The Flow

Recently, I borrowed this book Flow:The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly C from Chicago Public Library. I had heard a lot about this book earlier and once I checked it also in one of the bookstores in Bangalore, but didn’t buy it as the print of the book is quite small. However, recently, my desire to explore the book increased multi-fold, especially after interacting with a friend who is a lot into spirituality. So, I borrowed it and started reading it. The first chapter itself is quite amazing as it talks about what is a flow and the anatomy of the way our brain deals with “self” and consciousness. One very interesting thing which Mihaly talks about in this chapter is the  relationship amongst our  past experiences, goals and the way we process external stimuli. I am sure I haven’t got it right, but it was a new way of looking at why a varied set of experiences make an individual a different person. I should say that even thought the book is quite cryptic and requires solid attention while reading, I am thoroughly enjoying it. Wondering what it would take to get the book printed using big fonts. Time for Kindle, huh?

Technical Obsolescence

In last few months, I have been getting this feeling that I am getting technically obsolete. Since quite some time, I was hearing about Web 2.0, Social Networking, Facebook etc etc. Since I knew what these terms represent, I was comfortable even though, I wasn't using any of them. Then, slowly, I started using LinkedIn and later on Facebook. Frankly speaking, I still don't use them, the way, probably, lot of other people use it, but then it feels good to be up-to-date on technology usage.

Some time ago, I also started using Skype as a communication tool. I must say, I found the voice quality quite good (except once in a while), sometimes to the extent of being better than usual cellphone. I got so hooked on to it, that now-a-days that's the first thing I tend to use when I have to call someone.

Recently, there was almost a bombardment of new terms - Twitter, EtherPad, GitHub, Google Wave etc - on to me. It so happened that suddenly, lot of these jargons came my way and I was left dumbfounded with the feeling that I don't know anything !!! Trust me, the feeling of being left behind wasn't a very good feeling. The only comfort (albeit a sadistic one) was the fact that I found lot of my compatriots in the same situation. They were also lost at all the geek-speak and trying to figure out how to deal with it. While I still need to act (that too quickly) to catch up with this sudden upsurge in technology, it is amazing to see so many new products/tools are being created to enable collaboration amongst people. Wondering if this is an indication to a new trend ...

Life in fast lane

I witnessed the following recently -

04:15 AM - get up and get ready for a day-journey to get visa
05:00 AM - leave room to catch a train to airport
05:08 AM - catch the train to airport
05:50 AM - arrive at airport train station
06:00 AM - get to the check-in counter
06:07 AM - enter the security check queue
06:20 AM - reach the boarding gate
                 buy a coffee and drink it, rather, hurriedly
06:35 AM - board the aircraft
07:00 AM - flight departs
09:19 AM - flight lands at the destination
09:25 AM - take a taxi to embassy
09:55 AM - reach embassy building
10:00 AM - get the visitor pass done
10:05 AM - reach the counter and submit papers
10:16 AM - finish paying fee
                 sit in the lounge and work on Social Impact presentation
11:20 AM - collect the visa and passport
11:26 AM - hail a taxi for airport
11:51 AM - reach check-in counter and ask for an early flight
11:55 AM - run towards the gate as flight is about to depart
12:04 PM - reach the gate just in time to board the aircraft
12:20 PM - flight departs
12:50 PM - flight lands
01:00 PM - reach airport train station and catch the train
01:05 PM - train leaves
01:52 PM - get down at a train station near office
02:04 PM - reach office

Phew !!! what a day? I don't know how people do similar stuff almost every day or weekend :-?

Too good to be true?

While traveling to London from Bangalore, recently, there were many firsts which happened with me. I didn't realize that there were so many of them, until I listed them down -
(a) During the flight, I could sleep for a while, at least ! Typically, I just can't sleep during flights and that's why long flights are very tiring for my system. Even on this flight, I think, I must have slept for 1.5 hrs only, out of long 9.5 hrs flight, but then, something is better than nothing, right?
(b) For the first time, I saw a celebrity on an airport - Mr N R N was at Immigration counter at Heathrow airport in London. I think, he was accompanied by his wife, but since I couldn't see her face, it is a wild guess.
(c) It was the first time, when my checked-in baggage arrived early in the cycle. When I walked towards the conveyor belt, mentally prepared for a long wait, I saw my bags coming in, which was such a joy, as my luggage typically arrives towards the end.
(d) The very first day, I could sleep for 10 hrs and got up at the normal hour as per the local time. Otherwise, typically, I end up either waking up too early in the morning and then fall asleep during the day :)

Wondering what to read into so many "coincidences" happening; but then, is there a need to do so? Wondering ...

Visa Ordeal

Recently, I had to visit Chennai to get a US visa for myself. My appointment was at 9:15 AM, so I was little relaxed thinking that since it is early in the morning, I won't have to wait for long. Well, very soon I learnt how wrong I was.

When I reached the consulate at 8:40 AM, already there was a long queue outside, anyway, I joined in. By the time, I could step inside the building it was already 9:50 AM. The worrisome fact was that there were some people who had 8:15 AM appointment and they got in just before me !!! Nonetheless, inside there was another queue for form / doc verification purposes. It was much more orderly thanks primarily to one gentlemen who was managing the whole thing very carefully. Post this, there was another long queue to go to visa appointment hall. By the time, my turn came it was already 11:00 AM.

Inside visa hall, applicants were queued up in front of visa counters depending on what kind of visa they are applying for. The turn of an applicant was determined by the time of appointment and the category of visa. To my surprise, I saw that people who had their appointment at 8:30 AM were still waiting for their turn. While talking to some people and overhearing some conversations, I learnt that some people who had 8:30 AM appointment and have come from outside, had booked 2 PM return flights. Now that they were stuck inside, and that too w/o any mobile phone, they were struggling to make changes in their travel itinerary. By the time, I stood in the queue and reached the counter it was 1 PM. Finally, at 1:15 PM I finished my interview and walked out of the consulate.

Guess what - a day later, Times of India Bangalore has a story that the visa issuance wait time which is only couple of hours right now, will be reduced even further with the opening of virtual US consulate in Bangalore. Wondering if they know what is happening on the ground and worst part is that none of the interviewees even take this problem up with VFS and/or US consulate.

A good contrast

Few years ago, I read the popular book The End of Poverty by famous writer Jeffrey Sachs, and I was very impressed by the way he dealt with the subject and the hope he rekindles in the reader. In fact, I became very optimistic after reading his book about the possibility of good times. Very recently, I read another good book Everybody Loves a Good Drought by P. Sainath, who is a very famous journalist. This book also talks about poverty but in some of the remote areas of India. The picture painted by the writer is really grim but seems to be the true depiction of harsh reality.

In some sense, after reading the latter book, I got a sense of how difficult it could be for any poverty alleviation program to reach such remote places and be able to provide direct benefit to destitute people, of course, until we make drastic changes in the machinery which already is in place.

For me, the contrast which these two books present is amazing- at a high level, the first book mostly deals with data along with a good dose of positive optimism, which would make the reader believe that complete eradication of poverty is achievable and that too in our life-time. Whereas, the second book presents the harsh reality at the ground level and depicts the multitude of problems (cultural, social, economical etc) which one needs to tackle to successfully deliver any poverty eradication program. Unfortunately, such things, which have a direct influence on the outcome of any such program, do not lend themselves well to any kind of traditional data-analysis techniques, and hence, often, get neglected at the peril of the success of such programs or intentions.

Wondering how others think about it ...

(In)consistency

Somehow, writing doesn't come to me naturally :( though, I made an attempt doing so via this blogpost, but after a while, I lost interest [recently I posted after a gap of 3 yrs !!!]

I am gonna try to make it a point to keep posting once in a while. Though, I need to overcome my obsession with writing something only if it is either totally new/fresh stuff or something immensely useful for others. I think, blogging is not just about it, it is about sharing your ideas/thoughts as you see 'em.

Let me see how it goes this time ...

Campus Experience

Very recently I visited an Engg. College which is probably ranked amongst the top 15 colleges in India to hire final year students. These students currently are in their 7th semester. It was very amazing to find that lot of these students were not even aware of basics [of course, this is my perspective]. During the course of interviews, I ended up asking one of the students why people are unaware of such things, and he told me, "Sir, what is the need when you have Google?" While it can be music to Google's ears but it left me thinking whether this so-called Google approach is better than the traditional one !

Well, I don't think there is a straight answer but, I believe, it is the underlying thought process which is more important. Today, it seems, most of the students assume that since they have access to Google, they need not bother about finding out "why" something is the way it is. And, to some degree it is true, but I don't think it works when one maps the same logic to everyday living. When one is faced with a human-behavioral situation one won't have the time to check it on Google why it is so, in order to respond to it in a better way. Just wondering if the young generation is thinking about this or not :-? Or may be they think that acquiring knowledge is equivalent to building an in-memory database, which has no practical use. Humnn ...