Sometimes you can find philosophy at the most unlikely of places. I heard it from a taxi driver recently. I was on the way to the airport on Sunday afternoon and struck a conversation with a Meru Cab driver.
He questioned the extra police bandobast near our area and I mentioned to him that recently a wall of a place of worship had fallen and that members of the community had expressed their anger by assaulting whoever they could place blame on, even if those unfortunate souls had no clue of what hit them and why, just like so many of our countrymen who don't know what they're fighting for.
This was in the backdrop of the impending judgment in the Ayodhya title suit.
He gave his philosophy of how God resides in every person and not in mandirs or masjids. We've heard of this before. He added a new aspect to this explanation which I've not had occasion to ponder over, and hence refrain from agreeing or disagreeing.
He said that before a person is born, he/she has darshan of God every day, and he requests God to release him out of this bondage, not knowing what awaits him in this world, with the promise that he/she would pray and salute the Lord everyday for the rest of his/her life. God has subjected the person to a tapasya which he has to break in order to take birth and experience the world. But once a child is born it forgets this promise, and gets entangled in worldly prejudices. Our true purpose is to find our promise and the earlier we find it, the better.
We could argue about this forever, as to whether what he said was right or wrong, but we shouldn't miss the point. Philosophy is found in the most unlikely of places, and has nothing to do with what strata of society one belongs to or which school one attended.
He also added later that our humilty and politeness define us as human beings. For this he told of a time when he had cancelled a booking of a person who addressed him disrespecfully. It was good to hear a person who was so sure of himself and knew exactly what he is! I have a recording of what he said, which I'd preserve. I can say its no less than what modern-day babas rant about!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
More than just abandoned machinery
...a piece of machinery, abandoned in a corner.... it had not been worn out, it had been rotted by neglect, eaten by rust... I feel a scream of protest against injustice... this is beyond just an old piece of machinery.... Ayn Rand
Friday, July 16, 2010
God must be an artist!
God must be an artist, to come up with countless variations of morning, with only a few tools at his disposal, the sun, the clouds, a little rain, on a canvas of nothingness... These are images from my window over the last week or so....
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Every moment has its music
Every moment has its music. Bombay is experiencing rains of the season since the past few days. This certainly is a good spell.
Saturday mornings are relaxed, since it signals the beginning of the weekend, and despite any trouble that one may otherwise be in, there is a certain ease that takes over. I walked to the station to board the train to office. And there was a light drizzle.
I had Hosana from Vinnathandi Varuvaaya, playing on my Sony Walkman, and something prompted me to not open the umbrella. With the light rain falling on my face as I looked up, I felt the music take over, and Rahman weave magic.
Somehow, life felt good, meant more.
Every moment has its music - line borrowed from Sony Walkman
Saturday mornings are relaxed, since it signals the beginning of the weekend, and despite any trouble that one may otherwise be in, there is a certain ease that takes over. I walked to the station to board the train to office. And there was a light drizzle.
I had Hosana from Vinnathandi Varuvaaya, playing on my Sony Walkman, and something prompted me to not open the umbrella. With the light rain falling on my face as I looked up, I felt the music take over, and Rahman weave magic.
En meedu anbu kolla, ennodu serndu sella
Hmm endru sollu podhum, Hosanna
Somehow, life felt good, meant more.
Every moment has its music - line borrowed from Sony Walkman
Saturday, July 10, 2010
A lovely morning
I woke up to a lovely morning. The beginning of the weekend, despite the fact that I have to attend office today, somehow felt good. I could see the sun's shape, like the moon, through a cloudy sky, as if the clouds were filtering out the harsh rays and giving us a view of the sun as we saw in our school drawing book.
Swami and his 'fiends'
Self-styled Swami Nithyananda (Swami is just a name, like it was in Malgudi days; its not a title and there's nothing divine about it in this case) has been permitted by the court to preach! There's no use in not allowing him to speak or preach, as he will anyway have some work to do to regain his audience. But I'm amused by the fact that he actually petitioned that his freedom of speech was being curbed. After going through so much, see the man's pluck!
Anyway, its a pity that learned judges, the judicial system has to waste its time on this despicable being. The judges have considered separately whether he could be allowed to preach and whether he could be allowed to conduct yoga and meditation classes. And the system has to be seen to be hearing him out! We've done this with Kasab, so why not with Nithyananda! But the guy seems to be unmoved. He has the arrogance of suggesting that the police visit his ashram every 15 days for verification, instead of he reporting! And he has also petitioned for his belongings to be returned to him, his laptop and his work! After all, so much effort has gone into this! I admire the guy's record keeping, something that even corporates fall short in. He has all the underlying paperwork in place!
On this issue, there are two parties affected, his devotees and himself. I'm wondering what his devotees must be going through. Those who have given up all of what they had, could have, or could not have and followed him, those who read what he wrote and were influenced and in awe, those who served under him - what must be on their mind now! After the usual denial, the hope that all of this is false, somewhere they must be thinking their faith has been compromised. We are not here to judge what happened, and the jury is still out on this, but faith once shaken, is difficult to restore. Also look at this from his point of view. After all of this, when he comes forward to give his first lecture, what will he say? And how must he position his future discourses, to win back the trust people placed in him. I'm sure of one thing, his job is easier!
As always, the system is to be blamed! The place that religion has in society today is the reason why such godmen thrive. Pain will never end in the world, if any - there'll be more of it in the years to come. This is going by how humanity is on the path of degeneration, if you believe in evolution! And if you believe in the machinations of the yugas, then we will have more negatives in this yuga to maintain the balance required by nature. So pain is not going to end. At such times, religion offers the only solace, and more so if it comes with perks of power.
Obama was not wrong when he spoke about people clinging to guns and religion. In our case, it definitely is true with religion. So with more pain, godmen will gain! They give you what you ask for: escape from responsibility, to give up your duty! But as God said in Bruce Almighty 'since when did people know what they wanted'. So it pays for them to keep the troubled class under ignorance, in the dark. And telling them its ok to not do your job, to ask for submission, allowing them an escape.
And who will tell them that such self-styled godmen have a very limited understanding of what life. They haven't read enough, and they certainly haven't introspected enough, to be able to fathom the depths of human nature and the universe we live in. Such thinkers come far and few - there's only one Bertrand Russell, and only one Swami Vivekananda!
I feel pain at this: when I search for swami on google, Google Suggest throws up Swami Nityananda before Swami Vivekananda!
Anyway, its a pity that learned judges, the judicial system has to waste its time on this despicable being. The judges have considered separately whether he could be allowed to preach and whether he could be allowed to conduct yoga and meditation classes. And the system has to be seen to be hearing him out! We've done this with Kasab, so why not with Nithyananda! But the guy seems to be unmoved. He has the arrogance of suggesting that the police visit his ashram every 15 days for verification, instead of he reporting! And he has also petitioned for his belongings to be returned to him, his laptop and his work! After all, so much effort has gone into this! I admire the guy's record keeping, something that even corporates fall short in. He has all the underlying paperwork in place!
On this issue, there are two parties affected, his devotees and himself. I'm wondering what his devotees must be going through. Those who have given up all of what they had, could have, or could not have and followed him, those who read what he wrote and were influenced and in awe, those who served under him - what must be on their mind now! After the usual denial, the hope that all of this is false, somewhere they must be thinking their faith has been compromised. We are not here to judge what happened, and the jury is still out on this, but faith once shaken, is difficult to restore. Also look at this from his point of view. After all of this, when he comes forward to give his first lecture, what will he say? And how must he position his future discourses, to win back the trust people placed in him. I'm sure of one thing, his job is easier!
As always, the system is to be blamed! The place that religion has in society today is the reason why such godmen thrive. Pain will never end in the world, if any - there'll be more of it in the years to come. This is going by how humanity is on the path of degeneration, if you believe in evolution! And if you believe in the machinations of the yugas, then we will have more negatives in this yuga to maintain the balance required by nature. So pain is not going to end. At such times, religion offers the only solace, and more so if it comes with perks of power.
Obama was not wrong when he spoke about people clinging to guns and religion. In our case, it definitely is true with religion. So with more pain, godmen will gain! They give you what you ask for: escape from responsibility, to give up your duty! But as God said in Bruce Almighty 'since when did people know what they wanted'. So it pays for them to keep the troubled class under ignorance, in the dark. And telling them its ok to not do your job, to ask for submission, allowing them an escape.
And who will tell them that such self-styled godmen have a very limited understanding of what life. They haven't read enough, and they certainly haven't introspected enough, to be able to fathom the depths of human nature and the universe we live in. Such thinkers come far and few - there's only one Bertrand Russell, and only one Swami Vivekananda!
I feel pain at this: when I search for swami on google, Google Suggest throws up Swami Nityananda before Swami Vivekananda!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Lie and succeed
Reinforcing what we all knew for so long, BBC has reported that a new study in Canada that suggests that toddlers who tell lies early on are more likely to do well later in life.The complex brain processes involved in formulating a lie are an indicator of a child's early intelligence. Their children are not going to turn out to be pathological liars. Almost all children lie. It is a sign that they have reached a new developmental milestone. Those who have better cognitive development lie because they can cover up their tracks. This was because they had developed the ability to carry out a complex juggling act which involves keeping the truth at the back of their brains. A researcher added: "They even make bankers in later life."
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Astronomers have announced that they have found a massive star that has been flung out of the cluster in which it was born. The star is huge — 90 times the mass of the Sun — and is screaming away at 400,000 kilometers per hour.
This incredible image is from the ESO’s 2.2 meter telescope in Chile. It shows an overview of the sprawling 30 Doradus star-forming cloud, located about 180,000 light years away in the satellite galaxy to the Milky Way called the Large Magellanic Cloud.
In the center of 30 Dor sits a vast cluster of stars called R136. The total combined mass of all the stars in R136 is unclear, but it has several that tip the cosmic scale at 100 times the mass of the Sun, which is the upper limit of how big a star can get without tearing itself apart.
The inset image is from Hubble, and shows the runaway star, named 30 Dor 016.
If you don’t think that’s a big deal, I’ll note that this equals 180 octillion tons — that’s 180,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons.
The UV observations also confirm that the star is plowing through the gas that lies in interstellar space in the LMC. Here is a closeup of the star:
The new observations, using Hubble’s new ultraviolet camera called the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, confirm that this is a single star (and not, say, a binary with two members each with 45 solar masses), making it one of the most massive stars ever seen. This kind of star is extremely rare!
Amazingly, the star is 375 light years from the cluster! A star this massive can’t live very long, a few million years at most. At 400,000 kph, it takes about a million years to travel that distance.
How small we are! I'm reminded of what Carl Sagan once said. I found a visual on the net which I'm reproducing below:
See this link for the complete story - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1008a/
Image credit: Hubble: NASA, ESA, J. Walsh (ST-ECF) Acknowledgment: Z. Levay (STScI). ESO image: ESO Acknowledgments: J. Alves (Calar Alto, Spain), B. Vandame, and Y. Beletski (ESO), processing by B. Fosbury (ST-ECF).
This incredible image is from the ESO’s 2.2 meter telescope in Chile. It shows an overview of the sprawling 30 Doradus star-forming cloud, located about 180,000 light years away in the satellite galaxy to the Milky Way called the Large Magellanic Cloud.
In the center of 30 Dor sits a vast cluster of stars called R136. The total combined mass of all the stars in R136 is unclear, but it has several that tip the cosmic scale at 100 times the mass of the Sun, which is the upper limit of how big a star can get without tearing itself apart.
The inset image is from Hubble, and shows the runaway star, named 30 Dor 016.
If you don’t think that’s a big deal, I’ll note that this equals 180 octillion tons — that’s 180,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons.
The UV observations also confirm that the star is plowing through the gas that lies in interstellar space in the LMC. Here is a closeup of the star:
The new observations, using Hubble’s new ultraviolet camera called the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, confirm that this is a single star (and not, say, a binary with two members each with 45 solar masses), making it one of the most massive stars ever seen. This kind of star is extremely rare!
Amazingly, the star is 375 light years from the cluster! A star this massive can’t live very long, a few million years at most. At 400,000 kph, it takes about a million years to travel that distance.
How small we are! I'm reminded of what Carl Sagan once said. I found a visual on the net which I'm reproducing below:
See this link for the complete story - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1008a/
Image credit: Hubble: NASA, ESA, J. Walsh (ST-ECF) Acknowledgment: Z. Levay (STScI). ESO image: ESO Acknowledgments: J. Alves (Calar Alto, Spain), B. Vandame, and Y. Beletski (ESO), processing by B. Fosbury (ST-ECF).
Boys don't cry, but speakers do!
IBNLive reports that the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ishwardas Rohani broke down and cried in the House on Wednesday after learning that Congress MLAs had allegedly taunted a BJP woman MLA.
Congress MLAs allegedly told the woman MLA she was late because she must have been busy at a beauty parlour.
Rohani was so moved to tears after learning about the incident, he refused to give any ruling on the Congress’ boycott of the Assembly. He said that he considers the Congress’ protest unconstitutional, but the party had a right to express its opinion. The Speaker said he will not recognise their protest, but he will not give any ruling on the issue either.
I consider it incredibly silly. Both, the Congress MLAs alleging that the lady was at a beauty parlour and that the speaker cried! Was it so serious a remark that warranted such a wet response? I'm sure there are a whole lot of other important and pertinent issues relating to working of the government. Was he moved enough to cry when the innocent were murdered or the poor died of hunger?
And to top it all, the Congress is holding a parallel session since last evening by organising a Symposium to corner the government on the issue of corruption, power and water crisis and to highlight the problems of the people!!!!
Congress MLAs allegedly told the woman MLA she was late because she must have been busy at a beauty parlour.
Rohani was so moved to tears after learning about the incident, he refused to give any ruling on the Congress’ boycott of the Assembly. He said that he considers the Congress’ protest unconstitutional, but the party had a right to express its opinion. The Speaker said he will not recognise their protest, but he will not give any ruling on the issue either.
I consider it incredibly silly. Both, the Congress MLAs alleging that the lady was at a beauty parlour and that the speaker cried! Was it so serious a remark that warranted such a wet response? I'm sure there are a whole lot of other important and pertinent issues relating to working of the government. Was he moved enough to cry when the innocent were murdered or the poor died of hunger?
And to top it all, the Congress is holding a parallel session since last evening by organising a Symposium to corner the government on the issue of corruption, power and water crisis and to highlight the problems of the people!!!!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
American Presidents on energy dependency
In 1974 with 36.1% of oil from foreign sources, President Richard Nixon said, “At the end of this decade, in the year 1980, the United States will not be dependent on any other country for the energy we need.”
In 1975 with 36.1% of oil from foreign sources, President Gerald Ford said, “We must reduce oil imports by one million barrels per day by the end of this year and by two million barrels per day by the end of 1977.”
In 1979 with 40.5% of oil from foreign sources, President Jimmy Carter said, “Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 – never.”
In 1981 with 43.6% of oil from foreign sources, President Ronald Reagan said, “While conservation is worthy in itself, the best answer is to try to make us independent of outside sources to the greatest extent possible for our energy.”
In 1992 with 47.2% of oil from foreign sources, President George Bush said, “When our administration developed our national energy strategy, three principles guided our policy: reducing our dependence on foreign oil…”
In 1995 with 49.8% of oil from foreign sources, President Bill Clinton said, “The nation’s growing reliance on imports of oil…threatens the nation’s security…[we] will continue efforts to…enhance domestic energy production.”
In 2006 with 65.5% of oil from foreign sources, President George W. Bush said, “Breakthroughs…will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.”
In 2009 with 66.2% of oil from foreign sources, President Barack Obama said, “It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil while building a new energy economy that will create millions of jobs.”
In 1975 with 36.1% of oil from foreign sources, President Gerald Ford said, “We must reduce oil imports by one million barrels per day by the end of this year and by two million barrels per day by the end of 1977.”
In 1979 with 40.5% of oil from foreign sources, President Jimmy Carter said, “Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 – never.”
In 1981 with 43.6% of oil from foreign sources, President Ronald Reagan said, “While conservation is worthy in itself, the best answer is to try to make us independent of outside sources to the greatest extent possible for our energy.”
In 1992 with 47.2% of oil from foreign sources, President George Bush said, “When our administration developed our national energy strategy, three principles guided our policy: reducing our dependence on foreign oil…”
In 1995 with 49.8% of oil from foreign sources, President Bill Clinton said, “The nation’s growing reliance on imports of oil…threatens the nation’s security…[we] will continue efforts to…enhance domestic energy production.”
In 2006 with 65.5% of oil from foreign sources, President George W. Bush said, “Breakthroughs…will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.”
In 2009 with 66.2% of oil from foreign sources, President Barack Obama said, “It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil while building a new energy economy that will create millions of jobs.”
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Goldman Has Zero Trading Loss Days In Last Quarter
If you ever wanted to see what monopoly looks like in chart form, see this:
In the quarter ended March 31, Goldman made money on every single trading day. The firm did not record a loss of even $0.01 on even one day in the last quarter. That's 63 days profitable out of 63 trading days. The statistic probability of this event is itself statistically undefined. Goldman is now the market - or, in keeping with modern market reality, Goldman is the house, it controls the casino, and always wins. Congratulations America: you now have far, far better odds in Las Vegas that you have making money with your E-Trade account.
Adding to the alice in wonderland insanity of this announcement, the firm made over $100 million daily on 35 different days. Of Goldman's $9.7 billion in total Q1 revenue, 76% came from trading. Forget investment banking, forget underwriting, forget advisory: over three quarters of the firm's value is based on being the house to the biggest corrupt casino in existence. Ever.
If you ever wanted to see what monopoly looks like in chart form, see this:
In the quarter ended March 31, Goldman made money on every single trading day. The firm did not record a loss of even $0.01 on even one day in the last quarter. That's 63 days profitable out of 63 trading days. The statistic probability of this event is itself statistically undefined. Goldman is now the market - or, in keeping with modern market reality, Goldman is the house, it controls the casino, and always wins. Congratulations America: you now have far, far better odds in Las Vegas that you have making money with your E-Trade account.
Adding to the alice in wonderland insanity of this announcement, the firm made over $100 million daily on 35 different days. Of Goldman's $9.7 billion in total Q1 revenue, 76% came from trading. Forget investment banking, forget underwriting, forget advisory: over three quarters of the firm's value is based on being the house to the biggest corrupt casino in existence. Ever.
How serious?
The US government spent $175 million investigating the Challenger space shuttle disaster.
It spent $152 million on the the Columbia disaster investigation.
It spent $30 million investigating the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
It authorized only $15 million for the 9/11 Commission.
And how much has the government authorized for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission? You know, the commission charged with getting to the bottom of what caused the financial crisis?
Just $8 million.
You can tell alot about the questions which the government is truly interested in finding answers to by the amount of money it authorizes for the various investigations.
It spent $152 million on the the Columbia disaster investigation.
It spent $30 million investigating the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
It authorized only $15 million for the 9/11 Commission.
And how much has the government authorized for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission? You know, the commission charged with getting to the bottom of what caused the financial crisis?
Just $8 million.
You can tell alot about the questions which the government is truly interested in finding answers to by the amount of money it authorizes for the various investigations.
Cul-de-sacs are killing our community
The Harvard Business Review has a piece this month on research by Lawrence Frank, Bombardier Chair in Sustainable Transportation at the University of British Columbia, on the effects of cul-de-sacs (thats 'dead ends') in neighborhoods in King County, Washington. To summarise the findings, as pros and cons
Pros
Residents in areas with the most interconnected streets travel 26% fewer miles by automobile than those in areas with many cul-de-sacs.
The higher a neighborhood’s overall walkability, the greater the amount of walking and biking— which means a drop in per capita air pollution, fuel use, and body mass index.
Cons
The theory behind cul-de-sacs was that they lessened traffic, since they change the primary function of local streets. The problem is that this design inherently encourages car use, even for the shortest trips.
It also limits the growth of communities and transportation options.
The argument that cul-de-sacs increase safety because they limit traffic is also misguided — the more empty and desolate a suburban (and often affluent) street is, the more likely crime is to occur.
It’s much harder for emergency vehicles to reach these homes if they’re sequestered in the belly of a web of disconnected dead-ends.
Effect
As more and more direct evidence piles up that these dead-end developments are doing no one any good, the cul-de-sac tides are beginning to change: legislatures are passing laws limiting cul-de-sacs in future developments.
More efficient streets that are cheaper to maintain, as well as other savings from not having to widen arterial roads that otherwise were overburdened by cul-de-sacs.
Are we having too many cul-de-sacs in our life? If yes, are we freeing them up? And allowing life to flow through?
Pros
Residents in areas with the most interconnected streets travel 26% fewer miles by automobile than those in areas with many cul-de-sacs.
The higher a neighborhood’s overall walkability, the greater the amount of walking and biking— which means a drop in per capita air pollution, fuel use, and body mass index.
Cons
The theory behind cul-de-sacs was that they lessened traffic, since they change the primary function of local streets. The problem is that this design inherently encourages car use, even for the shortest trips.
It also limits the growth of communities and transportation options.
The argument that cul-de-sacs increase safety because they limit traffic is also misguided — the more empty and desolate a suburban (and often affluent) street is, the more likely crime is to occur.
It’s much harder for emergency vehicles to reach these homes if they’re sequestered in the belly of a web of disconnected dead-ends.
Effect
As more and more direct evidence piles up that these dead-end developments are doing no one any good, the cul-de-sac tides are beginning to change: legislatures are passing laws limiting cul-de-sacs in future developments.
More efficient streets that are cheaper to maintain, as well as other savings from not having to widen arterial roads that otherwise were overburdened by cul-de-sacs.
Are we having too many cul-de-sacs in our life? If yes, are we freeing them up? And allowing life to flow through?
History of Facebook privacy settings
A very interesting graphic of Facebook's privacy settings by Matt McKeon illustrates how Facebook has, over the years, tightened privacy settings. Its an interesting presentation of a concept, with outstanding visualisation.
Its very good when seen in animation. Link below
http://mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/
Its very good when seen in animation. Link below
http://mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/
Friday, May 7, 2010
Dus hazaar thadthadate toofan! Tintin in Hindi
Om Books International has acquired rights to release Adventures of Tintin in Hindi. The popular comic strip has had over 40 translations, including languages like Zulu.
Tintin’s dog Snowy will be called Natkhat and detectives Thomson and Thompson will be christened Santu and Bantu. Black Island is 'Kaala Dweep', Cigars of the Pharaoh is 'Misr Samrat Ke Cigar', The Broken Ear is 'Tuta Hua Kaan', and the funniest is this - 'Sunehre Panjonwala Kekda'. I need not tell you which one that is.
Tintin will gasp 'Baal ki khaal' instead of 'Great snakes'. And imagine Haddock saying 'Ten thousand thundering typhoons' in Hindi: 'Dus hazaar thadthadate toofan'. See this interesting link to a list of Captain Haddock's curses - http://www.tintinologist.org/guides/lists/curses.html
Waiting to lay hands on the treasure of funny translations!
Tintin’s dog Snowy will be called Natkhat and detectives Thomson and Thompson will be christened Santu and Bantu. Black Island is 'Kaala Dweep', Cigars of the Pharaoh is 'Misr Samrat Ke Cigar', The Broken Ear is 'Tuta Hua Kaan', and the funniest is this - 'Sunehre Panjonwala Kekda'. I need not tell you which one that is.
Tintin will gasp 'Baal ki khaal' instead of 'Great snakes'. And imagine Haddock saying 'Ten thousand thundering typhoons' in Hindi: 'Dus hazaar thadthadate toofan'. See this interesting link to a list of Captain Haddock's curses - http://www.tintinologist.org/guides/lists/curses.html
Waiting to lay hands on the treasure of funny translations!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Beatles, 50 years of mediocre nonsense
The Beatles are 50. They started in 1960. And all the papers and magazines have dedicated scores of articles on them, Beatlemania, how influential they were, and how they changed the world. I was brought up with no great exposure to pop music of the 60s and 70s. All my hearing and understanding of pop music was acquired quite late in life. And to tell you the truth, I'm not and have never been too impressed with The Beatles. That, I can tell you, is blasphemous, to say the least.
I remember a time about 10 years back, when some of my friends, one evening, were discussing about how great The Beatles were. And I certainly wasn't contributing to that view. They mistook that I hadn't heard them, or had no clue of what they were talking about. I confess I haven't had a great understanding of their music. All that I have is a basic hearing. And, I reiterate, they aren't too great. They certainly don't deserve the hype that surrounds them.
But my friends took it personally, and attacked me. They couldn't defend their point for too long, but they still won because of a simple majority. At the end of the argument I realised that they had a lesser understanding of their music.
I beg to add a point, a disclaimer. John Lennon, individually, a few of his songs, were okay. He wrote well, but all of that was his solo attempt. Not the Beatles as a group.
I scoured the net to find if there was anyone who held the same view as I had, I'm sure there are. But I couldn't find much on this, just a few blogs, here and there. Why are people afraid to confront long-held beliefs? Why is it blasphemous to say the truth. That the Beatles were not great.
Listen to their greatest hit, 'Love Me Do'. Its not very impressive. In fact its quite unimpressive. Or 'Hey Jude'. Except the interlude and close, there is nothing very great about the song. 'A Hard Day's Night' was immature and insipid. And 'Yellow submarine' is utter crap, sheer nonsense.
Talk about 'U2' or John Denver and you have my attention. But that can be the subject of another discussion, another day.
Let me present my case:
1. Their music is not revolutionary, not engaging. It doesn't move you, doesn't affect you. Its just some words and music thrown in to average effect. Their music is over-rated.
2. They were around only for about 7-8 years, I understand. And they did not perform many live shows. They were more of a studio group. So if you haven't been a 'live' band, I wonder how they could engage so many in so little time.
3. They may satisfy the definition of cult, but not the spirit. Having teenage girls who don't understand life going around is not 'cool', and certainly not mass appeal.
4. Just because there are a million or billion fans who faint when they hear you, doesn't make you great. Its merely a reflection of the large-scale mediocrity that is prevalent in the world.
5. What about their songs was about world peace or love? Nothing at all. They couldn't stay together as a group for long, despite being love gurus. And they conveniently sidelined George Martin.
6. They won Grammies, 7 of them I think. But since when did winning Grammies make you great?
7. Most of all, their music is not timeless. Like Bob Dylan or John Denver whom you can listen to even today.
To all those false Beatlemania victims, I say 'Move on'
I remember a time about 10 years back, when some of my friends, one evening, were discussing about how great The Beatles were. And I certainly wasn't contributing to that view. They mistook that I hadn't heard them, or had no clue of what they were talking about. I confess I haven't had a great understanding of their music. All that I have is a basic hearing. And, I reiterate, they aren't too great. They certainly don't deserve the hype that surrounds them.
But my friends took it personally, and attacked me. They couldn't defend their point for too long, but they still won because of a simple majority. At the end of the argument I realised that they had a lesser understanding of their music.
I beg to add a point, a disclaimer. John Lennon, individually, a few of his songs, were okay. He wrote well, but all of that was his solo attempt. Not the Beatles as a group.
I scoured the net to find if there was anyone who held the same view as I had, I'm sure there are. But I couldn't find much on this, just a few blogs, here and there. Why are people afraid to confront long-held beliefs? Why is it blasphemous to say the truth. That the Beatles were not great.
Listen to their greatest hit, 'Love Me Do'. Its not very impressive. In fact its quite unimpressive. Or 'Hey Jude'. Except the interlude and close, there is nothing very great about the song. 'A Hard Day's Night' was immature and insipid. And 'Yellow submarine' is utter crap, sheer nonsense.
Talk about 'U2' or John Denver and you have my attention. But that can be the subject of another discussion, another day.
Let me present my case:
1. Their music is not revolutionary, not engaging. It doesn't move you, doesn't affect you. Its just some words and music thrown in to average effect. Their music is over-rated.
2. They were around only for about 7-8 years, I understand. And they did not perform many live shows. They were more of a studio group. So if you haven't been a 'live' band, I wonder how they could engage so many in so little time.
3. They may satisfy the definition of cult, but not the spirit. Having teenage girls who don't understand life going around is not 'cool', and certainly not mass appeal.
4. Just because there are a million or billion fans who faint when they hear you, doesn't make you great. Its merely a reflection of the large-scale mediocrity that is prevalent in the world.
5. What about their songs was about world peace or love? Nothing at all. They couldn't stay together as a group for long, despite being love gurus. And they conveniently sidelined George Martin.
6. They won Grammies, 7 of them I think. But since when did winning Grammies make you great?
7. Most of all, their music is not timeless. Like Bob Dylan or John Denver whom you can listen to even today.
To all those false Beatlemania victims, I say 'Move on'
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Disparities in confidence
As the world progresses, with growth comes disparity. It is impossible to consistently achieve growth without compromising on equal distribution of wealth and opportunities. And this is because of basic human nature. Every human being, by his very nature, would seek the advancement of his progeny, his clan, his blood. That's the way the world evolves. It's your instinct. People generally try to boost their children's chances in various fields to succeed in life.
Education is one of them. Children of affluent parents would get opportunities to study in the best of universities. We can't imagine that all the industrialists' sons and daughters are smart enough to get into the Whartons and Harvards of the world. Whether they deserve this or not, or whether they make use of it or not is an entirely different matter. So, obviously, they are assured of a good label as far education is concerned.
Social connections is another area. By virtue of moving around and being associated in elite circles, you are naturally exposed to a higher citizenry, or rather, a citizenry that is in an advantageous position, compared to the masses. You can't get that otherwise.
But above all, it is confidence. The confidence that comes from having more money at your disposal, having more wealth, having a fallback in case you don't succeed the first time around, having a higher springboard in life. And this confidence is reflected in all actions and activities of life. Right from driving a car to talking to a group of people, they are less restrained and more natural. That confidence is really the clincher, the key differentiator.
You can't reduce disparities in confidence!
Education is one of them. Children of affluent parents would get opportunities to study in the best of universities. We can't imagine that all the industrialists' sons and daughters are smart enough to get into the Whartons and Harvards of the world. Whether they deserve this or not, or whether they make use of it or not is an entirely different matter. So, obviously, they are assured of a good label as far education is concerned.
Social connections is another area. By virtue of moving around and being associated in elite circles, you are naturally exposed to a higher citizenry, or rather, a citizenry that is in an advantageous position, compared to the masses. You can't get that otherwise.
But above all, it is confidence. The confidence that comes from having more money at your disposal, having more wealth, having a fallback in case you don't succeed the first time around, having a higher springboard in life. And this confidence is reflected in all actions and activities of life. Right from driving a car to talking to a group of people, they are less restrained and more natural. That confidence is really the clincher, the key differentiator.
You can't reduce disparities in confidence!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Charity or Save the world; be politically correct!
After a short day at office yesterday I was leaving home soon since I had to go to the bank to foreclose my car loan. I was at Vikhroli station in a hurry, when I was stopped by a young girl, about 20, who represented Greenpeace. And she asked me politely whether I could listen to her for a few minutes. I agreed.
She briefly described what Greenpeace was and what they were working on. I told her I knew quite a lot about Greenpeace, but didn't tell her that one of the projects my company was working on was delayed because of activism by Greenpeace.
I asked her how I could help, the response to which she delayed, continuing her script to conclusion. I was getting impatient, wondering what was it that she wanted from me. I thought of asking 'Do you expect me to save the world here?' but I blurted out 'How can I help?'. She had to come to the point. Contributions begin at Rs 250 a month, conveniently chargeable to my credit card.
She almost concluded that I would save the world, sorry, contribute. I said I can't decide contribution standing here at the station at an odd hour. I asked for their website and details and said I'd update her whether I contribute or otherwise.
I wondered what was it that drove this young girl of 20, possibly, to stand in the afternoon sun and promote a cause which may or may not benefit her. And thats not enough, lest I sound like a irresponsible citizen of the world. I'm sure this girl doesn't understand the complete story, nor does she know whether she is on the right side of the world.
I concluded that she was doing it to earn brownie points. Maybe she was going away to America for further studies. Maybe she needed the experience on her application.
Is this is a good cause to be associated with for that? With all the controversy surrounding such activist organisations, it may not be a safe bet. I mean, someone opposed to this idea, with a reasonable understanding of the scenario (which this girl lacks) will be able to win an argument.
I had never had the need to be associated with any such cause for brownie points, so I can't comment on the appropriateness. But this led me to think whether one should choose a safer alternative, such as an old age home, women's issues, children in orphanages or the like, where you could only be right. After all, most in the world choose to play safe.
That would be so politically correct!
She briefly described what Greenpeace was and what they were working on. I told her I knew quite a lot about Greenpeace, but didn't tell her that one of the projects my company was working on was delayed because of activism by Greenpeace.
I asked her how I could help, the response to which she delayed, continuing her script to conclusion. I was getting impatient, wondering what was it that she wanted from me. I thought of asking 'Do you expect me to save the world here?' but I blurted out 'How can I help?'. She had to come to the point. Contributions begin at Rs 250 a month, conveniently chargeable to my credit card.
She almost concluded that I would save the world, sorry, contribute. I said I can't decide contribution standing here at the station at an odd hour. I asked for their website and details and said I'd update her whether I contribute or otherwise.
I wondered what was it that drove this young girl of 20, possibly, to stand in the afternoon sun and promote a cause which may or may not benefit her. And thats not enough, lest I sound like a irresponsible citizen of the world. I'm sure this girl doesn't understand the complete story, nor does she know whether she is on the right side of the world.
I concluded that she was doing it to earn brownie points. Maybe she was going away to America for further studies. Maybe she needed the experience on her application.
Is this is a good cause to be associated with for that? With all the controversy surrounding such activist organisations, it may not be a safe bet. I mean, someone opposed to this idea, with a reasonable understanding of the scenario (which this girl lacks) will be able to win an argument.
I had never had the need to be associated with any such cause for brownie points, so I can't comment on the appropriateness. But this led me to think whether one should choose a safer alternative, such as an old age home, women's issues, children in orphanages or the like, where you could only be right. After all, most in the world choose to play safe.
That would be so politically correct!
Does Twitter make money?
I've been fascinated and intrigued by whether website companies make money. Google may have 'non-intrusive' and 'relevant' advertisements, but I can't imagine they making any decent margin. Just think of the costs that they incur, maintaining these huge servers, the electricity costs, the airconditioning required to keep them cool, all for storing stuff that is at least 90% junk and unwanted. (In a separate post, I would like to discuss how much of junk the world might have created).
Youtube stores videos, Flickr stores pictures, and Scribd stores documents that add up to many gigabytes. So for all of this, the expense would be enormous. As I can think, any number of non-intrusive advertisements and sale of personal information cannot make up for this.
Twitter is a more recent phenomenon. It may have the benefit of being much modest in terms of size, since it restricts messages to 140 characters, has no images or videos. But with its popularity growing and the number of posts increasing at an exponential rate, it will be in trouble.
The one aspect that is different about Twitter is that it has no advertisements whatsoever. And by the language of what is written, I'm sure they can't figure out any pattern that they could use to sell your information, at least as of now.
It has succeeded in building a following of enormous proportion but hasn't done anything to capitalise on that yet. It could've easily put up advertisements, at least on its website, though many may be using the mobile application.
In the social networking world, it has achieved what very few have. To have so many tweeting away in such a short time is worthy of recognition.
I can see a few sources of income possible in the future. As for other such players, they could study patterns in tweets and generate targeted advertisement campaigns to select groups of individuals. They could be 'sponsored' tweets. In fact, they could have these sponsored tweeters following you.
As Google has reached out to the masses with their AdWords initiative, twitter could do the same. That way, you could have these small and medium businesses follow pertinent potential customers. This may work in the developed world better.
As a finance professional, I think they would securitise their future expected streams of income and leverage that to expand today, thus feeding their growth. Whether it will work, only time till tell. Whether it is desirable, I can say no now.
Since it runs predominantly on mobile applications in the developed world, I suppose they may have a tie-up with mobile service providers for a share in income generated because of tweets. This is yet to catch up in the developing world.
The interesting part in the case of Twitter is that they have a set of venture capitalists who have funded them. I'm sure they must be expecting and demanding a share of the pie when the cake is baked and ready to eat.
It'll be interesting to see where this leads. Till then, tweet away!
Youtube stores videos, Flickr stores pictures, and Scribd stores documents that add up to many gigabytes. So for all of this, the expense would be enormous. As I can think, any number of non-intrusive advertisements and sale of personal information cannot make up for this.
Twitter is a more recent phenomenon. It may have the benefit of being much modest in terms of size, since it restricts messages to 140 characters, has no images or videos. But with its popularity growing and the number of posts increasing at an exponential rate, it will be in trouble.
The one aspect that is different about Twitter is that it has no advertisements whatsoever. And by the language of what is written, I'm sure they can't figure out any pattern that they could use to sell your information, at least as of now.
It has succeeded in building a following of enormous proportion but hasn't done anything to capitalise on that yet. It could've easily put up advertisements, at least on its website, though many may be using the mobile application.
In the social networking world, it has achieved what very few have. To have so many tweeting away in such a short time is worthy of recognition.
I can see a few sources of income possible in the future. As for other such players, they could study patterns in tweets and generate targeted advertisement campaigns to select groups of individuals. They could be 'sponsored' tweets. In fact, they could have these sponsored tweeters following you.
As Google has reached out to the masses with their AdWords initiative, twitter could do the same. That way, you could have these small and medium businesses follow pertinent potential customers. This may work in the developed world better.
As a finance professional, I think they would securitise their future expected streams of income and leverage that to expand today, thus feeding their growth. Whether it will work, only time till tell. Whether it is desirable, I can say no now.
Since it runs predominantly on mobile applications in the developed world, I suppose they may have a tie-up with mobile service providers for a share in income generated because of tweets. This is yet to catch up in the developing world.
The interesting part in the case of Twitter is that they have a set of venture capitalists who have funded them. I'm sure they must be expecting and demanding a share of the pie when the cake is baked and ready to eat.
It'll be interesting to see where this leads. Till then, tweet away!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Google offline
Google is reaching out, offline, to millions of Indians and Indian businesses.
As google expands into newer emerging markets, with lower internet penetration, and lesser computer literacy, the concept of small companies also seeking to advertise on the net is lower. And google's survival and growth depend on advertising revenue, after all. So they are now reaching out. And they are reaching out through snail mail, offering vouchers to companies to sign in.
Till now, Adwords provided all the revenue to google. And it is driven by a vast majority of small firms that provide advertisements to google, that are thrown up with search results.
Google realised that India has an estimated 80 million internet users, while it has at least half a billion mobile users. So, obviously, there is a different currency that has more reach that what google trades in. And google is attempting to convert these many millions.
According to research firm Access Market International Partners Inc., India has around four million small and medium enterprises, or firms with a workforce between 10 and 1,000. They are expected to spend $18.6 billion (Rs85,000 crore) in 2010 to buy computers, build websites and connect to the Internet.
Google has built most of its business online, indexing information on the Internet so it can be searched easily. Only now has it digressed from this model to go offline, and to build products, including a mobile phone named Nexus One.
As google expands into newer emerging markets, with lower internet penetration, and lesser computer literacy, the concept of small companies also seeking to advertise on the net is lower. And google's survival and growth depend on advertising revenue, after all. So they are now reaching out. And they are reaching out through snail mail, offering vouchers to companies to sign in.
Till now, Adwords provided all the revenue to google. And it is driven by a vast majority of small firms that provide advertisements to google, that are thrown up with search results.
Google realised that India has an estimated 80 million internet users, while it has at least half a billion mobile users. So, obviously, there is a different currency that has more reach that what google trades in. And google is attempting to convert these many millions.
According to research firm Access Market International Partners Inc., India has around four million small and medium enterprises, or firms with a workforce between 10 and 1,000. They are expected to spend $18.6 billion (Rs85,000 crore) in 2010 to buy computers, build websites and connect to the Internet.
Google has built most of its business online, indexing information on the Internet so it can be searched easily. Only now has it digressed from this model to go offline, and to build products, including a mobile phone named Nexus One.
Montessori method
Esmeralda Davis runs a Montessori school in east Bangalore. Montessori method is where a child is allowed to develop according to his or her natural inner directives, through self-directed learning. The school allows students to choose their activities, make discoveries about language, art, mathematics, music and culture in non-graded classes of mixed ages. As I read more about this method, I am impelled to explore this and see if I can become a practitioner.
I'm reading about this on the back of 3 Idiots taking the entire country by storm. Even if the movie manages to change a few lives, it would have been a great service. After watching the movie a couple of times, I have a noticed a certain gap that the movie leaves unaddressed. While it is recommended that we do what we love, it doesn't address the point that our system does not allow a student to find what he loves to do. That would be possible only with a system of counselling and discovery that spans over many years, depending on how much time an average student would take to find his or her true calling.
The Montessori system seems to provide the solution. We need to do what we love, no doubt. But the education system needs an overhaul to ensure that we know what we love. Otherwise the current education system is capable of ruining our natural instincts and direction. I'm reminded of a t-shirt quote 'I was intelligent, but education ruined me'. How true!
I'm off to understand and discover more!
I'm reading about this on the back of 3 Idiots taking the entire country by storm. Even if the movie manages to change a few lives, it would have been a great service. After watching the movie a couple of times, I have a noticed a certain gap that the movie leaves unaddressed. While it is recommended that we do what we love, it doesn't address the point that our system does not allow a student to find what he loves to do. That would be possible only with a system of counselling and discovery that spans over many years, depending on how much time an average student would take to find his or her true calling.
The Montessori system seems to provide the solution. We need to do what we love, no doubt. But the education system needs an overhaul to ensure that we know what we love. Otherwise the current education system is capable of ruining our natural instincts and direction. I'm reminded of a t-shirt quote 'I was intelligent, but education ruined me'. How true!
I'm off to understand and discover more!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Google tribute to Newton
The google home page today is creative brilliance. On the event of Newton's birth anniversary, they have come up with a fitting tribute. One of the O's of google is replaced by an apple, which drops when you open the page. I log in to google at least once every day. Of all the concepts they've used over the years, I think this is one of the best.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Reclaim my life
The new year is here. And we go through the usual motions of resolutions and promises to lead a better life. No different this time around. I made a few motherhood statements, decided on a theme for the years to come. For the first time in many years, I was becoming seriously aware of the fact that I had more productive years behind me, than ahead of me. Thats in terms of count! And the only way I could make my future count more than my past is to ensure that I live the same life more!
A few incidents have been encouraging in the past week. The run up to any new year is always good. You decide to start a new life and plan to do all the right things once the new year begins. And all that you experience in the last week before the new year appears encouraging. I had enough experience from the past of resolutions not making it any beyond January. So this time around I decided to just move quick and sure in the direction of a better life.
I looked back at 2009 and found that I had very few real achievements that made the list. So I refrained from writing a long laundry list of ideal things that seem so daunting that they sure will tire one.
I just decided on a theme 'Reclaim My Life' inspired by an automobile ad. Someone then told me you had to have measurable goals, but I didn't want to fall into the trap of aiming too wide and high and not reaching anywhere. So I'd decide on a few goals every month, review them at the end of the month, and add to the list as I go by, with some success, I hope and wish.
A few incidents have been encouraging in the past week. The run up to any new year is always good. You decide to start a new life and plan to do all the right things once the new year begins. And all that you experience in the last week before the new year appears encouraging. I had enough experience from the past of resolutions not making it any beyond January. So this time around I decided to just move quick and sure in the direction of a better life.
I looked back at 2009 and found that I had very few real achievements that made the list. So I refrained from writing a long laundry list of ideal things that seem so daunting that they sure will tire one.
I just decided on a theme 'Reclaim My Life' inspired by an automobile ad. Someone then told me you had to have measurable goals, but I didn't want to fall into the trap of aiming too wide and high and not reaching anywhere. So I'd decide on a few goals every month, review them at the end of the month, and add to the list as I go by, with some success, I hope and wish.
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