Quotidian Quests

Something that my friend wrote on his blog.

"Value relationships and people from the past; they are the ones you will remember and seek most in the future."

"As life goes by, we construct stories & develop perceptions; not only about who we are but also about who we were, who we were trying to be, who we though we could, should or would be and who we believed we wanted to be. Of course, the perceptions aren't restricted only to questions about our'selves', the world and a thorough understanding of it (whatever that means to you); it's as much a part of our being as the self is."
- This particular paragraph was something that I had been thinking of for a long time but could never find the ability to word it. :)

Warren Buffett

Excerpt from Buffett's letter to BRK's shareholders for 2009.


" And now a painful confession: Last year your chairman closed the book on a very expensive business fiasco entirely of his own making.

For many years I had struggled to think of side products that we could offer our millions of loyal GEICO customers. Unfortunately, I finally succeeded, coming up with a brilliant insight that we should market our own credit card. I reasoned that GEICO policyholders were likely to be good credit risks and, assuming we offered an attractive card, would likely favor us with their business. We got business all right - but of the wrong type.

Our pre-tax losses from credit-card operations came to about $6.3 million before I finally woke up. We then sold our $98 million portfolio of troubled receivables for 55¢ on the dollar, losing an additional $44 million.

GEICO’s managers, it should be emphasized, were never enthusiastic about my idea. They warned me that instead of getting the cream of GEICO’s customers we would get the – – – – – well, let’s call it the non-cream. I subtly indicated that I was older and wiser.

I was just older. "

Humble and forthright, and possibly, a facade (But I choose not to see it that way!).


He ended the letter with:
" P.S. Come by rail. "

Tiru's Reviews

So, I decided to create a new blog. I will write about movies on this blog.

Reality

Reality is a belief;
Emotions, actions and reactions are derived from reality.
But beliefs are... beliefs.
Beliefs can well be unreal.

Young and Found

"I feel old and lost... but wait;
If I am old, I would have found myself and I wouldn't be lost.
And if I am lost, then I would have to be young because only young people are lost.
I can't be both at the same time!!!"

Sachin

So, what do I love about Sachin Tendulkar?
He holds way too many cricket records;
He can unite cricket fans across the globe;
He made me watch a cricket innings today after a long long time;
He is 5 feet 5 inches tall;
He has a very unusual (soft) voice;
He doesn't seem to talk much on the ground, but has been referred to as one of the worst sledgers ever by Glen McGrath (That's what I remember Glen saying in an interview).
Humility?
Focus.

Basicland and Sorrowland

Well, this conflicts with 'Tirukafunda', but this write-up speaks volumes about human behaviour / behavior (Bah!).

It talks of a promised land that fell astray. The possible demise of a great success.

Nick Drake

Poetry is emotional.

"When the day is done
Down to earth then sinks the sun
Along with everything that was lost and won
*Just like everything that was said and done*
When the day is done....

When the part is through
Seems so very sad for you
Didn't do the things you meant to do
Now there's no time to start anew
Now the part is through." - Nick Drake




"Time has told me
You're a rare rare find
A troubled cure
For a troubled mind.

And time has told me
Not to ask for more
Someday our ocean
Will find its shore.

So I`ll leave the ways that are making me be
What I really don't want to be
Leave the ways that are making me love
What I really don't want to love." - Nick Drake


"Please give me second grace
Please give me a second face
I've fallen far down
The first time around
Now I just sit on the ground in your way

Now, if it's time for recompense for what's done
Come, come sit down on the fence in the sun
And the clouds will roll by
And we'll never deny
It's really too hard for the fly." - Nick Drake

Dealing with Pain

People always mask their pains in society. I believe that one must have come across the notion of how green the other side appears to be. It doesn't pay to disclose pain and furor, especially to unknowns. Disclosing it to knowns is even more treacherous because it takes a large amount of conviction in one's beliefs.



However, there is relief and contentment in unburdening oneself in front of one's knowns. But who are your knowns? And do they change?
This is one of the most humourous things I think of regularly; nothing will remain and all shall fade. The knowns change and you change. And no matter how much we want to grasp at things, things will never remain, unless by their own accordance.
Then again, here is a thought... How often have we thrown away those we once held dear and that we once held precious in pursuit of what seemed greener or easier? How often have we grown scared of taking steps and venturing into what seems unknown? We are the same, unless we decide to be Alexander Supertramp. The real noodle is, will we realise our follies or will we fill the gaps and find our peace? Will the ghosts of the past come to haunt us, asking us... what happened?

Cliff

Rock On (Movie) : Friends lose touch and there is an associated anxiety and excitement for the meet, many years after.

This will only partially be replicated in the future. Technology.

A thought:
To go off the radar.
Away from facebook, away from chat, away from twitter, away from orkut.
Only one's mobile phone and email to function (partially) socially and for business purposes...
How would life change?
Would that be liberty?

Lust

"I love chicks who look bitchy or have too much of an attitude; I find them really hot - just feel like bringing them down from their lofty heights."

People amuse me and infuriate me.

OW

"There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution." - Oscar Wilde

"What nonsense people talk about happy marriages!... A man can be happy with any woman, as long as he does not love her." - OW

"What a fuss people make about fidelity!" exclaimed Lord Henry. "Why, even in love it is purely a question for physiology. It has nothing to do with our own will.
Young men want to be faithful, and are not; old men want to be faithless, and cannot: that is all one can say." - The Picture of Dorian Gray

"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all" (Can be expanded to include all creations) - OW

"No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style." - OW

"It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors." - OW

"Never marry at all, Dorian. Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious: both are disappointed." - OW

Sex

"Yeah man, she was like the best fuck ever!"
"And when I was talking to him, he said the same thing, that 'She was his best fuck!'"
"That was the gayest moment, coz we had had sex with the same chick."
"But yeah, she was the best fuck I've had"

People amuse me.

Control

People change, conditions change and people are forced to adapt; I shouldn't be writing about this but here goes:
A professor who is teaching the class I go to, has been diagnosed with an illness; he wrote a small message to all the students about this condition. He said that he might have to end lectures earlier than normal and at times might have to cancel lectures.
In class, he spoke of how he had never had such an issue before and I saw from his words that he really liked teaching.
It made me think that something such as an illness, of oneself or of someone one cares about, could alter life and how it is planned. A host of other factors keep moulding our lives. When these changes are smooth, small or conscious, they are easy to deal with; however, when they are abrupt, forced upon one or not accepted by one, life could become difficult to change.

I had written this quite a while ago; and the last sentence is of consequence. It speaks about the locus of control.

Point being: there are things that are outside the realm of your control and there are things that are inside the same. The ones outside our locus of control tend to influence us most drastically, but they should not. The ones inside our locus of control ( when not controlled well ) ought to affect us more significantly, but in a relative sense - the former exudes more influence.

With age, we tend to become more accommodating and / or numb especially related to happenstance. I believe that my professor should be dejected and annoyed at this condition. With age, we tend to grow worse at adapting but are better at accepting things. So, I believe that he will have accepted it or may be in the process of doing so.
I am driving down the same point again and again :)

How will our music, recreational or relationship tastes change over time?
How will we adapt to work life and / or family life?
How will we face sudden news of people who we care about?
When will the pursuit of finding our own place in the world end?
Will it?
Always good to think and question, even though no answers pour out.

Risk

Whatever happened to taking chances? People are just too scared of failing in relationships, life, work... which is valid, but the sense of adventure or of trying the unknown is lost. We care so much about the comfort that we have, that we have stopped risking things. We ache to get to work on time and we ache to come back home as soon as possible, just to sit and watch TV. Again, very valid.
And may be, as I have mentioned before, a lot depends upon one's wealth and present (and expected) standard of living.
There is a joy to relinquishing things and there is massive amount of pain at the thought of doing so. But once, just once... remember the un-ordinary and remember how you smiled.

Conversation

Me: Do you think that Univ. of Illinois was better 10 years or so ago ?

Bus Driver: I tell you what; according to me, all universities were better 10 years ago, and they were even better 20 years ago.

Me: O, why do you say so?

Bus Driver: There is a great reduction in the line of independent thought; the only thing we have left are all the research guys and PhD guys coming out; society is far less liberal

Me: (Horrified) I tell you this from the perspective of an outsider; even though you may say that America is far less independent and liberal, for many of us, America does signify freedom of thought and liberty which is not seen so easily outside America.

Bus Driver: May be. The one thing is that I keep worrying about are my kids and my children's children, because as I see it, society is going down the drain and the people of America in the future will be forced to pay this price. I really don't take any political sides, I just want to live my life as long as people don't interfere. But when something wrong is happening, I would love to stand up.

Me: There is a very thin line between apathy and indifference.

Bus Driver: (Laughter) I am sorry to say this, but most of the people in this country belong to the former.

Me: It was very nice talking to you, have a good day!

Bus Driver: Likewise, have a good day.

Challenges

3-3.5 months from today, the MSF program will come to an end for me and I will leave for wherever I am going to. The odd bit is that I still remember the first few days of Champaign and it doesn't seem that long ago.
I am sincerely going to miss this place and my friends here, knowing very well that I will most probably not see them again for a long long time (if indeed I do see them again).
This makes me think of Singapore - if I do get to go there. High possibilities that I will be friendless over there, and that should be a very rich and painful experience. May be I will grow tired of myself and may be I will learn to be at peace with myself.
One of the biggest reasons I do want to get into Singapore is that I do not want to be in a secure place such as Mumbai; of course, I believe that the quality of work experience would be much better in Singapore, but I could very well take the easy and boring path of going back to India. Undoubtedly, even if I do go to India, I believe that I could do very well for myself; but that is not the point.

The beauty of life is to draw on opportunities and muster up the courage to do something that may never be done again. If I had something to hold on to back in Mumbai, may be I would go back for sure. But currently, I just want to be adventurous and, somewhere, torture myself and experience the variety that this world can offer.

"I hope you never lose your sense of wonder..."

But let's face it, I have been served a very generous hand in this life... I want to say that I have won this ovarian lottery and I am truly lucky to be leading the quality of life that I am living.

Down with the Senas I say

There are a few things that really make me really angry, one of which is outspoken prejudice. It is alright to be biased because somewhere, all of us are biased; however, discriminating and generating disharmony is unacceptable.
This could be one of the reasons I hate religions. Religions were created so that morals and ideals could be instilled in a group of people where law and order could not have been created. It brought a group of people together and gave them an identity without a real force to keep them in check. What is happening now, is that religions are being used to generate specific advantages in order to fulfill one's motives.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are just a few of them. The subtle ones are BJP and Congress in India.

Humans have this incomprehensible thirst for power, and religious factionalism allows them just that. I detest India, largely for this one reason; the legal enforcement is so weak such that any religious group can riot and destroy the 'peace' (or rather, destroy the 'chaos' ) to suit their own agendas. I have no idea what one can do if a group of people from a political party comes to one's house and destroys things.
I have no idea what one can do if a group of people from a political party enters a discotheque and starts molesting women.

India has been and will be a dysfunctional society, therefore chaotic. We have enough issues to contend with already; it would be better if these idiotic morons would keep away.

The Circus

There is a difference between humility/ pride enjoyed within oneself and humility/ pride showcased.
Sometimes, one should just sit back and watch the show that is society, instead of bellow.
I love proving a point and I am unhesitant in backing down if I am wrong.
But I hate listening to people who go nowhere and believe they are going somewhere.
Therefore, I too need to relax and enjoy this crazy show.
People are humourous :D
The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can start laughing at ourselves.