Lessons from Professor Wichman

This morning I got a forward... a letter wrote by Professor Wichman, a Professor at Michigan State University, where he and his group " examine problems in theoretical and experimental fire and combustion research ". The email is something he wrote in 2006 in response to the protests against the now famous danish cartoons. ...... I wonder if it was part of his combustion research... i found it so combustible, I choose not to reproduce the email. Interestingly the professor teaches us quite a bit, perhaps unwittingly.

First is about the nature of the internet. Someone once described it as the "infinite echo-chamber". Email forwards keep doing the rounds long after most websites declare them as frauds. Yet whenever we get an email about a latest virus or someone who has got sickle cell anemia, we pass it on without verifying the facts. Like a true virus, it infects my mailbox every now and then. Please dont pass on emails unless you are positive about its truth and you know what you are doing (I wish they could make the forward button a little LESS accessible).

Second is about the famous First Amendment. Where does my freedom end? How far can I take it? Can I write a book in praise of the holocaust, or in support of Bin Laden? I remember a public announcement at Houston Airport which warned people not to even make JOKES with the word BOMB in it. I remember getting singled out for searches because I was "Asian looking" and had a beard. I wonder if all terrorists HAVE to be asian looking and have beards? Perhaps its a trademark of terrorists. In india I have fretted and fumed over several books and art works that were banned in the name of religion. Among them was an adaptation of Nikos Kazantsakis' The Last Temptation of Christ and the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar".

Third learning comes from a blog comment by Carl Nelson who tells us that there is a silent majority in America, that feels angry towards muslims. Well surprise surprise.......or no surprise? This brings me to the most fundamental question of it all. Does majority approval make something right? Is ethics something that can be decided by vote? It is here that I feel sometimes deeply disturbed about democracy. Don't get me wrong, I am fiercely proud of India as the worlds biggest and ethnically diverse democracy. But that doesnt mean I have ironed out all the kinks in my mind.

Finally, the good professor issued a public statement (possibly in a state of horror about how far this has gone) saying that it was a personal email and not meant for public circulation. He said it was like something he would say to his wife and kids in the privacy of his home. Lesson: Be careful what you say at home, better still is to question your own hatred within your heart before spewing it out. Second, careful what you write in an email. Remember that forward button is always nearby. I just learnt a lesson on this myself, when my son forwarded I sent personally to him...he sent it on to another party involved in the email.

Thank you Professor for all the lessons you taught us.

Secret Confessions

http://www.theconfessionbooth.com/ is a place where people can post their "secret and anonymous confessions..." If you like being a voyeur, its a nice place to go to peep into the soul. It is indeed interesting to see what are the kind of things that people feel the need of absolution. However the best confession of them all comes on their registration page.

You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful,
threatening, sexually-oriented or any other material that may violate any
applicable laws. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently
banned (and your service provider being informed). The IP address of all posts
is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions

If that is not enough they add

As a user you agree to any information you have entered above being
stored in a database. While this information will not be disclosed to any third
party without your consent the webmaster, administrator and moderators cannot be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being
compromised.

Here endeth the lesson. Go in peace, may God bless you all!

Several people asked me where I stayed in Leh and how I worked it out. I mostly used the worldwide web just like you are doing now. We stayed at the Shanti Guesthouse. I found out about it from Jamie's blog. There are many guesthouses in Leh especially considering the small size of the town. Our host told us that most people in Leh live off tourism. Our host, Mr. Dorjey is a qualified guide mountain trekking guide. When it got cold they put a cute little heater that ran using LPG, too. Here are some pictures.