Perils of Idolizing

I think the two words 'Role Model' are over-rated. The problem is not so much in the idea of having one as much as the risk someone runs into when they discover that their so called role model was not so model after all. Perhaps that word has come to signify almost god like status of the model to the worshipee, where cracks in the armor lead to tremendous devestation of faith. Many a role models are and continue to be celebrities in their sphere of influence. From political leaders to star athletes to brilliant music personalities and art exemplaries these individuals have acheived fantastic heights in their space seemingly impossible for a human. Yet they did that through perseverance or hard work or mix of luck and moxie (I am thrilled to use this word moxie for the first time). So when they realize that they too are human and err and erred big they see that they create a storm of publicity of the negative kind and depending on their journalistic connections either are quickly forgotten or berated till they cease to exist (entirely). Examples abound on all continents in all colors and all religions - from a President of the most powerful country to a large management consulting business to a wealthy wall street house to Hollywood and the world of sports. Most recently a police inspector in India who fought corruption was deemed to be in cahoots with some nefarious characters and eliminating some other rotten characters for the money. Oh well - sometimes you use a crook to catch a crook people. I think bottom line is that people are gullible and invest too much in one particular thing - in doing so they do that at their own peril. I know this sounds rather harsh and not very trusting but you got to count the two sides (cost benefit) of any transaction and decide for yourself. Whether buying that flat screen TV at a retail outlet or booking that airline ticket with an airline that was awarded the best in the business - you should remember CAVEAT EMPTOR! Faith can crack even with the common man as amplified by the success of Jerry Springer on paid television - there is an audience that relates to what he shows. I almost want to vote for a new FAITH INDEX. Screw the Dow Jones and the Standardly Poor and other mumbo jumbo like GPA, GMAT and Corruption Index. Just define a metric like IQ that would rank a person on a scale that shows how reliable they are - the low end can be LOWLY BASTARD to the high end being AMAZING ALIEN (you think you will find this item on earth - you are smoking). Job interviews to credit worthiness to marriage material analysis all pegged to this one standard - how reliable is this bloke (or blokette)? Match maker websites (run by some desi/IIT created algorithms) are tying the knots worldwide (talk about digitizing our relationships) so why not just crank one for identifying the true IDOL? Now that is a real gem coming from an IDLE mind.

But What If We're Wrong?

I attempted to read this book by author Chuck Klosterman backward to forward but it started hurting my brain so I decided to stop and do it like any other publication in the English language. Start from page 1 and move to the right. Witty, caustic and thought provoking this is a book you want to read if you believe that the status quo might, just might be wrong. At times bordering on being contrarian about most things around us it tries to zero in on the notion of what makes anything believable and certain in our minds. The fact that there is a fact itself is ironic. Something analogous to the idea that you can never predict the future because there is no future. Many books and movies have tried to play on this concept - best that I recollect (I think I am) was 'The Truman Show'. This book by Klosterman attempts to provoke the reader to at least contemplate that what they think they know may be wrong. He uses examples like concept of gravity, and how it ...

You are important to us

Followed by piano music. Followed by 'we are experiencing heavier than usual call volume'. Sounds macabre like bleeding during menstruation or after a ghastly attack with a weapon on a hemophiliac. Sorry Mrs. Johnson but it appears little Gertrude here has been bleeding heavier than usual what with her night time activities competing with the woodchucks in your neighborhood. Some services even go as far as to pick a random day to say - 'if you were to call us during the Chinese lunar month when the moon is axiomatically hugging the polar star with Jupiter intravenous when call volume is light'. Well I will be damned. I thought I had checked with my astrologer before I placed this well focused call but I guess this is what you get for listening to a quack. Umph! I am not sure which marketing genius came up with this personal touch concept of informing the caller that you are really a jackass for actually calling the customer serv...

Of Jims and Johns

Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...

Brown Motion

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