Rajnikanth would have had a great future as a comedian even if he had not become a super star in tamil cinema.
His so called stunts are totally humorous.
Check this really hilarious ad out.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Power of Pre Conceived Notions
As anyone who works in a Silicon Valley company (or a company with similar outlook) would endorse, there comes a time in an individual's career when she has to choose between an Individual Contributor(IC) role or a managerial role. ICs in general, are viewed as anti-social nerds with technical brilliance. They would be a square peg in the round managerial hole. On the other hand, the managers have the ability to lead teams, solve administrative problems, provide strategy and vision etc.
This model of strict demarcation works great in many cases. But as with anything, attempts to "strait jacket" these would usually be extremely counter productive. I have been in situations where there is a firm division between what they call the managerial growth path and the technology growth path and never the twain shall meet.
Consider my example for instance. I have always been technically strong which in silicon valley parlance means I understand code and programming well. But I want to grow beyond technical ability and want to handle tasks that are more organizational, strategic and visionary. I had been thwarted in these attempts by some of my ex bosses who had fixed perceptions about the managerial role. Some of them think that I would become a bad manager and also lose out on my technical abilities if I choose what they call the "managerial growth path". This myopic view is the most prominent reason for the abundance of "dunce" managers with very limited vision and a general inability to guide people.
This was in line with a discussion that I was having with a colleague of mine recently. We tend to be seen by people according to their pre-conceived notions. If you are viewed as a geek, then you cannot be a manager. So no matter what you do everything will reinforce the geeky thing and negate the managerial ability.
And if such a person who has pigeon holed you, happens to be your boss, then God save you! He is going to create situations that would make you perform sub-optimally in places, that he with his infinite wisdom deems, are beyond your ken. This kind of attitude is extremely detrimental to personal growth. Makes you really want to scream out sometimes.
This made me remember a poem that I had read when I was a kid. It is about a hypochondriac king who refused to believe he was hale and hearty.
Read the poem for yourself - "The Enchanted Shirt" by John Hay.
This model of strict demarcation works great in many cases. But as with anything, attempts to "strait jacket" these would usually be extremely counter productive. I have been in situations where there is a firm division between what they call the managerial growth path and the technology growth path and never the twain shall meet.
Consider my example for instance. I have always been technically strong which in silicon valley parlance means I understand code and programming well. But I want to grow beyond technical ability and want to handle tasks that are more organizational, strategic and visionary. I had been thwarted in these attempts by some of my ex bosses who had fixed perceptions about the managerial role. Some of them think that I would become a bad manager and also lose out on my technical abilities if I choose what they call the "managerial growth path". This myopic view is the most prominent reason for the abundance of "dunce" managers with very limited vision and a general inability to guide people.
This was in line with a discussion that I was having with a colleague of mine recently. We tend to be seen by people according to their pre-conceived notions. If you are viewed as a geek, then you cannot be a manager. So no matter what you do everything will reinforce the geeky thing and negate the managerial ability.
And if such a person who has pigeon holed you, happens to be your boss, then God save you! He is going to create situations that would make you perform sub-optimally in places, that he with his infinite wisdom deems, are beyond your ken. This kind of attitude is extremely detrimental to personal growth. Makes you really want to scream out sometimes.
This made me remember a poem that I had read when I was a kid. It is about a hypochondriac king who refused to believe he was hale and hearty.
Read the poem for yourself - "The Enchanted Shirt" by John Hay.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Sequels and the current financial crisis.
We seem to be living in a world that does not know when to call it quits. For instance, if a good movie is created it has to have its sequels. Exorcist was quickly followed by Exorcist II and so on till the whole world knew about the entire family tree of exorcists. Chicken soup for the (generic) soul got succeeded by a spasm of chicken soups for every species of soul extant in the universe. So you had one for the Pet Lover's soul, father and son soul, adopted soul,mother's soul, preteen soul,ocean lover's soul etc.- Irreverently speaking, there is one for every a$$hole (no offence meant.. just could not resist this diabolical urge to use the pun) And what if a pre teen mother loves visiting acquariums and keeps a rabbit? She has to read like four books now!
This "keep a good thing going" spirit has infiltrated almost every walk of life. That was how most of these sagas were born be it in the comics (Mickey Mouse etc.), children's books (Harry Potter etc.) or even good old Jeeves of Mr. P G Wodehouse. What makes this complex is the fact that each saga branched out into a million other "child" sagas. Look for instance at every good tv sitcom. There are follow up sitcoms by the various people who acted in the original sitcom. Cheers and Fraser for instance.
The sequels originate because of many reasons in my opinion:
Anyways, what has all this to do with the current financial crisis? In my opinion, this trend of spawning sequels got extended recklessly into the financial domain,thereby proliferating a slew of products. Consider the situation for yourself. The US was having the biggest boom in the housing industry due to favorable interest rates coupled with escalating house costs due to the disparity between supply and demand. The direct beneficiaries of this unprecedented demand, besides the housing industry itself, were the mortgage banks.
But there mushroomed multiple markets that got set up to milk this "housing cow dry". The good ole housing loan got repackaged with exotic, tongue twisting gobbeldygook such as "High Grade Structured Credit Enhanced Leverage Fund", CDOs (Collateral Debt Obligations), Structured Investment Vehicles etc. which were sold to people all over the world. Not only that, these products were insured by other products such as Credit Default Swaps. Are you impressed by all this knowledge from me?? Dont be.. Just read this rather enlightening article.
At some point in time, the products were so far removed from the housing industry that people did not even realize that a part of their portfolio was dependent on the home prices in America. For instance, if you bought AIG shares, would you have thought that your fate depended on the prices of American homes? So, when the housing bubble finally burst, people felt like the carpet was dragged from under their feet!
To me, this incident smacks of excess greed. But the laugh is on me since I have also inadvertently allowed myself to get embroiled in this quagmire. Let us hope that the spaghetti would wind itself back to the spindle!
PS: You should check this rather hilarious video that talks about exactly what i talked about.
This "keep a good thing going" spirit has infiltrated almost every walk of life. That was how most of these sagas were born be it in the comics (Mickey Mouse etc.), children's books (Harry Potter etc.) or even good old Jeeves of Mr. P G Wodehouse. What makes this complex is the fact that each saga branched out into a million other "child" sagas. Look for instance at every good tv sitcom. There are follow up sitcoms by the various people who acted in the original sitcom. Cheers and Fraser for instance.
The sequels originate because of many reasons in my opinion:
- The original author deems that the last word has not been said on a particular topic.
- The author thinks that he should get specialized to attend to the needs of a particular sub topic in more detail. Ex: The Chicken soup series.
- Plagiarizers want to ride the wave of the original topic's popularity
- Others just want to milk the cow dry!
Anyways, what has all this to do with the current financial crisis? In my opinion, this trend of spawning sequels got extended recklessly into the financial domain,thereby proliferating a slew of products. Consider the situation for yourself. The US was having the biggest boom in the housing industry due to favorable interest rates coupled with escalating house costs due to the disparity between supply and demand. The direct beneficiaries of this unprecedented demand, besides the housing industry itself, were the mortgage banks.
But there mushroomed multiple markets that got set up to milk this "housing cow dry". The good ole housing loan got repackaged with exotic, tongue twisting gobbeldygook such as "High Grade Structured Credit Enhanced Leverage Fund", CDOs (Collateral Debt Obligations), Structured Investment Vehicles etc. which were sold to people all over the world. Not only that, these products were insured by other products such as Credit Default Swaps. Are you impressed by all this knowledge from me?? Dont be.. Just read this rather enlightening article.
At some point in time, the products were so far removed from the housing industry that people did not even realize that a part of their portfolio was dependent on the home prices in America. For instance, if you bought AIG shares, would you have thought that your fate depended on the prices of American homes? So, when the housing bubble finally burst, people felt like the carpet was dragged from under their feet!
To me, this incident smacks of excess greed. But the laugh is on me since I have also inadvertently allowed myself to get embroiled in this quagmire. Let us hope that the spaghetti would wind itself back to the spindle!
PS: You should check this rather hilarious video that talks about exactly what i talked about.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Laughter Therapy
As a person who has travelled to different parts of the world, I did get a chance to experience massage at different places. But today's experience at an ayurvedic massage center at Hyderabad, has to rank as one of the funniest ones ever.
In case the mention of massage conjures in you a calm, peaceful atmosphere that would facilitate relaxation, then you would do well to refrain from patronizing the place that I alluded to above. For by doing so, you would disillusion yourself from all your preconceived notions about massage and also in the process add to it an element of humor. And when I say that this experience was funny, you better believe it - it was rip-roaringly funny. So let me see if my pen is sufficient to capture the humor in this experience.
I went to this place at Jubilee Hills. It was located in a rented house. The owner bade me to be seated and charged me for the massage upfront. That was kinda strange but I figured that since it was late, the guy just wanted to leave. So he pocketed the loot upfront. Anyways, in a few minutes, two guys (my would be masseurs) came in and motioned me to go in. They did not "look" very professional - whatever the hell it means. Somehow I was not expecting this. Anyways, since the owner had already taken my money I thought I might as well get through with this. Besides, this may turn into an experience that is not so bad. Right? Wrong. So to continue, my masseurs escorted me to an inner room.
This room had a couple of low wattage bulbs and a bright fluorescent tube light. I initially thought that there should be some internal sanctum where these guys would do the deed, but the presence of a large formidable massage table in the typical keralite style right at the center of this brightly lit room, belied my belief. So I go in and was asked to strip right IN FRONT of these two guys who made no attempt to look the other way. In fact, they offered to help me tie the "loin cloth" to cover my crotch. The loin cloth, for the non cognoscenti, is a traditional Indian equivalent of a bikini bottom. I guess, it does its job pretty well. But I was just a tad conscious. Besides, it was not really very comfortable having these two ogling urchins at the back of me and inspecting my every move. But be that as it may, I did what I was expected to do and before I can say "hello" I was all stripped except for the loin cloth which was trying its best to protect me. I felt like a performing artist in a brightly lit auditorium!
In a feeble attempt at protecting my chastity, I did ask the two to at least be gracious enough to give me a towel. They readily acceded to the request and handed me a white handloom towel that was more like a napkin. It was probably all of half a feet long! Anyways, I wound it around my frame and proceeded to the massage table where I was directed to goto. But any relief that I had was short lived since the two seized the towel unceremoniously and cast it aside stating that it would be in the way. Then they proceeded to rub oil on my face and head after which I could not even open my eyes. So, here I was in a brightly lit room, with two guys whom I would hesitate to meet down a dark alley, totally naked save for an inadequate loin cloth, with my eyes blinded by oil (and later tears since I was uproarious with laughter visualizing myself) and lying face up. The humor of the situation was so poignant that all effort at suppressing my mirth was futile. And to add insult to injury, my masseurs also seemed to notice the comedy in the situation. So all the three of us were guffawing in the most crazy manner without any thought about the imminent massage. It did accentuate the imagery of the performing artist in a brightly lit auditorium that I initially had. It looks like I really have an appreciative audience to boot!
But all good things must come to an end. So once my spectators were satisfied that the last drop of humor has been extracted out of the situation, their laughter subsided slowly into intermittent chuckles and finally culminated in their grinning at me (though I could hardly notice their grin with all the tears in my eyes). So, now they started their massage. My wife always is under the impression that I do not have too many ticklish spots on my body. But these two guys managed to prove her wrong in the most outstanding way possible. Either their ministrations have made me extra sensitive or more probably I just about lost it. It looked as if the laughter dam has burst today and all the bottled up laughter started bubbling out with great gusto. There was hardly a single minute when I did not bellow with uncontrollable mirth.
As the massage(sic) wound its way to the end, I was not experiencing any lightening of my pressure points but I did experience a stress relief with all this laughter. So much so that I did generously tip my therapists before leaving the place. It might not have been the therapy I expected but it did do its job!
In case the mention of massage conjures in you a calm, peaceful atmosphere that would facilitate relaxation, then you would do well to refrain from patronizing the place that I alluded to above. For by doing so, you would disillusion yourself from all your preconceived notions about massage and also in the process add to it an element of humor. And when I say that this experience was funny, you better believe it - it was rip-roaringly funny. So let me see if my pen is sufficient to capture the humor in this experience.
I went to this place at Jubilee Hills. It was located in a rented house. The owner bade me to be seated and charged me for the massage upfront. That was kinda strange but I figured that since it was late, the guy just wanted to leave. So he pocketed the loot upfront. Anyways, in a few minutes, two guys (my would be masseurs) came in and motioned me to go in. They did not "look" very professional - whatever the hell it means. Somehow I was not expecting this. Anyways, since the owner had already taken my money I thought I might as well get through with this. Besides, this may turn into an experience that is not so bad. Right? Wrong. So to continue, my masseurs escorted me to an inner room.
This room had a couple of low wattage bulbs and a bright fluorescent tube light. I initially thought that there should be some internal sanctum where these guys would do the deed, but the presence of a large formidable massage table in the typical keralite style right at the center of this brightly lit room, belied my belief. So I go in and was asked to strip right IN FRONT of these two guys who made no attempt to look the other way. In fact, they offered to help me tie the "loin cloth" to cover my crotch. The loin cloth, for the non cognoscenti, is a traditional Indian equivalent of a bikini bottom. I guess, it does its job pretty well. But I was just a tad conscious. Besides, it was not really very comfortable having these two ogling urchins at the back of me and inspecting my every move. But be that as it may, I did what I was expected to do and before I can say "hello" I was all stripped except for the loin cloth which was trying its best to protect me. I felt like a performing artist in a brightly lit auditorium!
In a feeble attempt at protecting my chastity, I did ask the two to at least be gracious enough to give me a towel. They readily acceded to the request and handed me a white handloom towel that was more like a napkin. It was probably all of half a feet long! Anyways, I wound it around my frame and proceeded to the massage table where I was directed to goto. But any relief that I had was short lived since the two seized the towel unceremoniously and cast it aside stating that it would be in the way. Then they proceeded to rub oil on my face and head after which I could not even open my eyes. So, here I was in a brightly lit room, with two guys whom I would hesitate to meet down a dark alley, totally naked save for an inadequate loin cloth, with my eyes blinded by oil (and later tears since I was uproarious with laughter visualizing myself) and lying face up. The humor of the situation was so poignant that all effort at suppressing my mirth was futile. And to add insult to injury, my masseurs also seemed to notice the comedy in the situation. So all the three of us were guffawing in the most crazy manner without any thought about the imminent massage. It did accentuate the imagery of the performing artist in a brightly lit auditorium that I initially had. It looks like I really have an appreciative audience to boot!
But all good things must come to an end. So once my spectators were satisfied that the last drop of humor has been extracted out of the situation, their laughter subsided slowly into intermittent chuckles and finally culminated in their grinning at me (though I could hardly notice their grin with all the tears in my eyes). So, now they started their massage. My wife always is under the impression that I do not have too many ticklish spots on my body. But these two guys managed to prove her wrong in the most outstanding way possible. Either their ministrations have made me extra sensitive or more probably I just about lost it. It looked as if the laughter dam has burst today and all the bottled up laughter started bubbling out with great gusto. There was hardly a single minute when I did not bellow with uncontrollable mirth.
As the massage(sic) wound its way to the end, I was not experiencing any lightening of my pressure points but I did experience a stress relief with all this laughter. So much so that I did generously tip my therapists before leaving the place. It might not have been the therapy I expected but it did do its job!
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