a respect for Darul uloom deoband as an institute because of its unquestioned contribution to Indian freedom struggle in spite of its theologies being associated to one militant form of Islamic belief. Darul Uloom has always had a pro-India stance that very few Islamic institutions come out very vocal on. I am also concerned with a slow poisoning of Islamic educational system with a strict form of religious fanaticism. That said, financial situation of a common Gujarati irrespective of his religion is better compared to any other state. This is not something you would have to talk about just go and see it. And if this is acknowledged by Vastanavi then where was he wrong? In spite of Gujarat witnessing one of the worst and deplorable religious riots of recent times there does exist an environment for growth and there is nothing wrong in acknowledging that either. Indian Islamic Institutes have to decide if they should take a progressive path or go back in times. Calling water a water is no crime making it drinkable is a challenge.

चलो शेर सुनो

अपना रस्ता छोड़ के मैं क्यूँ यूँ मुड़ा था?
कुछ तो तेरे अश्क थे, शायद कुछ मैं थका था।
ठौर वो ली जिस पर देखा फूल थे,
छुप रहा वो शूल मुझे दिख न सका था।
अब पड़ा हूँ थक रहे पैरों को लेकर,
धूप की गरमी को इक कम्बल समझकर,
हाथ मेरे पड़ रहे उन शूल पर,
झुकती जाती दर्द से अब ये कमर,
भागना क्यूँ छोड़ कर देखा समय?
शायद वो तेरे अश्क थे या मैं थका था,
अपना रस्ता छोड़ के जब यूँ मुड़ा था।

25 weirdest interview questions - what would my responses be?

yahoo.com published this article - the-25-weirdest-interview-questions-of-2010 Even though these are meant to be instantaneous replies but what would my responses be (skipping those I would say no idea)?

1. If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender, how would you get out?

=> I will have a "lead"ing scream!

3. What is the philosophy of martial arts?
=> To avoid fight as much as possible.

5. Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 how weird you are (Reportedly from Capital One (NYSE: COF - News))
=> 10 - not weird at all.

6. How many basketballs can you fit in this room? (Reportedly from Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG - News))

=> If this room is empty then atleast = lxhxw/(4/3*pi*r³) or practically infinite if you take the air out of the basket balls.

7. Out of 25 horses, pick the fastest 3 horses. In each race, only 5 horses can run at the same time. What is the minimum number of races required? (Reportedly from Bloomberg LP)

=> Minimum 5 races are needed. Measure the timings from each race and pick the first three.

9. You have a birthday cake and have exactly three slices to cut it into eight equal pieces. How do you do it? (Reportedly from Blackrock Portfolio Management (NYSE: BLK - News))

=> if three slices make one piece then cut it in eight equal pieces.

10. Given the numbers 1 to 1000, what is the minimum number of guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint "higher" or "lower" for each guess you make? (Reportedly from Facebook)

=> 1 (The first guess is the right one)

11. If you had 5,623 participants in a tournament, how many games would need to be played to determine the winner? (Reportedly from Amazon (NasdaqGS: AMZN - News))

=> one

12. An apple costs 20 cents, an orange costs 40 cents, and a grapefruit costs 60 cents. How much is a pear? (Reportedly from Epic Systems)

=> A "pair" of what?

13. There are three boxes. One contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of its box. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly? (Reportedly from Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - News))

=> Pick the "Apples + Oranges". If the fruit is apple then relabel the Apple box to Apple and Oranges.

14. How many traffic lights are in Manhattan? (Reportedly from Argus Information and Advisory Services)

=> Three - Red, Yellow and Green

15. You are in a dark room with no light. You have 19 grey socks and 25 black socks. What are the chances you will get a matching pair? (Reportedly from Convergex)

=> pick three you will always get a matching pair.

16. What do wood and alcohol have in common? (Reportedly from Guardsmark)

=> Two o's

17. How do you weigh an elephant without using a weigh machine? (Reportedly from IBM (NYSE: IBM - News))

=> Put the elephant in a water tub completely filled with water. Measure how much water it displaced. measure the difference.

18. You have 8 pennies. Seven weigh the same, but one weighs less. You also have a judges scale. Find the penny that weighs less in three steps. (Reportedly from Intel (NasdaqGS: INTC - News))

=> Split in 4x4. find the four that weigh less. Split in two -> Find that weighs less. Split 1 and 1 and find the lightest.

19. Why do you think only a small portion of the population makes over $150,000? (Reportedly from New York Life)

=> labor report.

22. What's the square root of 2000? (Reportedly from UBS (NYSE: UBS - News))
=> 20 root 5

23. A train leaves San Antonio for Houston at 60 mph. Another train leaves Houson for San Antonio at 80 mph. Houston and San Antonio are 300 miles apart. If a bird leaves San Antonio at 100 mph, and turns around and flies back once it reaches the Houston train, and continues to fly between the two, how far will it have flown when they collide? (Reportedly from USAA)

=> 0 miles. The bird and houston train are at the same location

24. How are M&Ms made? (Reportedly from USBank)

=> with a machine

25. What would you do if you just inherited a pizzeria from your uncle?

=> I will ask my wife to run it.

Is Saleh an option to Karzai?

I accidentally watched Amrullah Saleh's talk on C-span and suddenly I see new hopes emerging in Afghanistan. I was impressed so much so that I googled him and read a few articles. What I decipher is he is neither a Madarsa going blind jihadi type nor is he an absolute pro-US face. He is an educated person and has a high understanding of Afghan problem and seem to have clear view of its solution. At least he says true things as they are. No politics no gimmicks. That said where is he going? US is utterly unhappy about Karzai. Karzai's recent pro-Pak decisions has alienated Indian interests and an increasingly powerful Taliban is crying for a change. A change that is deep rooted. In Saleh I see a Man who is intelligent and a leader with followings in grassroots. He seems to understand the problem better than US and NATO. With US (In Obama) and Europe now beginning to acknowledge its displeasure with Pakistani efforts they need a tough actor in its backyard. Someone who could also be a face saver for western powers upon their exit. With Saleh's experience being a Spy-master he is not one who would be as concerned about his survivability as Karzai is today. So I don't know what the big game would be but I am pleased to see new young and confident leaders emerging in Afghanistan.

Best and worst of e-newspapers

I read a few news papers and here is my list of my reading pleasure ranking:

Rank (1): http://in.rediff.com - Simple and easy. News are mostly latest. Even though it does have a tendency to lean towards RSS/BJP ideologies but the newspapers simplicity is its greatest strengths. Providing yahoo like email service is an icing on the cake.

Rank (2): http://news.bbc.co.uk - One place to find the latest relevant happenings around the world. News you can call impartial and believable filled with quality English. News are easy to traverse through. A site I can trust with authentic news.

Rank (3): http://www.yahoo.com - Believe it or not, yahoo provides better news reading experience than many news channels and it is not even a news channel.

Rank (4): http://www.cnn.com - If you have to check the hottest news flash it is difficult to beat CNN.

Rank (5): http://www.timesofindia.com - I wanted to rank this last because of its poor reading experience. Unwanted advertisement flashing up over the news you are just starting to read is such an annoyance. It is the worst e-newspaper down right. Whoever leads it has made sure it looks totally non-professional some cheap ad-driven channel. That said still not ranked last because its better news coverage of India and Indian cities. City news are easy to find and can be reached without scrolling the page.

Rank (6): http://www.hindustantimes.com - Definitely a better reading experience than timesofindia but still the way news are arranged makes it difficult to traverse through what I am looking for. Many good news articles can not be reached without scrolling down. News content is not remarkable but does stay latest and literary articles are mostly worthless.

Wifey in the front row of a music concert

As she continues to be a classical music fanatic (only if you could recognize her):

Migrants cause increase in crime. Hold on!

My dream to work in a research organization took me to a job in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. I never felt more UPian than when I used to catch a train back to Lucknow. I still remember horrific scenes at railway platforms. Direct trains from Ahmedabad to UP neither got any respect nor did its passengers. I used to rent a place in Gandhinagar - a relatively clean and an organized city. I once heard someone complain of increase in theft since the influx of migrant laborers from UP and Bihar. No it was not a Police report but one native's perceptions. BTW, during those days we also used to see roadside colonies of native tribes that even some of my Gujarati friends were skeptical of. Safety is a major social concern and migrants often bear the brunt. All my friends from UP and Bihar were Engineers and Scientists some with degrees from USA. I could have trusted them with my wallet full of cash. As I could not afford flight tickets I traveled by trains where I met regular hard working families. People who were more concerned of the money they saved and taking it back than stealing someone else's. Even though I did not travel in general compartments but the train itself used to make me feel a migrant laborer. I have never stolen a thing.
Then one day I decided to migrate again. Mumbai consulate had a huge line waiting to get Visas to US. I was astonished to find that the majority names ended up in Patels. Gujarati is a hard working community and mostly business owners in United States. Likewise laborers from UP and Bihar is a hard working lot. Migrants chase a better life. A life that is safer and prosperous for their children. Be it leaving stark poverty of eastern UP or a dream to own a motel and restaurants in United States. There are and will always be gray elements in any part of the world. The recent economic depression has proved bigger thieves in white collars than those sweaty laborers. Migrants don't increase crime, they increase competition.

PS: The blog is in response to Chidambaram's derogatory remarks against migrant workers in Delhi. I used Gujaratis to showcase a trend and my experiences from the days I worked in Ahmedabad.