Objectivism!

“You remember, you said once that we had the same root somewhere in both of us, because we both believed in life? It’s a rare capacity and it can’t be taught.”

Finished WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand, the lesser known one from her arsenal. A lot has been said about the author and her philosophy of OBJECTIVISM.

I’m out of words for this writer. If at 25 she can think of something at this depth, this is disturbing. Now Objectivism holds that there is no greater moral goal than achieving happiness; that reality exists independent from consciousness. Though still at my first step towards learning, I believe world today can’t be in more need of Objectivism than before.

We’ve seen Socialism, which refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. We’ve witnessed Capitalism, the economic system in which the private ownership of property is protected by law. Now both these are good enough to give a rosy picture but they don’t touch the lives of ordinary and don’t increase the averages.

Objectivism is a philosophy for living in this material world that promotes values like love, friendship, wealth, and comfort. It respects science, technology, and innovation. It emphasizes reason and clarity. It values purposefulness, achievement, and success. It reveres passionate living, and pursing the greatest heights. It sets personal happiness as your goal, and gives you the tools to figure out how to achieve it.

It’s more of an optimistic approach. The idea is to focus more on life and add or subtract the factors to improve it.

PS: AR Rehman again weaves the magic:
Aaja main hawaaon pe bithaake le chalun;

tu hi toh... tu hi toh meri dost hai!

Aaja main khalaaon mein uthaake le chalun; tu hi toh meri dost hai;

Awaaz ka dariya hoon, behta hoon main nili raaton mein.

Main jaagta rehta hoon neend bhari jheel si aankhon mein.

Awaaz hoon main...

And hubby cooks the chicken!

She has been awake since 5 in the morning. Starting the day with the regular chores – taking care of extended family, preparing for husband’s day and readying her daughter for the school. “Rehaan!” she asked “Can you please drop Mehul to school today?”. “Not today”, he replied. “I’m busy with this presentation. Have to deliver it today.“ And she thought, for how long she’s to take this way. Turning on the ignition she thought if it was a tad better.

The thoughts kept on creeping during office hours as well. It was a long Friday and she never waited for weekend so long. While paying for chicken, she thought if there was someone with whom she felt comfortable with. She’s always tried to fill colors in the blank canvas even the day had been grey and dull. But not a single relationship tends towards infinity.

Mehul came running and smiling as she entered the home. “How was the day honey?”. “It was good moma! We tried colorbook today”. Rehaan was in the sofa working on his laptop. “What’s for dinner tonight?” he asked. “Got chicken”. And Rehaan commented “you better get some good stuff. Tomorrow is parent-teacher meeting”. “But ain’t you going for it?”. “Not this time. I’ve got this urgent work to finish by this weekend”.

Life seemed hollow to her. Lying at her sister’s home she was thinking ‘Why can’t there be a day of smiles with someone who cares for me’. There he was pondering in the kitchen while cooking chicken for his dinner ‘What did I do?’.

PS: The song in the background -
Here I am, lost in the light of the moon that comes through my window

Bathed in blue, the walls of my memory divides the thorns from the roses

It's you and the roses...

Touch me and I will follow in your afterglow

Heal me from all this sorrow

As I let you go I will find my way when I see your eyes

Now I'm living in your afterglow...

Here I am, lost in the ashes of time, but who owns tomorrow?

In between the longing to hold you again

I'm caught in your shadow, I'm losing control

My mind drifts away, we only have today

Touch me and I will follow in your afterglow

Heal me from all this sorrow...

Morally Corrupt

“Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things... I am tempted to think that there are no small things in life” - Unknown

I live in morally corrupt city. I wonder why can’t we change a tiny bit, adjust a little to be role model across the globe. Listing out a few disruptions that should be brought about for moral conduct. I’m open to any updates to this list.

1. Chivalry never hurts.
Does it take too much to show courtesy at public places. We all do it with our closed ones, then why not with the unknowns? Will opening a door for a follower delay our schedules? Or smiling at something wrong happened dent our egos?

2. Queues and Orders are always welcome.
I believe in order and think it’s pretty cool stuff. Don’t you?

3. Following lanes makes my mind less cluttered.
A very simple thing can make our life much easier – FOLLOW THE LANE DRIVING!
And please understand the purpose of lane changing signal. It is even available in toy cars these days. Then why not use it? Or are you afraid of Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSIs)? At least do it for the humanitarian cause!

4. Honking helps you reach home early. Is it?
I wonder why we have horns in our vehicles. Everyone is sick of it but still use them where it does no good. You know there is nothing 'quiet' of these horns and we all peace loving. You know what I mean! You can scream instead of blowing it "For the sake of humans! GO! GO! GO!"

5. No spitting and littering please.
If you go to foreign country, you guys follow the rule. And as you land back at home, you forget to keep the place clean. I wonder what the rationale behind that is.

6. Smiling has more advantages than bad effects!
This one is tough especially with so many things going in life but that should be in code of conduct as Chinese did during Olympics. Why not smile a little more at strangers. I know it can be trap – a girl will say that guy is constantly smiling at me. But then it may be an ice breaker. So two birds with a single shot – more friendliness in the air and world will be at more ease with us! At least I'm trying to be more molar-to-molar; you should also laugh your way.

I hope this won’t be too tedious a list to follow!

PS: Song in the mp3 player - Oh Life by Desiree!
So after all's said and done, I know I'm not the only one
Life indeed can be fun, If you really want to
Sometimes living out your dreams, Ain't as easy as it seems
You wanna fly around the world, In a beautiful balloon
Life, oh life..... Oh life, oh life

Do silly, not great things!

If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done. - Ludwig Wittgenstein

I’m going through ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ by Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. It’s an impressive read from two of the known scholars in the Business World. What fascinates me is that things mentioned there are not very out-of-the-box but overlooked ones. And that brings us to today’s topic – Gotta become great? Do silly, not great things!

And as Calvin thinks, there’s an inverse relationship…

Though Euro Cup is the flavor of the month, but I still like to read about Tennis. Roger Federer is The Master. He covers the court like a ballet dancer. But Novak Djokovic is winning the hearts it seems. His fan following growth rate is far above than the industry average it seems. I especially liked the humor he brings to the competitive and serious game. Have you ever seen the imitations he does? Watch out a couple at:
http://elgringocolombiano.blogspot.com/2007/09/novak-djokovics-imitations.html

And the most wonderful thing is his persona on and off the court seems to be the same. Check out his diaries at the below link (These do tell something about the guy! Don't they?).

http://www.novak-djokovic.com/eng/diary_list.php

These days am thinking to take up doing silly things; maybe every first Friday of the month. I’ve made the Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create grid for charting blue oceans of silliness. I would like to have the ideas from you, readers, to add to my grid.

PS: Song on lappy – A Thousand Miles (Vanessa Carlton)
Making my way downtown,Walking fast,Faces passed,And I'm home bound.

Staring blankly ahead,Just making my way,Making my way,Through the crowd.
And I need you, And I miss you, And now I wonder...
If I could fall, Into the sky; Do you think time, Would pass me by
'Cause you know I'd walk, A thousand miles If I could, Just see you… Tonight!

Instant Liking

I think this happens with everyone Calvin!

People say sometimes they’re scared of approaching someone. What makes them think so? Are their faces so wrinkled and they have a myth that wrinkles are contagious? Or they don’t like the perfume someone is wearing? Why one person easily attracts while other repels? Though approach and liking is somehow linked, I used to think that Force is directly proportional to body masses! We’re taught that only: F = G.m1.m2 / r^2 Isn’t it?

First impression is an important culprit here I believe.
Matt: I don’t like blue color Jenna coz it reminds me of Monday blues.
Jenna [to her]: He hates blue and my deep eyes. Sigh!
See the First Impression should consist of multiple small initial impressions :-)

Second culprit is human brain. You tend to like someone more like you. Apparently opposites seldom attract and maintain the same scale of Attraction-Index.

Third to be blamed is Chemistry - It’s kinda a funny how you start liking the things at first instance. And it happens with everyone and everything – Songs, Content Management Product, Cars, Colors, Shoes, Face(s) etc

PS: Mind still thinking on the formula F = G.m1.m2 / r^2 and laughing;
r is the distance between two bodies. Thus as we reduce r, F will tend to infinity. Thus two bodies with concentric centers will have an infinite force. Rest up to you to deduce!

PPS: Liking in an instance – Kabhi kabhi Aditi (A R Rehman still weaves the magic. It’s a typical Rehman song – you see and listen in parts; no big deal till then. And then you listen to it on FM and then you want to listen to it more... then you start humming it… and then you repeatedly listen to it!)

Kabhi kabhi Aditi zindagi mein yuhi koi apna lagta hai.

Kabhi kabhi Aditi wo bichhar jaaye to ek sapna lagta hai.

Aise mei koi kaise apne aansuo ko behne se roke?

Aur kaise koi sochle everything's gonna be ok?

Kabhi kabhi to lage zindagi mein rahi naa khushi aur naa mazaa.

Kabhi kabhi to lage har din mushkil aur har pal ek sazaa.

Aise mein koi kaise mushkuraye, kaise hasde khush hoke?

Aur kaise koi soch de everything gonna be ok?

Soch zara jaaneja tujhko hum kitna chahte hai.

Rotein hai hum bhi aggar teri ankhon mein aansu aate hai.

Gaane to aata nahi hai magar phir bhi hum gaate hai.

Ke Aditi maan kabhi, kabhi saare jahan mein andhera hota hai;

Lekin raat ke baad hi to sabera hota hai.

Yash!

This strip reminded me of my nephew – Yash! Cutey baby is what he is!

Last summer we were at his house in Chandigarh. And boy he’s so full of life even at three half. The chap likes to go on car rides with his dad. During one of those, he put his fingers in the parking brake and his dad unknowingly put them on. Poor fellow hurt his fingers badly. He was not able to bend his thumb due to bandage. Ask him ‘Yash, what happened’ and the reply came “Though dad was not at mistake but he put on the brakes. Mujhe lag gayi and cannot bend fingers”.

Yash’s mom tries to inculcate the best values in her son. When he was 3, she taught him to throw waste only in trash. We used to ask “Yash, where did you throw the chocolate wrapper?” and he used to reply - “dumptbin” [dustbin].

Yash has recently started going to school. Ask him who is the best teacher and he names the smartest Punjabi lass as his favorite. All others, as per him, are not interested in teaching (DNA gone wrong?).

The time we were coming back, I asked “Yash! wanna go to Delhi?”. ‘No’ came the reply “but mere liye bada wala bataka lana” (fire cracker). So this time when we go to Himachal or Chandigarh, Yash will have his ‘bada wala bataka’.

PS: Song in the mp3 player - Kiss Me (Six Pence)
Kiss me out of the bearded barley;
Nightly, beside the green, green grass;
Swing, swing, swing the spinning step;
You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress.

Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight; Lead me out on the moonlit floor;
Lift your open hand; Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance;
Silver moon's sparkling; So kiss me...

What happens when a Piscean works till late

The weather couldn’t be better in May heat. It was drizzling and unlike other summers in Tokyo, the cherry blossoms looked awesome. Rehan thought of his yoke fellows and good times spent with them. It’s been quite some time – everyone has settled in their lives and moved on. This Friday evening he was thinking of leaving everyone behind. He slipped out of the office, turned the ignition on and left the hustle and bustle behind. All he wanted to do was to disappear in twilight.

Neon was nearly full – crowded with football lovers. The deciders are always nail biting. Neon was a musical place otherwise; but on this particular day, it’d put the live match and drinks were on house. The whole place was divided into two. Though they may not pronounce Bonjour, but they’re supporting French and though they would have only seen Brazilian beaches and bikini clad women in pictures, they were painted yellow and singing Brazil.

Kaka was phenomenon as always. ‘He’s so cute’ thought Neha. After all this was one of the days when she was not feeling like going home. Japanese homes are boring for singles and one feels trapped at times. She’d asked Asuka to join her and pass away the evening – giggling, eating and cheering. Theiry missed the goal by whisker and whole of Neon filled with boos. As the silence drowned over the place, two sounds simultaneously came - “Damn It! You’ve to pay for it Theiry.” Both looked at each other with compassion. Rehan has never felt it that way. He walked over to Neha, looked in her deep shiny eyes. He brought his lips near to hers and said “Don’t you ever talk that way for French” and went back. Crowd stood there watching the two and clapping!

PS: Found this interesting plot over internet :-). So you can decide in which corner you can be substituted.

No Links

I wish everyone carries on this kind of optimism and curiosity while growing up. Life would’ve been so much fun. What we all do is spend time trying to be the part of the system. I know it’s easy saying rather doing it!
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‘Do make me laugh, and I’ll do anything’; somehow the thought passed by her mind. Anu stood tall with hair lazing over her overcoat and eyes shining bright. Gare de Bruxelles Central was crowded as on any other Friday evenings. The train to Luxembourg Ville was due in another 10 minutes. In 2 hours and 37 minutes precise, she would be in seclude – not very long slice of time when compared to life long journey.

She had waited for this weekend for some time. The station was bustling and everyone wanted to leave the place for ever. It seems no one ever wanted to come back. She checked her Blackberry for the last time before switching it off – No New Mail. And somehow the words slipped out of her light lips – “Is there anyone who at all cares?”

The daughter and dad were enjoying the wait. “This is so much fun papa” and the dad smiled back “Anything for you Hon”. Anu wondered what made them enjoy the moment. The daughter was carrying a paper slip in her hand. As Thalys passed by the slip flew and Anu laid her hands on it. As she was about to take note of it, she heard the words “Take it off slowly dad”. Dad was removing the artificial leg of the daughter. And she felt thoughtless.

As Dad took his daughter to Thalys, Anu moved opposite to her train.Express was there. She settled down in the first class and waited for train to chug along. The paper in the hand read – ‘There are people who love to be cared and then there are people who love to care!!!’

PS: Beautiful number by Alison Kross (though copied so many times, I still love it in AKs voice)

It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart,
Without saying a word you can light up the dark,
Try as I may I could never explain,
What I hear when you don’t say a thing;

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me,
There’s a truth in your eyes sayin’ you’ll never leave me,
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me if ever I fall!

You say it best when you say nothing at all!!!

Creativity has its time

Even six year old knows it! And grownups mind is no different :-)

Still I’m not able to place the blocks in order. Am not sure if that happens with everyone. I sometimes want to be on different dimension than the others. Yes that’s true! I want to zoom past when everything is still. I want to shout when silence is everywhere. Strange what may you call it! But am sure you would have also, at one point or the other, wanted to be part of this crankiness. We won’t delve into WHY; I want to talk about HOW!

I really admire the people who are creative in their fields - from Business Case preparation to Java coding to proposing someone, I like creativity. But its easier said than done. How to differentiate yourself from others?

Now being creative is a talent, but it can be skilled by knowing more about the subject. One very exciting way is to open a dictionary. Pick any word and try to formulate anything that comes in your mind that encompasses that word. Let your mind juices flow.

Little Amy was too creative. On the eve of the test she studied the essay on cow. “I’ve white cow. It has four legs and horns. It has a long tail. It gives milk…”. When she sat for the exam the next day, to everyone’s surprise, the teacher asked students to write the essay on ‘The Coconut Tree’. Now Amy was creative. She started: “We’ve a coconut tree in our house. It’s very high. My mother ties my cow to it. The color of cow is white. It has four legs and horns. It has a…”. You see! That’s what creativity is J

Another way of being creative is to listen to be humorous. And let it out at the suitable time. Creative people look at the same situation as the others do. The only difference is that their perception is on different planes.

So guys you tell me... Don't you ever want to be different? Have you ever forced yourself to be different? If yes, tell me the stories. Am waiting!

PS: The song buzzing (So Young - The Corrs):

We are taking it easy, Bright and breezy; We are living it up, Just fine and dandy,

We are chasing the moon, Just running wild and free,

We are following through Every dream, and every need,

And it really doesn't matter that we don't eat,

And it really doesn't matter that we don't sleep,

It really doesn't matter, it really doesn't matter at all;

Cause we were so young then; We are so young, so young now

And when tomorrow comes, We'll just do it all again...

It’s Inflation honey

Look Hon! Its increasing like a mountain. Oh. It’s shot off the chart.

The inflation is taking toll on everyone – from CEOs to sis. Increase in prices of basic necessities is taking its toll. And dollars are not helping even. Forget OPEC nations, even the customs people have stopped taking bribes in dollars. They prefer Gandhi to Washington. True – Dollar is not going far these days.

Now what is inflation – In layman terms it’s a black hole kind a monster. You leave the office with 500 Rs and by next morning its actual value is 480 Rs. Hope you got that! I must say it’s still better than Zimbabwean trauma.

People are finding different ways to beat the monster. The other day sis and her group went for a movie. Now being into HR she’s aware of inflation and its impact on employees lives. The movie set (tickets, corn, nachos & water) was around INR 350 the quarter before. It still costs 350 if you remove water bottle from that set. So to cover up, the group was asked to bring water bottles from home. Remark was simple – ‘Trying to beat it!’

Till now GV was not having much impact of rising prices. He always used to fill the petrol for Rs. 500. But now it’s visible to him and he’s suffering from hypertension. All those onsite trips have lost their charms to him. By the time you hit back home, the foreign currency losses half its value.

Now for some, rising prices is opportunity to cash in. Simply amass the scarce resources. Johnny did it that way. Rice was being sold in Pakistani market at 45 per kg. Once export restrictions were put in by the countries, the price shot up to 90 per kg. Our little Johnny smuggled it in his stomach, made a wad and bought the Beemer.

It seems the world is tied in ‘Too much but Too Little’ syndrome. Societies can spend billions on high rises, space and an undersea exploration, but production per hectare is still stuck on that in 1980s. I wonder if the world has gone berserk. Don’t they’ve something better to discuss in forums than quotas for minorities, sale of F15s, China’s military might and Italian Pasta? It seems world leaders are getting more like the simulator installed in NASA - It shakes you for some time, tilts you to 90 degree, makes some weird noises but takes you nowhere!

PS: Are you trying some weird ways to overcome high prices? Or have you seen anyone doing so? Lemme know!

PPS: Song on the lappy (beautiful number from 'Jab We Met'):

Naina tere kajrare hain, naino pe hum dil hare hain

Anjane hi tere naino ne, waade kiye kaie saare hain

Saanso ke lay.. madam chale.. tose kahe

Barsega saawan, Barsega saawan, jhoom jhoom ke, do dil aise milenge
Aaoge jab tum ho saajna, angana phool khilege...