A n i m a t e d I n I n d i a

Rajan has tempted me to blog about this contentsutra post.

... From outsourced sweat shops to co-production deals, that's the way to go for Indian animation companies. India's animation talent cannot be underestimated. For instance, Walt Disney’s 2005 blockbuster Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was done out of India. It was executed by a 700-strong team in the Los Angeles and Mumbai offices of animation and visual effects studio Rhythm & Hues. ...

I am a computer graphics researcher and am very interested in the entertainment industry. I would even like to take a job in India but I haven't done so ! The reason ? I disagree to the fact that Indian animation industry has come of age.

This is a problem not just with the animation industry, but with the Indian industry in general. Most of the revenue that India earns through software is by offering services. In fact, major companies such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro etc. have hardly developed any products !

Sometime last year, I had the opportunity to ask a question to the very vice-presidents of TCS, Infosys, Satyam and Wipro themselves. This was during a seminar in ISB on the expected rates of growth for the Indian software industry.

"Sir, inspite of making huge dollar profits, your company doesn't develop any products. Why ? What problems do you face in building an image and marketing the product ? Why doesn't your company see this as a good source of earning revenue ?"

This question made them all uneasy. The VPs of Infosys and TCS mentioned the names of a few products that their companies built.

"But what is the percentage of revenue that these products are earning for your company ? What is the corresponding ratio for companies of similar size in the Silicon Valley ? "

At this point, the VP of Satyam was visibly angry. He beckoned me and said, "The conditions in Hyderabad and in the Silicon Valley are very different. They have good universities up there and they have a totally different mode of thinking."

Then I replied, "Sir, I belong to IIIT which is just next door. Our university is research oriented and we have good developers in our student community."

Then he said, "Yes, I know. Why don't you meet me in person and we can talk this over during lunch ?"

But I didn't/couldn't meet him during lunch :)

Even though none of the VPs admitted the reason to me, I knew it already. Indian companies are notorious for averting risks ! Developing a product has several inherent risks and invites ferocious competition on the global scale. Indian companies want to play it safe. In other words, they are chickened out ! I am not saying that chickening out is a bad thing, it surely has some merit from the perspective of the chicken. :))

So where am I ? Yeah, this is the same reason why I don't expect Indian animation companies to do anything wonderful on the global scale. These companies are too scared to take any risks and to develop any products (in this case, a movie or a videogame). During the inception and the development phases, they are wont do cut down costs, overwork the employees, use terrible/incapable managers and miss deadlines. No client is waiting for the work to get done, and thus nobody becomes accountable for the product ! After all, nobody has believed in the first place that the product would be any good anyway !

The first 3D animation movie to come out of India "Pandavas" was so bad - not only in artistic detail but also in script and animatics ! Though relesed years later (in terms of graphics, years = ages), this movie pales in comparison to the first 3D movie ever produced "Toy Story". Can we ever expect the magic of Disney such as "Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs" to come out of India ? Would anybody ever conceptualize a sequence such as the birds chirping and dancing, as snowwhite draws water from the well ?

In India, animation houses are equivalents of BPOs and sweatshops. They grow laterally rather than vertically. They accept too many work-assignments, and they overwork their employees. And their workplaces are too crampy with very little space per employee. (Not that it is a bad thing, they are solving the unemployment problem after all)

I have recently visited an animation house which also offers training to novices who want to get into the business. "Why don't you encourage short-movies from your employees/students so that they can send them to SIGGRAPH ? This will show good on their portfolio and will be good for your publicity." To this, the HR has replied "What is SIGGRAPH ?"

I have also recently visited a very good art school - the JNTU school of fine arts. I was trying to build a partnership with the art-students for my students in the computer graphics course. Such partnerships are commonplace in the USA but are virtually unheard of in India. The art students were super-cool and they were pretty interested in our ideas. But they were also clueless - "What is SIGGRAPH ? "

The major complaint that is heard from animation houses is that there is a lack of technical talent / motivation etc. in India. This sounds suspiciously close to what I heard from the VPs of Satyam, Infosys etc.

Rhythm & Hues is an exception to the rule. Firstly, their Los Angeles unit is extremely good. I have visited their LA quarters when I've been to SIGGRAPH in 2005.




I have observed some work-in-progress for "The Chronicles of Narnia" too ! R&H has a breezy workspace and an ultra-cool work culture. This will prove to be in stark contrast to my later experiences with Indian animation houses. Secondly, they truly trust their unit in Mumbai and are cheerleading it very much. Indeed, I am very happy that the Mumbai unit has participated in the production of the "Narnia". But personaly, the Narnia movie didn't please me much. I would be surprised if it wins the Academy award. The biggest killer in the movie is the sloppy editing - the VFX are pretty cool, though there are some lighting mismatches (bad cinematography). And also, the credits for this movie include ILM and Sony Imageworks along with R&H.

Some MNCs (such as Google, Oracle, Adobe and Microsoft) are doing product development in software at their Bangalore offices. But this is mostly in conjuction with the main team in the USA, similar to how R&H has executed the Narnia movie.


Do I see a time when an entire movie/videogame is conceptualized in India for a major production house and then receives world-wide acclaim ? Do I see a time when the art-schools incorporate a radically-upto-date syllabus ? Do I see a time when short-movies from India get accepted to the SIGGRAPH animation festival (France had 6 movies last year, and India had zero. Sounds like the Olympics ?) Do I see a time when Indian animation houses tend to attract & to keep really talented people ?

The answers to all the above questions are "No, not in the near future."

I n d i a n L a n g u a g e T r a n s l a t i o n

During my undergraduate days, I have worked in a state-of-the-art research lab on machine translation from English to Indian languages. One of the main motivations for our work was that we would be bringing the WWW to the 90% of the Indian population which is illiterate in English. Owing to this experience, I obtained a fair knowledge of the key problems in this area and the main technical hurdles to be overcome.

But I believe many of the R & D teams that are working on this are missing the holistic view.

Most of the people in India are illiterate, but they can speak native languages such as Telugu and Hindi. Further, many of the people who are literate are not computer literate. And amongst the computer literate people, most of them are already comfortable with English.

Keeping this in view, of what effectiveness would be a new Desktop Manager with arcane Telugu words for terms such as "Start", "My Computer" and "Control Panel" ?

In places such as China and Japan, communication in English is purely impossible. In other places such as France and Germany, there is a strong linguistic pride and awareness. But in India, both of these are absent. Still I believe there is a target audience in India, albeit of a different variety.

In order to clarify this, let me narrate an experience of mine.

Once during my UG days, I had another strange and unique opportunity. My father, a teacher, has invited me to give a few lectures on Modern Physics and Atomic Theory to the outgoing students of the high school. The medium of instruction was Telugu, not English, as had been mine during my school days. I had great fun teaching, and the students liked me very much as an instructor. Also, I had to put some effort in studying the equivalent Telugu words for the scientific terms. But this experience of teaching in the native language had been very benificial for me - in understanding the subject much clearer.

The fact remains that several of the students in Indian high schools are not literate/comfortable in the English language. This is a major hurdle for them to pick up and read the vast majority of the available literature. Even if they are fairly conversant in the rudimentary English language, they are not accustomed to reading large books in English. This section of people includes, surprisingly, both of my own parents - who are much more comfortable in reading books in Telugu.

But ofcourse, the most informative literature is currently available only in English. A sizeable portion of this is present on the web, and the rest is available in print. The key factors are the relevance and the importance of the information that is available.

A good example for such informative texts are the essays from the Edge Foundation.

The state of the art in machine translation research is well behind producing a reasonable output for real texts such as these. But this output can very well be a good starting point for a human translator.

Ideally, such information should be available in differnt formats (audio, images. video, summarized audio, detailed translated text ..) to cater to the needs of the varied audience. The important thing to note is that the needs of the audience are very different.

• Some people might need to know the latest weather forecasts / stock prices / news headlines in summarized Telugu text.
  
• Some people might need to know about the latest agricultural techniques in video format.
  
• Some people might need to report/publish websites or blogs using simplistic Telugu interface and video.
  
• Students in several schools might need to communicate on their class projects using audio and images.
  
• Some students (or elders) might need to read books such as "Selfish Gene" and "The End of Poverty" (two personal favorites of mine) in clear Telugu language. Or they might need video and images in an accompanying website.
  

In my point of view, these are the issues that are really pertinent for the emancipation of education in the Indian scenario.

Issues such as these should be tackled individually and with special care. There are no magic bullets, such as Indian language GUIs, for solving all these problems in one shot.

These problems will be solved, both by building good computer systems and by massive human effort. These twin efforts should go hand in hand.

Particularly, I want to highlight one issue - that of translation of some informative books (such as The Selfish Gene, The End of Poverty etc) which are written by highly skilled scientists for a general audience. This is the kind of information that needs to be available for high school students. But unfortunately, neither of these books are translated into Telugu, so far, to my knowledge.

This kind of information is currently being published at a rapid pace, both on and off the world wide web. In order to make this available for the general Indian audience, I think it should be encouraged in universities for UG/PG students to translate these literature into regional languages, and course-credit assigned for such efforts. (For example, a group of economics students might translate The End of Poverty)

And by translation, the output need not be a book in Telugu. It can be a website or a series of lectures in images and audio. From my experience (of teaching modern physics in my dad's school), I can say that this will be truly rewarding for the translator too.

Interested people might even maintain weblogs where they post the translated text of specific domains (sometimes translate it as an audio file through speech). Should we call them transblogs ?

These will provide a true breakthrough in bridging the information divide in India.

C o m p u t e r s I n M y M o m ' s S c h o o l

I have a unique background. Both my parents have been teachers in government-run high schools. Currently, both of them are working as principals (head teachers) in their schools.

I have a bachelors degree in Computer Science and have plans of doing a PhD. For a few months, I had the amazing opportunity of working under Dr. Raj Reddy - a scientist par excellence and a visionary. One day, he has asked me a question, "Kiran, if I want to give a laptop to every student in the primary schools in India, how much would it cost me ?"

I am grateful for that question and for the few opportunities when I had the fortune of talking to him.

This association got me to think of several things, amongst which is the importance of education for the development of an economy. And the role that computers and computer scientists (including me) needed to play in this.

The last month, I went home on a holiday. My mom asked me to come and see her school. A set of 4 computers have arrived through a government sanctioned funding (there were no computers till then), and she wanted me to study their configuration.

I have spent about 1 hour in the school compound. There was a prayer ceremony where the school children recited a prayer, said the national pledge and the news of the day was read aloud. Later I looked at the school library (a collection of 500 books in a dusty almirah), laboratory equipment (simple balances, conical flasks etc - all stacked up in another almirah) and the staff room. My mind was spinning rapidly throughout the time. My mom looked at me and asked "Why are you looking so lost ? Do you want to go back home ? " No, I wanted to stay. I was looking at so many things, thinking of so many things and the ideas were coming to me in a violent storm !

The 4 computers that have arrived were in sealed cardboard boxes. "Can I open the boxes, amma ?", I asked. No there were not meant to be touched till the government sends a person to install them. That goverment person has been awaited for 3 weeks then, he did not turn up yet. "Sorry amma, I cannot say anything about the configuration without looking inside."


How I wish I can go back home - to this town called Ramachandrapuram in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh ! How I wish I can spend time with my parents - and understand their problems as teachers-in-charge for these schools ! How I wish I can help them to improve the schools, to introduce the new world of internet, wikipedia, e-mail, blogging ...

But here I am in Hyderabad - totally divorced from my life and my home. In a few months, I'd be going to Europe for pursuing a PhD. Forget the students of my mom's school. Even, my mom - a highly gifted teacher, does not know a thing about internet or about computers. Both her sons are computer engineers, one of them pursuing a research career. When I say that life sucks, I mean it !

"Amma, why don't you keep the library books on a table and ask the students to browse through them in the evenings ? No, the students will be too afraid to come into the staff room and look in this almirah ! "

"Amma, there is this very good software that gives economics and development data for all the countries. You should install it in the computers."

"Amma, there is this software that gives a virtual sky where you can teach the students about astronomy and the planetary systems"

"Amma, there is this new computer graphics tool that will simulate rigid body dynamics, and you can use it for teaching mechanics"

"Amma, there is this tool for observing chemical bonding between elements"

"Amma, in the internet, ...."

And my mind is spinning.. And my mind is spinning..

What do you think I should do ?

H o w T o E n d P o v e r t y

Owing to sheer luck, I picked up a book from the book-store yesterday "The end of poverty : How we can make it in our lifetime". I do not regret the Rs.380 that I have spent on it. First, I got into the book-store because there was a pretty girl inside, but the pretty girl started talking on the phone with somebody who I understood was her fiance, so I turned my attention to the book aisle.

The book is extremely well-written with good analyses and graphs, and is beautiful in its insights. It highlights the impact of geographical location (sea-coast and navigable rivers), geopolitics (economic barriers and trade sanctions) and female literacy, among other things, in affecting the drive towards economic development. Jeffrey Sachs is a Professor at Columbia University and an economist of great appeal. He has done good work in identifying the key problems hampering the economical development in Africa - in the form of endemic diseases HIV and Malaria, and not so much in government failures as others have often done. Along with several other people, he has been very instrumental in selling this idea to the world. He was also key in framing the Millenium Development Goals for the United Nations. He also serves as an economic advisor for several third world countries including India.

It is also good to see this book being criticized, most notably by Amir Attaran and Vandana Shiva. Ms. Vandana has, infact, spoken out on my own fears as I have expressed in the previous post.

Thank you Mr. Jeffrey Sachs for a very good reading. (I am still reading the book) Highly recommended for everyone. Things like these should be included in the compulsory curricula of high schools and technical schools.

Z e r o S u m G a m e

There is a big mystery that has been puzzling me since childhood. It is the persistent economical poverty of some nations in spite of the dazzling technological advances of our age.

How come two-thirds of the world population still live in poverty - their standard of life not any different from that of medieval Europe (15th century AD) before the industrial revolution happened ? How come the benifits of the modern industrial / communication revolutions do not reach them ? What is keeping them behind ?

Neither do these answers come intuitively to me nor am I a student of economics. But I hope to discover these answers somehow. Today's post is one of my attempts to start a debate which has been brewing in my mind for sometime.


Is it inevitable - that some societies remain economically backward - for technological progress to happen ?


Many economists argue that economical progress is not a zero-sum game. In the sense that, trade is beneficial to both the parties. I reckon that a complex mathematical theory exists for studying the rules that govern this relationship. My knowledge regarding this topic is very dim.

But I want to raise a new and parallel question - how about technological progress ?

During the ancient and medieval ages (in fact ever since the days of river-valley civilizations) the societies which engaged in trade gradually grew rich and prosperous. More so were the societies which controlled the trade-routes.

But with the industrial revolution, the situation turns a bit more complex.

The new thing with the industrial revolution is that many people who are previously employed as skilled labour lose their jobs. During the previous ages, this did not happen in such massive scales. Further, this newly unemployed people cannot be readily accomodated - even as unskilled labour. Gradually, in the course of time (approximately 25 years - the time of one generation of people) the society gets adjusted to the new scenario. People get trained in operating the new machines and new jobs get generated. But it is important to note that this process is not smooth - it is not instantaneous. Skilled labour demands education, and this education demands several sacrifices and changes in the lifestyle of people. It is not easy, it is easier to educate children (That may be one reason why the time of 25 years)

During industrial revolution, most of the means of production become machinized. Due to this, the productivity increases thousandfold and there would be a rapidly accumulating heap of surplus. The economic cycle of the society has to run faster and faster to catch up with this abundance of surplus. Now this presents an interesting chicken-and-egg problem.

With several people becoming unemployed, who would purchase this surplus ??

If we look at history, this question has been addressed differently in different societies.

Western Europe (Britian, France, Spain, Portugal and the neighbouring countries) quickly started to build colonies in the aftermath of the industrial revolution. This colonization has been greatly facilitated due to the vacuum that was temporarily created due to the absence of major powers in Asia and Africa. This was one of the major turning points in world-history (Possibly, the biggest turning point)

The colonies have presented avenues of cheap labour and raw material, but more importantly, they presented a huge market for the fruits of the industrial revolution. Further, the demands of maintaining an imperial army consumed huge amounts of economical energy. Together, they have set a rapid momentum to the wheel of economical cycle.

This has greatly facilitated a smooth transition to the industrial age without major famines or bloodshed or revolution.

Karl Marx, in his study of the Capitalist society, has failed to realize the importance of colonization for the industrial revolution to happen. This has been accomodated very later by the work of Lenin in the 20th century.

Eastern Europe and Russia had to suffer greatly due to the lack of colonies. The industrial revolution did not proceed smoothly and resulted in a communist revolution. But the chicken-and-egg problem persisted during the reign of communism.

Stalin introduced the 5 year plans to trigger the industrial revolution. But this did not happen overnight. Russia had to suffer a series of terrifying famines during a time of 30 years. People were forced to buy surplus that was useless to them. Agriculture received a severe jolt and several people perished of hunger. All this was kept tightly under control from inside the iron curtains.

Economical progress may not be a zero sum game. But technological progress is possibly one. It may be true that the society gets adjusted to the needs in due course of time. But atleast for some period of time, I reckon that somebody has to suffer.

The first and the second world wars were essentially fought for colonies. Even though some countries (most notably Germany) lost the wars, the machinery of war consumed a lot of economical energy and set the industrial revolution rolling. After the war, during a time span of about 25 years, the German population have regained their morale and rebuilt their nation.

Second world war presented an opportunity for Russia to build a set of colonies - in Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and the Eastern Europe (though technically they were not called colonies). This has further fuelled the Russian industrial apparatus.

The United States of America has been very lucky in possessing virgin lands and wild natural bounty. This has kept the citizens busy as they studied the Industrial Revolution in tranquil peace, during which time, hell was brewing in Europe. When the industrial apparatus in the USA started ticking, the surplus was slowly being shifted down to South America (which woke up later and due to which suffered greatly). Also, the second world war created a host of hungry consumers in Europe whose apparatus was damaged due to the war. USA was quietly making rapid money without even participating in the war. By the time Japan dragged it in, it was already an economical superpower.

A slightly similar explanation can be provided for Australia and for New Zealand.

The industrial revolution in Japan was greatly fuelled by the war apparatus of the second world war, during which time the Japanese also gained a plethora of colonies in East Asia. Even though the war badly damaged the industrial apparatus, the Japanese citizens were already educated and the society was adjusted to the demands of the industrial age. They quickly recouped in a span of 25 years.

Tiny countries in South East Asia (Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong etc) woke up earlier than their neighbours in the charge towards industrialization. They benifited enormously from the fact that it is easier for leaders to rally a smaller nation. Apart from industries such as shipping and sea-trade, these countries also encouraged tourism.

The Arab nations were the luckiest of the lot. For they were sitting on top of the world's oil reserves. They moved into the industrial age painlessly (Even without educating their citizens properly to its demands).

China had to suffer more than Russia in the quest of industrialization. Several of the 5 year plans flopped and the Chinese citizens suffered some of the worst famines of the 20th century. Again, this situation was tightly controlled from behind the iron curtains. Later, globalization presented new opportunities to China and it was quick in realizing this. It invited active foreign investment and this strategy has been doing very well so far. Several ex-compatriots who have settled abroad actively invested in China. Due to cheaper labour and infrastructure costs, China was able to cut down the manufacturing costs and compete with Europe and USA. This has quickly created a protectionist sentiment amongst the European industry. Only, time will tell us if this conflict gets resolved without any tension.

India was massively exploited during the British Imperial rule. Also it could not industrialize as rapidly as China did due to it being a free democracy. But Indian citizens are slowly getting educated and trying the globalization strategy now. India holds some advantages such as a large English speaking community - which is helpful in the services industry. It still has to make major forays into the manufacturing industry.

But where would this surplus get sold ? Where would the new markets emerge ? Would the transition to an industrialized age be smooth for India and China ? Where would the old workers be accomodated in the face of unemployment ? Would the transition be harsh or smooth, or would it take 25 years ? (Presuming that the next generation of individuals get educated properly. If not, it will take even longer)

What about Africa ? Do they have any prospects of development ? Can it ever get industrialized ?

Would the earth's oil reserves and environment support a thorough industrialization in all the countries (all of them consuming massive amounts of petrol and exhuming pollution ?)

Clearly, I see an incentive for developed countries (Europe and the USA) to keep some population perennially backward. Do they have an active hidden strategy which we do not know ?

How else can you explain the reluctance of western powers from investing in the manufacturing industries in places like Africa ? Or even in places like India where they get cheaper labour ?

What's the deal ?

C a t c h i n g T h e B u t t e r f l y

When was the last time you had a dream filled with roaring mountain winds ? Or filled with mighty forests or with orange seas ? Those were the dreams of my childhood. Where I visited strange places and did mighty adventures. I drove enormous vehicles, sighted curious beasts, I discovered deep secrets. I discovered strange secrets about life.

Those dreams came to me when I was asleep. Those dreams came to me when I was alone. Everything that I saw in the world brought me a dream, along with it. That was the age of impressionability.

Am I losing it ? Now that I am 23.

Am I losing those dreams ?

If that happens, world would become just dry and deterministic. After some time, the sole purpose in life would be to just be alive. Like a piece of moss on a rock.

But in such a situation, can I call myself alive ?

Maybe the last time when you feel dreams is the first time you fall in love. After this, you take leave from that world of dreams. You shut it behind, and later forget that it ever was. Whenever you think about it, you will get scared. So you better fool yourself into believing that it never existed.

However, unfortunately, some people choose to keep this world alive. And they get scared because the dreams would not come to them. I am one of those. Who always try to keep catching those colors. I am one of those who always gonna keep catching the butterfly, in that dream of mine.

In homage to the music of The Verve, I reproduce these lyrics

So you were born
Or so you thought
The future's ours
To keep and hold

A child within
Has healing ways
It sees me through
My darkest days

I'm gonna keep catching that butterfly
In that dream of mine
I'm gonna keep catching that butterfly
In that dream of mine

In my lucid dreams
In my lucid dreams

I'm gonna keep catching that butterfly
In that dream of mine

Keep catching that butterfly
In that dream of mine

In my private dreams
In my private dreams
My lucid dreams
My forgotten schemes

I see through you
You see through me
I see through you
You see through me

To be in your eyes
To be in your eyes

K i n g K o n g M y s t e r y

Well. This is a question mark on the minds of thousands.. err millions .. err zillions of movie-going public.

How could he do it ?

That is Mr. Kong, how could he do it ? You know, it, to Miss Ann Darrow !

The answer, my friends, is in the director's cut which is not yet released !

(The lovely Annie is doing some gymnastics in order to excite Mr. Kong. He is putting on his normal grumpy face. When suddenly Annie stops)

"Oohh Mr. Kong ? What is it ??? Is it your schlong ? "

(The mighty ape grunts softly emitting a very-human-like sound) "Yes"

Annie rolls her eyes and jumps into the mighty palm of Kong in a sexual fever.

"Isn't it beautiful ?"
(From here on, the scene is available in the normal cut of the movie)

Mr. Kong grunts again in a very-human-like sound "Yes"

And then, my dear friend, they both did it :)

Because ...

The mightiest Kong
Has the tiniest schlong !

PS : Ooohh ! I love you Annie !! :)) err.. Naomi Watts.. err.. whatever..

M a s i n a g u d i

Blue valley on my mind. So, this december, I run away from Hyderabad, and escape to the Nigiris. My intent is to sit quite and lay peaceful for a couple of days - amid those green hills and waterfalls. I make a reservation for a single room in a resort, aptly named Blue Valley Resorts. It is a jungle-lodge located in Masinagudi, at the heart of the Mudumalai forest reserve. It is down in the foothills of the Nigiris, 30 km from Ooty, offering spectacular views and temperatures between 14 to 23 degree celcius.

But solitude in a forest lodge turns out to be more than what you have bargained for !


Sipping my tea and lazing on my wicker chair, I gaze at the beckoning mountains. The early morning mist has not cleared off yet, and sprightly waterfalls sparkle up in the heights. I make up my mind. I will go trekking !

But however, I decide to relax for the first day. I enjoy the delicious meals, trot around the minor hillocks and make friends with George, the driver of the company jeep. George, Jungle George.

In the evening, I run into Mr. Joy, the proprieter, a gentleman with a thick Malayali accent. I enquire about the possibilities for trekking in the next day.

"Sure, Mr. Kiran, you have to get up by 6:00 in the morning. You will get a guide and can be back by 8:00 for breakfast"


So I get up in the morning, sip a hot cup of tea and venture into the forest. Keeping me company is Raj, a thin brooding man in his early thirties. He is to be my guide; he doesn't understand Hindi or English. However, he speaks the barebones of the English language - "Come, Back, This way, Elephant, Forest, Bison"

The two pockets of my pants hold a Nikon Coolpix camera and an Apple iPod - both borrowed from my dear friend Sashi. Raj carries a thin bamboo stick - 3 feet long, which will be our only defence against the undergrowth and the wild animals.

A couple of dogs from the village bark at us before being shooed away by this stick.

"Dogs, I am more afraid of them.", I smile. "Not so much of the really wild animals"

Raj smiles.

After a brisk walk for 10 minutes, we find ourselves into the thicket. A couple of langoors are up on the tree-tops but I don't have success in photographing them.

Soon we run into a mountain stream. I cry for help when crossing.

"Jump", Raj gestures at me.

"No, my only shoes." I say pointing at my shoes. "I don't want them to get in water !", pointing to the stream below.

Raj gives me his hand and I get onto the the other side.

Later, I would slip into this stream for atleast 3 times. This particular stream has an important role to play at the end of my narration.


On the way we encounter a huge pile of animal dung. Raj points at this with his stick and says "Elephant. This place full of elephant."

In innocent delight, I snap a picture with my camera. But as I soon find out, these pieces of dung are littered all over the place, some of the traces extremely fresh.

Raj points at a curious piece of mud that is scraped off the ground. "Bison slipped."

At another point, he points to a hole dug into the ground - about 2 feet long. He says "bear".

I am amazed. I take this picture of the ground where a Nilgiri brown-bear has dug up some of his dinner.


But it turns out that these holes too are not uncommon on this territory. To my alarm, I find them everywhere, some of them very fresh !

The undergrowth becomes thicker and more difficult to pass through. But we press ahead. With his stick, Raj bends the shrubbery and moves ahead; with me hastily following him. Sometimes, after the release of his stick, the shrubs bounce back on my face. And with no pleasure, I find that the undergrowth is replete with thorns.


Raj is all ears for the minor sounds that envelop the place. In contrast, all I can hear is one single sound - the sound of the jungle, which is omnipresent. At one point, he gives me a quick alarm "Stop". I freeze into attention.

"Bison... "

I look at him with surprise. I can hear no footsteps of any animal. But suddenly, an enormous bison leaps into the air in front of us. With a thumping trot, it rapidly disappears into the jungle below. Before I can recover from the shock, I see several more bisons running into the thicket below.

"They are all running" Raj chuckles "They running"

I become extremely alert from this point onwards. I listen to a thousand different sounds - all of them alarming. They seem to come from behind me, from the side, from below, from the top.

At one point, I stop.

"Raj, there is a sound"

He looks at me with a smile. "No"

But I can hear a distinct sound, like the grunting of a boar. But he dismisses it away and keeps walking. I would later find out that this sound is that of one bird.

Finally, we scale a minor peak. And from above, I look at the forest warming up to the sun-rays. It is enchanting.


Raj motions to me and says "River. Go ?"

There is a persistent gurgle of the mountain streams but I have no clue of their proximity.

I agree, "Okay." And we reach the edge of a precipice and peak into the river below.


There is a clear track that is visible from our viewpoint - that leads us down to the stream.

"Animals. Drink water" Raj provides the obvious explanation.

We quickly descend down to the stream and take a couple of pictures. I am longing to spend more time but Raj disapproves. I understand - this place stands too open and naked, sandwiched between hills on both sides. Animals are prone to come here for quenching thirst, and not all of them could be friendly.


With regret, we move from this Eden and return into the thicket. The jungle becomes more impassable. At one point, I scream to Raj "Let's go back."

He says "Yes, we go back." but heads in the same direction. I feel we are like two rodents, crawling through the underground sewage. It becomes miserable. Not to make things any nicer, the ground underneath turns slippery and shallow. There is the danger of tripping over something and tumbling into the depths below.

I recollect my schemes about trekking for the entire day - they look so ridiculous now. I am finding no pleasure when thorns and the wet grime rub against my skin. It goes on forever. I look at my watch in exasperation - it is already 9:30.

Finally, we get into some open space and I can feel the rays of the sun.


I suddenly remember something. "Do we have snakes here, Raj ?"

Raj retuns with an expressionless face "snakes ?"

"Yes snakes. Are there any around here ?"

"Many"

And we resume the trek to the ground below.

With an even pace, we descend to the ground. And I can hear the gurgle of the stream that we passed before venturing into the forest.

There, we hear the curious shouting of some animals. "Krrrrr. Phrrrrr. Krrrrr"

Raj tells me with his usual stoic face "Langoors shouting"

"Oh"

"Panther.. or tiger"

I remember reading about this before. Langoors have evolved this communication as a warning mechanism against predators. So the animals of the jungle - deer and bison, listen to these signals for warning.

With silence, we slowly we walk down to the stream. The gravity of the situation does not sink into me immediately.

I find a shrub of memosa. I am tempted to touch these leaves as they slowly curl up inwards. There exists a shrub which looks similar to memosa, but which does not exhibit this property. So I touch my feet onto the leaves as a test. Yes, indeed they curl inwards.

Then I look at Raj. With blank eyes, he says "shhh."

I look around, I see no jungle cat. But the entire place is filled with bushes.


This picture is one which was shot earlier. But it gives a glimpse of what I am seeing at this point. I can feel my camera in my left pocket. But I do not dare to bring it out. My mind is racing. Both of us stand together without any expression.

The langoors continue to shout hysterically. Apart from this and the gurgling of the water, we hear no sound. Never keeping a distance of more than 4 feet between each other, we move ahead slowly.

We know we are being watched. And we know we are being smelt. But from where ? - we do not know.

Panthers do not attack humans usually. And no animal attacks without a reason. If it attacks, it is either for food or for protection. Leapords and panthers are known to take the weakest prey - infants, old people or frail women. The fact that we are two people together - it is our only reason for calm.

Raj crosses the stream slowly and I follow him with my eyes to the back. But he stops in midway "Back. Not here".

We retreat our steps slowly. Raj keeps looking for shrubs, rocks or thicket - potential hiding places for a panther. We walk some 300 feet and venture to cross the stream. Again we stop in midway and retreat.

Now I suddenly see one long tail from a tree top. I freeze to horror. But it is not the panther, it is one of the langoors. They keep chirping hysterically.

Now I start to pray that the panther gets into our sight. The knowledge of us being aware of its presence but not of its position is the scariest part. We advance for several minutes but retreat again.

Several questions come popping up in my mind.

"If the panther rips off one of my legs, what do I do in the future ? Should I continue with my plans for PhD, or should I think of something else ?"

"If my face gets disfigured, or worse if I become handicapped, will I find a girl to get married to me ?"

The question of what happens if I die doesn't come into my head. The answer is simple, no complications.

Then more questions come in. "How long will it take before the lodge sends a rescue party to fetch us ?"

"Would Raj help if the panther chooses to attack me ? Ofcourse, he has a responsibility" I take that for granted.

"What should I do if Raj gets attacked instead ?" At this point, I have to admit honestly. The answer that has come to my mind was not one to help heroically. "I should raise some shouts and run away. Maybe I will throw some rocks at the panther and shout like a maniac. " My mind begins to feel numb.

"Take it", Raj says.

I come back to the reality. He is pointing towards something. I look there with alarm. But I don't see a panther.

"What is it ?"

"The stick". I find a thin bamboo, lying on the rocks. I pick this up as my weapon. This souvenir is still with me.

We cross the stream at 4 more positions but we do not go forward. But eventually, this happens. We reach to an open space. The time shows 10:45.


After I feel we have reached a relatively safe position, I motion to Raj, "Take me a picture"

And I take a picture of his.


I feel the iPod in my right pocket. I plug the phones in and turn the music on.

It is a tune that I know but which I do not recollect. "Motorcycle Driver" by Joe Satriani. This will remain with me to the end of my life.


However the best part of my trip is not this. It is the feeling that stayed throughout. The feeling at night - where I think, where I think about myself. About my weaknesses. About my fears. The feeling of being alone.

O w l (55 words)

"Ouch", Diya screamed. The owl glared at her, camouflaged under the soiled clothes that dotted the place.

"Sorry", smiled Maya, standing beautiful, in violent contrast to her room.

"He is usually harmless, but not today"

"Why ?"

"On the day I have sex here, I keep him starved"

"..Did it ever .. ", Diya stopped wide-eyed, " Bitch !"

W i n d b e n d e r

Upolu Island, Western Samoa

An old withered man is seated on a small wooden platform. A young man stands facing him with his arms folded.

The old man has a striking face. His skin is crumpled into millions of folds and crevices. But out of this sparkled a fountain of warmth and liveliness.

"You are now proficient. My congratulations to you. Not many have passed through this stage."

"Thank you, master."

"Do you remember the most important rule ?"

"Yes master. The rule of Savili, about the wind. Never get in its way."

The young man is now one of the Manalauleo, an ancient clan of wind benders.

The old man continues, "Remember, inspite of all that you have learnt, the key to this art is not the postures of the hand. It is the breath, the Manava."

"Yes master"

"The Manava is the key for Manalauvili " The old man then raises his hand and keeps it on the young man's chest. His shriveled skin trembles.

He feels the breath of the young man.

" No, you will not die." The young man feels a chill running through his spine.

"I trust you have told me nothing but the truth."

The young man is a computer programmer. His name is Carl. He is stationed in Samoa on his work for United Prospects Inc., an insurance company which specializes on natural hazards such as floods and earthquakes. Carl's work there deals with the simulation of storm patterns in the Pacific.

"Yes Master."

He says and bends his knees down till they lie horizontal and facing opposite to each other. "My name is Carl. I have learnt this art for the sole reason of self preservation."

"Good. I shall ask you a final question before you leave."

"Yes master."

"What is your most dangerous enemy ? Is it the rain, is it the earth or is it the wind ?"

"No master. It is none of them. It is the thunderbolt. "

"No son. It is not the thunderbolt. It is none of them." He keeps his shrivelled hand onto the temple of the young man.

"It is you."


37.2 N 95.6 W, Kansas

"Carl... Are you there ? I don't hear you."

"Yeah. I am on the way. I will be home soon."

"Take care. I am worried about you. You are riding right on the edge of the storm. Is your radar alright ? "

"Yeah. Don't worry Jess ! I'll be allright."

The signal gets garbled due to electrical interference.

"Tune for the weather reports. Watch out.."

".. .!@#$!@%^^^^^^^^^^^^^" But the signal deteriorates and finally snaps down.

Jess is a colleague and a friend of Carl's. A meteriologist by profession, he has reason to be doubly anxious about the new hobby of his friend's - storm chasing.

He wished he is accompanying Carl in his pursuit. Weather patterns on the Tornado Alley are his speciality. He would have been a great help for him. Moreover, he is not sure if Carl has understood the nitpicks of operating the radar.

Jess prays his friend keeps sufficiently distant from the eye of the storm.

"Nobody gets to photograph the funnel for the first time. Save your skin or you will not get to make the second attempt".

But, as it happens, Jess possesses a slightly warped picture of reality, dangerously so !

Carl does not possess a radar. Neither does he possess a camera. In fact, he is not traveling by his car. He is riding on a bicycle !

It is extremely dark outside, not withstanding the fact it is just 2:00 in the afternoon. A spiral of dark clouds are circling in the sky with a radius of 20 miles.

Carl leaves his bicycle and starts running into the open. It is a vast meadow of grassland. There are no trees for miles around. There are no signs of human civilization, the last buildings that have been sighted were 15 miles away.

There are no signs of animals or birds either. A cold silence permeates the atmosphere, resembling that of a grand opera hall before a performance. Moles, rabbits and the last of the ground dwellers are now deep inside their burrows, waiting in anticipation.

But there is the presence of something. Something beyond life. Something unearthly. The presence is strong. Something which burns with fire. Something which sounds with the wind. Something which never dies.

Carl rips his shirt open. He takes a curiously shaped white shaft into his hands. It is a long wooden shaft - sparkling white and shaped into a perfect helix, and tapering into the sides. He holds the shaft with both his hands. He closes his eyes and suspends his breath for one long minute. Listening.

There are still no visible signs of the winds. However tiny flakes of grass are suspended in mid air. They wobble randomly due to electrical fields.

Carl opens his eyes and looks into the far beyond. He hears a distinct roar in the distance - the roar of a wild panther.

At that moment, a sudden gust of wind appears out of nowhere. In a rapid motion, it spirals from the distant ground and reaches towards the sky. The storm has now started. Carl then observes it as it slowly crawls towards him.

A bullet of light strikes him on the face. It is a lightning. In a quick motion, he deflects his face sidewards. At the same instant, a monstrous report of thunder occurs. In the midst of its reverberation, Carl hears it again - the distinct growl of a panther.

Pellets of wind dart forward, raising his hair backwards like a wild fire. He moves his muscles in quick response.

An eerie glow of redness now sorrounds the horizon. The storm clouds emerge from this redness and burst forth onto the zenith of the sky.

Carl's ears stand upright, listening to the distant sounds. His eyes are alert, keenly observing changes in the reflection of light. And suddenly, he moves the shaft - bending the wind as it gushes onto him.

"Never get in its way". The voice rings in his ears.

Another thunder. The heavens reverberate monstrously. His eyes suddenly glow in a brilliant blue light.

Black clouds dash violently into the space, their shadows running wildly on the ground. But the windbender moves quickly. The wind leaps behind.

Rain keeps oscillating with the wind and strikes him with a vengeance. But he points the edge of the shaft at this flow, and then splits it. A slow battle then begins, where the eyes have to do the thinking.

He hears the whisper of his master. " Listen to your mind ".

A distinct circle is now visible in the sky. It is a bright moon, but glowing in red, like blood. Sorrounded by pitch dark clouds, it rapidly swirls around him - breathing fire and wind onto him.

" Listen to your mind "

Out of nowhere, he then sees a waterfall. It is an enormous cascade - leaping in front of him. He is standing near the tip of the fall. Deep down in the distance, he faintly hears a sound. The sound of a splash - as the water hits onto the ground. Carl jumps forward.

And he falls.

Gravity suddenly ceases to exert on him. He sees the water leaping towards him, but they both fall down together, into an unending abyss.

Wind continues to ravage him. But his eyes do not have to see and his mind does not have to think. Each fiber of his skin is alive and listening. His shaft does the thinking - and each muscle of his body deflects at its command.

Carl feels a hot breath at the back of his neck. Very closely, he hears the whimpering of a dog. He can feel the hot air from its muzzle. The breath now touches the tips of his earlobes. But he cannot see the dog. He sprains his head sidewards. It is now licking his ears with its tongue. He cannot see it.

But then the waterfall falls over him and envelopes him completely.

It is then that he sees the panther. Through the violent red skies, it is peering down on him - the skull of an enormous panther. The tips of its fangs are touching down his head. And above these fangs, he meets its stare. The cold stare, coming out of its shining eyes.

He is paralyzed by the stare. He cannot see the panther any longer. All he sees are its eyes. They follow him everywhere. And they envelope his own sight. In them, he sees the entire world reflected - in its redness. He cannot see except for this reflection.

He realizes.

The panther is him.

The storm abates.

"No. You will not die." He hears the words. He feels the shrivelled hand of his master on his chest.

The entire area now looks like a landscape from an alien planet. The ground is no longer covered with grass. It is brown in its nakedness. A clear blue sky dazzles above.

And then, he feels the cool breeze, stroking his face gently. Slowly, he hears the noises of birds.

Then he sees a motor car on the road. It is a deep blue colored Sedan. It is Jess.

Jess has tracked Carl to his mobile phone. And noticed with alarm that he was stationed right in the heart of the storm.

Immediately, he has jumped into his car and rushed to the spot. He has tracked Carl's car but he has not found him. He resumed the track of the mobile phone on GPS. And he has finally found it on the side of the road - strapped onto a bicycle. But again, he has found no trace of Carl. He has found no trace of any human being in this area for fifteen miles.

But finally, he finds a shirtless man in the middle of a field. He slows down his car.

The man has a striking face. It is extremely old, and crumpled into a million folds and crevices. But there is a fountain of warmth and light sparkling out of it. More curious than his face is his walking stick. The stick is a white shaft, shaped perfectly like a helix.

"Hey old dad ! Did you spot a young man here around ? His name is Carl. He has been caught up in the storm"

Carl looks at Jess. He smiles.

"No son. I have not found anyone here. No one would have survived in a storm this big. Poor luck !"