Pakistan - A Failed State

I recently came across an ebook: 'Pakistan - A Failed State' by Mr. Siv Sastry which is available on http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/.

The book is really well written, and covers all aspects of Pakistan in detail. The topic is specially relevent in the current crisis. The Mumbai tragedy has exposed Pakistan more than ever. I would like to give a recap of my understandings from the book and some of my own views on Pakistan.

The Creation:
The creation of Pakistan can be summed up in one sentence: In first half of the freedom struggle, people of the Indian sub-continent awakened to overthrow the rule of the foreigners, and in the second half the muslims awakened to overthrow the rule of foreigners and hindus. From the beginning Pakistan was based on "hate". This hate was much greater than the pain and suffering of partition. People who migrated to Pakistan, muhajirs, went out of hate of India more than out of the love for Islam. After all being in Indian did not prohibit them from loving islam, but being in Pakistan allowed them to manifest their hate for India while loving islam.

Before the British arrived, India was rued by the Mughals and after they return, Indian should be handed over back to the Muslims. This is an old ideology in the minds of the muslim elite of India who consider themselves as the successors of the Mughals. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed repeated the same philosophy on the Al Ja-Zeera TV in 2007. Their ultimate aim is to rule entire India and see India down on its knees to the muslim rule. It is my belief that anything based on hate is doomed to fail sooner or later, and Pakistan only makes my belief stronger.

The Indian-Connection:

Pakistan was not only to be Islamic but also non-Indian. Being non-Indian was an eligibility criterion to be called a Pakistani. If they still retained the Indian culture, they would not be any different from India muslims. Islam has developed in many regions of the world while absorbing the local culture. Pakistan tried to and is still trying to erase the centuries of culture that it's people share with India. Various Islam laws, shariah, education through madrases and anti-Indian propaganda have been used. After all their efforts, India and Pakistan still speak Hindi, use the same currency name - Rupee, listen to the same music, enjoy the same movies, play the same sports and share similar problems of poverty, environment, education etc. Even after 50 years of partition and Islamic rule trying to separate from India, all that really divides us is the imaginary line we have drawn on ground. Pakistan has definitely failed to erase its India connection and in an attempt to erase it has overlooked its Central Asian-Connection. It could have improved its relations with Afghanistan and Iran introducing Arab, Persian, Turk in its education system. This would establish their cultural connection with the real Islam homelands, but Pakistani politicians were too busy playing their role in the Indian Sub-continent, hating India.

India on the other hand never denied its cultural connection with Islam. We still hoist our national flag on the Red Fort, once the Mughal capital. We enjoy the Sufi music and Qauvalis. The contribution of Mughals to Indian classical music (vocal and instruments), art, architecture and literature is tremendous! The beauty of India is it's all absorbing society.

Pakistan: A nation for the purest of muslims

Pakistan literally means the land for the pure. Two conditions had to be satisfied in Pakistan: 1. A Pakistani should be a pure muslim following all that the religion demands, 2. A Pakistani should try to get as non-Indian as he can.

Jinnah wanted a Pakistan for the muslims but in his address to Pakistan in 1947, he talked about a secular Pakistan. He said: "If we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor... you are free- you are free to go to your temples mosques or any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state... in due course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to Muslims- not in a religious sense for that is the personal faith of an individual- but in a political sense as citizens of one state". If Pakistan was formed as a muslim country, this sttement shook the very foundations of it. Obviously the citizens did not share the vision, and still cling to islam.

The problem with Islam is that it does not talk about any political system. It is a religion and has some rules and laws for society but nothing for 'how to rule the society'. The way Mughal dynasties functioned was that the Sultan was in total control of the empire with his control of the army and the mullahs gave religious guidance for laws and rules but the Sultan always had the final word. In Pakistan, it was expected that if everyone is a true follower of Islam all other problems would take care of themselves. But, obviously this did not happen. With time Pakistan became an example of the Mughal structure, failing democracy. Islam was after all not a solution to all their problems. But, every time they failed, they returned to islam believing that the short coming was in their faith in Islam and not in Islam itself. They tried to become more and more religious to achieve their goals. The army became rich and powerful while common man was left to only carry the burden of islam. More madrases were opened, islamic laws were imposed, education system was modified which later only fueled militancy; militancy that was beyond the control of the democratic government.

Pakistan has failed because of India

Pakistan was to be the land for the purest, the land for the best of Muslims. Propaganda had engraved in the minds of average Pakistanis that one Pakistani soldier was enough for three Indian soldiers. Entire Pakistan was proud of this!
After losing three battles with India however this belief was shattered. For each of their problems Pakistan blamed two things: 1. their shoft conings in following islam, 2. India. By capturing Kashmir, India wanted to build dams on the rivers like Sindhu and Jhelum. This would destroy Pakistan and hence it was the duty of every Pakistani to capture Kashmir. It was publicised by the Pakistan Army that Indian agents are trying to destabilize Pakistan from within. India is attempting to exploit the ethnic and religious differences in Pakistan to start separatist movements. Indian is increasing its defence expenses and creating better missiles and nuclear weapons forcing Pakistan into a war. All this propaganda along with the inherent hate for India and the Mughal ideology fueled terrorism and militant activities. The Army and the core religious education centers provided an favourable atmosphere. All the resources, all the energy, all thinking was channelized towards destroying India. Other problems were too small to address.

India on the other hand kept becoming stronger in all fields; It was a stronger democracy, stronger economy, stronger military and a stronger society. Pakistan has failed as a state, and Pakistan has failed because of India, because of its hate for India!

अखंड भारत revisited

After reflecting on the previous article and the अखंड भारत concept, I had to revisit the idea and make changes to it. First of all, I realized how difficult and impracticle the solution was. Secondly it is impossible to undo what has happened to the map of South Asia, the only thing that can erase the lines is a war and that is definitely something that we want to avoid through this proposed integartion. Each of the countries concerned has their own problems to tackle. As it is, it's a huge task to manage themselves and working for eachother is probably the last item in the list.

However I couldn't stop thinking about a solution to uniting the peoples of South Asia... and SAARC seemed to be the right starting point. With 1/10 th of the world population united towards constructive goals, in one of the most resource rich regions in the world, economic, social and cultural developments will know no bounds! I searched through media and the SAARC website to find that although the Association is alive the activities and meetings look like they are just satisfying formality. If we expect the organization to do something, we need to give it some authority. Responsibility without authority is meaningless. SAARC should have a political and miltary influence in the region. India should probably contribute more towards such military alliances than sending troops in United Nations Security Force. Uncontrolled terrorism accross borders can be tackled with greater ease through the SAARC Security Force! Trade and economic rules and regulations should go through the organization to give it political powers. The nations will then have obligations towards SAARC objectives.

Just one note, I couldn't help but notice how US and Europen countries immediately requested "Observer" status in the organization; Iran, China, Korea followed. I am sure the EU wouldn't have tolerated any such "Observers" in their affairs.

अखंड भारत - a dream larger than life!

अखंड भारत - a dream, that was a reality 60 years back... a dream that is reduced to just whispers now... and I have to call it - larger than life!

It's not that the recent horrors of series of bomb blasts and attacks across India make me think about it but the "अखंड भारत" philosophy some how appeals to me as the solution to all these problems for years now.

This may be the influence of RSS in my childhood, but even now the solution seems absolutely practical. As long as Hindustan and Pakistan exist as separate nations the divide and rule policy of the British is working. Terrorists based outside India keep finding safe havens. Infiltration from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan is difficult to control given the length of the border.

The solution is an integrated Secular Indian Sub-continent. It will hurt the egos of all the nations; it is unfair to not look at them as sovereign nations, no matter big or small. But it's time to form something like the UN for the Indian Sub-continent.

We (me and my friends) though of calling it the United States of Bharat but the term "united states" implies that we are dividing them before uniting! But the beauty of the term is that we do recognize each state as a sovereign body... anyways we scrapped the idea and decided to call it "Bharat", just "Bharat". A country of the size of what it was during the reign of king Ashoka.

Pros:

1. The stupid boundaries and flags dividing the people of the same race and culture will no longer be there.
2. No worries of infiltration, as all land is of one entity. The boundaries are mostly naturally drawn, Himalayas and the Hindukush!
3. Easy to crack down the terrorist breeding grounds. Some thing the Pakistani Govt. has been unable to do and something the Indian Govt. cannot do from India.
4. The region will flourish overall in the fields of trade, art, literature, sports, education and economic prosperity. We can divert our resources and focus on constructive things!
5. We will be more prepared against other external threats (China is gonna crack down on us sooner or later, also we could not help Tibet and Bhutan due to our own internal problems)
6. Individual countries concerned are democratic and share a similar constitutional and social structure which can help in the integration.
7. All nations share a common goal of removing terrorism and prosperity for their people.

Cons:

1. Initial resistance of the individual countries out of the fear of losing their sovereignty and control over the policies in their land. The "joint-venture" needs to be carefully designed respecting the individuality of each nation else this can become a never ending headache for the "Integrated Bharat" government.
2. Individual states should have flexibility to decide their own rules and regulations but the lines if not drawn carefully will lead to separatist movements later. These separatist movements may get support from our enemies/opponents to worsen the situation.

Postulates of Atheism

Okay, the debate really was about understanding if ethics are a function of God. As is the common understanding, ethics are a function of religion and religion is a function of God. So, what I wanted to prove was, that ethics really stand by themselves without god and I think I have been successful in that. But, yes the discussion moves towards atheism and I think its time to put down my 'Postulates of Atheism' :-

1. You cannot get any help from prayers. You are by yourself and cannot wait for a superpower to help you. A hospital or university could be built instead of spending money for building temples, churches and mosques. We ALONE have to strive to eradicate poverty, conquer diseases, conserve nature, eliminate war and protect people.
2. There is nothing beyond the physical nature of matter, nothing super-natural. Death is the termination of that organic unit. This hypothesis seems shocking and troubling, but when you die, you die. There is no afterlife. We humans like to believe in immorality and that our soul still lives etc... but that is bullshit. There is no Heaven, no Hell. My identity is not beyond my body. My identity is by the neuronal networking in my brain, that's it, there is nothing more to it.
3. An Atheist does not refrain from social responsibilities. In fact he strives for involvement in life instead of seeking escape in death/moksha/sanyas/nirvana. He believes in loving his fellow men than loving an imaginary god. We are the keepers of ourselves and others. We are responsible people, the job is here and the time is now.
4. Understanding oneself, other people and the nature of universe is the real enlightenment and fulfillment of life and requires the highest levels of intelligence. Science and Philosophy rule!
5. Its not a bad thing to enjoy luxury, find convenience in new technologies, strive for betterment of life or be materialist.
6. There are many questions you can ask, like where did the earth come from? where did the Sun come from? who did the big bang? what was there before the big bang etc etc etc... My response to this is, "I don't know"; and I am not ashamed to say that because I am sure we will get there some day. There was a time when we attributed the lightening in the sky to the Gods. Then the gods said the earth was flat, and we believed it. Mr. Galileo had to loose his life to say that its round. Then we went in space to see the earth and prove the Gods wrong!
7. And most importantly an Atheist does't not bother what others believe in. Individual rights of thought and expression are the base of a progressive society and people should be allowed to act as they believe as long as this is according to 'law' and not a nuisance to the society at large.

By the way, if you see God in everything you see around, so be it! Human brains are highly imprintable and people can be trained to think something without reasoning. Socrates was sentenced to death and poisoned for 'reasoning' with the Gods. And, Chet, Mother Teresa did not believe in God. There is documentation about her letters to some bishop asking why she cannot see, hear or feel 'God' in spite of a lifetime of prayers and service. I read this in a article in TOI, immediately following her demise. Anyways, if you see the journey all along , from believing in elemental Gods like Sun, Moon, Fire, Water etc to believing in personified Gods like Apollo, Zeus, Shiva, Christ etc. moving on to non-personification of God believing in principles and ideas like in Islam, Buddhism or Jainism (Vedas are an expection to all this, I'll talk about them later; after I have been able to comprehend a drop of that ocean...). And then there has always been a growing class of non-believers, the 'Atheist'. I am not pro-atheism or anti-religion, in fact I believe in integrated hindutva, and I don't care what others believe... all I want is to be reasonable!

God Vs Ethics: The Antithesis

It is amusing how similar an aethist like Bhubha and a firm believer like me think, even when it comes to God. No, ethics are not dependent on God. Yes, religion is more of a way of life. Yes, religion needs ammendment just like constitution of a country. And yes, God is Also the Evil.

Because for me, God is everything. Sunshine and blossoms are the Grace of God, a narrow escape is the Mercy of God, and floods and earthquakes are the wrath of God.

But what is God at the first place? Is it something outside of us? Is it a superpower that governs the universe, gets delighted when we pray and gets upset when we dont? Is it an entity that tells us to kill the unbelievers, sacrifice a goat's blood, rape women of other religion? Who is he? Or she? Or whatever it is?

The fact of the matter is that nobody knows. Nobody saw or heard the God. They only read about God, and were told by other who were in turn told by someone else what God likes and what he doesn't like. But did God say that, really? We have no way to find out.

A lot of scriptures claim to be the words of God. A lot of people claim to be the sons and daughters and messengers of God. They lure people into doing things that they want done, and in return assure people that the God will reward you in the end for your conduct. But that is not all. This modus operandus basically aims for the weak spot- the Achille's heel that almost all of us are victims of: feeling of guilt. The intermediary- the person between you and God tells you that God will forgive all your sins, if you return to the right path. They can do this, because they know that we all percieve ourselves as sinners in some deep corner of our minds, and long for forgiveness. And if pleasing god is the undoing of all the crimes, then why would one not please God? It's the people with an aching conscience that are the staunchest followers of God's words.

But the fact of the matter is- as I believe it, of course- is that the God can't forgive you or grant your wishes, if you do not do so at the first place. A person asking for forgiveness from God, is essentially asking for forgiveness from himself, and until he makes up for the wrongs that he has done- he will not feel redeemed. For God is nothing outside a person- but the very essense of their being.

So you see- the concept of God has to do with everything- with ethics and society, actions and emotions, science and religion. There is a reason why the biggest crimes as well as the most glorious deeds are performed under the name of God. There is a reason why holy wars are fought even in this century of knowledge and information explosion. There is a reason why the concept of God exists till date.

Haven't we- at least the modern, educated communities, done away with a lot of old customs that are no longer valid? Then why have we not thrown out of the window the notion of God? Why do we still 'Thank God' when things work out? Why did Einstein believe in God? Why did Mother Teresa?

Once a man asked an aethist, "Do you believe in God?" "No", the aethist replied. "In heaven, or hell?" asked the man. "No", said the aethist firmly. "Oh. Where would you go then, after death?" Is it not the questions like these, the dark night beyond realms of life, the coincidences and occurances beyond the scope of science, inexplicable behaviours of people, animals, plants and planets- things beyond our knowledge or control, that make us believe that it is not us, but something superior that governs this universe, and we call it God?

The fact that we exist, the fact that flowers bloom and birds sing and planets revolve, the fact that animals breed and clouds pour and seas ebb and flow- is proof enough for God's existance. God speaks in our voices, God beats in our hearts. It is the flame of life that burns in our bodies that we call God. And so, as long as we exist, we can't really do away with the concept of God.

Tibet: A lesson learnt!

Tibet, a beautiful country! A land with a rich heritage, and wonderful people. A country with its unique language, script, religion and law. I don't know what the current political status of this land is, but its certainly not a part of any of its neighbours, it pretty much stands by itself! Actually all the above sentences should probably be in past tense. By now, the PRC must have already cleaned up Tibet!

My initial reaction to the Chinese crackdown on Tibet was: Don't the communists have no mercy? How can they kill a culture like that? Burn their history, holy books and scriptures, ram monasteries and change the socio-economic setup. Why do they have to bash these peace loving religious people? Communists are crazy! Someone needs to stop them. What are the countries of the world doing? We will be to be blamed for this cultural genocide. With these thoughts i kept an eye on the news and also started some research on the history of this issue. And now my conclusion is this: Tibetan people are the only people to be blamed here. This had to happen!

Look at Australia, there is no clue where the Aborigines are... almost completely wiped out I must say. America, colonised by Britishers and French, natives fucked up and robbed to create a so called "free" country! South Africa, same story. No matter what rules are made by the leagues of nations and what heights of morality mankind reaches, the rules of nature are simple; Survival of the fittest! This is evolution, this is reality!

Religions like the Buddhist faith of the Tibetans need to be defended externally by force of arms. Such a religion is defenceless in case of a war. The fact that you are a vegetarian does not mean that the tiger is not going to kill you!! Tibetans are surrounded by emerging superpowers. Non-violence cannot be used to protect your city walls. There are limitations of each method. If we Indians believe that our non-violence movement freed us, we are wrong. World war 2 left our colonial kingdoms so weak, they had to go back. Notice the creations of so many small countries in the 40s and 50s. If there is anybody to be thanked for our freedom, its Germany!


A religion may be based on non-violence not a country. Especially when you are sharing your boundary with communist China! No non-violent protests, no Nobel peace prize is going to save the autonomy of Tibet. Chinese crack down on Tibet is just another day in the predator-prey game, it had to happen. The Tibetan people are blind if they couldn't see it coming, and even if they saw it, they are too slow to adapt. And quite obviously, the next prey of the red dragon is us. What happened in Tibet is a tragedy but more than that is a lesson for us to learn...

Ethics vs. God

Is it right because God said it or did God say it because it is right?

By assuming that ‘whatever god said is good’, “kill unbelievers” could be as good as or better than “never tell lies”. Or "don't let untouchables enter the temple" can be as good as "never cheat on your wife", just beacuse Mr. God said it. I don't believe in god, and I know few more like me. I know many who don’t know what their religion says or asks from them and simply call themselves of that religion cause they were born in that religion. And there are others who know what their religion is all about and follow stuff cause that’s how their gods and their religion wants it to be. But while looking at all these people and then at me, some things seem to be universal. We all seem to know what is right and wrong. So, is ethics and moral values a function of god and religion? Will people still love each other and be truthful without the fear of hell fire?

Religion of Nature, and Animal Sociology:

Ethics exist is animals without any clergy or religion. Its natural behavior of social animals that tells them what is right and what is wrong. Our brains have evolved like that. Laughter is contagious and so is sorrow. We feel happy in happy people, and sad among sad people. Only a few psychopaths will enjoy when others are sad, but that is not normal. So a normal person will try to keep people around him happy for his selfish interest. And then there is this selfless love that we imprint on our brains. A bold buffalo herd leader will face a pride of lions to protect his fellow buffalos. Similarly, a female tigress will kill anything in the way of her cubs. These heroic deeds and self-sacrificing love existed much before some fear-filled minds invented god. These are the ethics, the religion in our genes that guides us, the social animals. A bee hive works perfectly without a religion. A worker bee does not aspire to be a soldier bee and a soldier bee does not want to be a queen bee. Each bee seems to know exactly what it is supposed to do. No greed, no selfishness, no fights! The bee hive works perfectly well. It is in their genes.

But our lives are far more complicated than these animals. Our environments are changing faster than the time our genes require to form imprinted patterns. We need more than Darwin’s theory to absorb the changes and we need something that can program us before it percolates in our genes. Our religion and our culture is what does that for us. So we cannot completely do away with religion, but we can certainly do away with the concept of god. It is in our nature to seek love and beauty, to share and enjoy creating something together. We have ethics by nature and we don’t need god for that. Many of the complex moral values and doctrines we see today are a result of vain attempts to accommodate ancient human fundas to control and discipline masses. The fundas became our culture which got haunted by demons and deities to become a religion which further got corrupt to become the chaos that exist today!

The 'Evolution of Mankind':

The Stone Age man goes for hunting. They work in group as one individual cannot kill the deer. They share what they capture cause if you don’t share, you will loose your group. The males protect their females and young ones and the females return the favor! These are strategies to maximize the intensity and duration of enjoyment of your personal gains. Mutual co-operation increases our chances of success. Being foolishly selfish will only invite enemies and you will not really be able to enjoy what you have grabbed for a long time. Your partners will come after you for their share. So, it’s in your self-interest to be selfless at times.

A person who strategically acts with the understanding of the concept of 'selfishly selfless' is practicing “Enlightened Self-Interest”. The roots of “Justice” are in this concept of “Enlightened Self-Interest”. With justice, co-operational efficiency achieves it's maxima. All our lives we try to do things that will make people accept us and like us as partners in various activities, groups and organizations. While doing so they co-operate with us to act so that we like them and we are happy as a group and as a society. A husband and his wife are probably the best example to illustrate this :)

The 'Evolution of God':

If we did not have a culture, a religion, some of us would have spent first 40 years of our lives before inventing fire or a wheel and most would have died without ever seeing it. Forget about making cars and traveling in them. Culture helps to pass on this sum total of information so the next generation can move on with what was already know. We don’t have sit and write constitution, laws and do inventions and discoveries all over again. This is the single most important reason for the success of mankind. Unlike the bees, a human being is born with a significant part of his brain un-programmed. Then the people around him can program him and make him into a functional unit. A baby has no religion, no language and no information about how to survive in this world; it’s completely helpless when it is born. It learns whatever is taught to it and functions accordingly. It’s a blank CD that will play any song you write on it!

Just like this culture and knowledge transfer mechanism is effective in transferring important knowledge, science and technology; it also is used to transfer behavioral patterns, the religion. If someone has already found out that telling lies, killing each other, being foolishly selfish and refraining from duty are bad things, then it is good to document it and simply pass it on. It is important here to understand that bad here means bad for the existence of the society; there is nothing as right and wrong when it comes to culture and ethics. Someone might think one man should have only one wife and someone might think having multiple wives is the right thing to do. The root cause analysis of all our practices and ancient literature shows that they are written to allow society to function efficiently.

This culture and religion is a great way to adapt to the ever changing real and virtual environments. But we should realize when this very culture becomes a barrier in our progress. People get caught in believes that are harmful to the society. The commandments of Moses were challenged by Jesus and were changed. The first commandments are now believed to be disturbing. This means a religion needs to be amended just like the constitution of the country. Even in the Vedas there is a growing learning curve, each book getting better than the previous and then the Bhagwat Gita, the masterpiece of knowledge for the functional society. For some reason someone thought that people would understand all this better if it was told that, "there is a god, an omnipresent power that wants us to do this". Why don’t we keep it simple? We are a complex network, a web of life and each one depends on other. One unit’s failure can stop the cycle and so we cannot refrain from our duties. Why can't we look at it as a fact of science instead of a religion of gods? Why can’t we keep god away from all this?

“God” is the “Evil”:

Union of science and religion alone can bring peace to mankind (this one was picked from MIT’s slogan). Religion is a way of life; it’s the culture that the people have developed over thousands of years for peaceful co-existence.Irrational believes like: God created the earth; its 5000 years old, the heaven and hell and the Adam and Eve theory etc should be deleted immediately from the so called sacred books, which so many children still study in minority schools. Our culture and festivals are our heritage and we should be proud of it, but let’s respect it as mythology. It is ridiculous to see grownup educated men to preach all such stuff in front of praising audiences. Religion needs revision! Wrong or potentially harmful believes and practices need to be mercilessly crushed as soon as possible. The challenge before religion (moral education) is not to create long lists of dos and don’ts but to help people understand the causes and consequences of their actions and realize the bigger picture, the rolling wheel of life. Every time I look around, all the problems we face, I see “God” as the only “Evil”. We cannot completely do without religion and culture; it’s the backbone of our society, but its time that we keep god aside and be reasonable! After all, being atheist won’t get people killing each other, men raping women and driving people crazy with greed...

Envision Spaceship

'Envision Spaceship' is a Virtual Reality project designed to run in the Flex system. It is a part of the Computer Graphics Technology 515 course by Prof. Laura Arns at Envision Center, Purdue University. The project is a study of virtual environment concepts at the envision center to enhance students' understanding of Virtual Reality software and hardware for creating VR based applications.

So what's the Project about?

We have a Space-station in the atmosphere, orbiting around Earth. This station is supposed to launch spaceships to various planets. Our mission is to send a spaceship to Mars, collect some photographs and then move ahead to Uranus to install a telescope. A path has been defined and you should not deviate from it. There is a chance that you hit asteroids if you do so.

The mission has two objectives:

Stage I: Launch the Spaceship
The spaceship can be lifted using the wand after which it follows the wand till you release the trigger. On throwing the spaceship while releasing the trigger, if your speed of throwing is enough, the spaceship will start moving in space and else it will fall down on the space-station deck. Here we measure the speed of the spaceship based on the change in the position of wand just before releasing the trigger.

Stage II: Steer the Spaceship
Once in space, the spaceship's motions can be controlled by the users with the wand. The ship has to be steered along the identified path to take it to Mars and then to Uranus, dodging asteroids on the way. Users can move to the left, right and front. You can look around but you cannot move back.

Following were the 'Four Project Musts' :

1. Must be in stereo on : Tiled Wall, FLEX or an HMD ( We decided to have our application running in FLEX, which is basically a cube with projector screens on 3 sides and bottom, coolest of the three display systems)
2. Must have head tracking (Flex takes care of that with the installed IS900 trackers)
3. Must have true 3D interaction such as having a tracked wand or glove. ( We have a tracked wand which allows you to grab objects and throw/release them)
4. Must be able to travel/navigate around in the virtual world, beyond the confines of the 10'x10' space of the flex or tiled wall. (We have added features to our program that help users navigate through the virtual space)
   

Part I: Software

The 3D Models:

The Project has three basic 3D models. The modelling is done in 3D studio Max and the models are exported as OpenSceneGraph files. Following are the three models: Spaceship, Launching Station and the Solar System.

3D studio Max provides a highly customizable and user friendly interactive 3D modelling and animation platform. The 3D Max model can be exported to OSG (Open Scene Graph) to make it a VR application. We had to control each model separately and hence needed the models to be separate. The models were attached to different nodes and the nodes were controlled by transformation matrices in OSG. All models are called simultaneously in OSG and are able to interact with each other. Their relative positions and scaling had to be neatly done.

The OSG Program:

Open Scene Graph is a open source application for graphics programming of simulators, games or other VR applications. It works on a OpenGL framework allowing real-time handling of low level graphics. The OSG program had to be programed to allow us to do the following tasks:

1. The wand's and ship's position should tracked. If the wand is within a defined area around the spaceship, the software allows you to select the spaceship by pressing the trigger. The spaceship will follow the wand now.
2. The wands relative position is tracked, which is the distance it has travelled from its last position. This function called the WandRelativePosition is used to know the speed at which the wand (and spaceship) was moving while releasing the trigger. If this speed is enough, the spaceship will escape earth's gravity and travel in space, else it lands back on the deck.
3. Once in space the user can navigate using the wand. The user will move in the direction the wand is pointing. While doing so, the same button will also accelerate the spaceship in the forward direction. The speed of navigation and the speed of spaceship has been matched so that it appears that the spaceship is a Avatar.
4. The spaceship can be steered while moving ahead. Buttons on wand can be used to move to the right or left. This helps to stay on the trajectory indicated in the model. Also another button can be used to look around by rotating in the X-Z plane.

By far the OSG programming was the most difficult part of the Project. That is where the team spent most of their time struggling...

Part II: Hardware

The Flex is a cube that has projected screens on its four or more sides. In Envision center we have screens on 3 sides and one on floor. The cube can be opened through the cavecontrol application. Envision's VR Theater is a Fakespace FLEX system featuring three ten-foot by eight-foot panels for rear projection of large-scale 3D images. These movable screens can be easily and rapidly rearranged to form a semi-enclosed room with three walls plus a fourth panel as the floor. This arrangement creates a 3D immersive virtual environment.

Other Hardware includes the wand, head tracker and 3D goggles. The wand allows the users to navigate and to perform programed functions like grab the spaceship, release the spaceship, rotate view and steer the spaceship in space.

The head tracker tracks the position of the users head (eyes) within the flex. This helps to customize the view as per the user. That is, if you bend or move around, the view will change making the virtual environment more immersive.

Also, the 3D glasses allow users to see stereo view. So, each eye gets a different view, just like we see in the real world. This ability allows us to realize distances and 3D perspectives. The result is a really cool, 3D looking immersive Virtual Reality application!

Part III: Evaluation & Results

The Project was mostly a success and the application performed what it was designed for except for the grabbing function. But there is scope for further improvements. Following is the evaluation of the project:

1. The wand grab function is not working currently. The volume defined around the spaceship for grabing the ship is a box which is probably not large enough for grabbing. Further investigation required.
2. The speed of the spaceship has to match the user navigation speed. Currently the spaceship goes faster than the user and eventually travels far enough to dissappear.
3. The spaceship is programed to just go back to its start position when left if the speed of throwing is slow. There could be a trajectory defined for the space ship as it falls depending upon the velocity while releasing, height of spaceship etc.
4. The solar system can be modeled for realistically. Current version has restricted movements ans the scale is blown out of proportions, which makes it scientifically in correct. A better scientifically accurate model could be useful for making interactive learning program for kids.
5. Text messages about the mission details, mission status etc could be added. Also sound effects can make the application more enjoyable.

Responsiblities:

Both the team members worked in unison from idea conceptualization to implementing the idea. The responsibilities for the project were shared fairly well and the division of responsibilities is not really tangible. Given below is a rough distribution of work.

Bhushan:

3D Max modeling (some models were downloaded from websites and editied to suite the application)

OSG Programming

Isam:

OSG Programming assistance

Script file related issues handling. Running the application in Flex.

We would like to acknowledge the guidence of Jack in the OSG Programing part.

Refrences:

Purdue University envision center for data perceptualization and visualization (http://www.envision.purdue.edu/facilities.html)

VR Juggler Programmer Guide and the Programmer Reference (http://developer.vrjuggler.org/)

Open Scene Graph website (http://www.openscenegraph.org/)

The Team:

Bhushan Bhalerao

Graduate Student,

Construction Engg. & Management

Email: bhushan@purdue.edu

Isam Badawi

PhD Student ,

College of Technology

Email: badawi5@purdue.edu

under the guidence of:

Prof. Laura Arns

Associate Director,

Envision Center for Data Perceptualization

'The Amish' and 'The English'

Ok, the article might sound silly to those of you who already know about the Amish people, but I recently visited Topeka in North-East Indiana and was amazed at these people! We were going to Topeka to visit a manufactured houses factory and before starting were warned by our Professor not to take pictures of Amish people as they don't like it.. I said "whatever".

The journey was amazing, the rising sun through the beautiful countryside reminded me of India ! We reached the factory and Mr. Shawn Way received us there, showed around the place etc. I saw the Amish people working there, distinguished by there beard and no mustache and clothes almost as if they were all in uniforms. As reminded I did not click any pictures and moved on. The energy of these guys and the speed at which they were working was amazing. We then left the factory for lunch. On our way I saw a horse cart, i could not believe my eyes, "I am in America or what?" And then I saw another one.. Upon asking Shawn said, "Amish people don't use technology in any form.." And we all were like. "What are you talking about?"

Rest of the evening was more like a questionnaire to Mr. Shawn about these amazing people... From what he told us:

Amish people are highly conservative Christians. They came from Germany in early 1700 and settled in USA. They don't use technology, that means they don't use cars, instead they travel in horse carts. The wheels of these carts have a iron lining and no rubber tyres as rubber again is an artificially created material. But they are allowed to travel in vehicles if they are not driving it. They don't use electricity in their houses, no heating and lighting through electricity. In a place like North-Eastern Indiana where the winters are so harsh, these guys heat their houses by burning wood. They have oil lamps in their houses for lighting. Anyways they get up early, work only till 2 pm and go to bed early, so they don't have to expend much on lighting their house interiors. They have no televisions or radios in their houses, and bare minimum of furniture. Roads are simply of compacted soil, like the one in the photo on the left. They wear very decent clothes and looks almost like they are all in uniforms. Women were gowns and a small hat. As far as the food habit are concerned they don't have restrictions, I saw them in Subway where we were having our lunch.

They don not accept any grants or aid from the government. They don't take any kind of insurance for health, property etc. They do farming and also work in factories around the place which is permitted according to their church. On asking what do they do of the money they earn, Shawn said, they just buy more and more land... They gift these lands in marriages etc.

Everything that is not Amish, is 'English' according to them. So they will call me or Youjung from Korea or Mr. Shawn a local.. all as 'English'. With no radio or TV or newspapers they hardly know about the world beyond theirs, that USA is on war and where India is on the map. I guess they speak Dutch and they have their own schools. Now, every Amish boy and girl is allowed to go check out the 'English' world sometime in their teens. They can live the American way, wear whatever clothes, do whatever they want to. Then they are given the choice of being in the Amish clan or becoming an English. Usually that will mean that individual is an outcast.

There is also a branch of Amish called the New Amish which simply means they allow use of technology to some extent. So, they have a small telephone booth setup outside the house commonly shared by few houses for contacting in emergency. Or even using rubber tyres for their carts. I am shocked and amazed how they are still living and maintaining their life style and sustained after so many years, that too in America. Now there are surely many more people at least many in India that are forced to live life like that, but its unexplainable why someone will not use technology even when one has the choice. And they are genuinely peace loving people and happy the way they are!!

The picture above is a nice irony, the increasing rates of gas in USA on one hand and the unaffected carefree Amish cart on the other; both co-existing in the most prosperous country in the world! One thing is certain, if happiness is the pursuit of mankind, technology may not be the answer.

(Disclaimer: The information I have published here may not be completely correct. But it is seen and discussed first hand with a local person. Also, respecting their culture, I have not clicked any photos of Amish people and so can not have them on this blog)

We are not Migrating.... We are Nomads!

Although it's a little late to react to the "Outsides" thing started by Raj Thackrey, this issue will always be fresh as long as human beings exist on earth!

After reading what was happening, I kind of felt good at first. I was always a boiling blood patriot and a die-hard fan of Shivaji Maharaj! Then followed the "Mazi Bhumika, Maza Ladha". I probably would have joined the movement had I been in Pune. But lot had changed in the last two years.

After my BE, I was posted in L&T, Baroda. I fell in love with Gujarati food, the festivals there and made many new friends. I even started learning Gujarati. Baroda, is like second Pune for me now. It has many Marathi people, as it was under the rule of the Gayakwads. Then I was posted to Panipat, Haryana on a construction site. So I was in North India working with North Indians. I should admit, they are really sweet people. The kind of hospitality you will get in the North is amazing! I learnt to scold, praise and think in Hindi. And then I came to US for my education. The journey was essentially of identities: Punekar to Maharashtrian to Indian! And the though struck me, at any point of time, you are still an "Outsider". How do you define the word "paraprantiya".

Coming back on Mumbai, I really don't think it belongs to the Marathi People. Mumbai wasn't even there, the Britishers created it! Britishers created the US too... It will be extremely difficult if you ask me to develop Pune. It's all saturated, no room for new works to come up. And changing existing systems seems an impossible task! Its easier to see why these new lands, Mumbai, or US develop so fast attracting dreamers and hardworking people from all over the land till these cities reach their saturation point eventually! So Mumbai also belongs to all the Gujarati's, Parsis, Marwadis, North and South Indians rich and poor who built it! These guys poured in money, poured in their spirit to create Bombay. I don't know how much Mumbai would be itself had it been only the Marathi people... just that the name changing thing wouldn't have happened. :) So there is no "Outsider" in Mumbai because all are outsiders. In US you can differentiate based on green card, but even if I get a green card in another year or two, I believe I am still an "Outsider".

Then comes the issue of bhayyas spoiling Mumbai. Doing "dadagiri", having chhat-puja to show their might, celebrating UP-din in Maharashtra. Well, I think I am not the right person to comment on this, Mumbaikars know better. But I have travelled through Mumbai and visited places and haven't come across rude bhayyas. In fact my impression about north Indians is that they are sweet, welcoming, 'dildaar' people!
About chhat-puja and UP-din, I don't know why it is wrong? We celebrated Republic day and hoisted the Indian National flag and sang the national anthem in Purdue University. There were few Americans too present for that function! It went great, everybody enjoyed. As long as they don't say anything bad about Maharashtra, it should be OK. And why should Maharashtrians get offended by their saying that UP is great? I am not convinced what wrong they did in Mumbai. They create slums, filthy footpaths etc is bullshit. Show me one metropolitan that does not have slums. There are so many Marathi people in slums too.

Ok, you have a problem, you have the right to raise your voice. We are a democracy. But you have no right to beat and kill people because they came searching for jobs and food to eat! Write articles, conduct speeches, demonstrations but don't start riots. Raj says he tried all this but now the bhayyas have crossed their limits. What limits had they crossed? What did they do so grave that we have to beat them? As far as Marathi people loosing their jobs to north Indians is concerned, this will happen if you are not competitive. If a person is ready to work more for a lesser pay I will employ him, that's it. Look at the net losers and gainers in terms of human resource:





Some lands require people, some land has too many people... Water will flow from high pressure to low pressure, and there is nothing we can do about it, its a law of nature. We, Indians, the greatest exporters of people in the entire world! Bees will go where the honey is. But yes, while in Rome you should do as Romans do, and bhayyas have been stupid enough to shout out loud: "We are outsiders".

But yes, it is our fault that we cannot create jobs in our own land. All the ministers, Arjun Singh, Sonia and what not making stupid statement about the issue; its a slap on their face that they cannot create jobs in some of the richest states in India in terms of natural resources. And what do Maharashtrains have besides Mumbai, Pune and Nasik? Rest of it is just like UP or Bihar. And its also a slap on Marathi peoples faces that they cannot stand the competition. For example, US depends on its immigrants for most of its intellectual wealth. I have 4 Indians, 3 Koreans, 1 Irani, 1 Lebanese and just 1 American in my class. Average Americans won't undertake graduate studies. America is unable to change their thinking and improve their standard of living and obviously people from outside are going to take away all the top jobs!

Anyways, so whats the solution to the problem? Do we want to have a visa for Mumbai? Do we want to divide India into so many princely states like it was before? Are we only going to encourage our politicians to divide us on regional basis too now?

I am afraid there is no immediate solution to the problem. We need sustainable development in UP-Bihar to create jobs. I read on wikipedia that for US to have sustainable development, its population should be reduced by at least 1/3 of what it is now. I don't know of any such research on Indian economy, but I am sure the condition is much worse. We have to balance the available resources and no of people consuming it. I know these are just talks and not really solutions but this regional discrimination will take us nowhere. Why can't we adopt the 'May the best man Win' policy? History has it, Mankind has always been migrating from place to place... and after years of civilisations, we still remain Nomads!