Happy New Year 2009!

Interesting Indians

The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest. - Albert Einstein

Cartoon Source: Tony Watson

There's one often-cited example of the power of compound interest. If Christopher Columbus had placed a single penny in a 6 percent interest-bearing account and instructed someone to remove the interest every year, the value of the interest earned by 2005 would be almost 31 cents. But if he had placed the same penny into the same interest-bearing account but left the earned interest to compound -- earning interest upon the interest -- the resulting balance for 513 years would be $95,919,936,112. That's $95 billion!

Most of us can crunch the numbers and calculate financial scenarios.  But only a few among us have a feel for these numbers in the back of the head, 24/7.  I used to travel via STL pretty much on weekly basis, for couple of years.  During that time, I had an opportunity of watching the rapid growth of an Indian food place (near the airport) started by a Gujarati gentleman, who freshly arrived from South Africa; from a narrow joint with a few benches, to a spacious full-size restaurant.  PIOs own about 50% of the hotels/motels in the US!  I guess 90% of these folks came from Gujarat.  I find some genetic traits amazing.

Don't Beat Around the Bush!

Picture source: Cinematic Wallpaper

A blast yesterday killed twenty-eight people in Iraq. Routine reports of this kind of death since the beginning of this unjustified war, reminded me of the following dialog from Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.

Anakin Skywalker: Sometimes I wonder what's happening to the Jedi Order. I think this war is destroying the principles of the Republic.

Padmé Amidala: Have you ever considered that we may be on the wrong side?

Anakin Skywalker: What do you mean?

Padmé Amidala: What if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists, and the Republic has become the very evil we've been fighting to destroy?

Anakin Skywalker: I don't believe that, and you're sounding like a Separatist.

Padmé Amidala: What this war represents is a failure to listen. Now you're closer to the Chancellor than anyone, please, ask him to stop the fighting and let the diplomacy resume.

Anakin Skywalker: Don't ask me to do that.

Of course, I am not supporting terrorists in Iraq or any kind of terrorism.  Answer to the question "who is a terrorist?" is merely a point of view.  How do we define the word "terrorist"?  If a person who caused more than million deaths for no good reason is not a terrorist, who is?  Mr. Bush's record is on par with that of Pol Pot.  It is about time for the US to unequivocally (and officially) admit to the world, "(we) our ex-president made a terrible mistake in Iraq and caused grief to millions here in this country and abroad", and hand over President George W. Bush to the International Court of Justice for his war crimes.  On a second thought, may be not.  After all, George Washington's cherry tree story is a myth.  We don't take morals from urban legends.  Do we? 

Merry Christmas 2008!

Source: Stu's Views

Question: Why is Christmas just like a day at the office? 

Answer: You do all the work and the fat guy with the suit gets all the credit.

Renouncing Renunciation

One of the Sai Austin news letters read:

Shirdi Sai Baba advised that renunciation (sanyas) is not the path for most people. If you try and renounce a bad habit, it may just get stronger and provide more temptation. So it is better to try and do some service for others each day as a means of self purification. When we serve a holy person we start to align our mind with cosmic mind. When we serve others we start to see God everywhere.

Makes a lot of sense to me. Using a similar concept, Basketball is being used as a vehicle for promoting positive habits in the inner-city kids.  When these kids do good things (like keeping their bodies fit), they will have less time to do bad things (like doing drugs).  More importantly, the positive energy gained through sports creates an upward spiral of mental and spiritual benefits.  

This concept works in many areas of our lives too. For example, most of the diets fail in the long run because they focus too much on not doing the bad things (like, eating cakes). If we ensure that we eat sufficient quantities of good foods (like greens, grains and fruit), we would gradually cut down on foods that aren't good for us. Transformation will not be quick; but it will happen slowly and surely. A good positive step for a better health in my opinion is, drinking the recommended 8 x 8 oz glasses of water every day.

Golden Grumps

Image Source: Petafoo

Recent research shows it could be the grumpy workers who are actually a company's most creative problem-solvers, said Jing Zhou, associate professor of management at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University.

It's the happy, cheerful folks who tend to think things are going well and that there are no problems to be solved, she said. They're less likely to be pondering potential pitfalls and often don't see problems until there is a crisis.

It's a departure from the general management philosophy that a positive mood leads to creative problem-solving, said Zhou, who based her findings on the results of 161 responses from employees and their supervisors at a large oil-field services company.

A positive mood means getting along, said Bob Hogan, president of Hogan Assessment Systems in Tulsa, Okla. A contrary attitude, however, can lead to advancement.

A mood of contentment doesn't fit with creativity, he said.

So what kind of employee does a company want to hire? It depends on the type of job, according to Hogan.

A company that runs a call center wants employees with good moods because they're focused on acceptance and getting things implemented.

"They will get punished if they're creative," he said.

But companies want "overcaffinated, energetic and agitated" employees for advertising, marketing and product development, he said.

Hogan said he follows his own advice when it comes to his own hiring.

When he's looking for a customer service representative, he looks for the person who is "sweet and smiling."

A research position? "I don't care about sweetness. It's focus and intensity."

In an effort to hire the best employees, Steve Hines has learned to pay close attention to the emotion he sees during job interviews. And when he doesn't see any, he gets worried.

"If you are happy all the time, it sends up a flag," said Hines, vice president of human resources for Armor Holdings, a defense and law enforcement manufacturing company.

People whose moods go up and down are living in the real world, Hines said.

Hines said he tries to get at that range of emotion in job interviews by asking applicants to describe the best thing they've done in the past couple of years and the most disappointing thing.

That range is especially important for the engineers and other technical and professional employees, said Hines, who has seen first-hand how bad moods can spark creativity.

Makes sense.  Discontent folks see more problems in the world than those who are content.  And, grumpy people are generally discontent.  Therefore, grumpy people see more problems.  Since we can't solve problems we don't see, we need grumps to find problems in fix them :-)

Achilles' Heels

Cost of Acoustics

A pair of these B&W Nautilus speakers cost $60,000! Pretty pricey, but they didn't even make it to the list of most expensive speakers! I wonder if human ears can sense the difference between say, a decent $5K system and a $60K system.  May be our urge for gaining social status through acquiring exquisite paraphernalia, and the design of the shell, have more to do with this exorbitant price tag than superior sound reproduction. 

A Dream Within a Dream

Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly...Suddenly I awoke...Now, I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming that I am a man. - Chuang-Tzu

Image Source: Moodflow

Generally, I sleep like a log, and I don't experience many dreams (at least, I don't remember them).  The few I get, don't make a lasting impression.  Though I get them in 3D with 1080p resolution, they are easily forgettable and are mere meaningless dreams - that's all.

But a few months ago, as I mentioned to my buddy Raama, I had an amazingly vivid dream that knocked my socks off.  The content was (apparently) bland, but the imagery was surreal.  It is impossible for me to describe this experience in words, but here is my feeble attempt (in italics).  The setting was our home in Vizag.  

My siesta was disturbed by a snoring sound.  While still lying in bed, I turned slowly to my left, and to my amazement, it was my dad (who passed on earlier this year)! I just couldn't believe my eyes.  I knew that it couldn't be real. But it was! I noticed his chest moving up and down as he was breating.  He was alive! I shook his shoulder gently and woke him up.  I was looking into his eyes and he was looking into mine.  I could clearly see his eye glasses, hairs on his chest sticking out of his banian, texture of his skin, ...all minute details.  Out of utter disbelief, I pinched myself hard on my forearm, to make sure that I wasn't dreaming; I immediately felt the twinge.  So, it had to be real.  In excitement, I held his hand, and walked him into our living room, where my mom and siblings were sitting and chatting with each other.  My mom was shocked to see him.  But my siblings were indifferent, as if it wasn't a surprise to them.  At that point, my dad looked at all of us with a sad expression on his face, and slowly walked into the bedroom (which faces south).

At that point, I woke up with a jolt.  The phantasmagoria was so real that I still remember every detail - the colors, the smells, the emotions,....

I am not jumping to conclusions on supernatural phenomena based on this XP.  It probably was just nostalia.  However, it made me add Freud's work to my "to read" list.  I wonder if dreams are analogous to disk defragmentation!  Perhaps when we are in hibernate mode, our brains archive all important image, smell, emotion, and sound files!  And may be our brain sees some of these files in a random fashion, analogous to our watching of time-warped scenes while fast forwarding DVDs!  

From the movie, The Matrix

[Neo sees a black cat walk by them, and then a similar black cat walk by them just like the first one] 
Neo: Whoa. Déjà vu. 
[Everyone freezes right in their tracks] 
Trinity: What did you just say? 
Neo: Nothing. Just had a little déjà vu. 
Trinity: What did you see? 
Cypher: What happened? 
Neo: A black cat went past us, and then another that looked just like it. 
Trinity: How much like it? Was it the same cat? 
Neo: It might have been. I'm not sure. 
Morpheus: Switch! Apoc! 
Neo: What is it? 
Trinity: A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.

US Auto Industry

Industry in dust?

Source: Riber Hansson

Clint EastWood's Take Life

Caricature Source: Interesting.....at least to us

From Reader's Digest, October 2008. 

Great stories teach you something. That's one reason I haven't slipped into some sort of retirement: I always feel like I'm learning something new.

There was a time in my life when I was doing westerns, on the plains of Spain. I could have stayed there and probably knocked out a dozen more. But the time came when I said, That's enough of that. As fun as they were to do, it was time to move on. If a story doesn't have anything that's fresh in it, at least for me, I move away from it.

Take your profession seriously; don't take yourself seriously. You really only matter to a certain degree in the whole circus out there. If you take yourself seriously, you're not going to be able to move forward. You're going to be hampered by always wanting to look in the mirror and see if you have enough tuna oil on your hair or something like that.

Marvels of Memory

Memory works in mysterious ways.  The other day, I smelled something that reminded me of a smell that I experienced about 25 years ago, while I was playing chess on a particular day, in the backyard of our house.  That immediately brought up the visual memory of a kettle of water being boiled close to me on coal fire at that time, the heat from it, our maid servant fanning the flames, ...everything. I am sure everyone can relate to similar experiences.

The key thing for memory is making connections, as scientists have discovered; the more the connections, the better the memory.  I read a book How to Develop Super Power Memory while I was working in Alirajpur and it listed some nice memory techniques.  Using methods in this book, I used to be able to perform exercises like memorizing 15 random things and their sequence, just for fun; with tons of free time, I had nothing better to do in that teeny tiny town in the middle of no where.  

Few examples - I will never forget that Bobby Fischer died at the age of 64, as he was a chess champ, and chess board has 64 squares (memory by association).  I used to have a tough time in remembering the direction for tightening (or untightening) a screw, until I heard "lefty, loosey - righty, tighty" (memory with rhyme).  Also, I know that Stalactite grows from the ceiling, as the word has letter "c" in it, and stalagmite grows from the ground up, as the word has letter "g" in it.  These memory aids remind me of a Seinfeld episode :-).  Lastly, I may be able to find a Bata store in Tamil Nadu, even when store signs are posted in Tamil language.  When I visited Chennai in '89, my friend Sarma gave me a mnemonic for Bata sign in Tamil - U Pi L Dot L Pi (UπL^.Lπ) and I just can't get it out of my head!  

Of course, there are folks out there with amazing memory powers that may not be achieved with easy techniques.  For example, Mr. Akira Haraguchi recited the first 83,431 decimal places of Pi, and Mr. Ben Pridmore was able to memorize a deck of shuffled cards in less than 27 seconds!

Creditors have better memories than debtors. - Benjamin Franklin

Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person? - Rochefoucauld

The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.  - Nietzsche

God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December. - J.M. Barre

A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness. - Elbert Hubbard

Happiness is good health and bad memory - Albert Schweitzer

Material World

Recently, I had a nice long chat with my childhood buddies Rambabu and Mohan. While chatting about life (and other 40+ stuff!), Rambabu theorized that, generally speaking, the more successful (career wise) the kids are, the less attention they pay to their parents in their prime years.  His theory reminded me of this Harry Chapin's song. I remember that my dad brought me this single on an audio cassette from Canada in early 80s, and I loved it from the moment I heard it.  

I agree with Rambabu.  In addition, like in this song, it can go both ways.  While my dad was far from the character in this song, I feel that I turnout to be the son:-(

Sikhs Parade for World Peace

I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I saw a photograph (in voice of Asia) of Sikhs parading for world peace in Houston recently! A peace march with swords?! What's next? 

Photo Source: Sikh Center, Houston

To an outsider, this probably would look like a group of Taliban folks pledging to execute a Fatwa!  It takes an Indian to understand the cultural significance of swords in Sikhism.

On a slightly different note, I wonder if I could justify attending these parades on skipping work, by calling in Sikh :-)

Moon Race 2.0? - A Lunatic Opinion!

Photograph Credit: Mr. Stefan Seip

On the launch of Chandrayaan-1, a recent article in the Time magazine titled 40 Years Later, It's Moon Race 2.0, noted that India has joined the space race. I was thinking, the choice of words like "race" in this context says a lot about opinion of the US on rest of the world. The word "race" means competition; if one wins, the rest loses. 

This launch is in no way a threat to the national security of the US. We all are working towards a common goal - understanding workings of the universe and betterment of life on this planet. If one wins, every one wins. This scientific achievement deserves appreciation, not apprehension. What ever happened to those cherished preachings of Covey on interdependence? 

I am sure many in the US are not big fans of this belligerent attitude towards the developing world.  But world bullies like Bush and McCain continue dominating them from time to time; hence these continual wars.

I was amazed by McCain's fight speech during presidential campaign - Fight with me. Fight for what's right for our country. Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.." He used the word "fight" a zillion times; it sure sounded Hitleresque to me. He could have used the word "strive" instead of "fight" and conveyed the same message. This kind of undertones sure are not going to help the US in winning world popularity contests.  I am hoping to see a real change with Obama. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving (in the US, 4th Thursday in November) is a harvest festival in the western world, offering thanks to God for material and spiritual possessions. Even though I believe that we always need to be thankful, I like setting a day aside annually for reflecting on all of our blessings. It is so easy for us to take things for granted. Here is a nice Thanksgiving day prayer from today's newspaper.  

Oh, Heavenly Father,

We thank thee for food and remember the hungry.

We thank thee for health and remember the sick.

We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.

May these remembrances stir us to service,

That thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen.

This Thanksgiving, we need to keep victims of atrocious Mumbai blasts in our prayers.

Folks in the US celebrate Thanksgiving by eating (a lot of) Turkey. During Thanksgiving last year, an estimated 46 millions Turkeys were consumed in the US (~ one fifth of the annual consumption)!

For the past two decades or so, US presidents have been "pardoning" a Turkey (or two) during Thanksgiving - means a pardoned Turkey won't be killed and consumed. I find the word "pardoning" odd, in this context.  The word "pardon" indicates some wrong doing.  What did these birds do wrong, other than being wrong species, in the wrong place, at the wrong time?! If anything, I think we* are the ones who should "beg pardon" from these Turkeys for killing them en masse.  

* I am saying "we" in general sense.  I am a staunch vegetarian, who is not opposed to others eating meat. 

The Origin of Species - God

Caricature Source: Austin American Statesman

Texas State Board of Education is considering teaching school kids the strengths and weaknesses of the theory of evolution.  Science educators argue that teaching of weaknesses implies the support of intelligent design, and hence weaknesses should not be included in the text books.

I say, if there is a potential for weakness, teach it, along with the weakness of intelligent design argument.  Failure of evolution theory should in no way be construed as validation of intelligent design hypothesis.  If someone is not a Democrat, we don't conclude that he (or she) is a Republican; do we? He could be an independent, or someone who doesn't give a hoot about politics.  Intelligent design should be proven based solely on its own merit.  We probably are missing key facts that support both arguments. 

May be we came into being due to intelligent design and evolution.  May be a higher power created conditions conducive for evolution, and soon fish became monkeys and monkeys became humans.  Who knows? But we shouldn't lie to the posterity on what we do know.  I mean, not saying anything when we know something, would be a lie.  We shouldn't suppress the truth due to the fear of its misinterpretation - my 2¢.  

Indian Call Centers

I was surprised to see this cartoon in the newspaper recently. I would have agreed with this before 2005, but not now. A few years ago, when Indian call centers were new, many folks in the US were annoyed with the accent, fictitious names, and obsequiousness of the staff. I understood the reason for their frustration as I had similar experience when I called HP tech support (call transferred to Chennai) for trouble shooting my desktop.

But I noticed a remarkable improvement in service late last year (when I called for resolving issues with my laptop). I was really impressed by interpersonal and technical skills of the young staff. In fact, on receiving service, I made sure that I reached their supervisors and put in a good word.

My only concern with these folks is, as call center staff work in a pretty stressful environment, they try to (as they are forced to?) close cases ASAP. Recently we bought a Dell desktop (as HP conked off) and I had to call the tech support (which was transferred to Delhi) for help, as the machine was acting up. On listening to my problem, their repeated response was, "let's format the hard drive". I was trying to avoid it, as reloading software takes forever. But they kept insisting that it was the only way to fix problems. However, I spent a few hours online and I was able to fix the problem w/o much hassle. But I feel that these call centers handle most of the (non-complex) calls professionally and efficiently.

Tools for ¢H€AP $KAT€$

Reader's Digest recently published some money saving tips for dealing with the (to put it mildly) sagging economy.  Though I haven't tried any of these, here are some  websites/pointers I thought are interesting.

Online Sellers ask for coupon codes before checkout - retailmenot, dealcatcher, and couponclipper have some of these coupon codes.

Groceries - mygrocerydeals

For product price comparisons - pricegrabber and shopzilla

Cheap flight tickets - kayak; try alternatives - e.g., fly into Milwaukee instead of Chicago.  Check farecast to determine if you should book right away, or wait.  Keep flying date options open - checkout airfarewatchdog to receive e-mails on deals to your destination every Thursday. 

For insurance quote comparisons - insweb

Sports shoes - holabirdsports

Shipping cost comparison - shipgooder

Electronics - newegg

Compare cell phone plans - letstalk

Free office software (basic) - openoffice

Restaurant coupons in your area - restaurant

Cheapest gas in your area - gasbuddy

Cars - Kelly's Blue Book and Edmunds - we recently bought one, and saved $600 (~ 3%) by bargaining; researching at these sites for about a couple of hours helped me in staying firm on the number I offered.

Tips

Best time to shop at departmental stores - late Thursday, as they mark down prices for the weekend.

Best time to get cheapest deals on flights (generally) is early Wednesday AM (past midnight hour).

Giving 103%

This is PG-13. If you are a kid, just skip this blog post - trust me, you are not missing anything.

For the rest, here is an interesting argument forward to me by my buddy Kiran.

What Makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life? 

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions. If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented as: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

It is obvious that: H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K = 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%,

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E = 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%, 

and A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E = 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%.

However, B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T = 2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103% and

A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G = 1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 127%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that while Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Bullshit and ass-kissing that will put you over the top !

To Mock a Killing Bird

I like native American dances with eagle costumes. Here is an interesting video of Hopi and Pueblo Indians performing eagle dance.

I also find Hopi's prophecies interesting (but not believable!).

The end of all Hopi ceremonialism will come when a "Kachina" removes his mask during a dance in the plaza before uninitiated children [the general public]. For a while there will be no more ceremonies, no more faith. Then Oraibi will be rejuvenated with its faith and ceremonies, marking the start of a new cycle of Hopi life.

World War III will be started by those peoples who first revealed the light (the divine wisdom or intelligence) in the other old countries (India, China, Islamic Nations, Africa.)

The United States will be destroyed, land and people, by atomic bombs and radioactivity. Only the Hopis and their homeland will be preserved as an oasis to which refugees will flee. Bomb shelters are a fallacy. "It is only materialistic people who seek to make shelters. Those who are at peace in their hearts already are in the great shelter of life. There is no shelter for evil. Those who take no part in the making of world division by ideology are ready to resume life in another world, be they Black, White, Red, or Yellow race. They are all one, brothers."

The war will be "a spiritual conflict with material matters. Material matters will be destroyed by spiritual beings who will remain to create one world and one nation under one power, that of the Creator."

The Seven Aphorisms of Summum

Enjoyed listening to excerpts from Supreme Court Justice's arguments on Summum monument dispute on the radio today. Summum wants to place its guiding principles in a Pleasant Grove, Utah, park where the Ten Commandments are also displayed. The Court seems to be having a heartache in allowing this. Summum's aphorisms (see below) sound pretty similar to writings in Hinduism. The founder of this religion/philosophy, Corky Ra, says that he encountered extra-terrestrials, and he finds merit in mummification - pretty interesting!

1. Summum is mind, thought; the universe is a mental creation.

2. As above, so below; as below, so above.

3. Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.

4. Everything is dual; everything has an opposing point; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes bond; all truths are but partial truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.

5. Everything flows out and in; everything has its season; all things rise and fall; the pendulum swing expresses itself in everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.

6. Every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause; everything happens according to Law; Chance is just a name for Law not recognized; there are many fields of causation, but nothing escapes the Law of Destiny.

7. Gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles; Gender manifests on all levels.

The Bailouts

God's Miracles, Ltd.

Photo Source: Old Sol

We keep hearing about God's miracles or as Hindu's call them, leelas.  According to some, this is how leela works.  Say, something bad is predicted (such as imminent death due to cancer) to happen to Mr. X's close relative.  He prays God for a way out and boom! Just like that, within a short period, his relative's health makes a u-turn and he survives the scare.  There is no explanation for it other than God's special attention.  Then he calls it God's leela.  Or, Ms. Y desires something (like a job), prays God for it, soon after she comes across a stranger in an airport who owns a company, he offers her a job, and she gets what she wanted in no time.  She calls it God's leela.

I too believe in miracles.  I also believe that special prayers comfort and benefit us.  But if we confine the definition of leela only to "apparently" positive outcomes, we, in essence, are pinning ourselves down to earthly desires.  If we say that unexpected good things are God's leelas, what are the (so called) bad things? Isn't omni-present God the cause for everything*? When we say God is every where, He is in all spiritual planes, all physical planes, all atoms, you name it, He is It! This being the case, where is the possibility for bad things when our good God is everywhere?

So, philosophically speaking, we see things as bad due to our ignorance**.  I feel that many of us treat God like an ATM machine - we keep making deposits (daily prayers) so that we can withdraw (expect miracles on demand) when we need.

I think a better way for spiritual progress is to recognize leelas in everyday things like a beautiful sun rise, chirping of birds, blinking of eyes, timely bowel movement,...all "apparently" trivial things that we just take for granted.  Keep counting your blessings till you run out of names of numbers.  The more we appreciate the trivia, the closer we get to Shakti.  Miracles are happening 24/7, but we choose to see them only when they meet our strict quality control standards!

Yes, seek God's help in need, but recognize God's glory in all things - the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Don't define boundary conditions for leelas - my preaching that I need to start practicing! 

I noticed that I just keep typing (on blog) what ever comes to my mind esp. on Fridays.  With two "no-work" days ahead, I feel like I own the world, I could do anything, and allow my fingers to dance on the key board.  But I mean what I typed though (except for grammatical errors).  It is well past bed time.  So, end of my rambling on random thoughts.  Peace!      

*A saying in Telugu goes "శివుని ఆజ్ఞ లేనిదే చీమైనా కుట్టదు". It means, not even an ant could bite without God's approval.

**This makes no sense to me, but I have absolute faith in my ignorance!

Obama Elected President as Racial Barrier Falls

I came across this headline this AM, and I was nodding my head sideways. First of all, I am very glad that Obama won, as expected. I think that he is an excellent candidate, and that America will finally be in good hands soon, after eight long tumultuous years. Also, I believe that this event will greatly energize and motivate African Americans, esp. the kids - good for them.

However, I do not think that this election result is an indication that the racism is on decline; it probably is declining, but I wouldn't use this result as an indicator.

I would agree with this argument when two equally good candidates (one black, one white) contest, and the black (wo)man manages to prevail. With economy in turmoil and foreign wars going nowhere, even a scarecrow would have beaten a Republican. Added to this, on Republican side, McCain's senile charisma was matched only by Palin's mastery of world politics - that didn't help them! I believe that a good percentage of vote was anti-Republican rather than pro-Democrat. I am not saying this to undermine Obama's capability. Irrespective of statistics, again, I think that he is an excellent candidate who deserved 100% of the vote.

What I am saying is, when I am thirsty and I have 60c in my pocket, I would buy the best soda available for that money. I wouldn't bother to find if the seller is white, black, or some shade in between. In our case, Obama was Coke Classic for 50c, while McCain was Sam's Cola for 75c; I can't afford to pay more for an inferior drink.

I think racial discrimination will prevail (at least) as long as large financial disparity continues between ethnic groups. I am not pinning down racism to whites. For examples (once) rich upper castes in India exploited the lower castes for centuries. Now, at least in large cities, with distribution of wealth among many castes, the caste divide is not as conspicuous as it used to be.

If we talk about race, if anything, this election probably is an indicator of reverse discrimination. Based on exit polls, more than 95% African Americans voted for Obama while about 55% of whites voted for McCain.

Finally, I think discrimination is a necessary survival instinct. Whether we like it or not, whether we admit it or not, we constantly discriminate. For example, in many cases, black = poor, and poor = crime. I bet, on using implication logic (a implies b and b implies c, means a implies c), even rich blacks would roll up their windows when they drive through predominantly black and impoverished neighborhoods. Do current social conditions imply that blacks are inferior? No way! As evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond so eloquently presented in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel, we are what we are for a variety of complex reasons. Talking about racism, I strongly believe that Indians in the US are more racist when compared local whites/blacks - again, new environment, survival.

Imagine a non-conforming deer in a jungle who attempts to mingle with a pride of lions with an open mind - he surely would end up joining them at dinner table! I firmly believe that racial discrimination is an abominable act/thought. Unfortunately, most of us are not as innocent as we presume ourselves to be in this department. In this world, wealth (and knowledge, to an extent) is the only equalizer, unfortunately.

The Glasses Can Always be Half-Full

This inspirational story of Naga Naresh Karutura (NN) was forwarded to me by my childhood buddy Raama. NN was born in a poor and illiterate family. He now works for Google, after completing his B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Madras. The great thing about him is, he has no legs, and he seems least bothered about this handicap. On the contrary, he feels that the loss of legs happened for a good reason. It is pretty amazing to note that there isn't an ounce of negativity in his description of his life story, an excerpt of which is copied and pasted below.

I believe in God. I believe in destiny. I feel he plans everything for you. If not for the accident, we would not have moved from the village to Tanuku, a town. There I joined a missionary school, and my father built a house next to the school. Till the tenth standard, I studied in that school.

If I had continued in Teeparu, I may not have studied after the 10th. I may have started working as a farmer or someone like that after my studies. I am sure God had other plans for me.

Judgment Day for the US in 2012

According to some, the world will end by December 21, 2012.  Others say that the western civilization will collapse around 2012.  One of the bases for this argument is, the Mayan calendar ends in year 2012 (or in early 2013, depending on who we talk to), after about 5,125 years from its beginning.  The proponents of Doomsday prophecy argue that Mayans had a reason to end their calendar in year 2012.

I agree that there will be judgment day towards the end of 2012 in the US - it is called the election day! The people will vote (judge political candidates) on the first Tuesday following the first Monday of November 2012 (the earliest possible date is Nov. 2nd and the latest possible date is Nov. 8th).    

My gut feeling is, 2012 will be just another year, with normal up, downs, and surprises.  The other differences I can think of are, it is going to be a leap year (of course) and the year of Summer Olympics (in London)!  That's all.  

My reasons for disbelief in doomsday predictions are simple.  First of all, many similar predictions in the past just didn't happen.  Secondly, Mayan civilization pretty much collapsed about a thousand years ago, and there is no sign that Mayans foresaw their impending doom.  How can we believe long-term predictions of the folks who apparently failed to see their imminent demise?  Do we take bicycle riding lessons from someone who keeps falling from the bicycle right in front of our eyes? 

The Sound of Inevitability

Cartoon Source: The New Yorker

Here is an anecdote* that I was reminded of recently.

Tom, is crazy about yachts.  One day he decides to build a model yacht.  While skimming through store catalogs, he comes across an attractive offer for under $100 - a complete yacht building kit including tools, material, instructions, and shipping & handling; a great bargain.  So, he places an order for the kit, and anxiously awaits its arrival.

A couple of days later, he receives the kit in a heavy package.  Tom eagerly opens the package only to find four basic items in it - a hammer, a chisel, a piece of wood, and a page with pictures of a yacht, along with the following four simple instructions.  

1.  Stick this paper on a wall for reference.

2.  Place the wood on a flat surface.

3.  Keep chiseling away parts of wood that don't look like yacht, until you are done!

4.  Voilà! you are the proud maker of a model yacht!

We went to Austin Hindu Temple along with our good friends to watch Deepavali celebration/mela on Oct. 25th.  In spite of organizer's best efforts, things didn't go smoothly.  The main event (Ravan dahan) was delayed by an hour, microphones wouldn't work for the MC, no adequate lighting when they were drawing raffle, disorderly crowds flocking the food/vendor stalls, trash on the ground, impatient audience heckling at the announcers...you name it**.

I thought, one good way to organize these events the next time around is, find a way to do just the opposite of what the organizers did this time - a grand success is guaranteed! I wonder why Desi functions normally dysfunction.  Personally, I am almost never late on work related stuff (tuk, tuk - just knocked on wood!).  But, when it comes to weekend things like this, I too slack off most of the time.  Perhaps, we Desis have (are blessed with?) take-it-easy genes that we manage to suppress during weekdays.  The devil is in the details - planning nitty gritty nuts and bolts is not our forte, generally speaking.  But who cares?  Life goes on!  Hakuna Matata!

* Don't remember exactly the way it was written.  So, I put it in my own words.

**though true, it wasn't as bad as it sounded here.  Folks have done many things really well.  But, just couldn't help thinking of that anecdote amidst the chaos that day.    

Five Second Rule - Illustrated

Loved this Non Sequitur. Click on the image to view it in a readable size.

దీపావళి శుభాకాంక్షలు !!

దీపావళి శుభాకాంక్షలు !!

Awesome Table Tennis

Loved the top 2.

The Bailout Plan

Cartoon Source: Because I Said So

I am no economist, but I failed to see the logic in this $700 bailout plan. Large financial institutions got greedy, made intolerably risky loans, and lost their money. Now, why should tax payers bear the brunt of their mistakes, while the CEOs walked away with obscene amounts of cash?

I would say, distribute that $700 billion to bottom 80% of the US households. That would give each family about $7,900. Those who are about to lose their (average) homes, will have about 5 months worth of mortgage payment in their pockets. While making house payments during these five months, a good number of people might figure out a way to keep their homes. Those who are not in dire straights, would spend that money, thus distributing the wealth.

It sounds silly to give $700 billion to same people who proved that they don't know how to (ethically) run a business.   The government thinks that the people are irresponsible with cash - it is true to a large extent. But, one would rather spend the money unwisely on himself/herself (or charity), than fund billionaires' greed (and possibly end up not getting anything out of it, anyway). 

Quantifying Diverse Universe

I watched The Universe on History channel recently. Pretty interesting program. But what beat me is the statement "73% of the universe is Dark Energy". Statements like this throw me off balance. First of all, to talk about how big the pieces of a pie are, shouldn't we know how big the whole pie is? Also, what is the guarantee that what we see is representative of the universe? When a decent level of uncertainty is involved, I would say something like "about two thirds of the "observed" universe is estimated to be dark energy" or something generic like that. I would refrain from exuding confidence with statements like "72.98% of the universe is Dark Energy".

Reminds me of the quote "38% of the of the statistics are made up on the spot"!

I am sure astronomers had a good reason for saying what they said - I just didn't get it.

Digital Communication Barriers

Devendra Harne of India has entered into the Guinness Book of World Records because he has 12 fingers and 13 toes. Looks like he is being able to lead a normal life and took it with light heart - good for him.

If he were in the US, I can see a couple of disadvantages for Devendra.  First, he has even number of fingers on each hand - if someone really ticks him off, it would be hard for him to effectively communicate his genuine feelings :-)

Second,  it would be hard for him to remember if the month of August has 30 days or 31 days!

On a serious note, it is inspiring to read about some seriously handicapped people who managed to completely ignore their disabilities and reach amazing heights, while we were complaining about all the things that we didn't have.