Editorial: February 2014

Greetings!

This month, we bring to you a rather interesting article on how bacteria moved continents, suggesting that without life – as Aditya argues – continents would cover only about 5% of the Earth’s surface as against the nearly 30% that we see today. Roodra passionately reports on the recent talks by Bharat Ratna Prof C N R Rao and the Nobel Laureate Prof Kurt Wurthrich in the campus. While Prof Rao quipped how creating new ideas are the only sure path to immortality, Prof Wurthrich insisted that researchers must go for the “big fish”, settling for nothing less.

Suyash, in his column Tech-O-Philia, writes about reducing demands for electricity by harnessing an ultra-efficient solar power. Prajakta reviews “A Letter to a Hindu” by the celebrated Leo Tolstoy in her column “Reading between the Lines” and Aditi unleashes her poetic cravings on the tender droplets of water in her Hindi poem “Boond”. We have other curious articles from the readers ranging from Tobias’ experiences as an exchange student, the fascination a luxury car holds for Jawahar to Srivathsan’s musings on a shopping mall.

As the nation inches closer to the imminent parliamentary elections, we witness a flourish of colours in the political firmament. We witness diverging views, contested sites of power and ideological exchanges that dominate the public sphere. A recent series of talks culminated in a one-day multi-party debate on democracy in the IIT campus, stressing upon the burning issue at hand. One wonders if changes occur, how that might spell any difference for the common man. To allude to George Orwell’s luminous satire Animal Farm, it is no longer certain as to whether all men are common and yet some are more common than others!

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