chaotic order

“Bala, each day I am becoming more and more insecure with my job. It is kind of odd because when I entered software industry fifteen years ago, I had very little knowledge but abundant energy, but now it seems as though the tables are reversed. I am becoming more self-conscious of my role, and every new task assigned seems an overwhelming burden. I am not able to plunge into a task with that gay abandon that I used to before. Something pulls me back, and saps all my energy…” I was talking to an old friend of mine a couple of months ago. He had called me from India, and after exchanging pleasantries, he broke into this monologue recounted above. I know he is doing well for himself - career wise. He joined a small company as a developer many years ago, and very quickly rose up the ranks to become a tech lead and subsequently a Project manager. About five years ago, he got married and now lives in a posh three bedroom apartment in Bangalore. Recently, he did achieve the distinction of

Junot Diaz’s “The Brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao” - A literary work of fiction What most of us often get to read in history books is this : ‘Christopher Columbus discovered Americas in 1492’; and after that, in a short few paragraphs, pages or chapters (depending upon who is writing the book), the focus shifts to formation of the Union centuries later, its civil war and all the rest of it. What is largely left out of these narratives is the wonderful account of Santa Domingo, the oldest European city in Americas and the first Spanish establishment in the new world; and the first stop of Columbus on his fourth voyage sponsored by the Catholic royalty of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The city was christened after its patron Saint Dominic. Rich in gold and fertile with abundant alluvial plains, it was a milking cow for the ailing Christian monarchy; and within half a century, the unbridled avarice and voracious appetite for much needed gold to replenish the impoverished royal cof

" Of late, I find no energy, intensity in daily life. You know, I am comfortably placed. Happy family, Decent house, respectable job ; but somehow, I don't find the energy to do the things I want to do. For example, I have been holding on to a book for the last three weeks, reading a few pages each day and then I begin to procrastinate. Similarly with Music, Drama, sports and all my creative interests - I know I got to be doing these things, but somehow focus eludes me. A lot of unfinished projects in my life , Bala..." We are sitting in coffee shop after our swim. Both of us are almost of the same age. He works in a senior management position in a bank, keeps shuttling between the West and east coats for work. A Well read person, and a very good conversationalist - I enjoy being in his company whenever I can. I replied.. " Yes, Drake (name changed). You are right. What you say is true of many of us. It is interesting though, that in my case, things changed aft

Shashi Tharoor : The rise and fall of an intellectual. Historically, the clan of “Tharoor” traces its origin to nearly two thousand years. They were an integral part of Namboodri’s, the great matriarchal lineage of Malabar - Theravada of Kerala, a community known for its learning, racial superiority and social exclusivity. Even today, a Nair (a member of this clan) in Kerala is a distinct breed; easily spotted by a demeanor that can only come with generations of genetic purity and polish. A cursory glance at Shashi Tharoor in the media, as he prepares to address an audience; or as he speaks in an interview; or as he saunters in a gathering, brushing shoulders with Lutyen’s crowd or seasoned intellectuals; or posing for a picture projecting his well-groomed persona embellished with impeccable taste - one senses, that, here is a man who was born privileged, bought up in the lap of luxury and now lives audaciously with aplomb and style. Born in London in 1956; educated in Montfort,

The dark lure of a towering Man, clad in black with a flowing cloak caressing the earth as he strides – tall and scrupulously groomed; magnetic deep eyes that seems to beckon from a world far removed from the present, a voice that is at once seductive and charming; a physical attraction that draws young nubile and lissome women irresistibly into his arms, yearning for that solitary long warm, wet and lascivious kiss that could appease their seething passion; their placid white swan necks yielding itself like a flower to the Sun with its throbbing veins pressing itself against their glistening skin - and then the Count lowers his face with a rapacious look in his eyes numbing the beholder with its hypnotic intensity, his red lips opening up ever so slightly revealing short, sharp fangs, ready to bite just enough into their succulent veins throbbing with blood; evoking a light lusty, throaty hiss from his victim, slurping up all vitality in the form of cabalist red liquid; those ghos

“Analects” of Confucius - brilliant ramblings of an extraordinary mind The benefits of eclectic reading is the chance to encounter some of the finest ideas in a broad spectrum of human endeavor. One of the oldest known books of wisdom is the “Analects” of Confucius - a sage, social reformer, revolutionist, soothsayer, political manipulator; he is as elusive a figure as ever to cross the threshold of history. Yet, for almost the entirety of Chinese civilization, his name and ideas have resounded and penetrated the lives of its Men and women in a manner that is quite unimaginable in any other known culture. Like Socrates, Buddha, Jesus or Mohammed there is no written body of work composed by him. All that we know is that is he was a wise old man, who offered a radically different perspective to life and living in society. Kings sought his advice and some chased him away, commoners flocked to him for practical solace, he arbitrated crimes with a fairness and directness that turned jur

“Flawless” - a 2007 film… There is always a fascinating perversion, an overpowering thrill in breaking the law; to subvert a system; to infiltrate into areas that are designated as prohibited; to cross moral and ethical taboo’s; to explicitly attempt to break something that is established as sacrosanct - Man is forever looking for opportunities to stretch the boundaries of social limitations. In fact, if history is to be studied as a series of challenges and responses, one would find that every epochal event: socially, morally and scientifically is an act of rebellion against a known system. Some of these acts are absorbed into the existing scheme of things as revolutionary and fit to emulate; and others are branded and discarded as repugnant; and laws, safeguards are made to prevent them from occurring again. The History of Cinema has celebrated Robberies and heists from its very early days. From Stanley Kubrick’s “Killing” to “Great Train robbery” to “Reservoir dogs” to “Entra