Someone I know suggested getting married today the 29th of Feb, saying one could save on anniversaries and anniversary gifts. So, I am putting out the resume of a middle-aged character named Kannan Iyer. It might take another 4 years exactly before he can find a partner with this resume..

Kannan Iyer

Objective:  Application for the position of lover and partner.

Qualifications:

_Separated successfully with body parts and sanity mostly intact from previous relationship.

_Most body parts and the mind still continue to perform their major assigned tasks to a reasonable level of performance.

_Ego a bit battered (which is a good thing, right?)

_Can provide unconditional love, with very little sought in return (a kind word a day and a smile will do).

_Will share food, clothing, and shelter.

_49 years old. Still a Spring chicken.. really more of a rooster! Even if I crow about it myself ;-)

_Will work to support ‘needs’, and ‘wants’ in that order.

_Can cook, clean, mow the lawns, do odd handy man jobs around the house.

Additional qualifications:

Still have original hair (what’s left of it),

Original set of teeth (2 wisdom teeth taken out in 1995 to match actual wisdom then, a pity they don’t grow back to match the wisdom now)

Failing eyesight (everything and everyone looks warm and fuzzy and nice),

Failing hearing (can ignore most rantings and high pitched yelling),

Original knee and hip joints with only normal, expected wear and tear.

Overall, body is in good condition with no leakages.

Possible disqualifications:

_Can and do sing,

_Cannot, but do dance (a natural at the old-man-in-pain shuffle)

_Cannot play any musical instruments (any instrument musically) unless the kitchen counter and spoons count

_Brutally honest at times, without even realising the consequences

Education (in Matrimony):  Have learned painful lessons for over 21 years.   A great measure of wisdom has been acquired very recently.

Prior Experience(in Matrimony):  Terrible Experience! Been married 20 years and failed at it once so far. Please note that if I had succeeded, I would not be applying for this job AND would be automatically disqualified for the position I am seeking. I understand that if this experience and failure is repeated too many times, that might count against me. Since it has happened only once and that makes me a prime candidate for the job due to the wisdom and knowledge gained by prior experience.

Achievements: Two wonderful children from the prior marriage, though they are accidental achievements, they have been truly loved, provided for, raised well, and are a testimony to my parenting capabilities. They are the only willing and truly independent referees.

Communication skills:

_Can nod head and agree with everything

_Can make sympathetic noises

_Can hold hands

_Can hold tongue (to counter the brutal honesty disqualification)

*******************************************************

Looking at my objective and my previous experience, one person has rightly questioned my claim of still being sane ;-) since I talk about being brutally honest sometimes. He says I have not learned anything from my previous job and hence should be disqualified for the job.

I can only plead guilty and plead insanity as my defence..

-Kannan Iyer


Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012

All rights reserved 

Racing Hearts, Country Boys and Tamarind In the Stomach

The boys are all around 14. They meet often on weekends at M’s place. He lives on a property with some acreage, set on hills and valleys on the scenic road to Eildon. The driveway to his house is sloped and not a sealed road. It is quite a bit away from the nearest neighbour – you can barely hear them shout, but not clearly I expect. There are no shops or malls nearby. One cannot even get mobile phone reception over most of the property.

These boys often like to meet at M’s place. One would wonder why, considering these are modern teenagers who are always plugged-in, online and connected to the Internet whenever they can. They seem like unplugged robots when detached from their electronic connections most of the time. They often relate to each other through the medium of a computer, TV or game screen when meeting at homes or in town. They like all the comforts, distractions of technology, malls, and stuff just like any of their city cousins. It seems intriguing why they would make time, go over to this friend’s place, spend hours and hours without much regard to creature comforts and not miss their seemingly integral connection to the Internet.

Apparently all the latest gadgets and technology still does not overcome some basic instincts and traits of boys all over the world. It turns out that M is into cars. His family is too. They have worked with them, taken them apart, put them together, modified them and generally grew up around them. M has the knowledge, confidence and skills around cars that many grown-ups like me simply do not. Most boys like cars and trucks. All of M’s friends do too. Even if they lived in the city, they think they have driven race-cars, because they have, on video and computer games. They all have the idea of being a race-car driver as one of their dream jobs! They talk about the latest models, pick up, the engines, the tracks and endless details. Many of them have never been in the driver’s seat. But M and some of these country kids have. They can with fair confidence and skill.

On his own property, with the guidance of his skilled parents, M has always been around and handled cars. He knows things firsthand that the other kids only do in theory, a simulation or animation.

Naturally, they gravitate towards M’s place. They look and learn. They sometimes have a turn sitting in the driver’s seat. One cannot beat the thrill and feel of being behind the wheel of a car or truck or Ute. M and his family have actually worked on those. They are familiar with the details. These boys can talk endlessly about cars and girls. We are thankful when they come back from M’s having some hands-on experience on the former. They come back thrilled, even if it is a tentative experience. It is something city kids cannot have easily. These boys like to go back for more.

When I grew up, in India, my family did not even have bicycle as a family vehicle. I used to dream of riding a bicycle like the characters in Enid Blyton novels. Sometimes, in my dreams it would feel so real. In real life, I would fall down, unbalanced due to sheer nervousness and anxiety. It was by renting a bicycle with my pocket money over a summer holiday in my teens, without my parents’ knowledge, with a friend at the back holding me up for balance that I learned to ride a bicycle. I finally learned to balance after several failed attempts and inexplicable painful injuries to hands, knees and the groin (I was too embarrassed to learn riding on a girl’s bicycle without the horizontal cross bar). It did not seem to matter that the injuries themselves were more embarrassing sometimes! Dreams of driving a car never even occurred to me until well into adulthood and living in the US as a graduate student in my late twenties.

The next generation, however, is itching to drive cars, trucks, Utes and dreams of owning the million dollar Bugatti Veyron when twelve years of age! I wish them well and hope they can earn their way to fulfilling their dreams.

These boys go and have a fine time at M’s place. Apparently they have been quite careful not to have any accidents and not pushed the limits of safety. But this is what boys will do. They will like to not share everything with their parents until after they have learned something and then proudly tell their parents. I have been privileged to be confided in recently. I can understand. One can take away the greatest fun and thrill of childhood and friendship by being too supportive, too intrusive and understanding and being there all the time. I pretend like I am not too interested or worried.

However, each time I see these kids return safely I say a mighty thanks to the higher powers. Now when I see them go away to M’s friend’s place, I feel something. It reminds of an expression we have in Tamil culture for that very feeling. The saying translates to “To churn and mix a solution of tamarind in the stomach.”

For those of you who do not know, ‘tamarind’ is a tropical fruit that is sour when green and becomes dark brown jelly like and sweeter as it ripens. Even the ripe fruit gives a subtle sour taste to certain dishes and has to be consumed in limited quantities. Too much of it can give you a queasy, uneasy feeling in the stomach. That is exactly the feeling a mother claims she gets when she sees her child off battle or some risky venture. A typical Tamil mother would use that famous expression of having “tamarind being mixed in the stomach” to let you know how she is feeling. I realise that fathers get the same feeling too. Only they do not say it aloud or express it that way.

Boys will be boys and parents will be parents. The hearts and cars of the young ones will race and the stomachs of the parents will churn tamarind, even if silently!

Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012
All rights reserved 

The Soul Of Peggy

I visited my friend Sheila in town today. She lives in an assisted-living unit in town with her black cat “Lucky” and dog – “Peggy.” Often, I see her scooting about town. She is a cheerful ex- Liverpudlian with an Irish accent who drove buses in London and later in Australia. Sheila has an appreciation for a well-turned phrase, good songs, a great understanding of their history and subtleties – what she calls ‘trivia.’ It is usually something profound or interesting to me.

As soon as I walk in her door, her dog comes up to me wagging “Hello” to receive a little cuddle greeting. She then goes away and sits down in front of Sheila’s chair.  Peggy is quite old in dog years, but looks quite young for her age.  It is her slow waddling walk that might give her age away. “Lucky” the cat, if she is around and in the mood will come by with her tail up in the air, brush her sides against my leg and having greeted me will walk away and sit next to Sheila’s hand or at her feet or lap.

Sheila always offers and usually makes me a cup of coffee or tea with honey instead of sugar. She is hospitable even as she hobbles around slowly. She has been this way since she suffered a stroke, had an accident and lost some control and feeling on one side of her body. I let her go to some effort to make me a drink, because she has a sweet tooth, has to cut down on sweets because of diabetes and every bit of exercise helps burn some calories. She has a really comfortable reclining chair. When she sits down and leans back on it, the lower-leg support comes up in the reclining mechanism to create a space underneath. If Sheila does not recline soon enough, Peggy lets her know with a pleading/complaining croon. I did not understand what it was about, but Sheila knows exactly what Peggy wants. She is just like a mother who understands her child’s cry and knows what it means. As soon as the space underneath the foot-rest opens up, Peggy crawls into it. Sheila then sits back and lets the foot-rest gently close halfway.

It seems such a dangerous thing, one would fear what would happen if Sheila had to get up and fold the foot rest underneath. It would appear that Peggy could get crushed or mangled in the steel reclining mechanism, but it has never happened. Both Sheila and Peggy have developed an understanding and the fine art of doing this. When she has to get back up and kick the footrest back into position, Sheila calls out to Peggy, lets her come out and then carefully locks the reclining mechanism.

Sheila always regales me with tales of her life in England, her family, her Arab relatives, her school and bus-driver days. She is a passionate advocate of immigrants, those that have shown initiative and courage to try and move beyond their circumstances.

As we chatted today, Sheila smoked. She smokes a fair bit. Then she had to get up to go to the bathroom. She signalled the dog underneath the recliner. She called out to Peggy to come out to prevent her getting crushed. Peggy loves being huddled under, but after a couple of calls, she knows she has to get up. Peggy crawled out slowly.

“She will walk me to the bathroom and back. She’ll see that I am OK and don’t fall,” said Sheila with pride and affection.

Sure enough, as Sheila shuffled along slowly, Peggy walked beside her, not getting in the way and looking very important, serious and responsible. It was a little while before both of them came back with Peggy leading the way and waiting to get back under the recliner.

While they were gone, it struck me. Here was this scruffy little dog who was herself in old age, who had taken it upon herself to do a task, something to help her friend. No one asked her. She came up with it herself. What a kind, loving spirit and an instinct to serve that comes naturally to a creature!  I wondered what motivates her to serve, to help another creature?  Surely, she does it naturally because it gives her a purpose in life?  Don’t we all try hard to find such a purpose in our own lives? We struggle to find something as simple and that good. Other than in the memory of Sheila, no one else might even know about this service, ever. No one might record it, write about it, or erect a monument to Peggy for doing it.

Does she seek an acknowledgement or great appreciation in return? A certificate, medal or salary or reward in return for this task?

When she does get a loving pat or some treat in appreciation, does Peggy ever compare it with what some other dog got from her owner? No! She might get less material stuff in return or even doggy treats like walks or fancy toys as compared to dogs of richer, or more active owner. Peggy gets food, cuddles and affectionate talking to or a pretend scolding.

Does she ever feel jealous? Underpaid in comparison? No! She does not even think about it. For her the pleasure and purpose in life is in the act of caring itself.

When Sheila or Peggy is gone, what is left for Peggy? Does Peggy want to be remembered and acknowledged as an ‘accomplished’ dog? Or care what anyone thinks of her? What is written on her tombstone? Where she is buried? What future generations think of her? There seems nothing  that Peggy will do based on such a desire for ‘immortality’ or being remembered beyond her lifetime. Even in her lifetime, every time Peggy’s presence is acknowledged, she is grateful and shows it. She wags her tail for every cuddle, every reward.

Every living creature on earth finds a task or purpose in life that seeks to serve others. Even humans do, but I am not sure we do with the selfless unvarnished love and the spirit of the animals. I start to wonder, what are the many motivations of humans who serve others? How many of us can do it like Peggy?

Note: I suppose it is because I have never grown up raising a pet that it seems unusually striking to me. Most pet owners seem to have known this all along.


Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012

All rights reserved 

Stricken Birds All...

     I am the sole and founding member of the ‘Walking - Special Interest Group’ of the Lonely Hearts Club of Alexandra – our motto – “Don’t walk alone!”  I was walking alone early one morning and saw the body of a little bird on the road. He had been hit and apparently did not make it to safety in time. This is a common scenario around these parts – the birds and animals are so comfortable with human presence and vice-versa that they sometimes cross paths in tragic ways.

     This bird looked like it had just fallen asleep in a slightly uncomfortable pose. I bent down to see if there still was life. I could not quite tell. I grew up in cities most of my life and was always hesitant to touch strange animals or birds. As I knelt down to get a closer look, another morning walker came down the road, from the opposite direction. We said ‘Hello, Good morning!’ and she asked, “What is it? Is it still alive?”

“I am not sure,” I said, “Can you tell?”

     The lady knelt down beside me, unhesitatingly put her hand over the bird gently and held it for a second.

“Looks like, he’s gone. Poor fella!” she said softly.

     There were a few moments of silence and then we both heard the little sound, barely though - a sad chirp or cry as a bird might make - coming from among the hedge on the side of the road. We went towards it and saw another bird, barely alive, on the ground, its feathers a bit askew. This was surely the mate or companion of the one that lay dead a few yards away. They might have been foraging on the road or even playing together and probably narrowly missed the chance to escape.

     My fellow walker moved towards the injured bird. It tried to move and get away – it could not fly and could not walk either, just limped and fell sideways. Maybe it was just me, its eyes and expression seemed to indicate both the natural fear of human proximity and a helpless resignation and acceptance knowing one cannot get away.

     “Come here, you. Let me look at you,” the lady gently murmured to the bird, picked it up with an entrancing, embracing motion and brought it up. It was as if she was cuddling a little baby.

“I’ll take it over to the vet’s and see if anything can be done,” she said.

“The veterinary clinic is closed now and opens later, doesn’t it?” I ventured.

“No, I’ll take it to the vet’s house. I know her.”

     She started to walk back in the direction she came from. I continued my walk alongside her.

     We chatted as we walked. I was a relative newcomer and the walker had been lived around here much longer. She had seen me around town with my kids and I too had seen her with her family. While I am sure most people around town knew about the knocks of life that my family was going through, she was polite, tactful and did not let on too much. She asked me what brought me here to Alex. I told her, briefly, about my plans for life here. She said some encouraging words about life and people in town. When I asked her about herself, she shared a bit of her own life in a matter-of-fact way. It was clear she had surely been through much worse and had taken it in her stride. She still ‘struggled’ taking care of her fractured family and was working more than one job to support others, but seemed confident, in control and was taking life head on.

     We reached an intersection and the lady with the bird said, “I shall turn off here and take this to the vet’s to look over. It was nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, I’m glad you came along to help this bird. You have a good day.” I continued my walk.

     There is something tragic at the sight of a stricken bird – helpless, looking like a vulnerable little baby. It stirs us humans from within. It brings out a protective urge, to save, to do something! It was how I had seen my own children, looking like a couple of stricken birds, a few times in recent years, when they were dealt harsh blows by their fate, beyond their control.

     As I saw this person carrying away the little bird, it struck me - she is not unlike that bird herself! Neither am I. In some form or the other, we are stricken birds, one and all, - even our greatest antagonist.


Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012

All rights reserved 

The science of genetics behind my previous post is discussed and the fear alleviated by the following article I found on the BBC website.

Male Y chromosome extinction theory challenged


Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012
All rights reserved 

My Ancestor From Over 5000 Years Ago

One day last year, my daughter came home from school a bit disheartened. There had apparently been a project assigned that day that had everyone in her class all excited. There had been much talk, sharing and discussion with everyone having a lot to contribute.

The class project was “Trace your genealogy. Find out your earliest ancestors, who they were and what they did. Share with the class something interesting about the earliest ancestors you can find.”

 A lot of families around in Alex are long timers. Many know their first settler ancestors. They still live on or have lands and farms from those days. Many know a bit more from their ancestors’ European days. Most of the kids in my daughter’s class had looked at different websites on the internet (these kids cannot imagine a world without Google) if they did not already have family records. They could have it all at their fingertips in seconds. There are national registries around Australia holding records of migrants and a wealth of historic detail and information. Most kids had something to share about an interesting ancestor or two. Some had information about specific ancestors from about 100-200 years ago. Many kids found that they had some traits and habits similar to their ancestors. My kid was stumped, stuck and felt particularly bad. She could not help it! She felt I could not help her, nobody could. Her contribution was simple – “My parents came to Australia, the year before I was born.” She did know which ancient ancestor she took after in some of her characteristics. She was wondering who our illustrious ancestors were that she could talk about.

                We could not go on to local registries and find anything. We relied on family knowledge and memories from India. I remember one of my great-grandfathers had put in some effort at tracing some of his ancestors from the northern and western parts of India, while his own family lived in the south for many generations.  One of my grandfathers had moved around a bit in the south of India and the other had not moved much. My father had moved all around India. I had lived around India, moved to the US, lived there ten years, returned to India and then migrated to Australia. We had lost close contact with many relatives and friends. It is perhaps ironic that because of the Internet and technology we had actually re-connected with many friends and family – mostly those that were young or those who were technology savvy.

                Sure, there are very nosy ‘social’  websites that ask for all kinds of personal  details, can figure out relationships and draw up a family tree. You can find out a lot about yourself if you follow the connections. I tend to be wary of these as these seem to have no regard for privacy. Anyway, I tried to tell my daughter, to the best of my recollections, details about her great-great-great grandparents. We did not have specific details and records. My recollections helped a bit but still did not stretch to 200 years. My daughter wanted something spectacular, something worth mentioning, worth sharing, some detail about someone who lived much longer ago. She wanted to be able to share something that will make all her classmates look up and take notice. Then suddenly, it struck me!

“How would you like to know about a famous ancestor of yours from over 5000 years ago?” I asked my daughter.

“You really mean you know a real name from 5000 years ago?” she asked sounding a little sceptical.

“Yes, I can tell you a real name and a fair amount of details about him as well,” I replied.

 “Tell me, Dad,” said my little one, looking at me with those trusting eyes, hope and a bit of excitement shining in them. I could not let her down, I could not kid her.

“Here it is …,” I began with a smile. I had hit upon something so obvious to most Indian families of Hindu background.

Here it is… Most Hindus trace their lineage, direct and unbroken, from about 49 male ancestors. Each line is called a “Gothra” (Gothram in Sanskrit).

My family traces it from a sage called ‘Bharadwaja’, who was apparently one of the contributors to the compilation of the Vedas.

“How can you know we are descended from Bharadwaja?” asked my daughter. I explained.

According to cultural practice, people of the same Gothra should not marry and have kids. This was considered unwise. It has its basis in the desire to prevent inbreeding and expression of recessive tendencies in genes. So the knowledge of the family Gothra has been kept alive and aware all these years and generations.

The Gothra of a person was passed on from the father, not the mother. While in ignorance many initially attributed this to an apparent preference for males, its real basis is in the science of genetics. Every cell of a human body contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, which contains genes in them.  One in each pair is from each of our parents.  There is a pair of chromosomes that determines our gender. If it is XX, the child is female and if it is XY, the child is male.  The male child has to get its Y- chromosome from its father only. The Y-chromosome is apparently shorter and more vulnerable to mutation and cannot correct defects or faults by what is called crossing over with its pair. It does not have an identical sized pair as other chromosomes have.  Apparently the Y-chromosome, which determines the gender, has been shrinking over many years of evolution and could in theory become too short or become extinct! If that happens, we would not have males anymore! To preserve the length of the Y-chromosome and its resiliency, we are advised to marry and have children with partners from different Gothras.

There are many temples around India that maintain registries of families and their descendants, based on this system for many thousands of years. It is possible to say with confidence who one of the earliest male ancestors was.

And so, we read about the sage Bharadwaja in Indian mythology.  He was a foundling as a child, but some believe he was descended from another sage Angirasa, who also contributed to the Vedas.

He had well known descendants who were also named after him. One of them apparently very interested in learning and went to great efforts to prolong his life, only so that he could gain more knowledge. Until he gained the wisdom finally that there would always be more knowledge than anyone could possibly attain or use in a lifetime. A later Bharadwaja had a son who became an expert warrior featured in the Mahabharata.

                Now I had something that my daughter could use for her project. I noted that I had a strong desire to become a librarian and live long enough to read all the books I could find when I was a teenager. Even then I reckoned it would be a futile attempt. There were too many books, too little time. My family did tell me where they reckoned I got my love of wood from one of my closer ancestors.

My daughter wanted to know who all she got her nature from. I pointed out that while we have a lot of characteristics of our ancestors, it is sometimes a coincidence. While we are similar to our oldies, we are yet our own person, we have the will, we change, we choose and we have to be different, at least a bit different and that’s what makes us.

Now, that we are new immigrants to Australia and my daughter is a recent descendant, I told her we need to become the ‘illustrious’ ancestor for our future generations. We need to do something they will remember us by and talk about us someday else our descendant’s school project will not be very interesting. And then, a little girl or boy someday might feel a bit disappointed.

“So much to learn! So much to do, young lady!” I said.

Happily, my daughter got busy with her school project. I now have to start doing things to become illustrious myself!

Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012

All rights reserved 

Hello, all you readers! I would like your opinion in a response to this question. So, please post a comment! You can remain anonymous.

"What quality (or qualities) make humans unique?"


Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012
All rights reserved 

Cool Jobs Of The Future And What Our Kids Should Be Learning.

How Computers And The Internet Make Many Of The Old Jobs Meaningless

     I have weekly sessions of a program we call “Hungryminds” at the local high school. I have a bunch of curious, bright, enthusiastic kids who do not apologise for being a bit ‘nerdy’ in their interests.  We were talking about what they need to learn and what they would like to do when they grow up.

“I’d like to work at a cool job. Be a scientist,” one kid volunteered, “Does that mean I need to be good at math?”

“Yes, I think so. You will likely be able to contribute more and do real interesting work if you are comfortable and enjoy working in math,” I replied.

“I am not good at multiplying fractions!” confessed a student, “I am slow and tend to make many silly mistakes even in simple addition or subtraction. I am not sure I’ll do well in math, though I enjoy it and like to learn it. I sometimes struggle to get things that others seem to easily and quickly.”

“I felt like that too at about your age,” I said, “I still make mistakes in simple calculations occasionally. But the important question is – Do you enjoy figuring things out? Do you enjoy the struggle if you don’t get it straight away?”

“I’d rather type on a computer than write longhand on paper,” said another kid, “my hand hurts writing.”

“Mmm… I see.  At your age, I used to write about 10 times or more than what you do now, all on paper. Had to be neat handwriting or we were penalized. My hands hurt, but were still good. I ruined my hands working on computers within a short while – within 10 years of starting to use them and that is permanent damage,” I replied.

     That set me thinking.

“Did you know, not so long ago, there were people in this world, who were good at writing beautifully, and good at adding numbers - that is all they did and earned a good living, with mansions and many wives? They were cool jobs. Kings and governments employed them, treated them with respect and they were looked up to in society? They were like the multi-millionaires of today then.” I put it to the kids.

“You mean all they did was to simply add and subtract and occasionally multiply or divide numbers and that was their job? Or they simply wrote beautifully whatever someone wanted them to? And they got paid for it?” these kids were a bit surprised.

“Yes. And guess what has happened to their jobs now?” I prodded.

“They are all gone!” This came tinged with surprise.

“Gone where?” I asked, smiling.

“We don’t need them anymore!”

“Do you mean we don’t need to add numbers like that anymore? Or good looking writing anymore? If anything, I think we use numbers more now and we demand the very best-looking fonts and ‘writing’ on paper.” I wanted them to think a bit deeper.

“We have calculators and word-processors now.”

“True. So what used to be a million dollar job has been replaced by a simple calculator or word processor. How much does a calculator cost these days? One with eight digits, the precision of that order was unheard of in those olden days. How much does a word-processor cost?” I pushed further.

“I got a cheap calculator for about nine dollars on sale!” exclaimed one kid.

“Word processors are everywhere, even on my iPod or mobile phone. They are free,” suggested another.

“No, nothing is free. It cost someone money to make the word processor, everyone involved got paid to do it. Sure, the cost to buy a copy is so small, that it can be covered under something else and made to look free,” I said, “But we know we can get one for 50 dollars, say?”

“Sure, we can get a spreadsheet, database and a lot more for 50 dollars,” the students agreed.

“So, what other cool jobs will NOT be gone that way?” I pressed on.

“Engineers, chemists, physicists, mathematicians,” said one.

“What kind of work would they be doing that will not be automated soon?” I asked.

“One that requires a lot of knowledge…” started one and trailed off as he himself could see what was happening,” Oh, actually the computers these days can store and access more information and knowledge than we can keep in our heads!”

“Bulls-eye!!”  I was thrilled to hear this.

“What are the professions where computers can do better than us?” I asked them.

They thought silently. I decided to lead them.

“Just about anything that can be explained, put down in the form of clear instructions – whether it is knowledge in mathematics, physics, chemistry, even biology, medical  or technical diagnosis, anything that requires accurate recollection can, has been and is continually being automated. This has happened to the point that, what some people spent years of their life learning can be brought up in a few seconds from anywhere across the world, in seconds and more accurately than humanly possible. Once we paid millions to get this knowledge from a human, now it costs a fraction of a cent to access the same knowledge that is just information. A whole lot of brilliant human work, done systematically once, no longer needs the human to do it again. It can be captured and replicated billions of times. We no longer need the human for that ever again. Mathematicians, engineers, draughts men, librarians, chemists, accountants, bus drivers, even pilots of today – almost all of their work can be automated and replaced really cheaply,” I observed.

“So, why are we learning all this? What can we do so that we will not be out of a job when we grow up?” asked an ambitious teenager, who I knew had a dream of owning a Bugatti Veyron car that costs about a million dollars to buy and more to make. He was worried.

“Good question. What do you think we can do that machines cannot yet do as well and that we will likely be doing better for a long time?”

They all thought for a while and then came one good answer –“Think.”

“Of course, I would add ‘Sing, dance, compose music, cook, tell a joke, write a poem and be kind’. We will always need humans for that, I think,” I could not resist the pun.

     As the bell went off, we all walked out and the bunch of nerdy kids were  hopefully motivated to sing, dance, laugh and joke and be nice to each other. It is most important they do that and they will all hopefully have cool jobs in the future.

Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012

All rights reserved 

A Summer Evening Walk

It is about half past seven one summer evening in Alex. I set out for a walk from my home. I have finished my evening ‘tea’ (the Aussie last meal of the day) a while ago. It is still light out. The sun shines low on the horizon, casting long shadows and a golden glow over the browned grass on the hillside slopes and paddocks. A lot of dark green trees still cover the scene. I walk up a hilly rise. Within a short distance I am above most of the houses in the valley. As I climb every step, it seems that all the hills surrounding Alexandra rise up quickly along with me. It is an illusion that can be explained by science – it’s the same as the illusion of the moon or the sun following you everywhere you go. It happens with big distant objects.

The sun is setting in the west and a full moon is rising in the east. I get a spectacular view of the undulating land and a cradle like valley that seems to cuddle our little town. It is actually well spread out if one looks at properties that fall within the town limits. It is cool, the air clear, there are sounds of birds and animals. The kookaburras are done laughing for the day. Some birds have returned to their trees or nesting areas while some are still working on their ‘tea’. Others are returning from eating out – most of the birds seem to eat out every day! No cooking at home involved! Some exotic looking birds that I cannot identify are flying higher up. The coolness of the air is invigorating.

I pass by a fenced, hilly paddock on one side of the road. There are some sheep and a couple of llamas at the far end. There is a flock of sulphur-crested cockatoos digging up their meal on the ground closer to me. There are some pink and grey galahs further up to one side. As I approach, close to the paddock, I see the cockatoos looking warily at me. One of them squawks, screeches loudly and flies away. The others continue with their foraging, but move away. The galahs too, much further away from me, move even further away.  There are a few magpies who go about their business without too much worry, just keeping an eye out and getting out of the way. The sheep and the llamas, however, see me coming from a distance and start to bleat and move towards me. They form a close huddling group and it seems like they are greeting me loudly. I feel good. They come more than half-way down the paddock and watch me intently. I stop by only a little while and they start to come closer with their ‘baa-baas.’ It is only after they see I am not there to supply them with feed or water that they stop. As I move away, they say something I interpret as “Hey, why did you waste your and our time coming up here if you have nothing to offer.”  They slowly start to go back to their regular grazing and huddling.

I take in the beautiful scenery of the big, spread out houses, the land and the little dams with water in them, making them into beautiful little lakes. I see some other wild little creatures – rabbits, among them dashing off as they spy me.

It strikes me that all the creatures that still live wild and free, not depending on humans for food and protection shy away from us. They may struggle with no guarantee of a meal or life until the end of the day, but they keep away from us with justified caution. It is the animals that we humans depend upon for our food and those that we control totally, that move towards us at the sight of a human. I have observed this as I pass by a paddock with cows – they too come towards humans by default, it is only when they recognise it is not a person who wants to do something for them that they go back to their business. When I see a paddock with deer, they run away from me as I approach. They go a bit further and then look back from the safety of distance to satisfy their natural curiosity to see who this stranger is. All animals do seem to have this curiosity, just like any of us.

It is interesting that the very creatures that we really want for ourselves as food that we have made totally dependent on us - for their food, protection and survival. Their basic instinct has been changed over thousands of years. They seem to realise, there is no way out or they are ignorant of the fact that we actually need them more than they need us. They may be able to graze in a paddock or the wild and survive, but when they see a human, they know it is possible this is the person that might give them a feed, water or something else, or let them out of or in a paddock. They are the ones that ‘welcome’ us by default, by force of habit.

It is not too different even among different humans – people that have been totally subjugated actually put on a greater show of welcome to their conquerors than their peers. I have observed this in real life.

I walk for a while longer. The shadows start to lengthen quickly and the golden glow becomes even more mellow and beautiful. The brighter stars and planets start to show. The shadows of the hills behind me are falling on the hills ahead of me. It gets cooler. I head towards home as the sky starts to darken and the moon seems to get brighter. I reach home and feel like a warm, filling drink. I make myself one, drink it and settle down in front of the computer to write this piece.


Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012
All rights reserved 

“Cool Ancestors”

Re-Engineering The Wheel

     I was talking about technology at the high school one day with some teenagers. I run a weekly program called 'Hungryminds' and we have fun figuring things out in math and science. I asked them what they thought was the first great technological breakthrough.

“The wheel,” said one student.

“Not a bad guess,” I replied,” That was a good one. What do you think they made it with?”

“Oh, may be some crude stone or metal cutting tools,” said another.

“So, isn’t the tool used to make the wheel the first great step?” I asked.

“Yes, but that would have been a primitive, crude cutting tool. They probably made it with very basic impure steel. All incredibly low-tech,” quipped one student.

“Do you think we have progressed and are getting better? Can each of us do better than our ancestors of, say, a thousand or ten thousand or even a hundred thousand years ago?” I asked.

“Oh! Sure. Just look at the wheel of today – a car tyre! No contest with the old ones. The shapes, the finish, the precision of the lines, the tolerances, the balances, the kind of composite materials – metals, plastic, rubber, paint and so cheap, affordable,” the kids were excited at what they could think of.

“Why just a wheel, look at anything today – a screwdriver, a pin, a hammer. Everything is of so much better quality, superior in every way. We are definitely better off and better in all aspects.”

“We are can each get more done in a day with our technology,” added another teenager passionately.

“I agree the products of today are better in many respects from the past. But I asked if we humans are better off in all respects of making products,” I clarified.

“We must be! Surely? If the products are better, we all can afford more, and all of us know and use better technology, isn’t it better?” there seemed to be a hesitation creeping in, even as the confident statements turned to questions tinged with a bit of doubt. They knew this kind of thing happened often in our sessions, when things seem obvious and upon thinking a bit, many convictions and passionate beliefs slowly crumble.

I smiled and encouraged more thoughts.

“How many primitive men did it take (or require) to make a whole wheel, you reckon?” I put it to the class.

“Well, mostly one, or two if he had a helper,” said one student.

“Right on! Good point,” I said,” And how many people or their knowledge and expertise do you need to fabricate a wheel, even if it is an exact replica of the old wheel?”

“You need a saw, a hammer or chisel, a sander, a work bench, and maybe one or two persons could do it,” another student said.

“But you need someone to make the saw, the metallurgist, the hammer, the chisel, their castings, finishing, the sander, the work bench. That would require heaps of persons!,” said a deep thinker, one of the quieter students.

“That’s it!!!” I was impressed and happy. That got a high-five and a chocolate from me. ”Exactly the kind of thinking I was looking for.”

     We were on the right track. We sat and chatted and suddenly the floodgates of observations opened. These kids saw what I hoped they would see.

     Once upon a time, not so long ago – say maybe just a 100 years ago in some parts of the world, and less in others, there lived in villages, towns and cities a blacksmith or carpenter who could make a wheel and a cart or a table or bench or a pan or a pen. Those old-fashioned wheels or tables or carts seemed crude in comparison to their modern counterparts.  Their finishes, tolerances of machining seem intolerable now. We look on in amusement at crude ‘stone age’ tools and implements. We look with a patronising air at the pans and pots of the ‘copper age’ or ‘bronze age’. Now, the often missed point about these wheels or table or pots and pans is that - usually, it was one single person who made everything about the wheel or table or pot or pan.  One single person had the knowledge and skill to fashion the product out of what nature had for us to use. The blacksmith or carpenter often made his own tools, got the ore, made the design, put in the labour. Even if he had apprentices, he had the ability to produce a whole usable product himself. This had been the case since the first man-made wheel from hundreds of thousands of years.

     Today’s wheel, pot or pan is infinitely superior in quality, finish, and tolerances of machining that were simply not achievable before. But there is a down side. It has gradually become a fact that no one individual today can produce an entire high quality or usable product by himself – except perhaps an organic farmer. Every little part or aspect of a product has become so technologically advanced that it requires the direct or indirect touch of many highly-skilled individuals, computers, machines.So much so that any little thing – even something that costs a cent or two to buy, requires the input of dozens if not hundreds of people.  Take the example of a wheel – sure it is more sophisticated, but it requires highly specialized expertise, knowledge and input from the designers  -mathematicians, computer programs, programmers, program testers, program managers, computer aided machining of the castings, specialized metallurgists for the alloys, artistic designers, chemical engineers for all the processes, chrome plating, tool designers, machines, rubber technologist, valve designers, painters, plastic technologists, manufacturers, each requiring its own specialized machines and their human expertise, transport, assembly, packaging… No one person can simply gather stuff from nature and make a usable wheel for any practical purpose anymore!

     No matter if we know more than what our ancestors knew, if we are more sophisticated, if we utilize the latest technology, knowledge and expertise to produce the best products ever made, we are individually more and more helpless, cannot even make a whole pin, a simple tool or a wheel just by ourselves. We need the efforts of dozens or hundreds of people to make a simple tool, a meal, a dress or even a drink. If the connections between any of them are broken, we will all flounder and become helpless. This is the price we have paid for technological advancement. We are all individually less capable of producing even the simplest complete thing to look after ourselves.

     Since these were young teenagers, I could tell them the joke about us becoming experts –“Knowing more and more about less and less until we know everything about nothing” and getting a genuine laugh. I also noted that in the countryside where we live, there are still people who can do a whole lot of complete jobs by themselves. Australian farmers and country-folk are known for their resourcefulness and ‘improvising’. The ability to make something fully or solve a problem fully still persists in remote areas of the world, including Australia. It is highly valued and appreciated.

“What do you think of our ancestors now?” I asked.

“They were cool, even the ones as recent as fifty years ago,” said one student cheekily - he knew I was forty nine.

     I and the kids walked away from the class with a greater regard and respect for our ancestors, even the more recent ones, just fifty years old!!

Some Hungryminds

Some examples of great thinking by the students in Hungryminds last year:

I would like to make a special mention of the only some of the great examples of original thinking that the students came up with in Hungryminds this year. Each of these once was thought up by someone and they have patents to their names against the basic idea or an implementation of it that are worth billions in real economic value and used daily in the highest levels of technology. Our students came up with these approaches on their own with no technical background or knowledge, just pure thinking and a drive to have a go at a problem presented to them!

_ X  came up  with a way to potentially use a diode (that he read about independently to the problem presented) to configure a circuit diagram for a digital display driven by a keyboard made of switches.  This is actually one of the approaches used in real life.

_Upon  students pretending to be mobile phones connected to a ‘cell’ tower, the problem was how does the tower handle multiple simultaneous calls? Y suggested that each student (representing a mobile phone) take turns in speaking a word of their message, the tower would arrange them in order forward it to the next tower in order. This is in fact the concept of time division multiplexing which is used to avoid constant potential ‘collisions’ of two devices talking at the same time.

_Upon being presented with a problem of how it is possible to search for any keyword in a book of thousands of pages efficiently without having to read the book each and every time you need to make a search, Z came up the idea of  using with just enough processors as the number of words in the dictionary – this is the fundamental principle of indexing and is in fact used cleverly by search engines like Google, Bing etc.

_Problem was how do video games respond seamlessly and quickly to updating the screen image in a car race when the steering wheel is turned randomly and the images and objects shown are in high resolution and cannot be all stored in memory all the time? H  came up with the approach of the game generating and already preloading potential new images and just quickly displaying a track of images among many that are ready to go. This is in fact the approach used and I knew someone who actually holds the patent (along with the company) for this idea and its implementation!


Photos credit and Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012
All rights reserved