chaotic order

Jottings - Slice of life - 193 ( An answer to a question) A few days ago, I received an email from a young reader as response to my essay on symbols and the Helen Keller story. After describing his interest in what I write, and how he would read my essays more than once, he went on to conclude his short email with a question: He asked “ Bala, I have been meaning to ask you this question for months now; but didn’t think it was appropriate. But this time, I had to ask. Why do you sign off your posts with “Yours in mortality”. That seems strange. Because , people generally wish for oneself and others immortality, infinity, everlasting peace, God and such like; but you are different. Is there a reason you choose to use the word mortality, or is it just that you wish to be different. Pardon me, if this seems an impertinent question? but if you think, there is merit in asking this, I am curious to know, if you wish to share…” It was a simple enough question, and I am not sure how many

Jottings - Slice of life - 192 ( musings on sound and meaning of words and symbols. The Helen Keller story, its film adaptions) The miraculous connection between the word and thing is one of wonder, and it is at the same time the essence of language and communication. Somehow, in a manner mysterious and profound, human brains are wired to make linguistic connections spontaneously at the age of two or three. At a seminal moment within first two years of a child's growth, in an event that really cannot be predicted, but which all parents wait for with palpitating expectation, the round shaped, rubbery "thing" their little baby held in its hands and played with, and the word "Ball" they have uttered innumerable times to describe it, becomes categorically and irrevocably wired in the child's brain. From that moment on, the word ball, articulation of it, and the thing itself become one, and the baby all of sudden stumbles upon what we call "meaning"

Jottings – Slice of life – 191 (Arun Shourie and his new book “Two saints: Speculations around and about Ramana maharishi and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa”) Arun Shourie is renowned intellectual in Indian circles. He may not be a very active voice these days, but for those us who became politically conscious in nineties, Arun was everywhere. His pointed face, sharp eyes, thinning hair, measured speech, grammatically correct language and unflinching views dominated print and television. A fantastic spokesman. For more than four decades now, his voice has been heard with respect. In the early seventies, after graduating, he joined World bank, one of the first Indians to do so with distinction; then returned to India, worked as an editor in Indian Express and Times of India, where he honed his writing skills, and developed a keen sense of Hindu Politics. In the Vajpayee Government, he held top government positions and additionally was given free rein to talk openly about the Hindu national

Jottings - Slice of life - 190 (Alfred Hitchcock and his Dial M for murder) In the annals of cinematic art - like any other art - very few directors leave an indelible mark; both, during their life time, when each movie they make has a definitive signature of the master; and more so after their lifetime, when their body of work continue to remain classics in their genre, and as a guide to future generations for study of technique, class and artistic excellence. Just as within reading few pages of a book, a sensitive reader can detect the literary style a Henry James or Dickens or Faulkner, or by the texture of colors and tapestry of form – the infallible hand a Van Gogh, or Rembrandt or Da Vinci; or by the first few movements of a symphony, the musical brilliance of a Beethoven, Mozart or Strauss; similarly, for any seasoned film lover, after first few frames of a murder mystery film, the hand of the master craftsman - the egg shaped, rotund and smirking face of Alfred Hitchcock -

Jottings - Slice of life - 185 (Eat, pray and love - an escapist’s account of the East) In 2006, Elizabeth Gilbert, a short story writer and novelist, wrote a memoir based on her travels in Italy and some parts of the East called “Eat, Pray and love”. Not surprisingly, the book was a phenomenal success. It stayed on the best sellers list – for Fiction or Non-fiction, I don’t know - for more than 200 weeks. Readers lapped up the book as new age revelation and guide on how to lead a “Balanced” life. Brad pitt decided to produce a movie based on the book, which was released in 2010, starring Julia Robert as the protagonist. An undistinguished performance by one of the finest actors of this age. All said and done, the book, the movie, and of course, Ms. Gilbert achieved international fame, and Ms. Gilbert in particular - was crowned as a paragon of spiritual quest in maddening modern world. I beg to differ. The story of West’s fascination with the east goes back two hundred years, wh

Jottings - Slice of life – 183 (Training to implementation - a humble success story) “Nothing could have deferred our vacation but the fact you were coming to teach. Thanks a ton, Bala. This project wouldn’t be ready to go live, if not for your matured guidance” - John held my hands and in a voice choking slightly with emotion spoke these words. And with these words, I ended one of the most fascinating training assignments in my career. It was in May 2017, that I ran the first installment of Big data workshop for this audience, who were then completely new to the subject. They were obviously experienced, articulate and handpicked to work on this flagship multi million project. A lot was at stake. The project was funded by Top management as a pilot to evaluate the feasibility of migrating their enterprise storage to a platform more conducive to Data analytics and mining. With the consumer market becoming digitized, and user preferences better gauged through social media and blogs,

Jottings - Slice of life – 180 (Oh! Jerusalem...) (Note to my readers: The story of Jerusalem is a story of human potential of what can be achieved, and equally a story of human stupidity. A little piece of land has governed the imagination of millions for over two thousand years. It’s very name invokes deep divisions, yet at the same, an intense reverence. The following piece is meant to be a basic primer for those who would want to know a little about why Jerusalem has constantly remained a bone contention in world politics. For those interested in knowing more, I have recommended two popular volumes towards the end of the article.) In the annals of history, no piece of land has been subject to so much dispute, possessiveness - and imbued with so much religious connotation and interpretation as that of Jerusalem - th city of foundation of the God Shalom. For thousands of years this land has been the bone of contention for variety of reasons. Its grounds have been trodden by Jew