Thursday, May 21, 2009

India's strategic interest in Sri Lanka after LTTE

The LTTE has finally been decimated by srilankan armed forces. Now question in front of India is how to actively engage the new political leadership and counter the influence of Pakistan and China in Sri Lanka.

From what I have read somewhere , when Indra Gandhi was PM , Voice of America wanted to establish a radio station in Sri Lanka and due to the insensitivities of Sri Lankan gov towards the security issues of India, relations between India and Sri Lanka soured. So when Prabhakaran come to the scene , it seems that Indian Intelligence helped LTTE , so as to keep Sri Lankan engaged with LTTE. So far so good.
Actually I do believe in what one commentator said, Any great country needs to have neighbours who should understand that their peaceful existence depend on the good will of the Big Brother.

But when India send IPKF in Sri Lanka to actually protect Tamils , it ended up fighting LTTE(an unfortunate fact that this monster had India's hand in it ). Finally Rajiv gandhi was assasinated and LTTE(Prabhakaran) became most wanted in India.
But still India did not overtly support Sri Lankan Armed Forces by equipping them with weapons of Lethal Nature(in the mean time several senior Army officers were trained in India, and India did keep supplying non-lethal material to Sri Lanka, maybe in a way to keep its influence on the island nation).
But still there was a gap in India's Stategic planning and China exploited that by getting agreements of Hambantota port. The strategic importance of this port is immense in the Indian Ocean due to its location on the busy shipping line. This is one of China's "String of Pearls" in the Indian Ocean region.

Well India could not have been seen overtly supporting Sri Lankan Millitary because of Tamil population back home in TN. So now when LTTE has been defeated , the action for India has begin once more. The news that NSA and Foreign Seceratry have been rushed to meet Lankan Premier is a welcome news.
India now has to find a way to maintain its clout in Sri Lanka. India will rush more and more aid to the devastated areas of Northen and Eastern Sri Lanka. Hopefully India will force Sri Lanka to grant more rights to Tamil population in the Sinhalese dominated Sri Lanka. This might be in form that India can support pro-Indian leaders , or leaders who are sensitive to the security issues of India.

The next challenge in front of Mahindra Rajapakse is to fuilfill his promises to the Tamil people. India should now ensure that this is done.

PS: I am not a strategics analyst by profession or hobby : ) , these thoughts have been gathered from various blogs and forums , and I hereby present my views on the above mentioned issue.
As they say " Just my 2 cents ".

Monday, May 18, 2009

ER evaluation went badly :(

So officially my second TAship(teaching assitanceship) came to an end after evaluating final projects of Embedded Robotics.
I feel a bit let down after the results were not very good , none of the groups were able to do half the tasks that were required to be done properly. Now I feel like whinning :( over it.

In contrast to first TAship of Electronics workshop where I felt very good and confident, this was quite if not totally opposite. This is in parts a failure of myself as a mentor and guide of students.

The main dilemma facing me is how to guide a student without spoon feeding him. Maybe one has to become a devil's agent to not allow things to get relaxed beyond the point required, administrative responsibilities also are not also a work that earn praises from students. Sometimes deadlines have to be struck to.

Maybe the failure was not providing sufficient components and sensors to students, which they were to buy themselves.

So many MAYBE's . How I hope someone would honestly tell me , if I was not alert enough about my duties, or I was not helpful enough or I was too optimistic or is it the also the fault of the students (as ER projects can't be completed in 5-6 days , considering electronics is a art or black magic !!! here )

Recent readings

recently I read some books
Somnath(Hindi) by Acharya Chatursen, a short novel of RK Narayana and collection of short stories by Ruskin Bond.

The writing of Acharya Charutsen are just awsome, and if you try to review his Historical works like "Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu"( meaning The city bride of vashali") , these works are just par excellence. When I was starting to read Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu(some 1 yr back), I went through the introduction written by Acahrya Chatursen. he said "... after finishing this work I feel so elated that I happily disown all my previous literary work of 40 years and here I present in front of you my first work".
Just reading this I realised what a gem of a book the novel was and I was not a bit disappaointed.

The author did a long long study of Jainism, Buddism and other social condition like a dedicated historian and then with his superb narration and mesmersing style come out with this story.

Coming back to Somnath, when I saw the author name I was in no doubt that I again have found a really nice way to spend my time. And Somnath helped me to peacefully pass my time when I was travelling to my home from Hyderabad in a 2nd Class coach, during the month of May !!.

Since Somnath as the name suggests is written to present the historical events of the ransacking of Somanth temple by Mommd of Ghazni. so I was very much inquisitive how such a misfortune was allowed to happen by the kings and ruler of that time. So then with a mix of fiction and Historical facts the author presnts such a beautiful and vivid pictur eof the whole event that in the end I was praying that what ever was written should have actually happen long back in history. meaning Mommd of Ghazni did ransack Somnath temple in Gujrat , but he on his way back is looted of all the loot and went back a changed man.

To do justise to people like me and not to have fantasy be mixed with historical facts , the author clearly clarifies the separation of facts with his own creation.

Maybe another post will be needed to lighten my heart of all the burden that I am carrying in my heart and mind after reading this another excellent work.

Acharya Chatursen , he has clearly become my favorite Hindi writer. How I wish I could read more of his work and somehow present my respects to this priest , which I felt after realising his great dedication, honesty and the great service he has done to Hindi Literature.

Let the journey Begin

So i am online with this blog, hope something good comes out of it !!