Recently in Free Writing Category

I just moved from sunny Southern California to the Bay Area - and into a nice cozy apartment in Mountain View. I am doing an intern with Yahoo research in their Search and Advertising Sciences team. It has been a fun so far - I've met new and interesting people, made new friends, caught up with old ones and I met a bunch of founders and made good friend with them.

Moving 350 miles north and it feels like I'm in a totally different country. The laid back and the mild traffic conditions of the Bay Area are just a deceptive façade to buzzing business activity that lies underneath. This is a place that seems so placid and yet so active. Exactly, opposite to the high flying and colorful Los Angeles which is alive and yet a bit laid back.

One thing that I find amazing is that I get to walk past and "hang out" so to speak in the same areas across some of the new internet companies and websites that I use and love - be it meebo or SmugMug or Facebook. It is amazing to be walking past offices of internet properties with multi-billion dollar valuations and look at their tiny offices and wonder - "really, thats how big a multi billion dollar company looks?"

All this entrepreneurial activity has infected me in a small way and even for someone who is as risk averse as I am, has led me to ask the question - why not me? But that is for annother day, but till then ..

Signing Off
Vishnu Vyas

There is anime, and then there is anime. Some of them are just so good that you actually go back and read the manga - and claymore is one of them. If beautiful women kicking ass isn't enough, it also has a riveting story line and great character development. Its one of those that starts out slow and eventually grows on you.

The story is set in a medieval fantasy world which is inhabited by humans and sentient demonic begins called yoma which feed on human entrails. Normal humans who stand no chance against these demonic beings depend on half-human half-yoma hybrids created by a mysterious and creepy organization, referred to within the series as 'The Organization' who send out female warriors wielding large swords (thus the name Claymore). The story starts out with showing these female warriors , the claymores, as beautiful and deadly but rather pale and without any humanity to them. They are feared and ostracized by the people who depend on the claymores to protect themselves from the demonic beings.

As the story progresses, we see another more human side to the claymores and learn that the organizations intentions aren't so noble after all. The storyline mainly revolves around a single low ranked claymore - Claire, her journey and her growth - both emotionally and as a stronger warrior as she picks up friends, comrades and battles a few powerful adversaries all on the way to finding out much more sinister secrets.

Even though the series focuses on Claire, the protagonist, Other characters are well thought out and are fully developed as the series progresses; they end up playing crucial roles alongside Claire and are important facets of the storyline. A complete and an entertaining anime overall that is completely worth the read!

Signing Off,

Vishnu Vyas

You know you're old when, that new and upcoming superstar that you think is really hot is actually younger than you are. Sigh, yet another sad day to reminisce over missed opportunities. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas

If this girl could say "Athu!!!" with the passion those three exclaimation marks imply, she is undeniabily thamizh! Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

East or West, home is the best, goes an old saying. Many a time, one would silently smile at such witticisms, but only rarely does one realise the truth behind such sayings. Leaving home, a place which has been so good to me, is more than simply getting on a flight and saying goodbye. Its a weird emotional experience, that brings forth bountiful emotions you never knew you had. India - Its the land of my fathers and forefathers, an eternal connection that I could never sever, it's a part of me which would never depart from me, and to which I hope I never depart from. Its too complicated to put it in words, for some emotions are necessarily beyond words. So, India, my love, my mother, my motherland, I bid you adieu, but donot forget me as I won't ever forget you. Remember well, for this parting is only that of time and space and not that of heart or mind. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas

If you have been following my blog, which hasn't been updated in quite a while you would have been surprised at the childish outburst of mine involving homer's characters. But I might as well break the surprise and go and announce what I've been holding for weeks. I will officially be a graduate student of computer science from January onwards at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Yes, no more anonymous doormat in a public sector organisation, no more 'IT professional' badge and primarily no more living in a third world country with first world comforts. My world has been turned upside down. Henceforth, I will be living in a first world country with a third world lifestyle. But this post is not about me, but about what I have come to call the Desi Support System (DSS for short). What prompted me to write this post was when I was browsing casually through a book on algorithms and to my surprise found these lines.

Suppose, for example, that your friend Raj has just accepted a summer job at a large telecommunications company CluNet. A few days later, the small start-up company WebExodus, which has been dragging its feet on making a few final decisions, calls up Raj and offers him a summer job as well.

Now what was that about these lines that prompted me? It was in a book written by two authors who work in Cornell, their main demonstrating example seems to be Raj, most definitely an Indian. I'm sure that they didn't decide to name him after shooting darts at a world map. I guess its the ubiquitousness and the success of Indians everywhere, especially in the US, in fields of computer science and mathematics. Many say its in our genes to be smart, but thats bullshit. Its probably because of the intense competition, the pressure to succeed, an almost ruthless determination that puts most of us where we are, but I'm sure thats not all. There is more at play here. A strange, subtle, almost intangible sense of common identity, a feeling of fraternity (or sorority) that we seem to share. A weird commitment to certain core values and all this is expressed in what I would call the Desi Support System. From a friend in Belgium who assures me that she can make sambhar and fish fry, desi style all sourced from local stores to the heartland of Hollywood there is an invisible network of desis, of all colors and creeds and with a unifying love of cricket and a sense of common identity. Its amazing how helpful they are. Whats more, its amazing how ubiquitous we are. From helping me circumnavigate the Bradley terminal to making abysmally silly movies like Signs, we seem to be every where, Computers, Engineering, Mathematics. Its amazing that how we somehow, are able to find rare bonds in an alien land, which we wouldn't realize in our home lands. Its mind blowing that you mention IT or Computer Science and you probably would find an Indian silently lurking behind, with a benign smile, and probably helping out others. It is these intangibles that make us succeed almost everywhere. The invisible threads of friendship, or rather kinship that gives us a head start. A support system that we can fall back on and that almost always and universally available. Science works by standing on the shoulders of giants. Indians work by standing on the shoulders of others, all part of a giant pyramid. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

With Scott Adams chiming in about atheism and people like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris taking up the pedestal as the public faces of atheism, which have long been empty, atheism seems to be the new 'in-thing' as it was during the times of Nitzsche and Russell. I've been speculating about what motivates the religious to be religious in the first place. And I'm taking Hinduism for analysis. Primarily for three main reasons. One, I'm more familiar with the Hindu scriptures and mythology than with that of other faiths. And secondly all my blood relatives are self-professed Hindus. So, I have had more real experience quizzing them about their faith. Thirdly, and most importantly Hinduism is what one would compare to 'Theological Anarchy'. Having no core dogma (or having multiple dogmas), no organised system of faith, no requirements or for that matter anything else. Many Hindus across the world and even across India get flared up with the same issues that are considered 'sensitive' - things like conversion, defiling Hinduism, Ayodhya etc.. . On a more practical note, I've seen people both in a remote corner of Tamil Nadu and somewhere in the heartland of Gujarat feeling the same thing about those sensitive issues and identifying with one other, even though if they were ever to meet face to face, chances are that it would be highly unlikely that they would even like each other. Why is it that Hindutva politicians like Modi and friends are able to whip up similar emotions in such a diverse cornucopia of people within India? These are what I will be trying to answer, to the best of my ability here. But, at the end, they are nothing more than wild speculations and I wouldn't want to treat them as a final thesis on the question of religion and faith. The most ironic thing about Hinduism, is that most Hindu's apart from being some vague form of theists aren't really concerned about scriptures or Hindu philosophy. Many are even ignorant of the wonderful stories, which certainly counts as great literature that abound in Hindu mythology. Further more, many are even unaware of the Hindu pantheon and the relationships among each other. Most have their favourite deities and a bunch of festivals which are universally celebrated, without any thought to the motivations or even the reasons of why the festivals exist. So, that throws strict theology out of the window. The second thing is that its not about God or Gods. Most often, the issues are not against atheists, (which is there, but never comes to the forefront) but against other fellow theists. Because, if it was just about gods, why would anyone object to accepting god, but in a different way? It isn't about ethnicity either. Then why? My conclusion would be that it appeals to a sense of identity. Humans, being intrinsically social animals, need identities. A group to identify with, a sense of real comfort. A sense of belonging. All you need is to give a name, and you automatically give it a form, for that is the nature of identity. A group as amorphous and ideologically disparate as the Hindus can subscribe to a common identity, only because there is one - of being a Hindu - which in essence is no more than a name. If this thesis is in essence correct and being given thus, then is there any solution to the problems of conflict that are prevalent in our times? What identities should one appeal to, for the sake of promoting the greatest good for all? Questions I desperately wish I had the answers... Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

From the moment I got hands on my new digital camera, a Canon Powershot A530, I've always wanted to take it out into the wilderness to give it a try. So far all my experiments have been in well controlled or at the least, a partially controlled environment, that was till today. Today I had the unique experience of doing some trekking on the outskirts of the city and managed to give my camera a test drive. And to say the least, I am happy to report that it came out with flying colors and some cool shots without any problems at all. But this post is not about the photos. Its about the experience of taking photos in the wilderness, or at least the semi-wilderness that I ventured into today. The day started fine, a lazy Saturday with great weather and no clouds. When I came to my senses after waking up and seeing the bright sky, I was cursing myself for missing the golden hour in the morning. The golden hour in the morning is sometime after dawn (around 6 or 7'o clock here) where the sun isn't too bright, the air isn't do dusty and the weather is just right for clicking all the great shots you ever wanted. Without loosing hope, I dressed up, strapped on my camera and headed out into the wilderness. You can always count on public transportation to get you there and that's what I did. After landing near the outskirts of the city, I walked for sometime randomly on the highway between Ahmedabad and Gandhi Nagar, until I found what one could call wilderness, or at-least semi-arid shrub land with a smattering of trees on the edges and a nice green ceiling cover further inside. This is kind of rare in the burgeoning urban sprawl that has mostly destroyed such areas. I guess I was just lucky to find it. One thing that I learned today, and which I should have already thought about is the importance of good shoes. The wilderness is swarming with bugs and many-legged slimy creatures from hell of all sizes, shapes and colors. Many of them are narcissists in their own way that they leave a potentially allergic trail of acids and other odd oozes. You wouldn't want one to leave its trail on your feet. So I had to not only watch what I step on, as in the undergrowth there is a lot of things that you can step on, but also be cognizant about what is trying to step on me. The second important thing I learned today is that when you are in insect territory using the flash is not such a great idea. These insects have adapted to the natural lighting around them that a flash always gets them disturbed. Its not good to use the flash indiscriminately with wasps with nasty stings buzzing around. But some times, the flash is good and can create great lighting effects. Since you have no control over the surrounding lighting, some kind of flash is helpful but one has to be pretty careful not to get stung. Apart from lessons in practical wilderness photography, there were a whole bunch of other things that I got to know. But lets get back, to our semi-arid shrub land. I walked around near the outskirts fearing that I might get lost, but since there wasn't nothing interesting that really caught my eye, I started to aimlessly wander around there and sometime later, I found an amazingly beautiful yet thickly forested area. With lots of tall trees, odd flowers and some nice surroundings overall. This was literally a godsend. The first thing that caught my eye was this bright riot of yellow and orange. A marigold bush out in the wilderness. It seemed out of place that I concluded that it was a feral. It was in full bloom, spreading its brightness all over the place. Something that you couldn't stop clicking at. So how could I? After a few shots, I managed to wean myself of the addictive beauty of the marigold bush and started ambling around. Then I found a bunch of trees, all tall strong, with flat and bright green leaves, laden with fruits. The green top of the lone piece of vegetation in midst of the urban sprawl. I found a red flower which I couldn't identify then, but my guess for it is a hibiscus. The backdrop against the setting sun made it just beautiful. Only after I took the shot I realized something, the setting sun! I had ambled around this place for so much time that I had spent almost four hours clicking!. And evening was fast approaching. With my feeble knowledge of Hindi and an even dimmer knowledge of Gujarati I knew there was no way I could get home after dark. So I had to reluctantly leave this wonderful wilderness to the monotony of urban life in Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad, for all its monotony is still a unique place which is not without its opportunities for some one with a keen eye and a willingness to click. But that's another saga for another day! You can also check out some other great photos of mine here. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

In this alarming article in MSNBC, Mike Ratiff answers the question in the affirmative. Even though this applies only to American institutions of higher education, I'm sure the situation is only slightly different here in India. I've blogged about my feelings regarding this issue before. But one thing that sure did catch my eye was this about negative learning.

We were startled by the extent of what we call “negative learning.” When courses are not offered or required, the students forget what they knew when they entered as freshmen

I've seen this phenomena happen right before my eyes. Many of my friends in college who even though were genuinely smart, let their skills atrophy and were dumbfounded when tackling problems that inevitably required those skills. What was the most alarming part of all that was their sheer callousness in their attitude. Even when I pointed out that they were things that they had learnt in high school, they behaved as if it was entirely natural to forget the important skills and basic knowledge that was supposed to be the foundation on which higher education was built. Though their attitude is partly culpable, I for one, put the blame squarely on the staff and faculty who have pretty much the same attitude. Its a sad state of affairs here and unless something drastic happens the future seems pretty bleak to me. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

Lord Muruga after being hounded by feminists groups for openly practicing bigamy, has now taken refuge in the city of Amsterdam after the Priyanka Rahul Gandhi brigade had burnt his effigy and promised violence for 'misusing the national bird' by trying to mount it. In a controversial interview to AP, he criticized the Pope for being partial and lashed out at him for not giving all religions equal footing and totally forgetting to mention him in his speech, in spite of the status of God, given to him by many followers. He accused the decadent west of being morally bankrupt and have given into the evils of atheism and secular humanism and not acknowledging him for what he is - A God. He also lashed out at his followers of being impassive and not forthright as other Muslims in expressing their anger of the insult that the pope had accorded to him by not insulting him. He said "Its deplorable that Hindu India hasn't woken up to its true potential and the Pope was clearly practicing minority appeasement". He however has spoken favorably of the government decision to spend money on people who have married people from lower caste SC/ST. He said that "Yes, I applaud the government for implementing such measures and giving money to the cause of inter caste marriages.. I have already put in my claim" . He also told that the tried and tested principle of the free-market is compatible with core Hindu values and said "the evils of the society are due to socialization and nationalization, especially of the six houses that used to belong to me in Tamil Nadu". On asked about his future plans he said that he is in touch with the Sangh Parivar to launch a party based on core hindutva principles of capitalism, nationalism, inter-caste marriages and liberation of India and his houses from a psuedo-secular minority appeasing government. He said that all his intentions had the best national interest at heart and should not be painted the communal color. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

There is an interesting post by Mark Chu-Carrol about these wonderful calculating devices called slide rules. These are simple devices before the pre-digital calculator age and was the hallmark of every nerd worth his salt. That reminded me of my own experiments with these amazing devices. I was born into the age of digital calculators and computers and hadn't heard of the word "slide-rule" before my ninth standard. I came across that only when studying the history of computing devices. And only then I realised that I had been using primitive slide rules for quite sometime during my early school years to cheat in exams. That too, as early as the second standard. Here is what I remember of how I discovered these devices and my experiences with them. In India, one of the first things you learn in your second standard is this concept called the number line. Though the only numbers we talked about were natural numbers, there was a lot of importance to the number line itself. Infact, undue importance was given to the number line and you were basically scrutinised for not drawing neatly rather than whether you got it or not. The teacher took painstaking effort to make sure every student had a neat and legible number line and drawing it was a mere ritual in itself completely devoid of any purpose or meaning. During one of these drawing bouts, I noticed that these number lines could actually be used to do mindless addition. Mindless addition is pretty much what you do when you use a calculator and not the boring "3 in the mind, 4 in the hand" nonsense. Infact I had got so interested with discovering that I could do quick addition using a number line that I first used a single number line and marked ruler, which was primarily used for drawing the number line. Infact most of my teachers would think I was painfully measuring to draw the number line while I was actually having fun doing lots of addition. Then I had evolved into using two identical rulers to do addition. Somtimes, during normal exams, when two rulers could arouse suspicion, I usually took a 30cm ruler and broke it into two rulers of almost equal length. It was a matter of time before I got used to looking at the number lines in reverse, that I could even do subtraction. Infact I had tuned my basic arithmetic so much to this primitive slide rule that I always used two marked rulers (used by everyone else for drawing the number lines) and was calculating things in a jiffy. Since I was pretty much diffident through out my school life, very few people actually knew of this trick.

The Math Olympiad.

Around this time was when my eye-sight was getting bad. I couldn't read what was on the black board and hence couldn't be very attentive in class. In concordance with that, my grades in all subjects (except math) had been uniformly falling. My shy nature wasn't helping either and I was usually regarded as a "not-so-interested-in-education" types in school. And that label, usually meant you lost all respect in the eyes of your classmates. Though I wasn't particularly bothered with the lack of "social" respect or my falling grades, I was very much interested in things like science and math. By that time I had usually taken to reading encyclopedias and knew a lot about astronomy and basic science by then. So it happened that there was a sub-junior level mathematics olympiad and it was given to everyone in class, and I had come prepared for this. With two 30cm marked rulers of course. All questions were about adding and subtracting 4 digit numbers and some basic geometry. Infact the toughest question consisted of figuring out the missing numbers in an addition problem (i.e, subtraction - gasp!). I had gotten so good in using my slide rule to do addition and subtraction that I had finished the paper before anyone in my class did. Even before the official "bright" kids. And surprise, surprise - I had won both by score and by time. Sometimes, its just amazing what a slight edge in technology could do. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

There has been a growing sense of despondency in my mind these few years. I am being terrified at what is happening in this world. No, its not Islamic terrorism or radical Christians denying evolution. Its the growing partisanships that seem to have clouded our mind, denying the most basic fact - we are all human. Every problem is painted as black and white, right vs left, everyone has chosen a side. Divisions growing wider in what could have been an answer to nature's cold and cruel war that creates new species. Humanity is getting sacrificed over imagined gods, differences in wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation reflected off your skin, differences in ideologies. In confirming our identities and our allegiances, we have failed to embrace our most universal identity - as humans and our most fundamental allegiance - to humanity. It is sad that, in the 4 billion year history of life, its the dominant species that has been at the receiving end when nature gave the finger. This time, as things go, we needn't wait for nature. The only time nature could really be trumped, is when there is the ability to think critically and apply reason and rational thought. But now, rationality and common sense has gone into a deep slumber, and given way to fundamentalism of all kinds. The you are wrong , I'm right kind of battles. The worst ones. There are impending threats to humanity, both from within and from the outside. A small random mutation on an isolated strand of genetic material on a virus could turn into our worst nightmare. A radical meme rampaging the common consciousness could destroy our civilisation. A few degrees rise in global temperature could devastate humanity. Human race has been vulnerable before, and yet trumped nature every time. Beating the odds, playing its cards perfectly, by applying critical thought and moving from a simple gene propagating machine to a society that could take care of itself. That's how we beat the genes. But in all those times, the danger wasn't as clear or as present as it is now. And now is when we need to wake up. We have to move from the simple meme propagating machines we have become to true creatures of reason, objectivity and rationality. The final war is yet to come. The war to end all wars is yet to come and it will be brought upon humanity by itself. The warriors could be nebulous, unknown, unexpected. For all I know, it could already be upon us. And in this war, as in all wars, there is only one winner. And in this war, as in all other wars, there is only one winning strategy - Reason. Signing off, Vishnu Vyas

My life seems like a bundle of contradictions to me. I've been everywhere and yet, nowhere at all. It seems strange that clarity could be so elusive. If only we could know everything at the behest of ones will. I am at an important juncture at my life and I need to make a decision. Sadly, I cannot. The more I think about it, the more confused I get. Oh! Choice, what a cruel master you are. You could have given me the devil or the deep sea and I could have picked at random. My fate would have been same either way. Instead, you ask me to choose between heavenly mead and sweet sweet nectar. I have to chose between two things I've always wanted to do. Between being a research scientist at a lab in India and a MS degree from a university in America. I've been at mighty crossroads before, and only rarely has clarity come before the choice was made. Mostly, it has been correct, but not always. I've regretted a few intransigences of my past, but all that was well before I could legally vote. When you are a kid, its always someone else's fault. Now, it could very well be mine. Signing off (confused), Vishnu Vyas.

Hilarie Belloc is one of my all time favourite poets. His rythm and his characteristic style are always nice to read. Though most of his poems have a resounding catholic theme, there are some which you can't quite place anywhere. Here is one such peom.

Drinking Song, On the Excellence of Burgundy Wine - Hilarie Belloc.

My jolly fat host with your face all a-grin, Come, open the door to us, let us come in. A score of stout fellows who think it no sin If they toast till they're hoarse, and drink till they spin, Hoofed it amain Rain or no rain, To crack your old jokes, and your bottle to drain. Such a warmth in the belly that nectar begets As soon as his guts with its humour he wets, The miser his gold, and the student his debts, And the beggar his rags and his hunger forgets. For there's never a wine Like this tipple of thine From the great hill of Nuits to the River of Rhine. Outside you may hear the great gusts as they go By Foy, by Duerne, and the hills of Lerraulx, But the rain he may rain, and the wind he may blow, If the Devil's above there's good liquor below. So it abound, Pass it around, Burgundy's Burgundy all the year round.

Here is a man who enjoyed all the good things in life. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas

Famed crocodile hunter Steve Irwin has died. A tragic loss - especially to his family and his fans. I only knew him through his shows on television and I always liked the charismatic crocodile hunter. For a geeky kid, growing up with animal planet and discovery channel was all that was there in terms of TV.I still remember the days while I would issue diktats to my parents to switch channels, just because I needed to watch him go "Cirkey ..." or wrestle crocodiles and list out the top 10 venomous creatures of Australia. In-fact I always harboured a secret love for snakes, which was fulfilled only on television. I still remember the nights as a kid where I would imagine myself handling venomous snakes. And within the realm of my imagination I could be him, and yet wake up the next morning without being mortally wounded and with all my limbs intact. To me, he was a hero. He was an icon in exposing the wonders of the natural world that most of us would be comfortable ignoring. He was a champion of animal causes. Its is only tragic that he had to go, the way he did. The world has lost a great advocate for conservation and animal welfare. He might be quirky and might have challenged the odds, but still its a loss that we shall come to mourn. Signing off, Vishnu Vyas

Economic equality is such a sensitive topic, that is close to so many people's hearts that even the most rational person is not immune to the emotions that come with such discussions. But the reality is that economic equality is not unidimensional, if you move towards economic equality, you are actually moving away from something. The fact that economic equality looks egalitarian on paper and the something you are moving away from isn't visible makes matters much worse. Here is a case against economic inequality.

1. Its discrimination against the rich : As laughable as it might sound, its easy to forget that when you are taking about classes such as the rich and the poor, you are actually talking about people. And secondly not all rich people are rich because they robbed the poor, some might have actually made it because they worked hard, not only enriching themselves and their families, but in all posibility others around them. So, is it fair to actually support a form of discrimination against a section of people, in the name of fairness and egalitarianess?
2. Are there really no class divides ? : Its easy to say that class divisions are removed when economic equality is ensured, but is that really true? On deeper introspection that theory doesn't hold good. If you mandate equal sharing of wealth (by communes and other socialistic practices), then aren't the slackers getting a free ride? The slackers are getting more in return for less work, even though their work doesn't carry as much value as your regular busy body, it carries more value in the arithmetic sense because, you get as much as the busy body next to you for working lesser . Isn't that some form of opression against the busy bodies? Wouldn't that breed discontent which elimination of class-divides hopes to achieve? And secondly wouldn't that be an incentive for less work, rather than more? Is that really the correct way to move towards prosperity?
3. External factors : Assume the commune or the socialistic government provides housing for people in an area. Then they build a school somewhere near that area. Even though each housing unit started off with equal value, the ones near the school are more valuble than the ones farther away. People would want their homes to be nearer to schools and thus demand for homes near schools increases. And inspite of no fault of theirs, people whose houses were farther got off with the bad deal. Luck plays as much a role in centrally planned economies as much their capitalistic counterparts.

Economic equality might be a nice goal to strive for, but its far from practical in the real world. Theory works nice in theory, but in practice it often fails. Yet, the left in india and elsewhere seem to be harping on this absurd vilification of "greed" which drives a capitalistic economy and talk about this equally absurd ideal of "economic equality". And yet no one has called their bluff? Sad, really sad. Again, replace "economic equality" with "social equality" you would get my argument against reservations too. protectionism, economic or social doesn't help. Neither does cultural protectionism. A good example that I recently found out was in the case of airtel super singer, a tamil equivalent for American Idol. A friend actually refused to vote for a better singer simply because he did not share his ethinicity inspite of the obvious fact, which he acknowldged openly, that person he refused to vote for was a better singer. If all decisions here are based on ethinicity,not only does it impoverish the person culturally by refusing him cultural experiences which it might have provided if he had won the popular vote, but also all members of his own ethinicity who just lost an interesting oppurtunity to enrich their own culture with a whiff of novelty and spice introduced by the other culture. Sadly, protectionism cuts bothways and cuts pretty deeply. When will we ever learn! Signing off, Vishnu Vyas.