My observations and lessons learned from daily life

The shift that we're seeing towards a new world order...

2009-05-13T22:22:00.001-07:00

An observation:

Business, industrialized economics and capitalism, the way they evolved over time and where they stand today are, I believe, largely products of the white world. One might argue that white folk are the most naturally entrepreneurial (arising out of their naturally strong individualism and independent thought) of all races, hence a notion of profit or reward proportional to productivity naturally came about in this society, and they somehow became better organizers and managers of resources amongst all races.

This contrasts with most other races that came from tribes and generally worked in a hunter-gatherer community mode that in part gives rise to socialism or communism, still held on to in some parts of the world today where it is so deeply rooted in the culture. The people in these societies never really had any notion of profit.

Thus capitalism, or should we say corporate-ism came to be established as the order mostly in the white world, while the rest of the world just tried to, or was forced
to, follow suit.

The new shift we see, as other races come into their own as a direct outcome of education, is a grayer shade of a mix of individualism and socialism to shape future generations. The new world order is not "socialism" in it's new guise. Rather, what we will see is corporate-ism and socialism lock horns, and the result of the duel be a new socio-economic order which is in a state of equilibrium between the two schools of thought, borrowing the best of both worlds.

Certainly, in the new world order, economic gain would be tied to the potential of the individual, but while working to keep together the fabric of society and to keep running it's machinery, not compromising the long-term well being of one section of the human race for foolish short term gains of the controlling few.

Don't be afraid

2009-01-14T07:44:00.000-08:00

Don't be afraid to learn a lot or understand more than you think you should, for fear of becoming alone, for even as you attain mastery or supreme knowledge, you will always be presented with a new paradox, new questions to ponder, new problems to solve, and will encounter individuals who have been there before.

Don't be afraid to excel. Don't be afraid to have really good ideas that you "know" in your gut will work. Just find a champion. If you can't find a champion, use the world.

You've got a friend

2008-12-29T20:26:00.001-08:00

When you're down and troubled
And you need a helping hand
And nothing, nothing is going right.
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest hours.

You just call out my name,
And you know where ever I am
I'll come running, dear friend
To see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall,
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there...
You've got a friend.

If the sky above you
Should turn dark and full of clouds
And that old north wind should begin to blow
Keep your head together and call my name out loud
And soon I will be knocking upon your door.
You just call out my name and you know where ever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you got to do is call
And I'll be there...

Hey, ain't it good to know that youve got a friend?
People can be so cold.
They'll hurt you and desert you.
Well they'll take your soul if you let them.
Oh yeah, but dont you let them.

You just call out my name and you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Dear friend, dont you know that,
Winter spring summer or fall,
All you've got to do is call.
Friend, I'll be there, yes I will.
Youve got a friend.
Youve got a friend.
Ain't it good to know youve got a friend.
Ain't it good to know youve got a friend.
You've got a friend.

James Taylor -- You've got a friend lyrics adapted for friend

Happy Christmas -- War is Over

2008-12-24T21:29:00.001-08:00

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over
If you want it
War is over
Now...

-- John Lennon. Happy Christmas (War is Over) lyrics.

1971, Vietnam War.

If

2008-12-23T08:14:00.000-08:00

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

The Most Important Lesson

2008-12-23T08:02:00.000-08:00

A mentor once told me, and I think this is the most important lesson:

"Doing the right thing is more important than doing things right."

The New Indian

2008-12-23T07:44:00.000-08:00

The New Indian is angry -- angry about the chaos and the neglect and the colossal waste of pure Energy and Being -- not just in her own land, but in the World, but is quietly confident about her abilities and her invaluable contributions to the World, and is currently passive in the knowledge that she must prepare herself and prepare herself well, for the *time*, for this time will eventually come...and once again, it is this blessed land with it's mountains, rivers, oceans, saints, silent magicians and everyday people, not the politicians, that will slowly but surely transform the fabric of society, and lead the World out of its spiritual and material poverty, out of its Darkness, into Light, and the pure and ultimate Good that is true of Man.

*More about this goes in this space*

Privatisation of National Security

2008-12-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

Asking for a profit/incentive-driven organization that makes National Security its business

Protecting our coastline

2008-12-22T21:49:00.000-08:00

What should be done to protect the West and East Coasts of India?

Intelligence has it that 800 Gujarati trawlers were issued illegally to
some Bangladeshis over the last few months and it is suspected that
the entire West Coast of India has been recced by these terror agencies,
so that these miscreants can come in from anywhere at any time...

Having grown up in Goa, the last thing I ever want to experience in my
lifetime, is some family enjoying at the beach being blown up to bits.

When will they learn?

2008-12-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

It has been heartening to see on some Indian TV channels that the Muslims in Mumbai have condemned these acts of terror and have issued statements saying that these terrorists who have killed randomly cannot and do not belong to the Faith and will not be granted even burial as per Islamic rites. I don't know if this is a common gesture from them, but it's the first time I had seen something like this. They have had a lot of their own killed as well and said that a few bad elements from outside tar the image of the scores of peaceful Muslims that live in our country.

I hope that more such initiatives from them will help to clarify their position to blind-haters in the public and shed more light on the fact that these types of attacks are more politically motivated than anything else, and common man, whether he is Muslim, Hindu, Catholic or Jew has little influence and bearing upon it.

What is still extremely disturbing though, is how some people still cling to their old divisive beliefs. A certain Mrs Thackeray sending SMS that the police and personnel killed during the attacks were mostly all Marathi. Or certain members of the opposition using it to gain political mileage to gain votes in the next election, instead of supporting the current PM in devising and implementing stronger security measures.

We can only elect politicians as good as the people we can ourselves become!

Mumbai - Stop Think Proceed

2008-12-22T21:44:00.000-08:00

The recent terror attacks on Mumbai, whether or not we had a loved one involved in the massacre, has impacted the lives of Indians across the globe. At a time like this it is natural for every Indian to feel enraged, outraged, helpless and look for someone to blame. It is also natural to feel more united and patriotic. Justifiably, emotions are running high.

Amid all the mixed feelings that Indians are experiencing right now, I write on this forum in the hope that we will remind ourselves, not to succumb to the temptation of expressing our shock, horror and resentment in almost random ways, that can adversely impact what needs to be the plan of action in this hour of national crisis.

I call it a national crisis because this is not a one-off incident but one in a string of several incidents, which has culminated to a point where it seems like we are having a terror attack almost every month now in some part of the country or another, but this time it went one step ahead and too far in terms of the specific agenda and targeted victims. It must be obvious by now that it is not just Mumbai, but the entire nation, and even humanity itself which is under attack, and this goes for people of all regions and religions.

We need to calm our nerves and follow some logical steps before we come up with judgment, reactions, hatred, and even solutions. At the very outset we should refrain from being divisive in our very thoughts as we analyze and take stock of the situation. We must (since our lives depend on it!!) unite at this time. Stop blaming and hating politicians, Muslims in general (many of whom got killed in the shootings), Pakistan (it is a disservice to ourselves to simply jump to conclusions that the Pakistani government has any influence whatsoever on organizations like LeT, etc.), media, the police and other officials and even ourselves!!

We have to make security a national priority, and we simply have to find the cracks and fix them! This involves a joint effort by citizens, NRIs, politicians, media, intelligence, police and law and order officials, and even our neighbours and international governments.

Assuming that we are mostly citizens on this forum, we can, at the least, remove our own regional and religious biases, keep our eyes and ears open, organize and put forward recommendations to the government (better still take part in govt), and instead of condemning the entire breed of politicians and police, do our bit to appreciate those officials who did their best given the circumstances and the constraints and lost their lives to save others.

At any rate, Shoot,Ready,Aim was never a good strategy and should not be ours!

Atoms, Thoughts and Existence

2008-09-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

If atoms are flashes and thoughts are flashes, then thoughts and atoms are really the same stuff, so we are as much our atoms as our thoughts - so we essentially become our thoughts and "I think, therefore I am" is manifested

My interpretation of What the B*%$p do we know

Little things and Big things

2008-09-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

It's never the big things, always the little things -- that alter our perspective on reality.

To provide a little context not particularly related to this post: Lucille left today. She was the building custodian (janitor) at my workplace, and for what it's worth was the one who always greeted me and asked me how I was doing today. She always noticed when I was a little down, and pointed it out to me. Lately, I'd been noticing that she was a little subdued, and today I found out she's leaving. Friday will be her last. Good luck to you Lucille - we'll miss you!

Women and Karma

2008-06-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

This is possibly my single biggest overreaction and my largest attempt at blowing things out of proportion....but will remain true to my feelings at the time of this writing

God in his infinite wisdom or arguably his single most flawed judgement gave two kinds of souls birth into womanhood: The first kind, is the one that he wanted to punish for their burden of past sins and insensitivities - he made these souls either into extraordinarily sensitive women who reached out and acted in the interest of their fellow men, but who were doomed to obscurity and forever went unappreciated for their efforts, or, he made them into the totally insensitive attention-seeking and self-absorbed kind, who are doomed to eternal bondage and have no hope of salvation in a hundred births. In either case, there is no escape for these souls...

The second kind of soul that God gave birth into womanhood, is the kind that is meant to do great things and change an entire generation for good. Often times this woman is a school teacher, an accountant, a nurse, a single mom, a spiritual leader or a mother to one, an activist, a social worker, a world leader, or just even a plain mother in a farm somewhere. Often she isn't the protagonist in the story but the actor behind the scenes, the silent miracle worker, who is the reason the script even exists. Perhaps, she is God in the body of a woman - an image of perfection. Perhaps, God "is" a woman. She, is this Earth. She is our Life. She is the One. This is the kind of woman who, the first kind of woman that has no hope for salvation, should aspire to be.

2008-03-12T09:02:00.001-07:00

Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
-Charles Mackay

Mob mentality

2008-03-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
-Charles Mackay

Mob mentality

2008-03-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.

Genius

2008-01-11T11:25:00.000-08:00

But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
--Carl Sagan

Worry

2008-01-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work. - Robert Frost

Success

2008-01-08T08:07:00.000-08:00

If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut. - Albert Einstein

Fish in Water

2007-10-28T15:18:00.001-07:00

What does a fish know about the water in which it swims all its life?

- Albert Einstein

The Universe

2007-10-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

The Universe
Constantly reveals herself
In all her glory
Pouring her heart
Telling her whole story
Her every little secret
In mirthfully silent giggles
In every moment of every day
In every particle of existence;
And quite unmindfully yet, we ignore
This great miracle unfolding
Right in front of our eyes
Coming up with theories
Providing explanations
Questioning still
Missing completely
This grand telltale picture.

Gin Joints

2007-10-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

Of All the Gin Joints, in All the Towns, in All the World, She Had to walk into Mine.

--Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca

Mathematics and Objective Reality

2007-10-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought which is independent of experience, is so admirably appropriate to the objects of reality? Is human reason, then, without experience, merely by taking thought, able to fathom the properties of real things. --Albert Einstein

Thirty two flavors

2007-10-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

squint your eyes and look closer
i'm not between you and your ambition
i am a poster girl with no poster
i am thirty-two flavors and then some
and i'm beyond your peripheral vision
so you might want to turn your head
cause someday you're going to get hungry
and eat most of the words you just said

both my parents taught me about good will
and i have done well by their names
just the kindness i've lavished on strangers
is more than i can explain
still there's many who've turned out their porch lights
just so i would think they were not home
and hid in the dark of their windows
till i'd passed and left them alone

and god help you if you are an ugly girl
course too pretty is also your doom
cause everyone harbors a secret hatred
for the prettiest girl in the room
and god help you if you are a phoenix
and you dare to rise up from the ash
a thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy
while you are just flying past

i'm not trying to give my life meaning
by demeaning you
and i would like to state for the record
i did everything that i could do
i'm not saying that i'm a saint
i just don't want to live that way
no, i will never be a saint
but i will always say

squint your eyes and look closer
i'm not between you and your ambition
i am a poster girl with no poster
i am thirty-two flavors and then some
and i'm beyond your peripheral vision
so you might want to turn your head
cause someday you might find you're starving
and eating all of the words you said

--Ani di Franco,Thirty two flavors

The most beautiful experience

2007-10-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man... I am satisfied with the mystery of life's eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existence -- as well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."

-- An excerpt from the essay "The World As I See It", by Albert Einstein

How strange is the lot of us mortals!

2007-10-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving... "

-- An excerpt from the essay "The World As I See It", by Albert Einstein

Lessons from Dijkstra...

2007-10-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

A recent article on a blog about the "Great Indian Software Engineer" who is really the "Bechara Software Engineer" got me into some serious soul searching. That, combined with the influences of some of the recent lectures of the professor of my Advanced Distributed Computing class, made me think, why not put my "higher" education of an MS degree, to some use, and look at this problem, like a good scientist would, from a research perspective. So although I agree to most of the things said about the people encompassed under the umbrella of "software engineers" in the article, myself included, I would like to conduct myself in the spirit of a true Computer Scientist, and would like to tie this discussion to a more interesting and perhaps more productive analysis by turning attention to the question of: "What real value can software engineers bring towards ensuring mature thought processes in problem solving?" (Think "algorithms"!!!....)

Basically, what role can Software Engineers(ugh!! I hate that term) so I'll stick to "Computer Scientist"(as that's what I would like to think of myself as) play, in inventing novel approaches that can solve fundamental problems in any scenario, indeed even one such as making an underdeveloped nation wrought with problems become an efficient developed nation? This process actually involves, as its most preliminary steps, a lot of reading between lines, quality research and a special genre of laziness. Yes, a laziness, that can effectively cause sharp research minds to come up with elegant solutions and novel ideas such as the shortest path algorithm. For this, even if we have to change our education system, that is currently engaged in the task of producing "clones", then so be it. We shall have to be lazy enough to reject those paradigms, and create an education system that teaches people to be truly lazy, i.e. "inventing".

See:
The Shortest path problem
Dijkstra's algorithm
Edsger W. Dijkstra
Resources from Dijkstra's "EWD" archive

The following is Dijkstra's views on Computer Science education but it is no less than a lesson in "radical novelty" which is a must-read: (hand-written)/(transcribed)

Will sign off with this quote from the above paper, as food for thought -
"The usual way in which we plan today for tomorrow is in yesterday's vocabulary". - Prof. E.W. Dijkstra

We need just a few hundred people in the nation from our vast pool of software engineers that think like Dijkstra. Are the computer scientists listening?

Best,
Useless Banter

Computer Science

2007-10-09T07:17:00.002-07:00

Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. - Prof. E. W. Dijkstra

Thou hast made me endless

2007-10-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.

This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.

At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.

Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.

- Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali

I slept and dreamt

2007-10-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy. - Rabindranath Tagore

Religion

2007-09-19T15:01:00.001-07:00

There remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.

-Albert Einstein

The unreasonable man

2007-09-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

-George Bernard Shaw

Beauty and Truth

2007-09-18T08:46:00.001-07:00

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.

- Albert Einstein