the will of S

At the centre
an iron cage surrounds me
it pains,the atrocity
having lost all sense of pride and glory
getting on to my nerves
the fallen angel of mediocrity

light descends
it's my guardian angel
strengthens my spirit
endows me the vision
it's my 'will of S'

Heroes under the aegis of The Black Swan

Last week was very fulfilling as far as my reading habit is concerned.reading two highly researched books gave me a remarkable insight into the work of leaders.First book 'Heroes' by eminent British historian Paul Johnson is a delightful journey through time with the virtues and vices of heroes like earth shakers : Alexandre,Caesar.Heroes in the roar of the cannon's mouth : Nelson,Wellington .Heroes under the shadow of the axe : the Tudors(Henry 8,Elizabeth 1).Philosopher heroes like Russel and Wittgenstein(his Tractatus's complexity is a delicacy for readers,even though i didn't understand half of just 28 pages book,i enjoyed it thoroughly).Heroines like Mae west and Marilyn Monroe who lived their life on their own terms in the highly exploiting Hollywood of 40s and 50s.What i would like to point here is one of main categories of heroes which Paul Johnson missed are entrepreneurs and i would very much suggest him to add a new chapter "Heroes under the aegis of black swan:Ford,Bill gates,Larry page and Vinod khosla".
with this ,second book which i read needs some attention.It's a shock thrown at you squarely(though some humor is involved).'the black swan: impact of highly improbable' by Nassim Taleb is one of the most insightful work published in recent years.it's the study of what we don't know,anti library(book that we haven't read) and uncertainty in predicting future.so now what the black swan is .it's an event having three characteristics
1.it's highly improbable and unpredictable
2.it carries a massive impact
3.after the fact we concoct an explanation which that makes it appear less random
when i first read about ATM's and EVM's in my 4rth class computer books i thought oh this kind of technology would take at least 20 years to come to India but by the time i was in 10th class we were all using the ATM's.this kind of breakthrough event is black swan.
now about my commentary on the subject ,if we check out the deeds of great heroes in Paul Johnson book we can clearly see how they instigated and designed the black swans events to carve their niche in the highly ambiguous histology.conquest of Alexandre
1.Nobody thought that 40,000 Macedonians would face the 1 lakh mighty Persians.highly improbable.
2.massive impact of the battle-fall of Persian empire,contact between east and west which completely dominated the politics of those areas for more than thousand years.
3.now historians say that invasion was coming .Alexanders father would have defeated Persians had he not died.we concoct an explanation that it was already planned but everyone knows that it was in all regards incredulous.
In this information and media technology age, world has become highly unpredictable instigating black swan events at faster rate than ever.Entrepreneurs are not able to predict even 2 to 3 years in advance now(all those bell curve methods of predicting future is a total nonsense).some make riches under it's aegis like Google,Microsoft while others are completely wiped out .These people push their innovation and risk taking skills to an extreme to even survive let alone being successful.gone are the days of Napoleon,Patton,thatcher and Reagan now it's a new kind of war being raged inside the brains of courageous people.they are the true heroes and although criticized for ruthless means Friedrich Hayek's comment 'independence of mind and strength of character are rarely found among those who cannot be confident that they will make their way by their own effort' says a lot.
Sir Thomas Jefferson said 'one man with courage is the majority'.In the epilogue of heroes, Johnson writes courage is the noble virtue but i think having it to point of madness is the noblest of all. (it doesn't mean i'm very courageous but i couldn't hold out my fascination for them).

fall to rise

Am i dead
no god,no satan it's just emptiness
as i lay bare under the night
a constant hum in the ear
burnt gunpowder on palate
a sight of frenzy
blurred by dripping blood
oh,so this is the afterworld
carved by reaper's scythe

'commnder,commander',
someone breaks my tranquility
and only now i realise
dutchman awaits them
their life depends on me
shirking off my plight
'for men,for home and for country'
i rise.

my first poem dedicated to captain aubrey of HMS Surprise ,my favourite movie character from 'master and commander:far side of the world'.

In the search of utopia

Indians call it 'ramrajya',Plato called it 'republic',sir thomas more called it 'utopia'.For time immemorial humans have endeavored to find that one ideal place where they can live without any sufferings and war.Economist philosophers of 19th and 20th century tried to find the answer in centrally planned economy with something for everybody without any discrimination,thus dividing whole world into two different ideologies of liberalism and socialism leading the world into two bloody wars. After the fall of flagship of socialism,USSR,whole world has adopted more or less capitalistic way of economy.an era of peace where not many ideological wars were going on forced francis fukuyama to say that we have reached the end of history.but,this years recession has seriously exposed some of the problems with capiatlism .in this dire straits,philosphers are once again flexing their muscles to find that one formula or policy to solve all the problems of humanity.but ?
the search of utopian love is very inherent in western philosophy with poets of romantic age making it a revolution.now even in india young people are trying to find that 'special one' made for them with whom they can share all their intimacy.search for the ideal love has surely caught up the people's imagintion with more nd more of them joining the cult.but crumbling social structure in western countries has burst the bubble of romanticism.thus dalai lama rightly said about roamnce "a fantasy....unattainable,something not worthy of our efforts" in his book art of happiness.
the clear reason for this wild goose chase is that people have mistakenly believed that utopia is the synonym of hapiness.happiness is the basic need for humans but they don't know the difference between pleasure and happiness. they think that ideal state without any poverty and war would make them happy(then what to say about warmongers).a girlfriend with whom they find very instant strong attraction as all their interests matches,would make them happy but all these are just pleasures of life. only two things can make us really happy
contentment and compassion
being contented with what we have nd making it better with our compassion should be the aim of human life.thus you can raise a utopian state without strangling it in ideological differences and can find ideal life partner in any lady, who will understand and respect you.it's not that compassion is godgifted, we can any time cultivate these habits using the methods in ancient indian texts.thus i might say utopia is just the matter of perception.

who says elephant can't dance-louis v gerstner

impossible says even i m possible,an antediluvian quotation,used by leaders in their pep up talks,by cms students mindlessly scribbling it on the top of their notebook without giving it even a moment of thought discarding it off as just another philosophical, ideal stuff without a slightest bit of practicality.this book is work of legendary CEO of IBM whose work is the epitome of the quote where you can really see it in action ,proving its relevance in modern world and that it's not just another ideal saying of a wiseman.one of the most hard fought battle in modern world had been the ibm turnaround of 1993 and the knight who led it is no othr than the very writer of the book.the then CEO of ibm Louis V. Gerstner,who made possible the thing which even economic times had declared impossible.he showed true leadership,determination and whatever it takes make it again a no. 1 company of computers.
during 1993 onwards rapid development in computer technology like speedier and high capabilities PC,open source systems like UNIX,assembled parts and client server model made life miserable for ibm which for past 40 years relid heavily on it's mainframe system/360.sales declined heavily and exasperated with the situation company saw the exodus of many senior executives and board members .all the major business magazines declared that ibm has ceased to exist as the symbol of amarica's strength and culture.
louis v gerstner at that time was persuaded by to become the CEO of the company
and what followed is just history.although several pathbreaking , nerve wrenching decisions were taken i would like to point to what had been done for the paradigm shift in company's culture ,as gerstner once said 'culture is not part of the game but the game itself'.he took many initiatives to correct the lethargic attitude of employees due to working in a non competitive environment for almost 30 years.
now as recession is on the streak of devouring big companies no one is showing the leadership and will to take countermeasures and fight it.even the company like GM which stood tall during great dippression,two world wars,terrorist attacks meekly surrendered to it.its hard to see the companies which we have admired and wished to join for all of our engineering years are coming down like a pack of cards.well good for mba colleges as it is giving them huge amount of case studies for what not to do to make your company live

American History X(1998)

no two human beings are equal but i wonder whether playing on those differences is a superiority or the inferiority complex.American history x presents one of the most powerful statement on the issues like racism.several classics of sidney poitier and morgan freeman deals with the issue but no movie faces it so squarly as this one (to kill a mocking bird is one of the best on the subject but treatment is completely different).In one of the legendary roles of his career edward norton plays a nazi skinhead who hates niggers and kills one just for a petty crime but in the penitentiary he realises the futility of his actions as he is deceived and harrassed by his own people while helped by a nigger, as the tagline of the movie rightly says 'His father taught him to hate. His friends taught him rage. His enemies gave him hope' .after 3 years he sees his young brother walking the same path of rage and so he makes him understand that this path of rage ,path of division is the path of destruction and that's what happens in the end which leaves the audience in a state of shock.
though an ugly movie(only appearances)with skinheads,niggers and hippies it's beauty resides in it's relevance to almost all the modern societies and more so in india .the latest acts of violence and discrimination in maharstra shows as we are getting richer our mentality is becoming meaner.but it's not that adults suddenly start hating each other it creeps into our head in our college years only and i hate to admit that almost all the national colleges with students from all over india have become the temple of racism.As in my college we can see north-south divide almost in every aspect of extra curricular activities ranging from president's election to the selection of grubs and t-shirts.but most shocking of all is that u can even find students supporting or having sympathy for people like raj thackrey. as i said almost all the societies are getting affected by this growing monster even advanced societies like america and australia(this article is the result of the rage due to the recent attacks on indian students in australia).
but the issue is as i said earlier whether it's the superiority of our complexion or the inferiority of our capabilities that inculcates this htred and loathing for others.yes it's not the color of the skin but our insecurity in preserving our culture and means of living to someone who might be superior is that which incites us to do such horrendous crimes.racism is the birthchild of failure of communictions and proper adjustments between cultures.In america white people feared hard working and godfearing blacks and now indians .In colleges ,southy thinks northys are all rowdys while northy thinks of them as a haughty creatures and thats the same reason even in the reginal colleges like UPTU students from noida discriminate students from gorakhpur so it all related.in the recent years americans ,scots,australians have grown fearful of the capabilities of indian students but there is the proper need to explain them that they are there to assist them not to usurp their position

Rudra

castle of the darkness is falling apart.satan is bleeding .the dark music of it's followers 'black metal' has been invaded by vedic mantras.Rudra is back with 'Brahmavidya: Transcendental I' ,latest in the bramhavidya trilogy after primordial-I.satanical verses and anti-christ theme started by venom ,celtic frost ,hellhammer and carried on by marduk,,morgoth,immortal,carpathian forest, burzum with shrieked vocals and distorted fast tempos made black metal the headbangers paradise but then rudra came with their vedic metal having same vocals and guitar tempos but with sanskrit mantras as the lyrics.songs like 'mahamaya' from aryan crusade are just treat to the ears.it's metal and it's black ,join the devotional headbangers.

Lawrence of arabia(1962)

an often heard cliche goes like 'one man can change the world'.certainly,vibrant,makes your adrenaline flow when said in proper setting but,is it really possible for a fragile human psyche to withstand the pressure of apparently being extraordinary.everyone in their inner mind theatre fantasizes being a hero at some point of time well i am not talking about those dc comics hunks who  can break asteroids with just one punch even after 70 years.as far as real life heroes are concerned  do we ever really give a thought to the price they pay just for some people's happiness. 'Rotten hero' theme is the only thing that makes this movie a no. 1 epic movie of all time.He sets out as a kind man who even confronts sun's anvil to save one human life. He doesn't want to be a hero but pulling off some victories with little bit confidence,luck and manipulative talks for lowly arabs and story blown out of all proportions by western media who want someone to look up to makes him a machine which must meet everyone's expectation.War,violence and torture rips apart his kindness and honesty to its last shred and he starts enjoying killing and bloodshed .He becomes a double edged sword who both british and turks wants to get rid off.but yes he is the real hero as he walks the path less traveled and accomplises what he wants most,freedom for arabs.

forbidden archeology

spirituality is not my cup of tea even though i went to the introductory session of ISKCON's chapter of my college during the  first year but believe me it  was just for the delicious food and unlimited supply of pineapple juice which we used to get after an hour long lecture on mind and consciousness.Since then three years have passed and these things are still haunting me ,be it in the form of books that i have read like the secret,celestine prophecy and the tenth insight or the invited lectures by eminent scientists who are now accepting the vedic knowledge as one of the source or the heavenly knowledge containing explanation to all the mysteries of  the world around us,forcing me to give it a thought.Newest in the series is lecture by Michael A. Cremo whose theory of devolution and the vedic creationism,opposite to the theory of evolution by charles darwin,is making quite a fuss in the scientific community as in the words of Dr. Cremo giving a lecture on anti darwin's theory in the darwin museum was really a gutsy thing to do.unimpeded theory of evolution is so much imbibed in our thinking that we totally reject the point that  java man and australopithacus were the ape species which existed alongside homo sapiens instead of being their precursor.Dr. Cremo has written about all the evidences and his theory in his book forbidden archeology though the theory is not his innovation he is just justifying what already is there in the indian vedic texts like body is made up of not only matter but also the mind and consciousness.

                            that night when i was sitting in my room reflecting i finally gave it a thought what is it that leaves us when we die,what is the basic difference between living and a non living,it's consciousness.I m not a cultist but now i believe that time has come for us,scientists and engineers,to assume consciousness as the basic entity just like any other element.huh,ISKCON's juice is really an enchanted one. 

                       

built to last -james c. collins

people say everything  has positve and negative side but thinking about the positive side of economic recession is really a crazy thing to do .One trend that is clearly emerging during this recession is entrepreneurship.Suddenly everybody has started talking about startups,business plans and virtual capitalists. Charismatic leadership and brilliant B-PLAN having  large no. of excel sheets filled with financial statements are some points which instantly comes to our minds whenever we talk about entrepreneurship.These things intimidate many passionate freshers who want to make their niche in this brutally competitive world.

                    This book is  about, how many visionary companies have sustained their growth and market for as long as 150 years.It talks about everything you need to make a visionary company taking examples from some of the giants like 3M,disney,GE,Sony and philip morris and what their competitors didn't do and got eroded  in the course of time.Well most of the chapters deal with sustaining a visionary company but their are certain chapters dedicated to the history of the companies when they were small startups.In one of the chapters author has also exploded the myth of entrepreneurship which i wud like to discuss here.

myth1:charismatic leadership is required for a company-well yes charisma helps in building relationships but these leaders sometimes become lone wolves.They just take all the decisions on their own as they don't get someone to match wth  their skills and personality.An effective team player can be more useful for a company with organistic working.At the peak of it's success nobody knew the name 3M's CEO  as he was a very effective team builder , keeping himself in background.

myth2:great b-plan is required-passion to do something in the field of ur interest is the only thing what it takes to build a successful venture.When Masaru ibuka founded a company, it's employees including him were thinking of what to manufacture even after company was already registered.HP started with something very different than what they are making now.

so guys if u really think u don't have it in you what it takes to be an entrepreneur just because  you are not a hotshot of your college or don't have any crazy yet feasible b plan ,don't worry as passion to do something and strong commitment to your core ideologies are the only things which can make u survive and thrive in these difficult times 

Modern times(1936)

Little tramp is back with more comedy and satire and it's amazing how really he makes you laugh while making fun of your own condition and situation.this movie is more relevant in modern times(present scenario) than ever,as the movie was made during the great depression depicting the severe problems like large scale unemployment,poverty, harassment of workers and collapse of capitalism in a very comical manner. This charlie's masterpiece is not only about his famous character little tramp doing all sorts of funny things to get a job and to win his girl,but it's also a stingy satire on the human greed which leads these multinational corporations to hog more of the wealth by fair or unfair means and when it collapses it leads to a wave of economic recession,unemployment and lawlessness.

                 The fang of the biggest economic recession after that black decade of 1930's is again sweeping the nations tearing apart means of living and the hopes of people.As i check my college's placement notice board i just think about a scene  in which chaplin sings a very beautiful song,which is one of the very few instances of sound and music in an otherwise silent movie,and the cafe boss comes to know about the real potential of  tramp and gives him the job.I just hope that some company scoops us out from this desperate modern times. 

beatles

I won't say anything about the band as these four legend from liverpool John lennon,Paul McCartney,George harrison and Ringo starr, don't need any introduction and also i won't comment about their music as my stature is too low to do so but i will just say few things about the song which any college student can relate to his life if he misses his school days

Yesterday

All my troubles seemed so far away

Now it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh, I believe

In yesterday

Suddenly

I'm not half the man I used to be

There's a shadow hanging over me

Oh, yesterday

Came suddenly

now i think how beautiful those school days were with really no troubles at all . just chatting with friends, sitting at the home watching television,oblivious to all the problems like recession,CGPA,placements.oh really i long for yesterday 

Many lives many masters-Dr. brian weiss

where have we come from,where would we go ,these type of questions must have crossed your mind several a times(for even those who say they are not into these philosophical stuff).As an engineering graduate past life,spirit,soul, many lifetimes all these terms used to look kinda vague to me,but science is just a way to explain the things that are happening and it gives the explanation which our ratinal and logical thinking can digest,but many things do exist in this world which are beyond logic,experiment and rationality, even science is acknowledging this fact by recognising the presence of dark energy , matter and  string  as the most fundamental entity.In this book the writer,a staunch rational thinking supporter,has described the story of his encounter with souls and spirits of other dimensions.The story about a psychiatrist and his young patient whom he was treating for depression it's a fascinating narration of his experiences with past lives,master souls,soul groups and near death experience.Things told in this book have been written by many persons from time to time describing their own experiences .

     One thing which really is thought provoking is that author said that the master soul told him that total 7 spiritual dimensions exists in which soul resides while 4 dimensions are their in which physical body resides, if we add thse two it gives 11 dimensios .Now,a very famous scientific theory, theory of strings says that there are total of 11 dimensions in this world .This book was written based on personal experiences without taking into consideration any scientific theory.When i found this analogy while reading the book it certainly gave me chills that life-death is part of the cycle so next time if you screw up some important thing don't worry you might have done that several times before in your other lifetimes

slumdog millionaire(2008)

biggest release of this year, movie is certainly raising the storm not only with it's award winning streak but also with the controversies due to the portrayal of the dark india(slums).I saw the movie as soon as i came back from home and for the first time i think i have seen the  movie which is notyet  another boring documentary on the slums,poverty and depravity in india.Inspite of sincere efforts by many indian directors most of their movies on these topics looks like documentary and classic which everyone appreciates but no one see.I was really amazed that how come a foreigner made such a movie on indian conditions with such craftiness and show of intricate details.

metallica

gods of thrash metal metallica is the greatest metal band ever,someone might suggest led zeppelin or black sabbath,but certainly i  like metallica above all.the energy and enthusiasm that overwhelms your body whenever you listen to 'fade to black','one' or the unforgiven series just makes you forget all about your messed up life.

the great dictator(1940)

charlie chaplin's most precious gift to cinema,the great dictator is a masterpiece which is a satire on nazism and totalitarianism.movie was made in 1940 during which  raising your voice against hitler and persecution of jews was a taboo.movie was banned in many of the totalitarian states due to the fear of uprising such was the power of movie.I thoroughly enjoyed the comedy by charlie chaplin and even his dialogues as this was the first talkie by him.final speech by charlie chaplin is one of the best  in the history of movies.

"Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say "Do not despair." The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder! Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men---machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have a love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural"

india unbound

well i'll start my bloggers journey by saluting the greatness of our country and describing about the book  which really gives you many reasons to feel proud about your country.Written by Gurcharan das it describes the economy of india from 19th century to present and the greats like G.D.Birla and J.R.D Tata.It's a must read for every indian