I returned to India from the US in '91 on a spontaneous decision. When I returned, people had a lot of advice to offer as to how long I should try it out for before I finally decided. Some well-meaning friends said I should try it out for one year, some said for 5 years some even recommended longer. But the person who made most sense was a friend, Vinay Deshpande, a prolific serial entrepreneur in Bangalore, India's Silicon Valley, who said, "Kavi - it's like marriage (we presume he meant an old-fashioned Indian marriage with no sense of the modern concept of divorce) ... you just have to decide and stick to it through thick of thin. Else even 10 years down the line you'll be looking for excuses to return abroad and will be unhappy." I didn't realise the import of what he meant - but better understand it now. This blog is our way of exploring what he meant.
It's been some 17 years since my return from my position as a research scientist at IBM's TJ Watson Research Centre (NY/USA) to some "creative drifting" in India before joining an Indian industrial research lab ('92-'94), then in interlude to help revive an ailing family business (Chetana) to finally going back to my roots as a Computer Scientist as a professor at IIT-Bombay - a haven for souls such as us.
But the "creative tension" to which Vinay referred still runs strong. There are distinct tensions we face in our lives in modern India today. We realise with time that tension isn't someting "out there" that we "contract" like a disease. Neither is it good or bad - a training in Indian philosophy and in Vipassana (the subject of future blogs) teaches us that. We realise that "reality" is how we
choose to perceive or interpret life.
Then there's a "compensation tension." The value of a life or perhaps a skilled person in India is distinct from that abroad. We treat intellectual property very lightly here - why? This is another discussion. Here, unlike abroad where the industry/academia difference in compensation moderate, the difference is in multiples and more extreme. A result really of our economic history where most IP was imported. As we switch over to a new order where liberalisation has given rise to a vibrant new economy and a new life in India this reality is fast changing.
We have "infrastructure tension" this is perceived especially by commuters such as myself who commutes 31km daily from South Bombay to IIT in Powai. It takes us 45-60min to traverse the first 30km and it takes 20-30min to traverse the last km upto the gates of IIT-Bombay. But this is nothing compared to what our commuting brethren endure - those who commute by public transport from far-flung suburbs to their workplaces - often living alternate lives on the move - so to speak. More about this too later.
Then there is "administrative tension" or the lack of systems and systems thinking in our administrative agencies. Here's an example. An early part of my drive to work comprises of a fast dash over the J.J. flyover in South Bombay. This wonderful 2.5km flyover snaking over a once congested Mohammed Ali Rd. has reduced a 45min drive to 3-5min. Often in the morning I see wretched municipal sweepers manually sweeping the road without fluorescent gear and mindless of the high-speed traffic whizzing past them. My fears turned to reality when, a couple of days ago I saw a broom lying unusually vacant in the centre of the road. And a few metres down was the body of a sweeper sprawled on the central divider of the road. What a waste of a life? So avoidable!! What a callous attitude on the part of an affluent municipal corporation? What stupidity on the part of a worker not taking care. But who does one blame?
If this incident was unique I wouldn't have mentioned it. I've seen this happen again and again on the Eastern Highway I use to go to IIT. There are few pedestrian overpasses so people are compelled to cross this high-speed road randomly at various points. I've seen at least 2 casualties with my own eyes over the past year. There must be many others. What a waste? I've seen this also with track workers when I used to take the train. This is what turns us into a civic activist - to be able to contribute our mite to the correction of a gross situation. "But its not my job!!" I often hear a faint echo to myself. Whose job is it?
The point of our conversation is that there's a "creative tension" to living in India that people with an"option" often consider. But I have often asked myself whether I would like to trade places with successful friends and relatives abroad - in London, in California and other places. The answer has always been a resounding NO!! Why? What makes this intrepid traveller wish to resolutely stick to a life of trials and tribulations? This is where the spiritual bit starts and where our future journeys together will take us. This also prompted an early essay in a piece written for Saturday Times way back in '94 which I feel is still relevant today. The interested the reader is referred to the piece on "
Return of the Pilgrim." Why "pilgrim"? Because my grandfather, very particular about language, insisted that I meant "native" - "Return of the Native" he asserted. My response was that I was a seeker and that I had come to India to find something - to seek - and that I felt certain that it was to be found here.
This is the long and short of why I'm compelled to write, friends. Like you, this intrepid traveller has taken a stand. And in the coming weeks we'll explore this bounty called life in all its crazy hues. The "Mystic Musings of a Techliterate Soul" is our way of doing this. God bless you all!
We anticipate that some 500-1000 students might take the course this time and we are in the process of gearing up for this super challenge. The DNA newspaper recently did a story on us entitled "IIT's robots chip in engineering education" which gave their readership an idea of what's we're doing in this space. This should be an exciting year for us - so watch this space and get yourself a robot from a dynamic little startup called "Nex Robotics".
