Harold Laski once said, "I really don't think there is anything to say about me except that I am honest and anxious to see a decent world before I die." Time magazine wrote an obituary for Laski titled "History's Revenge", saying "[s]ome people maintain that Manchester was the only place where Harold Laski could have been born. Manchester had nursed the industrial revolution and produced the "Manchester school" of laissez-faire liberals e.g., John Bright, Jeremy Bentham, Richard Cobden. State Planner Harold Laski, the argument went, was History's revenge on the city of Manchester." Laski was professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics [LSE] and advocated Socialism. He greatly influenced a number of Indian leaders who studied in Britain, including Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of India's Constitution. "Political Science" is part of the Law Course at Madras Law College [as it was called then] and "Grammar of Politics" by Laski is prescribed for study. He continues to exert influence and probably has many answers to problems that would come in the future for those prepared to understand his thoughts. The book analyses the judicial process and according to Laski, "[w]hen we know how a nation-State dispenses justice, we know with some exactness the moral character to which it can pretend."
"The Art of the Advocate" by Richard Du Cann presents many tidbits from Laski v The Newark Advertiser Co. Ltd and Parlby.
The brief facts are that, on Saturday, 16th June, 1945, at the height of the General Election, Professor Harold Laski addressed a crowd of over five hundred people, in support of a Labour party candidate at Newark, and as he was about to leave, a journalist from the Newark Advertiser asked him why Laski "openly advocated revolution by violence". The "Newark Advertiser" reported Laski's reply as: "As for violence, he continued, if Labour could not obtain what it needed by general consent, 'We shall have to use violence even if it means revolution'." Laski sued "Newark Advertiser" along with Parly, its Editor and Managing Director, that the report was false and malicious, that, by innuendo, the report meant and was understood to mean that Laski had declared his intention to commit and to conspire with others to commit the crimes of treason, treason-felony, sedition, riot, and breach of the peace and that Laski had been thereby injured in his reputation. The defence claimed the report was fair and that the words did not mean what was alleged in the innuendo. The justification claimed on the basis of pamphlets and books, that Laski had been preaching 'revolution by violence' at Newark as he had throughout his active life. The trial is said to have lasted five days, and the jury decided in forty minutes that the report was fair and accurate. The action was dismissed with costs. They did not go on to decide whether Laski had habitually advocated violence as their decision was just that he used those words at Newark. Time magazine mentions in the above said article that, "Laski had to pay all the court costs of $52,000, including a thumping fee to the paper's lawyer, wealthy Sir Patrick Hastings."
The print media lives by generating heated controversies. Laski fed them with prime fodder.
Harold Laski wrote in 1925, in his "Grammar of Politics", "[e]very legal system involves, in its working, an unprofessional element, of which the jury is the most notable example", and said, "[i]t is, therefore, a matter of importance in any judicial system to confer powers of general jurisdiction only upon persons of trained competence in the law." His own trial two decades later only confirmed his theory.
Qualitative competence in the legal system is something Laski desired deeply. Babbage, Turing, Laski and many others suffered in some way or the other under the system over them. They painstakingly wrote defensively in support of welfare for the majority, but somehow they only got trampled by events in the end.
Time magazine concluded, "Jeffersonian-Marxist Harold Laski, for all his brilliance, had never made it quite clear what he considered a decent world to be." That only shows how widely "Grammar of Politics" was read. History hasn't stopped counting the days past and just started labeling its days as that of the "information era". Laski started his grammar book with the line: "No theory of the state is ever intelligible save in the context of its time." Ever increasing automation and space exploration needs set a new context for state theories. "History's Revenge" would come only when Laski is more widely understood and appreciated. Even if it never does come, it would cause no peril to the reputation of Laski.
References:
[1] "History's Revenge", Time article dated 3rd April, 1950 at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,934881,00.html
[2] "LSE-India past and present" at http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/LSEIndia/pastAndPresent.htm
[3] "A Grammar of Politics", Harold J. Laski.
[4] "The Art of the Advocate", Richard Du Cann
Showing posts with label liberties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label liberties. Show all posts
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Ranjith and friends ...
Ranjith and friends take this road in Chennai, to school. We don't need computers to see what needs to be done to improve things here, but they could help us utilize resources in a better way:
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Tattvartha Sutra: That which is
Umasvati's "Tattvartha Sutra" is one of the oldest philosophical works recognized by all Jaina traditions, and is much like an encyclopedia. The translation by Natmal Tatia introduces the work as having the theme of "non-violence, non-absolutism and non-possession." Self-reliance is seen as a core principle to life. The "self" is central to realising every other truth and the path to omniscience is presented. Various truths and ethics in the form of crisp verses guide the reader towards liberation.
It is fairly hard to follow the verses without aid from the notes by the translator. A few terse and pithy lines from to Sutra to encourage wider readership and appreciation of this great work.
What do souls do?
Soul is defined as:
On variety of views:
On charity:
On contemplation:
On India:
India was then 7695 KM wide. Today, India is 2933 KM wide, east to west.
On liberation:
The appendix includes notes on numbers, measurement of time, measurement of space, and other headings useful to interpret the verses. Number 2 is considered the minimum numerable as one does not lend itself to counting. Various grades of infinity are discussed as well.
The Tattvartha Sutra is based on the sermons of Lord Mahavira transmitted through his immediate disciples. The attempt to achieve omniscience and liberation through incessant thought and analysis is refreshingly enlightening even today.
It is fairly hard to follow the verses without aid from the notes by the translator. A few terse and pithy lines from to Sutra to encourage wider readership and appreciation of this great work.
What do souls do?
parasparopagraho jivanam
Souls render service to one another.
Soul is defined as:
upayoga laksanam
Sentience is the defining characteristic of the soul.
On variety of views:
naigama-samgraha-vyavahara-rjusutra-sabda nayah
The philosophical standpoints are: the common person's view, generic view, practical view, linear view and literal view.
On charity:
anugrahartham svasyatisargo danam
Charity consists in offering alms to the qualified person for one's own benefit.
On contemplation:
vitarkah srutam
Contemplation is pondering over the contents of the scriptures.
On India:
bharatah sadvinsa-pamcayaojanasata-vistarah sat caikonavimsatibhaga yojanasya
The continent of Bharata is 526 6/19 yojanas wide.
India was then 7695 KM wide. Today, India is 2933 KM wide, east to west.
On liberation:
tadanantaram urdhvam gacchaty a lokantat
When all karmic bondage is eliminated, the soul soars upwards to the border of cosmic space
The appendix includes notes on numbers, measurement of time, measurement of space, and other headings useful to interpret the verses. Number 2 is considered the minimum numerable as one does not lend itself to counting. Various grades of infinity are discussed as well.
The Tattvartha Sutra is based on the sermons of Lord Mahavira transmitted through his immediate disciples. The attempt to achieve omniscience and liberation through incessant thought and analysis is refreshingly enlightening even today.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Tribute to C. Subramania Bharati
It was reported by news.chennaionline.com as follows:
It was heart warming to read the above report. Bharati suffered untold agony under foreign rule, and the visit by the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court to his house in Pondicherry is an historic event.
In March 2008, the Uncollected writings of C. Subramania Bharati (1882-1921) from the Hindu, titled பாரதி கருவூலம், was published by Aa. Iraa. Venkataacalapati. For the first time, letters by Bharati have been compiled in a book form and made available to the public. It includes a long letter titled "Police Rule in India", addressed by Bharati to Ramsay Macdonald, M.P., that was published in the Hindu, dated 10th February 1914. The police attempted to implicate Bharati in the Ashe murder case, and the letter is painful to read. To rule out grudge by the then government against him, he wrote to the Commissioner asking if there was any warrant pending against him. He followed the trial of the Ashe murder case at the Madras High Court.
Bharati also wrote a letter to the Hindu, dated 19th October 1916 as follows:
Bharati was fluent in both English and Tamil. His passion and fire for promoting national languages spoken by the majority people is writ large. Tamil carries with it the credit of being the oldest language still spoken by a vast population across countries with virgin fervor. It is only fair that Tamil is used as an official language in the Madras High Court. The State Government, through the Governor, should seek the consent of the President under Artice 348 of the Constitution of India, to give Tamil its due at the seat of justice.
One more minor detail. We could not have missed that Bharati used '(sic)' after 'vernacular'. According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English,
Bharati vehemently opposed the idea of calling Tamil a vernacular language in the light of its Latin origins implying slavery and subordination. The book cited above also gives the instance when a reporter went to interview Bharati, and his outburst at the very mention of a word, which could have been none other than 'vernacular'.
We still have the "VR (Vernacular Records) Section" at the Madras High Court. It would be a fitting tribute to Bharati to rename it as "OR (Old Records) Section".
Puducherry, Mar 22 : Chief Justice of Madras High Court Hemant Laxman Gokhale today visited the poet Subramania Bharathiar museum cum research centre here and paid rich tributes at the his portrait.
The museum has been housed in the premises where the poet resided for nearly 11 years during his political asylum in Puducherry in the early part of the 20th century.
Puducherry government pleader in Madras High Court T Murugesan who accompanied the Chief Justice explained to him the various features of the museum and also the chequered career of the nationalist poet.
A video presentation on the life of the poet and his contributions to the literary world and to the freedom movement was displayed.
It was heart warming to read the above report. Bharati suffered untold agony under foreign rule, and the visit by the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court to his house in Pondicherry is an historic event.
In March 2008, the Uncollected writings of C. Subramania Bharati (1882-1921) from the Hindu, titled பாரதி கருவூலம், was published by Aa. Iraa. Venkataacalapati. For the first time, letters by Bharati have been compiled in a book form and made available to the public. It includes a long letter titled "Police Rule in India", addressed by Bharati to Ramsay Macdonald, M.P., that was published in the Hindu, dated 10th February 1914. The police attempted to implicate Bharati in the Ashe murder case, and the letter is painful to read. To rule out grudge by the then government against him, he wrote to the Commissioner asking if there was any warrant pending against him. He followed the trial of the Ashe murder case at the Madras High Court.
Bharati also wrote a letter to the Hindu, dated 19th October 1916 as follows:
National Languages as Media of Instruction
Sir,- In the course of a recent lecture at Triplicane, Mr. J.C. Rollo of the Pachaiyappa's College has supported the use of English as the only right medium of instruction to Indian boys and girls. But he recognises, rightly, that the consensus of Indian opinion is against his view. He thus summarises the arguments on our side. 'It is urged that a student will save much time by being instructed in the vernacular (sic), that text-books in the vernacular (sic) will be within easy reach of all classes of people, that an Indian possessed of literary genius will be able to commit the fruits of his genius in his own vernacular (sic)'. This summary is far from being exhaustive. Our main argument is that one's mother-tongue is the only natural and human medium for imparting instruction. If anyone should doubt this, let him go and make enquires of educationalists in Japan, Scandinavia, England, Italy, Mexico or any other land where human beings are human beings. Speaking of the Tamil country, especially, the blunder of using a foreign medium becomes shocking because the Tamil language happns to be far superior to English for accurate and scientific expression - a fact which naturally enough, Mr. Rollo seems to be quite ignorant of. 'It cannot be denied,' he says, naively, 'that there is no vernacular (sic) in Southern India fitted for the teaching of science or the technicalities of history.' But the self-complacency betrayed by this statement of Mr Rollo is quite pardonable in him, considering the present state of things educational in British India.
'Insufficiency of scientific terms' is the next charge levelled against our languages. But the Nagari Pracharini Sabha is publishing a very useful dictionary of scientific terms in easy Sanskrit which can be introduced wholesale into every Indian language, thus securing the unity of scientific phraseology for India, even as Europe has borrowed wholesale from Latin and Greek for a similar end.
Within a few years, the novelty of such terms will disappear and they will look quite natural in Tamil or Gujarati books, even as all those big classical terms appear very natural nowadays in English or French scientific text-books.
Of course, we have no objection to teaching English as a secondary language in our schools and colleges. I think that any rational Englishman ought to be satisfied with this concession.
Bharati was fluent in both English and Tamil. His passion and fire for promoting national languages spoken by the majority people is writ large. Tamil carries with it the credit of being the oldest language still spoken by a vast population across countries with virgin fervor. It is only fair that Tamil is used as an official language in the Madras High Court. The State Government, through the Governor, should seek the consent of the President under Artice 348 of the Constitution of India, to give Tamil its due at the seat of justice.
One more minor detail. We could not have missed that Bharati used '(sic)' after 'vernacular'. According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English,
vernacular
n [C usually singular] [Date: 1600-1700; Language: Latin; Origin: vernaculus 'born in a place', from verna 'slave born in his or her owner's house']//
1 a form of a language that ordinary people use, especially one that is not the official language: in the vernacular //
Bharati vehemently opposed the idea of calling Tamil a vernacular language in the light of its Latin origins implying slavery and subordination. The book cited above also gives the instance when a reporter went to interview Bharati, and his outburst at the very mention of a word, which could have been none other than 'vernacular'.
We still have the "VR (Vernacular Records) Section" at the Madras High Court. It would be a fitting tribute to Bharati to rename it as "OR (Old Records) Section".
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
திருவாசகம்: Sacred Utterances
Thiru Manickavasagar, the ancient Tamil poet composed a collection of 51 poems devoted to Saivism. The work was translated by Rev. G.U. Pope and published in 1900. To give a sample here:
அச்சப் பத்து. [ஆனந்தம் ஊறுதல்]
புற்றில்வாள் அரவும் அஞ்சேன்; பொய்யர்தம் மெய்யும் அஞ்சேன்
கற்றைவார் சடைஎம் மண்ணல் கண்ணுதல் பாத' நண்ணி
மற்றும்ஓர் தெய்வந் தன்னை உண்டென நினைந்தெம் பொம்மாற்
கற்றிலாத்வரைக் கண்டால், அம்ம! நாம் அஞ்சும் ஆறே !
The Decad of Dread [Absorption in Divine Knowledge]
Not the sleek snake in anthill coil'd I dread;
nor feigned truth of men of lies -,
As I, in sooth, feel fear at sight of those
who have not learnt the Lofty - One
To, know; who fear the Foot of the Brow-Ey'd, -
our Lord, crown'd with the braided-lock,-
You think there's other God. When these unlearn'd we see, -
AH ME! WE FEEL NO DREAD LIKE THIS!
Thiru Manickavasagar is said to have composed the above poem when he made a hut of leaves for himself outside Chidambaram, and lived withdrawn to it as a Yogi. The translation by Rev G.U. Pope takes not only the work of devotion to new heights, but gives meticulous details about the grammar used too. The metre is ஆசிரிய விருத்தம், six feet in each line, with the formula:
The Tamil poems use a context free grammar, and are described elegantly at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venpa If there is any scripting work harder than computer programming, it would be composing poetry in High Tamil.
In 2005, Ilaiyaraaja gave new life to the "Sacred Utterances", by setting some of the quatrains, including the "decad of dread" above, to melodious music. A snip from my notes on the album:
Songs of Liberation from Thiruvasagam
"The East and the West have influenced one another in a very real and
not yet thoroughly understood way from the earliest times": thus wrote
Rev. Dr. G.U. Pope in his introduction to the translation of Thirukkural
in 1886. The symphonic oratorio "Thiruvasagam" by Ilaiyaraaja with the
Budapest Symphony Orchestra, conducted by László Kovacs, released on 6th
July, 2005 at Chennai, brings out the confluence of the East and West
Pope deeply felt, through a rich classical musical cross-over, in ways
words can never describe. Hats off to Ilaiyaraaja, László Kovacs,
Richard King, Stephen Schwarts, Budapest Symphony Orchestra and all the
other musicians for their brilliant work.
This delightful masterpiece cost more than Rs. one crore to produce.
Tamil Maiyam founded by Fr. Jegath Gaspar Raj, its producer, is looking
forward to income from album sales and donations, but it would be a
blessing, if many orgs and govs could join together, pay the outstanding
debts of Tamil Maiyam reported to be around Rs. 75 lakhs, and have the
work released under a suitable creative commons license. There are about
51 chapters in the Thiruvasagam, and the album is a fine selection of
only choice verses presented as six songs. A cc license should help
many musicians to join the project, and soon set entire work
Thiruvasagam of Thiru Manickavasagar in symphony. A brief intro to the
songs:
Song #1
The album begins with the verse "poovar senni mannan..." which is about
the "last journey" towards "ultimate liberation", and it is also
believed to be the last composition by Manickavasagar, on the last day
of his life on earth. The score for this song is quite naturally set to
a score that reminds of "poom poom dan dans" - the sound which anyone in
this part of the world can instantly recognize as a pointer to a death
in its vicinity, and that the last rites and rituals are in progress.
It seems, when the recording started at Budapest with this song, the
score sounded funny to some in the orchestra, who tried to hide their
laughter. Illayaraja observed this, and immediately sung the verse
explaining it, and the orchetra understood and briskly started with the
business of bringing Manickavasagar back to life again.
Song #2
The entire album is sweet as honey, but at about the 5th minute of this
song, the first stanza of Thiruvasagam, "Namasivaya vazhga, nathan thal
vazhga.." comes, and this is very easily the best part of the album, a
little more sweet than the rest. Illyaraja has freely arranged the
various verses, to convey meaning even through the topography and
arrangement of verses. Ilaiyaraaj and Roy Harcourt sing mixing Tamil
and English verses creating a very deep and stunning effect. A brief
snapshot from the lyrics, translated by Stephen Schwarts:
The symphonical oratorio is a rich tribute especially to Rev. Dr. G.U.
Pope who translated the entire work of Thiru Manickavasagar. (Available
online at http://siddhanta.shaivam.org/thivacha.html ) We could be
certain that Manickavasagar would have composed his verses with our
traditional music in mind, but for sure, Pope had only a western
symphony in mind as he worked on the translations. The frequent "Hail"
we come across succintly summarises the essence of "Namasivaya Vazhga"
and other praises, and sets the work in symphony with great effect.
Song #3
pooerukonum Purantharanum is yet another sweet composition picturising a
king bee singing praises.
Song #4
Umbarkatkarrsaey
Song #5
Manickavasagar paints a picture of women pulverising gold and perals to
dust with ural and ulakkai (pestle and mortar), singing Muthu Natramam
in praise of their lord. At the inauguration, this song was enacted on
stage by a classical troupe, and at the same time a pair danced swift
ballet moves sharing the stage with them.
Song #6
This is like a "hello world" introduction to setting Thiruvasagam into
symphony. Ilaiyaraaja takes a simple score, searches for suitable
verses and finally finds that the verse beginning "putril vazh aravum
anjen.." fits the score rather well, and finishes the album with great
grace. He makes the whole exercise appear very easy and simple, but
none other than the mastero could have undertaken the task of setting
the fairly difficult classical tamil verse of Thiru Manickavasagam, that
is more than 2000 years old, into symphony.
அச்சப் பத்து. [ஆனந்தம் ஊறுதல்]
புற்றில்வாள் அரவும் அஞ்சேன்; பொய்யர்தம் மெய்யும் அஞ்சேன்
கற்றைவார் சடைஎம் மண்ணல் கண்ணுதல் பாத' நண்ணி
மற்றும்ஓர் தெய்வந் தன்னை உண்டென நினைந்தெம் பொம்மாற்
கற்றிலாத்வரைக் கண்டால், அம்ம! நாம் அஞ்சும் ஆறே !
The Decad of Dread [Absorption in Divine Knowledge]
Not the sleek snake in anthill coil'd I dread;
nor feigned truth of men of lies -,
As I, in sooth, feel fear at sight of those
who have not learnt the Lofty - One
To, know; who fear the Foot of the Brow-Ey'd, -
our Lord, crown'd with the braided-lock,-
You think there's other God. When these unlearn'd we see, -
AH ME! WE FEEL NO DREAD LIKE THIS!
Thiru Manickavasagar is said to have composed the above poem when he made a hut of leaves for himself outside Chidambaram, and lived withdrawn to it as a Yogi. The translation by Rev G.U. Pope takes not only the work of devotion to new heights, but gives meticulous details about the grammar used too. The metre is ஆசிரிய விருத்தம், six feet in each line, with the formula:
| கூ | }விளம் | |புளி | }மா | |தே மா | ||கூ | }விளம் | |தே | }மா | |தே மா |
| கரு | } | |தே | } | | | ||கரு | } | |புளி | } | | |
The Tamil poems use a context free grammar, and are described elegantly at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venpa If there is any scripting work harder than computer programming, it would be composing poetry in High Tamil.
In 2005, Ilaiyaraaja gave new life to the "Sacred Utterances", by setting some of the quatrains, including the "decad of dread" above, to melodious music. A snip from my notes on the album:
Songs of Liberation from Thiruvasagam
"The East and the West have influenced one another in a very real and
not yet thoroughly understood way from the earliest times": thus wrote
Rev. Dr. G.U. Pope in his introduction to the translation of Thirukkural
in 1886. The symphonic oratorio "Thiruvasagam" by Ilaiyaraaja with the
Budapest Symphony Orchestra, conducted by László Kovacs, released on 6th
July, 2005 at Chennai, brings out the confluence of the East and West
Pope deeply felt, through a rich classical musical cross-over, in ways
words can never describe. Hats off to Ilaiyaraaja, László Kovacs,
Richard King, Stephen Schwarts, Budapest Symphony Orchestra and all the
other musicians for their brilliant work.
This delightful masterpiece cost more than Rs. one crore to produce.
Tamil Maiyam founded by Fr. Jegath Gaspar Raj, its producer, is looking
forward to income from album sales and donations, but it would be a
blessing, if many orgs and govs could join together, pay the outstanding
debts of Tamil Maiyam reported to be around Rs. 75 lakhs, and have the
work released under a suitable creative commons license. There are about
51 chapters in the Thiruvasagam, and the album is a fine selection of
only choice verses presented as six songs. A cc license should help
many musicians to join the project, and soon set entire work
Thiruvasagam of Thiru Manickavasagar in symphony. A brief intro to the
songs:
Song #1
The album begins with the verse "poovar senni mannan..." which is about
the "last journey" towards "ultimate liberation", and it is also
believed to be the last composition by Manickavasagar, on the last day
of his life on earth. The score for this song is quite naturally set to
a score that reminds of "poom poom dan dans" - the sound which anyone in
this part of the world can instantly recognize as a pointer to a death
in its vicinity, and that the last rites and rituals are in progress.
It seems, when the recording started at Budapest with this song, the
score sounded funny to some in the orchestra, who tried to hide their
laughter. Illayaraja observed this, and immediately sung the verse
explaining it, and the orchetra understood and briskly started with the
business of bringing Manickavasagar back to life again.
Song #2
The entire album is sweet as honey, but at about the 5th minute of this
song, the first stanza of Thiruvasagam, "Namasivaya vazhga, nathan thal
vazhga.." comes, and this is very easily the best part of the album, a
little more sweet than the rest. Illyaraja has freely arranged the
various verses, to convey meaning even through the topography and
arrangement of verses. Ilaiyaraaj and Roy Harcourt sing mixing Tamil
and English verses creating a very deep and stunning effect. A brief
snapshot from the lyrics, translated by Stephen Schwarts:
I'm just a man
imperfect lowly,
how can I reach for something holy? ...
So many forms I must wear!
So many lives I must bear!
Grass and shrub and stone and tree!
Worm and bird and beast and demon
heaven the sky and turn the earth
how long till I'm fin'ly worthy?...
Hail! Hail! ...
I am beginning
to be free...
The symphonical oratorio is a rich tribute especially to Rev. Dr. G.U.
Pope who translated the entire work of Thiru Manickavasagar. (Available
online at http://siddhanta.shaivam.org/thivacha.html ) We could be
certain that Manickavasagar would have composed his verses with our
traditional music in mind, but for sure, Pope had only a western
symphony in mind as he worked on the translations. The frequent "Hail"
we come across succintly summarises the essence of "Namasivaya Vazhga"
and other praises, and sets the work in symphony with great effect.
Song #3
pooerukonum Purantharanum is yet another sweet composition picturising a
king bee singing praises.
Song #4
Umbarkatkarrsaey
Song #5
Manickavasagar paints a picture of women pulverising gold and perals to
dust with ural and ulakkai (pestle and mortar), singing Muthu Natramam
in praise of their lord. At the inauguration, this song was enacted on
stage by a classical troupe, and at the same time a pair danced swift
ballet moves sharing the stage with them.
Song #6
This is like a "hello world" introduction to setting Thiruvasagam into
symphony. Ilaiyaraaja takes a simple score, searches for suitable
verses and finally finds that the verse beginning "putril vazh aravum
anjen.." fits the score rather well, and finishes the album with great
grace. He makes the whole exercise appear very easy and simple, but
none other than the mastero could have undertaken the task of setting
the fairly difficult classical tamil verse of Thiru Manickavasagam, that
is more than 2000 years old, into symphony.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Liberties in Cyber Space
Cyber space teems with tumultuous arguments on liberties. "Declaration of Independence of Cyber Space" by John Perry Barlow at http://members.aye.net/~hippie/barlow/barlowci.htm
points to the futility of governing cyber space, not to speak of governing from it. He thunders, "You have no sovereignty where we gather." Marvin Minsky has the simplest argument against the libertarians: "Societies need rules that make no sense for individuals. For example, it makes no difference whether a single car drives on the left or on the right. But it makes all the difference when there are many cars!"
The compromise is that any society needs to settle down a few working rules. It is very interesting to use machines to help us in executing those rules. They raise many issues. An old note of mine, to provoke thought:
e-governance and e-transparency solutions are most welcome. But then,
the solution itself should also be free, open and transparent. ...
Law itself is public, free and open in nature. Our Supreme Court had the
occasion in Naresh v. State of Maharashtra [AIR 1967 SC 1] to consider
the merits of open and public trials for "healthy objective and fair
administration of justice," and quoted Bentham with approval as follows:
The principles laid are equally true for governance. Without free
software, it is hard to even imagine a e-governance software.
But, I am personally wary of using the expression "e-governance software".
The law is the common background for all human activity. Besides
governance, law operates upon a large area. Governance is specially
grouped under the heading Constitutional Law and Administrative Law. We
have Law of Contracts, Torts, Law of Property, Family Law, Labour Law
etc. wherein "governance" is minimal or even totally absent. If an
application can handle Constitutional Law and Administrative Law, then
there are no reasons why it should not handle the Law of Contracts or
the other laws. We have people designing "banking software", "insurance
software", "billing software", as though the law has these water tight
compartments. We have ERP, CRM, B2B, B2C, G2G, G2B, etc. etc, with
others promising to integrate ERP with CRM, CRM with the rest in all
possible permutations and combinations. It makes business sense but no
legal sense.
Can any e-governance software check constitutionality of code? If they
can't, then they better not call themselves by such a name.
Besides, consider the following:
Suppose an e-governance application wants to assist litigants in filing
plaints. While automating preparation of plaints, some issues arise.
If more than one plaintiff sues, the script should use "plaintiffs"
otherwise, "plaintiff". In appeals, for the same reason it chooses
between "appellants" and "appellant". Soon, a function that would give
the plural for singular nouns like applicant, petitioner, claimant,
defendant, and respondent becomes necessary. This exercise soon takes
one to examining the rules of English grammar. If an application can
handle legal rules well, then it might handle rules of English grammar
as well. But the most singular difficulty would be in listing the rules
of English grammar. Tamil has Agathiam (the primary grammar text, but
no longer in vogue) > Tholkappiam (Secondary text, based on Agathiam),
and > finally the recent Nanool, where everything from how letters are
formed, classified, pronounced, to usage, root words, verbs,
concatanation, and every thing necessary to use the language are dealt
with thoroughly. Assuming that after consensus, acceptable rules of
English grammar for the present are available, we could write functions
such as:
To write a perfect get_plural function, we need to know if the word
passed to the function is a noun or not. Now, we have to write
As you see, one thing leads to another, and soon we will have a large
library of functions that deal with many aspects of English grammar.
Then our scripts will write well, and may be read well too.
Once we write such a library, there is no reason why this should be
confined to just an "e-governance" application. We could use it even
better in the field of education or wherever English is used.
Consider another scenario.
Recently, an ONGC helicopter crashed into the sea near Mumbai, and an
Enquiry has been ordered into it. The survivor & eye witnesses reported
that the helicopter went into a spin before crashing into the sea. It
is well known that the tail propellor prevents a helicopter from
spinning. Did the tail propellor fail? We see that the enquiry soon
has to deal with the basic workings of an helicopter to arrive at the
truth for the cause of the accident. Though at the top level, things
look like "e-governance", as we go deep, we find ourselves into the
thick of rules of English grammar, the laws of aerodynamics, history, or
other fields of human knowledge.
Ancient sages dealt exhaustively on grammar, philosophy, ethics,
medicine, law, science and literature single handedly. Agathiar wrote
Agathiam creating a script for Tamil, codifing the rules of grammar, and
then dealt with medicine [Paripooranam 400], and initiated Girivalam, as
the simplest form of yoga, that could be practiced by one and all.
Agathiar is believed to have brought his first love, River Cauvery, to
Tamil Nadu. Well, then he might have organised the flow of the River
with the aid of the local kings. Patanjali wrote upon Sanskrit Grammar,
Ayurveda and Yoga, and though the works stand distinctively, a common
thread unites them. A unity at some point is required for scientific
progress and human prosperity.
Free software offers all the tools we can ask for. The next big step
would be when human knowlege is ported across so that software
applications abound with life, intelligence and wisdom.
points to the futility of governing cyber space, not to speak of governing from it. He thunders, "You have no sovereignty where we gather." Marvin Minsky has the simplest argument against the libertarians: "Societies need rules that make no sense for individuals. For example, it makes no difference whether a single car drives on the left or on the right. But it makes all the difference when there are many cars!"
The compromise is that any society needs to settle down a few working rules. It is very interesting to use machines to help us in executing those rules. They raise many issues. An old note of mine, to provoke thought:
e-governance and e-transparency solutions are most welcome. But then,
the solution itself should also be free, open and transparent. ...
Law itself is public, free and open in nature. Our Supreme Court had the
occasion in Naresh v. State of Maharashtra [AIR 1967 SC 1] to consider
the merits of open and public trials for "healthy objective and fair
administration of justice," and quoted Bentham with approval as follows:
"In the darkness of secrecy, sinister interest, and evil in every
shape, have full swing. ... Publicity is the very soul of justice.
It is the keenest spur to exertion, and the surest of all guards
against improbity. It keeps the Judge himself while trying under
trial in the sense that the security of securities is publicity."
The principles laid are equally true for governance. Without free
software, it is hard to even imagine a e-governance software.
But, I am personally wary of using the expression "e-governance software".
The law is the common background for all human activity. Besides
governance, law operates upon a large area. Governance is specially
grouped under the heading Constitutional Law and Administrative Law. We
have Law of Contracts, Torts, Law of Property, Family Law, Labour Law
etc. wherein "governance" is minimal or even totally absent. If an
application can handle Constitutional Law and Administrative Law, then
there are no reasons why it should not handle the Law of Contracts or
the other laws. We have people designing "banking software", "insurance
software", "billing software", as though the law has these water tight
compartments. We have ERP, CRM, B2B, B2C, G2G, G2B, etc. etc, with
others promising to integrate ERP with CRM, CRM with the rest in all
possible permutations and combinations. It makes business sense but no
legal sense.
Can any e-governance software check constitutionality of code? If they
can't, then they better not call themselves by such a name.
Besides, consider the following:
Suppose an e-governance application wants to assist litigants in filing
plaints. While automating preparation of plaints, some issues arise.
If more than one plaintiff sues, the script should use "plaintiffs"
otherwise, "plaintiff". In appeals, for the same reason it chooses
between "appellants" and "appellant". Soon, a function that would give
the plural for singular nouns like applicant, petitioner, claimant,
defendant, and respondent becomes necessary. This exercise soon takes
one to examining the rules of English grammar. If an application can
handle legal rules well, then it might handle rules of English grammar
as well. But the most singular difficulty would be in listing the rules
of English grammar. Tamil has Agathiam (the primary grammar text, but
no longer in vogue) > Tholkappiam (Secondary text, based on Agathiam),
and > finally the recent Nanool, where everything from how letters are
formed, classified, pronounced, to usage, root words, verbs,
concatanation, and every thing necessary to use the language are dealt
with thoroughly. Assuming that after consensus, acceptable rules of
English grammar for the present are available, we could write functions
such as:
function get_plural($singlular){
// returns plural for a given singular
....
}
To write a perfect get_plural function, we need to know if the word
passed to the function is a noun or not. Now, we have to write
function is_noun($word){
// returns if word is a noun
....
}
As you see, one thing leads to another, and soon we will have a large
library of functions that deal with many aspects of English grammar.
Then our scripts will write well, and may be read well too.
Once we write such a library, there is no reason why this should be
confined to just an "e-governance" application. We could use it even
better in the field of education or wherever English is used.
Consider another scenario.
Recently, an ONGC helicopter crashed into the sea near Mumbai, and an
Enquiry has been ordered into it. The survivor & eye witnesses reported
that the helicopter went into a spin before crashing into the sea. It
is well known that the tail propellor prevents a helicopter from
spinning. Did the tail propellor fail? We see that the enquiry soon
has to deal with the basic workings of an helicopter to arrive at the
truth for the cause of the accident. Though at the top level, things
look like "e-governance", as we go deep, we find ourselves into the
thick of rules of English grammar, the laws of aerodynamics, history, or
other fields of human knowledge.
Ancient sages dealt exhaustively on grammar, philosophy, ethics,
medicine, law, science and literature single handedly. Agathiar wrote
Agathiam creating a script for Tamil, codifing the rules of grammar, and
then dealt with medicine [Paripooranam 400], and initiated Girivalam, as
the simplest form of yoga, that could be practiced by one and all.
Agathiar is believed to have brought his first love, River Cauvery, to
Tamil Nadu. Well, then he might have organised the flow of the River
with the aid of the local kings. Patanjali wrote upon Sanskrit Grammar,
Ayurveda and Yoga, and though the works stand distinctively, a common
thread unites them. A unity at some point is required for scientific
progress and human prosperity.
Free software offers all the tools we can ask for. The next big step
would be when human knowlege is ported across so that software
applications abound with life, intelligence and wisdom.
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