waste disposal

there is a  pretty deep well in the mind of every one.
this is where we dump our waste. waste thoughts,
spent emotions, hurt feelings et al.

normally these wastes get evaporated regularly.
we call this oblivion. and the dump keeps enough
space for refills.

yet the process halts occasionally. it is  when the mind
gets into doubt. whether the material is waste or of use.

the best thing to do in such occasions is to pour out the
contents of our waste dumps and  reconfirm the waste
status of the contents. the cleaning process will usually
restart .

but if there really are non waste materials in our mind
dumps the issue becomes difficult. we may have to
sort and tag them again. we can usually do this
on our own. we can say to ourselves that
 these  are really trivial things and we want
to forget them. and it works.

but occasionally a few issues refuse to subside.
we will have to treat them  further. that is where
counselling comes in.

counselling helps maintain  sanity. let us overcome
the fear and submit to counselling . occasionally to
start with.

sorry i did not deal with real waste or its disposal.
next time is good time.

mosquito

can a mosquito crawl walk or jump ? i think it can only fly . in that case why mosquito nets need to have such small mesh ? the mesh can be as big as the wing spread of the mosquito. in that case it will allow more air flow and make the nets  more comfortable.  experts please comment

inflation and RBI policy

that inflation is dirctly linked to interest rates seems to be a classic distortion. in that case western economies where the interest rate is very low should have seen significant inflation. in our own country when the rates were low a few years back no run away inflation was noticed. so the real reasons of inflation are yet to be identified. and  without proper diagnosis no treatment can be effective. rbi policy will most probably keep its reputation and remain a damp squib



there should be other means of controlling inflation like market intervention. for example if the govt supply say onion at half the market rate in sufficient quantum thru adequate number of outlets for a reasonably long period the market price has to come down. no doubt about it. yes govt may suffer a loss but that is a different issue . whether that loss is comparable to the gain elsehwere should be studied . my point is that repeating like a parrot the simplest theory available in the oldest of economic text books is a little jarring . especially when it comes with the approval of a great economist  like our dear prime minister

the right side of superstitions

i am plnning to cover superstitions  in detail  later some time. but right now let me share a story.


superstitions are lost kites.  some one  put it in the sky and with a purpose. but the string is broken. so we cannot trace the owner or know the purpose . here is the story.

in a remote village in bihar people believed that they should never dig a well anywhere in the village lest they would be ruined. a reformer group said this is superstition and dug wells all over. they thus solved the acute drinking water shortage in the village and became instant heroes.

a few decades later a medical team investigated the cause of a bone breaking disease ( i dont recall the name ) seen in almost every kid born after a certain year. they found that the water the villagers drank contained dangerous dose of flourides.

of course the wells were closed and future generations were saved.

but what a price to pay to learn the truth behind a superstition



m k mathai

vyttila hub

vyttila hub is finally taking proper shape. result of elaborate planning and immense hard work.
yet there are daunting issues to tackle like how to regulate the hub access in a better way .

here are a few wayward suggestions

1.  allow not direct passage for buses from tripunithura side to kadavanthara side at vyttila signal.
          allow only those buses going to alwaye side to turn right at the signal . let all other  buses turn left
          and cross the N H   just before the bridge .
2.  put up child signals at thripunithura , alleppey and alwaye sides to work in sync with the
     parent signal at vyttila junction.
            tripunithura side signal near the temple to regulate traffic to and from the hub. alleppey side
            signal near the bridge to allow city bound traffic to cross the  N H . alwaye side  signal  at
            the junction where buses are now  allowed to turn to go to the hub.
3. enforce lane driving in the area enclosed by the 3 child signals.
            physicall segregate the lanes  in this area.
4. allow  buses from tripunithura side  enter the hub from the temple side signal.
           alleppyto  ernakulam buses may be permited to avoid the hub for the time being.

debate on the suggestions is welcome either on this site , linkedin, by email or via skype

             

are we driving down the doomsday lane with failed brakes

in a state transport bus in kerala an young man gets killed. he is beaten to death by the co passengers .
on the preumption that he picked the pocket of a  passenger who claimed that he lost rupees ten thousand .

 the beating started in the bus . in the second round he was laid on a bench and beaten by three persons including a police constable ( not on duty ) till the poor fellow breathed his last. the poor victim never reacted at all . he was not given a chance.

it is now clear that he did not do the crime for which he was punished with death penalty. he was in fact returning home with a duck and  a few eggs and the money he got from the bank by pledging his ornaments.

let us ask ourselves  a few daunting questions

       have we become so brutal that we have  the capacity  to beat and kill a person in a public
                    place   in broad day light ?
       have we become so arrogant that  we believe we have the right to allege, to try , to decree , to deny   
                     appeal and  to execute the punishment  , all in one sitting ?  
       have we become so unruly that we do not believe in our legal system ,   trust our government
                    or respect the social  norms ?
       have we become so inhuman that we could not see  the man whom we beat up as some one
                    with a family, kids , parents , friends and  didgnity ?
       have we become so unresponsive that the rest of us can now sit back and enjoy the drama and foreget
                    all about it after a couple of episodes of  our favourite  t v serial    ?
      are we as a society driving down the doomsday lane with failed brakes  ?
                   

save electricity campaign

good initiative by the kerala electricity board to prevent overuse of electricity.
a series of sensible advertisemensts highlighting steps to rationalise use of electricity.
good step indeed.
but why stop there? why not subsidise the so called wonder lamp  the  CFL  spending
a fraction of the expenditure on these advertisments?  is it not better to make the CFL
affordable rather than repeat the advise like a parrot to buy  them paying almost
10 times the price of a normal bulb ?
also what is happening  to LED bulbs ? much more energy efficient and long lasting than
CFL , but costlier as well , may be 30 times. why not offer a one time subsidy and
popularise  LED bulbs ?
what is happening to SOLAR alternative ? in  a country like india sun power  should be
the cheapest source. but look at the price of solar panels . unaffordable by any reckoning.
not even tax cuts there. with the inherent inefficiency of the battery system and the prohibitive
cost of the solar panels  no sane person would think of shifting to solar lighing his house .
but why not make the panels which is used only for tapping solar power (uinlike the battery
which is used for many other purposes) affordable by subsidising them ?
may be the answer to all questions lies in the fact that thinking straight is not that simple .
 thinking  straight and simple doesnt pay . yielding to lobyyiung probably does.   

mathai