It is dangerous to constantly pass judgments on people around us. It's an all pervasive phenomenon, which makes it hard for people to even realize they're even doing something wrong (the crowd effect). The way we way we compartmentalize everyone as good/bad, capable/incapable, achiever/non-achiever etc. is a brutal silent crime according to me. Even more so when the victim is a kid, who ends up adopting this as a way of life! I don't really have any new point of view to share here. I think enough has been said about this matter.
However, it's the first time I've seen someone managing to put forth this point so effectively and beautifully, using attitude towards the dyslexic child and his consequent responses as the manifestation of this deeper problem. This is why I think everyone should watch Taare Zameen Par.
Friday 28 December, 2007
Friday 16 November, 2007
Wordplay
What happens when you
(I wanted to demonstrate to myself that when you force yourself to look for ways when you think none can possibly exist, you can almost always find them!)
I found it to be quite a daunting task, but eventually came up with this:-
"When I was just one,
I almost never won :-(
We became two,
and only sometimes managed to :-|
We became four,
and came new strengths to the fore :-)
And finally, while eight?
Our problems, we just ATE :-D
How could this be true?
Alone I fail, and succeed in a crew?
I thought all I could,
and then I understood.
Every time we were double,
half was our trouble!
Into reality turned all our dreams,
it's just the wonder of teams! :-) "
I'm pretty proud of this one, as I am of the earlier one, which came into existence when I had set myself up a similar challenge about including paradox and wit in a four line poem :-)
- have a boring paper coming up
- want to sleep (but can't)
- like simple math
- love playing around with words and
- are an amateur poet?
- mathematical relationship between numbers which have homonyms,
- create an overarching theme including all three
- in a poem!
(I wanted to demonstrate to myself that when you force yourself to look for ways when you think none can possibly exist, you can almost always find them!)
I found it to be quite a daunting task, but eventually came up with this:-
"When I was just one,
I almost never won :-(
We became two,
and only sometimes managed to :-|
We became four,
and came new strengths to the fore :-)
And finally, while eight?
Our problems, we just ATE :-D
How could this be true?
Alone I fail, and succeed in a crew?
I thought all I could,
and then I understood.
Every time we were double,
half was our trouble!
Into reality turned all our dreams,
it's just the wonder of teams! :-) "
I'm pretty proud of this one, as I am of the earlier one, which came into existence when I had set myself up a similar challenge about including paradox and wit in a four line poem :-)
Wednesday 31 October, 2007
My regret...
It's a pity,
that I'm not witty,
and I got no money;
to buy words for a dime,
then use some that rhyme,
in a short poem funny! :(
that I'm not witty,
and I got no money;
to buy words for a dime,
then use some that rhyme,
in a short poem funny! :(
Tuesday 16 October, 2007
My blogging dilemma
It's a dilemma I face (I'm sure not the only one facing this!) The basic premise of my blog has been - "this is my diary, where I think aloud". Problem is (and it's pretty dumb of me to not have foreseen it!), a diary is much too personal to be published online!!! It's not so much a question of letting your thoughts be known in public, but much of what I want to write would include other people I know, and I just don't want to do that :(
I do want to continue blogging though... I hope I get some inspiration sometime by which I'm able to resolve this dilemma!
I do want to continue blogging though... I hope I get some inspiration sometime by which I'm able to resolve this dilemma!
Stupid finance PJ
Partially to revive a moribund blog, and partially to make sure I get the credit for inventing it, here's a finance PJ...
Q. What's the debt/equity ratio of HUL?
.
.
.
.
.
A. One. It says in their name - Uni-lever ;)
Q. What's the debt/equity ratio of HUL?
.
.
.
.
.
A. One. It says in their name - Uni-lever ;)
Saturday 10 February, 2007
So who's your favorite Friends character?
I'm the self-proclaimed Friends champ - ask me a question, and chances are that I'll be able to answer it! Even won a quiz designed by one of the best quizzers of international repute! After all, I've seen all episodes at least 30 times now and am able to lip-synch to the show! :)
Watching Friends has been a tremendous experience and it has made me go through a plethora of emotions and observations. In this post, I just want to narrate how I've perceived each one of them over the ten seasons and who ranks as my favorite!
1. Chandler Bing - Matthew Perry: He was my first favorite - his sense of humor out of the world. He went through a lot during the 10 years that the series was shot and it reflected on his character and health. There's no comparing his witty, incisive remarks...
Joey: Oh mommie, oh daddie, I am a big old baddie! Oh mommie, oh daddie, I am a big old baddie!
Ross: I guess he musta gotten the part in that play.
Monica and Phoebe: Oh.
Chandler: Yeah, either that, or Gloria Estefan was right, eventually, the rhythm is going to get you.
2. Rachel Greene - Jennifer Aniston: She's probably had the most dignified presence of the lot in the series. Drop-dead gorgeous looks, always poised and collected and acting with elan.
3. Monica Geller - Courtney Cox: I somehow considered her to be the weak link in the show - there have been times when I've found her presence being compromised, but I attribute this to the exceptionally tight packaging that Friends brought to the table. The crew really did master the art of story-telling in spite of a thousand loose ends. That, I believe, is the ultimate achievement for any story-teller - people ready to accept whatever you throw at them, and wanting more!
4. Phoebe Buffay - Lisa Kudrow: With arguably the most peripheral of roles amongst the six, Phoebe nonetheless managed to portray her goofy character to perfection. I thought her to be radiantly beautiful with the most amazing smile!
5. Ross Geller - David Schwimmer: He's managed to fit into his decidedly geeky and comparatively unglamorous role in the best possible manner. I'd call him the 'solid performer', ever dependable, but not the 'hero'.
6. Joey Tribbiani - Matt LeBlanc: Undoubtedly the numero uno performer amongst the cast. Don't remember where I'd read it but the toughest acting assignment is to act dumb, and there's nobody dumber than Joey!
Joey: Oh, right. Okay, ducks is heads because ducks have heads.
I never really quite realized just how amazing a performer he is until I saw the six of them in an interview for the first time... There was such a marked difference on his facial expression and general body-language! It just brought about the stark contrast between his real-life self and the portrayed character!
So there you are. Joey's the best according to me! Sad that the series with the same name failed so miserably. It was plain to be seen that his talents were thoroughly being wasted there! Goes to show that just putting a solid front-end doesn't guarantee success. The back-end is just as important, if not more!
Watching Friends has been a tremendous experience and it has made me go through a plethora of emotions and observations. In this post, I just want to narrate how I've perceived each one of them over the ten seasons and who ranks as my favorite!
1. Chandler Bing - Matthew Perry: He was my first favorite - his sense of humor out of the world. He went through a lot during the 10 years that the series was shot and it reflected on his character and health. There's no comparing his witty, incisive remarks...
Joey: Oh mommie, oh daddie, I am a big old baddie! Oh mommie, oh daddie, I am a big old baddie!
Ross: I guess he musta gotten the part in that play.
Monica and Phoebe: Oh.
Chandler: Yeah, either that, or Gloria Estefan was right, eventually, the rhythm is going to get you.
2. Rachel Greene - Jennifer Aniston: She's probably had the most dignified presence of the lot in the series. Drop-dead gorgeous looks, always poised and collected and acting with elan.
3. Monica Geller - Courtney Cox: I somehow considered her to be the weak link in the show - there have been times when I've found her presence being compromised, but I attribute this to the exceptionally tight packaging that Friends brought to the table. The crew really did master the art of story-telling in spite of a thousand loose ends. That, I believe, is the ultimate achievement for any story-teller - people ready to accept whatever you throw at them, and wanting more!
4. Phoebe Buffay - Lisa Kudrow: With arguably the most peripheral of roles amongst the six, Phoebe nonetheless managed to portray her goofy character to perfection. I thought her to be radiantly beautiful with the most amazing smile!
5. Ross Geller - David Schwimmer: He's managed to fit into his decidedly geeky and comparatively unglamorous role in the best possible manner. I'd call him the 'solid performer', ever dependable, but not the 'hero'.
6. Joey Tribbiani - Matt LeBlanc: Undoubtedly the numero uno performer amongst the cast. Don't remember where I'd read it but the toughest acting assignment is to act dumb, and there's nobody dumber than Joey!
Joey: Oh, right. Okay, ducks is heads because ducks have heads.
I never really quite realized just how amazing a performer he is until I saw the six of them in an interview for the first time... There was such a marked difference on his facial expression and general body-language! It just brought about the stark contrast between his real-life self and the portrayed character!
So there you are. Joey's the best according to me! Sad that the series with the same name failed so miserably. It was plain to be seen that his talents were thoroughly being wasted there! Goes to show that just putting a solid front-end doesn't guarantee success. The back-end is just as important, if not more!
Saturday 27 January, 2007
People are basically good
When time and again, randomly chosen sets of people end up in similar situations, it just goes to show the importance of structure and systems in creating enduring excellence.
An educational institute is an ideal location to study this behavior. The senior batch shares the legacy of the institute with the juniors in terms of parameters like inter-committee rivalry, how nobody really appreciates their work, how they have been wronged, etc. A year down the line, the wheel turns a full cycle and the new senior batch pass on this legacy. No real harm, one might argue, as long as the 'work' gets done. But the issue is deeper than that - absence of negatives should never be construed as satisfactory as it precludes the synergies that mostly result between people who are allowed to flourish in a conducive environment!
It's the same story elsewhere - the structure, system, processes, guidelines and incentives need to be aligned towards the goal, rather than being put together in an ad-hoc manner. A small and relevant example - I just read an article in the ET which said that the crew of the leading low-cost carrier in India willingly gave up home-drops and agreed to cleaning up the washrooms of the aircraft resulting in several tangible benefits for the organization. Because of these reasons and many more, they're back in black this quarter, on-time performance has improved and amount of lost-luggage has halved! How was all this achieved? Through a successful combination of SSPGI mentioned above. What was happening hitherto? The employees of this organization (which was naturally experiencing a large churn-rate) were rooting for the organization to fail!
In the absence of a conducive environment, people and functional units feel victimized, engage in petty politics and effectiveness goes for a toss as it is seldom the focus. If all the energies of the different functional units are not aligned in the same direction, you shouldn't be surprised with persistently far-from-optimum outcomes. Resources are lost in trying to fix the blame and other meaningless pursuits, rather than utilizing them in moving towards the goal. I'd say that focusing on these basics is a precondition for true and lasting success, and the applicability of this principle is universal.
This leads me to the title of this post and my intuitive feeling - people are basically good. It's the SSPGI that matters the most for the vast majority of the populace. The more these SSPGI are in touch with reality and the more they are aligned towards the desired outcome, the greater is the chance of success given any comparable random set of people!
What about the rest of the populace? Well, they are the true leaders and path-breakers. Think of any great person who made a difference to this world - they're sure to have contributed to putting the optimum mix of SSPGI in place :)
An educational institute is an ideal location to study this behavior. The senior batch shares the legacy of the institute with the juniors in terms of parameters like inter-committee rivalry, how nobody really appreciates their work, how they have been wronged, etc. A year down the line, the wheel turns a full cycle and the new senior batch pass on this legacy. No real harm, one might argue, as long as the 'work' gets done. But the issue is deeper than that - absence of negatives should never be construed as satisfactory as it precludes the synergies that mostly result between people who are allowed to flourish in a conducive environment!
It's the same story elsewhere - the structure, system, processes, guidelines and incentives need to be aligned towards the goal, rather than being put together in an ad-hoc manner. A small and relevant example - I just read an article in the ET which said that the crew of the leading low-cost carrier in India willingly gave up home-drops and agreed to cleaning up the washrooms of the aircraft resulting in several tangible benefits for the organization. Because of these reasons and many more, they're back in black this quarter, on-time performance has improved and amount of lost-luggage has halved! How was all this achieved? Through a successful combination of SSPGI mentioned above. What was happening hitherto? The employees of this organization (which was naturally experiencing a large churn-rate) were rooting for the organization to fail!
In the absence of a conducive environment, people and functional units feel victimized, engage in petty politics and effectiveness goes for a toss as it is seldom the focus. If all the energies of the different functional units are not aligned in the same direction, you shouldn't be surprised with persistently far-from-optimum outcomes. Resources are lost in trying to fix the blame and other meaningless pursuits, rather than utilizing them in moving towards the goal. I'd say that focusing on these basics is a precondition for true and lasting success, and the applicability of this principle is universal.
This leads me to the title of this post and my intuitive feeling - people are basically good. It's the SSPGI that matters the most for the vast majority of the populace. The more these SSPGI are in touch with reality and the more they are aligned towards the desired outcome, the greater is the chance of success given any comparable random set of people!
What about the rest of the populace? Well, they are the true leaders and path-breakers. Think of any great person who made a difference to this world - they're sure to have contributed to putting the optimum mix of SSPGI in place :)
Monday 1 January, 2007
A new type of celebration
It took some time coming, but I finally managed to get my friends to celebrate new year's eve the way I have always dreamed of. (I started preparations really early) I've faced a peculiar predicament - I don't like to go to fancy parties, shell out a couple of grand (specially since I'm a teetotaler) and then end up not enjoying half as much as I could have; but have landed at such events regularly over the past few years... Not wanting to play spoilsport, I've acceded to my friends' plans and have gone along.
Rock Bottom at Juhu, last year, greeted us with throngs of people gushing out of a steamy, sweaty discotheque in the basement as it had gotten way too jam-packed. There was no food worth speaking of, and whatever little there was, was inedible filth. Tulip Star, a few years back, was no different. An overwhelming majority of friends have the same story to share about all such other joints. New Year merry-making is a relatively new phenomenon in India and the organizers are utterly incapable of seeing beyond money, which the increasing number of revelers are increasingly capable of spending in increasing amounts!
This year was lovely - 12 people chez my lovely friend. (Man, is she a gracious host!) Food ordered from outside. A little bit-o-booze to boot. Some pictionary. 3 iPods attached to the amplifier with everyone taking turns to play DJ. Lots of talk, jokes, pranks, jibes and the likes. Off to Natural's at 3 in the night to enjoy ice-creams and shakes. Back home at 6.
Even one of my most pro-fancy-party friends admitted that this was a wonderful experience with such merry and quality time! Kneekey has won! ;-D
Give me a cup of coffee with a friend, any day!
Rock Bottom at Juhu, last year, greeted us with throngs of people gushing out of a steamy, sweaty discotheque in the basement as it had gotten way too jam-packed. There was no food worth speaking of, and whatever little there was, was inedible filth. Tulip Star, a few years back, was no different. An overwhelming majority of friends have the same story to share about all such other joints. New Year merry-making is a relatively new phenomenon in India and the organizers are utterly incapable of seeing beyond money, which the increasing number of revelers are increasingly capable of spending in increasing amounts!
This year was lovely - 12 people chez my lovely friend. (Man, is she a gracious host!) Food ordered from outside. A little bit-o-booze to boot. Some pictionary. 3 iPods attached to the amplifier with everyone taking turns to play DJ. Lots of talk, jokes, pranks, jibes and the likes. Off to Natural's at 3 in the night to enjoy ice-creams and shakes. Back home at 6.
Even one of my most pro-fancy-party friends admitted that this was a wonderful experience with such merry and quality time! Kneekey has won! ;-D
Give me a cup of coffee with a friend, any day!
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