what the dog saw..by malcolm gladwell

some of the best articles i have read. i really appreciate the way he thinks i.e. differently. i loved his analysis in the article ,«who really saved general motors»». there are a couple more but its just too difficult to type using a kindle. kindle is meant only for reading but i dont know why i always have this urge to use it surf the web.

Another First

Today is my first long distance train journey outside India. In the past couple years I developed a liking for train journeys in India, but was always fascinated by LD train journeys outside India. I had a similar fascinating experience when I boarded the subway train for the first time in Canada. First journeys in a new country are usually daunting. But mine wasn't. It was indeed funny.

The subway station was located very close to my hotel, approx 700 mts. But I wasn't aware of it. When I came outside the hotel, I asked a passer-by about the directions to the subway. The place where I stayed was residential and I guess there were very few who took a train to office or to anything. She said she did not know much and that she hadn't traveled by train but could fairly guess where it was. I followed her directions and reached the station.

I was trying to understand the place when I saw a pretty latino girl with her father near the station gate. I went to her and asked her to direct me to the ticket counter. She was happy to help and they took me with them to the booking counter. Now, here comes the strange part. They don't issue tickets in Toronto. (I don't know if they do in NY). You go to the drop box, drop the fare and enter the station. But no paper or any kind of ticket whatsoever. It was really really strange. I felt rather incomplete. Even cheated, that they don't issue tickets to passengers who pay the fare. I was wondering what kind of proof I should show to the ticket checker if he ever came to me to ask for my journey tickets.

Add to it, another factor of human kindness. The latino said that she had bought a regional transport pass for her mother the previous day. And since the passes in toronto are transferable (another strange thing, but has helped me immensely since I came here), she allowed me to go with her inside the station. It was a free entry for me. I wanted to go and tell her that I wouldn't have anything to show to the ticket checker if he came to me and I should buy my own ticket. But I felt scared of raising a stupid concern. So I did not talk to her after all, except two well mannered thank yous.

You may say that there isn't anything funny about this journey. The fun part is in the fact that my heart was pounding with anxiety while my eyes were constantly on the lookout for the ticket checker, lest he enter the train and ask me for my tickets. The subway doesn't have mirrors and so I couldn't see myself, but am very sure that I looked like a scared frog ready to croak and jump off the leaf at the very next sound.

Note: I am thoroughly enjoying the train journey, with the ocean on the right side and beautiful trees decorated with fall colors to my left. Wish there was that special person with me today.

How important is self discipline?

I always heard the comment from many friends, colleagues and relatives that I have made my life difficult to live and less enjoyable by making it disciplined. I always had, still do and will continue to believe in discipline. I had started imposing discipline on myself long ago, however it was on and off. I really inculcated it in my everyday life during the MBA program. It was the best lesson I ever learnt during the program. So going back to the words that I started the blog with, I always wanted to discuss it with all those who said that to me.

Discipline vs Rules

I always hear the argument that making life disciplined is imposing a lot of rules in our life. And imposing rules lead to a thinking that we are restricting ourselves from enjoyment. I thought about it and have come to a conclusion. There is a basic difference between discipline and rules. The difference lies in the purpose achieved. Usually, rules or punishment would mean "don't do something or you wil face consequences" while discipline would mean "do something and get better at it, set higher goals and keep doing" . Inherently, there is some continuity in the concept of discipline where it prompts you to do better and achieve higher goals every time period. However, rules have inherently a break associated with them. Not following the rules, leads to either a punishment or a guilty feeling (in the case where you set the rule for yourself)

Mythical Origins

There are mythical origins to discipline. Hindu scriptures say that for developing a new habit, try to follow it continuously for 8 days. If you want to break an old habit and then replace it with a new (if you perceive that the new one is better) it takes 23 days of everyday effort to achieve the purpose.

How it helps us

Self discipline is helpful if we want to perform an activity or act on a decision irrespective of the state in which we are. Put in other words, this means that we are getting a control over ourselves and making our lifes more predictable. And by making predictable it doesn't make it less enjoyable. Self discipline is not the life itself but the way we live our life. it would not interfere with how we enjoy our lives. It merely gives us a refined way of overcoming anxiety, unexpected events and problems. It doesnt solve them. So we still enjoy the life we want, but do it more purposefully. We get a sense of direction with it. Action without a purpose or a direction is meaningless. Enjoying without a purpose or direction is meaningless.

Most of the times, we have a lot to do and very less time to do it. If we tend to say that we dont find time to do something, it is indicative of a lack of self discipline. Because if one were self disciplined, the person would know exactly when and where the activity can be performed. Having thought about that instantly, half of the problem is solved.

Uncertainty is the cause of most of the life's problems. Take the financial world. The more the uncertainty, the more energy we need to invest to overcome the uncertainty first and then focus on solving the problem. When we reduce the uncertainty, we are focusing all our energy into solving the problem. thats what we want.

What Wikipedia says

Wikipedia suggests that self discipline is the assertion of willpower over more base desires, and is usually understood to be a synonym of 'self control'. Self-discipline is to some extent a substitute for motivation, when one uses reason to determine a best course of action that opposes one's desires.

It also involves setting realistic goals. you become more aware of what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are. That way you are more in touch with yourself which gives a feeling of calm. and it motivates you to achieve further progress. Which means that it increases self confidence too.

When you have higher goals, you need self discipline. Because you have to be persistent in what you believe irrespective of the personal cost.

When do you realize you need it?

Take a look at these questions. And you will figure it out for yourself.

1. Do you get up at the same time every morning? Including weekends?
2. Are you overweight?
3. Do you have any addictions (caffeine, nicotine, sugar, etc.) you’d like to break but haven’t?
4. Is your home neat and well organized?
5. How much time do you waste in a typical day? On a weekend?
6. If you make a promise to someone, what’s the percentage chance you’ll keep it?
7. If you make a promise to yourself, what’s the percentage chance you’ll keep it?
8. Could you fast for one day?
9. How often do you exercise?
10. What’s the greatest physical challenge you’ve ever faced, and how long ago was it?
11. How many hours of focused work do you complete in a typical workday?
12. How many items on your to do list are older than 90 days?
13. Do you have clear, written goals? Do you have written plans to achieve them?
14. How much TV do you currently watch? Could you give up TV for 30 days?
15. Do you primarily select foods to eat based on health considerations or on taste/satiety?
16. When was the last time you consciously adopted a positive new habit? Discontinued a bad habit?
17. Can you tell me what you’ll be doing tomorrow? Next weekend?

Comment invited.

References:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/06/self-discipline-persistence/

http://disciplineanswers.com/class-creates-rules/

Human Inertia to change

I have taken a decision to change and I realize how difficult it is.

Makes me think how can the scientific definition apply to human change. Because fundamentally there is a lot of resistance to change, in every person. Even a person who says that change is good will not disagree that it is resisted initially.

Wiki states the scientific definition as "Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to a change in its state of motion. It is represented numerically by an object's mass. The principle of inertia is one of the fundamental principles of classical physics which are used to describe the motion of matter and how it is affected by applied forces".

So how does it apply to people and the change they wish to bring in themselves? Physical object is the person. And what is resistance? resistance can be stubbornness. resistance can be not wanting to accept discomfort and resistance can be not accepting that you need to change. And all three are difficult to overcome. I would say that all people are one of these three kinds.

Stubbornness is a part of the not accepting that one needs to change. So inertia is a function of stubbornness and acceptance of discomfort.

Inertia = f(stubbornness, acceptance of discomfort)

Lesser the stubbornness a person displays lesser the inertia or the force required to change. And greater the acceptance of discomfort, lesser is the inertia. So Inertia is really a direct function of stubbornness and inverse function of acceptance of discomfort.

i.e. Inertia = f(stubbornness, 1/(acceptance of discomfort))

And as discussed before, Stubbornness = f(1/acceptance of need to change). More the acceptance, lesser is the stubbornness. So

Inertia = f[1/(acceptance of need to change), f(1/(acceptance of discomfort)]

But this inertia is not a static value. It changes with encouragement. So Inertia is dynamic. And the encouragement needs to be optimal i.e. within a range. So inertia is dynamic within a range. And after a certain point tends to remain constant.

That my explain why there is a great deal of effort needed in the beginning of the change and then it tends to ease out. For me, I have accepted the need to change. And I have no issues moving out of the comfort zone. All I need is encouragement.

Its been some time..

Its been some time since I blogged.. umm.. ok..let it be some more time till I blog.. been very busy with certain people and things. I will continue being busy as of now :) :) :)

Bowler.. (but like ranatunga ;-) )

Posing Girl in Microsoft paint

Mysterious energy

I generally do not pay much heed to the gender of the other drivers on the road while I am driving. It is not of much concern to me especially after the accident I met with last month. It was not a pleasant experience for sure and I have still not completely recovered from it. But it taught me a lesson or two, no actually only one lesson, that since by default no one follows traffic rules in Hyderabad you ought to maintain a 40 kmph speed if you wish to live longer.

But yesterday I did notice the girl who overtook me. Anybody would do if he or she would have been overtaken in the same way as this girl overtook me. I wouldn't pen down my thoughts and opinion on how ladies drive. But they surely have a "different" way of doing all things, driving included, and in the process endanger lives. The girl had bought the new bike, although I never took a look at what make the bike was. They don't make many of those nowadays in India.And I say it was new because the bike had a yellow temporary registration sticker behind it.

I perfectly understand the urge to pull the accelerator string when driving a brand new bike, what with the smooth firing and perfect engine conditioning. But she certainly was stressing it more than what she should. She literally flew past me. I felt a strong urge to reciprocate and fly past her in the same manner. But I never do that, all credit to the way my father taught me driving one and a half decades ago.

However, I did observe that she created the same kind of urge in many other guys who were ahead of me. Two were on the latest Pulsar bike, one on the latest Yamaha bike and the other on some other bike equally capable. The dull guys driving reluctantly on a Friday morning to office were suddenly filled to the brim with energy when they realized they were beaten to the game by "a" girl. They raced too, each one of them trying to overtake the girl who had surprised them on a dull Friday morning. Two succeeded, two failed. The girl was too fast for them.

But what I observed was the kind of sudden change she brought on the dull route to office. A route filled with Hyderabad autorickshaws, stones on both sides, no trace of green land as far as the sight goes and equally dull drivers, all were back to life, with a new enthusiasm,energy to reach office or to go past her. I wonder what that mysterious energy is.

Unworthy 'Times'

The Times of India home page (not the epaper) has become such a waste of time and worth. It is filled with rubbish and titillating news. I am not sure what kind of population they are targeting to publish those kind of news'.

In contrast Indian express has a decent website. So is the case with Hindu and yes, Deccan Chronicle too. I have observed that there is far more intellectual and worthy stuff on Himdu and DC websites. The opinions and editorials are also worth a read. None of these for Times of India.

I wonder what kind of a publishing house does Times Group want to be known as. In contrast, reading WSJ and NYTimes is much more enriching. Different perspectives almost always, they make an interesting read. Ofcourse I agree that they are focussed on US mainly. But that should hardly make any difference.

Lord Ganesha in Microsoft paint

Mother Teresa – Humble attempt in Microsoft Paint

Virginity tests: Shahdol district (Madhya Pradesh, India)

This is with reference to Jayanthi Natarajan’s article in Deccan Chronicle dated 20 July 2009 (hyderabad edition).

While I agree with the view that the virginity tests allegedly done on all the 153 brides to be at the venue was wrong, the point where I disagree is where Jayanthi argues that such tests should have also been conducted on the grooms. My question to Mrs. Natarajan is whether doing the tests on grooms would have made the tests on brides acceptable?

I do not believe so. It is neither the problem nor the solution to the problem. I am unaware of what the eligibility criteria for the Mukhya Mantri Kalyan Yojana are, under which the marriages were scheduled to happen.

However, sanity and logic suggests that there should have been a registration process where the details of the groom and bride were to be entered. If it is indeed so, then were atleast one of the several brides and grooms aware of the pregnancy in the females who were tested for pregnancy?

if that was not known, then it is a case of deception which needs to be dealt with differently. Not only that the problem is deeper. Why were the brides who were pregnant being married to someone else? Where was the biological father of the child to be born? If yes, then was her virginity molested forcibly and then abandoned? If yes, then it is an issue that needs to be dealt again in a different manner.

Were the females and the biological fathers of the child to be born engaged in pre-marital sex? If yes, were they aware of the consequences? Is sex education something that would have helped them in their schooling which would have then alerted them about what they were indulging in?

And it is not just the females in this case who need to be made aware. Study needs to be done on why males indulged in such a behavior. What social factors were responsible for them taking these steps?

The real problem and issue lies many layers below the surface scratched by Mrs. Natarajan’s article. Just criticizing the government would do nothing to eradicate the social evil. Social means society and where everyone should be a participant.

Slumdog Millionaire: A MBA perspective

When I saw slumdog millionaire, I had liked it for its story. It was gripping. I admired the movie and recommended it too. My motive of watching the movie was purely getting a break from my daily job search routine.

But some days later, one of my friends posted a blog where he kind of agreed that Slumdog was a poverty porn. He also supported Amitabh Bachchan’s view in his blog that India (or the slum) has been wrongly portrayed in the film. Also, was it that the film was really different than the scores of other brilliant films that Bollywood churns out?

That certainly made me think about why this movie was preferred for Oscar nomination than many other, in my view, much better Indian movies. There are very few films that I have really liked. The ones that I can see many number of times, although I wouldn’t describe myself as a movie lover. When I really want to watch, I prefer Janjeer, Deewar, Jewel thief, Andaz Apna Apna, Sarfarosh, Angoor, Ijaazat.

I read the debating views on Slumdog in the major newspapers. Indian as well as American. And I agree to both. No, its not a MBA talk. I really agree to both. But yesterday I tried thinking about it from a MBA perspective. Here are my views why Slumdog bagged the Oscars:

1. Editing challenge: I believe that the Slumdog story was different in the sense that for each question asked there was a story behind it. I don’t have much knowledge about movie making but as a third person I think that would have been a challenge in editing. Putting those number of stories together was what separated it from other Indian movies.
2. Team of the movie: The team of the movie was diverse. And I mean it was really diverse. People from different countries, cultures, languages including the children from the slums. I know from the MBA program, that handling diversity is always a challenge. All through the movie and through the publicity, it seemed to me that it was a team effort. It wasn’t a Sachin Tendulkar carrying the burden of delivering a win. Or to put it in a context, if I see the movie, it won’t be because it is a one man show.
3. Right Balance: The script of the movie had included all the different aspects for all the different audiences very well. The Muslim characters in a city were carefully chosen to capitalize on the Hindu-Muslim divide that the foreign world thinks exists in Mumbai, a view of the foreign world that I think is rubbish. Slums are a major part of Indian residential arrangements and by including a slum-based protagonist it appealed to a large audience who would want to see it for the controversy it generated. A proper mix of international crew assured that there was enough foreign media participation. Also, I feel that the fantasy and reality are very well balanced in the movie. The basic concept of the movie is too good to be true but it also does not show a single hero killing hundreds of Pakistani army-men like Gadar.

In retrospect, I think I understood what the judges were thinking while making the judgment. In all probability I may be wrong. To single out the most important aspect of the movie beating other Indian movies in the race to the Oscars, I think it is the hype generated in the foreign media. The focus of bollywood movies has always targeted the Indian population in foreign countries. This movie appealed to the foreign nationals as well. That’s what made it different.

P.S. The slumdog pic in the post was taken from here.

Unending times

It seems it has been a zillion years that I am searching for a job. Back, when I was working in Pune, I was growing increasingly dissatified with myself and had started seeking something more meaningful in life than just coding day and night. I don't remember the date, but the year may have been early 2006.

Simultaneously, I had also started studying to pursue MBA, either India or abroad. US was completely out of question. Yet, something struck..something at the right time and right place..however cliched it may sound.. but I did come to US to pursue MBA. I was living my, what I call, a short term dream. I was given scholarship, got a tuition waiver, yet it was too costly. Finding a job was essential to continue. Having invested most of the money in a house back home, it was the only way to continue living the dream.

When I drove from the airport to the room where I was hosted, on Jul 23rd 07, the need for the on-campus job had overcome any other feeling of amusement and happiness that one experiences on landing in a different, a very different country. The next 2.5 months, everyday, morning to evening, 8 to 5, I scouted every office, every floor in every building on the campus in summer battling tempereatures that more than often reached 45 degree celsius. The program had started and the effort required was overwhelming. When, the classes started, I also had to start looking for an internship. The studies, the assignments, adjustments to cultural differences, cooking, cleaning all took all 24 hrs. I had to find time to sleep for a couple of hours. It was a disaster, I felt.

After around 70 days, I finally managed to get an on-campus job. It was 20 hrs per week. It was impossible, I thought. I slept 3 hrs a day for the next three semesters. The addition to the everyday activities was the search for internship. Typically, an internship search is much difficult than a full-time search because of the few positions available. I lost all hope. I had an opportunity in India, a great opportunity but it was, what a MBA would call, a -ve NPV project.I got an internship on the last day. It was a nightmare till then and I had convinced myself of the courses that I would take in the summer. But I finally did complete the internship.

During the beginning of the last semester, the world had changed poles. Wall street had disappeared. Government was all over the economy. In the next two months, the intermeshed wheels of world economies had come to a stageering halt because of lack of oil (i.e. liquidity). It has been the same ever since. I stopped reading newspapers and news. It was the same news everyday. Job losses, write offs, Bush, Paulson, Bernanke, financial losses etc. I got tired of reading them. The econoy lost 600,000 jobs last month. The situation continues remaining grim. Finding a job in such a situation has made me insensitive in many ways. Initially, I was irritated because of the uncertainty that I faced. But, gradually I got used to it.

So, the job search still continues. Since 2006. First MBA, then on-campus job, then internship and then full-time. I know that I will get a full-time job. That is not what is uncertain. But where, what and when is what is uncertain. I hope it is soon.

Gerald Celente: The Trends Research Institute

Some days ago, I was reading an article about Gerald Celente, a trend forecaster who has hit bullseye in most of his forecasts previously. he forecasted, the 87 stock market crash, demise of the soviet union, 2008 american subprime crisis accurately. (Reference here)

My point of writing this post is the statement he made during one of his TV appearances. The statement implied that if the banks did not even see the crisis coming, how the hell do they know when it is going to end.

Makes sense. Perhaps I am just reacting out of desperation and have not really thought about it deeply. But it does make sense to a layman.

Disappointing handling of India-Pakistan affair

I am sorely disappointed by the way India is handling the India-Pakistan affair. One concludes from the news reports that India's demand(or is it plea?) is falling on deaf ears. Pakistan seems to have gained an upper hand especially because of the presence of American troops on Pakistani soil.

On one hand India is cautious of involving US in the issue, while on the other it also needs US to pressurize Pakistan. Reminds me of what my father once told me about human tendency: If you keep talking constantly, nobody listens to you and you lose importance.

The world has stopped listening to India. There were visits by so called world leaders to the region, but I did not see any strong statement coming out of their press releases.

It remains to be seen what "shape" the "crisis" takes in the coming days. The attack has already been left behind and the focus has shifted to Kasab and other unimportant and useless topics.

Vande Mataram

CNBC Predictions for 2009 - Job Market

9. Entrepreneurial Spirit

With more MBA's than ever all dressed up with nowhere to go, we could well see a substantial upswing in the numbers of individuals going it alone in 2009. Expect venture capital firms (and maybe even banks, once the credit markets thaw) to be inundated with requests to fund the next big thing. And maybe, just maybe, the next big thing might just arrive.

See the whole article here

Where are the jobs in US?

The figures from todays job numbers by sector are as below:

Total change in non-farm payroll = - 240,000

* Private Sector = - 263,000
o Natural Resources & Mining = + 7,000
o Construction = - 49,000
o Manufacturing = - 90,000
+ Durable goods = - 75,000
+ Non-durable goods = - 15,000
o Services = - 131,000
+ Wholesale Trade = - 21,500
+ Retail Trade = - 38,100
+ Transportation = - 9,200
+ Utilities = + 1,800
+ Information & Media = Unchanged
+ Financial Svcs & Real Estate = - 24,000
+ Professional & Business Svcs = - 45,000
+ Education = - 11,200
+ Health Svcs = + 31,900
+ Leisure = - 16,000
* Government = +23,000

The figures are taken from CNBC website from here

It is evident that manufacturing cut the most number of jobs totalling about 90000. While most sectors reported job losses, not all were subject to layoff's. IT and Media services remained unchanged. In contrast, Natural Resources, Health services and government added jobs during this period. There is still some hope for job seekers. Except internationals! :(

The demise of Fannie

The quality that made it a favorite was also the quality that led to its demise. This raises the question whether a government backing is useful or useless. Shareholders always want higher profits. Higher profits mean higher risks. Higher risks means gambling. an interesting NYtimes article today describes the demise of Fannie Mae(and Freddie Mac). A listed organization, Fannie faced pressure from the shareholders. Government backing meant pressure from the senators as well. Who were the senators who blamed Fannie of not issuing riskier loans? With increasing hosuing prices, it became increasingly difficult for the low-income groups to buy mortgages. Democrats raised a ruckus and stepped up pressure on Fannie to buy riskier loans and issue it to the low-income group.

“When homes are doubling in price in every six years and incomes are increasing by a mere one percent per year, Fannie’s mission is of paramount importance,” Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, lectured Mr. Mudd at a Congressional hearing in 2006. “In fact, Fannie and Freddie can do more, a lot more.”

Another problem came from the combined pressure from Countrywide FInancial and the investment banks on Wall Street. For years, Fannie had been the sole middleman for mortgages. Wall Street in search for higher return projects had turned to the sub-prime mortgage securitization. They started dealing with Countrywide directly eliminating the middleman Fannie. In addition, Countrywide was Fannie's biggest business partner. That putting too many eggs in one basket leads to grave situations, isn't rocket science. Countrywide issued an ultimatum to Fannie. Buy my riskiest loans or forget doing business with me. Fannie by then had already lost 56 percent of its loan-reselling business to Wall Street and other competitors.

So Fannie bought this risky loans and being the "government backed" entity and the to further the purpose of its existence, Fannie kept the charges low as compared to the risk it was taking. When the bet went wrong, the mortgage insurer feared losing billions of dollars in guarantee. The same shareholders vying for the blood of the executives now were the ones who pressured Fannie to take more risk and increase their return on investments.

Had Fannie been a private entity, it would have been at liberty and also incentivized to get out of the mess. But the White House, Capitol Hill and Wall Street ignored Fannie. Being a government backed entity reduced its perceived risk of failure for weird reasons. Lawmakers, particularly Democrats, leaned on Fannie and Freddie to buy and hold those troubled debts, hoping that removing them from the system would help the economy recover. The companies, eager to regain market share and buy what they thought were undervalued loans, rushed to comply. “I’m not worried about Fannie and Freddie’s health, I’m worried that they won’t do enough to help out the economy,” the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, said at the time. “That’s why I’ve supported them all these years — so that they can help at a time like this.”

I feel that government backing is useful when it is practical and timed properly, as seen in the bailout. It is useless as seen in the case above. But, then there is always the case of moral hazard. And executive incentives. And politics.. The list goes on and on.

(Some of the extracts are as they are from NYtimes October 5 edition. Please refer http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/business/05fannie.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp for the complete article.)