How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...Kidding Of course...For people not in the know, Sarah Palin is the Republican nominee for Vice President. She's pretty looking...but that's about all the good things that I can say for her. If you haven't seen the Katie Couric interviews yet, please do. Oh my God, what was McCain thinking?
Someone (I forgot where) wrote this line, " When people say that she looked like a high school student trying to b.s. her way out, it's an insult to high school students and an insult to b.s" Spot on...Her answers were all around the moon with a question about the economy eliciting an answer about job creation, healthcare... But who's hearing her answers? All America cares about is a pretty face and she sure has a nice wink :) She was better rehearsed in her national debate but it ain't working. McCain is still way down in the polls. But she can count on my vote for sure..
Link: Sarah's videos http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/24/eveningnews/main4476173.shtml
Monday, October 6, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
McCain and Wind turbines
I read two columns religiously, a weekly column about Football by Peter King "Monday Morning Quarterback" in Sports Illustrated and the other by Thomas Friedman (as and when he writes them) in New York Times. Both of them are experts in their field and write excellently. Peter King brings his own personality into it and brings about an unique flavor (is that right?) in his writing. Sort of a Rahul Dravid kind with a Ganguly outlook to life. Very disciplined and analytical in his approach but brings in a fair degree of emotion as well. I look forward to Monday mornings (if there is such a thing as looking forward to Monday mornings) because of him....
Thomas Friedman on the other hand is more introspective and logical in his analysis about politics and economics. Very precise in his words with a deft touch of a surgeon. I have read two of Friedman's books, but they are very unlike his columns. Both the books, "The World is Flat" and "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" are very good, no question about it. But both are very long winded and keep stabbing at the same theme of globalization, but from different angles. Got frustrated pretty quickly. Friedman Old Chap, you can do better :)
But in a world of craziness, you guys bring a ray of common sense into my life. In a world where McCain fails to turn up for a vote about alternative energy subsidies and still run ads of wind turbines. In a world where Bush back slaps beach ball players and talks about how nations cannot invade other sovereign nations in 21st century (USA never did such a thing :P). And for that, guys.....I thank you.
Thomas Friedman on the other hand is more introspective and logical in his analysis about politics and economics. Very precise in his words with a deft touch of a surgeon. I have read two of Friedman's books, but they are very unlike his columns. Both the books, "The World is Flat" and "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" are very good, no question about it. But both are very long winded and keep stabbing at the same theme of globalization, but from different angles. Got frustrated pretty quickly. Friedman Old Chap, you can do better :)
But in a world of craziness, you guys bring a ray of common sense into my life. In a world where McCain fails to turn up for a vote about alternative energy subsidies and still run ads of wind turbines. In a world where Bush back slaps beach ball players and talks about how nations cannot invade other sovereign nations in 21st century (USA never did such a thing :P). And for that, guys.....I thank you.
Human Resources
Had an interesting class in Organizational Resources/Human Resources. Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it. Interesting and HR don't seem to fit in the same sentence. For me and everyone who I talked to, it seems like an necessary evil for a company. Kind of "It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. But the Prof made the class pretty interesting. She gave a quiz at the beginning of the class. I (and thankfully, most of the others in the class) got almost all the questions wrong. Wow...I think she wanted to drum it to everyone that the class was not going to be a walk in the park. Anyway, we covered varied topics from affirmative action, legal issues to equality of women in workplace. She kept the class moving along and I was able to keep myself awake...
On to more interesting topics, we had to read a paper for the class. It's a management classic, titled "On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B". If you are interested in management stuff, read it. If you are not interested, read it. It's that good. As the title suggests, it's about rewarding one set of actions while hoping for another (almost opposite) set of actions. For example in basketball, teamwork is chanted as the holy mantra for winning. But a player who plays to that mantra and distributes shots unselfishly has lower stats compared to a comparable (selfish) player who takes all the shots that he can. Guess who makes the big bucks? Obviously, percentage of successful shots etc matter. But the main gist of the example is that we reward individuality while hoping for teamwork.
Another example is of physician caused illnesses. When a patient comes to a doctor, the doctor obligingly organizes and classifies the symptoms under a name and tells the patient about possible future symptoms. This information acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy and pretty soon the patient develops those symptoms. Why does the doctor do that? Because if he is not sure and tells the patient that there is nothing wrong and if the patient dies suddenly on his second honeymoon, the doctor will have to sell his first newborn for a malpractice settlement. On the other side, if he diagnoses the patient as having some disease, he is safe from future complications. Furthermore, future visits from the patient means a constant stream of income for him. So we as a society are rewarding the doctor for making safe errors while fervently hoping for the opposite. Dumb, eh? There are other examples in the paper which make you go "Eh, seriously? Are people so dumb?"
Assuredly, the paper is worth your time and more. No corporate doublespeak...simple to read.
On to more interesting topics, we had to read a paper for the class. It's a management classic, titled "On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B". If you are interested in management stuff, read it. If you are not interested, read it. It's that good. As the title suggests, it's about rewarding one set of actions while hoping for another (almost opposite) set of actions. For example in basketball, teamwork is chanted as the holy mantra for winning. But a player who plays to that mantra and distributes shots unselfishly has lower stats compared to a comparable (selfish) player who takes all the shots that he can. Guess who makes the big bucks? Obviously, percentage of successful shots etc matter. But the main gist of the example is that we reward individuality while hoping for teamwork.
Another example is of physician caused illnesses. When a patient comes to a doctor, the doctor obligingly organizes and classifies the symptoms under a name and tells the patient about possible future symptoms. This information acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy and pretty soon the patient develops those symptoms. Why does the doctor do that? Because if he is not sure and tells the patient that there is nothing wrong and if the patient dies suddenly on his second honeymoon, the doctor will have to sell his first newborn for a malpractice settlement. On the other side, if he diagnoses the patient as having some disease, he is safe from future complications. Furthermore, future visits from the patient means a constant stream of income for him. So we as a society are rewarding the doctor for making safe errors while fervently hoping for the opposite. Dumb, eh? There are other examples in the paper which make you go "Eh, seriously? Are people so dumb?"
Assuredly, the paper is worth your time and more. No corporate doublespeak...simple to read.
Monday, July 14, 2008
A matter of chance
The child smiled at me. It was an honest smile, seeing that I had no candy and was not making any faces. I smiled back and stuck my tongue out. From experience, I knew kids couldn’t resist it and the child was no exception. It wandered over and looked expectantly. I reached into my pocket and brought out some Éclairs and handed it over. After that, our friendship was sealed and we were bonded forever in his eyes. “If only, things were this easy with everyone”, I sighed.
“What a pretty child, you have?” said a voice behind me. It was a nice voice with a ring of soft notes in it. I looked over and smiled, “That will take some doing, considering that I have no girlfriend or wife”. “Oh, I am sorry” said the voice. The voice turned out to be a pretty girl dressed in a black sari. She was not a knockout by any stretch, but the face had an attractiveness and innocence that was striking. She smiled, a very pretty smile, I noticed, she being one of those people who had a smile for everyone.
I felt a tug on my trousers and looked down. The child was looking at me with half-expectant eyes and I cheerfully obliged by emptying my pockets from the rest of the chocolates. After taking the chocolates, the child cast a curious look at the girl and later me. Under the realization that it had nothing more to gain from me and knowing from experience, that competing with a pretty girl would be a lost cause, the child having played the part of cupid, wandered off in search of other Éclairs possibly. “Nice wedding”, I murmured, not been able to think of anything else to say. “I suppose so”, she said half distractedly. She seemed to be anxiously glancing at a middle aged lady, who was dressed way too extravagantly and was excitedly talking to a middle aged couple. The middle aged couple seemed anxious to head off somewhere but the lady was having none of it.
“I don’t know why she always does this”, the girl said, half to herself. Putting two and two together, I said “Mother” and waited expectantly. She glanced back at me, studied me for a minute and then said with some exasperation, replied “Yes, she will embarrass me to death one of these days”. I chuckled and we then both sat on two chairs. Her mother seemed to finally convince the couple of something and both parted ways. Seeing that, the girl visibly relaxed. I studied her, “She was as I said before, not a drop dead type”. But her eyes were very pretty and her long, sharp nose accentuated her attractiveness. As she smiled greetings at passersby, I noticed that she laughed with her eyes.
She seemed to be in something on her mind and didn’t seem to be in the mood for any conversation. “Most of what matters in our lives takes place in our absence”, I offered my take on things. She shot me a curious look, but maintained her silence. So I shut up too. Then the band struck up “Aap jaisaa koi mere zindagi mein aaye” and I gave a chuckle. She turned towards me and asked with some irritation, “What’s so funny?” I explained that one of my friends once sang the song as “Aap jaisaa koi mere zindagi mein aaye, tho baap banjaaye” instead of baat banjaaye. She laughed and a very pretty laugh, I might add for the nth time. That seemed to break the ice for she said “Excuse me, I am not this silent normally”. “My mother is in the mood of getting me married off and I hate it”. I waited for her to complete her story, but she didn’t. So I commiserated, “Me too. Same story everywhere I guess”. She looked at me with interest, as though in a new light and we exchanged war stories about fiascos in bride/bridegroom ceremonies. “You must have girlfriends salted away some where, that’s why you are not marrying”, she guessed. “I wish”, I said and with more alacrity than I should have, asked “How about you?” She laughed, “Too afraid, I guess. I think my mother suspects a boyfriend and I always try to lead her on” She was talking a lot more freely, I noticed. After some more conversation, she asked, “What’s your name?” seemingly stuck by the fact that we had been talking for quite a while without exchanging names.
“What’s in a name? A rose by any other name smells just as sweet” I pulled out my Shakespeare trick. “Shakespeare, I am impressed” she smiled. “Sandhya” she offered in exchange to my visiting card. Software Engineer, US she studied the card. You don’t seem like a Yankee, she remarked. I will take that as a compliment, I replied. She looked away and seemed to be in thought. Then she hurriedly jumped up and said “Gotta go” and hurried away. As she rushed away, I espied her mother walking towards me. Her mother studied me for a second and then looked at my Metallica T-shirt and jeans with some disappointment. Having seemingly decided that I was not worth her time, she wandered off in the direction of a guy in suit who seemed to be doing his best to hide. “Mother be damned, she can jolly well kiss my ass”, I said to myself with some anger. As I watched her (the girl I mean, not the mother) hurry away, I noticed that she had an easy gait, graceful in her movements, almost like a dancer. “Must ask her the next time”, I said to myself. “If we meet again”, I corrected myself. I saw some friends of mine and wandered over.
I saw her again by the buffet. She was eating with a couple of her friends. She saw me and waved. I put half of the food on my plate back on the buffet pans (much to the disgust of the guys behind me) and walked towards her. She broke off from her friends and spoke to me, “Empty plate” in an amused manner. I looked up sharply and there was a twinkle in her eyes and so murmured about oily food feebly. She let it pass and asked “So how many days are you staying?” Two more weeks, I replied.
“What a pretty child, you have?” said a voice behind me. It was a nice voice with a ring of soft notes in it. I looked over and smiled, “That will take some doing, considering that I have no girlfriend or wife”. “Oh, I am sorry” said the voice. The voice turned out to be a pretty girl dressed in a black sari. She was not a knockout by any stretch, but the face had an attractiveness and innocence that was striking. She smiled, a very pretty smile, I noticed, she being one of those people who had a smile for everyone.
I felt a tug on my trousers and looked down. The child was looking at me with half-expectant eyes and I cheerfully obliged by emptying my pockets from the rest of the chocolates. After taking the chocolates, the child cast a curious look at the girl and later me. Under the realization that it had nothing more to gain from me and knowing from experience, that competing with a pretty girl would be a lost cause, the child having played the part of cupid, wandered off in search of other Éclairs possibly. “Nice wedding”, I murmured, not been able to think of anything else to say. “I suppose so”, she said half distractedly. She seemed to be anxiously glancing at a middle aged lady, who was dressed way too extravagantly and was excitedly talking to a middle aged couple. The middle aged couple seemed anxious to head off somewhere but the lady was having none of it.
“I don’t know why she always does this”, the girl said, half to herself. Putting two and two together, I said “Mother” and waited expectantly. She glanced back at me, studied me for a minute and then said with some exasperation, replied “Yes, she will embarrass me to death one of these days”. I chuckled and we then both sat on two chairs. Her mother seemed to finally convince the couple of something and both parted ways. Seeing that, the girl visibly relaxed. I studied her, “She was as I said before, not a drop dead type”. But her eyes were very pretty and her long, sharp nose accentuated her attractiveness. As she smiled greetings at passersby, I noticed that she laughed with her eyes.
She seemed to be in something on her mind and didn’t seem to be in the mood for any conversation. “Most of what matters in our lives takes place in our absence”, I offered my take on things. She shot me a curious look, but maintained her silence. So I shut up too. Then the band struck up “Aap jaisaa koi mere zindagi mein aaye” and I gave a chuckle. She turned towards me and asked with some irritation, “What’s so funny?” I explained that one of my friends once sang the song as “Aap jaisaa koi mere zindagi mein aaye, tho baap banjaaye” instead of baat banjaaye. She laughed and a very pretty laugh, I might add for the nth time. That seemed to break the ice for she said “Excuse me, I am not this silent normally”. “My mother is in the mood of getting me married off and I hate it”. I waited for her to complete her story, but she didn’t. So I commiserated, “Me too. Same story everywhere I guess”. She looked at me with interest, as though in a new light and we exchanged war stories about fiascos in bride/bridegroom ceremonies. “You must have girlfriends salted away some where, that’s why you are not marrying”, she guessed. “I wish”, I said and with more alacrity than I should have, asked “How about you?” She laughed, “Too afraid, I guess. I think my mother suspects a boyfriend and I always try to lead her on” She was talking a lot more freely, I noticed. After some more conversation, she asked, “What’s your name?” seemingly stuck by the fact that we had been talking for quite a while without exchanging names.
“What’s in a name? A rose by any other name smells just as sweet” I pulled out my Shakespeare trick. “Shakespeare, I am impressed” she smiled. “Sandhya” she offered in exchange to my visiting card. Software Engineer, US she studied the card. You don’t seem like a Yankee, she remarked. I will take that as a compliment, I replied. She looked away and seemed to be in thought. Then she hurriedly jumped up and said “Gotta go” and hurried away. As she rushed away, I espied her mother walking towards me. Her mother studied me for a second and then looked at my Metallica T-shirt and jeans with some disappointment. Having seemingly decided that I was not worth her time, she wandered off in the direction of a guy in suit who seemed to be doing his best to hide. “Mother be damned, she can jolly well kiss my ass”, I said to myself with some anger. As I watched her (the girl I mean, not the mother) hurry away, I noticed that she had an easy gait, graceful in her movements, almost like a dancer. “Must ask her the next time”, I said to myself. “If we meet again”, I corrected myself. I saw some friends of mine and wandered over.
I saw her again by the buffet. She was eating with a couple of her friends. She saw me and waved. I put half of the food on my plate back on the buffet pans (much to the disgust of the guys behind me) and walked towards her. She broke off from her friends and spoke to me, “Empty plate” in an amused manner. I looked up sharply and there was a twinkle in her eyes and so murmured about oily food feebly. She let it pass and asked “So how many days are you staying?” Two more weeks, I replied.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Kick Off
Baduku jataka bandi, vidi adara saheba
Kudure neen, avanu peldanthe payanigaru
Maduvego masanako,bekenda kadegodu
Pada kusiye nelavihudu- manku thimma
Starting off with the famous lines from DVG (a Kannada poet). After spending so much time on DVG road in Bangalore, it seems kind of appropriate.
As always, the beauty of a poem is lost in translation. But anyway, loosely translated,
Life is a horse-cart, Fate the master
You are the horse and He decides the passengers
Gallop towards a wedding or a funeral
If you fall, there's always the ground, Manku Timma.
This blog will be about topics which interest me, like politics, economics with occasional bits of fiction thrown in. It's meant to be personal as a way to express my feelings, but anybody is free to have a look.
Kudure neen, avanu peldanthe payanigaru
Maduvego masanako,bekenda kadegodu
Pada kusiye nelavihudu- manku thimma
Starting off with the famous lines from DVG (a Kannada poet). After spending so much time on DVG road in Bangalore, it seems kind of appropriate.
As always, the beauty of a poem is lost in translation. But anyway, loosely translated,
Life is a horse-cart, Fate the master
You are the horse and He decides the passengers
Gallop towards a wedding or a funeral
If you fall, there's always the ground, Manku Timma.
This blog will be about topics which interest me, like politics, economics with occasional bits of fiction thrown in. It's meant to be personal as a way to express my feelings, but anybody is free to have a look.
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