Week Magazine - Projection of life in the year 2025 December 2013

1. Week Magazine – Projection of life in the year 2025
ASSIGNMENT 3:
Week Magazine - Projection of life in the year 2025
Research Methodology
Dr. Sridhar
TITLE: A Study on Pragmatic Approaches and
Quality Initiatives for Enhancing Teachers’ Caliber
in
Post Graduate Institutes offering MBA Programme
under Bangalore University
Under the Guidance of
Dr. T.V. Raju
Director, RV Institute of Management, Bangalore
CANARA BANK SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
BANGALORE UNIVERSITY
SUBMITTED BY
Shivananda R Koteshwar
PhD Research Scholar, 2013, REG# 350051
Shivananda
R
Koteshwar,
PhD
Research
Scholar,
Bangalore
University

2. Week Magazine – Projection of life in the year 2025
Projection
of
Life
in
the
year
2025
Source:
The
Week
Magazine,
December
2013
Issue
The
future
is
here
The
article
is
not
a
work
of
fiction.
It
is
a
realistic
projection
of
life
in
the
year
2025,
compiled
after
interviews
with
scientists,
social
scientists
and
futurists.
World
Wider
Web
Because
of
the
explosive
nature
of
exponential
growth,
the
21st
century
is
equivalent
to
20,000
years
of
progress
at
today’s
rate,
about
a
thousand
times
higher
than
the
20th
century
–Ray
Kurzweil,
American
Author
Trend
• Technology
is
developing
at
such
a
fast
pace
that
now
the
challenge
is
organizing
and
making
the
best
use
of
the
data
collected
• Technology
will
move
from
being
research
driven
to
entertainment
driven
• Cell
phone
are
expected
to
move
over
from
being
smart
to
intelligent
with
the
ability
to
predict
the
users
next
move
and
purchase
or
interpret
actions
based
on
insight
gathered
through
the
person’s
data
using
cognizant
computing.
The
phones
can
become
our
secret
digital
agents
• Retina,
meanwhile
could
become
your
identity
card,
with
retina
identification
as
the
converging
tool
Predictions
• Internet
enabled
cars
and
other
devices
o Ford
and
Volvo
are
working
on
C2C
(Car
to
Car)
networks
so
all
by
2025,
predictions
are
that
60%
of
the
cars
will
be
net
enabled
• Internet
of
things
-­‐
a
storehouse
of
knowledge
o A
doctor
could
personalize
a
prosthesis
with
the
expertise
of
people
he
doesn’t
even
know
but
through
whom
he
will
link
up
over
the
internet
o MIT
predicts
Holographic
TV
will
come
home
to
homes
at
the
prices
of
standard
LED
television
in
10
years
• Social
Media
as
an
academic
tool
o Social
media
might
morph
into
academic
tool.
• 3D
printing
o Printing
in
3D
will
be
one
of
the
biggest
disruptive
changes
in
the
coming
years.
o McKinsey
report
says
this
alone
will
change
the
face
of
global
economy
by
2025
• Virtual
Currency
o Virtual
currencies
like
bitcoin
will
gain
popularity.
o This
might
help
in
storage
and
dispersion
of
cash
but
there
will
be
host
of
new
age
crimes
and
legal
issues
that
law
enforcement
authorities
will
find
themselves
flummoxed
with
Shivananda
R
Koteshwar,
PhD
Research
Scholar,
Bangalore
University

3. Week Magazine – Projection of life in the year 2025
Experimental
Fare
Ask
not
what
you
can
do
for
your
country.
Ask
what’s
for
lunch
…Orson
Walles,
American
Actor
I
foresee
a
near
future
in
which
we
will
be
consuming
food
capsule
–
Devandra
Sharma,
An
Agriculture
Activist
Trend
• Rise
of
smart
crops
like
transgenic
rice
and
vegetables
o On
the
outskirts
of
Hyderabad
is
a
field,
which
has
not
been
watered,
in
a
long
time.
Scientists
from
a
seed-­‐producing
firm,
DSCL
are
testing
the
rce
crop
for
draught
resistance.
In
another
field
close
by,
the
crop
is
watered,
but
with
brackish
water.
As
land
under
agriculture
shrinks,
climate
change
renders
present
agricultural
land
unarable
and
as
farm
labor
gets
harder
to
come
by,
the
future
of
agriculture
is
heavily
dependent
on
smart
crops
o
At
seed
giant
Mahyco’s
lab
in
Jalna,
Maharashtra,
new
generation
crops
are
being
developed
from
transgenic
rice
that
is
better
able
to
pick
up
nitrogen
from
soil
to
transgenic
okra
that
is
resistant
to
pest
attack
o Transgenic
route
–
Taking
a
gene
from
another
organism
and
inserting
it
into
a
plant
is
being
used
to
develop
crops
that
are
herbicide
resistant
o The
golden
Rice
project
is
an
international
endeavor
to
tackle
vitamin
A
deficiency
by
incorporating
it
into
rice
grains
o Scientists
are
even
developing
platinum
rice
packed
with
iron,
calcium,
molybdenum
and
other
trace
elements.
Food,
as
we
now
know
it,
will
disappear
Predictions
• Increased
dependence
on
packaged
and
processed
food
o With
greater
food
imports,
better
storage
and
transport,
the
consumer
is
not
likely
to
know
where
the
food
one
is
eating
has
come
from.
Increased
reliance
on
packaged
and
processed
food
will
be
there.
• Power
grains
and
cheap
meat
might
become
a
staple.
Lab
grown
meat
will
be
in.
Scientists
from
Netherlands,
led
by
Mark
Post,
used
stem
cells
from
a
cow
and
grew
them
into
strips
of
muscle
from
which
a
burger
was
made!
Vanishing
Villages
The
revival
of
the
village
is
possible
only
when
is
o
more
exploited
–
Mahatma
Gandhi
Trend
• Number
of
villages
and
their
population
will
decline
o With
the
towns
boom
into
cities
and
cities
burst
at
the
seams,
villages
are
changing.
For
starters,
they
are
disappearing
o As
demographers
predict
urban
migration
at
an
even
greater
pace,
as
real
estate
agents
buy
agrarian
land
for
housing
and
office
Shivananda
R
Koteshwar,
PhD
Research
Scholar,
Bangalore
University

4. Week Magazine – Projection of life in the year 2025
•
schemes,
and
as
the
government
acquires
swathes
of
land
for
super
highways,
by
2025
villages
would
have
shrunk
further
in
numbers
and
in
population
Villages
will
become
focus
area
for
marketing
mavens,
be
it
related
to
health
care,
education
or
consumer
durables
o 69%
of
population
is
still
rural.
By
2025,
private
sector
investments
in
rural
health
alone
should
be
around
INR2.8trillion
Predictions
• With
urban
migration
on
the
rise,
rural
life
might
become
a
thing
of
the
past
• Roads
and
broadband
will
be
the
two
game
changers
in
rural
areas.
Once
you
have
connectivity,
all
other
infrastructure,
from
electrification
to
education,
falls
into
place
•
Fertile
Ground
To
create
is
divine,
to
reproduce
is
human
–
Man
Ray
Trend
• Assisted
reproductive
technology
has
hurtled
ahead
at
an
amazing
pace
every
since
the
first
test
tube
baby
was
born
25years
ago.
There
are
more
ways
of
making
babies
today
than
you
can
count
on
your
fingers
and
yet,
across
the
world,
scientists
are
devising
newer
methods
of
procreation
• Research
exists
demonstrating
how
to
make
primordial
germ
cells
from
the
skin
of
the
mice.
These
germ
cells
could
be
developed
into
both
eggs
and
sperms.
A
Japanese
scientist
Katsuhio
Hayashi
created
egg
cells,
which
he
used
to
create
live
mice.
• Across
laboratories
in
the
world,
female
cells
are
being
coerced
to
develop
into
sperms
too!
Predictions
• Within
a
decade,
we
will
be
making
human
sperms
from
stem
cells.
Eggs
may
take
longer
as
they
are
more
complex
• From
female
sperms
to
man
made
wombs,
there
will
be
several
new
ways
to
make
babies
• According
to
rough
estimate,
by
2025,
around
80000
babies
will
be
born
in
India
through
assisted
reproductive
techniques
every
year
• All
these
developments
are
likely
to
cause
a
host
of
legal,
moral
and
ethical
issues
and
will
certainly
complicated
school
biology
lessons.
Experts
are
awaiting
the
law
on
surrogacy
regulation
as
a
starting
point,
which
will
prohibit
lifestyle
babies
or
the
trend
of
sub-­‐contracting
reproducing
without
a
medical
requirement.
Built
to
rock
There
is
nothing
like
staying
at
home
for
real
comfort
…Jane
Austen
Trend
• Intelligent
Building
Management
System
Shivananda
R
Koteshwar,
PhD
Research
Scholar,
Bangalore
University

5. Week Magazine – Projection of life in the year 2025
•
•
•
•
o With
articulate
appliances
and
intelligent
buildings,
homes
are
getting
smarter.
o In
Noida,
a
builder
is
incorporating
Intelligent
Building
Management
system
into
the
construction
so
that
all
the
machines
in
the
building
can
talk
to
each
other.
Intelligent
Electrical
Metering
system
o Intelligent
electrical
metering
system
will
enable
residents
to
learn
about
their
usage
pattern
through
a
mobile
app.
Remote
Controlled
domestic
appliances
o Automated
homes
are
the
latest
sales
pitch
among
builders
and
real
estate
dealers
Intelligent
and
convenient
products
flooding
the
market
o Washing
machines
that
store
your
clothes
after
washing
and
drying
o In-­‐sink
dishwasher
o 3D
printers
that
customize
the
products
Carbon
footprint
is
another
driver
of
change.
In
2001,
there
was
one
green
building
in
India.
Today
there
are
around
2200
mostly
institutional.
Predictions
• The
Indian
Green
building
council
estimates
that
by
2025,
there
will
be
one
lakh
green
buildings
many
residential
• Active
installations
of
windmills,
solar
panels
and
rainwater
harvesting
will
be
common.
Urban
Crawl
Cities
are
obvious
metaphors
for
life.
We
call
roads
“arteries”
and
so
forth
–Geoffrey
West,
British
physicist
Trend
• Road
widening
project
or
metro
construction
or
flyover
construction
is
common
across
cities
in
India
• Government
has
realized
that
a
good
public
transport
system
is
only
effective
when
no
place
is
farther
than
a
kilometer
from
a
station
and
also
when
there
is
reliable
and
efficient
last
mile
connectivity.
Various
government
s
have
taken
positive
step
towards
achieving
this
• All
Tier-­‐2
cities
also
will
get
rapid
transit
metro
rails
with
some
Tier-­‐1
cities
getting
skybus
projects
in
addition
to
suburban
railway
network
• Better
highway
travel
experience
o Golden
quadrilateral
project
is
getting
further
enhanced
• Every
year,
several
state
highway
stretches
are
elevated
to
the
national
highway
status
• More
and
more
people
own
cars,
getting
the
city
roads
choked.
Predictions
• Infrastructure
projects
will
be
in
acceleration
mode
but
Urban
India’s
demands
would
be
growing
too
• By
2025,
most
people
will
be
taking
metro
to
work.
So
traffic
snarls
should
come
down
and
the
air
should
get
cleaner
Shivananda
R
Koteshwar,
PhD
Research
Scholar,
Bangalore
University

6. Week Magazine – Projection of life in the year 2025
•
Half
of
India
will
live
in
cities
and
towns.
o Today,
the
rural
population
is
much
higher.
Will
urban
India
be
that
promised
land
for
the
rural
migrants
or
will
be
offer
little
more
than
a
sprawling
slum
communities
surrounding
pockets
of
plushness
…Time
only
will
tell
this
Within
Reach
The
first
wealth
is
health
…Ralph
Waldo
Emerson,
American
Poet
Trend
• Medical
science
is
on
a
threshold
where
there
are
multiple
game
changers
• 10%
of
surgeries
are
robot
guided
• Tremendous
advancement
in
nanotechnology
area
• Advances
in
research
in
Stem
Cell
therapy.
Around
10%
diseases
can
be
treated
with
stem
cell
therapy
• Biotherapeutics
or
making
medicines
from
living
organisms
instead
of
synthetic
molecules
is
a
big
ticket
venture
• Lifestyle
diseases
and
treatment
resistant
• People
are
working
on
several
indigenous
models
of
taking
health
care
to
the
grassroots
levels.
Predictions
• Most
surgeries
are
robot
guided
o Treatment
will
be
on
an
altogether
different
plane
in
2025.
The
operation
theater
is
going
to
see
greater
mechanization,
with
robot-­‐guided
surgery
taking
over.
o 75%
of
surgeries
will
be
robot
guided
ensuring
safer
and
more
precise
procedures
• Greater
use
of
nanotechnology
o Nano
particles
will
be
used
as
scaffolds
to
mount
cells
for
stem
cell
therapy
or
delivery
of
medicines
• Stem
Cell
therapy
will
be
move
from
research
to
treatment
level
and
cover
more
ailment
treatment
• Biotherapeutics
will
be
in
vogue
o Regenerative
medicine
beyond
stem
cells
takes
us
to
the
realm
of
artificial
organs
from
bionic
yes
and
mind
controlled
prostheses
to
artificial
skins
and
bladders.
We
will
see
more
molecular
targeted
therapy
for
cancer
treatment
as
well
as
gene
therapy
to
great
genetic
diseases
• The
world
will
be
will
be
polio-­‐free
and
perhaps
even
leprosy-­‐free.
Measles
and
rubella
will
not
be
childhood
fears
and
fewer
infants
will
succumb
to
diarrhea
and
pneumonia
• Once
Internet
broadband
reaches
villages,
primary
health
care
centers
will
be
able
to
provide
a
digital
barefoot
doctor
service
to
the
most
distant
reaches
• The
upward
graph
of
lifestyle
diseases
will
be
compounded
with
the
resurgence
of
infectious
diseases
in
more
virulent
avatars
than
before.
We
are
looking
at
80million
diabetic
Indians
by
2025
and
many
of
them
in
rural
areas
now
Shivananda
R
Koteshwar,
PhD
Research
Scholar,
Bangalore
University

7. Week Magazine – Projection of life in the year 2025
Space
Ace
I
don’t
think
the
human
race
will
survive
the
next
thousand
years
unless
we
spread
into
space
–
Stephen
Hawking
Trend
• Inching
towards
Earth-­‐Moon-­‐Mars
habitation
o Rovers
landing
on
moon
surface
and
hopes
of
bringing
back
lunar
samples
o Almost
all
developed
and
developing
nations
are
taking
great
strides
in
Moon
mission
and
Mars
Mission
• Wanderlust
has
bitten
space
faring
nations
badly
and
this
time,
the
race
isn’t
a
short
dash
to
space
or
moon,
but
marathons
into
deep
space,
the
aim
shifting
from
curios
explorations
to
possibilities
of
newer
homes
or
at
least
resource
centers
• India
itself
is
readying
a
solar
probe
as
well
as
its
second
moon
mission
• Across
the
world,
scientists
are
working
on
man0rated
vehicles
which
can
endure
very
long
flights.
Predictions
• Many
farms
and
Martian
homes
may
become
a
reality
• Deep
space
traffic
from
Earth,
is
likely
to
be
quite
heavy
over
the
next
decade
• India’s
satellite
fleet
is
already
an
admirable
one.
Over
the
next
decade,
our
satellite
network
will
cover
almost
every
aspect
of
life
in
the
country
improving
meteorological
forecasts
and
developing
an
indigenous
navigation
system
Demographic
Dilemmas
It
was
the
best
of
times;
it
was
the
worst
of
the
times
-­-­-­Charles
Dickens
Trend
• The
problem
is
not
in
the
population
but
in
the
distribution
of
those
numbers
across
ages,
gender
and
geographies
• Employability
and
source
of
jobs
for
the
growing
youths
is
getting
thinner
• Unbalanced
sex
ratio
in
India
is
hurting
the
society
Predictions
• India
will
surpass
china
and
will
be
the
most
populated
country
with
1.4billion
and
counting
• The
average
age
of
India
will
be
29
compared
to
38
in
China
and
40+
in
Japan.
With
around
300million
youth
entering
the
workforce
by
2025,
human
resources
will
be
India’s
greatest
asset
and
export
• Women
will
earn
more
• Average
life
expectancy
to
go
up
to
75years
from
65years.
12%
of
the
population
would
be
60+.
More
products
will
be
there
in
market
for
the
senior
consumer.
This
population
also
can
be
a
burden
as
at
least
10%
of
seniors
are
expected
to
be
bedridden
Shivananda
R
Koteshwar,
PhD
Research
Scholar,
Bangalore
University

8. Week Magazine – Projection of life in the year 2025
Comfort
Material
Our
minds
want
clothes
as
much
as
our
bodies
-­-­-­Samuel
Butler,
British
Poet
Trend
• Fire
and
water
resistant
and
dust
repellent
clothes
are
hitting
the
market
• Technology
is
getting
integrated
to
textile
industry
• Nano
technology
is
pushing
the
boundaries
aiding
innovation
in
textile
industry
Predictions
• From
silicone
chemise
to
dirt
free
denims,
technical
textile
will
be
in
vogue
• A
smart
vest
that
monitors
the
person’s
vital
stats
and
sending
to
the
doctor
through
a
wireless
network
will
be
common
A
POSSBLE
SCENARIO
Anoushka,
45,
is
running
late.
She
has
an
appointment
with
her
assisted
reproduction
(AR)
specialist
and
his
legal
team
regarding
her
next
baby.
After
the
legal
hassles
she
had
with
her
former
live-­‐in
partner
over
custody
and
maintenance
of
their
daughter,
Ria,
now
five,
she
would
rather
not
have
a
father
for
her
next
baby.
The
AR
team
is
confident
that
her
eggs,
which
she
cryo-­‐froze
15
years
ago,
will
produce
a
bonnie
baby.
But
since
she
wants
to
use
a
female
sperm
for
fertilisation,
the
legal
team
wants
to
run
over
some
finer
points
with
her.
Would
it
be
a
better
option
to
create
a
sperm
from
her
skin
cells
or
should
she
go
for
a
donor
female
sperm?
Since
legislation
hasn't
kept
pace
with
changing
technology,
there
are
a
lot
of
grey
areas.
The
last
thing
she
wants
is
a
legal
tussle
over
the
next
baby.
As
the
escalator
descends
to
the
parking
lot,
her
mobile
phone
beeps.
It
is
her
refrigerator,
communicating
through
an
app,
that
they
are
out
of
milk,
the
spinach
is
five
days
old
and
wilting
but
there
is
enough
leftover
dal
to
take
care
of
Ria's
and
Anoushka's
73-­‐year-­‐old
father's
lunch.
Anoushka
smiles
to
herself,
thinking
about
her
father.
Here
she
is,
completely
off
men.
And
Papa
is
now
getting
sweet
on
the
lady
he
met
at
the
Parkinson's
stem
cell
therapy
clinic.
If
Papa
decides
to
marry
her
and
move
out,
she'll
have
to
think
of
babysitting
arrangements
all
over
again.
Her
grandmother
is
a
sprightly
95-­‐year-­‐old,
but
her
hours
are
so
filled
with
spiritual
meetings,
yoga-­‐for-­‐seniors
classes
and
television,
that
saddling
her
with
a
newborn
will
be
unfair.
Anoushka
thought
she
would
have
more
time
in
hand
now
that
she
doesn't
have
to
commute
to
work
so
often.
Her
company
recently
conceded
to
the
advantages
of
hooking
up
a
home
office
for
most
employees
and
keeping
only
a
little
cubicle
as
headquarters.
Despite
the
new
rash
of
flyovers
all
over
the
city,
traffic
remains
chaotic.
Even
her
domestic
help,
who
lives
in
a
newly-­‐sprung
urban
slum
some
Shivananda
R
Koteshwar,
PhD
Research
Scholar,
Bangalore
University

9. Week Magazine – Projection of life in the year 2025
kilometres
from
her
gated
community,
has
bought
a
secondhand
hatchback
for
herself
and
even
managed
a
licence.
The
new
emission
laws
came
into
effect
two
years
ago,
but
with
so
many
more
vehicles
on
the
road,
the
air
quality
hasn't
really
improved.
And,
incidentally,
where
did
all
the
time
she
saved
from
commuting
vanish?
With
video
conferences
beginning
early
in
the
day
and
going
on
till
late
at
night,
Anoushka
feels
she
is
being
tied
down
to
her
work
more
stringently
than
before.
Last
fortnight,
her
seniors
streamed
in
a
video
conference
over
her
uber
smart
7G
phone
while
she
was
shopping
at
the
mall.
She
rushed
to
the
fire
escape
to
find
a
few
moments
of
quiet.
The
outing
was
supposed
to
be
a
treat
for
Papa
and
Ria,
the
mall
had
a
new
experiential
laser
show
for
shoppers.
Otherwise,
Anoushka
prefers
to
shop
online,
whether
for
greens
or
garments.
Home
deliveries,
however,
also
take
time
to
navigate
through
traffic.
Wouldn't
it
have
been
a
good
thing
if
Amazon's
octocopter
delivery
system
had
taken
off
and
little
drones
carrying
shopping
packages
entered
through
the
window?
The
device,
however,
couldn't
navigate
through
the
maze
of
chaotic
constructions.
Even
the
most
updated
Google
maps
could
never
be
accurate
enough
about
unauthorised
extensions
to
buildings.
The
moment
she
turns
on
the
ignition,
the
car's
wi-­‐fi
system
gets
activated.
“No,
I
am
on
leave
today,”
she
voicemails
her
office,
even
as
a
list
of
appointments
begin
streaming
in.
Now
it
is
her
younger
sister
calling
her
on
Skype
from
Mumbai,
since
she
has
been
able
to
hook
up
their
brother
from
Australia,
too.
“Let
us
have
a
sibling
reunion
today,”
says
the
sister,
and
Anoushka
has
to
say
a
firm,
“No.
I'm
driving.”
She
wonders
whether
she
should
go
offline,
but
she
is
always
scared
that
she
will
miss
an
SOS
from
Papa
or
Ria.
So,
she
ignores
all
the
online
traffic
flooding
in
and
concentrates
instead
on
the
road
traffic.
Her
AR
centre
is
in
a
satellite
town
40km
away.
The
drive,
once
clear
of
the
city,
is
a
beautiful
one.
The
eight-­‐laned
highway
is
flanked
by
fields,
lush
green
even
though
there
has
been
barely
a
drop
of
rain
this
year.
“These
drought-­‐resistant
crops
are
good,”
she
concedes.
When
Anoushka
read
about
smart
crops
in
a
newspaper
article
(thank
god
newspapers
haven't
gone
extinct
yet),
her
response
was
ambivalent.
Was
so
much
tampering
with
nature
a
good
idea,
she
had
wondered
as
she
read
about
introducing
genes
into
crops
for
drought
and
salinity
resistance.
But
then,
as
she
thinks
about
the
baby
she
is
planning,
Anoushka
shrugs.
It
is
a
smart
age,
after
all.
Smart
babies,
smart
crops
and
smart
homes.
Incidentally,
the
new
platinum
rice
they
have
been
using
is
such
an
improvement
on
the
golden
rice
they
were
used
to.
The
new
rice
is
packed
with
iron,
molybdenum,
zinc
and
calcium,
and
is
low
on
the
glycemic
index.
Shivananda
R
Koteshwar,
PhD
Research
Scholar,
Bangalore
University

10. Week Magazine – Projection of life in the year 2025
The
meeting
with
the
medico-­‐legal
team
leaves
Anoushka
even
more
confused.
She
decides
to
read
up
a
little
more
and
ask
other
parents
who
have
opted
for
avant-­‐garde
reproductive
methods
before
taking
a
final
call.
Which
reminds
her
that
she
needs
to
buy
software
for
Ria's
new
school
year.
She
also
needs
to
buy
a
couple
of
books
and
pencils
as
teachers
insist
on
one
writing
exercise
a
day.
It
is
to
keep
the
fingers
nimble
and
well-­‐exercised.
Although
'writing'
now
is
more
through
the
Swype
mode,
there
is
still
a
lot
of
keyboard
typing
and
repetitive
injury
(RI)
syndrome
is
becoming
a
common
schoolroom
problem.
“Expenses,
expenses
everywhere,”
she
mutters
to
herself.
It
is
a
challenge
running
a
household
on
one
salary
and
a
pension
that
nowhere
factors
in
the
high
cost
of
living.
Actually,
there
is
little
left
of
Papa's
pension
after
paying
the
electricity
and
water
bills.
The
water
tariff
is
likely
to
go
higher
this
year.
When
there
is
no
rain,
there
is
little
water
left
in
the
rain
harvesting
sump,
too.
More
water
tankers
sucking
out
the
last
drops
of
moisture
from
a
village
will
be
a
temporary,
though
pricey,
solution.
The
phone
beeps
again.
It
is
her
washing
machine
telling
her
it
has
run
out
of
storage
space
for
washed
laundry.
She
will
have
to
remove
some
of
the
clothes
and
put
them
in
the
wardrobe
before
doing
the
next
round
of
washing.
It
is
a
mercy
that
most
textiles
these
days
don't
require
ironing,
except
the
organically-­‐
grown
natural
fibre
ones.
She
shrugs
again.
It
is
the
price
you
pay
for
keeping
your
connect
with
nature
in
some
way
at
least.
She
is
tempted
to
stop
on
the
way
to
grab
a
bite
or
buy
a
paperback
of
the
latest
pulp
fiction.
There
is
always
a
nice
feeling
about
curling
up
in
bed
with
a
book,
a
cosiness
her
electronic
library
cannot
replicate.
Perhaps,
it
is
about
having
something
tangible
in
a
virtual
age.
It
is
getting
dark,
though,
and
Anoushka
wants
to
clear
the
highway
while
there
is
still
some
daylight
left.
India
is
not
a
safe
place
for
women
even
after
so
many
laws
ensuring
their
safety
have
been
passed.
The
highway
traverses
through
swathes
that
Census
2011
had
highlighted
as
having
the
lowest
child
sex
ratio.
Today,
it
means
these
villages
are
teeming
with
young
men
of
marriageable
age,
but
with
even
fewer
girls
to
marry
than
there
were
a
decade
ago.
Sexual
violence
is
a
way
of
life
here.
As
she
buzzes
into
her
apartment,
Anoushka
sees
her
grandmother
and
Ria
watching
news
on
their
new
3D
television
set
that
doesn't
require
those
clunky
goggles.
“Mamma,
who
do
you
think
will
reach
Mars
first,
the
American
man
or
the
Russian
woman?”
asks
Ria.
The
newscaster,
meanwhile,
has
moved
on
to
the
next
bulletin.
“They
are
saying
that
this
will
be
the
first
ice-­‐free
summer
in
the
Arctic.
Tour
operators
are
already
planning
Arctic
cruises
in
the
next
few
years....”
Grandmother
muses:
“Will
they
have
discounts
for
centenarians?
I
am
turning
a
hundred
in
five
years
from
now.”
Shivananda
R
Koteshwar,
PhD
Research
Scholar,
Bangalore
University