Lost in the illusion - It's a wonderful world

I have been a regular user of Ola Cabs and their ilk ever since I have relocated to Mumbai. I make it a point to speak with the drivers as we drive along getting to understand why they have signed up with Ola or what’s it to be an independent agent. Till a few weeks ago the cab drivers that came along were invariably professional drivers – cab drivers or drivers with other people who moved along to Ola because it represented better income and in some cases more independence than being a driver with someone. (stated a family driver who resented having to run errands for the malikin. “I was their driver not their errand boy. They asked me to collect laundry, buy vegetables etc.”). In the recent weeks though I have encountered a completely different phenomenon. First time drivers now taking to driving cabs. They had been driving their new Ola cabs for less than a week or two days in one case when i ran into them.. These are people in other professions who knew driving who have taken...

Marriages and Fantasy Photo Albums There is enormous pressure on Chinese youngster’s to marry. In a society that is still driven by traditional Confucian ethos, despite the enormous cultural discontinuity wrought by Mao, marriage (and children) is a fundamental duty of a person towards his family and society. Given all the changes over the years, with the loss of traditional and informal avenues, many alternate methods have sprung up. Dating events (Shanghai Line 2 Metro users dating event anyone!), ‘Marriage Markets’ – spaces in parks that are taken over by parents seeking a prospective spouse for their (often only) child, on-line sites and top end ‘love hunter’ services… the range of possibilities is enormous. For a society where ‘face’ guides and drives social interactions, China can be downright cruel towards people that are perceived to have failed to secure themselves a mate. Women over 27 that have not found themselves a mate are known as ‘ Sheng Nu ’. Ditto, men are kno...

25th May 2014, Shanghai. It has been a disappointing week, nah, month. Losada number is made up. (Losada line / number is supposed to be this ratio of positive to negative experiences that is necessary for human flourishing). It is well known that human beings are loss averse and 'respond' more strongly to negative experiences than they do to positive experiences. So it seemed logical that over a period of time if you wanted to generate happiness and flourishing around you  it was necessary to give more positive strokes than negative ones - presumably so that the net effect would be positive. It's just that the number is made up. It is still true that human beings are loss averse and in general people do mope when you criticize them. Perhaps it does follow that if you want better results and be happy yourself and create happiness around you, then the carrot and stick need to be balanced - Precisely 2.9013 carrots to one stick. Now that it has been proven that thi...

We are often told that our planet is rapidly loosing languages. As the world becomes flatter and more global  and smaller communities seek to integrate into the larger warp and weft of this planet, an unfortunate consequence is the loss of smaller languages in the world. Of the 7000 odd languages that exist today it is said that by AD 2100, 90 % of them would be lost. I think it is very sad.. It's not just the loss of the language per se but the loss in cultural and intellectual diversity that one feeds sadder about. It's the loss of a way of thinking, expressing thoughts, of a world view that defined a community. Visually it's akin to the 'loss of clothing styles' in the world. From the vibrant, colorful clothes, vibrant patterns that many of our ancestors wore, we move on to the greys and blacks and monotones that are the output of an industrial age where the speed of the mechanical looms killed the patterns and designs and standardized things. A few random w...

Do we really know the people that are around us? Apart from the (narrow) prism of the role in which we interact with them - Do we really know them? Perhaps it is not really practical to know, Do you really care about the life story of the Barista at the coffee shop that you buy your coffee from everyday? Or the person you 'meet' in the subway everyday? Sometimes I cannot but wonder at the miracles of the stories that each of us have and the coincidences, chances in time and space that get us to be or get us together ... First, about a Japanese man i sat next to at an office dinner. We struck a conversation, and i was telling him about how much i loved the movie "Jiro dreams of Sushi' and we started talking about Japan. I told him that I  always wanted to visit Tokyo and Kyoto. He told me about how beautiful Kyoto is and how the Allied forces spared Kyoto during the second world war. It turned out I knew the reason why the Allied forces had spared Kyoto that surprise...

Sunrise, On the Great Wall - June 2009  Drum Tower, Glowing in the dusk light, Xian, May 2010