Month: February 2009
Joblessness and Writing
Apparently the the least in the hierarchy of learning is knowledge related to technology. Any activity of thought, reason and creativity is pushed ruthlessly to the peripheries. Surely the code developers seem to displace the thought leaders.
Disdain for thought and writing is just the manifestation the crassness of mind as a result of the luxury found in material. When the olive tree sheds its leaves its time for the Word to make a come back.
The under girding of human mind is the word, and those who wield it handle it with much strain and anguish, well its not picnic for the mind when thoughts and ideas resonate constantly within setting on fire patterns of comfort. It drains and it tires.
Droplets of sweat and rewards of work are fulfillment of the physical labour and work so mindless. The strain of the being, and the inward struggles and contradictions of the one who thinks and writes cannot be mopped away by the quietus of the comments. Its a simple disregard of the real and the embracing of the insipid.
Minds shaped by the environment to flow with the tide of popular thought towards the sea of desolation. Pity may not be word nor can 'pathetic' be apt what can be captured by the term 'death of the mind'.
Come together for Work sake!
Dont you think any institution must work amidst strife. I fear the cozy bedfellows who cuddle up in on accord and systematically manupulate decisions. I was rather astounded the at Directors of Satyam were a mute witness to the extravagance and the subterfuge of Mr Raju. This is a case of Watchdogs becoming employees.
Iam glad that there is strife within EC. They should be at logger heads at each other yet work. They must distrust each other yet work. For works sake or for democracy sake they must stand united. For every other thing they must claw each other.
Only then can the system function in a democracy.
I happen to know Mr Navin Chawla personally. He was involved with Sanjay Gandhi as he was cleaning up the system (?) during emergency. Navin is a fantastic admistrator, a seasoned beauracrat, a suave gentleman, but a crook who wears a cloak of Mother Theresa.
Democracy needs him. Iam sure Gopalaswami is a great guy too. Democracy needs him too. And we need the silent Mr Querishi too.
Its kind of fun. A powder keg to explode some thoughts in our minds. Not get too uptight. After all Democracy will roll on. Its crazy but it will roll on. These guys will be soon be forgotten, and buried amongst the ballots (real and rigged). So chill
Lesson on salesmanship from a fishmonger
She carried a basket of 3 varieties of fishes on her head. Dishevelled hair,
screaming her guts off as she paced the road, urging the residents to buy fish. She picked up the soft voice of a woman who called out for her. She hardly seemed excited, with the same matter of fact demeanour she turned back and located the source of the call.
screaming her guts off as she paced the road, urging the residents to buy fish. She picked up the soft voice of a woman who called out for her. She hardly seemed excited, with the same matter of fact demeanour she turned back and located the source of the call.She hardly seemed excited, with the same matter of fact demeanour she turned back and located the source of the call and walked towards the prospect
She turned to walk toward a sale. Then she heard the gentle voice again enquiring the rate. For which without any excitement in her tone, in a rather unfriendly way she blurted the price of the costliest fish, for which she was promptly shooed away. As if expected she shot back another number far lesser than the previous one and mentioned the name of another variety of fish, this again was rejected by the prospect. Yet the fishmonger continued to walk towards the prospect oblivious of the negation.
“Hey you are cheating” for which the reply was quite surprising ” Yes I am coming to cheat you” and kept walking towards her target.
Then she heard the accusation from the prospect from a close range “Hey you are cheating” for which the reply was quite surprising ” Yes I am coming to cheat you” and kept walking towards her target. By the next few minutes she had arrived at the prospects doorstep, basket kept on the ground, the weighing scale in hand, proceeding towards the sale. 
After few minutes of haggling, the sale happened. No pleasantries, no conscious buying or selling happened but the transaction happened.
Iam reminded of an article I read long ago which said the most profitable repeat ‘profitable’ companies had their customers as their adversaries not advocates.
Do we have a lesson here? Is it worth bending backwards to make the customer happy? If you have a good product reasonably priced shouldn’t that give us a strong back bone to be firm and strong and yet not be arrogant like the this fish monger.
A man's Self is the sum total of all that he can call his. William James 1890
The Times of India, true to its banality, gave these crude statistics of the Ramalinga Raju’s material possesions.
Roosevelt loved hunting the way that Imelda loves shopping. He loved the kick of the gun and the smell of the powder. He loved the antlers. The same sportive hormones may be active in Imelda. Nature is filled with wild waste, unthinkable redundancies. Why does nature toss off a billion sperm when only one of them is necessary to fertilize a human egg? Imelda’s shoes, ecologically baffling, are part of the mystery of life.
At the height of her fame, the deposed Filipino dictator’s wife Imelda Marcos had more than a thousand pairs of shoes, 888 handbags and 508 gowns. As it turns out, had ex-Satyam Computer boss B Ramalinga Raju not been locked up and his fraud exposed, he may have given Imelda a run for her money in the next few fashion seasons.
Raju’s penchant for high fashion had led him to collect more than a thousand designer suits, if sources in the Enforcement Directorate are to be believed. According to documents prepared by Andhra Pradesh police and given to ED, the disgraced IT czar had 321 pairs of shoes and 310 belts.
Apart from leading a lavish lifestyle, Ramalinga Raju visited various big temples in Andhra Pradesh regularly and donated huge amounts of gold, which collated would approximate about two tonnes. His stargazing pursuits led him to buy a telescope, which valued at more than Rs 1 crore would be the most expensive in any Indian home.
Like many other multi-billionaires, Raju too liked to collect trophy properties around the world. Sources said he had “palatial mansions and villas” in 63 countries.
source: <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
/Raju_owned_321_shoes_310_belts_1000_suits/articleshow/4072347.cms”>The Times of India
Divisions work
This morning was a pleasant surprise, the front page of The Hindu carried a picture of the the CEC and the two Election Commissioners sitting together, all smiles. On the back end the political parties have apparently urged them to sink their differences and get on with their jobs. Iam glad that the differences surfaced and got blow over. The rancor may linger but the fact that the people are aware may make these respectable gentlemen behave differently.
I like this set up, two high strung individuals apparently with covert political affiliations and one stable balancing but dormant Commissionaire in Mr Quereshi. We need them all in different hues and shades to run a complex society such as ours and a challenging system like the democracy.
Contrast this with the Satyam fiasco when the the promoters and the directors cuddled together in apparent unity to rip the corporate system to shreds.
An advt that subverts?? Brilliant
Forthright written straight on the face
|
|
When the common man is losing faith in private enterprise and looking for a clutch of straw to hold on. When the capitalists and the greedy business man have thrown corporate governance out of the window leaving thousands scampering around with despair. With perfect timing as a man of high stature and responsibility you, Mr Gopalaswami, decided to wash dirty linen with just 3 months to go before retirement and elections. Now see the plight of the millions in a democracy for whom elections are a festival and you the chief priests. And you Mr Gopalaswami, with a forthrightness written straight on your face, bow down to institutional values. Learn to work with the challenges and the pressures though they me like a mountain. Nay its time you apologize like gentleman, and step aside. Well who knows you may land up as a governor if India shines(???) once again. |
Tilted Plus 