Seems like the job resumes and eligibility criteria in India have changed in recent days.
Nowadays there are just two columns in one's resume. One, the name, and the second asking how the candidate is eligible and the second one always has the same answer "My father/mother/ancestor has been in this profession and was successful".
Does that entitle you to become eligible for the same profession? I am afraid, looks like it is true.
How else can you answer the hundreds of movies dumped on us every Friday just because the children of earlier actors want to start their acting career. How long has it been since we saw a new actor without a movie background?
This phenomena, I observe, is not really movie-specific. It has spread its wings in all directions and all professions. Guess, who the latest politician on the block is? Wasn't he/she the son/daughter of an earlier minister? Who was the magician you saw the other day trying to break an earlier record? Wasn't he trying to break the record set by his own father, who was a magician himself? And who won the recent Booker Prize? By the way, wasn't her mother a Booker prize nominee herself?
So, here we have a pattern. No wonder, children are always inspired by their parents and tend to develop interest in the same field as their parents, but as we observe, this is evolving into a more common trend than usual.
But wait, does anybody remember a similar thing read in a history class in school. What was it called? Yeah, the society in ancient India divided people based on the occupation. Families had a single occupation and all members of the family, irrespective of their choice, had to practice the same occupation. Lets leave the merits and demerits of such a system, but somehow with Independent India, this system was out and the "free" system came in. But after 60 years are we actually going in the original direction?
How many doctors today are children of doctors? How many engineers are children of engineers? Painters, singers, musicians, actors, politicians, sportsmen, pick the field and we have a parent and child famous there. Seems like we are reaching where we actually started.
Is this called what we know as "History repeats itself"?
Reasons may vary but I feel, we are going there. Though, earlier, the social status of a person depended on the kind of occupation he did, the only change with the current trend, I see is, the social status of a person now is based on the amount of public attention he gets. Remember the marriage that got covered for a whole week by the press? Was it because the children were famous or the parents? No offence meant!
One can argue, this is uncommon with "we, software engineers" ;-) Aren't we trend-setters :-). On a serious note, I guess we have to wait for one more generation for an argument like that. Lets see how many s/w engineers in 2050 are offspring of s/w engineers :-)
As usual, lets end with a question... Are the children any better than what their parents were?
Monday, May 14, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Part Deux
I saw, I liked, I learnt.
I waved, I cheered, I talked.
I asked, I gave, I took.
I argued, I fought, I explained.
I stayed, I understood, I waited.
I hoped, I expected, I prayed.
But you left me in anguish and THE GAME has never been the same.
Happy Birthday to YOU.
... and the phoenix never rose when it had to.
I waved, I cheered, I talked.
I asked, I gave, I took.
I argued, I fought, I explained.
I stayed, I understood, I waited.
I hoped, I expected, I prayed.
But you left me in anguish and THE GAME has never been the same.
Happy Birthday to YOU.
... and the phoenix never rose when it had to.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
back home
What's different?
Not many. Just a few.
The skyward horizon doesn't have skyscrapers anymore. What I see are just clouds and some stars.
Trees with green leaves compared to the leaf-less fall trees back in New York.
Yellow autos replace the yellow cabs!
What's changed?
Nothing. The biryani tastes the same, though they pushed the prices up a bit making it less affordable !
The traffic chaos is still the same with the "360 degree theory" still in effect. Anybody can hit you from any direction at any time, which is what the theory says.
What's new?
Was I expecting that something new would come up? I am not sure.
But one thing surprised me. The new 2 rupee coin! The new coin is so much in circulation already that I get a coin everytime I get some change. Something is different about the coin. Things are not center aligned somehow:(
Everything else is same, unchanged and old, including me! :)
Not many. Just a few.
The skyward horizon doesn't have skyscrapers anymore. What I see are just clouds and some stars.
Trees with green leaves compared to the leaf-less fall trees back in New York.
Yellow autos replace the yellow cabs!
What's changed?
Nothing. The biryani tastes the same, though they pushed the prices up a bit making it less affordable !
The traffic chaos is still the same with the "360 degree theory" still in effect. Anybody can hit you from any direction at any time, which is what the theory says.
What's new?
Was I expecting that something new would come up? I am not sure.
But one thing surprised me. The new 2 rupee coin! The new coin is so much in circulation already that I get a coin everytime I get some change. Something is different about the coin. Things are not center aligned somehow:(
Everything else is same, unchanged and old, including me! :)
Monday, March 26, 2007
stumped !!
Let's go forward 60 years in time ...
It was the summer of 2067. Sunny was ecstatic. He just finished his fourth grade and was eagerly waiting for his summer holidays. The whole three months. He thought he would play some football, fly kites and learn swimming. But only one thing worried him. The assignment his Fifth grade teacher gave him for the summer holidays. He wondered what the fifth grade had in store for him if he had to solve assignments even before school started. But he thought the assignment was fun. Who would not? If it was about games. But there was one problem. He had never heard about the game. In fact, he could not pronounce it. He tried spelling it out to his watch-cum-pda for any search results the internet would give him. Nope, none he could find. How would he, after all he was spelling it as "kraikate", "chrichet" and finally he got it right. Boom popped the result on his PDA. The first result said "Cricket - Extinct game in India since April 2007". "Oh ! Was it something from the early 21st century? Then Grandpa would be able to help me", Sunny thought and added to his list of reminders to ask his grandfather about the game when he visits him in summer holidays.
A month later, Sunny's reminder beeped and he went straight to his grandpa and asked him "Grandpa, what is see--aar--ai--see--kay--ee-tee?".
His granddad was surprised. How did this kid know about the game now extinct for many years? "Tell me about the game, I gotta know about this one" Sunny said.
So the old man started telling about the great game of kings. How the game evolved from a royal one, played by select people, to a common man's game running in the bloods of every kid ever born in the late 20th century in the country, and how without holding a pen you could graduate from school, but without holding a bat and ball in your life, you would not be called complete. How all the kids used to spend all their pocket money in buying cricket balls, how they utilized the old, unused furniture turning them into things called bats, how the walls in their rooms never needed paint, because every year a new cricket hero's poster replaced an earlier one and the "new look" stayed forever.
He spoke to Sunny about how, as a kid, he bunked school to watch live cricket matches, sometimes missing meals, having to lie to teachers about sudden stomach-ache and then run back home to see India batting and applaud for every run they made and curse the opposition team for every wicket India lost.
Sunny was amazed at the kind of passion with which his grandfather was talking about the game. He had seen a movie called Gandhi once, where people had the same look on their face when India was declared independent. That same look appeared on the old man's face. Sunny thought the game should really have meant to lot to his grandpa.
The old man continued telling tales of all the heroes ever born in the cricket world and how many of them were from India and how every four years he would cancel all his appointments for a one month period to watch all the World Cup matches, live. He went on for hours before Sunny interrupted "But grandpa, how did a game with such unbelievable craze become extinct? What happened?"
His grandfather laughed hysterically and then started.. "Sunny, it was in 2007. The Indian team was enjoying Godly status, each one of the players was a hero. People worshipped them, prayed for their victory and they were equally capable too. Some of them were the best in the history of the game and eyes around the world were on them. The world cup started. The very first match, these demi-gods showed how even Gods can be mortal. Not because they were overpowered by other immortals but because they could not use their capabilities. They showed no passion whatsoever. In the third game again, the team collapsed like a pack of broken cards built on quick sand. It was shocking. The team was out of the world cup in the very first stage. A billion hearts broke. And people don't forget, Sunny, their hopes were shattered, and from that day nobody ever spoke of the game. The players returned and the democratic government that we had, made a wise decision that the game and the team were given too much importance and if only the people had shown the same interest and concentration on education, we would have had 100% literacy - instead of everybody knowing the know-hows of Duckworth-Lewis rule, they would be kowing that the English alphabet had 26 letters. So cricket was out, never to be played again. And that's how the game has ceased to exist".
Eventually Sunny completed his assignment and learnt how to pronounce the word too :-)
Coming back to present, we now know what the Greeks went through when Achilles was hit right in the heel. But the Greeks won back then. They had something to cheer about. And we? Nothing !!
It was the summer of 2067. Sunny was ecstatic. He just finished his fourth grade and was eagerly waiting for his summer holidays. The whole three months. He thought he would play some football, fly kites and learn swimming. But only one thing worried him. The assignment his Fifth grade teacher gave him for the summer holidays. He wondered what the fifth grade had in store for him if he had to solve assignments even before school started. But he thought the assignment was fun. Who would not? If it was about games. But there was one problem. He had never heard about the game. In fact, he could not pronounce it. He tried spelling it out to his watch-cum-pda for any search results the internet would give him. Nope, none he could find. How would he, after all he was spelling it as "kraikate", "chrichet" and finally he got it right. Boom popped the result on his PDA. The first result said "Cricket - Extinct game in India since April 2007". "Oh ! Was it something from the early 21st century? Then Grandpa would be able to help me", Sunny thought and added to his list of reminders to ask his grandfather about the game when he visits him in summer holidays.
A month later, Sunny's reminder beeped and he went straight to his grandpa and asked him "Grandpa, what is see--aar--ai--see--kay--ee-tee?".
His granddad was surprised. How did this kid know about the game now extinct for many years? "Tell me about the game, I gotta know about this one" Sunny said.
So the old man started telling about the great game of kings. How the game evolved from a royal one, played by select people, to a common man's game running in the bloods of every kid ever born in the late 20th century in the country, and how without holding a pen you could graduate from school, but without holding a bat and ball in your life, you would not be called complete. How all the kids used to spend all their pocket money in buying cricket balls, how they utilized the old, unused furniture turning them into things called bats, how the walls in their rooms never needed paint, because every year a new cricket hero's poster replaced an earlier one and the "new look" stayed forever.
He spoke to Sunny about how, as a kid, he bunked school to watch live cricket matches, sometimes missing meals, having to lie to teachers about sudden stomach-ache and then run back home to see India batting and applaud for every run they made and curse the opposition team for every wicket India lost.
Sunny was amazed at the kind of passion with which his grandfather was talking about the game. He had seen a movie called Gandhi once, where people had the same look on their face when India was declared independent. That same look appeared on the old man's face. Sunny thought the game should really have meant to lot to his grandpa.
The old man continued telling tales of all the heroes ever born in the cricket world and how many of them were from India and how every four years he would cancel all his appointments for a one month period to watch all the World Cup matches, live. He went on for hours before Sunny interrupted "But grandpa, how did a game with such unbelievable craze become extinct? What happened?"
His grandfather laughed hysterically and then started.. "Sunny, it was in 2007. The Indian team was enjoying Godly status, each one of the players was a hero. People worshipped them, prayed for their victory and they were equally capable too. Some of them were the best in the history of the game and eyes around the world were on them. The world cup started. The very first match, these demi-gods showed how even Gods can be mortal. Not because they were overpowered by other immortals but because they could not use their capabilities. They showed no passion whatsoever. In the third game again, the team collapsed like a pack of broken cards built on quick sand. It was shocking. The team was out of the world cup in the very first stage. A billion hearts broke. And people don't forget, Sunny, their hopes were shattered, and from that day nobody ever spoke of the game. The players returned and the democratic government that we had, made a wise decision that the game and the team were given too much importance and if only the people had shown the same interest and concentration on education, we would have had 100% literacy - instead of everybody knowing the know-hows of Duckworth-Lewis rule, they would be kowing that the English alphabet had 26 letters. So cricket was out, never to be played again. And that's how the game has ceased to exist".
Eventually Sunny completed his assignment and learnt how to pronounce the word too :-)
Coming back to present, we now know what the Greeks went through when Achilles was hit right in the heel. But the Greeks won back then. They had something to cheer about. And we? Nothing !!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
the lazy weekend
It was a lazy Saturday morning and I was thinking of ways to spend my unplanned weekend when I opened my browser to start the day checking mails, a usual ritual since almost three years now. As usual, the home page google.com opened up on my favorite browser. Not many of us would have google.com as their home page, I assume. The reason being obvious. How many of us have creative things to search for, the first time your browser starts up. Obviously I am not one of them. But I chose google because of the light interface and the time it takes to come up. It is fast and also doubles up as an indicator of the internet connection speed, so I know how many mail accounts I can check in ten minutes :)
So this fine day, March 17th, as I was going through the same ritual, I observed an interesting logo with three green leaves, on the google home page. Now a new logo on Google home page would mean that the day was special in some way. Any google
holiday logo fan would know that. Their holidays logos are so famous! Intrigued by the green, simple logo, I thought I would find out what it was about. A single click on the logo told me it was St. Patrick's day.
St. Patrick's day?? Wow, I thought. All I knew was that there was a St. Patrick's Cathedral two blocks away from the place I stay and I guessed there would be some kind of celebration there and I was happy I had something to do on this lazy weekend. Little more googling helped me discover it was lot more than just celebrations that mark the day. The Cathedral hosts one of the biggest parades in New York on St. Patrick's day and millions of people witness it, as I understood. Wow, that would be a thrilling start for the weekend, I thought.
So, in an hour, I set out to witness the awesome parade myself. So many people. I have never seen such crowd. An India-Pakistan cricket match would have come close but I haven't seen that one either :). The Avenue was closed both ends and groups marching in the parade with music, discipline and cheering from the audience. Green was the color of the day. Irish was the theme. Green hats, Green t-shirts, Irish flags, captions, logos were seen everywhere. It was fun to be witnessing such a grand event. Various colleges, schools, offices, departments had their groups marching in the parade. The whole city was right there, playing audience to this grandiose event.
I wondered how I did not know about an event of this grandeur, before hand. May be it was so obvious, no one needed to discuss it. Now, the sale of green t-shirts the night before makes sense.
Let the pictures describe more . . .
How much would I have missed if google was not my homepage!! :)
Coming back to cricket, the world cup has started and already half of the Indian fans have lost hope. The rest of the matches are for the other half.
Which half are you in?
So this fine day, March 17th, as I was going through the same ritual, I observed an interesting logo with three green leaves, on the google home page. Now a new logo on Google home page would mean that the day was special in some way. Any google
holiday logo fan would know that. Their holidays logos are so famous! Intrigued by the green, simple logo, I thought I would find out what it was about. A single click on the logo told me it was St. Patrick's day.
St. Patrick's day?? Wow, I thought. All I knew was that there was a St. Patrick's Cathedral two blocks away from the place I stay and I guessed there would be some kind of celebration there and I was happy I had something to do on this lazy weekend. Little more googling helped me discover it was lot more than just celebrations that mark the day. The Cathedral hosts one of the biggest parades in New York on St. Patrick's day and millions of people witness it, as I understood. Wow, that would be a thrilling start for the weekend, I thought.
So, in an hour, I set out to witness the awesome parade myself. So many people. I have never seen such crowd. An India-Pakistan cricket match would have come close but I haven't seen that one either :). The Avenue was closed both ends and groups marching in the parade with music, discipline and cheering from the audience. Green was the color of the day. Irish was the theme. Green hats, Green t-shirts, Irish flags, captions, logos were seen everywhere. It was fun to be witnessing such a grand event. Various colleges, schools, offices, departments had their groups marching in the parade. The whole city was right there, playing audience to this grandiose event.
I wondered how I did not know about an event of this grandeur, before hand. May be it was so obvious, no one needed to discuss it. Now, the sale of green t-shirts the night before makes sense.
Let the pictures describe more . . .
How much would I have missed if google was not my homepage!! :)
Coming back to cricket, the world cup has started and already half of the Indian fans have lost hope. The rest of the matches are for the other half.
Which half are you in?
Friday, March 09, 2007
charts maketh us
Personality charts.
Not one, not two, but there are hundreds of these charts that tell us what kind of persons we are and what our traits are, based on the date we were born, based on our favorite color and some of them even based on how much sugar we add to our coffee. No matter what kind of person you really are, these lists have some good ones for you!!
One such chart divides the dates in the year into groups named after trees. Say, if you are born in the first ten days of June, you have fallen from the Cedar tree, and there is a list of traits associated with persons falling from Cedar trees - honest, outgoing, enjoys animals (??)
One more similar list groups people into fruits based on the birth date and with a completely different set of features.
Imagine the same guy “falling from an Olive tree” based on one list and “is an apple” based on another similar chart based on fruits. What would that mean? Is he a mismatch :( having fallen from an Olive tree but is an “apple” instead of being an olive? Which of the characteristics apply to him? What if one of the lists actually mentions that he “hates contradictions and arguments”?
Wouldn’t it be even worse that his actual classification among different charts is itself a contradiction, leave alone the rest of the traits. He is already one confused person while “confused” is not on the list of traits in any of the charts!!
If you fell from a Cypress tree you tend to fight for social causes, eat less, are keen on keeping fit and so on. And what would a believer do? Yes, he would start raising his voice over how rats are fed high calorie food in a particular household leading to high cancer in rats, assuming it is a social cause and he has to fight for it, just because it is mentioned in his “list”!! He might as well really eat less and start working out which would make matters worse :(
Not impossible!!
But preparing these lists is way too easy. I have figured two ways of how such charts are prepared.
One - Make a list of adjectives like sensitive, truthful, passionate, empathetic, independent, humorous, courageous, tolerant and all possible synonyms of these, group them and lo, you have a chart for yourself. Attach some date ranges to each of the groups. If you want a chart based on favorite colors, you just have to attach a color to a group of synonyms, instead of the date range. Wasn’t that easy?
Two - This approach is a better one, because you can actually show it is true. For a particular date range, pick the list of famous people born in the date range, get the list of their traits - hard working, athletic, born leader etc and lo, for each date range you have a list of characteristics which are actually true.
So the next time someone says you are a great speaker, intellectual and an innovator just because you are born on February 12th, don’t fall for it. It is quite possible that the list was made from one of the approaches mentioned above. Abraham Lincoln was a great speaker born on the same day, after all. Not you.
Not that I fell for that list :)
What kind of a chart do you want to make?
Charts maketh us or we maketh charts? :)
Not one, not two, but there are hundreds of these charts that tell us what kind of persons we are and what our traits are, based on the date we were born, based on our favorite color and some of them even based on how much sugar we add to our coffee. No matter what kind of person you really are, these lists have some good ones for you!!
One such chart divides the dates in the year into groups named after trees. Say, if you are born in the first ten days of June, you have fallen from the Cedar tree, and there is a list of traits associated with persons falling from Cedar trees - honest, outgoing, enjoys animals (??)
One more similar list groups people into fruits based on the birth date and with a completely different set of features.
Imagine the same guy “falling from an Olive tree” based on one list and “is an apple” based on another similar chart based on fruits. What would that mean? Is he a mismatch :( having fallen from an Olive tree but is an “apple” instead of being an olive? Which of the characteristics apply to him? What if one of the lists actually mentions that he “hates contradictions and arguments”?
Wouldn’t it be even worse that his actual classification among different charts is itself a contradiction, leave alone the rest of the traits. He is already one confused person while “confused” is not on the list of traits in any of the charts!!
If you fell from a Cypress tree you tend to fight for social causes, eat less, are keen on keeping fit and so on. And what would a believer do? Yes, he would start raising his voice over how rats are fed high calorie food in a particular household leading to high cancer in rats, assuming it is a social cause and he has to fight for it, just because it is mentioned in his “list”!! He might as well really eat less and start working out which would make matters worse :(
Not impossible!!
But preparing these lists is way too easy. I have figured two ways of how such charts are prepared.
One - Make a list of adjectives like sensitive, truthful, passionate, empathetic, independent, humorous, courageous, tolerant and all possible synonyms of these, group them and lo, you have a chart for yourself. Attach some date ranges to each of the groups. If you want a chart based on favorite colors, you just have to attach a color to a group of synonyms, instead of the date range. Wasn’t that easy?
Two - This approach is a better one, because you can actually show it is true. For a particular date range, pick the list of famous people born in the date range, get the list of their traits - hard working, athletic, born leader etc and lo, for each date range you have a list of characteristics which are actually true.
So the next time someone says you are a great speaker, intellectual and an innovator just because you are born on February 12th, don’t fall for it. It is quite possible that the list was made from one of the approaches mentioned above. Abraham Lincoln was a great speaker born on the same day, after all. Not you.
Not that I fell for that list :)
What kind of a chart do you want to make?
Charts maketh us or we maketh charts? :)
Friday, March 02, 2007
limits and numbers !!
The numbers 2 and 3 started appearing predominantly these days. Might be the movie bug has caught me, but it’s true too.
This time the numbers with a slash in between, i.e., 2/3 - tell the number of cities in the
So many hurdles to the trip, first the snow storm postponing it, then flights getting delayed, cancelled but finally I could make it there.
The trip was thrilling - to see a beautiful city in full splendor, exciting - as it was my first trip outside NY, nostalgic - witnessing college life and meeting old friends and getting lost in long chats, adventurous - going on long trips in snow, cultural - visiting temples :), disappointing - missing trains and having to wait for hours together, and last but not the least, coincidental - again with the number 23, because that was the date I landed there :) There is a word called limit but seems like that does not apply to the coincidences that happen to me!!
And coming to the continuation of the story from the previous post, let me add to the story something: " . . . " that's all I have now in the story so far, just three more dots!! :)
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
a true 'story'
There was a guy and then there was a girl and . . .
Happy Valentine's day to one and all.
Happy Valentine's day to one and all.
Monday, February 12, 2007
the number 23..
The number 23 - the upcoming movie of one of my favorite actors, Jim Carrey. The plot, just like his earlier movie, seems promising. Finding that a particular book's plot has parallels with your own life is, of course, thrilling.
But that's not the whole point of the title for this post. If you have already guessed the actual point, a big thank you. But for the others, the point is -
I have turned 23 years old today !!
Yes, its funny how the movie 'The number 23' is will be released just after I am turning 23. Guess there is some parallel going on with me and the movie too ;). That should be interesting.
Of course this is not the lone coincidence associated with the day. One year back, exactly when the clock struck 00.01 am on February 12th, I was on my way back to Hyderabad, from Coimbatore, just finishing our South India trip on the South Central railway train. The place was a non-descript place somewhere between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, I do not even know, which state it was.
And exactly after one year, the same clock struck 00.01 am on February 12th and I find myself in the New York local train heading to Downtown, Manhattan. Again I dint exactly know where I was, as the train was running underground ;)
So trains first, and then being in 'unknown places'...in total, coincidences, in their best form, mark my birthday.
While its a different story that the Coimbatore to Hyderabad experience was unique in the way I cut my cake in the running train, thus waking fellow passengers, courtesy a bunch of enthusiastic and great friends, this new york travel was rather calm, only I realizing how much change a year brings in :)
From a South India trip to a New York trip, from among friends to among globe-trotters, from cutting cakes to visiting City Halls, from paddy field views to Manhattan skyscraper views, from night to day :), one year has brought me far.
Hope its not too far !!
But that's not the whole point of the title for this post. If you have already guessed the actual point, a big thank you. But for the others, the point is -
I have turned 23 years old today !!
Yes, its funny how the movie 'The number 23' is will be released just after I am turning 23. Guess there is some parallel going on with me and the movie too ;). That should be interesting.
Of course this is not the lone coincidence associated with the day. One year back, exactly when the clock struck 00.01 am on February 12th, I was on my way back to Hyderabad, from Coimbatore, just finishing our South India trip on the South Central railway train. The place was a non-descript place somewhere between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, I do not even know, which state it was.
And exactly after one year, the same clock struck 00.01 am on February 12th and I find myself in the New York local train heading to Downtown, Manhattan. Again I dint exactly know where I was, as the train was running underground ;)
So trains first, and then being in 'unknown places'...in total, coincidences, in their best form, mark my birthday.
While its a different story that the Coimbatore to Hyderabad experience was unique in the way I cut my cake in the running train, thus waking fellow passengers, courtesy a bunch of enthusiastic and great friends, this new york travel was rather calm, only I realizing how much change a year brings in :)
From a South India trip to a New York trip, from among friends to among globe-trotters, from cutting cakes to visiting City Halls, from paddy field views to Manhattan skyscraper views, from night to day :), one year has brought me far.
Hope its not too far !!
Monday, February 05, 2007
with the paintings...
A trip to the Museum of Modern Art and I realized my position in terms of appreciating art or rather, modern art. Who wouldn't want to view the great pieces of art by the Picassos, Van Goghs and the like. So was I, all set to experience the beauty of the world famous paintings at this museum.
But something seemed wrong the moment I saw the first piece of art. It was very bright, colorful but somehow I couldn't make out what it was. I tried to read the name of the painting and made a valiant attempt to co-relate the title to the painting. Even then, nothing seemed right. Little did I realize that this was the first to come from among the tens of "modern art" paintings that would flood my day and leave me in a confused state for the next couple of days.
Painting after painting, each one was different, each one was unique in the way the title and the painting were unrelated (or may be related). One of the names said, 'A little girl' and I had to use all my stereoscopic vision only to realize that I am not qualified to find a girl in that picture. Solving fourth degree polynomial equations was lot easier :(. At least now I know I am an illiterate in the subject of "art". I should have known it when I almost failed in my drawing class, but somehow I wasn’t sure then. Now I am.
I could not just accept it and get out of the place. Instead I chose to try and understand. I stood staring for longer times at pieces of art by familiar artists. Picasso kept me standing for long, for one, he had a large number of paintings under his name and the other, because I knew his name the most.
I guess it was for people like me that some of the paintings had an explanation too, besides having a title. But that didn’t help me either. It added to more confusion. One of them said "The blue square in the middle of the painting reflects the human sub-conscious". I said to myself "What?!! how??!! and How did you know??!!!" and all this added to more confusion so I moved along.
The terms "surreal", "abstract expressionism" and "layers of creativity" were found all over on the description plates. How a particular painting was special because the artist spilled over ink on a flat canvas 'uniformly' so that spilled ink created a sense of beauty. ??!!??? Everything pointed to the same words - "Art is not for you" and I had to accept it. :)
But one thing was fascinating. How different objects intercepted each other in some paintings, yet could be clearly distinguished. Even I could appreciate some, I thought ! May be if I tried.
So I kept moving until I came across two kids around four years old looking at one of these paintings and trying to draw them in their own drawing book, with their teacher beside them, guiding. I could not believe my eyes. At that age I would rather be happy trying to draw a frog and ending up drawing a lizard, leave alone attempting to reproduce a modern-art painting. But what were they trying to draw? There were no distinguishable objects in the painting except for a surreal idea flowing between colors of different variety. Guess that's what separates me from budding-artists, I thought, and this time I realized it was time to leave.
After the trip, even chess board seems to be a wonderful painting to me :) May be the designer of the board had something creative in his mind too !!!
But something seemed wrong the moment I saw the first piece of art. It was very bright, colorful but somehow I couldn't make out what it was. I tried to read the name of the painting and made a valiant attempt to co-relate the title to the painting. Even then, nothing seemed right. Little did I realize that this was the first to come from among the tens of "modern art" paintings that would flood my day and leave me in a confused state for the next couple of days.
Painting after painting, each one was different, each one was unique in the way the title and the painting were unrelated (or may be related). One of the names said, 'A little girl' and I had to use all my stereoscopic vision only to realize that I am not qualified to find a girl in that picture. Solving fourth degree polynomial equations was lot easier :(. At least now I know I am an illiterate in the subject of "art". I should have known it when I almost failed in my drawing class, but somehow I wasn’t sure then. Now I am.
I could not just accept it and get out of the place. Instead I chose to try and understand. I stood staring for longer times at pieces of art by familiar artists. Picasso kept me standing for long, for one, he had a large number of paintings under his name and the other, because I knew his name the most.
I guess it was for people like me that some of the paintings had an explanation too, besides having a title. But that didn’t help me either. It added to more confusion. One of them said "The blue square in the middle of the painting reflects the human sub-conscious". I said to myself "What?!! how??!! and How did you know??!!!" and all this added to more confusion so I moved along.
The terms "surreal", "abstract expressionism" and "layers of creativity" were found all over on the description plates. How a particular painting was special because the artist spilled over ink on a flat canvas 'uniformly' so that spilled ink created a sense of beauty. ??!!??? Everything pointed to the same words - "Art is not for you" and I had to accept it. :)
But one thing was fascinating. How different objects intercepted each other in some paintings, yet could be clearly distinguished. Even I could appreciate some, I thought ! May be if I tried.
So I kept moving until I came across two kids around four years old looking at one of these paintings and trying to draw them in their own drawing book, with their teacher beside them, guiding. I could not believe my eyes. At that age I would rather be happy trying to draw a frog and ending up drawing a lizard, leave alone attempting to reproduce a modern-art painting. But what were they trying to draw? There were no distinguishable objects in the painting except for a surreal idea flowing between colors of different variety. Guess that's what separates me from budding-artists, I thought, and this time I realized it was time to leave.
After the trip, even chess board seems to be a wonderful painting to me :) May be the designer of the board had something creative in his mind too !!!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Dear to dream !!
I just completed my trip up the Mt. Everest, got selected into the Indian cricket team and was saying "Hello" to the President while receiving the Khel Ratna award and planning an audition for the MRF ad alongside Sachin later in the day and ....suddenly the alarm clock starts 'trinnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg' and I wake up to face the real Mt. Everest called life standing before me repeatedly telling me how many astronomical miles I am far away from my dream.
These spells of imagination which some of us experience daily are pretty intriguing and complex at the same time, besides being so powerful. They can make us Kings of the world in one second and can get us hunted by a hungry lion within a gap of 10 seconds. Who else is so powerful? God comes close?
And the best part with these dreams is the 'uncontrollability' factor which is mysterious and interesting.
We may not be Sigmund Freuds but some of these may co-relate to events of the past or events during the previous day. Trying to understand or interpret these dreams is some times fascinating and we can either get a whole new meaning out of your dream and get inspired or can get devastated at the incidents we see in these dreams.
And the sheer pleasure when one of these dreams actually comes true the next day, like the Mathematics question paper having the same question you saw in your dream can be rejuvenating. Well, not so much if you aren't prepared for that one but somehow it got into your dreams and in the exam paper :)
The imagination part, no bounds to it. You might have imagined a Cyclop in a hundred ways while you were reading the Trojan War but the Cyclop that you see in your dreams is way better, I mean way dreadful.
The creativity part...amazing. You could be driving a golden chariot equipped with Bridgestone tyres overtaking Michael Schumacher riding his Ferrari while listening to 92.7 FM playing in in the background. Could there be a limit to the creative canvas of the dream?
The unpredictability part. We can never be sure of anything in dreams. Your golden chariot can have a puncture the very next moment and throw you down in the Arctic ocean ( remember you were traveling between planets ;) ) and you would be frozen for 100 years to be found by a group of aliens later and the rest is...unpredictable as usual.
All in all, "dreams" is a great topic of interest having complexity, creativity, uncontrollability, unpredictability and most importantly the involvement of brain in some unknown way. I guess that is what makes dreams all the more dearer and exciting. Where else can you see the Taj Mahal daily even though you don’t stay in
Day-dreaming is okay but dreams - aren't they dear?
Saturday, January 27, 2007
the new old look
The blog is now upgraded to the new blogger account. I guess it is obvious that something has changed - with the archive links on the right, now, well-organized and the "About me" section becoming almost invisible. May be it went to its rightful place :), quoting in the lines of Salman Rushdie's, "blogs should go out and become famous, writers can stay home and write (and remain unknown)".
But I was disappointed. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw "Update to the new blogger" was that I would get a new set of templates to choose from. But to my dissatisfaction, the same old templates showed up in the new one too. May be they want the bloggers to become creative and create their own templates :). So even after the upgrade, our blog shall have the same old template.
Don't be surprised if in future, you get a mail to your gmail account that a music album you discussed with your friend over chat the previous day is now available at a nearby store for discount and the mail gives you driving directions to the store and even lets you share the music with your friends, besides helping you post a review of the album on your blog and finally helps you place the album for sale on the internet, if you do not like it. It might be called the UISP, Universal Internet Service Provider :) Google is going there I guess, and fast!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
pardes
I am back, as promised, with (and in) pardes, seven seas away from home, as they say.
It would seem that I am listing down Shah Rukh's movies as the titles for my posts. Swades earlier, now pardes. But let me clarify, that's not the case. Its just coincidence. And please do not expect a 'Dilwale Dulhaniye lejayenge' in the future, although I cannot guarantee ;-)
New York. In one line, New York is all sky scrapers, huge LCD screens showing baseball games, organized streets, fast walking people, coffee, low calorie food, "good morning" wishes, limousines, high end cars and much more besides being the business capital.
Someone already said that this place is a world in itself and I am already seeing it. You can see people, culture, cuisines from all over the world in this city.
And one thing's for sure. You can't believe what you see here. You see out of your window, its a bright sunny day and you come out only to see that its freezing cold outside. I started to believe weather.com more than my eyes these last few days. :-)
Of course, there are some usual things too here.
You see the voice message LED blinking on your office phone early in the morning and you are all excited to get the first voice message in alien town and what you hear is a message in a language you don't understand, about a product you can't catch even after listening to the whole message. :-( [The language was definitely not English]. Sounded like the "Want a credit card?" calls I used to get back home.
And yeah, the alu doesn't turn golden brown in color even here :-( I never understand how the chefs get that right. Or is it just a myth?
All in all, I am not yet 'lost in NY'. :-)
From circles to squares, [yeah from Punjagutta circle to Times Square ;-)], the journey has been quick and easy. Lets hope the rest of the stay also will be memorable.
Before I start singing "Deewane ne, mujh ko bhi, kar daala deewana" like SRK singing while driving a convertible in the movie, I think I will have to see more of NY. The Statue of Liberty is still waiting.
There's one more song from the same movie Pardes, which I guess I should be singing when I go back :-)
And here's the second display of my photographic skill. The first one was a scene all natural and this one depicting human-made-architecture.
Place : Opp. Times Square, NY. Date : Today. Time : Shown in the clock in the picture.
Title : Untitled(so far).
It would seem that I am listing down Shah Rukh's movies as the titles for my posts. Swades earlier, now pardes. But let me clarify, that's not the case. Its just coincidence. And please do not expect a 'Dilwale Dulhaniye lejayenge' in the future, although I cannot guarantee ;-)
New York. In one line, New York is all sky scrapers, huge LCD screens showing baseball games, organized streets, fast walking people, coffee, low calorie food, "good morning" wishes, limousines, high end cars and much more besides being the business capital.
Someone already said that this place is a world in itself and I am already seeing it. You can see people, culture, cuisines from all over the world in this city.
And one thing's for sure. You can't believe what you see here. You see out of your window, its a bright sunny day and you come out only to see that its freezing cold outside. I started to believe weather.com more than my eyes these last few days. :-)
Of course, there are some usual things too here.
You see the voice message LED blinking on your office phone early in the morning and you are all excited to get the first voice message in alien town and what you hear is a message in a language you don't understand, about a product you can't catch even after listening to the whole message. :-( [The language was definitely not English]. Sounded like the "Want a credit card?" calls I used to get back home.
And yeah, the alu doesn't turn golden brown in color even here :-( I never understand how the chefs get that right. Or is it just a myth?
All in all, I am not yet 'lost in NY'. :-)
From circles to squares, [yeah from Punjagutta circle to Times Square ;-)], the journey has been quick and easy. Lets hope the rest of the stay also will be memorable.
Before I start singing "Deewane ne, mujh ko bhi, kar daala deewana" like SRK singing while driving a convertible in the movie, I think I will have to see more of NY. The Statue of Liberty is still waiting.
There's one more song from the same movie Pardes, which I guess I should be singing when I go back :-)
And here's the second display of my photographic skill. The first one was a scene all natural and this one depicting human-made-architecture.
Place : Opp. Times Square, NY. Date : Today. Time : Shown in the clock in the picture.Title : Untitled(so far).
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
what do u want to be?
"I want to be a police officer", says the kid when his uncle asks him "Beta, what do you want to be when you grow up?". And "why beta" would get an answer something like "I like the dress and the gun". Typical child answers. We all have seen kids crying for a police dress. Minor things like the dress and the gun are what appeal to the young kid at that age. Nothing else matters to him.
Few years later, ask the grown-up kid the same question and he says "I want to be an IAS officer". Ask him why and he has reasons for it too "because he has more power than a police officer and is paid better". This is the stage where one gets to learn what actually rules the world - power and money. Naturally, he wants them both :)
While in the pursuit of his "What do I want to be", the kid now in his teens toils hard to realize his "power and money" dream until one fine morning he happens to see a real beauty. Suddenly he forgets all his earlier answers to the question. Ask him the same question and his answer from that moment would be "I want to own the beauty". Well, he really can't state a reason for this one, because some things can't be explained. But the reasons range from beauty, attraction, sense of happiness, etc. That beauty becomes the passion of the kid from that moment and all his energies are spent trying to realize his dream from then on.
Like most of the people in pursuit of their passions end up becoming Software Engineers, the kid finally becomes a s/w engineer and within no time becomes the "owner" of his favorite. Now that he has "become" something, ask him the question - "What have you become", he would rather say "I have become the owner of favorite-item" rather than "I am a software engineer". Here, there are multiple reasons. Firstly because most uncles do not understand what a s/w engineer does and why they are paid so much for sitting in an AC room for 8 hours and it is real trouble trying to explain the concepts of outsourcing, internet etc, and secondly because passion is more important than profession, because profession was a means, not an end.
From what is "eye-catching" to what is "ideal" to what is "important to us", I guess, our interests change as we grow. Or do they actually evolve? From things of no significance to anybody to things of importance to others to, finally, things of significance to one's self? Self or “I” being utmost important.
A Long and heavy post to start the year with. Happy New Year 2007 to all :). Hope this year brings in more posts, comments and most importantly readers too!!
Coming soon is the other side of ‘swades’ because the kid has just answered "I am going to be a guest of New York". ‘parades’ follows !! :)
Few years later, ask the grown-up kid the same question and he says "I want to be an IAS officer". Ask him why and he has reasons for it too "because he has more power than a police officer and is paid better". This is the stage where one gets to learn what actually rules the world - power and money. Naturally, he wants them both :)
While in the pursuit of his "What do I want to be", the kid now in his teens toils hard to realize his "power and money" dream until one fine morning he happens to see a real beauty. Suddenly he forgets all his earlier answers to the question. Ask him the same question and his answer from that moment would be "I want to own the beauty". Well, he really can't state a reason for this one, because some things can't be explained. But the reasons range from beauty, attraction, sense of happiness, etc. That beauty becomes the passion of the kid from that moment and all his energies are spent trying to realize his dream from then on.
Like most of the people in pursuit of their passions end up becoming Software Engineers, the kid finally becomes a s/w engineer and within no time becomes the "owner" of his favorite. Now that he has "become" something, ask him the question - "What have you become", he would rather say "I have become the owner of favorite-item" rather than "I am a software engineer". Here, there are multiple reasons. Firstly because most uncles do not understand what a s/w engineer does and why they are paid so much for sitting in an AC room for 8 hours and it is real trouble trying to explain the concepts of outsourcing, internet etc, and secondly because passion is more important than profession, because profession was a means, not an end.
From what is "eye-catching" to what is "ideal" to what is "important to us", I guess, our interests change as we grow. Or do they actually evolve? From things of no significance to anybody to things of importance to others to, finally, things of significance to one's self? Self or “I” being utmost important.
A Long and heavy post to start the year with. Happy New Year 2007 to all :). Hope this year brings in more posts, comments and most importantly readers too!!
Coming soon is the other side of ‘swades’ because the kid has just answered "I am going to be a guest of New York". ‘parades’ follows !! :)
Sunday, December 10, 2006
thanks....
Its been more than a fortnight since the official Thanksgiving day but does it matter? Saying thanks is important. Isn't it? Or is the date too important?
We have William Shakespeare to help us :) Altering and quoting Juliet, Juliet of the "Romeo and Juliet" fame, I say "What's in a date? That thanks when said on any other day would mean no less gratitude". Yeah, I have been doing a lot of alter-and-quote lately. should reduce it :(
So, here I am, trying to thank all those who have been readers of the blog. This should be done some or the other day.
Let's go by the group.
First of all, thanks to the person who has been reading this blog from the very beginning days till today, regularly, almost every day, suffering through all the bad posts, enjoying the good ones and reading both the good and bad ones with equal interest and always waiting for new posts. Now most of you might actually guess I am thanking myself here. :)
Thanks to the irregularly regular readers, reading posts now and then, commenting on some, criticizing some others and helping me gain some readership.
Thanks to the forced-visitors, who when given the link to my blog, click on it and read the first post, click on random posts, read them and then forget about the blog and then visit the blog only when the link is sent again.
Thanks to the readers, who "do not" click when the link to the blog is sent fearing it might be a link to some unknown virus on the internet which would erase their hard disk. Thanks for being so careful, yes there are such viruses. Thanks for being careful, again :)
Thanks to the kind of readers who accidentally tumble upon my blog searching for -
1. "Swades mp3 download" - guys, u forgot the "free" word in your search box, otherwise you could have found the correct sites.
2. "Intermediate QUESTIONS and ANSWERS Andhra Pradesh" - Are the S.Chand and Vignan guides out of date that Intermediate students are searching for questions AND answers on the Internet. I pity them for being pointed to my blog, adding to their already existing list of confusions.
3. "Guide to the Spelling bee" - sorry guys, I am not so much into spelling bees, but thanks for visiting my blog on the path to your bigger quest.
4. "chalkpieces" - are chalkpieces so hi-tech now that one has to order them on amazon or something? Aren't they available at the nearby grocery store? Sorry guys, am not much into selling chalkpieces, though I was once busy stealing some. Anyway thanks to you too for visiting the blog.
Thanks to one and all.
We have William Shakespeare to help us :) Altering and quoting Juliet, Juliet of the "Romeo and Juliet" fame, I say "What's in a date? That thanks when said on any other day would mean no less gratitude". Yeah, I have been doing a lot of alter-and-quote lately. should reduce it :(
So, here I am, trying to thank all those who have been readers of the blog. This should be done some or the other day.
Let's go by the group.
First of all, thanks to the person who has been reading this blog from the very beginning days till today, regularly, almost every day, suffering through all the bad posts, enjoying the good ones and reading both the good and bad ones with equal interest and always waiting for new posts. Now most of you might actually guess I am thanking myself here. :)
Thanks to the irregularly regular readers, reading posts now and then, commenting on some, criticizing some others and helping me gain some readership.
Thanks to the forced-visitors, who when given the link to my blog, click on it and read the first post, click on random posts, read them and then forget about the blog and then visit the blog only when the link is sent again.
Thanks to the readers, who "do not" click when the link to the blog is sent fearing it might be a link to some unknown virus on the internet which would erase their hard disk. Thanks for being so careful, yes there are such viruses. Thanks for being careful, again :)
Thanks to the kind of readers who accidentally tumble upon my blog searching for -
1. "Swades mp3 download" - guys, u forgot the "free" word in your search box, otherwise you could have found the correct sites.
2. "Intermediate QUESTIONS and ANSWERS Andhra Pradesh" - Are the S.Chand and Vignan guides out of date that Intermediate students are searching for questions AND answers on the Internet. I pity them for being pointed to my blog, adding to their already existing list of confusions.
3. "Guide to the Spelling bee" - sorry guys, I am not so much into spelling bees, but thanks for visiting my blog on the path to your bigger quest.
4. "chalkpieces" - are chalkpieces so hi-tech now that one has to order them on amazon or something? Aren't they available at the nearby grocery store? Sorry guys, am not much into selling chalkpieces, though I was once busy stealing some. Anyway thanks to you too for visiting the blog.
Thanks to one and all.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Illusions...
The Taj Mahal.
Everybody would have heard about this masterpiece, the eternal symbol of love, the glorious beauty.
There I was, standing right before Taj Mahal, in awe, wondering at the no-words-to-describe monument. Everything else seemed so minute. I have seen nothing ever-so beautiful and might never see one until some romantic has a better way of expressing his love, which, might not be possible considering the resources needed. :) There is not one thing that is okay-ish about the mahal. Everything is just more than perfect. The sheer size of the monument, the grandeur of the four minarets, the as-white-as-snow marble and not to forget the intricate design on the walls, are all exceptional. One has to see it to believe it. I can't say more. So, I was standing before this Taj Mahal, admiring and cherishing that very moment feeling as small as a drop before the giant beauty.
Suddenly, the phone beside me rang, and the Taj Mahal disappeared into thin air without the slightest trace of the beauty I was seeing all that time. I realized I am now in Hyderabad, not in Agra, and it had been almost a week since my Agra trip and yet the illusions cease to stop. Every time I gaze into nothing, I see the Taj mahal forming from nowhere and this illusion of mine keeps recurring.
While Einstein was right about saying reality is just a persistent illusion, there should be some explanation as to why certain illusions out of these are more persistent than the others. May be the persistence is again linked to the forgetting-theory related to the brain. :) Much more complex than we can comprehend.
Coincidences never cease to exist with me. It was coincidental that besides these frequenting illusions, there is one more 'illusions' that I was part of in the recent days and that being Richard Bach's book - Illusions. Many of them have already said and keep saying the world's an illusion after all. I am not sure how true that is.
But one quote from Richard Bach might help explain my illusions about the Taj and the quote modified to suit the context is -
"If you want to be with the Taj, aren't you already there?"
May be I want to.
Everybody would have heard about this masterpiece, the eternal symbol of love, the glorious beauty.
There I was, standing right before Taj Mahal, in awe, wondering at the no-words-to-describe monument. Everything else seemed so minute. I have seen nothing ever-so beautiful and might never see one until some romantic has a better way of expressing his love, which, might not be possible considering the resources needed. :) There is not one thing that is okay-ish about the mahal. Everything is just more than perfect. The sheer size of the monument, the grandeur of the four minarets, the as-white-as-snow marble and not to forget the intricate design on the walls, are all exceptional. One has to see it to believe it. I can't say more. So, I was standing before this Taj Mahal, admiring and cherishing that very moment feeling as small as a drop before the giant beauty.
Suddenly, the phone beside me rang, and the Taj Mahal disappeared into thin air without the slightest trace of the beauty I was seeing all that time. I realized I am now in Hyderabad, not in Agra, and it had been almost a week since my Agra trip and yet the illusions cease to stop. Every time I gaze into nothing, I see the Taj mahal forming from nowhere and this illusion of mine keeps recurring.
While Einstein was right about saying reality is just a persistent illusion, there should be some explanation as to why certain illusions out of these are more persistent than the others. May be the persistence is again linked to the forgetting-theory related to the brain. :) Much more complex than we can comprehend.
Coincidences never cease to exist with me. It was coincidental that besides these frequenting illusions, there is one more 'illusions' that I was part of in the recent days and that being Richard Bach's book - Illusions. Many of them have already said and keep saying the world's an illusion after all. I am not sure how true that is.
But one quote from Richard Bach might help explain my illusions about the Taj and the quote modified to suit the context is -
"If you want to be with the Taj, aren't you already there?"
May be I want to.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
I write...
Two posts wouldn't do justice to such an intricate topic like "forgetting". There is much more to write about it, I feel. Like in the past two posts, the advantages of forgetting are not even touched upon, like - how forgetting certain things is good to us. :), The times when your teacher slapped you in front of the class, the first time you fell off your bicycle trying to pull a feat etc, etc. Forgetting is good, at least some times.
A third post on the same topic would be monotonous and boring. So let me 'write' something else.
Coming to writing, I think its a lot tough than blogging. As for blogging, you don't even have to think much to make a new post. In the worst case, when you can't think of anything else to write, just pick a random picture( most often your own ) and post it with some tagline/title and lo, you become a blogger. Not the same case with writing. You have to pick a pen, start thinking, which itself is a tough job, and then start building words and make meaningful structures out of them. Overall, its tough to be a writer. But I chose to do so, for this post.
So, here I am, 'writing' a sample post as the first written piece.
And yeah, lot of thinking has gone into writing this one. ;)
A third post on the same topic would be monotonous and boring. So let me 'write' something else.
Coming to writing, I think its a lot tough than blogging. As for blogging, you don't even have to think much to make a new post. In the worst case, when you can't think of anything else to write, just pick a random picture( most often your own ) and post it with some tagline/title and lo, you become a blogger. Not the same case with writing. You have to pick a pen, start thinking, which itself is a tough job, and then start building words and make meaningful structures out of them. Overall, its tough to be a writer. But I chose to do so, for this post.
So, here I am, 'writing' a sample post as the first written piece.
And yeah, lot of thinking has gone into writing this one. ;)
Monday, October 16, 2006
meeku telugu vachaa ?
Forgetting... I feel it is much more complex than I actually thought or expected or, in fact, wrote about in the previous post.
Just yesterday, I had witnessed a scene which brought back memories of a very very small discussion I had with one of my friends seven years ago. I didn't even realize I had actually remembered that discussion until I saw this scene.
A foreigner was sitting on the stairs of a big shopping mall. While she was waiting for somebody, she opened her HINDI book and started reading it in that short time she had.
Immediately the topic of foreign language vs. native language struck me and my mind went back seven years. That was the time when the Andhra Pradesh government was planning to change all the boards on local buses to Telugu. The names of the 'To' and 'From' on all buses would be written in Telugu and I guess even the registration numbers. Now this friend of mine was strongly criticizing this idea of the government. He didn't want the boards to be written in Telugu as he could not read or write in Telugu though he could speak :(. To his benefit and to many others' like him, the government did not go ahead and implement that idea. Otherwise the publisher of "Read Telugu in 5 days" would be competing with Ambanis in wealth.
While the idea of learning the language just to be able to read a bus board is slightly nonsensical, but how many of you think one has to be a literate in his native language. Unable to read your mother-tongue - Wouldn't it be pitiful?
Globalization - that's the term we use most often to explain this. People prefer learning English, French, German etc, leaving the very own native language, to be part of the broader world. How good is it !
Then, there would be no difference between the foreigner who has just landed and the person who has been a native staying here for all his life. Both equally strangers to the language and seeking the help of others trying to figure out the name of a recently released movie.:)
Which one are you or which one would you rather be?
Just yesterday, I had witnessed a scene which brought back memories of a very very small discussion I had with one of my friends seven years ago. I didn't even realize I had actually remembered that discussion until I saw this scene.
A foreigner was sitting on the stairs of a big shopping mall. While she was waiting for somebody, she opened her HINDI book and started reading it in that short time she had.
Immediately the topic of foreign language vs. native language struck me and my mind went back seven years. That was the time when the Andhra Pradesh government was planning to change all the boards on local buses to Telugu. The names of the 'To' and 'From' on all buses would be written in Telugu and I guess even the registration numbers. Now this friend of mine was strongly criticizing this idea of the government. He didn't want the boards to be written in Telugu as he could not read or write in Telugu though he could speak :(. To his benefit and to many others' like him, the government did not go ahead and implement that idea. Otherwise the publisher of "Read Telugu in 5 days" would be competing with Ambanis in wealth.
While the idea of learning the language just to be able to read a bus board is slightly nonsensical, but how many of you think one has to be a literate in his native language. Unable to read your mother-tongue - Wouldn't it be pitiful?
Globalization - that's the term we use most often to explain this. People prefer learning English, French, German etc, leaving the very own native language, to be part of the broader world. How good is it !
Then, there would be no difference between the foreigner who has just landed and the person who has been a native staying here for all his life. Both equally strangers to the language and seeking the help of others trying to figure out the name of a recently released movie.:)
Which one are you or which one would you rather be?
Sunday, October 08, 2006
to forget or not to !
How many of you remember the year the first battle of Panipat was fought?
If you are finding problems recalling the date, dont worry, you are sailing on the same boat as me. And for the others who know the answer, my guess is that you were a big fan of the "panipuri"-walla beside your school and thats how you remember the "Pani"-pat well. Yeah, history students and teachers are exempted from this question :)
How many of you have trouble recalling a childhood friend?
Now, this is real trouble. One fine day you get a message/mail from a childhood friend who claims to be your partner in stealing chalkpieces(the colored ones and the white ones too) from the classroom cupboard. You remember the class room - Class III B, you remember how fast you ran after finding that someone was following you, but you dont remember the guy who was your partner in that petty incident. Pretty bad isn't it?
Not that you wanted to forget and not that you didn't care to remember him. It just happens. And once you get to see him in person or in a picture, all memories of him flash in your mind. You suddenly remember all the childhood stories and you may even tell some more which he, now, doesn't remember. :)
Happens!! This is what wikipedia says too about remembering - We recognise things better than we can recall. And that is why the percentage of scoring in Multiple choice Questions is more, it seems - because we can recognise a correct answer easily than trying to recall it from the 'memory database'. I never realized this :) Now all scores make sense to me !!
Now the million dollar question. How many of you forget to wish friends on their birthdays?
I know, most of us (should I dare to say 50% or is it even more ?) do this. And what would the reason for this be? Simple. Its not about forgetting your friend's birthday. Just that you forgot what today's date was ;) I know, not many would buy that answer. But sometimes its true.
This seems like a reverse of the case mentioned above. You can recall a birthday easily but you fail to recognise when it comes. :(
On the whole, forgetting seems to be a complex phenomenon involving the brain, which in itself is a complex structure of millions of neurons, and also involving theories like these - recognition/recall/inaccessability of data etc.
Now, if you want to forget forgetting, its like fighting the brain with itself. Handling such massive biochemical reactions would be too hard I guess. Like the first battle of Panipat where Babur's 12000 men had to face One lakh soldiers of Ibrahim Lodhi. Who would win? Yes I do remember who won that battle of Panipat.
On a side note, I still couldn't comprehend the reason why history students are asked to remember all the historical dates and years !!
Now one more question - when was the Bastille prison in Paris stormed. I remember this one somehow :)
If you are finding problems recalling the date, dont worry, you are sailing on the same boat as me. And for the others who know the answer, my guess is that you were a big fan of the "panipuri"-walla beside your school and thats how you remember the "Pani"-pat well. Yeah, history students and teachers are exempted from this question :)
How many of you have trouble recalling a childhood friend?
Now, this is real trouble. One fine day you get a message/mail from a childhood friend who claims to be your partner in stealing chalkpieces(the colored ones and the white ones too) from the classroom cupboard. You remember the class room - Class III B, you remember how fast you ran after finding that someone was following you, but you dont remember the guy who was your partner in that petty incident. Pretty bad isn't it?
Not that you wanted to forget and not that you didn't care to remember him. It just happens. And once you get to see him in person or in a picture, all memories of him flash in your mind. You suddenly remember all the childhood stories and you may even tell some more which he, now, doesn't remember. :)
Happens!! This is what wikipedia says too about remembering - We recognise things better than we can recall. And that is why the percentage of scoring in Multiple choice Questions is more, it seems - because we can recognise a correct answer easily than trying to recall it from the 'memory database'. I never realized this :) Now all scores make sense to me !!
Now the million dollar question. How many of you forget to wish friends on their birthdays?
I know, most of us (should I dare to say 50% or is it even more ?) do this. And what would the reason for this be? Simple. Its not about forgetting your friend's birthday. Just that you forgot what today's date was ;) I know, not many would buy that answer. But sometimes its true.
This seems like a reverse of the case mentioned above. You can recall a birthday easily but you fail to recognise when it comes. :(
On the whole, forgetting seems to be a complex phenomenon involving the brain, which in itself is a complex structure of millions of neurons, and also involving theories like these - recognition/recall/inaccessability of data etc.
Now, if you want to forget forgetting, its like fighting the brain with itself. Handling such massive biochemical reactions would be too hard I guess. Like the first battle of Panipat where Babur's 12000 men had to face One lakh soldiers of Ibrahim Lodhi. Who would win? Yes I do remember who won that battle of Panipat.
On a side note, I still couldn't comprehend the reason why history students are asked to remember all the historical dates and years !!
Now one more question - when was the Bastille prison in Paris stormed. I remember this one somehow :)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
expectation and reality
After a long break, I am back with a post in line with the 'Questions without answers' theme.
Why is an expected result, observed just once, believed to be more probable than an unexpected one occurring multiple times?
I have never seen a teller at a bank recheck the number of currency notes if the counting machine shows 100. But if it shows a 98, the teller rechecks until the machine shows 100.
Isn't the probability of a 98 note bundle becoming 100 same as the probability of 100 note one becoming 98?
Guess the world is just "optimistic".
How close is reality to expectations?
Why is an expected result, observed just once, believed to be more probable than an unexpected one occurring multiple times?
I have never seen a teller at a bank recheck the number of currency notes if the counting machine shows 100. But if it shows a 98, the teller rechecks until the machine shows 100.
Isn't the probability of a 98 note bundle becoming 100 same as the probability of 100 note one becoming 98?
Guess the world is just "optimistic".
How close is reality to expectations?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)