Brown Motion

Do people need governing? That is the question that we try to answer every time we contemplate the whole election process. The answer lies in contemplating what might happen if we were not governed by the law of the land. As a species we have evolved to the point that individuals can ascertain what is beneficial to them and their loved ones. In achieving that level of comfort for themselves they seek to extend their sphere of influence in many ways big and small. While pushing this sphere outward or inward, what is beneficial to one can and at times tends to be encroaching on another's sense of freedom and enjoyment at which point the conflict of interest arises. Resolution to such conflicts big and small, local or global, regardless of color, caste, nationality tend to be matters requiring intervention from an astute and experienced individual or a group equipped to navigate the challenge. People believe in the concept (in a democractic society) of allowing the elders ...

Recently survived a 3 day conference of marketing experts and technology crusaders and CEOs (essentially a lot of type 'A' and some D+ personalities) espousing the virtues of what is now commonly refered to as the 'Social Network'. Ah - that is not to say that people did not network prior to the coining of said term - or that they were not social. It is merely depicting a technology enabled access and rapidly scalable version of connecting people that may have at one point been engaged in a relationship - perfunctory or profound; then forgotten of each others' existence after their respective careers or life streams took them afar. Facebook happens to be the 'King of the Hill' and a rapidly ascended King @ that in this space. So what of this concept and its applicability to what are called 'Millenials' (another jargonized word depciting people legal to drink but under the age of 34 today). This demographic (numbering close to 70 Million Ame...

Quite an oxymoron don't you think? I mean - if I did not have anything to say what the heck am I typing for? But such is life these days. Many outlets in the so called broadcasting business or serious journalism for that matter are filling the void with something akin to antimatter. What they publish is actually detrimental for the common good. Of course its just another point of view of where things are. Mine! Take for example the ramblings about the state of the economy. Do we really need a 24 x 7 news channel to make that point? As someone once noted - when you are unemployed the unemployment rate is 100%, no matter what the averages and the government or the so called pundits are yakking. So fear-mongering and ratings battle aside (rated by equally airheaded peers) there is not much that comes our way of intelligent and informed reporting. No matter, the public which is dazed and confused uses it as a tool for passing time - watercooler conversations that again ha...

There is a peculiar tendency for humans to summarize memorable ideas or events or moments in some catchy phrase or anagram - media airheads certainly do their part to contribute to this - they also have a word for that - sound bites. Apparently the origin of this word is credited to Samuel Langhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain. There again I am not sure what it is with this pen name nonsense. Mark did not like his given name or what? What was wrong with Samuel? Pelham Greenville Wodehouse did not seem to mind that - although he is fondly remembered in some circles as PG or his own family refered to him as Plum. Anyway getting back to this idea of catchy terms '9/11' is one such - I think about it because we are on the cusp of the anniversary of a horrible tragedy in American and World history - something dramatic in many ways yet in the scheme of things not comparable to say the genocide in Africa or the mass killings in former Yugoslavia. But somehow the media outlets had...

This summer before it finally wrapped up (as in before the schools began, which is late AUG), we took one last road trip - this time into the heart of the Sierras. The Sierra mountain chain to me represents the alpine wonder next door - as in 5 hour motorable wonderland with many snow capped peaks as high as 11,000 feet. Snow on some adjacent higher elevation peaks in some cases never melts and for someone like me who only likes to see it from a distance and not under my feet; provides a spectacle worth driving for. We also cruised into some other scenic wonders formed by ancient geological events that left alpine lakes in the bowls and valleys between the mountains. Distraction - I want to blog about this whole idea of limitation of the Queen's language forcing a young writers imagination to comparing my adventure to that in the ALPS - wonderful in many ways but not necessarily a Comparison Point I would argue. The Rockies and its subranges which includes the Sierra Nevada in...

Across large and small organizations in the jungle called Corporate America, management struggles with making the quarterly numbers that wall street is looking for, the only score card that matters as it would seem. Very little is understood of the makeup of the leadership that has been put in charge. Understood from a standpoint of their moral and ethical qualities that is. Much similar is the landscape on the local to state to the federal government leadership positions where 'Abuse/Misuse of Power' seems to be an undisclosed feature of the position in question and the only runway one has to navigate is the one that lasts till the next election. It is not easy being moral or ethical. Neither is leadership. To be a true leader requires that these qualities be inherent as one would think. Oddly all of these positions of power are elected or so it would appear; and so to an extent the people in a democracy deserve what they get. Shame on us then? So the question o...

This July I could not find time to blog since we (as in the family unit of 3) were on the road (in the air and on the water as well) a bit. After having wrapped a rather fun filled trip to Orange County (signifying the once extravagant citrus production but now taken over by humans wanting to change their skin tone through solar exposure on the sand) earlier in July we headed to the south coast of the Mexican United States - specifically to the state of Jalisco and to the city of Puerto Vallarta (IATA code is PVR). This city by the coast is part of the Mexican Riviera and affords its visitors with a view of lush tropical jungles on the slopes of the Sierra Madre on the east with sweeping coastlines and rocky coves making the western seafront. Our place of residence was a resort in the famous 'Bahia de Banderas'. It had its own beach front and a slew of wading options where one could choose to either get hammered by the natural salinity of the waves or loiter in the chlor...

So I get this request from a young student who is trying to understand what blogs do for the blogger and the bloggee. She wants to compare the blog metrics as they relate to the adult versus a kid blog. Good topic to blog on I thought. Remember even Hollywood has found material to make a movie on this subject - sort of - mixing the recipes of a cook and a blogger in the form of Julie and Julia. What I found interesting about the whole idea (of blogging that is) is that it allows a wandering mind (young or old) to find a forum to encapsulate its random thoughts and make them available to the world wide web of eyeballs to perhaps review (at no cost to the blogger) and potentially get a different point of view; to learn something new themselves; to discover a new concept or idea that may in turn lead to bigger and better things. It is an instant publishing miracle of the 21st century that requires the blogger to be his or her own editor in chief. That said the blogosphere has de...

Another (pet) peeve that I want to ramble about - people with pets. Not your ramdom iguana or python or tarantula or any other exotic or semi exotic critter that they tend to harbor inside their own room or four or however many walls, but the ones that are available for public display. Dogs and cats would fall into this category. What's with that? People that seem to have some sort of affection for these creatures on four legs seem to be totally aghast about someone who completely abhors the idea of wandering around a four legged mammal as part of their life. I say that as humans we are a different species and should try to comingle with like minded versions of life vs. those that are designed to lead a less intellectual path. Mixing does not work. Cleaning after they decide to drop their load definitely does NOT! That right there is one of my best peeves - people that will take their problems on a leash (or sometimes not) and have them leave their defecated mess on someone el...

Let me ruminate on this subject while I am enjoying my awesome Margarita (as in a wonderfully stimulating beverage combining the alcoholic elements from fermented cactus and a sweet lime based additive). The news business has found another idle topic to ramble about. Jobs! This word has taken the form of a noun, a verb, an adjective (as in jobless recovery); and largely media fodder to strum their broken guitar when nothing else seems to be available to publish. Root cause for any situation that people face is ultimately tracable to supply and demand. If people wanted jobs they would figure out a way to get themselves the resources they needed to become eligible for aforementioned job. In the absence of access to said resource they would be jobless. Admittedly the availability of resources is not uniform and hence there is a net migration of people to places and locations that are rich in the supply side i.e. availability of jobs. The latter again is a function of an enterprise se...

So what does one make of the largest man made disaster in the petroleum business on US shores? Yes - the one and only British export that has hit the US waters and now soil (the beach kind). First - I think that when attempting something treacherous, there are inherent risks associated with the endeavor. It is after all a risk - reward game and this time the risks have come to haunt. Humans naturally prone to enjoying the harvest when times are good will become complacent (many examples including the mortgage funded financial meltdown notwithstanding) and will eventually face the piper. Second - Now that there has been a catastrophe comes the denial and eventual acceptance of the gravity (or in this case buoyancy) of the situation. It is grave (for the many wildlife literally that habit the ecosystems in the gulf) and likely to get worse for a period of time before the human ingenuity again kicks in and attempts to best mitigate the hazards. Third - Action in the form of all the h...

I got thinking about this whole seemingly new epidemic of allergies in kids of Indian origin that grow up in the vast praries to mile high cities to frigid latitudes of the North American continent. Could it be that after millenia of having biological hierarchies spending time in tropical climates the genetic adaptation of the next generation is tuned or aligned with the world they would be expected to wander in? There are not enough data points for example of Norwegians settling en masse in Chennai for years and then finding what symptomatic behavior their children exhibit. It has not yet happened - the flat world could change that. My kid has nut allergies - he is lactose intolerant - he breaks into hives in the presence of cooked meat are chemistry and biology's newest finds. As the medics on this continent try to figure out the antidote I believe they are again only scratching the skin (figuratively of course). On the same thought vein - I also got to thinking of all the grea...

I am going to pontificate on the messaging mania that has enveloped the present day people. Specifically devices and channels designed to communicate with other fellow humans. At least, that is the purported theory. These communique take variety of forms and are differentiated by the sender and their overt or covert intent to establish the same. I will cite a few parties that attempt to promote the use of these channels and devices - 1. Manufacturers or their Marketing Partners of the said device or service - their objective is very simple - you 'need' to buy their product. Note that they 'NEED' you to - never mind what you think about the utility. Profits and happy shareholders is their primary objective. Making life simpler, better etc. for the users is a secondary consequence after the profitability portion of the equation has been addressed. This would apply from anything that ranges from peanuts to automobiles to digital cameras to music and video sharing de...

No it is not a title of an epic journey in far away land but rather the story of my taste buds. Literally or 'tangy'bly in a manner of speaking. Hailing from the Indian subcontinent and exposed in later life to culinary creations of other cultures in metros around North America I have truly found myself lucky to have the experience. I believe in the maxim - one must live to eat and not the other way around. If not for good food and equal measure of good laughter life as I know it is not worth its weight in salt (while we are on the prandial vein). My memories of good food in India range from the Taco Bell of yester year - the famous and timeless 'Vada Pav/w'; a mashed, curried and fried potato immersed in gram flour batter inserted in a lusciously warm pillow that is the bread accompanied by a dazzling red garlique concoction called chutney - to the exquisitely crafted 'Quail Curry' with butter naan (leavened bread prepared in a earth kiln) at an upscale food ...

It fascinates me that our world today is filled with an ever changing cast of 'Buzz Words or Events' that the lawmakers and media (sometimes create and then) tend to groom to create varying levels of panic (to those who are bought into believing what the media says) or excitement depending on the nature of the 'Buzz'. The latest is 'EURO CRISIS'. As far as my memory serves (and that is questionable) ever since the events of the first gulf war courtesy former Prez Bush; to 9/11 to the continuation of the now newly defined 'War on Terror' to the golfing scandal to a serious oil spill to a potential '2012 Mayan Apocalypse' we have witnessed what could be described as a systematic degradation of the 'Human Possibilty'. The Apple and Google inventions (for which I have tremendous respect) not withstanding our society has got adept at finger pointing (perhaps we as a species always did it but somehow have developed extra digits or more acuity ...

This weekend after many years was remarkable for me. I got a chance to go out and volunteer. The work was to help host a gathering of eminent and successful Asian Americans or folks living in the US of A who have an Asian heritage that came to talk about (in my case - listen to) 'Reinventing for the Times'. As our world shifts gears literally and figuratively, evident in the flattening of work environments and cultural mish mash aided by tools and technology (with a volcano and couple of quakes thrown in for good measure - remember all medication comes with STIR WELL instructions?) this event was an opportunity to mingle and absorb the fabulous things that people from seemingly modest to down right adverse backgrounds have achieved on sheer WILL. My role was to assist with setting up for the 2 day gala and largely provide the registration and welcome to attendees and guests and speakers. Many moons ago I had a chance to give back in a different format and those times reminded...

The title may sound vaguely polynesian to some but is again the use of the Hindi langugage expressed in the Queen's alphabet. The flipping of the calendar to the next month (MAY) brings 'Hope'. This for several reasons - 1. The month signifies to me that there 'may' now be a chance to get some stubbornly inert things done after all 2. Of course the weather is changing and getting warmer which signals variety of outdoor activity can now begin in earnest (i.e. hiking, sitting - in the sun that is, or just plain playing in the park with the offspring) 3. When school is out it also tends to reduce some effort on the parental coaching side and gives us parents a chance to recharge some batteries (if they have any cycles left) Basically the point is that MAY has a feel to it unlike say November or March (latter sounds like a terse command) or unlike TUESDAY as Newman (from the Seinfeld episode) once sagely observed.

Just read a pesudo fiction from Michael Crichton which highlights the challenge faced by modern man in any nation on earth; more so in the United States - the preponderence of media and marketing associated to incite fear amongst the citizenry. The book at times is repetitive in its plot and has the usual good guy escapades from serious calamity including getting eaten (as in kid stories) but drives a good point until the very end where apparently Mr. Crichton has disclosed his personal position on the 'state of affairs' and ends by stating that 'he for one has no agenda'. That I found hard to believe in its absolute since clearly the very notion of publishing the thoughts was motivated by monetary opportunity. None the less its not as outrageously disturbing or hilarious as Larry King interviewing guests about their marital situations and issues, or one of the Kardashian sisters attempting to rescue an animal. But back to the main idea in the 'Title' of the st...

Recently watched a Hindi (for those that speak only 1 language - this is an Indo Aryan language that evolved around the 10th century) pheelum (or cinematic production) called 'Three Idiots'. I liked this movie. It takes the viewer on a journey through the uniquely Indian drama of securing admission, putting oneself through and (trying to) graciously exit the world of an undergraduate degree program in the University system. The cast is made up of some veteran and not so mature actors of the Hindi filmdom but come together in a brilliant portrayal of the trials of an average student trying to find his way through a complex maze of varying expectations none of them their own. It depicts the various cast of characters one would encounter in a school of higher learning in India including the idiotic and the pedantic; the demure and the mature. This applies to both students and faculty both set in their own obstinate paradigms of what it is they are trying to achieve. While the dram...

The devil's workshop is at it again dusting the cobwebs of what are considered everlasting ideas and human beliefs for millenia. One of them is 'Matrimony'. It is not a misspelling in the title but perhaps a sliver of doubt upstairs (in the noggin) about the whole notion of that term. In the world we live in today the overall construct has come far from having the adjective 'holy' or 'blissful' or lastly 'everlasting' to be attached (almost synonymous at one time as one could argue - depends on which one is arguing of course) with it. Be it at whatever social station couples are having a hard time at it. Scores of science and research has gone into trying to analyze and understand the drivers and the shot guns (if you will) of making this extremely demanding structure survive or not. Various geographies on the planet show varying levels of maturity in what constitutes a 'Energizer' pairing vs. letting it as they say 'fall apart'. C...

There is definitely more to it than meets the paper. What finally appears has to be legible or coherent or both and if really lucky appealing to a certain audience that it draws some criticism - good or bad. Starts with reams of drivel followed by condensed drivel eventually ending up in a bound or not so bound (as in case of this blog) content, consuming the ether with more lumps of thoughts (that may or may not be thought through after all). A lot has been written and continues to be - with today's technology is also available quickly to the masses for their consumption. We have indeed come a ways from the Moses and Guttenberg days - this glass screen I am using to tap out this cacophony of words is testament - not able to rid of those pesky biblical terms in this monologue is a situation I need to address with self. We humans feel the urge to communicate, whether relevant or irrelevant to our survival as a species. I know I am guilty as charged. Today's technology allow...

What is a brand? One of the definitions is - a kind of variety of something distinguished by some distinctive characteristic(s). 'Distinguish or Distinct' are the operative words here. The distinction is said to be in the eyes of the beholder. Many beholden candidates make for a well known brand. Today more than ever due either to the world pancaking (read flat) phenomenon or collapse of variety of so called unassilable and storied names in industry or partly due to information dissemination at high velocity the concept of and appeal to said beholders is becoming less relevant. This is true of automobiles, garments, packaged foods, financial institutions and scores of electronic gadgets to name a few examples. Citigroup, Lehman, Ford, Toyota, Jaguar, Tiger etc, come to mind. Notice the subtle move from civilization to the jungle kind in a manner of speaking...brand relevance is becoming short lived for sure akin to half life of a highly radioactive isotope. To digress a little...

So to keep it so - flowing - that is - there has to be more on the earn side of the equation and less on the spend side. Else it would be negative you see? That is when you would go bankrupt etc. It is assumed that a good sense for cash flow implies ability to stay liquid - financially that is. Many get caught in the trap of being stressed since they seem to not pay much attention to the spend side of the equation while coming with innovative ways to improve their earn methods. This can be said to happen at the individual level to small corporations to large Fortune companies to the largest governments on this planet. What I am still trying to figure out in light of the financial chaos is who is truly holding the bag? All the wise men that came up with the convoluted math to make the spin clearly forgot Heisenberg's uncertaintly principle - you cannot predict two things at once with certainty. We know there are collossal losses but we do not know who is on the losing end. ...

I began dwelling again on the whole idea of 'being'. Not to go full on Ontological here but I cannot help it. As a race we consider ourselves the Darwinian winners - associating quotes like 'those that survive are not the strongest or the smartest but those that are most adaptable' with our species, yet in a very primitive way I wonder if we truly have mastered the art of survival. Then again is it important to just 'survive' or ' to live'? The latter carries a sense of worth associated with the whole activity of 'being'. So then what is this 'state of being'? A rock, a mollusc, a fern or a human are all around for thousands of years on this planet but we believe we are superior. We claim to understand the hierarchy of organisms (and non organisms) in which we view our position (Home Sapiens) as being at the top of the food chain. Hmmm...could we be incapable of comprehending another 'form of being' with a better developed adaptiv...

Our (me and my better than 90% partner - notice the mathematical and grammatical accuracy here - when people often talk about the better half - they are only half joking) first encounter with this continent's fascination for sports (and things related to it) became apparent on our second morning in the island state of Hawaii. I was sitting in the restaurant enjoying the Honolulu Advertiser - talk about a candid proclamation (few in media have the guts to say it like it is) when I heard 'OH JAY or CAFI'? somewhat addressed to me. That sounded like a question but I had no idea what that meant. It was the polynesian server inquiring with mild curiousity trying to size me up for what sort of beverage preference I might indicate. But being ignorant of the formality of being asked what I would like to drink rather than a generic - 'what do you want?' or 'Yees?' type of question which I was used to in my motherland I took a few seconds to get on the wavelength. Hav...

Watched a movie with this title last night. Its an oxymoron - simply complicated. I enjoyed it since it got me thinking about our life on this planet. Very little thinking ensues these days after watching a hollywood production and it is refreshing when one does. Although this is again a personal perspective I am sure there are times when there is a need to not have to think when spending couple of hours of time -- being zoned out can be good to your health. So back to the Surrogates - it is borderline sci-fi, metaphysical but also makes you wonder if we are all merely puppets that are controlled from another planet (spatial location) by grand chess masters who are having a laugh at our expense. After all what we think and believe are perspectives of our own species specific to a region or geography and mostly dictated by popular vote. But could this all be tailored and being watched like a hollywood production for the entertainment of another species? Reality show of all reality...

After 16 years of having left the country of my birth I have almost spent equal parts of my life in either country (i.e. birthplace and the place where I am naturalized as they say). Hence the name for self - Hybree(i)d. Not to be confused with the eco friendly mode of conveyance that green folks are getting themselves into. Having got past the introductions I wanted to start jotting down what it means to have lived on two continents literally on opposite sides of the planet. Growing up was YIN and the adulthood is the YANG? Growing up was chaos and unpredictable moments while now its process centric and reliable? I prefer the latter. I can relate from experience that not knowing if you could get from A to B and what to expect when you get to B can be unnerving. Here in the 'land of opportunity' the forefathers (or some wise president and his planners) thought of all that and when the going was good got some Interstate highways built that convey folks literally from any cor...