[Reader-list] Is painting a currency note which can not be forged unless you act illegally?

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear Partha,

Thank you for responding.

Please allow me to tell you why I used the word -magic-. Firstly I did not
use magic with respect to IT, it was used in my response to Inder's mail
with respect to the idea of a number. Secondly, when I choose to articulate
the properties of number by the use of the word -magic-, I was perhaps
alluding to an interpretation of one or many of the following meanings-

1.    the art of producing illusions as entertainment by the use of sleight
of hand, deceptive devices, etc.; legerdemain; conjuring: to pull a rabbit
out of a hat by magic.
2.     the art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of
incantation or various other techniques that presumably assure human control
of supernatural agencies or the forces of nature. Compare contagious magic,
imitative magic, sympathetic magic.
3.     the use of this art: Magic, it was believed, could drive illness from
the body.
4.     the effects produced: the magic of recovery.
5.     power or influence exerted through this art: a wizard of great magic.
6.     any extraordinary or mystical influence, charm, power, etc.: the
magic in a great name; the magic of music; the magic of spring.
7.     (initial capital letter) the U.S. code name for information from
decrypting machine-enciphered Japanese wireless messages before and during
World War II.
–adjective
8.     employed in magic: magic spells; magic dances; magic rites.
9.     mysteriously enchanting; magical: magic beauty.
10.     of, pertaining to, or due to magic.
11.     producing the effects of magic; magical: a magic touch.

(You may find more such interpretations on the word -magic- here-
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=magic)

As you can perhaps grasp from the list of meaning mentioned above, when we
attribute the property of magic to something; as I have, in my response, I
was perhaps, hinting to a range of possibilities, which may be interpreted
as, either, the art of producing a desired effect as the meaning serialized
in the second position above indicates; or the effects produced, as the
meaning serialized in the fourth position above indicates.

You see, one could argue, the Government of India wants the services of a
-number- to deliver funds to the underprivileged, in other words one could
say, the Government of India wants to have a desired effect of its
benevolent policies towards the poor through the agency of this number, in
other words, the properties of such a number which shall be used could be
articulated  as M-A-G-I-C-A-L.

Similarly, we could also argue, that the Government of India wants a number,
a National Identity Number, a NIN number to be used or employed to produce a
desired effect, in so far as its policies pertaining to distribution of
wealth or collection of taxes are concerned. In which case, we shall not be
going completely off the mark and we shall not be indulging in any
misconceptions, quite contrary to what your mail suggests, if attribute the
properties of a number as magical.

Now moving on to your second and subsequent points-

2.  I have friends in the US with 2 licenses and 3 GC who move
violations on requisite documents so that no one identity is compromised.

So what should we do? Take that as a precedent to sanction 27,000 crore
rupees? With no public debate, none what so ever because, Partha's two
friends in the US have multiple identity documents and they would rather
have one. I do not get this. And to be honest, it will neither excite me or
make me depressed if India goes for national roll out on MNIC. For I will
also have one and I shall have it because my government wants me to have
one. But this must not act as a deterrent for us to not to talk about it
from a range of perspectives and analyze it as thoroughly as possible.
Because as citizens is it not our obligation to do so. To scrutinize every
public policy so that the good of all is not in any way compromised. If you
think, the answer is yes. Then this is exactly what I am doing.

3. Computers are STUPID. They will only say / do what we define, and
our 'Chalta hai" attitude ensures everything is OK.

Well...if Chalta hai is the attitude of India, then I do not know, whether
to tremble with fear thinking what will happen to my private and personal
information which also includes bank details, or to just let it be and
think, that  since nothing will happen because...you know...chalta hai will
not allow anything to happen!!!

Or just talk about it, think about it and have a harmless conversation. As I
have said earlier, nothing what we say or write on the reader list will have
a policy implication. This list does not have either any power or any
influence to charm any national policy, it has not shown any propensity to
do so in last nine years of its existence anyway, so for a moment could I
suggest that we will not loose anything it we suspend judgment and allow
ourselves some space to think. We are just trying to understand an unfolding
social reality. And what is any harm in that.

b) India and Pakistan
Used to think India was baaaa...ad, till I saw Pakistan. There is no
act... only jokers miming

Frankly, I am not interested in Pakistan, for I find political Pakistan with
its continuing romance with feudalism- stupid and sickening. I find the
attitude of the smug Pakistani elite to allow feudalism after all these
years and even after having access to a range of political sensibilities be
it European, American, Arab or Indian, absolutely disgusting and abhorrable.
Hence I do not think they are jokers, I would rather think of them as mental
retards who are still stuck, it seems, in the 18th-19th century's charm of
zamindari and all the comforts that this sick, inhuman and disgusting system
provides perhaps with the best form of aish and aaram.

c)Passports are viable when boundaries hold a meaning - or a state /
nation has a value, an EQ Where is that now?

Not quite true, as history suggests, passports were valid and viable even
when boundaries were loose in a frontier like state.  I think in my
experience an entity like a nation state still exists and it has got a
presence. Please allow me to share an anecdote in this regard, once a couple
of years ago, I was traveling to Kingston in Canada from Delhi in India and
as a matter of curiosity I counted the number of doors that I had to pass
through. The flight was from IGI to Heathrow to Toronto to Kingston. I
passed 42 doors in this process, of which 15 had armed guards and I was body
checked four times. From this experience I am tempted to conclude, that
national boundaries are present and they have a meaning. Of course, a
counter experience of not respecting national boundaries will perhaps negate
the presence of a nation state and I am not laying claim to any
generalization but I am open to a conversation on the idea of a nation
state.

Warm regards

Taha