Potentially, a collection of very interesting posts

The Agile Pyramid

2011-09-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

(The story is not mine, but this is the best analogy I've known for Agile.)

There were two pyramid contractors in Egypt (guys who built pyramids for a living that is) and they are both hired by a really old pharaoh for building one for him. His requirements were.

1) It should be the biggest possible pyramid that can be built

2)It should be ready when he is dead.

Contractor A: Decides to build the largest pyramid ever. Bigger than the biggest. He estimates that this would take him a year with the laborers that are available to him.

Contractor B: Has a good long look at the pharaoh, and realizes that the pharaoh may not last that long, maybe a month or two. He decides on an interesting approach. He decides to build that largest possible pyramid that he can build in one month. The next month, he’ll build an even bigger one on top of that, the month after, an even bigger one.

The pharaoh died in 3 months.

The obvious and not so obvious benefits of Test Driven Development

2011-09-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

The basic principle of Test Driven Development is simple. You write your test code before you write your implementation code. Counter intuitive when you first hear it, but after you start doing it, you ask yourself why you haven't done it all these years (well, aren't most great ideas like that?)

The benefits are obvious and also not so obvious.

1. Big picture thinking. As you write your test case, you start thinking more about how your application is supposed to behave. You start catching gaps in the specification well ahead of implementation and integration.

2. Test coverage happens automatically, since unit testing is no more an afterthought - test code is the fist thing you write. By the time you are done with your application, you are left with a test suite that covers every line of code that your wrote.

3. Effective multi-tasking. Most important but not so obvious, TDD helps the developer focus on one thing at a time and there-by multitask effectively. Good multi-taskers possess a knack for dividing their time among multiple tasks throughout the day, while giving their undivided attention to each single task when they are at it. The challenge, where most people fail is in dividing tasks into small enough and un-ambiguos units, with un-ambigous results. TDD, I've found helps a great deal in this. Each test case defines an unambiguous unit of work, with an unambiguous result - the test either passes or fails.

4. Context switching. Another not so obvious benefit - even if you are distracted during your work by something urgent and you pick it back up hours or even days later, you know exactly where you left it by simply running your test suite and checking which test case is failing.

For a detailed reading on the subject>> http://jamesshore.com/Agile-Book/test_driven_development.html

The good mentor

2011-08-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

As people move up the management ladder, mentorship becomes a very key part of the job description. Invariably, it gets attached to their goal sheet and targets. While this focus is good to see, I often feel that somewhere a fundamental aspect of good mentoring gets missed. It is that a good mentor has to be selfless. Which to me means the following things.

1. Putting the interest of your junior ahead of yours. If your mentee fails, then you take it as your own failure. You stand up and take the blame.
2. Don't mentor someone just to meet your own "mentoring targets", but because you genuinely want to bring someone up to your level. Your meeitng your target or not is simply a by-product.
3. Be patient. Spend time, teach, guide, show the way sternly as you would do to your own son or younger brother. But if you see your efforts are not bearing quick results, don't lose your patience and give up on him or her. Try again. Maybe you are not doing it the right way.

Perception, Visibility, blah and blah

2010-04-17T04:35:00.001-07:00

Years back, a colleague remarked during a casual conversation that "it's all about perception management". It didn't somehow seem right then, though I didn't know exactly why. I thought I'll learn to accept it with experience. It didn't happen; now I think I know why I felt it was wrong.

Perception is just a by-product. If you are being perceived wrongly, then

a) There is probably something wrong somewhere else that needs fixing first, perception will automatically happen.

b) The perceiver is wrong. And in this case, there is nothing out of the way you need to do. There is a school of thought that tells you need to go out and manage the perception of the perceiver - to which my answer is - it's nonsense, and it's not worth it.

So, please, do not let people tell you that you need to manage your perception. Fix the real problem, if there is one. If there isn't, just stay put.

Incentives - again

2010-03-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

A true performer is driven by his passion for duty - not the fear of losing or gaining carrot at the end of the stick. How then to reward such a performer? Because, he definitely doesn't work for that carrot...or does he?
Your comments please:)

The selfless midfielder

2010-02-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

The most effective team player is often someone who is prepared to spend time and effort for others in the team - not expecting anything in return, but for the sheer fun and personal satisfaction he or she derives out of it.

This may sound high, but I've felt this is something that makes a lot of practical sense. This is how I think it really works:-

1) The more you help others, the more your expertise grows, simply because of the breadth of problems you get to tackle
2) The more you help others, the more you get it in return (not that people keep track, but, what goes around, naturally comes around)

Consider this - 5 out of the world's top 10 paid footballers are midfielders.

Work and life

2010-01-31T06:06:00.000-08:00

The greatest and the clearest advice on work-life balance that I ever got, came from a senior manager at a client location once.

This is what he said, "If ever there is a choice in front of you between life and work, consider this - imagine, God forbid, you get run over by a truck on your way out of work today, your company can probably find a replacement for you within days. Not your family."

The laughing goat

2010-01-27T08:53:00.001-08:00

The story goes like this. Moosa can't get past his 8th class even after some 3 or 4 attempts. So his father makes him a promise. Says he, "Moosa, if you pass this time, I promise, I'll make you mutton biriyani", pointing enticingly at his lanky goat who was busy eating bananas in the front yard. Hearing this, the goat rolls on the floor laughing loudly.

Context: There is a certain thing I've been planning to do for quite a while, but never could get started. A friend of mine recently asked me if I've made any progress since the last time we met. I said, no, but soon I'll do something. He just said "I can hear the goat laughing:)"

Purpose of this post: I'll pick this post up 6 months from now. The goat won't be laughing then:)

The fundamentals

2010-01-23T02:59:00.000-08:00

You can solve most problems associated with a system if you understand the fundamentals of how it works.

A programmer who knows how each line of his code really works, can crack a bug by simply reading over the code he wrote.
A doctor who knows how a wound is formed, can heal it in weeks.
A bowler who knows how reverse swing really works, can produce it at will. (okay he may need some luck too:))

I'm guessing, life, works pretty much the same way; if you are strong on the fundamentals, there probably is no unsolvable problem.

"Specialization is for insects"

2009-12-08T21:53:00.000-08:00

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." - Rober A . Heinlein

I first came across this quote three years back in the preface of The Cathedral and the Bazaar (great read by the way if you are into software). I didn't like the sound of it, since I had till then kept the belief that we engineers are supposed to be specialists, sub-sub specialists in our area of work (telecom, java, php, c++, .net, .whatever). I'm guessing now, the guy was probably right. The average human is indeed capable of doing much more than he often gives himself credit for. It's just that he is often too lazy or too afraid to try.

Life score - Nov 19th

2009-11-18T23:18:00.001-08:00

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	7.1
Mind:	6.7
Body:	7.8
Spirit:	8.3
Friends/Family:	4.5
Love:	2.9
Finance:	7.8
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Incentives

2009-11-08T01:36:00.001-08:00

I've often seen that motivation is mostly what sets apart a good performer from a bad performer at the workplace, and mostly, that's the difference between a happy worker and an unhappy one too. So, what is it that motivates someone to work? Or, what is somebody's incentive to work? because the incentive is essentially what motivates.

I'd classify incentives into two kinds - positive and negative.

Few examples of positive incentives (in no specific order):
-passion in you area of work
-appreciation from peers and superiors
-ambition to accomplish something
-money (money can also be a negative incentive depending on how you look at it)
-urge to make your end customer happy

Examples for negative incentives:
-fear of losing your job
-fear of having to deal with an irate customer
-fear of a bad appraisal
-fear of losing out in competition to your peers
-fear of your superior
-peer pressure
-money again (rather, the fear of not having enough money)
(the common element if you notice is *fear*, hence the term *negative* incentive)

If your incentives lie mostly on the second half, you need to seriously think over your work philosophy and figure out a way of converting your incentive system to a positive one. And trust me, the solution is mostly not in switching your job, workplace or team (though there may be exceptions). The solution mostly is a shift in the way you perceive & react to things.

By the way, if you are a manager and you rely heavily on the second half to get things done, you are sitting on a volcano.

This is an impulse post, will get back and refine once I distill these thoughts further.

The partial solution

2009-10-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

There are many problems in this world. Some of them do not really bother me, while some do, in varying degrees. If I am worried enough about something, I have tried to be part of voluntary groups that are specifically trying to solve these problems. For example, TidyCity is one such group which was formed about half a year back to spread awareness against littering, and to spread civic sense in general. We have been involved in activities like voluntarily cleaning up public spaces, conducting awareness sessions, conducting surveys, etc.

One question though that I often get from people, even very close friends and family, is how do you think this so and so group or activity will produce any positive change - I'm sure anyone involving in voluntary activities would have faced these questions from people around them. We for example get questions like, what effect do you think cleaning up the museum campus on one Sunday will have? What use is it talking to a handful of people about the ill effects of burning plastic?

Tough (not impossible) questions to answer, but I always felt there ought to be a very generic answer. What follows is the generic answer:

***

Given a problem, social or otherwise, there are some fundamental questions you have to ask yourself.

1. Does this problem bother you enough so that you want to do something about it?
A)Yes
B)No

If your answer is (B), then you can live with the problem, you can ignore it. If you have answered (A), then it follows that you have to do something about it, there are two questions here -

2. Do I have a complete solution to offer?
A)Yes
B)No

3. Is there a partial solution which I can offer my support to
A)Yes
B)No

(The partial solution here is partial because it doesn't solve the problem completely. A solution that introduces another set of problems doesn't qualify as a partial solution for the purpose of this discussion)

If you look are most social problems, you may end up answering (B) for #2 and (A) for #3.
i.e. There may not always be a perfect solution, but there are almost always a few partial solutions.

Now, coming to the point. If you answered (A) to question #1, and (B) to question #2, and (A) for question #3, i.e. if there is a problem that really bothers you, and all you have are partial solutions, then the best option is to strive to find the perfect solution, while at the same time, committing yourself to the partial solutions that are available.

If you do not agree, then probably you have not been totally honest in answering question #1:).

Is your religion better than others?

2009-10-02T23:45:00.000-07:00

Do you think your religion is better than all other religions?
Do you think the truest path to self realization, salvation, is your religion and no other religion?

If your answer to both the above are yes, a couple more simple questions -
(a) Were you born into your religion?
(b) Did you make a conscious choice of religion after considering all alternatives?

If the answer to the above is (a), then what really was the basis for the first contention that your religion is the best? Is it not as childish as a kindergarten kid claiming that his shoes are the best?

How to remember things

2009-09-26T11:32:00.001-07:00

For a few months, I've had this chronic problem of lack of hunger. After waiting around and procrastinating for around three months, I finally visited our family physician two weeks back. He diagnosed me for "agnimandyam" (which roughly translates to a slow-down in appetite). He gave me a medicine, which I had to take twice a day, once before breakfast and once after dinner. It went without saying, any miss in the schedule, and the medicine would not have the desired effect.

Now, how is it that I take an instruction like that, and make sure I follow it? How does my brain know automatically from the next day, that I have to have the medicine as soon as I get out of bed? Of course I could write it somewhere where I'm sure to see it, or set a reminder on my mobile - but the point is, the brain is actually capable of remembering without these external aids.

I actually managed to follow the course, without any such device, even without anyone having to remind me. I tried a new technique. The basic idea is, it is possible to condition your brain and make it remember what it needs to remember. Here's what I did, I repeated to myself several times before I went to sleep that night, that I have to remember to take the medicine the next morning. While I did this, I imagined myself actually taking the medicine, tasting it, and feeling it go down my throat. The next morning, to my pleasant surprise, I automatically remembered to have the medicine. The repetitions that I did, and the mental image that i had carefully built the previous day had helped my brain form new neural pathways to remind me of the new thing that I had to remember from the next day. It was a lot easier the next day, I didn’t have to remind myself as hard as I did the first day and gradually, this conscious effort gave way to unconscious habit, and soon I started to remember to take the medicine almost like I remember to brush my teeth.

Well, finally last night, I finished the course of medicine, my appetite is now back, I am eating and sleeping as good as ever. And most importantly, I have finally cracked the mystery of memory - after countless lost umbrellas and locked cars.

Funny thing though, I just remembered, I forgot to have dinner yesterday..

The earthquake that didn't quite reach Marappalam

2009-09-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

It happened yesterday. I was in the middle of a search through my email archives for a rather old email (which I was certain existed). As is usual during email-archive-searches, I was starting to have doubts whether I was imagining things. That's when there was a sudden jolt from somewhere behind the Bhavani building I'm working in. Just a heavy jolt, as if something really heavy had hit the building. "Did a plane just hit the building? or a meteorite? am I imagining this?", I think to myself.

All of a sudden, there is a flurry of activity, I hear frantic calls being made, some are hurrying to run out before the building fell. Tedy instant messages from a few cubes over and theorizes that it was probably a meteor that fell around 50-60 miles north of Lakshadeep. (We later go upstairs to check the horizon for smoke, but don't find any - so we decide to accept the earthquake theory)

I call home to verify if there indeed was anything they noticed. Nobody picks up the phone, I get worried, was there really a bad earth quake? By this time, I hear that this is being shown as flash news on all the news channels (for once, a real flash news I thought)

I try dad's mobile. After a few rings he picks up. "Hey, did you feel the earth quake?", I ask.
"No, what earth quake? the earth seems fine around here " comes the answer.
"Come on it's there in the news channels now, it was felt in almost all places in Trivandrum".
"Ah, actually I don't think I could have felt it, I'm driving through the Kuravankonam - Marappalam road now", he said.

The picture above was taken last month, when the now famous Marappalam bridge was still under construction; The bridge is done now (phew), but the approach roads practically do not exist on either sides for almost a kilometer each.

Austerity - the economics and the politics

2009-09-17T23:36:00.000-07:00

A subject that has suddenly become hot and discussed-about in the country today, thanks to some recent news items.

I'll keep it short. What beats me is this - If Shashi Tharoor stays in a 5 star hotel at his own expense, why on earth should that become an issue? How an individual spends his money is entirely his business (provided he obeys the rules of the land).

I'm no economist, but I think I have my fundamentals right when I say that the only way for an economy to survive is by commercial activity. Regardless of whether the money is spent on luxuries or necessities, the activity of spending money in exchange of goods or services is what keeps an economy rolling - and helps the people in it make a living. Austerity-measures on the individual goes directly against this. I don't think there are any examples of economies that have recovered from bad patches by curtailing spending by the individual, it is on the contrary by getting people to spend, that economies have bounced back.

Now, austerity does make sense when tax-payer money is involved. The logic being that the money spent on certain areas (like business class flights for example) can be spent on more important welfare schemes like the NREGS.

But, having said that, to expect the individual to exercise a similar discretion is Utopian and may even backfire. All this noise about austerity has nothing to do with economics, but distressingly, everything to do with politics.

The baldness survival guide

2009-09-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about writing about hair loss for a while, but I kept putting it off; which in fact turned out to be a very good idea; because you know, all this while I’ve been getting better qualified for the job.
The scope and purpose of this document is to list out a few survival tips for my bald and gradually balding fellow beings. Some handy tips and thoughts that will help you cope. So here we go:

Think about bald and successful men, like Rajnikanth , Bruce Willis, Vladmir Putin, Mahatma Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi etc. (some idiots may tell you these men became bald when they were like 50, but see, what really matters is that people know them as bald men).
Observe other bald men, and find out ways in which you are better looking. This might be slightly difficult in the beginning; the trick is to pick the right specimens to compare with.
Never spend too much time reminiscing at old baby pictures, I mean those taken when you were 2-3 years old, and you had as much hair as a hippie bear.
Surround yourself with a support group of bald men (this will also help you with # 2 above)
If you haven't gone completely bald yet, start working on you hairstyle. Never go for the drag-and-drop style (you know what I mean). Keep changing your style gradually exposing the baldness. Try growing a beard and see if the distinguished scholar look suits you. Or shave all your hair (don’t worry, they will grow back…well if they don’t...tough luck dude) and grow a French beard for the intelligent techie look.
This is something I picked up recently from one of my balding friends (see, this is why point#4 is so important). Don’t let your hair grow too much. Counter intuitive as it may seem, the more hair you have, the more it will contrast with the bald areas. So get regular haircuts.
Important: If you stay away from friends and family, send pictures to them often enough, so that they can take the shock when they finally see you in person.
How do you respond to those comments from the smart asses who happen to have more hair than you? This is something that I’ve pondered a lot about. I’ve got to admit, I’m still very much at a loss here. I’ve tried a lot of responses…like oh it’s the water, or that it’s in my family, or, that girls like bald men. No clear winner so far.
Start believing that girls actually like bald men. Given the fact that this is still pretty much a gray area for modern science, who knows, you may actually be right.
Read the Gita. How it helps? Well, read through, you’ll figure it out yourself.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

2009-07-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

If you are worried about the piles of waste that rot on our roads, about the corporation that you think doesn't know its job; about corrupt politicians who you think swindle public money, about the whole system that in your opinion, doesn't work, and if you think your job ends there, please skip the rest.

On the other hand, if you want to do something about it, here are a few shockingly simple things you can do, which can go a long way.

Reduce - Reduce the use of materials that can end up as difficult-to-manage waste

Avoid takeaway food as much as you can, if you do, do it from a place where as little plastic is used for packaging as possible.
Buy cotton clothes instead of synthetic/semi-synthetic clothes
While shopping, buy stuff with as less plastic packaging as possible.
Again, while going shopping, take your own shopping bag along.
Never, never waste food.
While arranging parties - go for paper/ceramic cups, plates. Never go for plastic or other synthetic stuff.
When going on a trip, carry your own water bottle (plastic or otherwise). Take a look near our railway tracks and you'll know why I say this.
When buying soft drinks, buy them in cans instead of plastic bottles.

Reuse - Reuse whatever is reusable. You'll be surprised how little we normally do this.

Re-use plastic bags, do not just throw them away after a single use. Wear them out by use.
Reuse one-sided paper for your rough scribblings
Use fountain pens instead of ball-pens. If you do use them, make sure you get them refilled - do not just throw away used pens.
Give away your old usable clothes to charity
Sell away unusable clothes, glass, paper to recycling shops

Recycle - when you can't re-use, make sure you recycle

Disposing plastic should be your last option, and when you do, make sure you dispose it properly, understand where it’s going, make sure it gets recycled if it is recyclable. The fundamental thing here is segregation of plastic.
Segregate the degradable from non-degradable waste at source. Do not just dump all your waste on the people who come to collect them - remember they are also people like us who would not really enjoy digging through someone else's garbage.
If you have the space, dispose organic waste in your own yard in a compost – rather than burdening the corporation/municipality services. Actually it doesn't take that much space;here's a good link on how you can go about composting.
If you live in a flat, talk to your association to get a compost unit built.

(I'll keep adding to this list as I think of more:))

Ask! and Ye Shall Learn

2009-05-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a theory: The best way to learn anything complex is to ask the right questions and find their answers. It is not by learning the answers first, without understanding the question (which is of course how me mostly try to learn - we pick up a book and read).
The problem has be comprehended before coming to the solution.
The art of learning then, is in fact the art of finding the right questions to ask.

The most correct question to ask at any point of your learning, is probably always the most fundamental one. You need to search out for yourself and attack the most fundamental aspect of the problem that you do not understand, and find the answer. And then, apply the process recursively. Theoretically by the end of it, you would have found answers to all questions that were there to be asked.

I am not venturing to try and prove this logically (I tried and found it too boring to do:)).

The Power of Now - A book review

2009-02-03T22:52:00.001-08:00

This is more of a recommendation than a review. And I haven't read the whole book yet, being the slow and erratic reader that I am:)

The fundamental message of the book is quite simple, and counter intuitive. It's that the root of all worries and sufferings is in the way our mind operates - in that it dwells too much in the past and the future, and very little in the present.

Now, we have heard that before, but what sets this work apart is the solution that it suggests.

It is - to stop thinking (yes literally) and you will see that your focus automatically shifts to the present. In the book, Eckhart Tolle argues that the present is all you have - the past and future being mere illusions. And that to operate in the present, you don't need to think. You just need to "be".

To actually stop thinking, might seem like an extreme thing to do. And I haven't succeeded in doing that, though I've succeeded to see a lot of logic in the theory - if you watch your mind, there is indeed a lot of unnecessary activity that does nothing but wastes your processor cycles:)

Anyway, I suggest you read the book yourself before you judge; so pick up the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle the next time you visit a book shop, it could change the way you use your mind, in a very positive way.

Queue etiquette and us

2008-07-05T23:46:00.000-07:00

Every time somebody jumps the queue in front of me here, I am forced to think, why only here? why doesn't this happen in the US or the UK, as much as it does here? Are people more ill mannered here? Do they lack basic courtesy?

Many of you would have tried reacting to the queue jumpers by telling them that they are supposed to wait. And you'd also have noticed that some people are quick to apologize and fall back, but some react indignantly as if you have encroached on one of their fundamental rights.

But, what exactly is the root-cause of this behavior? Believe me, it's not that people who jump queues have fundamental flaws in their character. I know people who are perfectly considerate of others in most situations, but then, react differently when put in a queue situation. I've had such people reproach me for waiting my turn, when others behind me were eagerly jumping the queue.

So, what exactly is the psychology behind this? I think it has a lot to do with conditioning. People are conditioned to think that if you don't fight for what you want, even if it means using unfair means, you won't get what you want. And every time someone succeeds in getting his way in such manner, the belief simply gets reinforced.

So, the next time you see someone jumping the queue, tell them politely that you are waiting ahead of him/her in the queue - this I'm sure most of us try to do.

But more importantly, next time you see someone jump the queue, talk to the person serving the queue; because if they serve someone who just jumped the queue ahead of someone else, they have just reinforced the belief that made him/her jump the queue in the first place.

Does excess breed inefficiency?

2008-06-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

Does excess breed inefficiency? If so, does scarcity breed efficiency?

The optimal state for a system is the state where the system produces the expected output without any wastage of resources. In engineering terms, the state of 100% efficiency.

Now, the estimation of the right amount of resource to allocate is a challenge with most systems. Particularly when you are dealing with systems that involve people. Practically, there are two ways of arriving at the optimal state when you are dealing with such systems where accurate estimation is not possible.
Route 1: You over-allocate a resource and gradually reduce the supply till you reach the optimum.
Route 2: You under-allocate and gradually increase the supply of the resource till you reach the optimum.

Which is the better way?
I feel, the latter holds more promise.

Here's why I think so:
Do we tend to use a resource irresponsibly/inefficiently when there is too much of it to use? Looking at a few daily-life observations, I must think, the the answer is yes - if I have a hundred rupees in my pocket when I am waiting for the bus on a normal day, I wouldn't think twice about calling for an autorikshaw. If I have just ten, I'd rather wait for the next bus. If there is no shortage of electricity, I'll probably not bother to switch of the fan when I walk out of a room for five minutes. If there is abundance of water supply, I may tend to be careless about it.
And, here's a really interesting observation I made while staying abroad, an average household in USA or UK seems to generate more waste in a day than an average household in India... why? one main reason I felt is that these countries have a much better waste management system (in other words, a surplus of waste management capacity) which people tend to over-use. The real reason behind all this may be subject of a deeper study - may be it's economics, maybe it's just human nature.

Okay, now if all that is true, then the converse must be true also. If the supply of a resource is restricted (naturally or artificially), then the efficiency of its use has to increase (bringing it closer to 100%). If so, this would be the easiest way to increase efficiency of any system where people are involved.

Applying the theory to time management - you should be able to get more done in your day if you restrict the time you allocate yourself for each of your tasks.

Applying to project management - you should be able to get more productivity out of your team, if you restrict the number of people in it.

Applying to waste management - restrict waste disposal systems, and you get a much cleaner (pun intended) waste management system. In fact this is something I've seen being tried out in parts of London - to my surprise I found no trash bins in sight after getting down at Liverpool Street, and had to dump my coffee cup in my laptop bag:). By the looks of it the ploy seemed to be working.

To summarize, I feel the better way to get a people-system closer to 100% efficiency is by under-allocating and then scaling up. (But of course there are situations where this may be too risky to do)

Comments welcome; author not responsible for any unwelcome consequences of applied theory:)

George Bush, food crisis and the Indian middle class

2008-05-03T22:55:00.000-07:00

Let me start with the news item that really pushed me into starting this blog - "George Bush blames it on the Indian middle class".

I was watching the news yesterday on a Malayalam Channel (Manorama), and interestingly, the exact words that came out George Bush's mouth were not played out. What the listeners were subjected to was the interpretation of what he said. And then reactions based on that interpretation. I had to wait to see today's newspaper (Hindu) to know actually what he said. While at the same time, many local dailies cried out indignant headlines on their front pages.

Let's look at exactly what George Bush said: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/may/03food.htm

If you think about it, what Bush said does sound logical. Now, I am not saying it is completely correct. Macro-economics is a wild beast, there are more theories on its behavior than there are laws, so anything anybody says needs to be taken with that in mind. Most of the time, the best we get would be a theory that sounds logical.

I am no economist, but from what little economics I know, what Bush said is one such theory that makes logical sense. When demand increases, and supply does not increase proportionally, prices will increase. Whether demand for food has actually increased in India, and whether supply has failed to keep up, I do not know for sure, hopefully somebody will sooner or later come up with the numbers. But it is logical to assume it has, after all we have one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, and the fastest growing population in the world.

Of course, there are factors which George Bush has intentionally downplayed - like the bio-fuel angle; which may make his statement partially wrong. If you look up the wikipedia entry for world food crisis, there are ten factors listed, and "Impact of food for fuel" and "Change in global diet" are the first two. The fact is that no one knows for sure. There is no single reason, but there are many, behind the crisis we are facing now.

The point behind all I've written: there is no reason for Indian politicians and media to have reacted the way they have. They probably have their reasons.
If people are saying that we in India are eating better than we used to a year back, then we should be proud of the progress that we have made.

Comments welcome.