Starbucks

Starbucks. 

Yes, the one that has opened in Mumbai at Horniman Circle (Please forgive the taxi walas for calling it Hornyman or Honeymoon or Hanuman Circle).  Had seen tweets & Instagram images of the frenzy to welcome Starbucks with open arms on the opening day, but a particular video just showed how ridiculous it had actually got. People standing in queue for two hours for 200 bucks coffee. Ok, I know it is Starbucks coffee, but seriously two hours!! You could watch a movie, read a good book or magazine in that time! Come on, Bombay... city that runs, hops & rushes against time. Had anyone insisted on waiting for even one fourth of that time in lodging complains against local issues, those potholes & what not that ails this city; would we? Not really, we are so busy, who would spend thirty long minutes for things that really matter. Wasting hours waiting outside a coffee shop just shows how insecure we are & how ridiculously important peer pressure is.

But it's Starbucks - Yes it is Starbucks, but it is your inner impluse to "Check-in" before the weekend ends, the peer pressure to have registered your mark on FourSquare, a click on Instagram & of course, a status update on Facebook, not to mention the incessant tweets. Imagine what this city would turn into if all would be so active during elections, or to raise their voice against something, to demand for right to information, to get the freaking auto meters fixed for once & for all. 

And then finally, if you say - it's coffee - if you really know coffee so well, participate in a coffee cupping which requires more skill than wine tasting and real luxury coffee isn't as cheap as the usual ones with a fancy brand. 

The Firefly

The first time I saw a real firefly, in March 2012... it was at a surprising place...


Last night, as I lay sleepless
In the summer dark
With window open to invite a breeze,
Softly a firefly flew in
And circled round the room
Twinkling at me from floor or wall
Or ceiling, never long in one place
But lighting up little spaces...
A friendly presence, dispelling 
The settled gloom of an unhappy day.
And after it had gone,
I leftThe window open,
just in case
It should return

- Ruskin Bond

The Sea & the Land

Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure. Consider also the devilish brilliance and beauty of many of its most remorseless tribes, as the dainty embellished shape of many species of sharks. Consider, once more, the universal cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying on eternal war since the world began.

Consider all this; and then turn to the green, gentle, and most docile earth; consider them both, the sea and the land; and do you not find a strange analogy to something in yourself? For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all the horrors of the half-known life. God keep thee! Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return!

Herman Melville in Moby-Dick

link: http://literaryjukebox.brainpickings.org/page/5

Books!!

Carl Sagan's quote on books, illustrated by ZenPencils

Sunday joys + Pinterest adds

Facebook birthdays ...whew!!

if you have around 600 friends added on facebook, chances are high that on an average there are 40 birthdays per month. But are all these important enough to wish? Would you really remember all these had there been no Facebook?

I would rather like to remember birthday of people who matter & not the whole world....

What are facts?

Facts are as quoted from a record, from a page in history. Then  facts are based on the records that someone might have made. A generic bias is likely to creep in given any person's mental thinking, background and abilities. Also since history favors the winner, may not record complete, unedited facts. So facts are actually perspectives of  people who make a note of it. Thus facts could infact be perceptions because in reality we see more as per our perceptions, not according to unbiased, complete truth. Truth becomes what we perceive to be true. Then what is the difference between fact, real, truth from anything that is not a part of it.

Of fasting godmen, iPads in jails, farmer suicides and other such scams!

Just because a credible personality fasts for anti corruption bill, every Tom, Dick and Harry thinks he can fast, get media attention and the whole country will sway for his cause.
Get a credibility check done before fasting! Either govt will throw tear gas on your narrow set of population covered or you will die of fasting. Even if you die of fasting, the cause will be drowned out in the cacophony of political parties accusing each other of your death rather than discussing the issue.
iPads allowed in Tihar jail to read the charge sheet. Seriously, what a judicial system we have in place that let's a mass murderer terrorist live peacefully for years, that lets 2G scam accused use all the luxuries available. All this as farmers continue to die in misery and poverty. India surely doesn't portray a pretty picture of democracy when the whole of Middle East and Africa look up to the largest democracy. They want to be a democracy just like India and get a 8% GDP growth, but does India have enough power to guide or make alliances?! O.o!?

Or should democracy evolve? Why do we have to live by the Constitution that is as old as archaic English? Shouldn't it evolve every 50 - 70 years? Shouldn't the government and people decide that failed areas of democracy need more accountability by qualified meritorious who should not live under fear of political clouts and industry's heavy weights? Why should there be 100% democracy in states that have failed over and over again? Ain't people born in those states punished by not getting facilities and opportunities? (cont- )

Will Social Sciences see daylight ever?!

The latest Economist debate on 'Education and Innovation' ends with over 74% people believing 'promoting maths and sciences education is the best way to stimulate future innovation.'

"Of course, promoting maths and science education can stimulate innovation, but more powerful alternatives abound. For example: better management. In the innovation game, we have plenty of outstanding starters, but not nearly enough outstanding finishers." - says Chris Trimble, Faculty, Tuck School of Business.

The debate, was opened by the viewpoint 

http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/578#pro_statement_anchor

No doubt, science and maths are the backbone of the world, but so are subjects like economics, law, management, psychology. One of the best comments so far on the page read: The presumption that innovation is limited to math and the physical sciences is an insult to those who study history, philosophy, law, etc. Was not Plato an innovator? What of Locke, Rousseau, and Hume? I think we need to focus on the skills necessary to be an informed, educated and humane citizen in the modern world. Maths and science surely belong to this coterie. However, I think we may be missing the forest for the trees here.

Innovation exists everywhere, not just in math and the sciences. We don't spend enough time teaching our children how to think. We usually leave that to the universities. In current society however I think we need to teach children how to think independently at a much younger age. Critical thinking and the ability to articulate our point of view (and or innovations) is perhaps just as important as innovation itself. There are many brilliant minds teaching in universities. Not all of them are good teachers. Brilliant discoveries are frequently made but are often inaccessible to the lay person. True innovation comes when it is embraced by the masses. The leaders of tomorrow who can articulate a new idea and gain public acceptance of it; they will be our most important innovators.

What we need are fully developed people, capable of independent and critical thinking and able to relate to each other and work together in a team.

I dare 2 compete

http://www.dare2compete.com/

I dare to compete as its inherent human nature to compete. Competition makes one strive to outperform one’s counterpart, from getting mommy’s attention more than one’s sibling does, gully cricket, state level championship, business school competitions, to scooping out a pie in negotiations, and in distinct future getting larger part of the industry’s market share... the list is humongous. Right here, right now, the battle field keeps evolving with new challenges and terrains. I want to compete with the best brains of various bschools, each unique with its own flavour. I want to make as many mistakes now, to ensure zero errors in real life business scenarios. All charged and geared up with our best weapons of concepts and zeal.

Competition makes one strive for excellence and is the best way of learning. What is Pepsi without Coke? What is GE or Oracle without Jack Welch and Larry Ellison? The burning fire to be ahead of the crowd, to put in the extra efforts amidst typical hectic schedules, the pride each one has for one’s bschool. May the battle of wits and grits bring out the best ‘coz I dare to compete with the rest.