Our greatest discovery

At many occasions we have heard the question, what is India's greatest discovery? There are many opinions. Many people say our greatest contribution is 'zero'. They have a strong point. Zero is the basis of all larger numbers. Though it literally means nothing, this number is very powerful, which any mathematician would agree. In common man's terms, without zero the salaries of people does't make sense, financial returns of companies will struggle, digital world comes to a stop, taxi meters get confused, stock markets crash. I think it is safe to acknowledge that zero is our greatest contribution from ancient world, of course having prime importance in modern times also.

But what is our greatest discovery in modern world? I don' think there is a universally accepted answer. Is it the Ramanujan number, contribution of Bose in Higg's Boson particle, C V Raman's discoveries in the field of physics? In my mind, none of these appear to be fitting the top of the list. I think our greatest discovery is in the field of mobile communications. Before you make  any hi-tech guesses like 3G optimization, frequency modulated encryption or 'think to call' (all of these are yet to be discovered), let me tell you that I meant a much more simpler, but powerful and long living one. It is 'the missed call'.

Most of you would know what a missed call is. It is the only method developed so far in history for communicating a message over the phone without actually making a call or sms. And of course, without paying a penny. It is done by just ringing the other party and hanging up before he or she picks it up, and thus by passing on a pre-defined message. It is commonly used for passing on a 'digital' or yes/no type of message. For example, it is a common scene of an Indian mother telling her daughter who is travelling to her distant hostel, "Dear, give me a missed call when you reach safely". The mom is concerned for her daughter's safety, at the same time she wants to avoid making a call, thus saving a bit more money for her daughter's marriage after another fifteen years.  

A fact about the missed call is that it is not discovered by one person, but a discovery that has naturally occurred in the minds of thousands of Indians at the same time. As the proverb says that necessity is the mother of invention, I think this one cannot occur in the same degree to people from developed countries. Also, it is not a possibility in the underdeveloped countries where many people cannot afford a phone. And India being a developing country, with highest rate of mobile phone usage growth, but people still caring for money, the Indian nature of this discovery is obvious. Hence, I believe 'the missed call' is our greatest discovery in modern times.

Though I said that the missed call is more useful for yes/no type of messages, I have personally tried it for more complex messages. As an example, me and my friend have used it in the following way when we used to play cricket near his house.
One ring - things are good, match is on.
Two rings - bad weather or other issues at home, match is off.
Three rings - doubtful, wait for next call.
Keep ringing - more complex scenario, pick up, need to talk.

The above was done using landline phones, also without caller identification. Hence it is not foolproof, because if someone else at home is expecting a call, it is trouble. On the other hand, it is risky to use this technique using mobiles nowadays, because many times the caller hears a caller tune, and the called person hears a ring tone. Gone are the days of fixed number of ringing at both sides, too much technology is also a problem.  

Finally, how long will this nice way of communication last before the service providers put a stop to it? I think it is very difficult to bar any missed calls, because a call gets dropped before getting attended due to technical reasons too. Moreover, the receiving party always has freedom to not pick up the call or being away from the phone, so it cannot be distinguished from the true missed call. Missed call technology or feature is very much built into the mind, thus without a proper mind reader, you can't break it.  

Since the 'missed call' adds 'zero' cost to our phone bills, both of them go hand in hand. One is our greatest discovery in ancient times, and the other one in modern times. But, both are here to last for a very long time....

The ultimate resolution

Well, now that 2012 is complete in all countries and timezones, it is sure that the world won't come to an end in 2012. Hence, I think it is time to come out of the passive mode, and think about some serious things which improve our life, no point in being lazy and waiting for the world to end any more, at least until a sequel to '2012' movie comes :)

Millions of people across the world would have taken some resolution or other today, even while I write this article many thousands would be deciding and finalizing on their New Year resolutions. It is a great feeling, one method which people use repeatedly every year to improve their way of living.

Yet, are they all successful? Well I have my doubts, because when I look around, I don't see a perceptible amount of improvement in people. If I look at the 50 year old folks, who would have had the chance of taking around 30 more New Year resolutions than the youngsters in their 20s, I can't see so much of good qualities pumped into their personalities. May be their experience in life is to their advantage, but definitely not their New Year resolutions.

If my fellow reader has taken a resolution in this first of January, I don't want to disappoint you. But some truths are bitter, and have to be said that way. I don't believe in New Year resolutions. Also, I hope you don't take a resolution of "I will not read this guy's blog again" after reading this article -:)

To be honest, I have disappointingly failed in almost all the New Year resolutions I have taken before. Some of them were to study well during my school days, to get up early in the morning, not to say bad about anyone (blogging was not popular those days -;), improve my prayer life, going early to office and so forth. I have simply renewed them in some of the New Years, and parked some of them in some years just for a change. But, the result was the same.

This made me think deeply about the matter of New Year resolutions. First, why should we take resolutions only on New Year? It is just because it is a logical start of a year, nothing else. If I get a new idea to improve my life on January second, should I wait for 363 days more to take a resolution? Definitely not. That means, all the days of the year are good days to take a resolution, it is the resolve or determination that matters, not 'when' we take the resolution.

After all, what is a New Year? Obviously it is the beginning of an year. And what is a year? It is just a measure of time, kept to make things easy for all of us. Speaking more scientifically, it is the time taken by Earth to complete a revolution around the Sun. A year in Jupiter is 11.86 Earth years. So, if life is found in Jupiter some time later, we will know that those beings are taking New Year resolutions less frequently than us. On the other side, if life is found in Venus where an year is 224.7 Earth days, they would be taking more frequent resolutions. So, it is better not to wait for a resolution until this revolution completes, but better to take it at any point of the revolution -:)

Having said all these, there are some advantages of taking New Year resolutions.
1. Easy to refer - For example, if a doctor asks you when you quit smoking, you could simply tell 1st January 2013 without checking any of your notes.
2. Feel good factor - Many people are subject to fail in New Year resolutions, so I feel I'm special if I succeed. (Good luck!!).
3. Environmental factors - Everyone else is taking a resolution, so I better do. Without influence from others, some people may never take resolutions. New Year is best time for them.

So, in this first day of January, Two Thousand and Thirteen, I sign off with a new resolution, that is 'not to wait for a New Year, rather take a resolution as and when my mind tells me'. In other words, I'm almost done with New Year resolutions.