Changing Communities through Vector Algebra

This is a follow-up post of my previous post on Perspectives and Co-ordinate geometry. Each individual's perspectives form the different axes on which the individual perceives the world - and judges the world, so you have (happiness-sorrow axis, good-bad axis, moral-immoral axis, ethical-unethical axis, and so on). Each of these axes define who you are, your values, your beliefs, et al. If I were to map each of these axes against the society's axes, then we can plot an individual on the society space (its an n-dimensional space, mind you).

Now, get this. The origin of the society (the norms dictated by the society) represented by (0,0,..,0) would be at a certain distance from your own origin say (1,2,1,-4,...,3). The vector (going outwards from the origin) which connects your origin to the society's origin is your vector of existence. Every individual has his vector of existence. The people who are afraid of society and peer pressure have their origins closest to the society's origins. Carefree people tend to be away from that origin. The more deviant you are to the society, the further you would be from the origin.

What makes a society? You, me and everybody. Thus, the society is a summation of these vector misalignments. And that my friend defines the origin of the society. Over a period of time, the origin naturally shifts - it shifts because many people change their origins (values, beliefs, etc), thus ensuring that the society also goes through that same shift (although much more gradually). A fact that would have been a taboo for the society would be a norm today. Take mini-skirts for instance or gay rights. Society changes its norms, because the collective changes their norms. The origin has shifted!!

Familiar Strangers

If you travel everyday in a Mumbai local, then you are bound to have certain trains (and their times) in your mind. For e.g – I take the 8.24 Churchgate Slow from Andheri in the morning, if I miss that, then there is the 8.45 Churchgate Slow and the 8.51 Churchgate Slow, etc.

Most of the people think in these terms, so its obvious that you keep on seeing the same people everyday in your trains. Its their train as well. The mousy faced fellow, the guy who keeps on playing on his Nokia N-series, the guy who carries the Milton dabba. You see them, you have placed them and even named them … but what you don’t do, is befriend them. Maybe over a period of time, the ice breaks and you become good friends, but that takes many a train journey. The strangest thing is – that when you see the same person anywhere out of this morning train context, you still recognize him … and you see that spark on recognition in their eyes as well. But, you don’t talk. Strange aint it?

Uncertainty

I had gone to a friend’s place today to see his new born baby. Babblo* has a cute little daughter – I hope she doesnt take her looks from her dad!

So we got talking as friends do when they meet after a long time. Our favorite “R” word did come up. and so did the job switch. I see so many people who do not love their jobs, that I wonder has anybody written a paper on this? (let’s figure that out later)

This guy works for one of the big 4 consultancies, has been working with that firm for the past 4 years now. A job that any Systems MBA would kill for … yes, present company included :-) But I know the hours are long and the gyaan is hot. It requires the sheer dedication that dissolves my resolve to get into a post like that. Again, this is not the point, moving on …

Babblo’s reason for wanting to switch is that he does not see himself becoming one of the head honchoes and top guys in the next 5-6 years. He see himself reach the middle echelons of the organization, but still sees miles to go before he sleeps. Hence, the idea of moving out and getting into a different vertical altogether. A new stint even a startup. Have you imagined a guy who eats, sleeps, breathes ITIL trying to get things done in a startup? A comic strip on these lines can rival Dilbert :-D. Moot point being that Babblo (of course its not the true name!!) is actually turned off by the certainty of the job.

I cant identify with this funda. I for one would love some certainty on knowing what I will be doing 5-6 years down the line. Its easy to bluff, but do I really KNOW what I will be doing … hmmmmm … web surely, technology definitely, startup – could be, big hulking monolithic organization – sure why not, just pay me well!! I don’t know which is better – the certainty or the uncertainty!

Do you really need that?

That is the question you should be asking yourself whenever you are about to buy something.

If you are not clear then, check out this site. The content is presented by Anne Leonard, who manages to deliver the message so clearly and logically; it’s a shame that we did not notice it earlier. We Indians are copying the western culture to the hilt, so much so that we are trying to adopt the same practices at work, at home, at how we treat things, becoming more of consumers and less of contributors.

Half of the stuff that we buy, do we really need that? A new phone, a brand new gaming desktop (I was thinking of getting this one), a flat screen tv, a dishwasher, an A/C, the list goes on. And once we buy that, we dont stop … we keep on buying newer versions of that. Our perceived obsolescence drives us to trash our already existing goods for the sake of the newer and better. Such a waste.

Please go through the site – storyofstuff.com. And try to make a difference.

Then and Now

My first job was in IRIS, in the year 2002. I loved my job. I had joined with seven other software engineers. We bonded really well together. We used to work on different projects, but lunched together … discussed problems, solved them … and generally helped each other out. Life was good, life was beautiful. I loved my life of a programmer. Our batch was one of the best the organization had, in fact some of us were awarded as the most valuable programmer, et al. No, I am not being modest :-), but we loved helping each other out … contributing to the organization.

My last job was in I2I. It was a simple transaction for me. I went to work, I stayed there till 6.30pm everyday, I came back – the company paid me for it. The very transactional nature of this perspective made me shudder … I had to leave the organization in search of greener pastures.

My new job is with Illumine, where the culture of the organization is to actualize the paradigm shift from transactional thinking of a job to contribution thinking. Will post more on this later, but at the moment think about it. Is your job a transaction for you?

Summers here

• Mangoes, mmmm …. yummm
• When ice-cream, cold-drink and A/C sales spike up
• School vacations, ahhh … those were the best. No more pencils, no more books … no more teachers’ dirty looks
• When employees report early to office and stay beyond their normal time in order to stay in the cool recesses of their offices’ central A/C
• When you want to discard everything else in life and head towards a beach and have some beers … read Goa!! :-)
• Time for the Harry Potter films to come out and gather a throng of kids (and their parents) in the theaters
• Shorter clothes ;-)
• Families migrating towards hill stations

Summer gets me all nostalgic, what about you?

Mumbai Police

Just a note of appreciation towards the Mumbai police force. Today my entire family and I had gone to the police station for verification of our passport. Since the marriage, this is one of our initiatives :-)

The police officer came to our house and gave us the time and date for reporting to the police station. The D-Day arrived and we reported to the station on time. Everything was done so smoothly and efficiently.

I am mentioning it specifically, because this was unlike all the other government offices I have been to since marriage viz., marriage certificate, name change registrar, et al. This office was spic and span, tidy and manned by a very efficient person – Inspector S. M. Rane. Kudos!!

Happy Gudi Padva

Wishing all of you a very happy and prosperous new year ahead.

Peace of Mind

Just the other day I was talking to Amol aka Baba. Our discussions can  meander from technology to yoga to relationships, well to put in a nutshell, they makes you think (yes, its a philosophical post). So, the question that cropped up was – What is peace of mind mean to you?

Any takers? Well for me, peace of mind is the place where I don't have to make any extra efforts to reach my destination. Further thinking led to the point that you can be en route to that destination and still have peace of mind, which I think could be the case when you know that in due course you are going to get there.

Baba later pointed out, that a person can feel uncertainty, anger, frustration, et al and still have his/her peace of mind. If the person knows the difference between his core feelings – the ones which help him achieve his id and his ternary feelings – the ones which can be dispensed off with i.e.. the anger, frustration, et al. But that person would have to be completed detached – a sadhu of sorts. That would be some person … well for one, his family would not be happy with this guy’s eternal cool.

Kind of reminds me of that Socrates’ incident, when his wife threw a bucket of water at him because he would not get into a fight with her. After which Socrates coolly said, “It seldom rains after the thunder”. Now that is peace of mind :-), What say?

Marriage

As promised – Some words of wisdom from my better half on the M word.

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Hi Friends,

I am so glad today to finally write a post on my Hubby's Blog. Recently seeing him totally out of action (on his blog :P), I decided to enlighten this blog by highlighting certain aspects of MARRIAGE.

Life after marriage changes; alteast to an extent. Well one always find guys complaining more than gals. I feel its equal for each of them. I am sure most of you reading this post have already found their life partner/looking for a life partner/ thinking whether to climb the huge cliff (tie a knot). If you and your partner compile the 3C's i.e Compatibility, Connection and Chemistry then surely you both are ready to tie the knot.

"Marriages are made in Heaven" - a very famous phrase ... most of the bachelors/singletons say, "What crap? If they are made in Heaven then there would be no divorce."

Even before marriage or rather before dating Kidakaka :) I felt the same, this so called Idealistic phrase was a crap. Within a year my notions about this completely changes and now actually I am a believer.

Logically if you apply your mind how many guys/gals you have dated have actually clicked, the odds of finding the right person and selecting is really a difficult task.. Ask you friends who are going through trouble of meeting their opposites for an arranged wedding.

On top of that we also have different cultures in India which also play an important variant, different professions, hectic lives and varied interests. Ok Ok! the list just goes on; finding the ONE after so many odds is (PHEW!) definitely a difficult task. So really If any two people click and decide to get married then i must say "unki jodi baghwan ne banai hai :P"

Think about it and if you have someone in your life who does make a difference/rather if you feel he/she is the one for you ..go ahead and say it..before someone else does :P COMPETITION YOU SEE !!!!

So after all thsi Gyan heres KIDAKAKI signing off..bye have great year friends!!!

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Some of you really needed this – I wont name who :-)

Luck By Chance

Yes on a roll here. And extremely free :-).

Farhan Akhtar impressed everyone through Dil Chahta Hain. Many called it over-rated, but I loved the freshness of the movie. Then came a string of decent hits … then came Rock On, when people could actually put a face to the director. Imagine a 32 year old father of two, becoming a heart throb of Bollywood. People were calling him an overnight success and a lucky boy.

I guess that’s why he decided to make this movie. Luck By Chance shows us the life of a typical struggling actor and what are the sacrifices they have to make in order to make it big. Not to mention the paparazzi and affairs and the wheeling and dealing that one has to do in order to shape one’s career. Its startlingly true, and its being accepted by mainstream cinema. Akhtar is not a fluke kid, but a genuine all-rounder when it comes to films.

Give the movie a go, I do not want to put forth all the details in the movie, but suffice to say that its recommended watch. Movies like this make me think that Bollywood still has a chance.

The Unusual activity

I clocked roughly 200 blog posts last year. That’s a post every alternate day. Impressive no? The feat was particularly possible because of my previous employment. I ruled the IT Infrastructure there (which was in addition to my actual role). The good things about being ‘God’ (read admin), are that the laws don’t apply to you. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Start of the new year, I got an opportunity with a Mumbai based tech startup. Hours are long, pay is decent, I am home sweet home. Rosy picture aint it? Well for now it sure is. The catch is, no net access, especially Gmail, so no blogging L and no chatting. Thank heavens for Twitter!! Hopefully the email api of blogger still works.

HNY 2009

Wishing all of you a very happy and prosperous new year!!

Merci beacoup

A big thanks to all for making it to the marriage. A special thanks to the maxxx group for giving us the lava lamp :-) … wheeeeee!!

The wedding went without a hitch, 4 hours of getting blessings and smiling with everyone tests your facial muscles and patience as well. Grateful to a lot of people for seeing this through. Photos to come soon. Meanwhile, feel free to check some of the photos that Amit has uploaded on facebook.

Shaadi 2.0

No, its not about collaborative marriage over the web :-). Amol gave me this crazy idea. We were discussing the Indian SMS site, Vakow which enables us to push normal SMS into a web-based RSS/Atom feed. There are about a gazillion applications for an RSS feed. Well, this is just one such mashup between a practical application of Vakow and Google Reader.

Well to be honest, the title of the blog should not be Shaadi 2.0, but rather Event 2.0, but since we are using the my marriage as the event to cover, I decided to name the title so, well ..  and this one is more exciting na? So here is what we did.

1. Register on Vakow, get a username and have your phone number associated with that username, so that you can SMS messages to your Vakow id.
2. You are on track now, and you should be able to post a feed … now that your feed is set, we just need to integrate that feed with my marriage feed
3. Send me the RSS link, I will add it in my Google Reader public folder, and voila!! You can view the sample page here.

People who cannot attend the wedding in person can keep on hitting the RSS page for an up-to-date status.

Wedding Invite

Google Maps Link
Prasad & Harshaja

Be Selfish

 

How true is this, wish I could be that honest!

Diabetes

My father is a diabetic; my grand-father was a diabetic (may god bless his soul); my great-grandfather was also a diabetic. Diabetes is a Y-linked disease – meaning that it gets inherited from father to son. So much for parental legacy :)

Diabetes is an incurable disease. That does not mean that once you get it you are doomed … no, certainly not. The day my father was diagnosed with diabetes, my mother started learning more and more about the same. She was smart enough to educate us as well. Well, hope some of you benefit from this post as I did from my mother’s admonitions. 

What’s this? – Diabetes mellitus refers to the group of diseases that lead to high blood glucose levels due to defects in either insulin secretion or insulin action.

So? – So, that means blood sugar levels go through the roof, increasing your chronic exposure. In short, if not taken proper care … you are in deep shit.

Why Me? – It’s hereditary, so you cannot escape it if its in your genes. Might as well embrace it and understand how to control your sugar levels.

Now what? – Worry naught. The entire secret is in controlling your sugar levels (the implicit ones and the explicit ones as well). With explicit, I mean the intake of sugar and sweet substances; implicit are those which are finally broken down into sugar – oil being one of the major stakeholders. Monitor those sugar levels judiciously, reduce the oil intake you eat.

Change your oil especially if you eats Saffola or Sunflower (these two brands are a strict no-no). They advertise to be healthy oils, but frankly speaking, they are not!! Would recommend changing to olive oil (too expensive for some) or mustard oil (too smelly for some), well if you don't like these, then groundnut oil will do as well.

Exercise is also good, I am not saying heavy gym work-outs. Simple half an hour to one hour walks every day would do you good. Establish a routine. Normal life helps get your health back on track.

Eating certain items also help – 1 walnut a day, home-made ghee (sajuk tup), flax-seed (alshi), fish (halwa, bangda, surmai). All of these contain a chemical called as Omega-3 fatty acids. These help the body combat sugar levels.

Here’s looking at a healthier, happier and stress-free life.

Home Sweet Home

Yes, the post is slightly late, but after all the action happening throughout the week, there was minimal time to post. Well, I am back in Mumbai for good, and am set on settling for good … no more travelling around for me. The stint in Hyderabad has ended after a good two years, feeling refreshed after a good week’s rest.

Did I tell you what a daunting task shopping for you marriage can be (honey, in case you are reading this, I am just kidding :-)). But seriously, when you lie on one side of the size-spectrum as me, shopping can sometimes become a tirade. All in all, glad to be home, in Mumbai.

So I bid adieu to the biryanis and the Karachi biscuits, to the Famous ice-creams and the Serengetti keebabs, to the unruly traffic and the relaxed way of life. Hello to Mumbai :) … to a life with family and loved ones.

Heart

the difference between a smile and a frown you can see when the chips are down what sets the winners and whiners apart is that winners have got heart