dead men walking

When I was growing up I lived in Dubai and obviously I grew up in a privileged environment. I realized how privileged I was when I returned to India from Dubai as kid. I have written about it in my past blogs that I was super pained about India and all the adjustments I have had to do. Sometimes I wonder how mom and dad managed to make the transition from desi economy to petroleum economy and back to desi. What I remember of it was that they adjusted very well. From a Toyota Crown he went to a scooter with a buggy attached and he was happy taking his family across town, roaming around and getting back to the humdrum of Mumbai life. I remember thinking about how cool kids we were to be ‘Dubai returned’ and that how many times we had flown on an airplane. That was super cool. In an era when AC travel was the ultimate luxury, airline travel was the greatest thing ever, and I in my 9 odd years had flown 18 times. Hah! I am too cool.

I also remember feeling rich and cool when I took Jispa and Jasmine on a vacation via a flight! Cut to the last vacation when to experience train travel we came back from Delhi via train and that felt cool. No matter how unique our experiences, over time mind adapts to everything and they aren’t so cool anymore. The novelty wears out and you get back to the humdrum of the known.

This last two weeks, I had the privilege of going to the US. I have always wanted to go to the US. US is the final frontier. It’s the greatest land ever, where arguably the greatest civilization ever existed, in the history of mankind (my proclamation, not backed by anything factual). It is an unsurpassed rich nation with supreme military prowess. It built this great nation, uniquely – only by immigrants. It is the ultimate example that you can build a great nation by attracting the best of the best from all over the world and only those hardy enough to make the journey will make it there and therefore natural selection will ensure that the collection of these individuals make for a great nation state. Amazing nah? NO. not so. The new world were not one but two. Even the South Americas were used as an occupation land by essentially the same mix of colonizers from Europe, but not to the same effect that US has had.

The argument is that US firmly believed in the simple adage that men govern themselves best when left to themselves. They actively hate higher government involvement and want as less of governance as possible. Also – they simplified and cleaned up their land records to allow the squatters to simply claim the land and move on. Both these forces acted as a catalyst and along with an amazing wealth of natural resources, the North American region experienced a wave of prosperity and domination that the world has probably not seen before. Possibly it was also lucky that it was so far removed from the rest of the world that the world wars never reached it shores ( barring – one Jap airplane, a few random bombs and pearl harbor). It was able to keep its industry intact and keep producing for the rest of the world.

The Arab states also got a rich natural dividend in the form of oil and so did Venezuela and some Nordic states. Except the Nordic states which decide to invest it returns in the form of a sovereign fund held on behalf of its citizens the rest have no real greatness to show for it.

All said – THE US OF A is a dramatic story of our times and is the Ultimate destination for the ambitious. It was a fascination for me for long. The few countries that I wanted to visit. I have been lucky that through my travels thanks to my work, I have been able to visit a lot of countries and see the places. It has always been an exciting learning experience. When I was growing up, I never did realize that I would one day be able to see all these places. I remember the first time I got to go to London on a work visit. It was the place that my dad worked for a year or so before I was born and I thought it was amazing that after so many years I managed to go there. It was especially special for me as for some vanity led reason I was excited to travel there in business class. Of course this was the crazy cheap money fueled boom of 2004 till 2008 and travel was cheap and money was cheaper.

This time I was excited to travel to San Francisco on work. My job was to go as a part of a delegation and meet the hot tech companies for US dominating the world. Google, Facebook, AirBnb, Adobe, Microsoft, Oracle, uber etc. It was an amazing line up and promised to be an amazing experience. And it was. Now that I am back, I am full of stories and insights and thoughts on how to change the world. But that was expected. What I found every interesting is not to understand how the tech works. That one can sit in India and surf the internet and get a sense of all the tech driving the world. But when I went to SFO, I realized how the air is over there. There no one cares how big you are. Everyone believes that you are just one innovation away from disruption and obsolescence. The people all think big and solve world problems. No one is looking at small issues. I also realized how the tech is real and the tech is now. We always knew about the tech of self driving cars and other applications of Artificial intelligence but when you go there you realize that when the world’s best companies with the world’s best people are putting their brains on the problem, the pace of the adoption of technology is greatly accelerated and can be real faster than what one can imagine it to be. It’s crazy there. This makes one feel that the impossible is now and achievable.

I am reminded of the cheesy dialogues of the movie Raees in which Shah Rukh khan mouths dialogues that the air of Gujarat is filled with trade, how can you stop it. Here listen to all the dialogues. Almost everyone is filled with the air of San Francisco. The enterprise culture filled with a  belief that all is possible unless expressly forbidden (that too seems negotiable) along with the intellectual capital brought to the place by the two world class universities, makes for a potent cocktail of imagination and achievement.

So my greatest learning is the culture of thought and scale of amibition. And the potent combination it becomes as a cluster when you are able to attract the world’s best all together in one place. SFO is a crazy open culture where I could see first-hand what amazing things an open culture can bring about. In SFO you can be what you want to be without a second glance. You can be brown red or yellow. You can have blue or red hair. You can be a techie or a dreamer or a painter. All feel welcome in the city. I was so much at home. It’s a good thing that I was there for 12 days. It gave me a chance to breathe the city and feel it from the core. It was quite a rich experience.

But here also, the first few days were heady and as time wore on, one got used to the experience and it ceased to amaze me as such. One of the things I always seem to think of when I step on a foreign locale, I think to myself ‘the laws of physics work the same’. Hah. That’s something I have always thought to myself. It’s a way of saying – its ok… it may be the most beautiful place or the most intersing coveted place or the richest country in the world – at the end – the laws of physics apply equally and you feel equally heavy or light as you take your first few steps. It’s something that I always think of. I think it keeps me grounded as I explore the city.

The fun bit – when I fly into the US, a friend knows a friend who is some senior person and I got upgraded.. to first class. So if I went to London on a business class ticket – I managed to reach the Americas on a first class seat. That is one thing one get used to. Some small confusion ensued on the way back and I was relegated to the economy section. Bah! I did get first hand experience what a 16 hour flight feels like as a common man. Short answer – not pretty.

All said – an amazing experience which I have recanted many times to many people already. It’s good this way as now it will stay fresher in my head. Soon enough I have to make notes on this to present to various different people. Hopefully I would be able to condense these experiences in a way that is engaging and relevant. I loved the chance that I got. I look back at this and realize that this is also a function of the thought process that I bring to the table and the ability for me to think imaginatively and help people. I owe this strictly to myself, while of course I will have a million to thank for.

I also figure that now that I am reasonably senior and that I have reached a higher level in corporate life, a lot of eyes are at me and that they must be looking at me wondering how I got here or how big I must be – going to SFO and meeting different people and understanding tech. I think it’s my role to now talk to a lot of people about my experience and teach them about what I Iearnt. I spoke yesterday to all the management trainees at lunch and I explained to them that all their jobs are going to change in the next ten years. I explained that all their jobs will be automated and that the world as they see it will no longer exist in tier work lives. When I joined the workforce there was no internet and there was no automation. Now the world is changing fast and the workforce skill sets are completely different. Of my last 20 odd years of working, only the last 7 have some value and that is also getting fast obsolete.

It’s going to be interesting to be relevant in a fast changing world. Who will win at the end of it all is anyone’s guess. The kids were then asking me ‘so what should we do now’. I don’t know, was my honest answer. I don’t know what will be there in the future, but one thing I know for sure – it won’t be what you are doing for now. Be aware and always look for something new to do. Things are moving, recognize them and try and be on top of things. Be ready to encourage change and be ready to move in new directions.

Change dear boy change. The future is now and you don’t even know of it yet. I see dead men walking.

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.

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.

tech talk tick tock

Technology – I have got so many technology innovations wrong that I almost believe that I have no sense of what the future holds. But funnily I am in a job that requires me to forecast and work towards using technology in our daily life. It’s not that the job description says so, but I guess my interests in technology make me feel so, behave so and be so.

But so many times I have seen myself as an older person not really embracing technology as I should be. I remember I got my blackberry well after a lot of the others got it. I saw it as a tool that people used to become wannabe peoples. People with the blackberries were the ‘I am so uptight that I will pull off my BB in a lift and check it rather than do nothing but look at the lift screen and get bored.’ This was especially trues because I worked in an uptight wealth management set up in a building teaming with investment bankers – all seemingly more uptight than the other. Hence – I resisted buying the BB for the longest time. Then once I got it, I used it way past it expiry date. I used it for three years it so till one day, it gave up on me. Then I bought the tough screen interface form Samsung. And I am hooked for ever to it. One thing I get really scared of doing is buying an apple device. With the restrictive iTunes interface, I really can’t get my head to work with it. See I am getting far older than I thought.

Some time back, I bought a shaving brush and a shaving round. I guess in ten years or so if any one were to read this blog they would be pretty confused as to what a shaving round is. Here, this best describes the round.

Basically a soap on which you vigorously rub the brush to get enough lather and then it goes on your beard. It was fun a start. A throw back to the time I first started shaving. My dad had this which I used after the tenth exams to get rid of my moustache. I was sure that the mouchie was a dam uncool thing to have. So I used my dad’s stuff. My dad realized I shaved and then sat me down and gifted me a set. My own shaving brush, I think a shaving cream and a razor with spare supplies. I think that was the ultimate father son cliché moment. The coming of age. I soon graduated to shaving foams. That was thanks to Jasmine and her cousins from US. Jasmine would routinely get me the cans. I kept the cans going for many years till one day I saw the round at the supermarket. It was cool to be retro I thought. And really really cheap. Till I realized a week back that it’s stupid. It takes more space and more time and given that shaving is the most boring thing to do when you are 39 (and amazingly exciting at 15), just take the latest thing and move on. So back to a fast and quick shaving solution. I am now waiting to get through my blades to figure if I would enjoy an electric shaver. The technology on those things seems to have improved drastically since I first used it many years ago.

And cars – there is one place I always wanted all the technology I could afford. I like to think small when it comes to possessions. And I have always had simple (relatively simpler) tastes in car. I don’t really drool over fancy sports cars and see no real use for them. But I wanted some stuff in my car. Always! Lets take a feature check. Tubeless tyres – who wants to change punctures in the middle of the road – I got that from the second car onwards. Alloy wheels – one friend in MBA had a brother who dealt in alloy wheels. He explained how they were lighter and stronger and cool to look at. Then I wanted rear defogger – my second car onwards. Air bags – safety first – third car had it. then you have stuff like keyless entry. Why would you need keys at all. Push start – all my life I wondered why we need a key to start the car. Just press a button. Isn’t that simpler. And the holy grail of them all – automatic. You need an Automatic. I was done changing gears after 20 years of driving. What a freaking pain. So now my new car is the 2014 Honda City. Push button start, automatic, alloy wheels, rear defogger, Rear parking camera integrated into audio system, key less entry – no button to press – just open the door if your key device is on you, a lock that automatically happens at a speed of 20kmph, sun roof (absolutely lovely useless stuff), airbags, ABS EBD and some other really cool stuff that I don’t know about. But it’s cool. and yes yes – Cruise control. How could I forget that. And the simple audio controls on the steering wheel. I am eligible for something much more than a Honda City from the company but I am ok with this. This is good enough for now. My first car was the Indica, we sold that and bought a Honda City, then we bought a second car – the iTen which we just sold to buy this City. So now we have two Citys. But truly for some reason this car is one that I am truly very excited about. I have no clue why I like it so much. The dam waiting period was 8 months, but I felt that it was well worth it. Japanese trouble free engineering with cool gadgets built in. I know it and I hate it, it’s not nice to covet something so much. it’s wrong. It’s just a car. But I like the leather seats and I don’t want to see them spoilt.

One thing I always wanted at the bare minimum was a clean, rattle free, reliable free car. I hate a car which has a rattling part. Or a car that needs to go to the workshop again and again. I love technology in a car. That’s one place it needs to be. And I figure if I spend at least 90 minutes in a car every day, I don’t mind spending a little on this car; which gives me the comfort I want.

There… now let me leave you with a completely irrelevant bonus video… but is it that irrelevant…?

laments of a generation

Her first swim medal. Ok, she has won before but this is her first real medal. Yesterday we were at one hastily organized swim meet. This was a state level meet but the under 10’s were there as fillers for the real champions. In any case the competition wasn’t too much. Quite a few swimmers stayed away. She clocked 41 for the freestyle 50 meter bronze. So technically she is the third fastest swimmer in the state as of the last held state meet.
Jispa has been improving her swimming every day. Serious swimmers have a language and a body language of their own. They are talking seconds. She comes in one day and tells me I hit19, then the other day she says “dad, today I hit 18”. She is talking about 25 meters freestyle. Then some more number about butterfly, or 50 meters or something or the other. It’s a completely different thing that turns them on. Also when you see the swimmers at a contest also, they are a different breed. Their bodies are al tanned and skin is burnt to a crisp toast. The hair is short or tied tightly. The abs is ripped and lean muscular frame is everywhere. The champs have a v structure that is hard to miss and the shoulders are strong and neck is tough. It’s a perfect body structure. It’s pretty much a reality check for me. In office I would just need to look around to feel superior. Everyone (almost everyone ) is pretty much unfit. The tummies are out and the flexibility is missing. Some guys seem to be naturally fit and can manage their bodies but for the vast majority, a 100 meter dash would be a herculean task. And I am not joking or being smug about it. This is the truth. That is the reason why at 36 my corporate cricket is still alive. I was never too good at cricket. The others deteriorated much faster than me. That’s enough to keep me going. And I don’t know if this is just the things that people lament without a real basis but I do feel that the younger ones coming out right now are much less fitter than we were. Somehow they can’t run or play as much. I don’t even see enough of these guys playing cricket like we used to.
Vacation time meant a kick ass killer schedule. We woke up at 7 to play badminton or something. That lasted till around 10. Then we went home and ate and then met at a friend’s place to play a few board games from 1 till 4. And then from 4 till bad light was cricket. And I even remember playing cricket clustered around a single building light. Enough to play high intensity low level touch cricket. You could barely survive a few balls with five fielders hounding you. Full action.Also there were no computer games and only 60 minutes of programming that you could really watch on TV. And that too was at around 8 pm.
Now the new thing is the iPad or the iTouch. I didn’t want the device till when someone gifted the iTouch to me. It is fun downloading the games and playing but we saw one interesting side effect. Jispa now gets bored far more often than before. Our routines are the same. We roam around as much, go out as much. But now whenever there is any waiting time, out comes the phrase “I am bored”. It basically means “please give me the ipod”. Oh come off it. It irks me no end. Waiting at a dinner table “I am bored”, at a clinic “I am bored”, at the swim meet between events “I am bored”. Arrgghhh. I have warned Jispa now, quite seriously – “IF I LISTEN TO THE STATEMENT, I AM BORED EVEN ONCE MORE, THEN I WILL THROW THE IPOD OUT OF THE WINDOW. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET IT, IF YOU ARE BORED. IF YOU WANT IT ASK. WE WILL THINK ABOUT IT. BUT NO MORE – I AM BORED”. iPod and the iPads are gaming devices that look like computers. The killer app is the games you put in. One friend was telling us that there are nice games in the iPad that are good and intellectually stimulating for the child. Ya sure. And what are they likely to play – a ninja that jumps from building to building. Its much like what a friend once told me – you need cable TV at home. There are interesting channels like discovery and national geographic. Ya sure. But what are they likely to consume – cartoon network!
The kid with the device assumes control over the others. He or she plays the games first and sets the rules for the others. It reminded me of the days when we played cricket. The kid with the bat or the ball couldn’t be given out easily. He was always the guy who made the rules, or influenced them to a large extent. His mother basically set the timings for all of us. If he was called in to do homework, there goes our game. He would be protected by us all. Only joint contributions for the ball and bat brought a semblance of control to the equation. In our time pocket money was really scarce and bats and balls and other equipment was not really something that all parents bought.
I think over time the incomes rose to include these expenses and slowly there were enough of them roaming around. Today’s royalty are ones with the iPads. I guess things change. No I guess nothing really changes.
The more things change the more the same they are.

teewee

Yesterday we had some time to kill at a friend’s place. In fact a lot of time to kill. Our friend put me in front of a TV to try and make me feel comfortable. Since my TV viewing is pretty much zero thanks to the absence of the idiot box in our home, I assumed and I am sure she would have assumed as well that I might be happy to get what in scare supply in my routine life.
Sitting cozy with two remotes, one for the TV and one for the set top box (STB) I was set for a couple of hours of pure time pass. Hmmm. Lets see. The STB was there to make my life great. The programs neatly categorized. The schedule all there to select. You even know which movie is going on at the time. ya ya…. This is all old news. I know. It seems the lead company alone has put in over a million STB’s in the market. I have fiddled with this a few times in the past to know my way around. Though I keep pressing the wrong buttons from time to time and get to some vague place from which I attempt recovery. The common mistake being surfing channels from the TV remote and pressing the channel change instead of eth volume. There are also a plethora of complex errors that I make. These I will continue to make as these are highly random in nature and are uncomprehensible. In other words I have no idea how I made the errors and hence I have no idea how I will learn enough from them not to repeatthem. That’s the fun part.
Great – something interesting on the science channels. Ok. Same old stuff. Lets try the geographic channels, then the history channels. Oh bloody bore. Movies? Anything interesting on? Hmmm. The English ones? Nopes… pretty boring – cant make out types. Hindi ones? What shit? This one is South Indian dubbed into hindi one. Ok this another I remember – Shahenshah. A movie from my school days. Real crappy. My god.
Sports channels then. India just won the test – are the highlights on? Yah yah… I am in for luck. The schedule shows that the highlights are on. Flip to the channel. Errr… Indian derby? WTF. Who watches Indian derby? Where are the highlights? I am surely at the right channel. The schedule also confirms. Drat. Ok some other cricket happening. The T20 matches in Australia. That’s cool. Lets watch, it might be fun. Oh shit a disastrous run chase and a hopelessly one sided match, but have we, Kieron Pollard. The highly explosive west Indian is in the team. Now that’s fun. He smashes some unbelievable shots with one landing on the roof. This is getting better. Bam, he is caught in the deep. Match almost over. Anything else?
Change change change change change… flip flip flip flip…. This seems like some distant memory. Yes. I remember this. Evening time. a remote in hand, complete boredom, going the whole range of channels and getting nothing to see. The last time this happened to me was four years ago… at my mom’s house. Nothing’s changed. The only difference is that now I know exactly what the name of the program is before getting bored. Yes. Some things have changed I guess.
I pull the trigger and get out of the room to see the kids and my wife enjoying playing I spy in those amazing books. So much more fun. I should have pressed the dam red button much earlier.
For the last few weeks I have been thinking about the TV and the STB in the house. Is it really bad not to have it at home. Are we being luddites? Yesterday I found my answer. A resounding doubtless no. the shit is not worth having or listening to. Get out of the house, get a book, talk around. Anything anything except have a TV infront of you. Throw the bloody thing out of the window. See it crash, break into a billion pieces. Enjoy the spectacle.
That is a bit radical. But seriously get the cable off from the TV. I have been seriously thinking of getting a TV or a projector home. But never cable. When we have the time we could watch a movie, or catch some documentary or some decent serials. Basically remove the constantly on boredom to some specific entertainment. But it is a big step for now. We are content without it. It will come in some day. I am not going to be tyrannical about it. But for now it can’t. For one – we have no space for it :) . hopefully when we have more space, or more money … a theatre room would be awesome.
For some reason I am reminded of a Bruce Springsteen song. Its an old one. Can you guess which one I am referring to..



Here are the lyrics
57 CHANNELS (AND NOTHIN' ON)©
I bought a bourgeois house in the Hollywood hills
With a truckload of hundred thousand dollar bills
Man came by to hook up my cable TV
We settled in for the night my baby and me
We switched 'round and 'round 'til half-past dawn
There was fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

Well now home entertainment was my baby's wish
So I hopped into town for a satellite dish
I tied it to the top of my Japanese car
I came home and I pointed it out into the stars
A message came back from the great beyond
There's fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

Well we might'a made some friends with some billionaires
We might'a got all nice and friendly if we'd made it upstairs
All I got was a note that said "Bye-bye John
Our love's fifty-seven channels and nothin' on"
(Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on)

So I bought a .44 magnum, it was solid steel cast
And in the blessed name of Elvis well I just let it blast
'Til my TV lay in pieces there at my feet
And they busted me for disturbin' the almighty peace
Judge said "What you got in your defense son?"
"Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on"
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

I can see by your eyes friend you're just about gone
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on
Fifty-seven channels and...

The boss got it right. But I guess throwing it out of the window would come a close second to the buying a .44 magnum and letting it blast. Actually it depends. The slow motion of the TV falling from height (at least ten floors recommended) might remain with you longer the sound and recoil of the .44 magnum. Haha. I can see by your eyes, friend that you’re just about gone…

nothing can stop an idea whose time has come - or something to that effect

Yesterday was a pretty intense day with meetings throughout. The best part about the meetings was that they all actually used my brains. Normally I done out in meetings with nothing really to contribute or add value to. It started from a simple coffee date that I had with my student. I had taught her many years ago. I think about 8 years ago. And now she might be the age that I was when I taught her. Kids grow. The relationship becomes quite sweet. There is still some reverence as you finally were their teacher but now they too have seen enough life and had enough experience to stand shoulder to shoulder with you. The age gap doesn’t look that much when you grow older.
Now with so many of them I can have conversations as if we are friends, just a little older friend who probably can see things a bit better, but friends for sure. Respectful friends? Sounds funny… whatever…
While I was talking she was remarking about the facebook generation where people cry and laugh and feel all emotions online and in front of all your friends. It made me release another of my ‘jaimitisms’. I so love doing these. I create postulates or should you call them axioms, no I think that’s all wrong, just jaimitisms sounds good enough. So my jaimitism was that with the advent of social media ‘emotion is now a collective responsibility’. I found it so funny. It kept tickling me till quite some time. The more I thought the more it rang true.
I guess when we grow up the sheer amount of emotion that we have online would surely have some psychographic repercussion. No I don’t mean it that this is all bad and that this must be thought of etc etc. I am playing no moral police but I surely feel that something will change in the way we react or connect with people and then this law will hold true. Which one? Arey the emotion being a collective responsibility.
Even if you want to hide it, somebody around you will capture it and post it for eternal posterity. Instead of reference check firms you will have algorithms that generate your online reference score.
It will cull out your total emotional score basis your profile, your posts then see the people you have connected to, left connections, comments etc. infer your strong or weak linkages while considering your browsing patterns interests etc etc…
This is not too far fetched. The technology to do this exits today. Nothing rocket science about it.
The best part of this will be that you really can’t escape this. Because if everyone will be using this reference checker then if you don’t have one online… by blocking off all tagging, removing yourself from the online social world etc then a null report on you will be seen as shay and suspicious. You will be seen as someone with something to hide. You are the next drug dealer or more likely the next depression case likely to commit suicide or blow up the commercial district. Now we wouldn’t want to be typecast like that do we?
Online reputations will have be carefully managed, doctored and thought through. After all that’s what the university will see along with your SAT/MAT/RAT and some FAT score. HAHAHAHHA… I can see you are scared or plain dismissive.
Ok. Fine by me. Don’t tell anyone that I did not warn you.
But do tell other people that you first heard it here. Any angel investor or tech man listening…contact me. Lets do some thing interesting with this proposition.

Actually a few days ago I blogged something like this for companies. Did I? I don’t know. I am too bored (read lazy) to really check. But the gist is that if it can be done for people it can done for companies.

Forget that – the breakfast at barista got a bit interesting. Here is the snapshot.

Oops, sorry that was of the snack I had at office the day before. Here is the actual snapshot.

I like the poetry in the way the coffee looks. Especially the black ones which have cream on top. The way the cream slowly melts and mixes with the coffee is always fun to watch.

one two... we are coming for you...

I have been a late adopter of the RSS technology. I guess I just have been plane lazy. I remember being in the fore front of new tech when I was a part of the dot com boom in the year 2000. I gave a better paying opportunity for a lower paying one but with the promise of new technology. Of course it busted in no time at all hehehhe… But it was fun while it lasted and the effects lasted for a longer time to come. It sure helped me get some great learnings and insights. Enough to screw the current network administrators on their own jobs. It also helped that my dear friend happens to work on linux and is an enthusiastic evangelist. He can research a topic till the end and talk on it forever. Good fun I guess. His sign off line “In Googlis non est ergo non est” also bore testimony to this. I don’t think he uses it still. He always gives me enough dope for me to remember a fraction and use it at the right place to look… well… intellectual. Hehehehe.
Carrying on this – I guess I would have to get a little more curious on new tech going on. It is important that one is aligned with the hot stuff as it is stupid to be alien to it. blogging might be an old thing but I still can see a billion in my office not clear about it. Now that I am in to it, I can’t seem to know what took me so long.
The stuff that’s the fad these days is social networking and twittering. Twitter might be interesting but way to minute for my liking (for now at least) and social networking – way to frivolous for my liking (for now at least). Why would I want to update my mood every two hours?
In social networking sites one thing is for sure, Indians don’t seem to have gotten over their fascination for foreign travel. I don’t know how much is show off versus travel that seeks understanding and exposure. It’s more like a flag planting exercise. That is clearly evident in the plethora of profile photos you see online. Man in front of Eiffel tower, same man in front of big Ben, then him in front of Westminster, Brussels square, Times Square, everywhere. Get off the pic dude, you ruining the scene. I can understand one odd photo like that but to have your profile pics like that, the albums have all these photos??? I thought the camera shutter timer was invented for the honeymoon couple. But no, it is invented for the lone flag planting megalomaniac.
Though when I say Indians am I deriding them needlessly? Is this the same across nationalities? I don’t think so from what little I see, I think the Indian do this a lot more as opposed to the first world. I sure the pakis and our other third world nations would exhibit similar traits.
Another factor to new technology is that it is rapidly democratizing the world. Lofty words but I am serious. A case in point is the recent case of an alleged IPL player who is blogging away about the behind the scenes action. He sure is causing the team a lot of stress. The ones doing well, behaving well should not be worried but the others could suddenly have their skeletons exposed. Not so easy isn’t it these days. You could be caught and exposed by a blogger, a camera cell phone, a tele lens or just plane TV news crew which seem to be everywhere catching just about anything. The notion of Big Brother will soon be replaced by BIG FAMILY. Its not just Big Brother that’s going to be watching you, it could be your little sister or the third cousin from your mama’s side or some guy you don’t even know you are related to. Keep your belt firmly on.