ശബരിമല

ഇവിടെ തമിഴ്നാട്ടിൽ എന്റെ വീടിന്റെ അടുത്ത് ഒരു ക്ഷേത്രമുണ്ട്. മതങ്ങളിൽ ഒന്നും വലിയ വിശ്വാസമില്ലാത്തതുകൊണ്ടു ഞാൻ ഇത് വരെ അവിടെ പോയിട്ടില്ല. അവിടെ എന്താണ് പ്രതിഷ്ഠ എന്ന് പോലും എനിക്ക് അറിയില്ല. മണ്ഡലകാലമായാൽ അവിടെ നിന്നും അയ്യപ്പ കീർത്തനങ്ങളും,  ഭക്തി ഗാനങ്ങളും കേൾക്കാം. മാലയിട്ട സ്വാമിമാർ എന്നും അവിടെ ഒരുമിച്ചു വന്നിരുന്നു അതിലൊക്കെ പങ്കെടുക്കും. അവരെല്ലാവരും വളരെ ചിട്ടയോടെയാണ് 41 ദിവസം വൃതം എടുത്തു മലകയറുന്നത്. സുപ്രീം കോടതി വിധി നടപ്പാക്കുന്നതിൽ മനസുകൊണ്ട് വേദനിക്കുന്നത് ഈ ഒരു കൂട്ടർ മാത്രമായിരിക്കും.
ഇതുവരെ അവിടെക്കയറാൻ ശ്രമിച്ച സ്ത്രീകൾ ഭക്തി കൊണ്ടാണ് അങ്ങോട്ട് പോയത് എന്ന് എനിക്ക്തോന്നിയിട്ടില്ല.  ഈ വിധി വരുന്നതിനു മുൻപ്, ശബരിമലയിൽ കയറാൻ പറ്റുന്നില്ലല്ലോ എന്ന് ഒരു യഥാർത്ഥ ഭക്തയും വിചാരിച്ചു കാണില്ല, വിഷമിച്ചു കാണില്ല. അവർക്കറിയാം ആചാരങ്ങളെ ബഹുമാനിക്കേണ്ടതിനെ പറ്റി.
വിശ്വാസങ്ങളിൽ മുറുകെപ്പിടിച്ചു ഒരു വിഭാഗം ഭക്തരും സ്ത്രീ സമത്വത്തിനു വേണ്ടി വാദിക്കുന്ന ഒരു വിഭാഗവുമാണ് ഇതിൽ ഉൾപ്പെടുന്നവർ. സ്ത്രീകൾ ശബരിമലയിൽ കയറുന്നതു കൊണ്ട് വ്യക്തിപരമായി എനിക്ക് ഒരു കുഴപ്പവുമില്ല. അതിനെ അനുകൂലിക്കുകയും ചെയുന്നു. ശബരിമലവിഷയത്തിൽ വിശ്വാസമായിരുന്നു മുഖവിലക്കെടുക്കേണ്ടത്. വിശ്വാസികളായ സ്ത്രീകൾ ഒരു പ്രായംവരെ അവിടെ പോകാനും ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്നില്ല.

The luxury of today’s pool taxis

Online car pooling services like Uber/Ola charges 25% of the fare which is a big margin for the drivers. They says it is for their premium services - for eg they uses map box API to show the current location of riders and drivers, the cloud services, the customer care services - all adds cost to the company. But why all these unwanted luxuries are required when the ride is for just an hour or so.

In the past either we go to a taxi stand and book a service negotiating with them or we will keep a list of nearby taxi drivers. The problem with that was we have to bargain with the local drivers and many a time this will lead to an argument losing our peace of mind. This is where ride sharing companies found a business opportunity. One reason people chose Uber is to avoid an argument and get a rate that is moderate. But ultimately it led to failure of taxi service industry and even the Uber drivers are also paid poorly these days.

Now taxi drivers can form a community and achieve the same with a properly organised approach. A little technology will help to put the things in right track. Here is the idea.

We need an app that allows riders and drivers to register and login. The drivers can update their status to ‘Available’ or ‘Busy’. This along with their location will be updated in the server. When a rider searches from a location the app finds the cars available at a radius and sends this list to riders mobile along with their distance from his position. Rider can then select based on the distance and the rating. Of course the redundant luxuries available with Uber will not be available here but it serves the purpose. Think of it as bringing the old bargain model online. There is no negotiation. Prices are fixed for kilometres and the driver should show the user the kilometre. The user can use Google maps to find the exact distance and negotiate if anything is wrong.

Recruitment Exams in India

In the wake of the recent exam malpractices elicited in connection with the stabbing case (in Kerala), the question that arises now is about the fidelity of the selection process, especially for government services. Nepotism in hiring & promotions is rife across the country. It is obvious that those who entered through backdoors are more likely to become involved in corruption in contrast to the genuine ones. Once they are in the service, it is us - the people - who endure them for another three or four decades.

Corruption can destroy the stability of a country. Countless examples we have. Look at what is happening in Venezuela, Iraq, North Korea or Sudan. These countries live in poverty because of the corrupted government. Take the situation in Venezuela. Despite recognized as the world’s largest proven oil reserves, 90% of the population is still in poverty. The whole government system has been gobbled by corrupt officials.

What we need is a transparent, efficient & corruption free selection process. Exams such as GATE, UPSC, etc. are conducted with utmost care and monitoring. But there are still many high profile jobs in India for which the selection process is not transparent. Many Institutions conducts exams without a standard protocol that increases the risk of malpractices.

Rare Genus

A couple of days back I had a heartwarming experience. I got into a gadgets shop while loitering at a shopping mall. It was an ‘up to 50% off’ offer day and therefore most of the people there were from the middle class. I noticed one family there.

They came to purchase a tablet for the kid. He is not more than 10 years.
The shop assistant introduced them the tablet models one by one. But they were not affordable to the family. Father then asked them to show another model to find an affordable one.

Realising what is it with his father, the boy keeps on asking the price for every tablet to find out one which will not empty his dad’s pocket. But it irritated the father and he mocks at the kid asking “why you are worried about the price when I am the one who is going to pay for it? This embarrassed him in front of everyone.

Such kids are a rare genus today. He cared about his father’s hard-earned money.

The future of Oil

30 to 50 years from now, we would have consumed all the recoverable oil available on the planet. But we are using it as if the supply is eternal. Oil is a precious resource which can and should be used only for one purpose - “Extraterrestrial exploration”. Because to survive we must become interplanetary species. ( Elon Musk had anticipated this - he makes electric cars & Rockets ). The only way to deal with it is to move to electric vehicles. Big players know this and they started rolling out electric cars.

Some European countries started acting consciously on this subject. Activists in Sweden started a movement called ‘flygskam’ translates to ‘Flight Shame’. France announced eco-tax on flight tickets which will be used to promote eco-friendly travel modes. Around 5% of man-made carbon emissions globally is from airlines.

The US is brilliant, they value natural resources more than dollars. They have built reservoirs to stock oil. They import oil from Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Nigeria. The US is 10th on the list of countries with the largest proven oil reserves. It is interesting to know the other nine countries in the list - Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, and Libya.USA’s relations with these countries are complicated.

But in India, a country which relies hugely on tax collected from oil, the problem will be more of financial stability. Like Oil & Gas, the government cannot have two categories ( Domestic & Commercial ) in electricity. Moreover, they cannot impose significant changes in electric tariffs as they wish. It is a resource which is available & required everywhere in the country.