Srirangam Ramaswamy may have been a better name for the archetypical Indian code-jock but Arjun Mehta does just as well. The nomenclature isn't exactly representative-six, even seven, out of every 10 Indian software programmers are from the south of the Vindhyas, the mountain range that bisects India-but that is condonable in a work of fiction. Mehta is the protagonist of Transmission, Hari Kunzru's second book. The book is a great second act to The Impressionist, Kunzru's picaresque first work that established him as a great new literary talent (and, thankfully, one who writes more like Henry Fielding than V.S. Naipaul). It, Transmission, is, at one level, all about the link between the real and the virtual and, as described in a denouement that is all too brief, the passage from one to the other. It is also the first work of fiction about India's emergence as a treasure trove of warm bodies proficient in code. A phenomenon can be safely assumed to have arrived when popular culture, as manifested in literature, music, art, or other forms of expression, adopts it as a theme. India's information technology industry arrived some time ago; Transmission just provides its arrival with literary endorsement.

Kunzru, despite his name and the legion of Indians that has suddenly come forward to claim him a countryman, is not an Indian (he is British but of Indian origin) and that could explain the Mehta bit. Arjun and Priti-the sister who works in a call centre-are Punjabi names and while the can-do breed that gave the world butter chicken and Bhangra rap is no stranger to something as universally Indian as software, a Punjabi deeply into binary stuff is a bit like a sambhar-quaffing Iyer regimental officer of an essentially Sikh regiment, not a mathematical impossibility but nothing more. There's also the little thing about Mehta's sexual naivete, computing expertise, and karmic fatalism sitting better on a Ramaswamy or a Srinivasan. Still, it isn't the objective of this composition to knock Kunzru's book- and what a book it is; then, there's harikunzru.com, perhaps the best digital spoor of a contemporary author-or his knowledge of India. Indeed, this piece isn't about Kunzru at all but about Mehta and Indian code jocks.

Intellectually superior but socially challenged individuals like Mehta are more the norm than the exception in India's software industry. The bigger companies try and sandpaper out the rough edges through formal training sessions. "Knife in right hand and fork in left and do not use your hand as some kind of shovel that works in consonance with the fork." "It is customary for co-workers in the US to smile at each other in the morning and say 'How are you?'; if a female co-worker does this it doesn't mean, I repeat, it doesn't mean that she'd like to sleep with you." The smaller ones and body shoppers like the firm that sends Mehta to the US in the book make do with what they can get. Given the asymmetrical sex ratio in engineering colleges-at the better ones such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, it is around 10:1 (and that's in a good year)-the typical code jock's awkwardness in dealing with the opposite sex shouldn't surprise anyone.

India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) hasn't responded to Mehta's portrayal as a laid-off techie who tries to get back by unleashing a powerful virus into the network but this writer is certain that Messrs Karnik and Rao (President Kiran Karnik and Chairman Jerry Rao, both alumni of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and both prolific readers) will not be too happy about the timing of Transmission's release. Just when they had thought they had contained the fall out of the backlash against outsourcing...

-By R.S.

Harry Who?
Harry Winston, that's who, and India, or at least, Delhi, has its own.
Meet Upendera Kumar Sharma.

Before Delhi got its malls and multiplexes, it had its markets, emporia of commerce named after the areas where they were located: South Extension I, South Extension II, Green Park, M-Block, and on and on. That's where wannabe mall rats, just-passing-through visitors to the capital, or middle class matrons out for an airing window shopped, met with friends and made new ones, and hung about doing anything but shop. They still do that, everywhere but at Suryansh Diamonds, a 900 sq ft outlet in heaving South Extension II. You cannot just walk into Suryansh Diamonds; an appointment is a must. The first thing that meets your eye is an attendant behind a desk and a guard straight out of MIB. Behind them is a huge pane of frosted glass and behind that is where all the action happens. The guard presses a button and the frosted glass slides back to reveal Upendera Kumar, the Managing Director of Suryansh. His office comprises a private cabin, where he catches up with work and a lounge-with plush leather sofas and a surfeit of cut flowers and crystal, it can seat a maximum of five-where customers shop for diamonds. Another button facilitates entry into Sharma's sanctum sanctorum, his cabin. "We are not jewellers," he begins imperiously. Suryansh, it emerges, is a solitaire boutique, arguably the only one in the country. If you have Rs 22 lakh lying around you can walk in (with an appointment), and buy the smallest stone (3 carats) on offer. The boutique sells stones that weigh as little as this, or as much as 55 carats, all imported from Belgium, the US, South Africa, Israel, and Brazil.

Sharma's family is in the FMCG business, but armed with a qualification from the Gemological Institute of America, the man decided that India was ready for a solitaire boutique and opened one on June 10. His explanation is cut short by a call on his Nokia 7610 and while talking on the phone he pushes a futuristic looking PDA-phone towards me. My O2 XdA, he says gleefully after hanging up. It's hard not to notice the huge stone on his finger as he is saying this, something that stands out among the 10 rings he sports. Spoilsport that he is, Sharma won't tell me how much the stone weighs or what it is worth. Or his age. Or the number of diamonds in his shop. Or the source of his money. He eventually wants to open similar boutiques in Japan, the UK, and the US, but has never heard of jeweller-to-the-stars Harry Winston. "I want to be him," he tells this writer when he is told who Winston is. Suryansh's flak catcher dutifully calls up the following day asking for "the name of the diamond guy you spoke about."

-Amanpreet Singh

TREADMILL
PROTEIN BASICS

Protein and weight-training go hand-in-glove. No surprises there. People who weight train do so to build their muscles-tone them up and strengthen them. And protein is the fuel that can help weight-training get you the desired results. I get loads of queries from people about how to ensure that their diets serve up enough protein. Some readers write in to ask whether they ought to add commercially available protein supplements to their diet while weight training. Others wonder how vegetarians can get enough protein in their diet.

The average person requires about 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. So if you weigh 70 kg, your ideal daily protein intake would be 56 grams. If you train intensively (say, nine hours a week or more), your muscles may need a bit more protein to ensure that they don't get burned up, say, 1-1.5 grams per kg. Experts say that is an optimal measure of protein intake that is required for those trying to increase muscle mass through weight training.

Now, how do you ensure you're getting enough of protein? I've had many readers, like 22-year-old Bhaskaran S., who eats eggs but not fish and meat, write in to ask me how their diets should be structured. On the face of it, non-vegetarians may have it easy. Just increase the amount of lean meat or fish or chicken in your diet and you're done. But what about the veg weight-trainers, what do they do? Not a big problem there, really. Most vegetarians drink milk and have no problem in eating cottage cheese (paneer), lentils or soy protein. And, if you eat eggs so much the better. Suppose you weigh 68 kg. Ordinarily, going by the 0.8 grams per kg rule, you'd need around 54 grams of protein daily. But if you weight-train and want to build muscle mass, you ought to increase that to around 68-100 grams a day. But please remember to cut down on fats and carbohydrates slightly-only slightly, because carbs are the fuel for exercising. A thumb-rule: carbs should comprise around 50 per cent of your total daily intake; protein 15-20 per cent and fats the balance 20-25 per cent.

Now, a question from a reader. Dr. Dhiraj C. Kaveri, a Pune-based physiotherapist writes: "I read your article on core stability exercises and was very impressed. But being a physiotherapist I am very keen on knowing more about the topic. Could you provide some references to more on the subject?" Well, core strength (as I mentioned in an earlier column) refers to strengthening the muscles of your back and abdominal area, which help in supporting your spine and increase the stability of your body. The core muscles are the abdominal muscles-the transverse abdominis, the external obliques (on the sides of the abdomen), the internal obliques (which lie under the external obliques) and the rectus abdominis-the long muscle that is in front of the abdomen (commonly referred to as the six-pack). For more on strengthening your core muscles, you could refer to a myriad of resources easily available on the internet. For starters, look up www.exrx.net and www.allspiritfitness.com. Of course, Treadmill will continue to keep you abreast of the latest trends in core strength training.

-Muscles Mani
write to musclesmani@intoday.com

PILL HAPPY? DON'T BE

Your project is late, your phone won't stop ringing, and you've been in your office chair all day. The penalty: stress, headache and a back that is acting up again. To a stressed-out professional, this generally means popping an Aspirin and getting back to business. But the saying "an Aspirin a day keeps the doctor at bay" is just a cliché, according to Dr. Rahul Mehrotra, an Escorts Heart Institute cardiologist.

HOW IT WORKS: Whether time-released, extra-strength or effervesced, all Aspirin works the same way: by blocking production of hormone-like chemicals (prostaglandins) that have something to do with everything from blood circulation and clotting to body temperature and breathing. At high levels, prostaglandins cause pain; Aspirin simply stops cells from producing them.

CONSUMER, BE WISE: Aspirin was once the miracle drug used for headaches, fever, minor pain, and arthritis in higher doses, but Dr. Mehrohtra only prescribes the pills to heart patients. Newer medicines have fewer side-effects than Aspirin, he says, and suggests Tylenol for headaches.

HEART HEALTHY: About seven in ten heart patients take Aspirin. Studies done in UK show that the probability of these patients suffering a heart attack is about 25 per cent lower than among those who do not take Aspirin. This has led to some consumers popping a tablet along with a morning vitamin. But Aspirin is not approved for healthy individuals because of its risks. The same quality that gives Aspirin its potential benefit-its ability to inhibit clotting of the blood-may increase the risk of excessive bleeding, including the possibility of bleeding in the brain.

-Sushma Subramanian