A Small Catch for SpaceX. A Giant Leap for Mankind.

Khalistanis in Canada, shootings in Mumbai, MEA in Pakistan. It’s certainly starting to feel like the 1980s, except for the music, which is truly insipid in comparison. The biggest event though, not just of this week, but perhaps the last fifty years, was when Elon Musk’s Mechazilla, the giant metallic arm, caught the booster that launched into space. It was the greatest leap forward in space advancements since NASA put men on the moon. In this week’s edition of The Weekly Vine, we have: a giant catch for mankind, the India vs Canada fracas, a shooting in Mumbai, plagiarism charges against Harris, and saying Tata to a friend of the furries.

A Giant Catch for Mankind

The Big Bang Theory’s prequel, Young Sheldon, has a gag that it was adolescent Cooper’s notes that helped Elon Musk figure out how to land launched rockets, and that bit of science fiction actually came true when SpaceX’s Mechazilla caught the booster from the fifth Starship test flight. Like Sundar Pichai, this author has rewatched it many times, wondering how the same species that needs to be told not to eat Tide Pods is also capable of doing something so historic. The successful landing suggests that it’s not too far off when a massive reusable booster could be used to launch a reusable spaceship, which in time will start to last longer than the average iPhone model. This development could significantly increase the amount of cargo SpaceX can transport to orbit in the second half of this decade.

The cost per tonne of launching payloads into orbit is also expected to plummet. Citigroup estimates that SpaceX’s semi-reusable Falcon 9 rockets, which are flown frequently, have already reduced launch costs by a factor of ten. A fully reusable Starship could reduce costs even further, potentially making the leap in spaceflight technology the most significant since the 1960s.

This brings me back to a notion that is in vogue these days, that Elon Musk is a product of white privilege who somehow lucked into various things and is a conman like Gilderoy Lockhart, claiming credit for other people’s achievements. That’s not a view held by his peers. Jensen Huang, the Nvidia CEO whose hardware is powering the AI race, admitted last year it took Musk and xAI 19 days to achieve a feat that would take most companies more than a year.

Over the years, Musk has delved into technology that has shaped the modern world and all the marvellous wonders that we take absolutely for granted.

Zip2, which provided business directories to newspapers, was the precursor to digital mapping and location services. PayPal revolutionised digital payments and is the father of modern fintech. Tesla is at the forefront of both EVs and self-driving cars, launched at a time when electric vehicles were just an afterthought. Starlink provides internet services in remote corners of the world. Neuralink has already allowed a quadriplegic to interact with a computer using his thoughts.

Many years ago, Steve Jobs had said: “People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” Musk has done that several times over.

Trudeau’s K-Love

And now it’s time for Canada, a nation that is so serious about terrorism that it refused to extradite one to India because New Delhi wasn’t deferential enough to the Queen of England and might have had a mole in the conspiracy that led to the Air India bombing but withdrew the mole instead of stopping the plot so this mole wouldn’t be implicated. Canada would also fail to smile when India used its ‘peaceful’ plutonium for the Smiling Buddha tests in 1974.

The modern India vs Canada fracas appears to have started in 2023 after the murder of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, though some historians have claimed it began after Trudeau’s grand Cultural Appropriation Cosplay Tour of 2018 and the G20 summit in 2023 being another flashpoint after he was stuck in India for two days when his plane malfunctioned, and he was forced to survive on millet-based snacks.

Jokes apart, Canada has always had a Khalistan problem that it refuses to learn from, and something that even Canadian media has acknowledged time and again.

Trudeau’s latest K-love saga appears to have been precipitated by Jagmeet Singh’s NDP pulling the plug on their alliance that kept Trudeau’s government in power and leaves him in a precarious political position that can’t be fixed by answering questions about quantum computing.

The latest salvo, which has seen numerous diplomats expelled, also saw the Royal Canadian Mounted Police claiming that the Indian government was using the Bishnoi Group to target pro-Khalistani elements inside Canada. It’s an allegation that the Indian government took very seriously by not replying at all except through an adroitly acerbic MEA statement that was the diplomatic equivalent of an Apollo Creed uppercut. To be fair, it’s hard to take allegations by an institution that calls itself the Mounties seriously.

The statement pointed out that Trudeau constantly “pandered to the anti-India separatist agenda” and “consciously provided space to violent extremists and terrorists to harass, threaten, and intimidate Indian diplomats and community leaders.” Indian government sources even said it was “same old Trudeau saying the same old things for the same old reasons.” As far as statements go, it doesn’t get harsher, and the last time Canadians faced such unforgiving feedback was when Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern hit theatres. It would appear, as far as the Indian establishment is concerned, Canada is the new Pakistan, not even worthy of acknowledgement before it sorts out its terror-loving internal politics.

Nelson Mandela of Bandra

To truly grasp Baba Siddique's vast influence, Salman Khan serves as a prime example. A memorable video from 2014 features Salman alongside then-CM Narendra Modi, addressing an audience of Modi supporters in Gujarat. Salman, in a statement that captured attention, suggested they should vote for the "best man" and mentioned his "best men" as Baba Siddique and Priya Dutt.

This moment symbolised the significant sway Siddique held over both Bandra and Mumbai's political landscape, which naturally extended into Bollywood. Sunil Dutt had a close bond with him, considering Siddique a second son, and Siddique's influence in Bandra politics was almost unassailable. He later became a mentor to Priya Dutt. His famous Iftar gatherings were iconic long before the age of social media influencers. In 2013, Siddique achieved what many thought impossible – reconciling Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan after five years of estrangement.

Towards the end of his tenure in the Congress, things became increasingly difficult for Siddique, who felt the party had treated him like "curry leaves used to enhance the taste of food." ??

Remarkably, despite his significance, there has yet to be a comprehensive obituary for one of Mumbai’s most influential figures, a man renowned for brokering peace between individuals from opposing sides of the political spectrum. In his own way, Baba Siddique was a peacekeeper par excellence, deftly managing the various power centres that kept Mumbai running.

Plagiarism charges rock Harris campaign

One would have thought that getting Barack Obama in the last stretch of the campaign would be a home run for the Harris campaign, but his pedantic criticism of African-American men appears to have touched a raw nerve in a campaign that is struggling to appeal to black men. The Harris campaign appears to want to rectify this by promising to make weed legal across the nation and crypto legit, which is a hard sell given that in her avatar as district attorney she locked up many folks for recreational marijuana use.

The latest ripple seems to be plagiarism accusations against her 2009 book Smart on Crime, which included five paragraphs lifted from Wikipedia. The accusations were made by conservative activist and anti-plagiarism vigilante Christopher Rufo, who earlier helped Claudine Gay’s dismissal as Harvard president after pointing out plagiarism in her academic work. While mainstream legal media has sought to downplay the accusations, plagiarism allegations have felled previous campaigns, as they did Joe Biden’s 1988 US Presidential campaign. Of course, those were simpler times, and with just 2.5 points separating Harris and Trump, it’s quite impossible to tell what will decide this election.

Farewell friend of Furries?

?And finally, one of our shining lights has left us. Ratan Tata, the captain of industry, might be remembered for his numerous business achievements, but his humanity was defined by his deep compassion for animals, particularly dogs. His affection for stray animals was evident in his advocacy on social media, where he urged people to care for them and find them homes. He was instrumental in establishing Mumbai’s Small Animal Hospital, a cutting-edge facility dedicated to animal care. Tata frequently shared touching moments with his adopted dogs on Instagram, showcasing his personal connection with them. He also made appeals to help strays in need, such as a heartfelt post when an abandoned dog was found near Sion Hospital, urging people to help. His care extended to practical advice, like reminding people to check under vehicles during the monsoon to avoid harming animals seeking shelter.

In 2021, Tata highlighted the empathy of ordinary individuals, sharing a photo of a Taj Hotels employee protecting a stray dog from the rain with an umbrella. His beloved dog, Goa, often accompanied him at Bombay House, symbolising the joy and companionship he found in animals. Even after his passing, Tata’s enduring legacy of kindness towards animals continues to inspire, reflecting his belief in empathy for all living creatures. Goodbye’s too good a word, so let’s say TATA.

(written by Nirmalya Dutta ; cartoon by Prasad Sanyal )