The act of reverence

Before writing this article I tried finding out the number of blogs which exist today. Most of the reports dated to 2008. I guess people have given up estimating the number given the rush in blogging space. Apparently there is one new blog being created every 1 second which translates to 31 million being added every year to the existing set of around 150 million blogs. The latest figure on the number of blogs is around 120 million. Not to mention out of all the blogs created more than 90 pc don’t survive for a year. I guess it is my fear of joining the 90 pc which keeps me going. Maintaining a blog is difficult. I am no celebrity that others would be interested in my life. Talking about which I sometimes wonder why are we so obsessed with celebrities. And now that even the Nobel prized is being doled out to celebrated presidents, the celebrity obsession has made inroads to academia also. While I feel there is nothing wrong of being celebrity inclined, given that there is a strong possibility that everyone one who has made it big has done so in-spite of multiple obstacles and thus makes a good case for emulation, the total lack of due diligence on our part on who deserves praise and who does-not is totally appalling.

Jyoti Basu’s death generated more interest in West Bengal than anything else in the recent past. So when three of my friends who are least interested in politics asked me what I felt about his tenure as the chief minister, I realised much has been spoken in media to generate so much interest. And so as to remain a-political I will not comment so much on his chief minister ship as on the extreme views which columnist took. The funniest one was this -In his final months, when he took to his bed, Basu was miserable because he could not function. To his way of thinking, a Marxist goes down fighting at the barricades; a prolonged fade out accompanied by hordes of people in attendance is an ignominious end of a life committed to a struggle – the objective of which was a gloriously utopian world sans oppression, exploitation, violence….

Columnist Sumit Mitra in his article in Times of India, Don’t sing only hosannahs makes two very good points regarding the use of verbose and elaborate praises in obituaries . To quote him – Most of those who decide on what should appear in newspapers chose instead to go for an overkill of hagiography, with a welter of modern counterparts of the “useless phrases” that George Orwell cited in his seminal essay, Politics and the English Language – “jackboot” , “Achilles’ heel” , “hotbed” , “melting pot” , “acid test” , “veritable inferno” .

The second point is much more important. The histrionics in newspapers over Basu’s death is not an exception but a trend. Ramachandra Guha, historian and a keen social observer, was among the first to note this “cult of celebrity” when, in 2006, he wrote about the media going gaga over the demise of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, but remaining silent after the death of C Subramaniam, the man who spearheaded the Green Revolution. It was The Economist that did not fail to grasp the man’s place in history, featuring him in its famous Obituary page. Like democracy, nationhood, and much else in India, her newspapers too must come of age to respect our dead by fair judgment, not lachrymose theatricals.

This celebrity worship can also be seen in the corporate world. Taking every word of the senior management as gospel is nothing short of intellectual dishonestly and might have huge repercussions. Regarding the use of English phrases like ‘ challenges’, ‘ value proposition’ to fill up the gap when we have nothing really substantial to talk about, the less said the better. Those interested can of course read up the entire Dilbert series on corporate jargon. I feel getting awed at success and failure is quite natural but what is more important is reserving the final judgement on due diligence and not only pure reverence.

Prithwish

2009 – The top 10 list ?

This is the time of the year when there is a rush for a top ten list for everything- the top events of last year, top ten places to visit, top ten movies to watch, top ten watering holes, top ten restaurants etc etc. However critical we might be of the utility of such a list, the attractiveness of any top ten list cannot be ruled out. I don’t know what makes the top ten list so famous- is it the compactness of the information ( we know we have to read only ten items to understand what is the best in  the category) or our obsession with rankings and seeking conformity ( we do feel happy and inclusive if we have visited one of the places or eaten in one of the restaurants. In fact there is an article on the net- Top 10 reasons why ‘Top 10′ lists are so popular.  I am providing the hyperlink for the same.

Given my recent interest in behavioural economics and human irrationality, I would say because human beings do not have an ‘absolute value meter ‘but always tend to evaluate things by comparison (for example, you might say you bought a Samsung TV because it gives you more features than an LG TV at the same price, even though you may not use some of the features), the top ten lists give us a reference point, they tell us how most people are behaving, how I am faring compared to the rest – how does my favourite restaurant compare to the list etc. Given this I sometimes wonder at the marketing potential of such lists to generate and divert crowd to a particular destination.

So I kept wondering what made my top ten list. I did not do extra ordinarily well in my career or my personal life. They both kept on dragging at the same pace and I was worrying about both of them in no way less. The more I thought the more troubled I became. I did not have a top ten list. Or rather I did not have a top ten list I could be proud of. On the other hand I realised, for me if 2009 has to stand for something- for one particular thing, it has to stand for humility. It was the time when I decided to look outside my cocoon at the extra ordinary feat of extra ordinary men and women- people who have followed their passions, worked extremely hard and still are. I was always an avid reader. But for me each book or each movie did not just remain a piece of entertainment but an authors or the director’s journey. Watching Avatar was no longer limited to a surreal, psychedelic experience but to the vision and the creativity of a person who could very well choose mediocrity but decided to push himself into producing a true masterpiece. Or the last article I wrote about Randy Pausch and the extraordinary determination and grit shown by a man suffering from a terminal disease. True we are standing on the shoulder of giants. Today I write about one such interesting person.

Recently Sourindra ( a close friend who is doing his Phd from Cambridge) shared with me a few TED lectures ( I strongly recommend you visit http://www.ted.com/ ). One of them was that of Devdutt Pattanaik. The kind of work he is doing is so unique that I could not resist the temptation to share. And as I read through his thoughts around beliefs and behaviour in the context of business I could not agree more.

Mr Pattanaik has been appointed as the Chief Belief Officer for Future Group.  As per him the role ‘involves solving corporate issues by trying to bridge the gap between company values and personal values’. The concept is really interesting – business emerges from behaviour while behaviour emerges from beliefs. Beliefs emerge when values are internalised.

I will reproduce here the first paragraph of an article Outlook Business called The atheist turns to mythology-

The Future Group is looking for Duryodhanas. No, the group is not auditioning for the role of the evil Kaurava for an in-house Mahabharata play. Nor is Future Group EO Kishore Biyani planning a plunge back into showbiz with ideas to film Indian mythology’s greatest epic. But the hunt for Duryodhana is on, nevertheless.

“Duryodhanas are employees who play by the rules but whose intentions and integrity are questionable. They are the ones who come to office before time, leave after time, but spend the whole time in office playing solitaire,” says Biyani with his characteristic wry humour. “I have asked my departmental heads to look out for such Duryodhanas,” he adds.

Duryodhana is not just another catchy way to describe employees who play hooky. It’s a part of a whole new lexicon that the Future Group is working hard to create. To achieve this, Biyani has hired a mythologist. Dr Devdutt Pattanaik will help create a vocabulary, symbols and, eventually, a unique style of communication drawn from Indian mythology to achieve Biyani’s ultimate goal: make retail a religion across the length and breadth of the group. His formal designation: Chief Belief Officer.

I feel Mr Pattanaiks views on mythology, sacred stories, symbols and rituals are a very holistic take on what our sacred texts have tried to convey. The Ramayana and Mahabharata for example just don’t convey the victory of good over evil. Mr Pattnaik says that the epics are actually stories of the different complexities and different situations/ dilemmas one faces in a life time and interpreting them as stories of good Vs bad are an oversimplification.

On being asked how he sees his role evolving as an artist, writer or a corporate person (http://devdutt.com/my-interview-in-sunday-hindu), he puts its very succinctly.

All three, I hope. I see little differences between the three roles. I communicate the beliefs of our forefathers through word, art and lecture. Some I do through books, some through corporate workshops, organisational development and personal interactions. These are all manifestations of a single thought, an intense desire to share this fabulous inheritance full of profound wisdom that our ancestors shared with us through stories, symbols and rituals. Blinded by science and logic, we have not been able to appreciate the depth of ancient wisdom. We have stripped ourselves of the technology of mythology that has made our culture in particular, and all cultures in general, what they are.

I am attaching a couple of his lectures. Enjoy.

1. TED Lecture

2. Epics are extremely sophisticated and they tell us repeatedly to take decisions contextually and be responsible for the decisions

Prithwish

Randy Pausch Last Lecture:Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

I spent a good part of today evening listening to Randy Pausch- Really Achieving your child hood dreams. I came across this extraordinary speech in the most unexpected of ways. I was listening to one of the recorded lectures of my MBA finance professor which has been uploaded on you tube by some junior. As the ‘you tube’ back-end logic would have it, it also showed a couple of other lectures. I was fascinated with the title – last lecture by Randy Pausch and while the long one and a half hour video look an infinite time to load because of my godforsaken internet connection, I decided to search more on Randy Pausch.

As wikipedia would carry it -

Randy Pausch(October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) was an American professor of computer science and human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He learned that he had a terminal case of pancreatic cancer in September 2006. He gave an upbeat lecture entitled “The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” on September 18, 2007 at Carnegie Mellon, which became a popular YouTube video and led to other media appearances. He then co-authored a book called The Last Lecture on the same theme, which became a New York Times best-seller. Pausch died of complications from pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008.

It a memorable lecture and I strongly recommend everyone to see it. I am attaching the link for your reference.

 

 

As the lecture draws to an end, I was so much in emotion and awe for his energy, dynamism and good sense of humor. Watching the video with the knowledge that it gets delivered by a person who knows death is imminent and yet retains the passion is a lesson for all of us.

 

Prithwish

Matter of shame: Will the guilty be punished

What happened in the assembly yesterday was shameful. It raised some basic questions in my mind. How does it matter which language is used during oath-taking? Does the language matter more than the actual oath itself? Will we ever evaluate whether a MLA/MP ever delivers on his promises or will we be judge them by the language they use? Are we really a democracy or are we doing a lip service to democracy? Will the goons who cause shame to India ever be brought to book?

To read more , please visit the guest section

The Gullible Indian

One of my favourite con stories is that of Aijaz Mehboob Khan.   Mumbai mirror covered the story in August. It goes something like this –

Con man, Aijaz Mehboob Khan, convinced people that he had personal ties with Mahatma Gandhi, as well as Subhash Chandra Bose. He proved his famous affiliations with a fake Times of India cover story- a picture of him standing besides the Father of the Nation. The date of the fake times issue is July 12, 1945, while our con man himself is just 29 years old. Khan – a computer engineer and a resident of Mumbra – managed to dupe at least 10 people to the tune of Rs 50 lakh with his so called ‘freedom fighter’ connections! The people who blindly believed his claim, eventually ended up shelling out lakhs of rupees, which the con man assured them, would be invested in government contracts.

I could not stop laughing at the audacity of the con man and the gullibility of those who invested. We Indians can be a bunch of emotional fools. May be years of conditioning on superstitious beliefs and traditions have made lots of us to take things at face value. Or, may be a lack of proper education. Even the education at primary level (municipality schools) is so bereft of free and logical thinking that we end up not questioning too much in life.

Or take the case of Conman Munir Khan, who is evading arrest in several cases registered against him. Another Mumbai Mirror cover story, Munir Khan apparently developed a wonder drug called Body revival which according to his website-(http://healthreactive.com/index.asp )- is an Micro-Herbal, 100% plant based formula which dissolves the harmful deposits and flushes out the toxins (Mala) through urine and stool. It also maintains and revives the tissue cells in their state of excellent health by clearing all the channels of circulation in the body, thus, bringing the body in the state of equilibrium and forcing the disease to abandon the body in the form of various excretions (Mala)

The above instance is a clear case of imagination gone wild. As per the report people slept on the steps his clinic to be the first few people to get the medicine.

I think one of the biggest hoax was Ramar Pillai and his herbal oil (though Ganesh drinking milk was the most popular). Hailing from Tamil Nadu in India, he claimed he had an herb that can turn water into a virtually pollution-free diesel fuel or kerosene. Unruffled by allegations that Pillai’s venture is a hoax, scooter owners were queuing up in hordes to buy the cheap fuel. Pillai later confessed that he was buying hydrocarbons from the market. The most hilarious incident was someone trying to give a plausible explanation of getting Petrol from thin air- http://www.skepdic.com/herbfuel.html

If he is not using trickery, how is Pillai doing it? One theory, is that atmospheric carbon dioxide is sucked in during the reaction. The carbon dioxide combines with hydrogen liberated from water and forms the hydrocarbon fuel.

Now comes the ironical bit.There is indeed a plant which is now hailed as the future of non fossil fuel. Was Raman right ?

More of this in the next post.

Cheers

Prithwish

Monkey Business-Swinging through the wall street jungle

Monkey Business-Swinging through the wall street jungle by John Rolfe and Peter Troob

Initially I was sceptical about the book. My experience with Indian bankers turned authors has not been great and I had read enough and heard enough accounts of life in a B school and long hours in investment banking jobs to read another book on the same subject. Fresh out of Wharton and Harvard Business Schools, the authors got employed with investment bank – DLF (Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette). The book is their account of how the business is run and their experiences as an associate banker albeit in an extremely entertaining narrative.

“We realized that the compensation levels and the perks weren’t in place because being an associate in investment banking was a great job. They were in place because the job sucked”.

The book is a pleasant surprise. Written in an entertaining, sarcastic and brutally honest fashion it lays down in amazing detail the impersonal way in which an investment bank works. Though there are parts which are slightly exaggerated, accounts of the relentless meaningless work, boredom, sycophancy, huge ego and machismo running wild , endless meetings, bureaucracy and excess money is something which many of us in the corporate world can related to though in various degrees.

“Investment banking is a profession characterized by extremes. Whether it’s money, booze, food, sex, or work hours, the typical banker believes that more is better”.

The details are uncensored and not moderated to sugar coat it. It’s the ugly truth or the naked trust as you might call it. The narration is interesting where each author in turn writes about his experience. Through personal stories and anecdotes the authors expresses the boredom and drudgery of their daily lives—which is far from the glamour that led them to apply in the first place.

Investment Banker or not, the book is a window into the meaningless excesses, idiosyncrasies and stupid competition which marks corporate life. Its strictly recommended for those who can face these difficulties realising the irony of it all and still maintaining some sense of humour.

Prithwish

Half Truths

Book Review

THE DRUNKARD’S WALK-How Randomness Rules Our Lives-By Leonard Mlodinow

The doctor told me I had a deviated nasal septum and had to get the same operated. He asked me to get all the possible blood tests done, including tests for Hepatitis and AIDS. And though I knew my chances of both were almost zero, I could not stop worrying a couple of times before the report. What if I had tested positive? What are the chances that I will be tested positive for AIDS when I don’t have the virus (also known as False Positives)? Is there a difference between the chances that I would test positive if I was not HIV positive and the chances that I would not be HIV positive if I tested positive? What is the role of false positives in the world of medicine?

Well, it so happens that knowledge of conditional probability will tell us that the chances that someone does not have HIV Virus if he tested positive and the chances that someone tested positive even thought he did not have the virus are different. The author explains this in details in the chapter -False Positive and Positive Fallacies.

I had promised that I would shortly write a review on the book- The Drunkard’s Work.  The epilogue is so interesting that I was immediately hooked to the book. The author narrates the story of a man who won the Spanish lottery-

A few years ago a man won the Spanish national lottery with a ticket that ended in the number 48. Proud of his “accomplishment,” he revealed the theory that brought him the riches. I dreamed of the number 7 for seven straight nights, he said, “and 7 times 7 is 48.” Those of us with a better command of our multiplication tables might chuckle at the man’s error, but we all create our own view of the world and then employ it to filter and process our perceptions, extracting meaning from the ocean of data that washes over us in daily life. And we often make errors that, though less obvious, are just as significant as his.

The Drunkards book is a fascinating account of how randomness rules our lives and how often we interpret the random events erroneously. We look at the world around us, we filter a lot of data and interpret what is happening around based on our intuition and we come up with certain results. And the results are often wrong because when it comes to questions involving uncertainly and randomness we often misinprepret the world around us. We have our own directions and goals but we are also bombarded continuously with unpredictable and uncontrollable events that have a very great influence in the direction we take. For those of us who have seen a pollen grain in water moving in a zigzag fashion, there might not be an apparent direction in its movement, yet over a period of time it goes from Point A to point B. Hence while at hindsight we might think that the pollen moved from point A to point B as part of a deterministic trajectory (on purpose), it went in a totally random fashion. So even though the movement of the pollen grain looked totally random with no apparent preferential direction it did actually over longer period of tome move in a direction. Thus extrapolating it to life, even if we have no direction we will get somewhere.

The last line requires more elaboration as it an important thought which author builds on. He talks about our biases and illusions arising from randomness and the illusion of causality and the law of small numbers (there is actually a law of large number; law of small number denotes to wrong use of the law of large numbers for smaller numbers) are important ones. We often attribute more importance to success and failure than it is due. In a span of 5 years we judge a CEOs performance when mathematically speaking the probability that a CEO with a certain success rate will demonstrate that success rate in a 5 year period is only 1in 3. Also the author questions the fact that how come someone treated as a genius business manager change overnight into a dumb one.  The book is interspersed with calculations on why using small numbers for prediction may be fallacious and how certain random processes are viewed erroneously.

The author’s objective is not to declare everything as random but to tell us that the usual attributes of success and failure, of genius and mediocrity are premature and not totally a matter of effort but also have an element of random luck thrown in. Given that there is no denying the role of effort. Even JK Rowling got rejected for her novel 9 times before she became a world renowned author. The authors quotes a former IBM executive, Thomas J Watson -If you want to succeed double your failure rate.

The latter chapters of the book also look into the psychological reasons of why we make mistakes around randomness. Borrowing from some of the experiments of Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and Tversky he points out how for human beings being in control (what the author says as illusion of control) is an important need and hence we don’t like to believe that we don’t have control over life and environment.

The book is filled with interesting life accounts of mathematicians who have contributed to the development of probability (you will have to read the book to find out if all of them were mathematicians or not), interesting problems in probability (Monty Hall problem) and statistical concepts like regression towards the mean (which also has implications in Biology).

For me the book is a crash course on probability, statistics, psychology and randomness and how they affect our daily lives.

Prithwish