Poverty Line Politics

While critics are targeting MontekSingh Ahluwalia on his new Rs 28/- a day poverty line, there is a different perspective that many are ignoring.

For a family of 4 (with a single wage earner + spouse + 2kids), the poverty line of Rs 28/- a day means that the family has an income of Rs 3360/- per month (that is 28/- X 4 members X 30days)

Doesn't that look to be acceptable?

For instance, one of my classmates works as a clerk in a small town and earns 8000/- per month. He takes care of 5 dependants (2 parents + wife + 2 kids). So, in their family, the earnings are 44/- per-person per-day. He has a decent life & doesn't consider himself as below-poverty-line!!

మా తెలుగు తల్లికి మల్లెపూదండ!

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Cloud Computing – of a different kind

I never seem to catch up with the advances of my tech fraternity! :)

While I am so dumb when it comes to latest tech trends, this one beats all!




Translation: Infosys is introducing new cloud software solution that will let electromagnetic waves to penetrate through even dark/dense clouds, says Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan. Currently, dense clouds are interrupting the flow of electromagnetic waves. The new cloud software will solve these problems.


btw, to be fair to poor Kris, he seems to have used the following phrases (noted from another press statement), which our reporter spiced up:
-- need to grow the "penetration" of cloud computing
-- beginning of the next "wave" of innovation and change
-- with mobile devices, the paradigm of computing was changing

Blogging, Online Behavior & Voyeurism

Earlier, while reading some blogs, I felt that most of the online behavior is nothing short of exhibitionism & voyeurism.

Recently I came across a research article by Harvard Business School Prof Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, who did some empirical research on this topic. Here are some excerpts from that study:

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[snip...]
"People just love to look at pictures," says Piskorski. "That's the killer app of all online social networks. Seventy percent of all actions are related to viewing pictures or viewing other people's profiles."...

Another draw of photos (and of Social Networking sites in general) is that they enable a form of voyeurism. In real life there is a strong norm against prying into other people's lives. But online enables "a very delicate way for me to pry into your life without really prying," the researcher says. "Harvard undergrads do it all the time. They know all about each other before they meet face to face. 'Oh, you're that guy that did that internship in D.C. last summer.' "

Piskorski has also found deep gender differences in the use of sites. The biggest usage categories are men looking at women they don't know, followed by men looking at women they do know. Women look at other women they know. Overall, women receive two-thirds of all page views.

"This was a very big surprise: A lot of guys in relationships are looking at women they don't know," says Piskorski. "It's an easy way to see if anyone might be a better match." Again, online networks act as cover.

[snip ends...]

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విట్రియల్ కి కొన్నాళ్ళు విరామం

work, home, phd submissions, trading/stocks, pending business plans, guitar, readings/hobbies...... cant take more :(

will be back soon.

AP Congress - A Tale of Two Mothers

One mother wanted to see her son as the next PM of India. The other wanted her son as the next CM of AP. But, Going by the current developments, only one can win!

As the story develops, congress high command is all set to throw Jagan out! It will be interesting to see this event & the reaction from Jagan's camp.

Congress high command is courting KCR's TRS for its foothold in Telangana districts. It is joining hands with Chiranjeevi's PRP for the rest of the AP.

While the Telangana picture is not clear, it is for sure going to loose heavily in Coastal districts. Firstly, Chiranjeevi himself couldn't impress in the last elections. Second, Jagan & cadre are holding the voters tight. Third, there is a talk that disgruntled PRP & TDP leaders are joining hands with Jagan.

AP is the only southern state where Congress has a decent presence. So, congress high command can not afford to mess with it.

Tenali Ramakrishna Poems - Meaning

This entry has reference to a blogger's article on the story of Tenali Ramakrishna at http://yoursmaddy.blogspot.com/2010/05/blog-post_19.html. This is for those who wanted to know the meaning of that poem.


Context:
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Once, a poet, Narasa challenged Krishna Devaraya’s court that he can find faults in anybody's writings & he can write (with NO breaks for hours) when someone recites

Tenali Ramakrishna defeats him by reciting a poem that the poet Narasa could not write, and ridicules him for his other skill of finding faults in others’ poetry.


Here is the poem and its meaning:
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త్పృవ్వట బాబా .....తల పై
పువ్వట జాబిల్లి..వల్వ బూదెట ...చేదే
బువ్వట... చూడగ ళుళుళు
క్కవ్వట... అరయంగనట్టి హరునకు జేజే

The beauty of this poem is that, parts of it are just made up with "Sounds" that can not be written properly. Thus Narasa failed & Tenali Ramakrishna won.

Telugu literary experts can note the Shabda Alankaras in it - the repetition of "అట" at the end of every statement. "అట" is like saying, "you know"

Now,

బాబా = Vehicle
త్పృవ్వట = తృవ్వ్ + అట = Bull (actually this is the sound that a sheppard makes to goad the cattle. Note that the word తువ్వాయి (calf) comes from such sound)

తల పై పువ్వట జాబిల్లి = Moon is like flower on his head (simple)

వల్వ = On the Body
బూదెట = బూది + అట = Ash

చేదే = Bitter (Poison)
బువ్వట = బువ్వ + అట = Food

చూడగ = To look after
ళుళుళు క్కవ్వట = Nobody.. He has no parents to take care of him.
(This is a sound you make when you play with kids and hide something and tell them that it disappeared. Something like హుళక్కి)


So, put together:
Bull is his vehicle, Moon is like a flower on his head, he sports ash all over the body, he swallowed poison, and he is the origin of the universe.


now the last stanza:
అరయంగనట్టి = The one who is flourishing like that
హరునకు = To Lord Shiva
జేజే = Glory!!


హరునకు జేజే!!