this model is so hot

Netflix is an irritating thing. Getting something that all three of us can watch together is painful. Many years ago, I had very little patience for a series. Who is going to watch so many episodes on one topic? Aren’t movies easier and more varied. Now I understand how Netflix works. A series helps you shortlist once, and if you like it – you need not invest so much time in choosing again and again – you simply keep watching the series and the seasons.

Also having a series allows the storyteller to keep the timing and pace of the story without worrying about the time constraints. The only constraint being the plot line and the general pace of the story. They seem to be a boon for a lot of independent story tellers. You can now have a niche story idea that is likely to bomb on the big screen but can find a nice niche cult following online. Be ready for more edgy creative work to be shown.

The one problem I seem to have with a large number of series is the sheer amount of random nudity that they put upfront. I am beginning to see a pattern in this. You show enough of nudity and sex upfront in the series and then the second season is when you show the story without the distraction of nudity and sex. The director uses shock and awe.

I am mot against nudity by itself or even sex, but it has to be there to take a story forward and it has to be tastefully done. Possibly its my age talking, but I see no reason for half the scenes. That bugs me. If its there for a purpose and it used smartly then its good, otherwise it a bloody pain. Why have it? Especially if the director is trying to showcase his good story telling skills. No problem of sex scenes in popcorn entertainment movies or series – its there for a cause. But not required in most series.

The best series that Jispa and me cant have enough of is ‘Shark Tank’. We can binge watch that episodes on end. It always a fun thing to watch. I think it draws people in. We like to watch and comment on the ideas presented and we think through on the possibilities it can have. Who will fund what and is it an interesting idea? Will it do well. Would I buy it. And then should I take that offer or should I negotiate. It’s a very tightly edited show with some real fun ideas.

I was teaching Jispa at the start the terms and the thing with equity and debt. How to look at the deal and what is it that you should focus on. It was fun teaching her stuff and watching it together. One of the things that comes naturally to me is Equity and accounts. I get the value of money, stake and business. Much better than most others. Its an understanding of it at an abstract level that counts.

Many Saturdays, I sit with a friend of mine (he is much older than me) and we discuss his business – it worth a whole lot. I like that. We sit and he takes me through his ideas and thought process and I give me inputs. I talk about some of my issues and we have a nice conversation. It keeps me at the ringside of a lot of developments in the tech side as well gives the best seat in the house as to how a business does. The decisions made and the consequences thereof. Last Saturday he asked me some question as regards money investments of the firm and at first I simple told him thanks and that it is flattery to me that you even asked me for my opinion on this.

He said – no, I like to ask you because you think very different. You have a way of thinking and putting things in perspective. Well yes. I think I do. I think very different than most others. For me a lot of my life decisions are mental models. As long I get my mental model right then I am happy taking my decisions.

Right now, I am sitting on cash in hand. I was wondering if not to invest. It’s a question of a mental model. If you have your model right, then whatever choice you make it will work for you. Life isn’t about right choices or wrong choices. We never know for sure what the opposite is there for us. We don’t really know what we will do sitting in one place or the other. We must keep mental models that keep us sane as regards the choices we make. That ensures we sleep at night and eat in time.

Going for my knee surgery was more a question of the mental model I had in mind and the risks I could take because of it. Deciding on the job change is also a question of the mental model. Same with almost every decision you take. I think my mental models have always helped me with my choices. They make sense of the universe for me. Rather they help the universe make sense of me.

Coming back to Netflix. I find myself drawn to any series that has some real story behind it. Like Crown or Narcos or World War or anything. Jasmine was telling me that I like to watch fighting and war. The truth is that I like history. It teaches a lot. So good historicals make me feel less guilty of spending hours in front a TV. AT least in the end you have something to take forward.

I think any good story has a lot to take forward for the listener/viewer. I must not deride fiction thus. But Fiction has less of an allure for me. I can handle a movie, but a fiction-based series soon bores me. I feel that the writer / director is making a mockery of me. I feel they are simply stretching an idea who time passed long ago.

I think me watching a history based or a reality-based story is just a mental model that is keeping me relatively guilt free while watching the telly. Also, I may add, these mental models aren’t beautiful models thought our before I take a decision. I think a lot of these come in to play once the decision is done. A lot of the times, they are simply justifying my decision in the best possible way so that it looks all scientific to me. I am ok with that and fooling myself with it.

Because if you have a model, you are basically giving logic to a decision. This logic you will hold in your brains. Then as the circumstances of your decisions unfold, you have model to hold them against. Did the thinking hold. Did the rationale work. Your model made in hindsight or not at least gives you an idea of what it did for you. How did it fare. This makes your future decision making a bit smarter. You have some models of the past to work with. That makes your future a bit smarter. I didn’t say happier – just smarter. Feel smarter.

All this just makes the Venn diagram of you and the universe, sensible and within control. Some people are happy ceding control and some people like me -believe we have some degree of control. To each his own. This is what works for me. You have to find out what works for you – Narcos or Game of Thrones. Both are such glorious waste of time or a lesson in human behaviour.

You choose. Because you the truth – your choice doesn’t matter. You have no clue of the counter. There – Opposites have reconciled in my head. Hopefully – I have messed up yours.

BTW – on Netflix – Jispa then asked me which movies we could see together. She wanted Bollywood movies. I chanced upon the crazy beautiful movie – Kapoor and Sons. We laughed crazy. Especially at the scenes where the director uses so many tools at his disposal to heighten the tension between the characters of a dysfunctional family. Twice he uses it in the movie to great effect. It’s a must see.

Here is the scene if you want to just see one small sneak peak. So much tension and so damn funny.

tiny steps

Today morning while Jasmine was dropping Jispa off to school, she called me. Jispa has a question “is religion compulsory? Like is it compulsory to have a religion or in an official form you can leave it blank?”. Hmm interesting thought. “I dont know for sure, but I think its optional to have a religion, but many government forms and school forms don’t allow you to say ‘none’”. “but isn’t it my fundamental right to practice whatever religion I want; don’t we have that as a right?”. “well yes, you have but democratic society moves a little slow for this. See things move slowly. Earlier there was the ballot paper and people who dint want to vote for anyone, went and made two stamps on the paper, invalidating their vote. It was a form of protest in which they also got to the booth and ensured that no one cast a dummy vote on their behalf and they refused to choose amongst the crap. Once the electronic voting machines came in this was not possible and hence the NGOs lobbied for “none of the above”. So now you can press none of the above (NOTA) and exercise your right to vote for no one. Yes – right now, even if NOTA wins the majority, nothing will happen and the politician with the majority is still elected but slowly it will make an impact. It will embarrass people and who knows what this will entail in the future. Similarly, today on the Aadhar card, you can choose your sex as male, female or transgender. This is also a big thing in the long run. These are small steps for now that will have greater impact. Democratic society moves slow but it moves with the collective will of the people. Things today will have impact tomorrow. While you were always free to be an atheist, people happily just put in their father’s religion in the form. Now it will slowly change.” Then I remembered and recounted a story of a friend of mine who married inter caste and had a kid. They fought a lot with the authorities and left the religion on the birth certificate blank.

Read story here http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA5LzEyLzI3I0FyMDAxMDQ

Yes, democracy moves slowly and that is by design. It’s also something to do with collective will and conscience of the people. Jispa and I went to see the Guardians of the Galaxy 2. We now see super hero movies without torturing Jasmine. It’s been a great thing to have father daughter time outs watching these action movies. Before the movie starts in India, the national anthem is played. This has been a source of much dispute with the liberals objecting to this jingoism and some refusing to stand up. It is after all not mandatory to stand during the national anthem (its hugely controversial). This has issues with the law and the jealous jingots using force on the rationals. So before this movie – one guy was sitting down and he was obviously a foreigner. Jispa looked at me and spoke to me on that. I explained that “yup, you have a choice to stand or sit but yes, the rest of the populace will jam your happiness if you don’t. But more importantly, it is a question of collective conscience. I may not stand for the anthem but I also realize that I am in India and that this small act of sitting is disrespectful to my hosts. Yes, choose to sit that’s ok. But being insensitive about it in public is a bit of a wrong thing to do. Of course we shouldn’t be on our part too irritated about it. He should understand and we should as well. Intolerance towards people sitting is the worst.”

I don’t pray but I also respect that people believe in the stone that placed in the middle of the sanctum sanctorum and I must appreciate that. I must behave in line with the custom, if I choose to be a part of it. If not, I can exercise my choice and sit at home. Mere misguided rebelliousness if no use to society.

I think I have come a long way. When I was young, I wanted to join the army and fight for my country. Then I would stand anywhere, even alone, when the national anthem was being played. I hated local societies as local political shit shat. Today I have done a complete volte face. Now I am a non-believer in the concept of nation hood and a complete believer in local societies. The impact is greatest when local. Local societies can do much more to change their life and that of their progeny than what nation states can do. And that is granted to them by the construct of the law. Change happens in small things and in small steps. It takes the bearings of age to temper the brute of youth. Things are not what they seem and solutions are never what immediately occur to you. Multiple sides, angles and implications are required to understand the impact of anything. It takes effort and sometimes – inaction. Breathe.

hope makes the world go around

Teaching has a new meaning these days for me. Jispa started coming for my lectures. That is crazy awesome. I have taught for so many years for the joy of teaching but also for a secret joy – of being able to teach Jispa. Of course, she doesn’t open her mouth in class but she sits through and tries to understand what all I have to teach. It fires me up no end.

My lectures are at 11 am on Saturday. This gives me the perfect schedule, to wake up, fix myself an awesome coffee and then attack the college. It’s a perfect start to the week end.

Practicing what I preach, every lectures starts with a test that I have designed on Google forms (thanks to another young friend who comes along) on a topic that I have given a note in advance. Then on we talk about the paper / questions etc and take it forward. This is something surprisingly that the students feel happy about. They want tests. They want to read and come to class and wonder what’s happening.

The last time around I gave them an assignment to see the movie – The Founder. This was on the McDonalds founder, Ray Croc. It was an outstanding movie and they showed brilliantly how the original founders – the McDonald brothers, invented the fast food restaurant business but couldn’t scale it. It showed how Ray Croc scaled the business and also how he needed to do some accounting jugglery as well. Ray couldn’t make too much money off the restaurant and hence to scale it an account advised him to move into the real estate space. He bought/leased the land and then sublet to the franchisee for a higher fee, plus the franchisee revenue from sales. This allowed for a crazy increase in expansion rate.

What I loved about the movie was how they clearly explained how the brothers invented the system by killing a lot of unnecessary processes and items that stopped it from becoming efficient. And how Ray Croc understood that and while he had major run ins with the brothers, as regards the business proposition, the brothers were essentially right and had gotten the efficiency formula perfect. He kept that alive.

This was, to my mind an awesome movie and the perfect movie for watching for the young kids who want to understand management. Its typically very easy to do various different things but very difficult to focus on one thing alone.

So, I give them some stuff to read or watch and then come to class, dur9ng which I give a small multiple choice test. This test is something that kids can take from their mobile phones anywhere. The time given to the test is also very tight and the test has around 6-9 questions which are given in random order. Hence, it’s very difficult to copy as well. Even if two kids are sitting next to each other, its near impossible to copy and take help. If the time pressure is so high that you barely have time to think and read the questions, you have no time to help or copy in a randomized test.

I love the class as I am prepared on what to talk and then we discuss various elements. That Jispa is present just simply makes it even more stressful for me. I want to do better for her. I want her to enjoy the experience. I want to discuss stuff with her. She too is very keen to understand and learn from me. She was missing one class but she insisted that I explain to her what I had missed and that she could catch up. That’s nice. That’s the best way to know if I am making sense. My teen age daughter likes to attend my lectures, that’s my ultimate vote of confidence. I was telling Jasmine that no matter what, possibly blood is thicker than water. I love teaching and I love my lectures. I do it for enjoyment and not for money. But you add my daughter into the equation and the pressure and pleasure goes up. Funny. Or possibly not so, in hindsight.

I write writing blogs but because Jispa is now grown up and I have so many conversations with her and she understands the issues, when it comes to writing the blog, many times I stare at a blank screen. What to write when the main motivation is outside of the process.

Recently Jispa told me that there are only 6 months more. More for what, I asked? For me to be 15. And then? And then to read your blog. Oh! Is that? Yes, she reminded me. I had promised her that I would allow her to read my blog when she turns 15. My god. Time did fly. I was quiet. She then said “you don’t remember promising, do you. You thought I would just forget eh. Well I have not and you will give me the blog to read on my 15^th birthday”. Of course. Of course. Surely, I will give her the blog to read. I wrote it for more than ten years for this moment. Will I continue to write afterwards, I hope so, but it will be interesting to write knowing that your kids will read it instantly :)

It will be an interesting birthday gift to her. A little more than 10 years in the making. Wow. Such a big thing from such a small start. I wonder how she will read it, from the start, randomly, will she get bored, will she come back and ask clarifications, kick my ass for what I have written or done, will she cry on a few blogs, will she understand, will she jump in joy, will it give her solace in trouble? My big one is the last one. I may be around or not, but I hope whatever I have written will someday assist her in some sort of way. Hope.

kya relevance hai!

Today on a happy day, my phone was getting a reboot and I switched on the radio. I have a love hate relationship with the radio. The dumb RJs with dumb programming and irritating advertising that doesn’t connect with anything. Luckily for the new retro channels which play some good (my age) music and thanks to the lack of advertising, have some interesting programming. They are getting some good guys to come in and chat with on the radio channels who are talking about the music they created or the movies they were in with some real life insights and anecdotes. This makes the programming so rich. Like today some lady (I did not catch the name) was talking about RD Burman (always) and Asha Bhosle (again almost always) and the song Jaan – e – jaaa… oh meri jaane jaaa…. Nisha aaa aaa aa

It was a song that I was listened to as a kid. It was a fun song in which I think as kids we used to cream aloud and dance. It was released in 1982 – when I was about 7, which is an impressionable age. It was an awesome song then and is an awesome sing now, but what a singer who has worked with the music director RD Burman said, made me hear the song in a new light. She said that RD tried to get Asha to sing like a musical instrument in the song. She was talking of some musical instrument (she was also not sure) in which there is pedal or something and the noise oscillates in waves. I did not understand what she said till she sang the song on radio. I came to office and I played it and now that I understand it a little better, I have come to appreciate it a lot more. In the song Asha sings – Jaan e jaaaaaaaaaaaa, oh meri jaan e jaaaaaaaaa. As kids we would scream out this aaaaaaaaaaa in a single tone. Its only today I understood that this aaaaaaaaaa sounds awesome because it is here that RD made Asha sing the aaaaaaaaaa part in a wave like oscillation. That is the genius of this song which is so easy to miss the nuance while so easy to love the whole. Which is so impossible to bring out for an untrained singer. At least while I was singing to myself, I could clearly hear myself make a complete hash out of it.

Here listen to the song and pay attention. Of course, forgive the poor Kamal Hasan dancing like a twerp in the song and the stupid bike entry, largely forgiven purely by Reena Roy’s awesome smile and oh so lovely long hair with the stylish fringe. It’s like a complete reconciliation of the traditional beauty and a touch of modernity. And of course do not miss the scene in which she dreams about kissing him all over with him being left with lipstick marks all over his face, but no marks on the oh so sensitive lips! The confusion of 1982 India is to be seen to be believed in this movie song.

Over a period of time I have learnt to respect the Bollywood film industry as the best marketing brains in the country. It is not possible to deliver a hit without really identifying with the core audience and having a pulse on their attitudes and dreams and desires. Movies that become hits are the ones that connect with the audience, without which the audience is very clear – he is not going to part with his money and time.

In fact, while I teach marketing, my favorite lecture is in which I explain how movies and heroes have gotten their marketing right to become super stars. They connect with the screen personas with carefully nurtured off screen personas. This is the example I use to explain how super stars like brands have to mean one and only one thing to the people and the closer they are to one thing the closer they are to real meaning.

Another song that played on the radio was from Arjun. A movie released in 1985. This was when I was ten years old and I remember that era of India when there was NO hope. None what so ever. You could only get rich if you were corrupt or tyrannical or a goon or all of the above. You could get educated but there was nowhere to go once you got educated. There weren’t enough jobs and whatever jobs were there were gone to people with some influence or some friend to recommend them. It was a complete wasted generation in many ways. This movie reflected the anger of the youth. These young guys were obviously educated and were looking for jobs. The main hero leads a gang of young men, all in formal dressing, as they are all looking for jobs and want to be employed. What I remember of the movie is that they don’t get any employment and are just hanging around the neighborhood. It captures multiple emotions. The movie touches a raw nerve – that your youth is good and powerful. They study and they are unemployed because of society and not because they want to remain so. They have an energy that must be harnessed. The youth in the movie at first are seen as a nuisance as they roam around unemployed and then as the villains strike, the same youth use the only the only thing that god has given them (their youth) and fight back. Now the transformation from young, lost and unemployed to young, hailed and purposeful is complete.

At the end even the father comes and tells his child that he was right. It sent a signal to the young and unemployed that they were not wasted but were a being wasted thanks to the system. The feeling was universal and as I saw up on Wikipedia the movie was then translated into multiple languages showing how the issues were widespread across India.

Here is the song – mamaiyo kero kero kero mama

Mamaiya Kero Kero Kero Mama - Arjun (1985... by TalishaHatcher

The entire song is set in  public spaces with the gang bordering on lawlessness and at the end you also see the hero riding a Pitch roller which is being pulled by his team, in the middle of the Mumbai roads – How’s that for complete cock a  snook at the system.

Its funny why this clip is on daily motion and not on youtube. Must be some royalty quirk. A movie like this, no matter how well made would just have no relevance today. Kids find their love soon enough and get drafted into the system that is giving them some jobs, mobile phones and T shirts to order and wear. They don’t need to use violence to save the society. They probably just need a cell phone camera, or a tweet then and then some social shares.

Check this