Systems Biology

There was a marked turnaround in my attitude towards science ever since I read Consilience. You can now call me a "Running Dog of Science" and so you can imagine my annoyance when the usual riff-raff wail about how science is reductionist and so cannot solve some of the important problems we face like our health and such. Ha! Even before the critique was fully understood by the critics themselves the erroneous approach has been rectified. Read the article in The Economist about "systems biology", it talks about the progress in a new area in Biology which has started to look at the body as a whole (system) rather than an individual cell or a part.
If the riff-raff didn't get it when science that was involved in the IPCC was not entirely reductionist, they might just get it now.
The thing about science, is that it does not believe that it is infallible, that it has The Final answer. So if and when criticisms arise they are observed, analysed and inferences drawn(avlokan, vishleshan, nishkarsh - my Hindi vocabulary has increased exponentially thanks to reading curriculum material of Prashika as part of our course) and path modifications are made accordingly. Let us find an other system which does it quicker and better and I would be a "Running Dog of That". Till then... let the sleeping dogs lie...zzzz...

Maximum City

The taxi and auto drivers in Mumbai have always amazed me. Unlike other cities they are extremely professional. You can get an auto or taxi anytime without any fuss (except, of course, at the railways station and airports where they act up). I had come late from TISS, as late as 1 at night, and all I had to do was tell the taxi driver where I needed to be dropped off. Being conditioned by Bangalore and Chennai I am always taken by surprise and still I don't accept it and I am expecting an unreasonable demand at the drop off point. But the driver just checks his rate card (for night rates) and the amount is paid.
The last couple of days I have had my experience further heightened. Kidwai Nagar, where I stay with my mom-in-law has a lot of taxies. This week two times I did not have change for 100 Rs. So, the first time I told the driver that I will pay him hundred and collect the change later. He was puzzled but accepted. The next day morning I collected the change from him. Today the same thing happened and instead the driver took my phone number. Later this evening he called my phone and asked me to come down and collect the change! I had not even bothered to remember his car number or anything. This is the maximum city where you can still trust the taxi wallas!