Amitabh

I was introduced to him on a hot afternoon in '92 watching Khuda Gawah at Dadar's Plaza Cinema.  Even though Amitabh first started making family-friendly movies (Anand & Bombay to Goa), he really touched a nerve as the Angry Young Man - faced with poverty and crime often in a broken family (Deewar & Zanjeer).  From those heights, Khuda Gawah, was hardly his best moment.

India too was having a mid-life crisis in the late 80s and early 90s.  The inflation and emergency in the 70s had given way to stagnation.  Politics was marred with corruption and communalism.  The same Plaza Cinema was destroyed in a series of blasts within a few months of my outing.  India had opened up its economy just a year earlier and the IT boom was just getting started; both trends globalizing India quickly in the following years.

My mind plays his deep baritone voice when narrating the story of India.  No one contextualized the subsequent changes India went through as well as he did

• ABCL grew too fast too quickly; but still paid his debts his full. 
• As TV channels went from 2 to 200, he became the country's top TV host at KBC; but still deferred to the 'Computer-Ji'.  
• He was one of the first to associate with Gujarat government (led by a then pariah Modi). 
• He is the most prolific social media star; but tweets in Hindi more often than not.  
• He owned(?) the first mobile phone in the country but still played a rural postman.

<insert वो खाकी की वर्दी वो चिट्ठी का थैला ad>

Amitabh carried India's conscious through these changes. 

So it was with much concern to learn that Amitabh, now 77, tested positive for Corona.  ~40 years after the nation prayed hard for him to recover, we are joining together again in sincerely wishing he fights COVID and recovers.  His successful recovery will buoy the morale of lakhs currently diagnosed with it.  His is the voice we need!!

Old lands; New Friends

I feel a tinge of sadness when realizing that I only have a handful of new 'friends' even after being in the US for 7 years. The recent #BLM movement as well as (overdue) discussion on diversity and inclusion has really driven the point home.
A big part of the reason was context and setup —

• I had numerous close friends in the NY - DC belt when I first moved to the US.  This was undoubtedly fortunate; and better to the alternative of not having friends by a mile.
• Even after Wharton, I moved to the Bay Area which is more diverse than the rest of the US but also granted me a zone of comfort.
• Having family in the Bay Area meant I inherited my brother's friends.  Again, a good thing.

However, I could have done more to get to know a more diverse group of people. 

Building friendships is a two way street of give & take; of lowering-your-defenses & being-open-to-changing-your-beliefs.  It requires you to intentionally leave your comfort zone and take risks, be vulnerable and be patient about the results. 
I had the best success when I was left with little choice ;-)
a. On a Wharton development venture trip sailing around Grenada; I bonded with my shipmates.  And even though I have hardly stayed in touch with them since, for a week I didn't have any pretense and built genuine relationships
b. Working at Fundbox, over the years I made friends with the team by being consistent, reliable and patient for months. 
Starting Prodigal has not really afforded that opportunity.  I am largely socially distant from the team long before the pandemic :) and its hard to lower your guard as a CEO. 
As H2 2020 begins, that will be my #1 goal for the remainder of the year. Here is what I will do

1. Each week ping one person who I have had good conversations in the past
2. Learn about what they have been upto; be curious about what is up in their lives; identify common ground
3. Schedule 5min calls. Folks are busy but see if you find a connection; if there is more to talk about or you can help each other!

Brickbats and bouquets

In response to whatiswrongwith.me/gangal I have received the following - posting them unedited.

• kiti goshti sangu ani kiti vela sangu?!


• tumhi faarach bekaar maanoos aahaat


• hi


• Dude, why do you need this?!


• Just keep communicating more about everything good bad fear failure success.


• Your a GULT ;)


• you have been a great mentor in college. we still discuss your studness in our friend circles. One thing however, I felt is that you do not give negative feedback too easily. If the other person is able to perceive this, then that leads to some distancing.. I dont know if you can change this, or whether changing this would be good, but was an opinion I had.


• Speaking in mythological terms...your state is similar to that of Hanuman when he was a kid, irresistible strength but doesn't realise it.....someone needs to make you realize that. Or you can do it by yourself...wander...wander off and come to face with it.
  That is your problem, the lack of knowledge about self and as Sun Tzu has said...one who doesn't know his own power is bound to lose the war.


• The thing is you are extremely good .. so much of awesomeness is not possible and cannot be faced by all. you need to turn it down a bit :)


• You are not fluffy anymore. Playing with your tummy isn't that much fun now :(


• u nvr said the correct things,,else today would have been so diffrnt for us


• Why do you need feedback ?


• lolfag


• Allah hates you!


• You are arrogant


• It is surprising that you would rate public opinion higher than your own sense of right and wrong . Why did you need to make this page?


• Non-committal behaviour.


• Flirting is a great skill, however its a double edged sword...beware of the sword falling on you


• well you disappear from my life at regular intervals and I hate it. Really. Also, life was much simpler in school.

Throw a Shoe

http://whatiswrongwith.me

1. Strongly invite feedback
2. Anonymity drives a different behavior. :-)

Views

Life has been a bit less hectic, the past few weeks which get me here. Won't stay long but will share a few quick thoughts!

1. ET went to B-school to ask people what they thought of women possibly losing their tax benefit. Aren't B-schools the last place where one should be wondering about this? Clearly, tax breaks aren't for women who earn 7-figure salaries.
2. However, learnt that 2001 census classified housewives in the same bracket as prostitutes / beggars. Nothing could be more appalling! Hope they correct it this time around (though I wonder how they could prostitutes [the normal ones, who are forced into the trade] in the same category as beggars in the first place)
3. I might be having the best non-corner room view in Mumbai! Can't count my blessings enough each time I see the rain in the distance (and clear foreground) and count seconds before the rain hits coast.

Celebrate the celebrated!

Over the weekend I heard more than a couple of graduating students complain of being short changed by IIT Bombay in getting a not-so-famous, only-a-professor as their Chief Guest!

Random thoughts:
a. Indians swell in pride while celebrating those who have already been celebrated, esp. if celebrated by foreigners

b. Lets face it - We would have had the identical comments if Vinay D was the Chief Guest (of course, before his now widespread fame)

c. Surprisingly not only the students but also IIT B seems ashamed of the Chief Guests name. The official release highlights Kiran Shaw but has no mention of this Prof.

d. On a similar note, the selective amnesia surrounding the award of Khel Ratna is disturbing. All kudos to Saina Nehwal but Gagan Narang has been at the very pinnacle of the game for a few years now.

Friends forever...

Reasons why I still watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S. whenever its showing :-)

1. The NY attraction
2. Because ppl. eat, drink coffee and sit around but don't put on any weight!
3. Rachel looks hot from Season 1 thru 10!
4. The jokes bring a smile to my face each time
5. But most importantly, it takes my back to H3#268 - the Maggi, the Coffee, the Pure Magic!

Ground-shattering revealations!

1. April 13 : Cleric puts forth an hypothesis on the origin on earthquakes.

2. April 26 : Women in universities across US, Canada expose data in an attempt to scientifically disprove the above.

3. April 27: A 6.5 earthquake strikes Taiwan.

One conclusion from the above sequence of events :
The rest of Asia gets hurt whenever an Islamic fundamentalist offends US.

Let me know if you can think of any others ;-)

Epic takeaways

कई साल पुरानी बात है !

... around the time when Pandavas were about. Given the peculiar situation they found themselves in, Pandavas (smart that they were) devised a method to signal when they wanted private time with the lovely Draupadi.

Each time a Pandava found her alone, they escorted her to the royal chambers leaving their footwear at the door. Lets just say, two pair of footwear were the ancient equivalent of a DND.

So it was one of these days when the sharp Arjun bid his time with the Draupadi. Following a filling lunch, Arjun & Draupadi sought higher levels of Maslowian comforts. However, a dog suffering from the very basic hunger pangs, decided that leather, kept outside a room full of passion is no good. He instead took it as a things to chew on & draged a pair to another corner of the palace.

On this afternoon, Yudhisthir too hurriedly got done with his flies files & rushed to the royal adobe. Seeing the lone footwear, he rushed right upto the bedside. Much to his dismay not only did he see the bed occupied but also more than he would have liked. In anger he stormed out & invoked a family meeting to discuss this break in protocol. It was soon revealed that dog had been the one to hide the hide.

At this vital juncture, Yudhisthir invoked another of his celestial favors. The dog knows only public display of affection since!

Take-away: If you are a dog, don't even look at royal designs. Theres no respite from doggy style puns!

Networks Takeaway: An encrypted signal without integrity can lay your privates bare.

[Note: The author, thats me, has found no reference to this story. However, the oral narration he heard was so convincing that he generally believes it to be true]

The Year That Was!

In the end - it was a good year.
And the nostalgia caught up with me; as IIT Bombay placements happened 2000 kms away & I re had vivid recollection of the entire 365 days.

01/12/08: Got placed!
24/12/08: Married my brother off :D
09/01/09: CAT results
08/03/09: Memorable Goa Trip
09/04/09: IIM Calls
1stWeek/04/09: Org Citation + Hostel Cult Citation
April-May 09: DDP
25/06/09: Finally, AA in DDP. Ended a 9 Pointer :->
05/08/09: Convocation
27/09/09: Diveagar trip
16/11/09: KL Trip

Spl. thanks to DDP Stipend
Memorable tribute: Nipun's Car

मुंबई मार्केट - Marathi votes at discounted prices*

After a week in KL, I switch on the National TV & following are the successive ticker reads:

1. BSE to launch their website in Marathi as well.
   
2. Congress CM Ashok Chavan wants more railway recruitment for locals
3. NCP demands a train to be named after Marathi icon Sachin Tendulkar

The Marathi man residing in decrepit buildings in Vikhroli, Dahisar, Virar and Badlapur hasn't felt this important ever!!
And between them they span the entire spectrum of aspirations from working as a laborer in the Indian Railways to having pockets, deep enough for the money to spill-over to the markets.

*: Offer valid till another party stakes claim

Vote-it-eez?

It seems come elections and I get a sudden urge to blog :)

Some preliminary observations on Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections.

1. Hansel D'Souza contested elections as citizens' candidate.
While things would have been better had he won - he nonetheless got 10000 votes. The results have to be seen in the right perspective.
Convincing 10000 of your merit without a personality or party backing is tough. Most other candidates who win elections as independents - are local goons or like.
This should give a fillip to all who wish to contest from urban middle class pockets in BMC, TMC, PMC elections in a few years' time.

A1. Dr. Mona Shah / Meera Sanyal finished 5th & 4th respectively in Mumbai South constituency in LS '09
A2. Dr Vidyadhar Laxman Joshi - a 'true' PhD - polled 12000 odd votes. Finished 5th.

In conclusion, a sizable candidates who don't get media coverage but are good are sought out and voted for. :)

2. A not-to-be-missed trend this election - is MNS stepping out of also-ran shoes esp. in Mumbai city. MNS gets more seats than SHS, BJP, NCP to finish as the second largest representation from the city.

It has 23% of Mumbai vote share - second only to 28% of the INC. It has replaced SHS as the main alternative to Congress in the city.

My first estimate is that - it returns better figures in Nashik, Pune, Thane.

Probability

This is a solution to a problem posed in Probability by Salim Dewani (H#3 02-06), mainly because blogspot comments don't allow insertion of images.

[I shall hope to post something interesting soon. In the meantime, I wrote something.]

If you have had your try, I present a solution.

Consider a rectangle with the horizontal axis representing the time the dad leaves work and the vertical axis the time you leave home. Each point in the rectangle has an equi-probability of occurring. The points in the rightmost region represent starting times of the duo in which they can't meet Similarly in the left most triangle, the father has crossed D before the son, hence the path chosen after D doesn't matter.

Net probability = 0.5(Fraction of area covered by leftmost triangle - ADEFC route)
                                   + 0.5(Fraction of area covered by the leftmost triangle and the middle area - ADGFC route)
                                   = 0.5(32/300) + 0.5(210/300)
                                   = 342/600 = 0.57

[It feels so nice to be doing maths :) ]

1. An eyelash landed right in front of me and for the first time in my stay at IIT, I didn't know what to wish for.

2. Absence of short-term goals makes one acutely aware that you never had any long-term ones as well.

3. I hate rationalizing. It takes the sharp bite of emotions away and how-much-so-ever you nibble, you feel emotionally hungry.

4. Haven't had a near-death experience, but before graduating I have my entire 5 years flashing before my eyes - in exquisite detail. The detail amazes me. Its like I knew this day would come - when my sins / mistakes would have to be accounted for.

All of 22

As someone born in 1986, most of my family / society values were put in place by the time I was 10. (While these values will always be in a state of theoretical flux,) the concrete had set before waves of multi-cultural learnings lapped the Indian shores.

As a result on a host of issues, I find my innate values and new age wisdom to be clashing with one another. Do I believe in the virtues of liberal, rational and (seemingly) Utopian rule set that may fail in the future? Or do I persist with (possibly?) archaic, conservative values that will keep me safe in the past?

A boy has his first quarter-life crisis!

Branching Out!

Below is a mail my brother wrote out to a freshie-to-be. I found it extremely well balanced and (5 yrs after counseling) made me realize that this is what the profs. were trying to tell me back then.
[Produced verbatim, without his permission :P]
----------------------------
Some ground rules that one should know before you make this decision:

- JEE AIR is just a number. It just says how better you are over someone else to solve some types of problems that appear in the JEE exam. Many people in IIT have that intellect. Many. And that is irrespective of what their JEE ranks are. There are some (many) utterly dumb people crowding the double-digit ranks.. and there are some brilliant people inter spread in the lower ranks.. even 1000+
- The "stardom" that you get with your JEE rank either single digit or double digit will last you well till the end of the first semester and will vanish completely by the end of the first year. A completely new magic number called "CPI" takes over and it decides the amount of respect (a.k.a. 'bhaav') you will receive amongst your IIT peers. At that point, AIR and department become inconsequential.
- The intelligence required to succeed in IIT (and beyond) in the true way is much different than that is required to succeed as a student. (more on this later)

Conclusion: Try not to confuse your AIR with department just because everyone else is doing so.


Q1: What IIT Engineering Branch to select?

1) Follow your gut approach:

All wise people say this. And in many ways I can see how they are right. All engineering fields and sciences are quite similar at the core. Either people invent or they discover. But "the process" and "the media" is what makes some people click in some field over other. To truly succeed in any field (be in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, Aerospace, Civil or Metallurgy) one requires the same qualities - hard work, understanding of the fundamentals, patience and passion to pursuit challenging problems.

Everyone has some ideas in mind about what one wants to do in life. A good strategy is to look at all these departments w/o bias and select one that will get the best in you. (By bias, I mean "what fields others are chosing","Where is the latest trend?", "What is most paying" etc). I will explain all the departments in short and explain with examples how some people have made the best of the opportunities in their specific fields and how so many others have "wasted" their chances.

Moral of the story: If you chose something that you like, you will likely innovate and thus excel and shine irrespective of what the rest 50 in your class are doing. If you are passionate enough, there is a treasure everywhere in IIT. 95% of your batch mates will not mine it. But you can - if you want to!

Metallurgy: For some reasons, this department closes the last. 95% of the people are disenchanted and are more eager to get out of IIT even before they get in. However, there are exceptions. Every year about 5-6 of these Metallurgy students do stellar work. In Materials, Plastics, Silicons, and in so many technological items of day to day use. I have some friends who are in Stanford and are working on SUPER-EXCITING problems. Their work also affects Genetics - a field that might be the next HOT thing. So essentially, people who have made the best of the opportunities are doing exceedingly well. People who did not study at all in 4-5 years have left Metallurgy. Unfortunately 95% of the batch is such. The reason is that there are no "regular" jobs in this field. Either there are 5-6 PhD positions in top US universities or nothing! So the reason why this department lags in "AIR ranking" is because of lack of regular "MUNDANE DAY-to-DAY jobs". Ironically, most of the people from this department are pursuing "MUCH MORE BORING" and "MUNDANE" jobs in Software and IT.

Civil: You know what Civil engineers do. A couple of my colleagues have started construction contracts. May be earning in crores. Some of them have joined large construction firms and are managing huge business. Again almost 90% of IIT students who didn't chose to make the best of this opportunity are either doing mundane but well paying jobs in IT, Software or Finance.

Aerospace: This department has let down many of my friends though. Despite lack of jobs in this department, many students join this with high ranks too, because of the glamour of airspace. Again, lack of regular stock jobs. Hence almost 80% people are dis-interested from day 1. Some people have got disappointed with DRDO and ISRO in the past. Haven't heard many people doing PhDs, probably that is because US doesn't encourage Indians in this field (?)

Mechanical: Many mechanical people remain in Mechanical Engineering. There are many jobs in India too. This field is of course pretty exciting too. Involves a lot of physical hard-work as most of the people work in Car Manufacturing units and other factories.
Characteristics:
- Huge opportunities for people who want to make it. Esp. in the field of Robotics, Autos and even Aerospace.
- Starting salaries are low (but there is a huge potential if you prove yourself)
- As a mechanical engineer (even from IIT) you are likely to join at the bottom of the pyramid. This is because most of the companies in this field are old and orthrodox. (This is different to what happens in IT, CS, Finance or business). However, a good candidate is likely to grow very fast and manage HUGE responsibilities at a young age. Something that his/her colleagues in CS, Finance can't even imagine. A friend of mine who did his MS from UT Austin is managing a complete product end-to-end of his company (something related to robotics).
- Another friend did a PhD from Stanford and works on a close start-up in Bangalore. Very intelligent fellow. Says the work is pretty exciting. I can get you in touch with him.
- Another friend has started his own robotics company and is helping set up some Birla plant. (I am unsure of the details).

Moral of the story: Difficult for all the class to succeed, but some dedicated folks have done much better than even most of the CS batchmates

Electrical Engineering: Much more jobs, huge opportunities everywhere. Communications technology is still booming and will continue to do so for a while, I guess. Microelectronics will never exhaust. The machine is getting faster and faster and smaller and smaller. Many people remain Electrical Engineers. Good jobs and exciting start-up and research opportunities.

Computer Hardware Engineering: Strong Industry. Many jobs.
Computer Software Engineering: Strong industry and likely to remain so. Abundant jobs. And the Boom is still continuing. Look at Facebook, Twitter. and I am sure there will be something else.
Computer Science: Computer Science is the mathematics/science behind computers. When I took up CS, I was only partially aware of how exciting this was. Very theoretical and conceptual. Less practical and difficult to see the immediate impact of these theories. I was lucky to be in this department and I loved it.

So on one hand, you have so many people who have done brilliant things in all fields and on the other hand there are many people who have not made use of their Computer Science & Engineering education too (although it is supposedly so sought-after).

So PLEASE think what you would LIKE to do.... more than what opportunities are available.

2) Follow the people approach: For many people and most of the times, this approach makes sense. People know what thing is good on an average and they are good at predicting it. There is absolutely no doubt that the % jobs are in exact order of the AIR based rankings that departments get. Eg. There are abundant Computer Engineering jobs, there are many Electrical Engg. Jobs. There are fairly large Mechanical engg. Jobs and there are dwindling Civil, Chemical, Metallurgy jobs.

This is the reason why most of the people from Civil, Meta, Chemical want their IIT degree as a stamp and then get out into consulting or management or finance. For most of them, their IIT education is a waste.

Due to this, one merit in following the AIR based department choice is that if you chose a department what is well sought after, you are likely to be surrounded by more number of sincere and motivated people. Eg. Whereas almost 20-25 people in my Computer Science class were really good, only about 3-5 people in Civil, Meta, Chemical will be really interested in their fields of engineering.

But trust me: Everyone who was motivated enough, is doing very well.

Q2: IIT education: A General Bachelor of Business Administration OR an Engineering Degree

Today most of the IITans, are not doing engineering at all. They are either into consulting or finance or other forms of general management. They either go straight to IIMs or spend couple of years and do an MBA either IIM or International.

The best and the brightest of the lot who pursue this option also have excellent academic record and either a PhD offer from US univ or a good Job in their respective fields (Civil, Meta, etc). However, you will find that this route is occasionally followed by everyone to 'wipe out' the years spent away at IIT.

Anyways, for this reason it is good that you are chosing IIT Bombay. IITB and IITD give more wholesome education than any other IITs.

Q3: 4 yrs B.Tech or 5 years Dual Degree
Some facts to dispel certain Dual Degree conceptions:
1) Will I not be an IIT B.Tech?
- Of Course. You have 2 separate degrees. B.Tech and M.Tech. The B.Tech degree is "the same" in all forms and features to the B.Tech degree that a 4-yr student gets
2) Are Dual Degree students treated differently at the campus?
- This might have been a valid question 10 years ago. Today, with 60% of the students as Dual Degree students, the question is moot. The Dual Degree students are only clubbed together with Roll-Number. Rest everything is same at least for the first 3 years. Same courses, same instructors, same grading scale. Occasionally these days, it is the Dual Degree student who is the class topper despite his/her "low AIR rank"

Con: The only negative of the Dual degree is that you will graduate 1 year later than everyone else. So suppose, you plan to do IIM straight out of IIT or you want to do anything other than engineering straight out of IIT, then you are better off doing 4 yrs. instead of 5 yrs.

Pros:
- You get to spend one more year at IIT and make use of the Dual Degree program to learn more about your specific field of interest.
- Much more course flexibility offered. You can tailor your degree to your requirements. Eg. I specialized in Computer Science Theory. A Electrical Engineering friend of mine was interested in Physics. He used his last 2 years to do dedicated research in Physics despite being from EE. Now he is doing his PhD from Berkeley in Physics!
- 2 year Dual Degree project instead of a rushed 8 month B.Tech Project. B.Tech project gives you 8 months to work on something. Dual degree project however, is designed so that the student can explore, research and innovate in 2 years with complete attention of the faculty.
- I am not trying to market this program :D but during my Dual Degree Project, I have seen my guide move aside other students waiting in queue to meet him, so that I could meet him! Most Dual Degree students enjoyed this privilege.

If one is not in a hurry to graduate (or pay off loans or start earning) AND one wants to really give justice to the science/engineering aspect of the IIT education, I would strongly recommend the Dual Degree program.

On GDP:

.. does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our courage, nor our wisdom, not our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans

-- Robert Kennedy                   

on the campaign trail in '68.

Yet four decades later, it continues to be the most watched number each quarter.

MNS!

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I did some number crunching to try and figure out the MNS effect.
MNS put up a candidate in 11 constituencies - 6 in Bombay District, 3 in Thane District (Thane, Kalyan, Bhivandi) and one each in Pune and Nashik. Other than the Kalyan PC, the NDA (SHS+BJP) couldn't manage any other seat - a fact obviously attributed to the fact that Raj Thackrey had some issues with his cousin.
Some numbers are shown below:


Quick Observations:
The NDA was massively affected in the PCs in which MNS contested.
MNS contested 11. Won 0. Second in 2. Third in 9.
SHS contested 06. Won 1. Second in 3. Third in 2.
BJP contested 05. Won 0. Second in 5.

The margins of defeat for Kirit Somaiya (Mum NE) and Ram Naik (Mum N) [both BJP] were heart wrenching. Infact, in 7 of the 10 seats the NDA lost, the margin of defeat was less than the votes polled for MNS. (Combined voteshare is the 2nd last column). Hence the following questions arise:
Q1. Did the MNS solely eat from the Sena BJP vote bank?
Q2. Would the absence of the MNS candidate have resulted in NDA taking these 7 seats?
Q3. How did the MNS become such a force to reckon with? Is its Son of the Soil movement find takers across the urban landscape?

Fact: In the Municipal Elections in Mumbai, Thane and Pune about an year back MNS showed no dent in the Sena votes. All wards together about 400k votes went the MNS way in BMC polls '08. However this election MNS managed 800k votes in the 6 Mumbai Seats.

Fact: The semi-urban seats of Palghar, Maval, Raigad, Baramati, Shirur and Shirdi (seen above) in the Mumbai-Pune-Nashik triangle, where the MNS had no candidate - were dominated by NDA. (Other than the fiefdom of Baramati, ALL the other 5 were bagged by Sena + 1 Indp)

Q4. Raj Thackrey claims Sena should be satisfied that he didn't have candidates in other parts of the state, else a similar fate awaited them. How true would this claim be?

Remarks:
1. There is little to substitute good work. Priya Dutt, Milind Deora and Eknath Gaikwad were known to have worked well. They romped home clear - MNS or no MNS.
South Mumbai (Lalbaug, Parel, Dadar, Matunga - all supposed Sena / MNS strangleholds - lie in their domain. Though Assembly wise splits aren't available yet, I suspect each Assembly seat has to be favorable to win by wide margins.)

2. I defined a rough metric for a good candidate. I prefer a

• Younger Candidate,
• A more educated candidate and
• One with less Criminal Cases against him.

These were chosen since they were easily available on the affidavits submitted by the candidates. Of the UPA, NDA and MNS candidates the one scoring highest on any metric got 2, the second got 1 and the last one got 0. The net scores (out of a maximum of 6 and sum of 9) are seen in the last column of the above table.

An interesting observation is seen:
In 10 of the 11 constituencies, MNS candidate were atleast as good as the NDA one. In 6 cases the difference was significant (2 or more). Again, in 6 seats the MNS candidate fared better than even the UPA candidate - on this metric.
A lot of people around me voted MNS looking at the individuals.

Raj's choice of candidates, IMO, was a significant reason for votes going to MNS way. Explains the meteoric rise of MNS from the BMC elections an year ago - where Sena and MNS had similar candidates.

3. Although I don't have handy data to prove this, I have a hunch that the NDA + MNS vote share this election is significantly higher than the NDA share in the last election. Which means that people came to the MNS fold from places other than the NDA. Given that, both SP and BSP had a poorer showing in Mah. this time around, it would seem that those votes would fall to UPA. They mostly did - but maybe some voted MNS.

My Conclusion:

• It was a smart choice of candidates that helped Raj more than anything else. Sena giving tickets to equally notorious fellas didn't help them. Both could learn a lesson.
• In atleast 3 places though UPA vote share is far less than their wins reflect. Given that UPA otherwise crumbled in the Pune Nashik Mumbai triangle, they should thank their stars.

Fix-it!

Did ToI know something that Lalit Modi didn't want us to know?!
The time stamp says - 3 Hrs ago, when the match ended some 20 mins back :P :P

But Mumbai Indians lost again :(

Train Spotting

Hey all,

For the past 15 days, we have been trying to get our coding skills polished and shining before we possibly put them away for some time.

The idea is to map the trains in India every minute for an entire day and watch the video :D
A sneak peak video can be found at:


However, we never realized how intricate the railways network in the country was until this threw up locations that Google couldn't locate or wrongly located. In order to improve the video, we require 5 minutes of your time:
1. Here you'll find the trains that have behave erratically (due to a mistake in the raw data) and the corresponding approximate times at which they do so.
2. Pick some random entry that you want to correct.
3. Go here and enter the train number of the corresponding train. A train schedule shows up.
[If it throws an error, blame the government website and try again in a few hrs! Thanks already!!]
4. The train will be between some two stations at that time (Step 1, 2). The data of one of the stations is most likely to be wrong.
5. Open Google Maps. Use common sense and basic knowledge of India's geography to locate the Latitude and Longitude of the stations. This spreadsheet will guide you to current values of the co-ordinates.
(A -1 in the spreadsheet indicates data currently unavailable).
6. In case, you locate an error in the 2nd spreadsheet values of Latitude or Longitude - do kindly mail me at shantanugangal at gmail.

I really hope that this cooperative effort will help us quickly get our data sanitised. You have no idea how thankful I would be, since checking all the error prone entries is tough for a single guy :D

Example:
1, 2. I want to fix the fifth row -- 1007    10    20
3, 4. Train is between Talegaon Station and Khadki Station, at 10h20 for the Train number 1007.
5. The co-ordinates of Khadki (19.88, 75.32) in the second spreadsheet are wrong because they are hardly near the train way from Lonavala to Pune.
6. The correct co-ordinates of Khadki are (18.566527,73.84203). Do mail me such errors in the 2nd spreadsheet.