guide to the future and past

I have on my left hand something that also tells me the time. I bought the Moto 360. It is basically a smart watch. On a lot of the mobile revolution I was wrong or caught napping. When mobiles first came out, I thought they were hardly of any use. Then when Black Berrys made a lot of noise, I was late onto the market. I couldn’t understand what the fuss was all about. What do you get by checking your phone regularly for email? Why would you need that? And of course all those investment bankers in their suits in the lifts, spending eth valuable 30 seconds to see their mail as opposed to simply saying hi, or at the least acknowledging the presence of another human being. So when the iPhone first came out, I too was unimpressed. What use could it possibly have in my life.

The touch screen sensation missed me. I had just upgraded myself to the Black berry and used it for a good three years before one day; the BB gave up on me. I came back from a vacation and it refused to spring back to life. Now I recently saw a friend using the smart watch and I was hooked. My first reaction was what my measured reaction is – I am not spending that kind of money. No way. Why should I spend this money? I am a bit of a gujju here. Does it really add that much value to my life? Do I really need something like this? What use is it actually? I kept thinking about it and I realized that I am what I am because I understand technology very well. I am constantly ahead of the curve in technology, I read technology, I use technology then I can’t let the iPhone mistake to happen again. I must be there in the middle of it all. I must be the early adopter and I must see how it works and evolves. Today I claim to understand Google and what it does for me because I have seen it evolve from what it origins were. I see it as a human. If I understand its soul at its core it will bare it to me, with all its mysteries. So when the android wear 1.0 has launched, I should be stupid not to adapt to it first up. I must.

Coming back to the soul. Technology is nothing but the manifestation of the human mind. It tries to do what a mind has taught it to do. The inventor has a belief and a philosophy. What is that philosophy? We must understand it and we must internalize it. Once you understand this core, you will be in a position to leverage it for you.  Mathematics can do everything; it can twist the universe and bend it. It proves that the world is far more than what we can see. In fact it predicted what you cannot see and hence you have to look out for what you cannot see and then find it – aha – the black holes. But at the end of it, it also has a philosophy, that of its writer. So if you understand the writer then you understand his philosophy and then you can understand its core. Whenever I try t understand some math guy or some algo, I try and decipher its core philosophy. Once that’s done – you can understand where its come from. That’s why history is so interesting. Once you understand where you come from you can predict where you will go… atleast it will give you probabilities.

Here is one – you are what you eat

Researchers have found that people from rice-growing southern China are more interdependent and holistic thinkers, while those from the wheat-growing north are more independent and analytical.

The researchers call it “rice theory”, and they believe the psychological differences of southern and northern Chinese stem from their ancestors’ subsistence techniques – rice farming needs co-operation and planning; wheat farming requires less co-operation between neighbours.

…The last experiment assessed the nepotism, or group loyalty, of the participants. Students were given hypothetical scenarios and asked how they would treat friends and strangers in reaction to helpful or harmful actions. A defining characteristic of holistic culture is that people draw sharp contrasts between friend and stranger.

“The data suggests that legacies of farming are continuing to affect people,” Thomas Talhelm, of the University of Virginia and lead author of the research, said. “It has resulted in two distinct cultural psychologies that mirror the differences between East Asia and the West.”

Talhelm and his team concluded that the co-operative nature of rice-growing has cultivated a culture of interdependence, while wheat-growing has cultivated independence.

“I think the rice theory provides some insight to why the rice-growing regions of East Asia are less individualistic than the Western world or northern China, even with their wealth and modernisation,” Talhelm said.

We went to Elephanta recently and I had read up on it before hand. I had a book that I had bought many years ago but we never did manage to go to Elephanta island. Here we took a local guide but I soon asked him to keep quiet. He got his facts wrong. I started off explaining to the kids what each statue was and the significance of the story behind it. Each one is a picture that tells a moral much like Aesop’s fables. It was lovely. I also did not know how much I knew. Now I plan to read more and more and then I want to be a guide at least to Elephant. I want to explore the island and go often enough. I want understand it more. This is near home, it is exquisite and then let me see if I can do guiding to Elephanta for certain tourists on weekends. I would love to be a guide. Today I know more and I can explain more than most guides on the island. I know the stories and the mythology behind it. The significance of Shiva murals and the other gods in it. Just a little more research and I could be in business. What say? I want to be a guide that says – come along – really low or free to join and work completely on tips. If you like you pay, else it’s up to you. Just like teaching – money can’t be the motivator. In teaching you don’t get or want tips, but here that is critical. If I am able to make it fun and happy for all, who knows, this could be a great source of self-fulfillment. Teaching helps me learn so much, being a guide will also help me. I want to be a guide. Elephant is the perfect starting block.

I was speaking o Jispa about Elephanta and was asking her about the trip. She then remarked that if I loved history and mythology so much, why I didn’t pick it up as a career or something. What to do… in school, I hated history which was nothing but a bunch of dates to remember. I remember asking mom – what use is history to us? Hmmm.. today I try and explain the importance of these subjects to Jispa. They are important. Yesterday I was explaining why civics is important. And I explained how she wouldn’t appreciate it now, it’s almost impossible to appreciate it as a young kid but it is extremely important to understand how we are governed… by ourselves and how the structure is critical to be understood by every citizen. I have to teach her civics one of these days… I hope I can teach it without boring the crap out of her.

what you sow, so will you...

Yesterday we had the good fortune of going for the special exhibition of artifacts from Egypt, courtesy of the British Museum which had collaborated with Mumbai’s own Prince of Wales Museum. Normally the Mumbai museum all these years was a very staid place with little changing but the quality of exhibits kept me going and I loved taking Jispa there. First we used to take her to the Natural history section, then we took her often to the other parts of the museum. I loved rediscovering the museum with her.

Of late the museum is begging to get a new lease of life. It seems that is courtesy the new museum director who is proactively trying to do stuff. There are small small activities like getting your favorite animal rubber stamped at a table near the section or a stamp of some symbol or something. Next to it is a donation box in exchange where you can put in whatever amount you want, in return for getting a card with the rubber stamps. There is also a place where you get yourselves some head gear and get yourself photographed in in. the last time we went to the museum, we had visited the special exhibition from China which had two original soldiers on display from the famous terracotta army.

This time the Egypt exhibition was in a class of its own. There was a ton of PR preceding the exhibition. It’s here on display for around six months so there is adequate time for a lot of people to see it. AS we approached the entrance we saw there was a counter for the audio tours, reasonably priced at 70 bucks a guide. We took three as we were three adults with four children. After we had taken it and paid up we saw one counter where one young lady was sitting with an official badge. Over her head was a sign announcing guided tours in Hindi, English and Marathi. I asked the young lady if we could get a guided tour. She said of course. In English? I asked. Yes. Ok cool we are on. So I told my group that we have a guide and off we went on the tour. Our guide, Stuti was a young first year arts student. She was amongst the best guide we ever had. She held the attention of four kids, explained the Egyptian terms to them in an easy manner while using words like cool, dudes, rocking, silly etc while questioning the attention of the kids by asking questions of stuff she had already said. She rocked. She was patient for the complete 2 and half hours we took. The exhibition was also lovely with a lot of artifacts and around 4 real mummies. Wow. That is so cool. At eth end, Spoke to her “thank you Stuti, it was lovely. Do we owe you anything”. “nopes, she said, its free”. “ok, would it be appropriate if we still gave you something”. “no, no. but thanks a lot” she said with a  lovely smile.  Cool. We left thinking what a swell job she did. And not for money or any tip, but because she wanted to do a great job. While we walked out we saw a corner selling some Egypt branded curios of decent quality. We thought we should buy her something. So we bought a note book with the kids signing and writing some stuff at the back page and we got the kids to gift it to her. She resisted a while, but then Jasmine explained that it’s only a book and it’s signed with some notes, so she could actually accept it.

That experience left me with some hope. The museum is changing and what I understand is that it’s because of its new director who is trying to bring about change and bring it into the people’s realm and imagination. The staff also suddenly seem very polite and welcoming. Things are changing. If the museum can change thanks to the effort of one man, then a lot can.

Today I was discussing with HR. On Monday we had a Christmas celebration with some games to be played in the evening. Very few turned up and we finally had teams after we sent some emissaries to drum up guys to play. All those who played, played heartily and had a great time. The HR chic was complaining that we are like this only. No one comes. I explained it’s the culture of our firm and this culture comes from the top. While we played, which cabin guy on the floor except me was enthusiastic about the games? People only do what they think they are expected to do. You will party and then be jammed for it or be typecast for it. Who would then want to come in and play? Do the bosses actually want you to enjoy or play lip service to HR initiatives? It’s almost like these fun and games are for non-serious, non-managerial staff. Why would people come?

All these years I have learnt, change comes from the top. One man with energy like the Museum director can bring about change and enthusiasm that can possibly help a million others dream. Jispa now knows (and me of course) what exactly does a Mummy look like. My team knows that taking part in fun events is good and that helping HR organize like their boss does is an even better thing. Go out, do stuff. Change start from you, especially if you are higher shit. Like I told the HR lady, which father is the right guy, the one who says – here is ten bucks enjoy your vacation or hey, it’s your vacation, let’s go and play in the garden. You get the culture you deserve.

I wanted to see it... and what I unexpectedly saw

Talking about experiences, I managed to see the famous sun temple at Konark last to last Sunday. I had to be in Bhubaneswar on Monday morning and the only flight into the place would have got me late in the day. Hence if I had to be there on Monday morning I needed to be there on Sunday. So might as well reach in time and catch some sights.
The Konark Sun temple always held a certain fascination for me while growing up. Our history text books always had the image of the wheel of the temple on its cover. The sun temple is designed like a chariot with horses at the front (now destroyed) and with exquisitely carved wheels at the base. It is quite an interesting temple.
I have over a period of time learnt the importance of having a guide at any historical place. It is impossible for the layman to understand the significance of the monument without having the services of a guide. And if you consider the cost associated with the travel, the cost of the guide is a mere blip. But the simple 100 bucks he charges makes the entire journey memorable.
Whenever we have travelled we ensure we take the guide and all these years, I have always been the translator for Jispa. She has been listening to guides since she was around 5 years old. It is my job to translate what eth guide says in a language they understand. While it is great fun learning from a guide it is the greatest fun to teach a child at the same time. So I listen to the guide and then talk to Jispa, explain further nuances from my understanding and further the thought process. In time I have also learnt that the guide is designed to play to the gallery. He has a well-rehearsed script that plays the jokes. And the big rule – the guide is not the final authority on anything. He is merely relaying his version of history. Everything is a version, an interpretation, a guide. It is up to us to believe / disbelieve and for us to think through. Villains need not be that bad and the heroes may have ugly feet or possibly may not be heroes at all. They could have died valiantly possibly because they were plain stupid yet brave. Anything goes! But nevertheless the guide is an interesting person and critical to your journey.
The Sun temple at konark is a comeplet waste without your guide, he will show you such intricacies that you might have missed otherwise, look a giraffe! Yup one carving has a giraffe in it. Also there are many sexually explicit carvings around the temple. The guide’s explanation was that due the wars the population had decreased and therefore to increase the population the kind made it quite clear what he wanted the kingdom to do. It’s funny. It’s almost like he said – let the games begin! There are many theories to Indian temples having erotic sculptures on the outside. I could think of a few, though I don’t claim originality for them – possibly to show that sex is important and have your fill outside and leave it there when you enter the temple, or possibly a kind of an advertisement for the mass to come in, or possibly pandering to the king’s extravagant bacchanalian tastes, or even the priests who possibly thought of it as divine fun, or possibly the guide was right. It was an economic decision. More sex, more population, better economy. Also there were multiple forms of sex and some were of foreigners have some desi fun, which also could mean that this was an old version of Amsterdam. A critical part of the tourist /business circuit. Like many years ago I read an article that said, that to attract foreign investment it’s critical to have some kind of a night life! And that’s possibly one reason that Ahmedabad, with its prohibition laws, can never be a foreign investment destination.
Whatever. The guide was obviously happy that a couple of Indians were listening and asking questions and were open enough to understand and ask straight questions without being coy about the issue. I have seen all guides like clients who are interested in what they are saying. Asking questions and not irritating them. I saw this in Turkey as well, where the guide was happy to lose a certain section of the tourists who were least interested in his talk and was happy to take us further after giving them a slip. Every man requires having pride at his job.
I couldn’t but help think, how I would react if I were to take Jispa to these places. I hope that when she is about 15 I would be able to fell ok visiting these places with her, but till she reaches that age, taking a guide to these explicit tourist interests with Jispa intently listening, can cause a bit of an … I don’t.. can cause some…something! She is at an age where she needs little translation of what the guide is talking and I don’t know if I want to translate polygamy for her, just yet.
But hell, the other thing that got me was, I want to see the history text book with the wheel on the cover again. Which wheel photo was it? Most of the wheels had explicit carvings on them. What the hell? We went through all those years of schooling without knowing that the konark wheel was a childhood fantasy come good. We were completely starved of anything explicit and we didn’t even have internet or foreign magazines. Seesh. What a waste. I am sure history would have been a favourite subject if only the significance of the wheel was better understood by us in school.

Here is one carving. Here you see a couple in the act of giving birth contrasted with the image of a cat chasing a mouse on top. A contrast that shows conception to death. Poetic.