Ig Nobel 2009

Gideon Gono, the governor of Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank, won the Ig Nobel prize for Mathematics in 2009. He was recognized for:

“giving people a simple, everyday way to cope with a wide range of numbers — from very small to very big — by having his bank print bank notes with denominations ranging from one cent ($.01) to one hundred trillion dollars ($100,000,000,000,000)”.

In 2008, Zimbabwe’s peak hyperinflation rate reached 79,600,000,000 %(79.6 billion %) per month. At this rate, nominal price of things would double every 24 hours. Hungary, in 1945-46, experienced inflation rate of 41.9 quadrillion percent (41,900,000,000,000,000)per month, a record unsurpassed: na bhuto, na bhavishyati.

Other Ig Nobel Prizes are just as interesting and deserving.

The PEACE prize went to Stephen Bolliger, Stephen Ross, Lars Oesterhelweg, Michael Thali and Beat Kneubuehl of the University of Bern, Switzerland:

“for determining — by experiment — whether it is better to be smashed over the head with a full bottle of beer or with an empty bottle”.

And the Economics Prize was awarded to the directors, executives, and auditors of four Icelandic Banks: Kaupthing Bank, Landsbanki, Glitnir Bank, and Central Bank of Iceland:

“for demonstrating that tiny banks can be rapidly transformed into huge banks, and vice versa — and for demonstrating that similar things can be done to an entire national economy”.

Muzaffarpur

Muzaffarpur is my hometown, “the place I belong”.

Muzaffarpur is the largest town in north Bihar. It is a relatively new settlement with humble beginnings. The founder, Muzaffar Khan, was an amil ( revenue collector) of Mughals in eighteenth century. Years before East India Company’s accession to the Diwani, he selected 75 bighas (~ 68 acres or 0.27 sq. km) of land from the village of Sikandarpur on the north, Kanhauli on the east, Sayyidpur on the south,  and Sariyaganj on the west, and called the town Muzaffarpur, after his own name.

Few noticed the founding of the new town. For decades it remained an obscure place.  The name Muzaffarpur does not even appear in the settlement records of 1790. Apparently, no one in the government knew it existed till one Sankar Dat brought it to the attention of the Company officials. We do not know who this Sankar Dat was. In 1817, more than half a century after its founding, Muzaffarpur had only 667 houses. It was still a village. But then the town grew rapidly and by the Census of 1872, it had become the second largest town in Tirhut district after Darbhanga with a population of 38,223. Darbhanga (47,450), Hajipur (22,306), Lalganj (12,338), Rosera (9441) and Sitamarhi (5496) were other major towns of Tirhut in 1872. After the famine of 1874, Tirhut was split into districts of Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur in 1875. Muzaffarpur town became the administrative headquarter of the eponymous district.

(This is from WW Hunter’s A Statistical Record of Bengal, Vol. XII, first published in 1877. More will follow as I read more).

 

Chhath Festival in Photos

Chhath is the biggest festival of Bihari Hindus.

Peace Be With You

The chairman of Nobel Peace Prize committee defends this year’s award to President Obama. He says, in choosing the winner, the committe was looking at what Alfred Nobel said in his will — namely, to give the prize to the person who has done most for peaceful development in the world in the last year.

Is that person President Obama? I don’t think so.

बेक़रारी की बेक़रारी है:जॉन एलिया

बेक़रारी  की बेक़रारी है

वस्ल है और फ़िराकदारी है

जो गुजारी न जा सकी हमसे

हमने वो ज़िन्दगी गुजारी है

बिन तुम्हारे कभी नहीं आई

क्या मेरी नींद भी तुम्हारी है

हादसों का हिसाब है अपना

वरना हर आन सबकी बारी है

उससे कहियो कि दिल कि गलियों में

रात दिन तेरी इंतेजारी है

खुश रहे तू कि ज़िन्दगी अपनी

उम्र भर की उम्मीदवारी है

हिज्र हो या विसाल हो कुछ हो

हम हैं और उसकी यादगारी है

“Unbelievable Stories About Apathy and Altruism”: From SuperFreakonomics

Freakonomics made Steve Levitt probably the most widely read economist in the world. Now, he has come out with SuperFreakonomics. Here is an excerpt from chapter three of the book: Unbelievable Stories About Apathy and Altruism.

The last sentence of this excerpt –”People are people, and they respond to incentives. They can nearly always be manipulated — for good or ill — if only you find the right levers“–is the basic message of both Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics.

SuperFreakonomics has become controversial for its final chapter which is on climate change. Paul Krugman, Brad Delong and others have alleged misinterpretation and misrepresentation of facts. Levitt and Dubner disagree. You can follow the debate here and here.

ज़िन्दगी खाब क्यों दिखाती है: जॉन एलिया

आप अपने से हमसुखन रहना

हमनशीं सांस फूल जाती है

 

आज एक बात तो बताओ मुझे

ज़िन्दगी खाब क्यों दिखाती है

 

क्या सितम है कि अब तेरी सूरत

गौर करने पे याद आती है 

 

कौन इस घर की देखभाल करे 

रोज़ एक चीज़ टूट जाती है  

Back to Land: The New Green Revolution

An article on agriculture and food in Time Magazine. It is quite positive about rainwater harvesting through dugwells and small dams.

जॉन एलिया की एक और कृति

जॉन एलिया बड़े मशहूर शायर हैं|उनके चाहने वाले उन्हें बीसवीं सदी के उत्तरार्ध का सबसे अच्छा शायर मानते हैं|पर मैंने पहले कभी न उनका नाम सुना था,न उनका लिखा कोई शेर पढ़ा था|ऐसा शायद इसलिए हो कि उनका पहला दीवान, शायद, सन् १९९० में छपा जब वो साठ साल के हुए|उनके बाकी दो दीवान, यानि और गुमान,  मरणोपरांत छपे|शायद तीनो ही दीवानों का अब तक देवनागरी संस्करण छपा भी न हो|इसलिए भारत में कम लोग उनको जानते हैं|मैंने उनको अभी-२ दो दिन पहले डिस्कवर किया; मुझे बेहद पसंद आये|तो ये हफ्ता जॉन एलिया के  नाम  रहेगा|पेश है उनकी एक और कृति|

 

उसके पहलू से लग के चलते हैं

हम  कहीं टालने  से डरते हैं

 

मैं उसी तरह तो बहलता हूँ

और सब जिस तरह बहलते हैं

 

वो  है जान अब हरेक महफिल कि

हम भी अब घर से कब निकलते हैं

 

क्या तकल्लुफ करें ये कहने में

जो भी खुश है हम उस से जलते हैं

 

है उसे दूर का सफ़र दरपेश

हम संभाले नहीं सँभालते हैं

 

है अजब फासले का सेहरा भी

चल न पड़िये तो पाँव जलते हैं

 

हो रहा हूँ मैं किस तरह बर्बाद

देखने वाले हाथ मलते हैं

 

तुम बनो रंग तुम बनो खुशबू

हम तो अपने सुखन में ढलते हैं

 

 

तुम जब आओगी : जॉन एलिया (1931-2002)

तुम जब आओगी तो खोया हुआ पाओगी मुझे

मेरी तनहाई में ख़्वाबों के सिवा कुछ भी नहीं

मेरे कमरे को सजाने की तमन्ना है तुम्हें
मेरे कमरे में किताबों के सिवा कुछ भी नहीं

इन किताबों ने बडा ज़ुल्म किया है मुझ पर
इन-में एक रम्ज़ है, जिस रम्ज़ का मारा हुआ ज़हन

मुज़दा*-ए-इशरते* अंजाम नहीं पा सकता
ज़िंदगी में कभी आराम नहीं पा सकता

 

* रम्ज़=hint, symbol, secret;  मुज़दा = good news; इशरत*=gaiety, happy social life