Jeyandra Nagar becomes Heritage!

This blog has largely been impersonal, but sometimes it might not be too bad to make a little exception.

My parents live in a tiny hamlet that is surrounded by a forest, a lake and green fields, not too far from the city of Chennai. Life in the hamlet is as exciting as that of Goscinny and Uderzo's! There may not be wild boars and Roman camps surrounding this place, but a creative person with a sense of humor will find a lot of content here to fill up a whole new series. It certainly has its heros, villains and tall tales all ensconced in largely natural settings!

When it was founded, it ambitiously anointed itself as Heritage Jeyandra Nagar. But it only recently lived up to its high prescient epithet. The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) recently discovered that these parts of the world were megalithic sites and classified them "heritage sites." While some roads here seem like they are indeed a direct inheritance from the stone ages, it looks like ASI dug a little bit deeper, in more ways than one, to back its claim. Here, here and here are some reports on ASI's findings. Touche, says the ASI to Jeyandra Nagar's visionary founders.

This is big news. Not everyday will someone tell you that you are living at one of the cradles of human civilization. This is exactly the kind of news one needs to overcome the a wee bit of a drawl that can sometimes creep onto day-to-day life. The new-found excitement is palpable. But one's appetite for "breaking news" is insatiable, especially if one is on top of it -- quite literally in this case. Stories are fast being conjured up and the rumor mills are working overtime. Some claim Platinum deposits, and some uranium. A local newspaper claims to have evidence. Some talk about a political conspiracy. Property rates are fluctuating as wildly as the temperament of a highly emotional adolescent. People fear confiscation, others dream about big bounties. Now you know why Goscinny and Uderzo would have loved this place!

Blackberry Boys

Here's a new Blackberry AD. Nice!

I'm addicted to the berry these days

Isn't to err human?

Is Amir a victim or is he a criminal? There is no right answer to that question, but here's an excellent perspective by Rahul Bhattacharya!

"Dishonesty in life is dishonesty in life. Dishonesty in sport is dishonesty in all we'd like to believe about life. Take that away and there's not much in it."

When the going gets tough

....the tough gets going. This is a reference to the one and only VVS! No description needed. Here, here, here, here, here and here are some good articles! Enjoy!

And here's another a very good one as well

"As far as cricket is concerned Laxman is a warrior by instinct and a man of peace by manner. The conflict has made his career fascinating and frustrating. His genius is peculiar and requires the most particular conditions. His greatness lies in the fact that those conditions are the toughest not the easiest. He is an artist whose strength lies not in his artistry but in his competitive spirit. "

The Bucket List

Here's an interesting compendium of things one must do before they kick the bucket!

All hail the Emperor!

I am a converted Rajini fan, but, now, I am an ardent Rajini fan. For a long time, mass appeal of Rajini movies did not appeal to me. I found them too silly or, maybe, I took myself too seriously. Both are true to some extent. I always thought that Rajini movies were good comic relief, which one could watch if they didn’t have anything else to do in life. Now, nothing has changed in his movies. He still delivers the same style with similar dialogues. But only now, have I understood why he is well and truly the real superstar.

The change in my perception is not because I saw new facets in acting. It is not because of the grand scale of his movies. It is not even because of his off-screen humility. It is because Rajini has found something that most people, in the excitement of their own day-to-day life, forget to look for. Unlike many others, over time, Rajini has developed a deep understanding of himself and has the mental strength to not get carried away by the din that the millions of fans and fan clubs create. He , perhaps, remembers that he is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad and, perhaps, remembers it all too clearly! Simply put, his brilliance lies in his extraordinary self-awareness. Rajini also possesses an excellent practical awareness of the environment he operates under. But his true greatness lies in the fact he has completely internalized this knowledge and lives his life under the aegis of this knowledge.

He may not be the most talented actor, but he has specialized in one aspect of acting that is unique to him – style. He has time and time again delivered on that style. People laugh, sometimes at him. People mock him, mimic him and imitate him. But he steadfastly has carried that mantra for several years without distractions and without the need for experimentation. All his movies and all his characters merely improvise on it. In some ways, his movies can be stitched together to create one mega movie with multiple forms of the indomitable Rajini style! Many others imitated but failed. Maybe they weren’t good enough, maybe they weren't committed enough.

But Rajini also knows style alone won’t get eyeballs. And, therefore, it is not coincidence that his movies have excellent music, best directors, top co-actors and, most importantly, some of the biggest promotional campaigns. In some cases, Rajini, himself, even provides tacit, or even explicit, downside insurance against the failure of his movies.

It is this collective effort of some very talented people that revolves around the style maestro allows him to completely synchronize the delivery of his movie content to exactly what the audience expects. He delivers -- every single time!

Essentially, Rajini identified a brand and built on that single brand repeatedly with the support of an extremely competent team. These make him a brilliant strategist. Add to this his humble and genial off-screen personality, we have the only real superstar in Indian cinema. Rajini is indeed the Southwest Airlines of the movie stars in India.

And here is a funny/nice account of Rajini from Slate.com

Better way to eat bananas! Why not?!

Here's a very nice lecture by Barry Nalebuff, the author of the book "Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small."

Among other things, he teaches you how to eat a banana! :)

And here's a whole bunch of brilliant lectures in the Academic Earth website

Whistle Podu!

The Chennai SuperKings wins the Champions Trophy! Yay!

Here's the Cricinfo report and here's the report from the Chennai based newspaper, The Hindu. It tells you the significant higher quality of Cricinfo reporting!

And, here's how The Sydney Morning Herald chooses to report it. Well.!

Cricinfo -- India all time XI

Here's the Cricinfo India all-time XI. I have been following this series for a while and, as always, Cricinfo has done a great job

A Case of Mental Courage

Here's an interesting article in the NYT of mental strength and its current lack of importance.

"Heroism exists not only on the battlefield or in public but also inside the head, in the ability to face unpleasant thoughts."

"To use a fancy word, there’s a metacognition deficit. Very few in public life habitually step back and think about the weakness in their own thinking and what they should do to compensate. A few people I interview do this regularly (in fact, Larry Summers is one). But it is rare. The rigors of combat discourage it. "

In fact, given the emphasis on multi-tasking and the premium we place on mastering it, I don't believe we sufficient time even thinking, let alone honing our mental fortitude. We don't like sacrifice. We don't like pain. Achieving what we want and getting things done our way are associated as measure of self-assurance! Any contrary behavior is a measure of personal weakness.

How to measure your life?

Here's an interesting essay by Clayton Christensen on "how to measure your life." It is based on his commencement address.

And here's an interesting article by David Brooks that provides another perspective on the same topic

Does your mirror tell you the truth?

Here's a new post by Harsha Bhogle on the axing of Yuvraj from India's ODI squad. The topic as such is quite uninteresting, but as always, Harsha's article touches on broader behavioral themes beyond cricket (and hence is interesting!)

"Contrary to some thought, humility and confidence are not oil and water, they are not immiscible. Being humble doesn't mean being weak, it is merely accepting that some things need to be corrected and going out and doing that. "

New York City - Pictory

Here's a very nice photo magazine on New York City -- one of my favorite cities in the world!

Why humanities matter?

Here's a good defense on why Humanities matter.

"Over the past century or so, people have built various systems to help them understand human behavior: economics, political science, game theory and evolutionary psychology. These systems are useful in many circumstances. But none completely explain behavior because deep down people have passions and drives that don’t lend themselves to systemic modeling. They have yearnings and fears that reside in an inner beast you could call The Big Shaggy."

I think every parent in India should read this and form an opinion on this topic pushing their wards into the throes of technical education!

Need for mentors

Here's a nice article by Harsha Bhogle on the need for mentors. While he largely talks about cricket, it is applicable beyond cricket as well in this fast paced world!

"It is not always necessary that growth as a player and as a person must go simultaneously; sometimes you can be a giant in one area and a dwarf in another, but it helps if the two go together. It is especially useful because with Indian cricket, and cricketers, there is a history, even a legacy, of arrogance. The message, sometimes subliminal, sometimes direct, is that the world needs them more than they need the world. As some of us know, that is but a momentary high, but it can be a devastating high."

Theories of Change

Here's an interesting article on the Theories of Change in the NY Times.

The members of the British Enlightenment "put more emphasis on our sentiments. People are born with natural desires to be admired and to be worthy of admiration. They are born with moral emotions, a sense of fair play and benevolence. They are also born with darker passions, like self-love and tribalism, which mar rationalist enterprises. We are emotional creatures first and foremost,"

"The children of the British Enlightenment are in retreat. Yet there is the stubborn fact of human nature. The Scots were right, and the French were wrong. And out of that truth grows a style of change, a style that emphasizes modesty, gradualism and balance. "

Do you know anyone like this?

David Brooks profiles Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court but here's something to think about!

"These were bright students who had been formed by the meritocratic system placed in front of them. They had great grades, perfect teacher recommendations, broad extracurricular interests, admirable self-confidence and winning personalities. If they had any flaw, it was that they often had a professional and strategic attitude toward life. They were not intellectual risk-takers."

In fact, I contend that in most cases, people even lack the so called "strategic attitude" that Brooks mentions. Dean Glen Hubbard of Columbia Business School refers to this as "strategic thinking ability." The challenge, though, is in identifying if one has this ability or not!

Political Quartets

Here's a good article by Ramachandra Guha on how the political scenario in India changed over time and on how the country survives despite the not so favorable changes.

"Where the original idea of India rested on the work of Tagore, Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar, the degradation of the idea of India has been inspired by the work and example of, among others, M.S. Golwalkar, V.D. Savarkar, Indira Gandhi and Laloo Prasad Yadav."

India Together

Finally found a good magazine that has well-thought out opinions by people who write very well and one that is not cluttered by annoying ADs or pop-ups. Here's India Together

And here is an interesting article on the marginalization of PV Narasimha Rao's legacy in the Congress party by Ramachandra Guha

Some geo"logical" coverage

This came in ToI today and apparently here's the reason why earthquakes happen. Okay, we all know that the person who made the comment isn't entirely clued in when it comes to matters of science, but my pique is with the newspaper.

Why is it that only, and only, these kind of articles that seem to appear in newspapers these days? So sad and pathetic! Whoever came up bright idea that the newspaper industry needs to go the tabloid way, has go it completely wrong.

If this is print media, then television doesn't seem to do any better. In fact, it is even more nauseating -- with every anchor is yelling at the top of his/her voice claiming a new expose in IPL. That is all they can talk about 24 hours a day. The sad part is, not very long ago, they (print and TV) used to deliver good content until, perhaps, all of them got mass injected with Soma or something like that!

Healthcare bill

Here's a very good PBS documentary on how the Obama administration passed the historic healthcare bill. However, like all Frontline documentaries it slightly dramatized though!

What kind of a leader are you?

Here's an interesting article on leadership!
"... found that many of the reliably successful leaders combine “extreme personal humility with intense professional will.” This kind of leader "knows the world is too complex and irregular to be known, so life is about navigating uncertainty. She understands she is too quick to grasp at pseudo-objective models and confident projections that give the illusion of control.She spends more time seeing than analyzing. Analytic skills differ modestly from person to person, but perceptual skills vary enormously. Anybody can analyze, but the valuable people can pick out the impermanent but crucial elements of a moment or effectively grasp a context."

Can you count happiness?

Here's an article by David Brooks on how we place emphasis on incorrect measures of happiness!
"In short, modern societies have developed vast institutions oriented around the things that are easy to count, not around the things that matter most. They have an affinity for material concerns and a primordial fear of moral and social ones."

Small Chinks of Light

Here's a nice article that appeared in Outlook India on the burgeoning Solar space in the country

Lack of Balance

Here's an article from David Brooks, who reviews the Obama presidency and subtly bemoans the lack of balance that people have when reviewing it.

I think striking a balance is one of the most difficult things to do for it makes one appear indecisive and wary of risk taking. In my opinion, people tend to extol greater virtues than necessary for people who take quick decisions and form fast opinions for their positions are more likely to be based on overtly simplistic and, perhaps even, self-serving interpretation of information. Below is an excerpt from the article.

"In a sensible country, people would see Obama as a president trying to define a modern brand of moderate progressivism. In a sensible country, Obama would be able to clearly define this project without fear of offending the people he needs to get legislation passed. But we don’t live in that country. We live in a country in which many people live in information cocoons in which they only talk to members of their own party and read blogs of their own sect. They come away with perceptions fundamentally at odds with reality"

India after Gandhi

Here's a brilliant review of a brilliant book. I'm reading it currently. While it'll certainly take effort and committment to complete, it is replete with phenomenonal information starting from the time of our independence.

"To comprehend India's achievement, imagine if Mexico became the 51st state of the United States, followed by Brazil, Argentina and the rest of Central and South America. Add Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to give this union the Sunni-Shia mix of India. The population then represented in Congress would still be smaller and less diverse linguistically, religiously, culturally and economically than India's."

Why I Am an Entrepreneur: Mahesh Murthy

Here's a funny article that appeared on the Wall Street Journal on why/how Mahesh Murthy became an entrepreneur. This one line description of TamBrahms is hilarious, but true
"I was reasonably-well programmed to be on the path of TamBrahm Boy + Good In Maths + Coconut Oil In Hair = Studies To Be Engineer + M.S. Abroad = Good Job In Intel + Dutiful TamBrahm Wife = Good Suburban U.S. House + 2.3 Kids + 2.1 Toyotas = The Boy Has Done Well."