Philosophy

I am sure most of us have heard or seen Barack Obama’s last speech on race and his associated with his pastor. I thought it was an inspirational speech which also reflected an individual’s courage to speak out honestly and from the heart. As suspicious as it might seem to come from a politician, I felt that if people gave George Bush a chance to go to war with Iraq, they could at least give the young senator from Illinois the benefit of the doubt about something which he acknowledges as not right and needs to be fixed.

The speech had various other implications on a personal level. I began to dissect and understand the issues that arise with not only racism but prejudice and stereotyping. Our contemporary society is full of daily events that occur because of a predetermined view of certain groups of people and places. It is hard to abolish such mindsets altogether because of the simple fact that we as humans just have that trait – to judge and be judged but it is important to open up communication on issues that are potentially divisive and harmful. It is also amazing to see how such stereotyping affects us on a personal level. Obama spoke about the African American kid born in the projects whose height of ambition is being gangster and how middle/lower class White America could resent the other ethnicities for taking their jobs away, but it is more than that. Stereotyping affects me personally because of self infliction as well. The South East Asian community has stereotyped itself to be in the Engineering, Medical Information Technology field, and it is very rare to see someone cross these borders and if they do, they are considered mis-fits within their communities. I have always wanted to follow or have some sort of footing in the Political Science arena, but the level of confidence that I have in the IT field is far greater than that I would have in the PS area and it is not because I am a shy person or my personality reflects that of a non-confident individual. It is because psychologically my mind has been altered by perceptions set in society that I might not be “so good at it”. This kind of politics is not played in a Congressional environment or a parliament but in everyday situations by people whom we have a very close relationship with. It is like a chain reaction. Someone sets a precedence that desis are good at IT. More desis start learning computer languages and the next thing you know, if a desi is good at Geology, it is seen in an awe and shock manner.

When the speech was considered to be at a broad level, I do not think anyone understood at the magnitude of its importance and the scope it covers. I think the speech reflects issues that are not just associated with the pastor and Obama but with us and ourselves. The importance for us to see past the precedence set by ancestors, the need for us to listen and then judge, the height of hypocrisy exhibited by each and everyone of us when we talk about religion, respect for each other and forgiveness. I am not sure whether Obama tried to be Atticus Finch, but in my opinion I think he tried very hard to see the world in others’ shoes before delivering that speech. I think you cannot ask for more from a presidential candidate or from yourself – you need to at least try.

This is a series of interesting questions that are asked from me by an interesting friend. The questions and ideas all belong to my interesting friend, and maybe some day at this person’s permission, the name will be posted

Question For the Day

Then sun rises in the east and sets in the west. What does the moon do?

All answers are accepted.

Cheers.

Genuine …

I want to genuinely bring your head,
lie it on my shoulders, and let you know that all your burdens are mine …

I want to genuinely hold your hands,
Let you know that I am here for you …

I want to genuinely kiss you cheeks,
Feel your thoughts and let you know – what you are thinking …

I want to genuinely admire your green eyes,
Hoping for a reflection of myself …

I want to genuinely smile at you,
Letting you know that I am thinking about you even when you are in front of me right there …

I want to genuinely hold you,
Wanting to recite words that I have never felt before …

I want to genuinely run my fingers through your long hair,
Admiring everything that comes across its path …

I want to stand in front of you genuinely naked …
Stripped of all my armor, possessions and everything I have …Just me …

I am genuine when I say …. I …I will be there for you …

And all I expect in return is …
One sweet genuine smile …..

-Thanesh Sadachcharan

define:innocence

Innocence is a term that describes the lack of guilt of an individual, with respect for a crime. It can also refer to a state of unknowing, where one’s experience is less than that of one’s peers, in either a relative view to social peers, or by an absolute comparison to a more common normative scale. In contrast to ignorance, it is generally viewed as a positive term, connoting a blissfully positive view of the world.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocence

define:creativity

One can define creativity as the mental phenomena, skills and/or tools capable of originating (and subsequently developing) innovation, inspiration or insight. Pop psychology generally may associate it with right or forehead brain activity or even specifically with lateral thinking.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity

Does innocence and creativity correlate in any form? What leads to creativity? Why is a child’s work examined in awe whereas the same work driven by an adult is thought to be average or foolish?

I was having a chat with my mentor and a colleague at work where the conversation revolved around reading books, examining one’s skill sets and the motivation/persuasion of success. My mentor, an advocate of reading, has consistently asked me to read and I have consistently not obliged to this move. First of all I am too lazy to read but another factor is that I feel I can google the answers that I am looking for. The third factor and some might call this foolish and utterly stupid is that I feel some books might lead to the deterioration of my creativity or have a “guilty conscience” feeling within me if I were to carry an idea forward from something I read in a book. It is even simple in a romantic setting, i.e. if I read a romantic novel and I display what I have read in an actual setting, I could see my ego within me being thrown out of the window and a feeling of dullness creeping in and a little bit of disappointment as well.

Maybe I am just confused with originality and creativity …Maybe i am indeed ….

A slow fading wave slipped through the air he was breathing. It was a sign of freshness that he had long waited for all his life. The feeling of belonging was nearing and he could see it. Tempted, but holding away he could neither smile nor express himself in anyway. Speechless on one hand but desiring to say all he could on the other, she was mesmerizing him. Unique, he thought to himself, for she not only had the sweetest smile he had ever seen but the most intriguing and mysterious gaze. He could paint her portrait, right there and then if only he had a stencil brush and a canvas. She tilted her head to the right to allow for a view of her face from a side where he could secretly admire the beautiful ear rings she was wearing. Sparkling diamonds were put to shame on her pretty face. She turned back and rolled her rings, and he wondered whether she was just bored or in plain misery for she was having dinner with him. He sat back and took the chance to admire her again, knowing that a few more minutes of silence and she might just get up and walk away……

Levels of desirability can be monitored and quantified on different aspects of life varying from your social ambitions to personal milestones with your partner. Some desirables come pretty easy, like what you want to have for lunch today or a movie you want to watch but there are certain other things in life that are pretty hard to desire. Dreaming on the other hand is easy – everyone dreams to do certain things in life but personally i feel desirability along with self motivation and luck take you along way. For example I have a dream of doing my MBA but recently i have noticed fluctuations in my desirability. I think motivation is not a factor here because it can be instantaneously engineered with an individual like myself but desirability is the key. I have noticed this sudden behavior with some other things in life as well, i.e. reading books, working out, buying a new car – all of which is telling me that I am not doing something right. Suddenly i realized that my desirability and motivation level hit a small high in the past few days and I think I know the reason why.

I feel that desirability in these aspects that I have noticed where fluctuation occurs and most of the time it seems to be hitting a pretty low mark is because of my social environment. Whenever I am around individuals whose intellectual capabilities are much stronger than mine or their energy to believe and desire certain things are high – it creates a resonance of sorts. The frequency that they think and believe and so highly hold their values and ambitions vibrates into the individuals around them. I have noticed this with only certain individuals and I guess we need to identify this among ourselves when we meet and socialize with individuals whether we can be on a “desirable energetic” frequency with them. From the beginning of my career I guess I can count with one hand the individuals whom I think if around me all the time during work, could easily push me to levels of excellence. I guess sometimes this has to do with impressing the folks, just like what you would do in school – trying to impress the professor but most of the time it is because of the high standards that they set for themselves, the way they interact, their communication skills and the way they carry themselves in their life. This is not to say that I lack motivation and I believe most of the time I am pushing myself, but after having watched the movie “Idiocracy” – I believe that you will only reach a certain level in any aspect of life depending on your social environment and the desirability that surrounds you. i.e. – I want to buy a BMW car but everyone around me has a nice 1997-2000 Toyota/Honda model – my desirability is low but when my VP comes from Austin in his cool Volvo convertible – it hits a high and I want my BMW. Another example, I want to set high standards and think about implementation scenarios, strategies for future projects but everyone around me is keen on just getting the work done but I am sure if my ex PMs {there is more than one but i believe only 2 have my highest respect} was here I would be thinking differently.

Anyways, I hope I did not get off topic there for a while. The point is make sure you surround yourself with people who have the next level of thinking, motivation, intellectuality and most of all the desire to succeed in everything they do. It takes you to that next level of your game. This can be with a mate you hit the bars to meet a few nice ladies{i am sure you do not want to go with a guy who is keen on just getting plain drunk and standing alone talking to himself} or playing a sport – or just thinking.

Cheers,

Ah the word – listen, as described by “Google define: ” would mean “heed: pay close attention to; give heed to; “Heed the advice of the old men”.An important aspect of my life which I am working on and something that i really need to conquer to reach some of my goals and ambitions. Lately i have been getting quite a bit of feedback from two individuals on how to get better at the process. I have obviously expressed my desire not to change my personality in any sort of way and the initial response was “Hmmm. Ok no probs”. I guess that is much better than “Ah well thats is going to be a problem”.
The main theme of the feedback seem to be – “Stop thinking while people are talking”. It goes without saying that I do think quite a bit when others are talking – sometimes to the relevant topic at hand, sometimes on how to respond and most of the time about that lovely girl I met the other day at the bar and who refused to look at me . It also has come to notice that I should pay close attention to the individual talking and absorbing all what he/she is saying. This seems to be my biggest obstacle because the intensity of my focus on a piece of conversation is rather low, especially if it does not include the opposite sex. Another major focus point is that I should not regurgitate the first thing that comes to mind. If processed correctly and indulged upon, the result set would be far better and more precise than the initial regurgitation. Again, I seem to lack this as well. First thing that comes to mind – first thing that comes out of my mouth – something like FIFO i guess – First In First Out!!!! It has also come to my attention that little tiny mistakes here and there add upto a huge sum in the long run. Thus a valuable lesson – prevent that from happening – start working on it NOW!!!
My major obstacle I feel is my personality itself – Quite talkative, absolutely annoying and spontaneous just during conversations and no other aspects of life seem to be quite the opposite ingredients that a good listener possesses. So after deliberating about it over some beer and a chat I have come to a conclusion that I will try to sell to some of the people I respect and see whether it seems credible enough to implement. I, of course, am adamant on not changing me and the bigger me too but just tiny aspects here and there. That needs to be taken into consideration during this requirements gathering/implementation phase. The issue at hand is “when is a good time to be a really good listener” – Does it apply at the cafeteria or does it seem better to store that focus and energy for something that could relate to a bigger issue at hand such as a business meeting or small team discussions? Now I am guessing I am going to really suck if I were to be a good listener all day and that can never be implemented. What I can try to do is add a small aspect to my before going to meeting routine or a team discussion I know is coming up. Usually i just take a couple of minutes to ponder over things and speeches if necessary for a quick minute or two. I can add the “conscious effort speech to listen” to this cycle. I probably need to be able to take a quick 10 second pause and get back into focus if I become consciously aware that I am not listening. This is something I tried with my lecturers in university. More often than not, I would nearly fall asleep at their barrage of words and I would have to remind myself that I am spending quite a lot of money to attend these sessions so I might as well listen and gather as much information as possible. Something along the same lines could be applied here as well I suppose.

Anyways, listening seems to be an important part of learning and improving but not at the expense of losing one’s identity. It should be assimilated into one’s personality without compromising the core assets and values that got that individual to where he/she is currently. Imagine if Kobe Bryant were to lose his clutch plays and shoots just because he wanted to pass the ball much more and help his teammates. Nah thats not possible but what Kobe is doing these days is integrating the passing game into his own style – That makes him a great learner of the game and a better team player. You know he is GREAT with or without it !!!!

This is a phrase that every coder/devloper probably needs to brainwash themselves. Something that my new project manager told me after a brief chat with him. Too many times have I got into a mess because I am looking at problems in the most complicated of manners. I guess that kinda represents my personality – give me an extremely hard problem and I might solve it but give me 1+1= and I would go nuts thinking about whether the number 1 actually denotes the amount of one, its history, why did they name it one as one and not one as two and all kinda crap.

Anyways moral of the story is that keep things simple and try not to fuck around too much in the head. You usually end up with good and better results.

Cheers,

The clear waters of the Tempe Lake fought with each other like kids in a school playground and were as beautiful as the children’s eyes. The Arizonian Sun, a muscular heat wave that even if one longed for it to set, was mystified by its ever presence and the beauty of its final show. She sat there awaiting, speechless in heart and mind. She wasn’t confused but she felt the nervous tweak in her ears, as if all this time someone had been kissing it lovingly. There was no one around but she held the most precious object in her hand – her mobile phone, the only communication she had, to hear his voice. A stranger he was but with the essence of a soul mate. She breathed the fresh air surrounded by the utmost tranquilized nature, hoping that she could hear the busy noises of New York to shatter her thoughts. She didn’t want it to be shattered, she clinched onto them like it was the last thing that kept her alive, kept her human and kept her waiting. A profound reader she was but she knew all too well that no words could describe the sweat in her palms or the uncontrollable desire for him. She smirked at her herself. For the first time, not only was she controlled by just mere thoughts and imaginations but she knew it consciously and she didn’t want to get rid of it. Waiting, she thought to herself, she might never feel this again. She looked back at distinguished memories where the human presence was null but existent. A complex relationship where she felt she had made all the right choices, rejected all that she felt would not make sense, and obliged to anything that made her heart just tick abnormally. She laughed again but this time at the pathetic Sri Lankan guy who had turned up at her house the other day and made a fool of himself. Funny, nice guy, but so were all the others she had met in her life. None had possessed the calm, calculated and yet vibrant presence that he had, even without him being in front of her. She felt as if she was Juliet and he was Romeo, caring less about his appearance, his background even his employment status. She laughed again at the possibilities of disappointment but she knew herself to well. She wasn’t the type to be easily misled by anyone, but she was led here and she was led to him.

Another huge breath of air, and she was about to throw a stone into the lake to see the ripple effects; somewhat an irony she thought as she was about to throw it, for her life had been like that till she had heard him – an effect of mere ripples and turmoil. A hand touched her shoulders and she squeezed her eyes in excitement, fear and love! She turned around to face the only wonder in life she wanted to meet. He held her softly and brought her to himself knowing that she was his and he was hers. A feeling that can be matched by the powers of the sun surrounded the small lake. He held her face and she closed her eyes, this time in waiting, and he planted the ultimate gift. The most sensual feeling swept through her body and she could see herself melt. She felt it and she knew he did too. He grabbed her hands firmly, and she saw felt his pulse and a refreshing feeling swept through her. A smile and no words yet, they didnt need none. There was no ultimatum, and as they saw each other with wonder and care, they realized and hoped that there can be no ending to such a sweet story.

Here you go, the producer, the director and moi – the main actor

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1725839949350817886

Check it out.

Cheers,