Reality Distortion Field

When Steve says it, people believe it. Apple stock shot up by almost 8.0 percent for an announcement for a yet-to-be-launchedcell phone that is 6 months away! Talk about "Reality Distortion Field" - a term that originated in Apple Computer Inc, or shouldI say Apple Inc. A company that is trying to reinvent itself as a consumer electronics firm from a computer company.
I am a self confessed apple fan and it is not just because of apple's products that I am a fan but as an ardent admirer of Mr. Jobs(V2.0) - arguably the greatest second act in the history of business (its got to be Dada in the history of sports or rather what is yet to come of Dada). When Steve talks - People listen. I agree that iPhone is probably one of the best smartphones, if not thebest that has been made to date, but it does not have an FCC clearence as yet and its name will possibly cause a flurry ofinfringment suits from Cisco (or not!).
Steve has the ability to bend any fact to suit the job on hand and convince people around him to believe that its true. Even worse,he can at times repeat your own words or take your stand in his own charismatic manner and convince you that it was his! Now heis what we could call a "Guru". A marketing genius, who has reinvented consumer electronics and is now trying to reinvent the imageof apple. Apple used to be a comapny driven by mac aficianados, a rare breed but one that was growing rapidly. With the launchof the iPod, Steve created a cult following for apple through what marketing people called the "Halo Effect". Now with the iPhone the Apple world is only going to expand and at the cost of other corporate behemoths like Microsoft and Nokia (oops, did I say it out loud).
Well done Steve!

Driven by Instinct

I read this news piece that suggested that Sourav Ganguly is likely to open the batting with Sachin for the world cup. It is justunbelieveable that a person can come back this strong after being dropped in the most unceremonious manner. I try to drawinspiration from stories like this - Sourav Ganguly, Lance Armstrong, Steve Jobs - Icons in their own respect who have witnessedthe peaks and troughs and come back stronger.
That opens up the topic of "Mental Strength" - How do these people draw strength, courage and hope to fight back. I have beenin troughs in life where the easiest option was to run away from reality. Althought I believe I have become mentally stronger thanI have been in the past, I continue to get inspired by these stories, which means there is always room for improvement.
These troughs could be personal failures, rejections, professional failures, mistakes, losses - having witnessed most of theseat various scales, I know the approach to each one of them would be different every time I face it - but does my mind tell me toapproach it differently or is just growing stronger through each experience. I would love to take a sneak peak into the minds of these people who have fought back - It is a no brainer that Sourav dada cannot play short pitch stuff - He just can't - but its the strenght of his mind that drives him to face it.
I know I am heading into a phase where I will have to make tough decisions - choices that I have had in the past - unfortunatelyI cannot say that I cannot see beyond the choices I do not understand because these are choices I have understood wellin the past and knew of the consequences - but I still chose them not because I was scared of failure, not because I felt akward,but because my instinct told me to.
Now where did this instinct come into the picture - I thought there was just mind and body - Instinct ? Well, thats the power of a complex system called a Homo sapien. Instinct tells us to do things that rationally we wouldn't - but it does grow more rationallike the mind and body, understanding the consequences of decision driven by instinct - So is instinct just a mask that we put onto break the rules that govern the rational functioning of the mind and body - I think so !
Do great men break rules ? Some do break them but the best one's bend them. As I venture into a territory where I know instinctively that I am going to face rejection and failure, I am not scared and nor am I feeling that there is no need to do it - Why ?Because I know I am doing the right thing - I am not going by the rules - Mind, body and instinct are telling me in unison to act andI will - Because one day I know I will be able to portray instances of fighting back - and fighting back strongly.
I have never looked forward more to seeing Sourav and Sachin walk out to face bowling attacks - because I know they are menwith mental strength who can rule over their physical weakness and technical flaws.

Maya

As the sun begins its journey down into the horizon and another week (the first of this year) comes to an end, I look forward withexcitement! The weekend is here! Second after second, minute after minute, hour after hour, most of us live our lives waiting for the two days of the week - I am just another normal being who does that, but lately have been wondering as to what the purposebehind that could be.
- Is it because we work too hard during the week ?- Mental and physical strain ? - Because the system is built that way ?
Our lives are increasingly getting structured, much like being driven by this central engine that derives its power from the billionsof humans who slog it out week after week, month after month only to be controlled by the very same engine that they work for.Why is it that we allow ourselves to be controlled ? Why is it that we are bound by rules? What defines the purpose of our veryexistence? Is it money ? Is it love ? Is it compulsion? It is because others do it - Herd mentality ? Can it be quantified ?
What happens to those who choose to break free? Are they branded as terrorists ? Are they sent to asylums ? A world withoutrules might be difficult to imagine?
As the week comes to an end, these I continue to ponder over these thoughts - as I do week after week. I have now realized that this is a part of a "structured thought" - quite ironical that the very thoughts that question the existence of structures and rules are themselves a part of structure.
I was on a road trip during the last week of 2006 with a couple of friends, when we drove through a few states in the north/easternpart of the US. As we drove through endless miles of farms, empty spaces, industrial parks, etc, I wondered as to how a complexhuman being permits itself to be a part of what seems to be a complex blend of simple systems.
Why does the sky appear blue ? How do you define blue ? What if the blue that you see is actually red to some one else ? How do you know for sure that a circle is a circle and not a square for some one else ? What if there is a system in place that can make this happen ? Ever heard of Maya or Illusion - the distinction between conciousness and physical matter ? the mind and body ?
I have always believed that stages of life are cyclical and hence the concept of deja vu is thus infact a manifestation of events that have happened earlier in life but projected differently by the mind. Hence, a body that does not separate its mind would beable to visualize reality on a different plane.
As I prepare to leave for the weekend, I continue to search for answers to innumerable questions that form a part of my life. Manreacts to the same situation in different ways in different stages of life - I am doing exactly that - searching for answers to somequestions that were a part of my life 8 years back. Hopefully this weekend will help me achieve that and thus push me a few inchesout of the system.
In the words of Freddie Mercury - Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy ? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality (Bohemian Rhapsody))

Paradox!

What would you give up if you had to make a choice between mind or heart ? It is quite paradoxical because one cannot existin the absence of the other, but then there are instances in life when you need to make that choice - the easiest option would be to run away from it but then running away from reality is like towards it - the faster you go away from it, the faster you get sucked towards it.
The uncertainities of life, which you talk about to unknown people in bars, when it hits you - it hits you hard. I am going throughthat face of life when things were going smoothly until murphy's law decided to prove that it still holds good. Even worse is acombination of murphy's law and chaos theory, garnished with ideals from the matrix.
As I wake up (yes I do that every morning), to face the same walls in the my bedroom I realized that it was a different feelingentirely - my heart felt lighter and a smile seemed to have found a leasing spot on my face. Fate isn't without a sense of irony that for the very reason that things happened earlier, history chose to repeat itself.

Immigrant

A new country - A new experience - A new Year: To sum up things over the last two months. I made the choice of moving from India to the US in November and having settled in decided to take off on vacation for 10 days. What began as a small planto visit a couple of cities turned out to be an awesome ride across the 5 states. The vacation was different from my usualrun-of-the-mill new years where I end up with a whole bunch of people. This time I got time to think and relax and spend time with myself.
I realized that life had come a full circle in many ways than one - I feel like I am back in school although these last 7 yearssince I graduated from school have been the best learning experiences. For reasons beyond explanation, I have realized that running away from reality only pushes you closer to it. Learning to face it bravely makes a man what he is destined to be.That is quite a contradiction to my beliefs because I have always believed that man is the maker of his own destiny, and yetI talk about what he destined to be - I clearly cannot see beyond the choices I do not understand!

He is Back!!!!

In one of my previous posts in December '05 I had expressed regret over the unceremonius sacking of Dada...but he is back and back with a bang!!!

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, he has established his presence in this team and showed what determination and courage is. Any comeback story or that of a super hero tends to give the reader goose bumps, but I must say that I had more than just tears in my eyes over his explosive return to the team. It was quite a surprise that he has been able to lift his game to a different level and fight back.

Looking forward to seeing Dada V 2.0 in the world cup squad!