More India

Here people use run length compression: the telephone number 9220008211 becomes  9, double 2, triple 0, 82 double 1.

The govt has interesting ways to "distort" the market. In one of the states, every working person is guaranteed -- by govt -- like 150 days of work per year at say 100 Rupees/day. This means even half-working person turns up to do the govt sponsored work (carry construction materials), does some fraction of work,  and  the businesses go along since they would rather get a fraction than none, and this alternate source of income means labor costs have gone up tremendously for comparable or lesser valued work at homes, businesses etc. I also heard the govt gives free laptops to high school kids in govt schools. No network connection.

On education: I spoke to a school teacher and they said one of their biggest challenges was optimizing which subsystems to run using an inverter of limited capacity during the electric power cuts  that occur throughout the day (senior students with approaching exams get to keep their fans working, students in grades 1--3 get A/C, etc ).

Finally, people speak in analogies. "What you propose is like in that movie.." This kills me. All analogies are wrong, some more than others. Analogies are correct only at the high level.

India etc

I am in a hotel in India, lobby and pool teeming with  Cricket stars of India and New Zealand who are facing off on the field nearby. Here is a colorful website of  IncredibleIndia  --- you may have seen their ads in US --- and a website of Indian govt which provides a lot of info.

From a conversation: Buddha understood the Universe. Not just our world, but the entire Universe. I imagine one who understands the Universe becomes really quiet.

A conversation triggered the following  analogy: Famous sports players (eg., Basketball) have a few opportunities when they near retirement such as becoming a coach (tell others what to do) or a TV commentator (discuss what others do). Michael Jordan --- not of Machine Learning fame --- did something new in his third act. He became  a player for Wizards, inspiring the young players by being in the court with them, and willing them to become better by his workout regime, play on the court, and his overall mental posture. I really like this model that transends mentoring from sidelines, but see very little of it.