Anekantavada – Multiplicity of viewpoints

September 19th, 2008 admin

I opened wikipedia by chance this morning and the very first article I saw was on Anekantavada, a concept from Jain Philosophy, which observes and explains that there is always multiplicity of view points when trying to comprehend any truth. Limited, partial or conditional view points can lead to different interpretations of any truth. It is therefore important to respect the existance of other view points, while at the same time recognizing the fallibility of your own. Apparently the story of the blind men and the elephant is often used to explain this concept. This struck me as fascinating because only a few months back, I had used the same example to reach an almost identical philosophy! This philosophy may also help us understand the underlying meaning behind the millions of Gods that some religions accept – the acceptance of the existance of those millions of view points.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Sandeep’s New Rating System

September 17th, 2008 admin

Sandeep Somani came up with this scheme of rating TV shows, movies, plays etc. It takes away the relative interpretation and quantization associated with stars, and instead gets to the meat of the matter with an absolute measure in terms of the dollar value you are willing to pay to see the show/movie etc. To add to your ability to express your dissatisfaction you may also choose to quote how much money you will need to be paid, to go see the show. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Friends, Reviews | No Comments »

The 3 Ds

September 17th, 2008 admin

My father’s maternal uncle, Dr. K. Ramamurthy, whom I call uncle also, responded to my email about “Games Indians Don’t Win” with some of his own words of wisdom, which I believe will be useful to many people; I reproduce them here with his permission. Read and think about it.

During my management consultancy days, I’d start my classes with “Three Ds”: Discipline, Dedication, and Devotion.

We have to start anything in life, commencing with our earliest education, with the rigor of Discipline: regulated studies in terms of time allocation, understanding of what we study, practicing to become perfect, and humility not to be carried away by early successes (or depressed with early failures). You keep at it in spite of obstacles to reach the goal you set for yourself. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Family, Philosophy | No Comments »

Bharat Ek Khoj – Shyam Benegal’s discovery of Nehru’s Discovery of India

September 14th, 2008 admin

My good friend, Rajeev, discovered this treasure trove online – Bharat Ek Khoj, a TV series based on Jawahar Lal Nehru’s book, The Discovery of India. Nehru, the first Prime Minister of free India after the British Rule, wrote most of this book while imprisoned. The effort evokes in me pride, respect and awe. Attempting to capture the essence of the spirit and history of India in a 500-odd paged book, is in itself a courageous attempt. Doing so, while in prison, also shows inspiring determination, discipline, value for time and sense of duty. I cannot comment on the literary and factual quality of the book; I have not read it yet. However, this TV series, which started in 1988, is something I can comment on. Directed by one of the great Indian film directors, Shyam Benegal, and with a cast that clearly is stellar when you look back at those names (Om Puri, Roshan Seth, Ashok Kumar, Anjan Srivastav, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Neena Gupta, Salim Ghouse, Tom Alter etc.) with a couple of decades of work since then for proof, Bharat Ek Khoj is a gem in history of Indian television. Even though I was quite young when this series was on TV, and even though it was quite serious in tone and not a children’s show, I distinctly remember loving it. It’s catchy, yet philosophical, credits set the tone for the self-discovery that the series embodied. The seriousness of the attempt to discover that spirit of Indianness in each episode, the honest, accurate and non-fantastical version of epics and other historic records, and the wonderfully rich use of Hindi and Urdu languages were all aspects of the show that drew me to it. When I watch it today, I can watch it with the same dedication and curiosity to learn about India. I realized that though nostalgia is a part of discovering any such childhood treasure, that is just a fleeting feeling. I have seen several other old TV hits online, such as Ye jo hai zindagi, Hum Log and Mr. Yogi; however, with those the interest typically dies out after a few episodes because the nostalgia wears out and the paucity of quality hits you, and you wonder, “Well, may be it was good in its day, but it is not really that special”. Bharat Ek Khoj, on the other hand, still seems fresh. With each episode, my interest in wanting another one increases rather than diminishes. After 20 years since the show first appeared, I can still learn from it, and formulate a more complete picture of India. I found that series is available in DVD format for purchase here. It is quite expensive, with 2 episodes costing $30. This would run the total series to over $600. So the decision for now, for me, is that I will read the book.

Posted in Experiences, Friends, Reviews | 6 Comments »

On the role of the media in sports in India

September 13th, 2008 admin

Some things are only visible from the corner of the eye; they vanish when you try to look at them directly. Similarly, I believe, the best approach to religion  is not a headlong dive to grab its elusive essence, but rather, an indirect infusion of those ideas and ideals via a more concrete medium. One such concrete medium, which India seems to have never given much chance to, is sports. My friend, Akshay, sent me an article by Professor V. Raghunathan (author of the book “Games Indians Play: Why we are the way we are”) on why India’s performances in sports in general and Olympics in particular falls way short of what one would expect from a nation of over a billion people. The article is called “Games Indians Don’t Win“. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Experiences, Friends, Information | 2 Comments »

On Choice

September 11th, 2008 admin

My friend, Sandeep, sent me a link to a very interesting talk given by Dr. Barry Shwartz, a sociologist, who observes and persuasively argues that excessive choice is bad.

I agree with this observation. More generally, this observation applies to any kind of decision making. We make many decisions in life – in everyday life and in the grander scale of life. In everyday life, we decide on things like which vacuum cleaner to buy, or, which hair conditioner to buy, both of which were decisions I had to make last week. In the grander scale of life we need to make decisions such as who to marry, or, which profession to work towards. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Experiences, Philosophy | No Comments »