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