The Panelist

 

Experts are smartly seated on the panel,

Reminds of the content depth of a news channel.

The asked question is a symptom,

The answer is a pill.

Backed it is by evidence,

If it works, O what a coincidence.

The cause is always deeper,

Solution would be scalable, only if the government could make it cheaper.

Farmer needs a change in behavior,

After all, AI is the new saviour.

As the erratic monsoon arrives, the farmers huddle,

Meanwhile the data is bad, WIP is the model.

The fault lies with the education system , someone comments,

“But we are mostly uneducated”, a farmer laments.

 

Effect-Cause: The Non Linear Karma

I was thinking about what has happened in my life and why it has happened. There are things that can’t be explained by a cause and effect, the Karma of a person, because it simply does not add up. Religion provides the feeble explanation of multiple lives and our good/bad deeds in previous lives. (Remember the word previous because I will come back to it.) But we don’t know our full story across various births, or of our parents and loved ones,  whom we think have been unfairly treated in life.

It is almost universally accepted that space/ time can bend and behave differently depending on where we are in the universe. It is also theorised that time may not be linear. Finally, the concept of multiverses is also there…so the event that has happened and is about to happen and is happening, is happening all the “time” so there is no previous or later.

While I was misbehaving with my dad earlier in the day today, I thought, when, time is not linear why should effect always follow the cause. It is quite probable hence, that we are being punished or rewarded, not for our actions that we have done (on a linear time scale) but perhaps the ones the one we will do. Perhaps, a punishment I received earlier in life was because of my act today morning; after-all to the creator or nature it is already clear that I will do this misdeed and he is already punishing me for it in advance…Terminator: Judgement day for everyone all the time. This is a consolation I can give myself for the rewards/punishment I have received in life.  

But I am still looking for answers for loved ones who have gone away, suffering…what did they do to deserve such a fate when their linear timeline seized across all multiverses as they breathed their last? 

 FALTU BAAT MAT  KAR

One thing that Covid lockdowns, losses and lunaticism has done is made me delve slightly deeper into what I had been seeking all my life, purpose. If you have the patience, you may want to hear some faltu talk.

What is the purpose of a job? Primarily, it provides for our needs and fuels our passions, where we get to work on what we really like doing. Many of us have been working from home and the urge to get to the office is now palpable. We are all waiting to get to office, chai breaks, office gossip, the in person meeting 'efficiency' for some but essentially, the freedom to talk inconsequential nonsense with our friends/colleagues. While the purpose of the job remains what it is, the reason to get to office is a bit more peripheral. Even the hardcore rationalist might have to concede to David Hume this time that we are really driven by feelings and what makes us happy.  What is the purpose of school? Education, syllabus, classes, ohh and ..exams! But bring all of that online and somehow you would not be able to call it school. It is very obvious.

Getting one level deeper, what is the purpose of conversation itself? I used to tell my friends, don't discuss events or people, discuss ideas, something I had ripped off one of the motivational posters. I have tried to follow that as far as possible in life. Even during casual conversations, I at times ask, what's the point you are trying to make? Covid has put things in perspective and brought me down from the pedestal I had put myself on. At times there is this scream to be able to talk utter pointless stuff, but having trained myself not to enjoy it for so long, I do quickly get bored as well. Sometimes all I want to do is rant... (like this piece). No more of "Faltu baat mat kar yaar" but please "Faltu baat kar"

Someone said, "the longer we stay silent, the less there is a need to talk". 

PS: I can't always read stuff that helps me learn, sometimes a simple comic book from Diamond Comics is what I need

The President's House (Innovation Roundtable 2013) 

I am not sure if we have come to see the President. I am sure we have come to witness what a President is..Through the security check to Durbar Hall (feel unreal)

"So u were there when the President....?" 

"Yeah.." - (non-chalantly as if The President's House is my backyard)

The value of stories in our life is immense, more than we know. It is learnt that the day telegram services were retired, 2.5lakh telegrams were sent. "I was there, I sent a telegram". Being in the stadium on the last day of that crucial test, was to say the same thing. What it meant to a few of us sitting in front of their TV sets is another story....

Isnt' life all about that? Of having your own stories to tell but at times learning you are just not a good story teller or worse, your story has already been told. So, you look for an audience who has not heard that story and revel in their company. The FB age has brought to fore this syndrome of humans and suddenly I am feeling that even this is a well known story, so why bother telling it...

 

Underdogs no more

Today’s match; I honestly wanted our Indian brothers from the West to win this one. They have been beaten, smothered, use any superlatives. But today, they showed some character...though they managed to almost lose it. It sounds so familiar to an Indian team supporter who grew up in the ‘90s.

I remember India touring Australia in the late ‘90s, where we lost all the tests and won just two one-day games in a triangular series also featuring Pakistan. It was devastating as we had hope all along. The friendship series in South Africa, early ‘90s, we again won just two one day games out of a series of 7 games. The WC of 1992, we won two games, one was a rain affected one against minnows Zimbabwe and other the historic one against Pakistan.

We were underdogs. I felt like an underdog for good 80% of my life because of that. As a community we would have always wanted the underdog to win. Because, in a way it was us! Can this one time Roddick beat Federer? Can we have the agile Senegal go through to the final game of the soccer word cup? The list may go on for other sports enthusiasts…

It was in these times that a God emerged. A God because, he gave us hope; that we could win…be it the aamir sohail dismissal in ’92 or the clean bowled of Brian Lara in the hero cup finals, against the then mighty windies…then we were underdogs.

Today, we are number 1 in ODIs and number 2 in tests. We have got into the habit of winning from anywhere. We don’t give up. We are underdogs no more.

Today, I supported India again. It was India of my childhood, where a glimmer of hope like a Robin Singh could help win a historic match. Sammy, I supported you. I supported the West Indies.

A 100red

It's not just, by chance. There is something about this number that keeps us intrigued..

" Give it your 100%"…………"100 runs"………. "100 crore"

Now what intrigued me weren't these figures. These numbers were what you call, confirmatory tests. On my way back from  office I was listening to an old Hindi song .

"paani re paani tera rang kaisa,

Sau saal jeene ki ummeedon jaisa"

Stop.

The pause is to appreciate the poet.

Now if you look back at the observation, it is so obvious. Hundred is unlike any other number. It still surpasses most numbers for our definitions of superlatives. Gen Y has come up with 110% and other lingos. But 100%, it still has a special place in our psyche, defined so well by the song.

In Olympics the fastest man is on earth is decided by the 100m sprint. Our unit of time for earth's age is a century-100years. In cricket the 3 figure mark is overtly celebrated. There are adjectives, double, triple--century.

If we look around there might be more instances to prove this observation. It might as well turn out that 100 is as integral to our life as π itself.

Hunter Patch Adams: Now you have the ability to keep me from graduating. You can keep me from getting the title and the white coat. But you can't control my spirit, gentlemen. You can't keep me from learning, you can't keep me from studying. So you have a choice: you can have me as a professional colleague, passionate, or you can have me as an outspoken outsider, still adament. Either way I'll probably still be viewed as a thorn. But I promise you one thing: I am a thorn that will not go away
Charlie: Is that all?
Hunter Patch Adams: I hope not, sir.