The West discovers "floor sitting"

The West has discovered  "floor sitting" as a key to good health. A group of scientists has come out with a finding on how sitting on the floor is a good thing to do. 

The fun starts only now. There will be classes on floor sitting, gym memberships for floor sitting gyms where they will provide a high tech floor and Nike certified floor sitting coaches. 

Twenty ways to floor sit, Harvard floor sitting seminar, and of course  floor sitting therapists. "Dear Agony Aunt", will read queries in the newspaper, "when I sit on the floor, others look at me strangely, and I have developed, as a result, a deep floor sitting phobia. What should I do", will ask one hopeful. "You must visit a floor sitting therapist, but only after consulting your doctor. These kind of traumas are especially stressful" , etc etc .

There will be a sudden plethora  of floor sitting mats and aids, advertised, branded, and promoted as an alternative lifestyle option. 

Someone in the US will patent floor sitting, anyone sitting on the floor will have to pay a royalty, they will say, with official sanction from the US Government. 

The Indian Government will publish a report through the Ayush Ministry on how floor sitting is an ancient practice, which the west stole from India, and hence it is not patentable. The woke liberal lobby led by Balak Buddhu will say the Indian Government is being anti progressive, regressive, unscientific and anti people. 

Meanwhile the furniture lobby will fund research which proves that floor sitting leads to piles and fistula. The Pharma companies will fund further research which will study people who only sit on the floor and only eat junk food, which will find that all these people landed up with deadly ailments, thus proving that floor sitting is the root cause of six hundred different ailments. The Pharma lobby  will put pressure on WHO to ban floor sitting worldwide. 

Caste activists funded by George Soros, will campaign to  ban floor sitting because it is a tool of oppression used by the Brahmin Male Patriarchal exploiters to oppress the lower castes. California, being a progressive liberal state will ban floor sitting. 

And so on and so on. Once the westerners discover something good,  one can always predict the flow of events...

In search of relevance

With the ingress and proliferation of AI, we need to think hard about  career choices that our kids need to make. Actually, why just our kids? We need to stay relevant too, so long as we are alive, so reinventing ourselves constantly is a necessity. 

So instead of calling it a career choice, we can simply call it staying relevant. 

There was a time when becoming an SAP consultant was all the rage. This was in the late 90's, ERP had just been discovered, and "ERP" consultants were in high demand. I was in Hyderabad those days, and I remember this building in Ameerpet, which  had probably twenty or more SAP / ERP "institutes". Not even one of the kids enrolling in those classes could string two words together in English to make a proper sentence, but they all landed up in the US. A visit to Chilkur Balaji temple would virtually guarantee them the visa! 

What does an SAP consultant do? They just "configure" the package, after understanding the "process" of the company and map the software on to the process. Which is pretty low end stuff, but in the late 90's, anyone who claimed they knew SAP was in the next plane to the US, with a hundred thousand dollars salary. You heard me right, that is the equivalent of two hundred thousand dollars of today's money, for kids who had nothing much to boast of except imaginative CV's, which by the way is reputed to be a Hyderabad speciality. 

Life is not so simple anymore. In just 25 years, we can't recognise the landscape around us. 

AI can read CAT scans better than most radiologists, draft legal documents better than most lawyers, make music... It sucks at writing poetry, but just wait for a few more years, all the poetasters who fancy themselves as poets are going to give up writing poetry because AI will be doing it better. 

In such a situation, how does one stay relevant? That's the big question. 

There are few different ways you can look at this problem.

If you are absolutely brilliant, or to use a trumpian term, brilliantest, type then dive right into software, programming, AI, etc. and remain on the cutting edge of the field. You will have to reeducate and reinvent yourself every three years or so, probably junking everything you have learnt till then. 

If you are the average middle of the road person with an average intellect and an abysmal attention span, which means if you are like most people, take your chances and join a BPO. The problem is, your job may not last for long. AI will take over most of what you do, and the youngsters coming out of college will elbow you out of whatever jobs are left. 

If both of these options sound scary, choose a field that will not be taken over by AI. 

Before we get into that, the first thing you should not choose isv one of the so called liberal arts courses. It's a fashion being imported here from US universities, and for the life of me I can't figure out how studying some of those courses are teaching anyone anything. 

Study basic maths, basic statistics, basic physics. They will never go out of fashion. 

Get into children's education. Or into the field of geriatric care. Become a primary school teacher or a nurse.  These needs will keep on increasing and AI can't take over. 

Get into a career that involves close interactions with people on a day to day basis, where AI can't threaten you. Become a barber or a cook. 

Become a therapist or a counsellor.  That whole field is a bit of a scam, but more and more people are going to need therapy, either because they can't cope with the pace of change around them, or because they are just lonely, or because going to a therapist is the emerging fashion. 

Please let me know your thoughts, and ideas for further career options, or to put it better, options for staying relevant.

MUSINGS FROM A CORPORATE CAREER... Meetings with HR

Meetings with HR are the worst: 

A) they lead nowhere 

B) you have to be politically correct 

C) you have to  agree with what they say because they are so correct

D) it is only when you come out of the meeting that you realise that nothing happened 

E) even though nothing happened, you are still left with a feeling of a vague inadequacy which can, according to HR, be rectified by following some vague prescriptions.

What HR told me I can  do to improve: 

Be more focused, and at the same time,  be more broad based in my thinking, 

Be more detail oriented, and at the same time be more strategic, 

Be more goal oriented, and at the same time be more people focused, 

Be more empathetic, and at the same time  be more task oriented,

Be more inclusive, and at the same time  encourage performance,

Encourage teamwork, and at the same time foster individual excellence,

Be more meticulous, and of course exhibit  high level thinking,

Be more empathetic, and at the same time  ensure discipline,

Don't use sexist, racist, homophobic, non inclusive language - by the way most words we normally use are sexist, racist or homophobic,  and of course be a better communicator,

Be more communicative and definitely  be more focused, 

Etc etc 

I have recieved a million suggestions from HR in my lifetime, some of them directly told to me by HR; some of them told to me by the India Head as told to him by HR to be told to us; and some of them told to me by my boss in our one on ones as told to him to be told to me by HR. 

All the suggestions sounded great when I heard them. I used to walk out of the meetings totally pumped up. 

But when I sat down to think about how to implement them, I would realise that not even one of those suggestions were actually implementable. 

I guess they were not meant to be

The Samosawala

The samosawala who used to operate at the corner, where our lane meets the main road, disappeared two months back. 

Now hold it! Before you say what's the big deal, samosas are a dime a dozen, etc etc, this fellow used to make the best samosas you ever had. He didn't have a shop, he operated from under a tarpaulin strung on the side of the road. With a  large iron kadhai over a wood fire for the samosas, and a smaller one for jalebis. Very nondescript, very unassuming, but what Samosas, and what jalebis! 

His main customers were the students from Kristu Jayanti college nearby - the more well heeled would obviously prefer to buy their samosas from Anand Sweets which is just 100 meters away. But having eaten from both the  places, I can vouch for his wares; I am willing to wager that no air-conditioned shop selling its samosas at three times the price can come close to the taste! 

For the last two months, everytime we passed by the place, we would sigh a wistful sigh, and say, oh how we miss his samosas and jalebis! My mom in law included, who was a big fan of his jalebis. 

You know what they say, you  don't know how much you miss someone till they go out of your lives! Well, it was the same with us. 

Anyway, to cut the long story short, today the wife came home with our favourite samosas and jalebis! He is back!, she announced; I have never seen that look on her face when I returned from a long absence, that is how I know that she is genuinely thrilled. Apparently, he had never left, he had just gone to his "gaon". 

Well, he is back now and all is right with the world. And from the moment he opened his shop again, it is surrounded by devotees clustering around for their samosas. 

All you techies who are reading this, it is time to introspect. If you disappear from your office to go to your gaon for two months, you will not be recognised when you come back to your office; if your job is still waiting for you that is.

HOBSON'S FARCE

Oh what a farce of an election,

Of a crumbling once great Nation; 

Everyone's racing to choose between, 

Two execrable abominations! 

One is a bull in a China shop,

Swaggering around wearing a cowboy hat; 

The other is a cackling idiot,

Who defines cringe and makes your skin crawl! 

Each half votes against the other, 

No one here is for the Nation; 

An election defined by hate, 

Voting for Captain while the ship is sinking! 

Like fiddlers on the Titanic they play,

Foot tapping music for the masses,

Who dance away oblivious;

It is a tragicomical farce! 

Meanwhile the wrold runs on its own, 

Or it would be seemingly so; 

The real helmsmen are behind the scenes, 

It really does not matter who wins! 

SPACEX NOTCHES UP ONE MORE SUCCESS

A leader with messianic zeal,

Who drives people hard and hardly sleeps; 

For whom failure is not an option, 

Nor old fashioned way of doing things! 

The company is like a furnace,

Where everything is forged in high heat; 

Employees offer themselves as fuel,

Willingly, and thus transcend themselves! 

Subordinate themselves to the cause, 

Sacrifice every minute to it; 

Work, their sole purpose and reward,

At work's altar they give their all! 

A group of people that'll change the world,

To them the future is here and belongs; 

Each of them, one to one, like us,

But as a group, totally transformed! 

All credit must go to their leader,

Who creates in them this frenzied drive; 

Like the famed Messiahs or Prophets,

Who made the seas part ways for them! 

As a human he has his weaknesses,

And not just a few, a lot of them; 

But as a leader Musk transcends, 

That is what it takes to change the world! 

Ratan Tata passes away

An industrialist has just died,

Who inherited his empire, 

And tended to it modestly;

Like self, modesty was his hallmark! 

In death, everyone wants to claim him, 

As their own, bask in his glory; 

There is a newfound love for him,

Evidenced by public display! 

It is safe to extol the dead, 

Raise them on a high pedestal; 

They won't refute from beyond the pale,

When you claim him as one of your own! 

All legacies are very useful, 

To those of us who are still living; 

To those who keep his body in state,

It pays to show that they are mourning! 

The man himself would be quite bemused,

At the crowds lining up for him;

He was humble, soft spoken and quiet; 

Unlike the farewell being given to him! 

Dinesh Gopalan,

10 October, 2024

Ratan Tata

 I have had the privilege of interacting with  Ratan Tata when I was CFO of ITPL. 

I was the Tata nominee as CFO  of ITPL, which was a joint venture between the Tatas and Ascendas of Singapore. As the Tata nominee,  I was the one assigned to meet him and accompany him from the airport or to Board Meetings. 

A thorough gentleman who defines the term, he was unfailingly courteous to me, just one of the CFO's of one of the many companies in the group, and a very small company at that. 

During the drive to the meetings when I was alone with him in the car, he made it a point to not talk about work. I realised that he did not want to put me in a spot by putting me on the interrogation floor. His constant attempt was to ensure that I would be comfortable in his presence. He would keep the conversation light.

On one occasion when I went to pick him up at Raffles Hotel in Singapore, I was a bit early. I called him from the lobby; I obviously said I would wait for him. He would have none of that. He cancelled the breakfast that he had  ordered to his room, and insisted on coming down to the coffee shop and having breakfast with me. 

He would never allow anyone to carry his bag, or expect them to run any errands for him. This courtesy extended even to the drivers or hotel  staff. 

At the Board Meetings where he was Chairman, he never threw his weight around. His word was of course law, he didn't really need to demonstrate that he was the boss, but I believe that his politeness stemmed from an innate sense of humility. 

Like Rajiv Gandhi who had no choice but to step into his mother's shoes to carry on the legacy, Mr Tata also landed into his inherited role. I have a feeling he was a reluctant satrap, he would probably have been more happy left to himself tending to his dogs. He was famous for his love of pets; the Taj Hotel's pet friendly policies are credited largely to him. 

The legacy he leaves behind is mixed. He had his share of successes and failures, but he was respected as a man of his word. He would not renege on a deal even when he justifiably could have, even when it entailed a huge financial loss. I was witness to one such deal in telecom when I was in Bombay House handling telecom, where he went ahead with a deal with the RPG group when he could have legitimately backed out. 

What we remember of a person is not their position, money or status, but their interactions with the rest of us. Ratan Tata was at the core, a decent human being. 

May his soul attain peace. Om Shanti.

On Wheat

Virgin wheat. 

In India we have a variety  called emmer wheat, Jave Godi or Khapli. 

It is good to shift to those forms of wheat. 

Wheat has been extolled as food from ancient times, "have this day your daily bread, etc" and is a staple the world over. Yet, the maximum degeneration in health today is due to the wheat we eat. Whenever anyone suffers from an extreme form of stomach distress like IBS or colitis, they should first try dropping wheat and then milk from their diet; there is a good chance that they will get better. 

So how come a food like wheat that has been extolled since ancient times is the cause of ill health? That is because the wheat we eat is no longer the same as what our ancestors used to eat. Nothing is, the tomatoes and sitaphal that we eat are hybrid versions too, but those seem to have worked out fine at least so far. 

Even the allopathic doctors, who are usually slow on the uptake, and gastro-enterologists, who, being more qualified alopathic doctors would be more prone to give wrong advice, have started recognising this. They advise their patients to drop wheat from their diet in case of unresolvable stomach problems or allergies without a cause. 

So how do we go towards the original biblical pristine wheat? Try shifting to Jave Godi. Or give up wheat altogether and shift to rice. Or shift to other grainss like millets. 

Even better from a holistic health perspective is to give up eating grains altogether. Since ancient times, natural healers have recognised that grains are not really good for health. 

Also note that such discussions are possible only if we buy our own grains, vegetables, and fruits, and cook them at home. The others can ignore all this and continue having their Kellogg's flakes and packaged orange juice for breakfast, which items being so far removed from food as to be not food at all, are perfectly fine to have.

On Commencement Speeches

Whenever any great person achieves greatness, they are invited to give a "commencement speech" to the next generation of young hopefuls who would presumably be enthused by the great man's or woman's words in their quests  to go and conquer the world! 

Now all these people who come on the podium at such events are veteran speakers who have been there, done that, and have no doubt   made hundreds of speeches. But there is something about addressing young hopefuls that brings out the best in them. 

They all try to distil their lives into as few lessons as possible and deliver it to the young hopefuls who are looking adoringly at them willing to absorb every golden word falling from their lips, integrate the success mantras in their lives, and remember the great person's words at crucial stages in their lives and careers. Or that is what they think. 

Meanwhile the listeners couldn't care a shit about what the great person is saying. I have yet to see a single college boy or girl paying attention to what anybody is saying, leave alone paying attention to a speech. All advice given to the young falls on deaf ears and all efforts at improving them are wasted. 

Then why do the great persons do it? Why do they accept such invites to speak at commencement ceremonies? Partly because their son or nephew is graduating, and they can't refuse;  or they are an alumnus from the same school. And partly because all cynicism has not yet gone out of their lives, they still feel someone somewhere out there will be inspired by their words and thus they can pass on their hard learned wisdom to future generations - in short, their egos are gratified.  Basically they are all very strong reasons which is why an invitation to give a  commencement speech is a succulent treat no one can resist. 

Take this typical  man here for example. Retured army general or supreme court justice or some such dignitary.  I am sure the chap genuinely means what he is saying to the young hopefuls.  "You must face misfortunes so that you will become strong", "you must encounter setbacks so that you learn to fight" etc etc. The audience hearing all that is waiting impatiently to rush out to party the night away. And to rush out into the world to commit the same mistakes, repeat the same follies that every generation before them has committed and repeated. 

Every prophet since Moses, every well intentioned speaker since the dawn of time  has faced the same fate. They may as well be talking to the mirror in their room for all that the world cares. 

Meanwhile, I love hearing these commencement speeches. There is always some good advice hidden in there. The fact that it is too late for me is most relevant - that is when people start paying attention! If you are appreciating commencement speeches, it means you have retired!