Colleges Should Help Students to Become Entrepreneurs

 

Photo Credit: Microsoft Copilot. I had asked it to create an image to illustrate an article on self-employment ideas specifically for Indian college graduates. This is what it created. Please don’t ask me to describe and explain the image!  

The world is in turmoil. Everyone who knows how to download and customize software offers to implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions. Irrespective of their merits, they threaten mediocre workers. A mediocre implementation is good enough to replace mediocre employees. Indirectly, they threaten mediocre colleges. Everyone who can drive an electric scooter and home-deliver retail purchases is doing that instead of wasting four years in a mediocre college.

There is no saying if a college education will get one a job. So, we must prepare college students to think ahead about what they would like to do after they complete their courses or drop out earlier.  Some of the world's great entrepreneurs got an idea of what they wanted to do while in college. They were so excited about their ideas that they dropped out!

I propose that investors, including banks and governments, fund commercial property for renting out on a “College Road”. Several colleges could share one such road. Simultaneously, colleges should introduce one or more courses on business management available as electives to students in all disciplinary streams.  These courses should cover what one needs to know to identify promising business ideas, to start up a business, and run it profitably. Students who come up with good proposals would be given loans by the banks involved and invited to rent a shop on the college road.

There are two major developments that shops on college roads should exploit. One is finding niches in the market which enable survivability and profits. A shop offering pizzas in a small town gets a premium as customers wish to experiment with items they perceive as upmarket. A pharmacy that home-delivers medicines gets a sizable market. The same pharmacy could also offer affordable transport of patients to hospitals round the clock. 

The second significant development is quick commerce. Customers want their orders delivered in 10 minutes or less. Millions of youngsters on electric two-wheelers are there to do the delivery. You must pay a commission to sell through a good online network, vastly increasing your visibility. It automates your cash handling with customers paying online in advance. This enables you to increase the variety of items you keep and sell.

Political leaders could endorse shops on the college road by addressing student audiences, telling them how they create job opportunities.  

Srinivasan Ramani 

 

 

Photo courtesy Wikimedia

A Fit Case for Indians to Fight Against

The world is now recognizing that alcohol causes cancer in humans. The World Health Organization estimates that 2 million men and 600,000 women die annually due to alcohol consumption. This accounts for 4.7 % of all deaths. Visit

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/alcohol

The US Surgeon General's warning on alcohol consumption is a government warning that appears on all alcoholic beverage containers sold in the United States. The warning is intended to inform the public of the health risks associated with alcohol consumption. The warning includes two statements: (1) women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects, and (2) consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery and may cause health problems. A proposed new language for the warning is "Government Warning: According to the Surgeon General, consumption of alcoholic beverages can cause cancer, including breast and colon cancers."

The Indian Home Minister, Mr Amit Shah, while speaking at a Conference on Drug Trafficking and National Security on Saturday, 11th Jan 2025, said that 7% of all Indians use narcotics. He added that he would fight this menace.

We can ask why plants produce habit-forming or addictive substances. It turns out that it is because this attracts bees, who come back to pollinate the plant repeatedly! Why do plants and germs produce harmful biochemicals? It is to kill or deter their enemies. You must read about goats’ and cows' suffering when they eat coffee beans! However, humans find uses for plant chemicals that harm other living things. This is where care is needed. Tobacco killed over 100 million people worldwide during the 20th century alone and is now killing 8 million people a year worldwide! We don’t need to allow alcohol to kill 200 million more during the 21st century!

 Srinivasan Ramani

 

 

 

 

Young babies learn by imitation

 

Photo by Srinivasan Ramani 

Young babies only understand what you are doing in front of them by imitating you. They are born with this ability, so even very young babies can do it.

So, next time you play with a young baby, try this: Sit where the baby can see you. The effort may take several ten-minute sessions, so the baby should be comfortable and not distracted by movements nearby and sounds. Lifting your hands and the baby's hands once or twice in the beginning will show her where to look.

You need patience. Sometimes, I spend an hour getting the baby to imitate me the first time. It is easier later; the baby treats this as a game. Sticking your tongue out and having the baby imitate that is another challenge to try another day.

I once taught a baby girl to stick out her tongue. When her grandfather came home from work in the evening, the baby stuck out her tongue at him. She repeated this three or four times in fifteen minutes. The grandfather was worried, as he thought that something was wrong! Unfortunately, I did not know how to teach a grandfather not to worry!

Babies learn a lot by playing with us. You can dip your hand in cold water and touch the baby with that hand, saying “cold.” The baby may be unable to repeat the word unless she is approximately a year old or older. However, they seem to learn dozens of words before they can speak.

How can you show that a baby recognizes a word like “cold” even if she cannot say the word? Try saying the word and looking for a response from the baby!

Srinivasan Ramani

Our African Trip Aug 2024

 Video by Srinivasan Ramani

Edited and compressed to suit the blog 

We spent thirteen days in Kenya, traveling through Nairobi, Lake Nakuru National Park, Masai Mara National Reserve, Diani Beach near Mombasa, Samburu National Reserve, Laikipia Plains, which houses the Loisaba Conservancy, and the Loisaba Star Beds camp, crossing the equator near Mount Kenya Safari Club, and finally leaving Kenya from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Thanks to the four-wheel-drive Landcruisers, we saw terrific sights. They drive all over and protect you from lions, cheetahs, leopards, wild elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, wildebeests, crocodiles, hyenas, and ostriches. They get you within a few feet of all these animals, letting you feel the excitement of their birth and their risky lives and deaths. We also saw hyraxes, which look like big rats but are more related to elephants!

Visitors to African national reserves can never forget that we are also a species of animals.

Reading and hearing about the animals of Tanzania and Kenya enhanced what we saw. The cycle begins with newborn animals in Serengeti in Tanzania in January and March. Migration is triggered by a drought that usually occurs in Serengeti in May. Roughly two million animals follow the rains, taking a risky annual trip from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to get fresh grass. The big risk is lack of nutrition, not predators. Migration follows rainfall, going northeast into Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. This reserve is much smaller than Serengeti, so you see a vast concentration of animals. They cross small and big rivers on their trip, risking crocodile ambushes. We saw Wildebeest in pairs, mother and her young one. Roughly one in six of the animals die during the annual migration. Their lives are relatively short, and most die before the usual maximum for their species. Lions live a maximum of 24, leopards 20, and African elephants 60. The hordes start moving south in November and December when rain returns to Serengeti. The next cycle begins with new births taking place from January to March. Many animals have died during the migration, but species flourish! Life triumphs using its old trick of reproduction!

We saw lions on their five-day honeymoons when they did not even eat and focused on procreation.

We saw a Wildebeest limping. The driver, Moses, who knew much about animals, said the predators also noticed it. Along with them, the predators target the old and young animals. The hyenas hang around, and vultures circle overhead, waiting for scraps left over from kills.

We saw a lone Wildebeest running from one part of its herd to another. Moses said that the young one had got separated from his mother and is now taking the risk of running alone to catch up. We saw a newborn giraffe with a visible umbilical cord. It was already on its feet ready to face the risks of life.

We waited hours while an elephant herd prepared for a river crossing from the opposite side of the river. There was much hesitation because there were babies in the herd, and one had to be sure that crocodiles were not nearby. Finally, one young tusker got into the water and led the way. It was risking its life to protect others’ babies in the herd. However, a baby elephant was quite nonchalant and took a voluntary dip in the river to get its skin clean!  The landing point on our side was very close to where we waited. 

We waited until the crossing was over, and the herd clambered onto our side of the river. Some took a dip before coming out of the river, and some covered themselves with dry dust after the dip. They passed within ten feet of our vehicle.  

 Video by Srinivasan Ramani

Edited and compressed to suit the blog 

Compared to India, Kenya had to fight hard and violent battles for its independence from Britain, which it achieved in 1963. We could get a feel for rural life in Kenya during our travels. Many young and old men were shepherding goats, cattle, and sheep. Employment in more profitable jobs is as rare as in Indian rural areas.

This trip was eye-opening. If I could make it at 85, I must be fitter than I thought. Climbing into a Landcruiser requires strong legs and hands. I managed to do this most of the time without depending upon the portable steps Moses carried. My three grandchildren found the trip no problem. When my daughters had suggested this trip, it had taken me much courage to say yes!

The trip's success was due to the meticulous planning and execution by the Travel Unbounded team. Having English as a common language made us feel at home throughout, and the friendliness of everyone involved made the trip memorable. We could even share jokes with Kenyans. At dinner, a chef told us he was serving us leopard skin, referring to chapatis, which were brown and had black dots!  

Srinivasan Ramani

22-08-2024

 

Do you ride a two-wheeler?

 

Has a heavy, speeding car passed you with inches to spare? Congratulations on surviving so far! A fast-moving heavy car passing you puts you at a risk comparable to being shot at. No one driving a car at 60 miles per hour or more on an Indian city street has adequate control over what will happen. The car’s rear-view mirror could hit you. Some fitting on the car could snag your backpack or clothes and drag you for a kilometer or more.  

Does the law-and-order system in your state protect you from such experiences? Do your bit to improve it.

Please visit my petition on Change.org
https://chng.it/df2LF4Pbtd  and sign it.

Srinivasan Ramani

Horses and personal computers

 

Five hundred years ago, people who rode horses had a big advantage. Traders transported their goods long distances and made big profits, and administrators travelled all over their controlled areas. Soldiers conquered new lands where horses were unknown, and preachers carried their religion far and wide. Horse riders conquered the world. The gain was not that of the stable hands caring for the horses! The winners were those who rode horses for their own work. 

You can see that those who use computers in their work are conquering the world now. Prof. V. Rajaraman's book “Anecdotes from the History of Modern Computing” (Publisher: PHI Learning) is essential reading for every student and graduate. You need not be a computer science student or a stable hand to read it!

The book begins with a valuable quote from Rudyard Kipling: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Yes, however, I treasure the book for a different reason. Using highly readable anecdotes, it teaches the vocabulary and concepts essential for the modern age.

I will illustrate what I mean by “vocabulary and concepts” in this context with ten questions. Please try to answer them to see how ready you are for the future.

1.  I took a photo of my Adhaar card. Should I store it as a *.jpg photo or as a *.pdf document so that I can print it easily whenever I need a copy?

2.  My brother told our mother that the encryption used by banks is mathematically proven to be unbreakable. How true is this?

3.  What is mp3? Is it a compression algorithm for photos?

4.  The police often track a hacker who sends threatening emails by using the IP address from which the email was generated. What is an IP address?

5.  The personal computer became far more popular than more sophisticated Workstations. Why?

6.  In the old days every engineering college had a “terminal room” and a powerful time-sharing computer. The students used the terminal to share the power of the time-sharing computer. Nowadays, computer rooms in these colleges have networked PCs. Why is networking valuable?

7.  What is a Gigabyte?

8.  What is an icon on the PC?

9.  What is WWW?

10.  What is WiFi?

Srinivasan Ramani

Informing voters that their name is likely to be deleted

My name was deleted from the voters’ list during one of the earlier elections. I had to work very hard to get it back on the list. I remembered this when I received an SMS from a bank informing me that a small amount, like Rs 2, had been deducted from my account. When the authorities delete many names from the voter list, can’t they similarly inform the people concerned? After all, many voters have a mobile number registered. For the others, the authorities can send an inland letter.

The question is whether a citizen’s right to vote is worth Rs 2. 

Srinivasan Ramani