driving home a point

Movies like PK and OMG are on one side and movies like Ship of Theseus are on the other side. PK and OMG have taken a stand. God men are really not what they seem. Blind faith is WRONG. You are getting fooled and in many ways you need a misfit to question them all. Both these movies question god men on supposedly logical grounds but unabashedly believe in God. I find the stand a bit illogical. On a premise of cold rationale and logic and science – belief in God itself to my mind is questionable. But let’s not start that debate … not yet at least. But they take a stand and once you take a stand you tend to preach and once you tend to preach you tend to be the same as what you oppose – a preacher. Can you oppose a preacher by preaching? Hmmm…

That’s what I think is wrong with the films. They preach. On the other hand, I believe a film like Ship Of Theseus tries to also take a stand but not by preaching but by discourse, by question. It lays open a situation (rather 3 situations) and doe smore to spread religious belief and further society by question than by decision. But therein also lies a problem. The number of people who have seen Ship… versus PK is starkly different. By a matter of hundreds I would guess.

Tipping Point is alovely book by Malcolm Gladwell. I started reading it but thought at first that it was ok ok, and then my Guru – Dharen Chadha starting reading it one evening and by next day morning he had a strategy presentation to be made out of it. I felt so dam embarrassed and he showed me how to read a book. The book argues that for a fire to start you need a tipping point. To get there you don’t need to sell to everyone. Just the right people – the mavens. Who are mavens? – “A maven (also mavin) is a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others. The word maven comes from Hebrew, meaning "one who understands", based on an accumulation of knowledge.” It is these people who need to be touched and then the message is to be passed on. Therefore then Ship is doing a far better job of spreading a question than possibly PK would be. PK would try and spread a message by strong use of media. It tells to believe just so… But if I challenge you to think and then if I challenge you to see other sides of a question, if I plant just a seed in your head, it’s enough. I think a seed is far more powerful than a tree transplanted.

A slow movie in that sense is like a book. A book allows you to reflect, set your pace, reflect, pick up and read on. A slow movie possibly also does that. It continues to grip you but at the same time allows you to question, think and reflect. It allows for a seed to firm implanted. A big bang commercial movie is like a tree that is trying to be implanted in loose soil. It may hold for some time but a strong gust of wind might just blow it over.

Over the years in my teaching style as well, I have moved from trees to seeds. I question, I push, I ask. I keep thinking and urge the kids to think as well. I try to throw seeds in the tilled soil. Earlier I used to throw a conept at them every lecture. Teach and move on. Now I have changed a lot of my style. I have many lectures, all different examples but try and firmly put in one seed. One common seed through many different ways. Who knows which one will sprout, where, when. The idea is to keep hammering one idea… hard. And also I think it’s amazing if subjects in each year can essentially be driven around one idea… one central idea. The rockbed of what you can actually take away from the topic. That would be pretty cool, and usefull. Suddenly subjects can have so much more meaning. Hehehehe… to have more meaning reduce the idea… opposites reconciling anyone?

lies, dammed lies and even more dammed truth

The internet is dead. Long live the internet. Recently I have had this epiphany. Well it’s not that sudden as an epiphany might denote, but it’s come off late. In the last ten years of reading stuff, I have learnt that nothing is the truth. Nothing is the whole truth, the complete truth and nothing but the truth. Everything is questionable. Everything has a bias and everything is subjective. My guru Dharen, said something once. He said – there is science and then there is truth. He spoke about his experience with Parachute hair oil. He said there is science that hair oil doesn’t permeate the scalp more than a certain level and has possibly no effect on the brain function… but there is also the truth that during exam time, my mom puts oil in my hair and then I study and what all I study goes through in the brain. There is science and then there is truth. See – this is the truth – there is no real complete truth. We search for truth everywhere in our lives and place such a premium on it. But in effect there isn’t any! Everything becomes exciting when it offers to tell the truth but then slowly slowly it starts lying. But if there is no truth there can’t be lies as well. But surely there is obfuscation and theories that come from either side as either side use the new propaganda to convince the world of their side of the equation.

Basically I have become a skeptic of everything. Earlier newspapers were the upholders of truth. Today only a fool will believe whatever a newspaper will tell you. But as I see around me – there are tons of fools. A book I read many years ago – called ‘mindset’ by john nasbitt – in which he said –I turn to eth sports page as I know that is the only bit of truth in the newspapers. The score is the score. Today when I came to office I picked up the Bombay time – the tabloid edition of the daily newspaper. A young kid in the team asked me – is that the first thing I read. No – I replied. I read the paper today at home. The first thing I read is the sports page of the Times of India. Then I read some other pages, then I read the first article of the Mumbai Mirror. The Mumbai mirror on the first page will generally take up some expose of something that is ailing Mumbai – some civic or social issue. I like that article. And then to get insights into what the world is veering towards in terms of attitudes and expectations I look at the Bombay times. So first fact, then interpretation and then fiction… as a marketer – all three are important in different circumstances – I would even veer towards saying it’s in the wrong order. Fiction is extremely important for marketers… movies (read: popculture) tell us the most about ourselves…

So newspapers also lie. Then came the internet. The internet with its promise of democratizing information gave so much of it to all and sundry. Now people were not and will be not judged by what they know but how well they will search. This was told to me by a very intelligent man – one of my first mentors – Aditya Shastri. This was in 1997 when I first saw the internet in his office. It was pretty cool. His words have become prophetic. With internet now reaching mobile phones, information has exploded in terms of what is available in the palm of your hand and everywhere you are. So conversations in parties that talk about certain data used tobe done from memory and now if some contentious point comes out – the internet comes to the rescue and closes all conversation. I hope with this getting more and more omnipresent people will be more circumspect in what they talk. They will possibly learn to use words like ’from my memory’, ‘possibly’, ‘likely’, ‘mostly’, ‘I believe’ etc… cause anything said will and can be verified by a quick mobile search.

So I loved that google would be able to help us a lot on spreading knowledge and information. It truly allows us to do tons of research and helps us find the ‘truth’.  I used to joke that whats the internet to believe anything. Tomorrow I would write something and if it ranks on google then would that make it true? Today google has become the answer for what you want as the answer. Whatever you want you will get google to answer that for you. You want to know how microwave is bad for you – there will be billions of links – ditto for why this is all a sham. Just because its forwarded or on a link that looks nice, doesn’t make it true. So many people believe any shit that they see. In the middle there was a video of a lion roaming around in thane… people believed it to be true… er… one question – Which is the LAST refuge of the Asiatic lion? THE LAST REFUGE? You idiot. You don’t get lions outside Gir in India.

So the omnipresence of google is going to be used for both parties – the for and the against. Its up to you to analyse the data presented. The past possibly belonged to the believer – the future with so much data will belong to the skeptic. Everything is but a probability. You play probabilities. You read everything, listen everything, trust nothing and build your beliefs, values and judgment. That’s all.

Inshallah!

Sometimes it becomes so difficult to get the racist out from inside of us. On Sunday was one example – I was standing by the road waiting for Jasmine to pick me up. On the side of the road was a car standing. Oddly – as parking isn’t allowed there. There was no one in the car and I saw that one of the tyres had a flat. On the Back of the car were the words – Insah Allah. I wasn’t  going to stand anywhere near this car.

Many years ago, when I was in 12^th standard, Mumbai faced the most devastating terrorist bombing ever. Some 13 bomb blasts were set off in a span of less than a few hours. That was the first time that Mumbai was hit thus and everyone now understood what RDX (the explosive used) was. I passed through two of those spots just in the morning. I was trying to learn magic with a local magician at Shivaji Park. So I passed Sena Bhavan and Plaza Cinema that morning and the blasts were at around the afternoon. It was a lucky miss I guess. One explosion was setoff at the Bombay Stock Exchange. It seems that in a freak case, one person called up home to say he was safe after the Exchange blast and that he was coming home, and he was caught in the second blast at Worli. That was especially sad.

Mumbai has faced more attacks designed to cause terror since. Once there were a series of train bombings. A friend of mine told me that he was in the very compartment that was bombed. I felt that too as I used the train network to travel to work and home. Then there was the really infamous attacks by armed intruders on the Taj and CST station and The Oberoi hotel amongst others. My office was in the building right opposite the Oberoi hotel and from there I travelled to CST station to come home. That day I left at 6 sharp from work. It seems the attackers were planning to reach CST at 6 pm to cause maximum impact. They were stuck in traffic and reached by around 7.30. I missed those as well by a whisker.

In hindsight, if I was around, and hopefully safe, it would have been an interesting grandfather tale for the kids. Growing up in Mumbai and witnessing these attacks as well as riots of 1991, a Mumbai man is possibly hardened compared to most other cities. It hurts less and life goes on as normal faster than what it possibly would to another. I grew up in interesting times – riots, bomb blasts, attack and gangsters. Of course – the eighties were when the gangsters rules. There was an interesting story in the papers or a shootout or something or the other happening. Things are pretty much silent these days. I think it was a Chinese Curse that said “may you live in interesting times”.  Boring is good!

When I grew up I grew in charged times – the poor Muslim was an obvious target of religious discrimination. The same way a black male in US would face suspicion any Muslim male in India would face similar discrimination. It was us peace loving Hindus versus the fanatical Muslims. It has been a tough and long journey to conquer this racism and rise above. Its definitely not easy.  I try my best to tell myself whenever I see myself behaving stupidly – DON’T DON’T . We can’t be propagating it.

But when I see a car seemingly abandoned in the middle of the road (especially worli) and it’s got allah written on it in bold. I would like to wait a little further away. Nicely behind a tree. Ami being safe… Am I being racist… am !?

bouncing back

Recently an international aussie cricketer got hit on the head while batting. It was freak shot and he sadly went into coma and passed away. The cricket ball is a really potent weapon in the right / wrong hands. I played my entire cricket in the dust bowls of Mumbai. Here when the bowler bowled most of the time he wasn’t that fast – we played corporate cricket – old misfits playing the game. Some would be genuinely quick but the dust bowls of India would not let the ball come anywhere higher than the waist. So when I went into bat I would have minimum padding on. Good gloves are essential as the ball has a knack for variable bounce and pads are of course important. In variably the low bounce would mean being rapped on the pads near the shin area. That was more than enough. No need of helmet or an arm guard. Of course no one ever made the silly mistake of going without a groin guard. That was extremely essential :). I remember the humble groin guard. When Jispa first saw it lying around in my kit she was putting in around her knee. She thought it was a knee guard. Err… yes sure. Only when I went opening or higher up the order I would use the thigh pad. There is no point using the thigh pad after ten overs. The ball stopped doing anything  - no swing, no bounce, it would just sit up there and wait to be hit. In Mumbai with the afternoon heat – even in winters – you are sweating like crazy and hence you want to carry as less padding as possible. The padding would just sit there and absorb the sweat and become heavy. It would become tough to run in them. I remember being hit when I first starting playing on the thigh. After that I don’t really remember being hit at all.

The bowlers would occasionally bowl the bouncer but most of the time it would really be a beamer that slipped out of the hand and that is the easy one to duck out of. I always ducked, never hooked, why do bravado when you get a no ball for it? Once or twice I have been at the receiving end of a well directed bouncer. A well-directed bouncer is bowled to intimidate the batsman and push him on the back foot. In Mumbai grounds, you generally take your guard a step ahead; this negates most of the late swing movement and almost certainly rules out most LBWs. If you stand ahead there is always reasonable doubt that the ball is going to hit the stumps and then you are saved. My captain Arun Solanki always taught me stay in front and out of the crease. And ensure that the umpire sees you come up. Then it’s the wicket keeprs job. The only way to get you back should be that wicket keeper comes up to the crease to keep wickets and then you as a batsman want to come back or risk getting stumped. That’s the way I always played my cricket. Step up and hit. I hardly got an LBW decision against me.

I remember the one time when a bouncer was intentionally directed at me. I had just driven the bowler on the front foot back behind him and got a boundary. The next ball was a awesome bouncer directed at my nose. I jumped and swerved out of it and avoided it. The umpire gave a no ball and warned the bowler. The next ball I still came on the front foot and again drove him. Sorry dude – it takes more than a bouncer to put me on the back foot. After I took a single the umpire told me that the bouncer was well directed and I did well to move out of the line. He said I did it well because I did not get my eyes off from the ball and hence I could adjust till the end and got my head off the trajectory. See the bouncer below. The one near the 1 min and 24 second mark was similar to the way I moved  - a jump and a swerve.

In Mumbai grounds the biggest danger of getting hit is while fielding. With the pitches so densely packed, you have to worry about the other match where you may be standing right where the batsman is looking at an empty spot from his perspective. One strong pull could put you out of action for some time.

Cricket is an aggressive game. Not playing a shot or ducking from a bouncer is an act of aggression. You know the rules; you have to play that to your advantage. Sledging or over hitting aggressively is not necessarily the aggression you want to show.

Here is a bonus video. Not directly related but it’s there – reason. Use cold and hard reason and you should be good. There would be no reason to do bravado when reason will tell you to just be smarter.

sssssh

I was listening to a podcast. The podcast was about being quiet. This was in an interesting program that I stumbled upon – it’s called the TED radio hour. If you have been reading this blog then you must be familiar with the TED videos which are a constant course of fantastic information. The speakers there get 20 minutes at best and the successful ones become overnight worldwide internet celebrities.  This podcast takes these interesting talks and makes a show by creating theme and getting two three talks, stiches them and then supplements them by interviews with the speakers. It’s quite a nice radio show. It makes commuting so much more bearable.

A few days back there was a talk on quiet. It just talks about being quiet and a few talks around it. A few interesting points did come up. One of things I resonated with is the point of being an introvert versus being an extravert. Today in offices or anywhere in social life, being an extravert is being seen as a sign of strength. It’s good to be an extrovert. Leaders are extroverts. We are taught in school to be an extrovert – go out and seize the moment – talk to a 100 hundred people and taught confidently. Reach out and blah blah blah. The speaker argues that in the modern world we have placed a large amount of emphasis on being an extrovert and this is a modern phenomena. Just about a 100 odd years ago there was an emphasis on character that is measured and thoughtful and – introverted.

You know, I was always an outgoing extroverted guy. I couldn’t keep quiet, was happy in the company of people and openly gave opinion on all matters. Happy to take the lead in meetings, talk my mind and do all sorts of stuff. The Quintessential extrovert.  This is what I was taught to do. There are marks given for class participation and I would maximize them. In the last ten years after I started reading I realized that I did not know so much, I taught myself the value of keeping your opinions to yourself. Listen, actively listen! When listening, try and convince yourself that the other person’s point of view is correct and important. This is a difficult thing to do and it is extremely difficult for an extroverted person who jumps to ideas and thinks fast. So my mind works fast and gets the point and I have exhibit extreme impatience while talking…. Dam shit… this creates more enemies and it creates mistakes and it leaves a lot of meat on the table that must be heard completely to have impact in your head.

So its been a 360 degree change for me. While growing up the role models for me were all extrovert but now the role models are in many ways introvert. I am sure the right answer is between the two. I like to brood over, quietly think, and relax in one place with a book. Speak to a few people only on things that are interesting and people who are knowledgeable or thirsty for knowledge. Its interesting how things change.

Two other things I heard on the same program – I knew this story about George  Mallory wherein he was asked in 1924 –why he wanted to conquer mount Everest – He famously retorted “because it’s there”. This is a legend amongst mountain climbers. There is no other real reason to climb a mountain besides the fact that its there, waiting to be climed. This question was asked to a tight rope walker who has walked across various places without a safety net. He retorted with his variation – “because it’s in there”. Which is also true. He does it because inside of him there is something that is in there. Which I thought was cool.

The second thing I was inspired was by the speaker talking about the importance of quiet time. It’s difficult for me to get quiet time. But that is an excuse according to the speaker. If we get time for exercise or going to the gym, then we can definitely get quiet time for ourselves to get our mental balance right. Driving in an around Mumbai is a pain and a blessing in disguise, depending on the way you look at it. I hate the commute but now it has become an amazing opportunity to be in silence and listen to podcasts. I guess podcasts aren’t necessarily silent hour. But it still beats talking to people. I used to use this rule – listen while going to office and catch up on the phone while coming back. Now when I am tempted to reach for the phone and speak on the Bluetooth, I resist and decide to hold on to the podcasts. My silence is golden, you can keep on talking.

My mother would die laughing if she ever read this piece. Her youngest could never be silent and now he is preaching it like he has mastered it. Bull shit.

invention of inventions

Jispa has to write an essay on the greatest invention of mankind. I guess the idea here is that this is going to be such a  widespread contest that the best bet would be to think completely out of the box. I asked Jispa what she thought would be the greatest invention of man. She said it would be the light bulb. Then I asked her to think further. She thought about – fire, wheel etc. when prodded further she even mentioned air conditioning as an option. I think this is her mother’s side of the family gene showing up. AC!? But its ok, I asked her to think further. I spoke to her about great stuff like, the printing press (Guttenberg) or the internet. She spoke about newspapers and others. We also spoke about democracy.

I then explained that in my mind the greatest invention is possibly a philosophical one – the invention of the rights of man after the French revolution in 1789. The concept that all men are born free and shall remain free, equal in the eye of law and are free to do what they choose (limitless) as long as they don’t harm anyone else or take away other people’s rights. This to my mind was a fundamental concept that allowed men to have freedom of speech, thought and action. This is such a simple concept that is so critical in our thinking and for what we take for granted. Democracy, free speech, ability to hold property and various different concepts that we hold dear and for granted come from this simple declaration. It also inspired millions others to think similarly. It seems this was a work that took forward the American declaration.

It contains such simple stuff like as - all persons are held innocent until they shall have been declared guilty; Law is the expression of the general will; Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.

Everything that we take for granted was not so as man progressed. I would even think that the reason that man has progressed in the last 200 odd years at this rapid pace is because it essentially democratized speech thought and action. I find these lines extremely powerful ‘liberty consists of in the freedom to do everything’. It is so amazing. Instead of telling what man could do, it simply gave man the right to do everything. It frees man to think on anything. It only restricts a few things. I think this is such a valuable lesson that we as parents or as bosses must take up.

In office we have things like KRA’s – key result areas. These define things that I must do. they in many ways limit my role and responsibility to do things that ensure I get my monthly pay check and that I am rewarded for it. just imagine if a KRA said – you are free to do anything that doesn’t harm the organization. Of course it’s unthinkable. As a parent also it’s unthinkable. Can I tell Jispa you are free to do what you want to do? Everything is allowed unless its expressly forbidden. As I read this charter again and again in a bid to explain it to Jispa I am forced to thin further and internalize it. as ai write about it , I am forced to think about it. It is so important to teach and write about what you think and learn. That is the only way to study! The right way to study. SO I am thinking of how I must  translate this charter for my child or for my office. Everything is allowed unless expressly forbidden. I think here my dad’s formula was right. till you are in tenth standard you will be told what to do and to study. After that you are on your own. No pressure no compulsion. I remember he would not want to interfere till Mom would really egg him to. You are man after you are 15 and then on you are free! Completely free as long as you don’t harm anyone else.

That is so bloody interesting. I hope I am able to keep Jispa free after 15. I hope to release Jispa from the clutches of her parents and the envelope of their warmth and love.

At eth end I was telling Jispa you must close your essay with something like – this was the framework that allowed man to think, in essence it was an invention of inventions. She looks at me and then asks me “you are saying that for drama, nah?” Yes sure. Nice drama nah? But yes since it allowed men to invent stuff and laid the bedrock of free thought – it is basically the invention of inventions!

Bonus video – somebody was asking me why I thought the Mendeleev’s periodic table was so sexy. I researched this stuff and I found this lovely video. You will love it.

tohdi si lift karade

Are we really that mean as a population? I really don’t know how is it that we get so inconsiderate.

We are raised to believe that Indians are really warm people. We value our family systems, we value our elders, we value our teachers, we treat people with respect etc. Of course then we have the caste system to deal with, which in many ways has been replaced by the class system in Mumbai. we don’t know how to treat our servants and our support system. That also to some extent I can allow. After all 5000 years of prejudice can’t be wished away in 50. That’s not the issue. Here I am talking about something else. I am talking about a big issue I see.

Lifts. We just don’t stop lifts when we see someone rushing in. There is no movement. People will know you are there, coming in but refuse to acknowledge your presence. I guess just quietly they will wish for the lift to close and they will simply head up! Are so hard pressed for time? not likely – it can only make a difference of 30 seconds. They will look at the phone, at the indicator on top, at the floor, anywhere but look at you. Some are exceptions to the rule. They will simply stare at you blankly – rather – stare through you as if you were made of glass. Now this is a real reason why in India we require lift men. Once a foreigner asked me in all earnest if the left men were a part of a government job scheme – because that is the only reason to have one – why on earth will you need liftmen in lifts! At the time I thought it’s because of feudal mindset we need these guys to press the buttons for us. We are too high up on the pecking order to do it ourselves. But I guess this is one more reason – or possibly the real reason. It’s because we need these guys to hold the lift for the lack of consideration we show others. I remember my first internship was in 20^th century Fox and it was in an old heritage building - the Metro building where the Metro theatre also ran. There was a lift man because I don’t think anyone else would be able to operate that lift – or they were worried that someone would screw it up. The lift I am sure would also be a heritage artifact. He would sit outside the lift with the door open on the ground floor. Since the lift was not available for going down the door could be open and not really affect anyone. Sometimes when the director or some level like that pressed the lift button for going down, the lift man would slowly get up and bring the lift to the relevant floor. But really the most irritating thing was when you get into the lift. Then he would look at you and wait for some time and then he would slowly get into the lift, then he would wait as if to look around if there was anyone else to get in. the building must have been three to max four stories and would hardly veer have anyone else in the lift but he would wait nevertheless. I even have some memory of him going and stepping outside the building to look if anyone was coming in and then he would enter the lift slowly closing the doors. This was the old style lift where you had to pull the collapsible doors one by one. He would close the doors himself and press the button himself. You were not to do it. You probably would have spoilt it! But the point is that now I understand the real reason for a lift man. We are asses. We don’t wait for anyone. We slam the door on people and we just don’t wait for people to come into the lift.  And educated high ranking officials working on corporate floors do this. When you go to our huge office at Goregaon you will see lifts with employees going up and down. There also nobody ever holds the lift for you if you are running in. also there may be enough space but no one will try to crunch in allowing that one more person to join in the lift. You have to look at people and they will look right back at you and just wait there. There is always space but as one sales man told me – “dil mein jagah honi chaiye”. I think there is no space left in our hearts at all.

Here is one ad that captured it perfectly! I think any ad is a good that captures something we see everyday and show it back to us on screen with a twist!

Bonus bakwaas video that makes everybody on the internet cry bucketful of tears!