The Lone Warrior

I am a Lone Warrior, I keep marching,
with a goal in mind, I keep marching,
in search of my destiny, I keep marching,
towards a better tomorrow, I keep marching

I may be alone today, I had an army yesterday,
I may be alone today, I will have an army tomorrow,
For now, I am on a mission, I am my army,
with head held high, I keep marching, I am a Lone Warrior

I experience highs, I experience lows, I experience them all,

I have won games, I have lost games, I have played them all,
winning from the jaws of victory,taught me character,
obiliviously, I keep marching, I am a Lone Warrior,

The ever evolving character helps me navigate through times,
through the day, I am a Leader, advancing swiftly,
through the night, I am a Protector, I staying behind,
leading the pack, I keep marching, I am a Lone Warrior,

Now that I am alone, I move faster, exploring,
I see more, inspecting the terrain, visualizing the tactics,
I eat anything I find, calculating, anticipating the future,
with new lessons, I keep marching, I am a lone warrior,

These lonely days are not many, I need to learn fast,
every single creature has so many stories to tell me,
the worth of every single resource has to be understood,
learning through, I keep marching, I am a Lone Warrior

Refusing to give up, digging through my mistakes, I learn,
to seek a new beginning, to conquer newer frontiers,
positioning myself strategically, for a better tomorrow,
Perseverantly, I keep marching, I am a Lone Warrior

My horse asks, are you alone, My breath asks me,
My energies ask me, My wisdom ask me, are you alone?
I realize the strongest of all armies, I realize me,
with new found energy, I keep marching, I am a Lone Warrior

Wherever I go, the skies give me a thundrous welcome,
I hear newer and newer songs which keep me going,
the adrenaline rush takes me to newer highs,
I keep marching though, I am a Lone Warrior

My horse is the lookout for newer pastures,
I am on the lookout for newer waters,
just so that my people find newer fortunes,
with hope, I keep marching, I am a Lone Warrior

My people join me, my character joins them,
my new found wisdom guides me, guides them,
we wake to the opportunities we never saw,
triumphantly, I keep marching, I am a Lone Warrior,

My people are now etched in pages of history,
as heroes, generations will now remember us forever, 

we'd go down some day, but our legacy is here to stay,
well, I keep marching, I am a Lone Warrior

I have a tale to tell the generations, it is my story,
I have always found newer territories alone,
I have always conquered them with my army,
and so, I keep marching, I am a Lone Warrior

As a king, as a fighter, I disown the praise,
leaving the songs to my men, I move forward,
towards what keeps me going, newer opportunities,
I explore, I keep marching, I am a Lone Warrior

Waking up to the inspiration, I release the brake,

I get back moving, to join the waiting army,

I keep advancing, to discover Hyderabad,

I am a Lone Warrior, I'm an entrepreneur!

On subsidies for IITians/IISERites

Photograph: IISER Pune students organizing an activity at a school in Pune, to convey the excitement of research in pure sciences, way back in 2010. 

There is a post taking rounds on Facebook, called "Dear Smriti Irani, stop giving my money to IITians". The author also asks the question- "If IITians are so intelligent and can earn lakhs in their placements, why do they sponge off taxpayers' money"? I think the question is as insightful as this one- If the Bansals could build a billion dollar company, why did they need Mahesh Murthy's precious money?

There is no way a middle class student can cough up Rs 3.4 lakhs a year for his education, let it be at IIT, IIM or even IIPM. The subsidy gives students the luxury of concentrating on their studies and more importantly extra-curricular activities. To add a little context to this question, let me introduce myself. I happen to be an alumni of IISER Pune, an institute set up by Indian Govt to encourage youngsters to pursue pure sciences.

Going by my director's statistics, about Rs25 lakhs are invested in every student of IISER Pune and Rs900 crore is the financial outlay for each IISER. We were provided a stipend of Rs80,000 per year(5000 each month and a contingency amount of Rs20,000). I had managed to save slightly more than half of that amount and had invested in a science media startup called Sciensation. 
Arguments against subsidy
1- These students don't work for Indian government
2- Many of them go abroad
3- They don't stick to their specialization, can't they leave it for somebody else who would utilize the training better.
4- Serious issues with IITian turned novelists/film makers etc
5- IITians not joining ISRO/DRDO
6- Can't they take loans instead?

Most of these arguments fall apart if one can look into the details. I do agree that several students land up in IITs due to parental pressure and lack of proper career counselling. However, dropping a smart kid into a wonderful eco-system leads to interesting consequences. Within my limited understanding of these issues, allow me to present my perspective regarding this issue.

An IIT, IISER, IIIT or an IIM stands apart from most other educational institutes in the country. A few students, faculty and buildings don't create a great institution. Rome could be probably be built in a day, but I'm sure a Harvard or a Princeton can't be! The culture in the institute and the student activities bring out the citizens of tomorrow. These institutions manage to infuse enough confidence into a young mind, so that he could dream of conquering the world with his India. Rohit Bansal, Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal are probably a few famous ones, although IITs boast of some of the finest technology incubators in the country.

If you're computing immediate ROI, you're just having a sales mentality- invest Rs10 and get Rs 15 on the second day. The money spent on IITs/IISERs is a long term investment and India is actually way behind other countries in having world class institutions, especially considering the gigantic population we have. These institutions produce world class intellectuals who contribute to Indian economy, either directly or indirectly.

If you think an aerospace engineer has nothing to do in an e-commerce startup, then good luck! An intellectual is not a robot trained in a university to repeat a pattern of thoughts which produce a desired outcome. We keep hearing that this is the age of interdisciplinary sciences and that borders are rapidly disappearing to give birth to new disciplines. Just yesterday I was told about how particle physicists add immense value as investment consultants in companies trying to model stock markets. There is a big world of opportunities waiting for a computer science graduate, outside what would conventionally be considered his/her territory.

We must produce world class citizens in all spheres of human excellence. It'd definitely be nice if NIFT can produce engineers/scientists too. Diversity of thought is very essential. Apple tries to ensure that designers and programmers interact so that we have a consilience of ideas. I'm sure it is nice to have many more Chetan Bhagat, provided they write good stuff, although his works may not enthuse many of us, we've got to admit he inspires a young chunk of Indian youngsters.

Quite a few IITians do try and crack the civil services exams and add immense value as technocrats. Raghuram Rajan, Manohar Parrikar, Arvind Kejriwal have been contributing immensely to the Indian Government. Before we talk about students taking loans, let us see the importance of pumping money into educational institutions. The Tatas saw the importance of the same, even before Indian government did.

I was very fortunate to spend a year's time at the Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, which is funded by the Department of Atomic Energy. The best part of the workshops there was the food being served. We had several speakers flying in to deliver lectures. Life was luxurious with institute providing food, accomodation, transport and several other facilities. This let the students and researcher enjoy a good quality of life and hence produce good research output. So I guess the focus should be on making IITs better and cutting their funds or forcing their students to take loans will definitely not help.

The money going into creating these few institutions has interesting repercussions. Passionate students of not so fancied engineering colleges visit IIT's fests. They attend workshops, they listen to NPTEL lectures. They are directly or indirectly influenced by the IITs, they allow a middle class student to dream of being a Fortune 500 Company's CEO. IITJEE is not the end of the road, but is definitely the beginning for many, including me.

In a nut shell, you don't pay an individual, you pay to build an eco-system.

On Feminism

 
I would like to present a small little analogy before getting into a serious discussion. We believe that our education system has several loopholes and our that kids aren't encouraged to question. What if I tell you that I choose to disagree and that the kids are welcome to question their teachers. Well, who is denying that right? Einstein, Abdul Kalam and Richard Feynman emerged out of the same framework, didnt they?

I am sure you will disagree. The three gentlemen did question their teachers, Einstein even dropped out of his school. Feynman is well known for his quotations on the education system. Lets plug in Feminism, into this framework. Who is stopping the women from working, they can always go and look for work, can't they? Chanda Kochar, Indrani Nooyi and Meera Sanyal emerged out of the same society, didnt they?

The analogy should be quite intuitive. Women standing on their own feet is as improbable as kids questioning their teachers. There are a few who emerge out of the constraints, but what's the point? You need a system which produces awesome Individuals, not a sadistic one which selects a few.

Now let me ask a few important question and provide my perspective on that. I believe that the confusion arises due to lack of a historical perspective. Please allow me to present the evolutionary history of the two genders(for a moment, let me not talk of homos, this topic is quite intense in itself!)

Are women different
Evolution influences the physiology of organisms. That explains the diversity of sizes, colors and features of human races. If we look at human genders through this perspective we get some important insights. Men have evolved as the hunter gatherers and women the care-takers. Agricultural revolution is a recent development, forget the Industrial Revolution. It takes time for evolution to program us and we still operate within hunter gatherer framework. So the human mind perceives gender equality through notions which are thousands, if not millions of years old. Well, Yes Women are different!

Hiding them inside Caves
Lets get in some harsh facts before we proceed further. Tribes invaded other tribes to assert their supremacy. Evolution would select the ones who propagate more of their genes- reproductive fitness. The mechanism could be human ego. Tribes would slaughter the men and then rape the women or may be take them away. Apparently, Rakhi festival had its origins due to these issues. Afghani Pathans would take away beautiful Punjabi girls and so they started this custom of brother defending sisters. Human beings developed several cynical mechanisms to defend their women from other tribes. The women were hidden in caves and they were never let out, even after the Computer Revolution!

Inside the well
We have heard of stories of frogs inside a well. The story of refugees, hidden in a cave, is no different. Human genius has transformed the world from jungles to what it is today. Women are far from getting access to these insights. Evolution has programmed them to be better care-takes, women are the development team, who groom the next generation. Can we afford to have this important 50% of our population ignorant of these developments? May be they are not your other half, they are your Development half, think again!

How they emerged
Things got better during the Second World War. The job-markets witnessed drastic changes due to women joining the work-force. While the men were away, on the battlefield, the women had to take up jobs.  However, they were paid lower wages, molested at work place, forced to get married and not provided the kind of attention they need. This definitely discourages women from dreaming big. Women got quite a few opportunities after the war, however, they may another revolution, before they can catch up.

Women Empowerment
It is equivalent to developing curiosity. It seems irrelevant and trivial to teachers. But you know it is not and you know the dividends which it can get you. Not all women know that they differently wired and that human neural diversity is the only thing which transformed this planet into its present form. Women Empowerment is about developing your Development team.

Why encourage Women
They are different, as simple as that. A factory wants identical people who produce goods/services, A great company wants a diverse human pool growing its assets and thus help it in delivering superior customer value. Evolution has programmed them to have better soft skills and empathy. This asserts the importance of gender equality at a workplace.

Objective of this Post
When a child refuses to question a teacher or when a teacher refuses to encourage the student to question, what would you do? Well encourage a woman to know the world, the work-place and the opportunities which lifes gives her. Confront any of her obstacles and help her cross the hurdles. May be go out and help atleast one girl from a conservative house-hold get good education followed by a job she likes.

On a lighter note, I'd request all my female friends to let this blog excuse a thousand narcissistic jokes of mine. So, signing off, until I exhaust that budget!

Kurma Avataara

Pasu to Pasupati

There are several questions, which lead to certain notions and they define code of ethics. In the absence of any social system, a man is subject to the laws of the jungle, he is a Pasu. However, he learnt to question it and hence a civilization arose. A man can choose empathy or he can choose the opposite. These lead to the margas of Devas and Asuras. The one who gives it all to the society and the one who isn't conscious of his personal gains is the Pasupati. 

Origin of Civilisation

Matsya avataara is basically the origin of civilisation, when man challenged the rules of the jungle. Nature dictates certain constraints. However, we challenge that and we evolve technology to grow the space we can live in. This is illustrated by the story of the fish which grows and asks for a bigger pool to live in. Even Abrahamic religions have this story expressed in a different form.

Avataar

An avataar is basically the abstract god expressed in a certain context. The journey of human beings is written in the form of the Dasavatara Roopakam, which is essentially a journey from Pasu to Pasupati. 

Manthan

The Ksheera Sagara Madhana Marmam is described briefly, metaphorically, in the previous post. The churning of the milky way is a metaphor to describe brainstorming and the process of churning knowledge. While a side presents its argument, the other side applies anti-force, thinks about it and vice-versa. When, even one of the sides doesn't play constructively, the discussions turns into an arguments and perhaps that's not desirable.

Kurma Avataara

Kurma Avataara illustrates perseverance. When you are staring at a seemingly difficult task and when you don't the get the outcome which you deserve, negative feelings seep through. You need to realize that the only feeling which can defeat defeat is Perseverance.

Evolution selected pessimistic narrow minded short term thinking, as our survival was essential. However, since the advent of civilization, we started dictating nature, to a fairly good extent. All those marvels, were possible only through perseverance.If inception of civilization was the first achievement, which was told with the help of Matsya avataara, Kurma avataara talks about perseverance, which can take civilization to the next level.

Why tortoise?

Indian stories are essentially some incidents (usually true) embedded with philosophical layers. Some rishis would go through these and come up with arguments which summarize it, philosophically. The poets like Vyasa, do the retelling along with the philosophy imbibed in it. Perhaps an incident where the presence of a tortoise reinforced the importance of perseverance led the philosopher into coming up with this story. 

Link between Manthanam(or Madhanam) and Kurma

This is the reason why this article is being written. The Kurma basically facilitates manthan. When you are thinking through a process, churning of ideas takes place. However, you need them to be anchored and you need to be persevere. 

This metaphor is clear, when you see it with the help of an analogy. How do you grow physically stronger? You need to workout in a gym, maybe! Say, you can do twenty push-ups at a time. You need to push yourself, for a few more. Remembering your goal/destination will push you a few steps further. We have been so used to this story that we take perseverance for granted and we lose patience.

So, when we are trying to understand something, manthanam leads to ideas for and against, the force and the anti-force churn(manthan) it out. All the beautiful things will come out of the universe as a result of this process. Although you tried to get 'amrit' out of it, you get so many awesome things. When people try to solve some problems, they get solutions of more fascinating problems. That's the best of manthan, you get things other the 'amrit', you were craving for.

However, whenever, you don't get these results and negative energy seeps through, when waves of impatience start rising, you need to listen to the kurma, that only perseverance can defeat the defeat.

The Ksheera Sagara Madhana Marmam

Hi!

How are you? Hope you are doing well!
Kya hain yeh? Sudden empathy?

May be first time, in an explicit form, may be it was always there.Well, this is a public letter to a friend. The sad part is that I can't tell you who it is. When I explain why, I'd be slaughtered. keeping jokes apart and keeping it simple, let me present some nice fiction for you.

Arjun, was a boxer. He was known for his track record, besides his "never say die" attitude, disciplined practice, agility, swiftness and all the other things, which the pundits quickly makeup after finding a successful athlete. After all, it is this poetry, which makes everybody, including the sportsman, listen to the 'experts'. This dude, however, ignored the adulation and went back to his childhood days and began thinking.

As a kid, he loved his practice bouts. Sometimes he would take on more than one player, at once. Once he even resorted to a five on one and spent the rest of the day laughing over it, perhaps this ability made a difference which could eventually make a difference. Like the sun, success, would come at some random time, periodically, everyday. He loved failure even more, as it introduced him to the spirit within. They say that a string's strength can only be measured by the force which can break it. This was his journey, like everybody else's, it was full of colors. However, he could see happiness in each and every color. The diversity of colors would emerge like the flow of a stream- persistent and beautiful.

Several clouds surround the sun and bring out the 'suryadeva'. He could see the emergent value which the clouds brought. There is something which he could see and which the world couldn't- the earliest bouts in his career. When he was injured, it was all fine, really fine. Even when he injured his friends, he knew it was alright as the injuries only strengthened his friends. But one small thought worried him. Morning walk is good for health, but can you force it? May be yes, but at what cost, at the cost of their friendship? The bouts and the strained relationships were like the flowers which beautify a garden. They are small and wonderful, but only noticed by those who pay attention to it. He did and so he decided to apologize for each and every injury which he had caused.

How do you water every flower? You could use sprinklers and several other technologies, but can they beat specialized attention provided by a passionate gardener. The answer may be yes, but an engineer has some apprehensions while answering, but why? This 'apprehension' drove him to reach each and every friend, through the combination of a sprinker and a jug, technology blended with passion. He realized that the best apology could be a simple "thanks", told in person!

I would like to point you to a related thought. Manthan or brainstorming, is no different from a bout. Unlike in 'tug of war', in manthan, one side applies force the other side applies anti-force and viceversa. This is churning and this is how we prepare curd. This is how brainstorming works. This is no different from a bout and a boxer is no different from an intellectual. This is one awesome secret, from the 'intellectual universe' and the Milky Way is a mere metaphorical representation of the same. You need to brainstorm, to grow your intellectual capital. Pulling it all yourself is difficult, you could ask Indradeva.

I am going through a journey, as a science communicator and my garden has quite a few flowers already. I will have to remember all those conversations I had with you. I loved the beating and thrashing which happens during debates, we tore into each other's skin, didn't we? I guess that makes us harder, much like the bouts which made the boxer stronger. I loved each and every punch I took and everyone that I returned. Well, I cherish the punches I gave and they might have really hurt, didn't they? Looks like I started it all over again. Let me stop, okay?

You know the number of people who make it this far-the number of awesome boxers in the country. You know that a bout is different from a nice movie or may be a trip to a place like this. We could say success comes with sacrifices and all the other crap told by self-styled crap-men and self-hurt books. Wait, before we buy that shit, let me ask one question. Is this journey, more awesome than all the movies and all the destinations? Can we actually compare them?

You can't compare apples with mangoes? But, you'd fancy one of them don't you? Well yeah, this is perhaps one of those few awesome journeys one can undertake. There is a difference between a Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and the others, isn't it? It does take a journey to make it to the pinnacle, wherever it is and however it looks! I guess its the churning process which will help emerge stronger after every bout and reach there, right on top! This article, was just to thank you, for your participation, in the Manthan. Thank you, but, can we start the next bout(I really miss that smiley here)?

Movie on Indian Metaphysics

A screenplay with starts with a climax and ends with another climax, Neti Panchatantra will start on December 11th 2013 and Sciensation hopes to complete it within four months.

Central Idea: All threads and journeys converge into a quest for metaphysics, via consilience. Threads are metaphorical- Optimism versus Pessimism, Leadership vs Dictatorship, Trust-Confidence love-story, Perfection-Benevolence love-story.

Spoiler-Climax: India excelled in Ayurveda, Natyashastra, Ganitha and possibly all ancient spheres of human-excellence. This is neither a coincidence nor a reflection of Indian IQ, but a fruit of Indian metaphysics. Possibly the greatest education system on this planet, was killed to diminish the source of our enlightenment, spread ignore and hence oppress us.

Bottomline:  When you pursue anything, once you hit the threshold, you go through an outward spiral and travel with excellence, at an exponential pace. How do you understand the soul within, to hit this threshold- Indian metaphysics

Marketing: We hope to circulate this film through Youtube/School libraries/VCD portals, cyber-cafes etc. We hope to sell advertising space, integrated with the script.

Production: Lighting through home-made reflectors and adjustable stands. Minimal outdoor shooting.

This project will reflect Sciensation's ability to produce long script, with practically no expenses involved and to market short film, an industry which doesn't exist today. Sciensation's film production and finance would be checked!

Existing Team:
Lyrics: Tejaswi Monangi(song will be released soon)
Editing: Nihar Kartik Mamidipudi
Writing and Production- Tarun
Music- synthesize from tracks, riffed off from the internet.
And quite a few critics!

What we are looking for:

Passionate Actors who can understand the spirit of the film and the depth of their character. We put in a lot of efforts in characterization and dialogues, we don't appreciate change in prescribed content/tone.

Cinematographer who understands moving-composition,aesthetics(mood) and action-continuity.

Sound Designer who can design the audio tracks, to help in reinforcing the created space(in the scene) and maintaining free flow of time, across the film.

Music Composer who can create a mood appropriate for the scene. We would be having 3-4 songs too.



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POST SCRIPT
Society, Money, Spirituality, Education-system, Social-service, economic equality, passion

Dr Anjaneya Prasad: A scientist by training, journalist by profession, pursuing a Utopian dream- a rama-rajya(in terms of governance and societal fabric).

Dr Satyanarayana Murthy a.k.a Media Murthy: An alumni of IIT,IIM and Chicago-Booth (the school from which India's latest super hero comes!), pursues an understanding of money. He is a personification of the animal spirit-Money Illusion. (#AnimalSpirit6)

Dr Vishnu Sharma, PhD from Stanford, faculty at IAS Princeton,a logician, who pursues spirituality.

Shamil- an IIT graduate, who is seeking to understand Indian education system and pursues a change.

Devaki- a techie who sacrifices a great career to pursue social-service.


Trust- Lead heroine, a medico, who pursues economic inequality. A rare sight- a student of medicine understanding economics.

Confidence-Lead hero, comparable to Lord Hanuman- who brought the whole mountain as he couldnt find Sanjeevani. The most lively character in the film. Pursues his kick.
 
Surya a.k.a Suryabhai, the antagonist, comparable to Lord Shiva- the destroyer, the one who chopped Daksha(rules/organization)'s head and replaced it with a goat-head. He pursues an ideal society, through power. Surya and Anjaneya Prasad share the same goal.

Biryani Boys

How to build a great team?
May be we need great players!
May be not! May be a Kabir Khan!
Hell Yeah! You know what!We need the rebels!

The crazy ones who see beauty
The insane ones who question dogma
The cool ones who need enable consilience
The awesome ones who always deliver perfection

But why do we need them?
Well, look at the Utopian dreams we have
Do we really need to consider them to be dreams
May be not, if we have an army, which we are building!

What is Biryani Boys?
Biryani Boys is a campaign launched by Sciensation, across several educational institutions, with the goal to induct people into their team.

Who is Sciensation and What do they do?
Sciensation aims at taking science to various types of audiences, in a way they can understand. Our short-term goal is to improve school level science education.

What is Consilience?
People with arts background get you red dots and science people get you blue dots. When you connect diverse dots, non-linear solutions emerge.
 If teamwork emerges from trust, Consilience is the next level, it emerges from insanity.

Why am I made to read this?
We are giving talks at several educational institutes of the country. This would provide us an opportunity to reach the insane and get them on-board. We need your help, in arranging a talk, at your place.

What are the talks based on? 
The content depends on the type of people we are scouting for. For instance, we would be looking for designers at an Arts Department and the talk would emphasize on our notion of Design.

Science Institutions: Making scientific idea-exchange intuitive
Engineering: How consilience can transform engineering
Commerce: Alternate Revenue Models
Management: Evolution of HR and its future
Design: The language of Design, an entrepreneur's tool
Law: Entrepreneur- messiah of the Capitalist age

What is Sciensation working on?

Operation Economics:

What does this ten rupee note in your hand mean? 

What is inflation, is it bad? What do the central bankers do? 

Socialism or Capitalism, how about the Swedish model?

Is it too complex? Do we need to understand this? Can we delegate these, to the economists?

The world is progressing, anchored by an economic lens. An important prerequisite for a vibrant economy is economic literacy. This operation involved development and delivery of popular-economics content, at various levels. Economics will reach the masses, atleast as long as the Biryani Boys get going!

HR Rancho: The best designer does HR and may be designing! The best player, a people's person, as a HR. Building the A-team needs HR Leadership and needs revisiting HR Management.
Jack Welch, ex-CEO of GEO, feels that Director of HR must be  right next to the CEO, in the hierarchy. However, they are relegated to be the health and wellness party. Not for long, the Biryani Boys are coming!

Design Steve:  People expect you to deliver, before they can trust. Product building means risk. Risk is about promise. We need to show promise.We need design to show that. Design helps in telling the story about the future, which we are going to create quite soon. 

Design is about feeding visual cues to the inherent abilities and hence position the product, in the mind, at the place where it has to be. This is not Design, this is spirituality! Hell yeah! Biryani Boys will get going!

Crazy Engineering: We make crazy system of gears on which the marketing material is placed. Who said the bones don't have life? Only crazy engineering-solutions enable craziness, with love, from Biryani Boys.

Marketing: Marketing has been evolving with several technological revolutions changing communication. This calls for Marketing 3.0. At sciensation, Marketing is integrated with content development.

There is an opportunity out there.

If we can realize the possibilities.

But that needs Consilience.

which needs the A-Players

This is the hunt for them

The Biryani Boys are waiting!