Browse and Fire..

Diwali is always special. The festival of lights brings more than happiness to each household. Sweets flow abundantly and crackers fly high. And almost always Diwali is associated with buying a new item - be it the tv, bike or just a simple mp3 player. More than the shagun the festival brings, it is the deep discounts offered during this auspicious festival season that bring us out of the inactive slumber and shell out the bucks. I am sure most of us would have gotten into the Rs. 2000 off on the bike, 5000 off on TV+Fridge, SD card free on MP3 offers at some point. And around a couple of weeks before the festival begin the Diwali special offer ads and flood the newspaper, TV and all kinds of media.

This year was no different, except, it was different, and in a novel way.

4 out of 5 ads on TV this Diwali were from e-commerce sites. From clothes to electronics to furniture to accessories, e-commerce ads dominated the Diwali scene this year and I would say some of them were very interesting and fresh.
Probably a hint towards where the future of shopping is moving. This got me thinking about the elder generation who managed to complete their service without using these magical machines called computers and are relatively new to the idea of smart phones and internet dominating every sphere of life now - like the dad who is surprised at his son paying a bill through this phone. Although the idea of "sending photo on internet" and "Skype" are pretty common terms in households these days, the fact that something as personal as shopping which earlier involved checking, trying, bargaining and paying has all moved into this one window called internet is probably a major leap for a few of them yet.

It is like the Probability related chapters of Class XI which I had missed back then and never really understood the heads or tails of it how much ever I tried. And imagine me facing a test with all the questions on these topics and without a choice!! I would guess some of the elders would be facing a similar situation. Having missed the evolution of the computers, once complex and costly to even try to learn, into these omnipotent pocket sized interfaces to the world outside, they sure would be perplexed at the way these devices have changed the way we live and feel they should have been part of this evolution. Just like I wish I had attended those chapters.

It sure is one great ride for some of them, who hadn't seen electricity until they were adults. More power to them!

And by the way, on the 51st coin toss, what is the probability of a heads? Is it 1/2 or 1/2*50/51 or something even complex? Let's Google!

Of style in literature..

“There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.”

-- Bertrand Russell

Having read my share of books in the free time I had, I thought I should aim higher and read a book by a Nobel literature laureate. I wanted to check for myself how these books were different from the normal ones and if I could read and comprehend one such book. I started off with Orhan Pamuk's book 'My name is Red'. It took some time for me to adjust to the narration style which was very novel. Each chapter was written as viewed by a different character and hence I had to switch the contexts and the perspectives at the beginning of a chapter. It was tiring, but I was beginning to get an idea of what Nobel-winning writing was about.

I picked another and this time it was 'One hundred of years of solitude' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Turned out it was the most difficult book I ever read. Characters were entering and vanishing into the story-line with no regard to dimensions like time. It was tough to track the characters, relations, their timelines etc. and I later realized this style, called the magical realism, is something that Gabriel Garcia Marquez popularized.

Its one thing to write a simple story. Its a completely different thing to create a literary style that has never been attempted and yet write a story that makes sense and gives you the pleasure of reading a good novel. Such is the stuff Nobel writing is made of - an invention in the field of literature.

-A tribute to Gabriel Garcia Marquez who passed away recently!

Turning 30.

Its like I am standing right at the half-way milestone. And from here, I have two ways to look. One to the past. One to the future. Both seem glorious.

The past thirty years have been fantastic. Being among the fortunate few to get the best in the formative years, and then on to higher education, shaping my career, making wonderful friends, traveling far and wide and for the icing on the cake, in the thirtieth, a loving partner to share the journey with me. So now I have an extra pair of eyes to look towards the future and dream big.

Belated happy birthday wishes to me and a happy valentine's day to my wife.

Facts and opinions..

Fact - The temperature can go down to 20 deg C today
Opinion - Its going to be a very cold day today.

It was not long ago when we had just half an hour in the whole day when we got information from around the world, right from what happened in the neighborhood that day to what the score was, of a match played far down south in Australia thousands of kilometers away.

But today is already a different age. We are flooded with information from all kinds of sources every second of the clock. What used to be an active form of collecting information is now passive. Information comes right to your browser, your mobile phone, your mail client without anybody actively looking for it. What used to be reported in the form of facts once, is overridden now by numerous opinions, some qualified some personal and amidst the forest of opinions, the tree of facts seems to be hidden deep.

The social media which has now become a powerful venue to exercise the freedom of expression, has made it even more complex when it comes to seeking information. So many opinions - similar, opposing, neutral exist and the discussions that ensue make one go back to the good old half an hour news for the purer versions and be at peace.

Fact - The date is 1/1/2014
Opinion - Wish you all a very happy new year :)