My writings

Power from vulnerablity and power from might

It’s not about the weak becoming strong it’s about them finding strength in their weakness. Which means that their very nature of being weak actually makes them strong. You can see how weakness brings a family together. A helpless little just born would bring the family together or an old grandmother who relies on others to get up and walk and to survive can also bind the family together.

So what makes these people who are totally reliant on others become strong in their weakness?  Homo Sapiens were at the bottom of the food chain or probably in the middle. They were in no position to take on the predators but then they did.  Homo Sapiens were perhaps only species that produced babies that were semi-formed who needed care and protection.  So perhaps the stronger members of the family took turns to protect the babies. These helpless offspring brought the tribe together to protect the smaller ones.

This protecting the weak the vulnerable plays out even now in many situations.  I would take the coalition politics as a case out here.

The political firmament has a variety of political parties in India. Over the past 5 years, we have witnessed the rise of one and the fall of the other.

A power that is the outcome of vulnerability can be magical. It has the power to bring various forces (even opposing ones) together. And the power that springs forth from might is predatory it may weaken the enemies but remember it is the weakness that will make them strong in their weakness.

 

Sometimes you have to write to figure it out

 

Sometimes you have to write to figure it out…

This advice wasn’t just savvy guidance for how to write — it might be the wisest advice I know for how to live… The way to be okay, we all believe, is to have a specific plan — except may it’s not…

The smartest, most interesting, most dynamic, most impactful people … lived to figure it out. At some point in their lives, they realized that carefully crafted plans … often don’t hold up… Sometimes, the only way to discover who you are or what life you should lead is to do less planning and more living— to burst the double bubble of comfort and convention and just do stuff, even if you don’t know precisely where it’s going to lead, because you don’t know precisely where it’s going to lead.

This might sound risky — and you know what? It is. It’s reallyrisky. But the greater risk is to choose false certainty over genuine ambiguity. The greater risk is to fear failure more than mediocrity. The greater risk is to pursue a path only because it’s the first path you decided to pursue.

 

There is a lesson even in a filthy loo !!!!!

It was quite a long drive to SSN college, a premier institute where the students sparkle like vessels washed in Vim.  I have heard a lot about this college.  It stands out among those prisons that you see around masquerading as colleges.  Definitely the man who founded this, Mr Shiv Nadar, is a man of some substance and vision.  All this you can see in every nook and cranny of the college, the spirit of inquiry that hovers around and the enthusiasm of the students.

As we were travelling, the filth and the grime on the roads stole our discussion time till I had to come up with chicanery to navigate the conversation to much better plane…. Personally Iam not a whiner when I see our roads in bad shape.  I have a theory for it,   I will share with you only when demanded.  So bottom line filthy roads don’t bother me because I have no choice or I have a choice of avoiding them if its too obnoxious.

Finally we reached the college a fantastic air-conditioned and spacious library, computer center etc. welcomed us.  It somehow made me think the kids out here are fortunate indeed .. but the feel good bubble soon went BOOM!!!!! when I asked for water to drink.  Can you beleive it,  I was there for 4  hours and I did not have access to drinking  water.   Now I decided to at least dab  my face with some water to freshen myself and hydrate my skin.  Washroom???  I asked a student, she pointed me to the direction, I took 10 steps forward and my nostrils led me to the place.

Now I know its the washroom that gives this college the level playing field with the other colleges around.  And it also reminds the students that all it not spic & span in the real world after all and that something really has to be done about this.

The Cross and the Surgeons blade

Lakshmi is just 3 years of age, her father had vanished in thin air, may be the over consumption of alcohol was the reason, one day ‘blink’ he was not there.  Lakshmi has 3 sisters and her mother, Kuppayi, works as a tea picker on the hills.  Little Lakshmi was diagnosed with a heart ailment and she wanted urgent medical intervention.  So Kuppayi had to make frequent trips to the hospital for she knew not that her new born child was born with a cardiac ailment.

Kuppayi found favor in the eyes of the Chief Doctor who was a good man and spoke . kind words, at times he even told her stories from a thick black book.  Once he gave her a long piece of wood with another piece of wood across it and advised her to keep it under Lakshmi’s pillow. The only problem was Lakshmi did not have a pillow to sleep on so she had to rest the head on that piece of wood wrapped around a thin towel.  Lakshmi used to find this a bit painful in the night, and she pushed  it away.

The Doctor was a kind man indeed; the year was coming to an end.  As usual Lakshmi was in pains and Kuppayi ran to the hospital and the Chief Doctor was there, at peace with himself and relatively free.  Lakshmi got immediate attention, her crying had ceased and the Chief Doctor was narrating to Kuppayi about an incident that happened 2000 years ago. He said in a soft tone  “there was this little child, named Jesus, who was born in a lowly shed, the child’s mother and father were good people and they took care of the child.  Now when the child was 2 weeks suddenly the child was carried away to another country because the wicked king wanted to kill all children.  The king’s guards pierced a knife into the heart of every child and God helped baby Jesus escape. To Kuppayi, the story meant a lot, she lamented the fact that her husband was not there.  Was the wicked King trying to kill her own child, Lakshmi, by piercing a knife into her heart?  These thoughts were running in her mind.

Few days later, there was a ‘knife attack’ on the Lakshmi and Kuppayi ran to the hospital carrying her child.  Unfortunately the kind Doctor was not there, the ward boy said something about the doctor being on leave to celebrate a festival and that the Junior Doctor is in charge.

Kuppayi, waited near the door step of the junior doctor, who was not a kind man. He sported a rough face a harsh voice and seemed to be very rude with everybody. In short she saw the ‘wicked king’ in this Junior Doctor.  He was very niggardly with his smile and his constant smirk made Kuppayi very unhappy. After waiting for nearly 2 hours with her wailing daughter, she saw the junior doctor walk away.  Kuppayi ran behind him and she was shunned by the oversized nurse who walked along with the doctor.

The Doctor, without any change in expression, summoned Kuppayi and enquired of her in an unfriendly tone.  Kuppayi, with her limited knowledge, told all that she knew about the condition of the child.  The doctor, touched Lakshmi, actually poked her, and Lakshmi let out a scream.  Twitching his bushy eyebrows the doctor came up with the most insensitive   diagnosis “Your daughter will live only for 48 hours more if she does not get operated upon immediately”. And he even scolded Kuppayi for not seeking medical help for all these days. He refused to listen to her as she pleaded that she was a regular visitor to the Chief Doctor.

The next day the operation was fixed. Lakshmi was operated upon and within five days the nurse came and told Kuppayi that the child was fine and that she will be have to leave the hospital the next day.

Lakshmi was discharged and as Kuppayi was walking down the corridor carrying her child, she was delighted to see the Chief Doctor.  She narrated all the rough treatment she had received in the hands of the unkind doctor and about the operation too, and sobbed.  The doctor with a smile comforted the sobbing Kuppayi and said “Do you remember the story that when Jesus was born, the bad king tried to kill him” Don’t worry I am back, I will take care of you and handed over a nice piece of a brown cake with some toys, handful of balloons and a book with some colorful pictures.

Kuppayi’s happiness knew no bounds.  The kind doctor is back indeed. Her daughter need not be in the receiving end of the wicked junior doctor’s knife anymore nor does she have to listen to those harsh words.

The Chief Doctor went back to his cabin with this aura of satisfaction around him.  There was a heap of pending mails on his table.  Most of them were cards wishing him ‘Merry Christmas and Happy New Year’.  The Junior Doctor apparently forgot to wish his boss and it did not please the Chief Doctor. Instead  there was a file sent from him, and it was marked in red ‘FOR IMMEDIATE APPROVAL’ it was a letter requesting a special sanction for a free emergency surgery performed on Baby Lakshmi.  The Chief Doctor was livid; he pulled out his red pen like a sword and in anger, put a ‘cross’ on the note.  And wrote boldly across ‘NOT APPROVED, THE JUNIOR DOCTOR HAS TO PAY THE PRICE OF THE SURGERY FROM HIS SALARY’

Lessons from blowing bubbles

These late night chats can throw up deep thoughts at times.  So it was as I chatted with my friend very casually.  Learning the lessons in life and taking charge of it is mans desire, and this is thwarted by the most expected events that are likely to throw the entire thing off balance.  Yet one is witness to many who seem to have mastered the art.  Come close you realise that they have shaped themselves to be a machine.  Then you wonder is this charge that you desire in life worth it?

I would rather live one day having total control of my life and die thereafter.  Does that make sense?  surely not.  Why would you want to have control over your life anyway?  when the improbables and the unexpected are there to throw those occassional surprises like how salt is mixed on to a dish.  Why would one say no to the spices of life?

Mind wanders to the days when at the fun fair, as children, we were facinated by the man who always stood near the gate selling a crude contraption that made soap bubbles.  It was facinating for use.  The bubbles floated all around, they reflected the colors of the rainbow, some were small and some big.  Some burst in mid air and some resided secure but burst.  There were many lessons from the soap bubbles about life, and in fact there were many lessons that could have been derived from the mundane things in life.  These lessons are often learnt after the mistakes are made.  Because the goofups are the ones that open you eyes towards the lessons life can teach.

In conclusion one actually decided not to envy the ones who take charge of their lives, for they have decided to live it bland and tasteless.

Wont it be Fair & Lovely to recognize the Law of Confirmation Bias?

Take this dipstick test, ask an american at random what he is?chances are he is a lawyer. Americans are not interested in gold medals in Olympics anymore they are busy framing laws, intellectual property rights and patents. You may call them legalistic bastards.

They have come up with the strangest of laws, the Murphys law ofcourse is the most popular one, they you have a host of them theParkinson’s law, Segal’s law, Finagles law, Hanlon’s razor, Sod’s law..the list is long.

When God handed over the laws to Moses on Mt Sinai, the reverence and the holiness around it was of high intensity. Now with the avalanche of tit bit crap passing on as laws sure takes the punch out of the Ten Commandments. Now that the 10 commandments makes no sense I would like to break the sixth commandment, and shed some blood with my words. The naive need to pardon me for this.

There are particularly two laws that can piss me off. One is the law ‘the fairer skin wins’. If you really want to torture me, tie me upsecurely on a chair, make sure you have a clip open my eyelids  play Fair & Lovely commercials to me. And if you want to kill me read aloud the Law of Attraction, I will bleed to death.

If only people were to talk about  Pascals Law,Newtons Law, Ohms Law, Gauss‘ law and if these too outdated for comfort, cant we deal with  the Laws ofcloning, stem cell or gene therapy or for that matter with Neuroscience or Molecular Biology or Quantum Mechanics. I am sure there a millionsof sensible laws floating around in these futuristic stuff.

Why is the Law of Confirmation Bias so popular?

Simple because we all have a proclivity towards facts and  information that confirms what we already believe. So in order to validate our own patterns that we have managed to form in our own little world we look for confirmations to validate it. We really don’t wanna change, which also means that we really dont want to accommodate anything new lest it challenges existing formations. The market savvy writers and film makers know this. They also know that dark people would like to become fair and the bald want hair. And these deprived souls have this hope against hopes that fairer skin and bushy hair is possible by focussed thinking. These market makers make the laws for the game, they call it the Law of Attraction, the NaturesConspiracy theory etc. To these helpless but hopeful minds they slip in branded solutions in a tube or a bottle promising eternal life.

The market maniacs do this, religion does it too. The world loves this and laps it up.

Typical crap list of books that you should avoid

Related Articles

The hunger gene

Yesterday I was chatting up with a successful entrepreneur. While talking to him, I realized that Indians have mastered this ‘let is pass’ attitude or also known as the ‘chaltha hai’ which is scorned and  derided by all.  Chaltha Hai or let is pass is linked to sloth or laziness neither does it refer to average or suboptimal stuff it merely means I will let it pass or I will not fret over it, or I will work around it.  I will let hunger pass, greed pass, pleasure pass  etc etc .  A far more popular version of this is ‘adjust karo’  or I will adjust (much scorned by a television commercial for UGs)

Do we realize that we are making fun of our own culture which is our own strength?

I need to check the veracity of what Iam going to say, if some of you who read this and know about it you have to comment on this.  I have read that Indians over the ages, have been content with what nature provided them with.  When they had food they ate and they ate that which was available.  They never took any efforts to force nature to produce more that what it gave.  And when nature provided them with a bountiful harvest they rejoiced and celebrated.  So when there was no food they settled for roots and leaves.  I understand the Betel Leaves which is mildly stimulating with medicinal properties, normally chewed after food can also help hunger.  So over a period of time, the gene that stimulates  hunger, comes from its role in producing a hormone called ghrelin (obestatin) can also suppress the same (hunger).  It is almost certain this gene was very active in every Indian, suddenly overfeeding ourselves is perhaps the reason for this same hunger surpressing – life giving gene has  turned around with diabetes and other heart problems.

Lets face it, if only people can live within their means, adjust and have a ‘let it pass’ attitude and explore the potential within first they will never would want to explore or exploit the material stuff around the world.  When Alexander the Great met up with the gymnosophist (the naked wise man) Alexander asked as to what he was doing for which the gymnosophist answered, experiencing nothingness.  When Alexander told the gynosophist that he was conquering the world, the gymnosophist was quite puzzled as why should do something like conquring the world when understanding oneself was a problem.  Alexander surely felt that this naked man was a total waster and walked away.

Sooner or later the world will look towards India for solutions for contended life.  All this rhetoric about preserving the earth and going green will fail.  It will finally come to having the courage to be able to say ‘ let it pass’.


The aging of old boys

Iam part of the Yahoogroup that keeps me updated on the mails shared between my classmates from MCCHS.  Iam an active participant in these groups, but I abstain from writing or commenting in this group.   Yet I make sure that I read all the mails and get my memories flowing and also get to know all that goes around.  Ideally I should be writing this in the group.

We were a bunch of guys in khaki shorts, starched and pointed,  who had a great time in the grounds, corridors and classrooms.  I remember a time when the real real naughty ones used to come early to class and wait for their innocent victims to walk in one by one.  I dreaded those times.  Now these guys, lets call them ‘fist shovers’ used to quietly come and shove their hand between the legs of the victim and another one would hold the fist from the other end and throw the victim in mid air, and drop them mercilessly.  Some of them fell flat with their aluminum boxes while some managed to balance and ran away screaming.   I don’t know how long this went on,  but this is so much part of my memory as much as the post lunch short quiz we used to have, when some funny dudes had some stock questions and stock answers.  I remember this guy called Immanuel (tall and bulky) who had this stock answer ‘Longfellow’.

Those were the best days of life, young full of zest and mischief and with lots of mistakes and goof ups.  Logically I think fun and goof ups are part of staying young.  Its Steve Jobs encourages the guys in Stanford during the 2005 commencement speech to STAY HUNGRY AND STAY FOOLISH.

We are getting dignified, cultured, predictable, and we are getting old.  Old boys need not be old they need to be boys.

Interesting people

Over the past  3 days I had this opportunity to meet some real people, the ones with their nose on the grinding wheel.  Interesting to the extent when I tried to recapture my life.  I have been living under  the open skies, taking the heat and the rain.  This immense spaciousness that I have been exposed to along with doses of uncertainity to jouney along with has made me in a dreamer of sorts.

The book wisdom of Israel talks about the mystical aspect of Rabbainic Judaism.  Kabbalah (receiving)  tries to understand the relationship between the eternal and mysterious Creator and the  finite universe.

With an advertising background, I have allowed my mind to wander in the outer space in the guise of creative thought I have taken pride in saying that “I had my feet planted in Mid air” ( G K Chesterton).  This creative thought can be killing particularly when one is not able to move thoughts into action.

That is why I felt that when I met these  people I realized that I have finally be dealing with those who are in business of doing.

On standards gained and lost

I had been to my old school last Saturday for an informal Alumini Meet with my 1975 class mates.  For those couple of hours we felt we are one.  The when the plan for the school  articulated by the ‘boss man’  bordered around constructing the building (for good indeed) the tongues were confused.  Personally I wondered that in a Information age, after transcending the Industrial era,  and as we are dusting our feet in the doormat of the Bio Tech era, why does one still have to place the trust on Brick and Mortar model.

To me the Brick and Mortar model is a total Industrial age phenomena, when mans energy has to harnessed with a disciplined, process driven effort to mass produce.  Schools, like prisons, were also designed for that.  So when the founding fathers  built the school they did it with that mindset indeed.  Do we build on that?

Few months ago, I took upon myself the task of designing the logo unit for 175 years celebration of MCCHS.

I took a close look at the actual logo the anchor and the ‘in hoc signo’ (which would mean “with this as your standard you shall have victory”) Standard ?   The moaning of the school was so loud Iam moved to tears so often.  I found myself dragging my feet to the school this time, may not have felt the same way if our meet up had been in another venue.  Pitiful.

I was sharing this with Alfy yesterday, I was recalling Proverbs 29: 8  “Where there is no vision, the people perish” I have heard Syed say this before and on Saturday  Jasper said this again.  WE NEED A VISION.

I have this itchy uneasiness,  that within us lies that vision.  Its in bits and pieces scattered all over.  The challenge is to put ’em together.  After all this glorious institution gave us the standards by sacrificing its own in the process.