Pleasure and Joy

 What is the difference between pleasure and joy ? Pleasure is a physical state that is derived from a sense of achievement. One works to earn money to enjoy the pleasures of what can be provided by the monetary benefits that one accumulates . Joy on the other hand is an unbridled emotional state of being . 

What then is the state that is better in the long run ? I should know considering that I have changed my career tracks more than once - it’s never been a change to earn more money and therefore gain more pleasure but more important has been the joy of the work I do and the contribution no matter how small to make the world a better place (soapbox ? - no . Fact I enjoy the work I do when I am sure it is making a difference no matter how small.. it could be saving time on a process or even something simpler just improving the quality of work being done by someone else) 

The teachers I had in school found joy in improving the knowledge of impressionable young kids not so much the ones I met in engineering college; those teacher just wanted to get through the day. Some of them derived pleasure in hauling up kids for no reason... What a huge difference. 

I derive pleasure daily by eating 75% dark chocolate and a strong arabica espresso amongst other pleasurable pursuits (huge dopamine kick); but the joy I derive has been for the last 20 so years driven by the impact my life and actions have had on my immediate family and others who would be stakeholders in the work or the activities that I do. 

It saddens me that we as a nation have reached a point where Joy is forgotten and pleasure has become more important . Pleasure in the misery of others misfortune is being broadcast 24/7 on all news channels and supposedly “educated “ people are willing to go hammer and tongs repeating the misery and finding pleasure in doing this. 

“Let my people awake...”- find joy ; share joy . In whatever mechanism that works for you. I for one will continue to strive to make a difference no matter how big or small and how uncomputable by calculus it is. 

C

The wonder of the brain

Have you ever got up in the middle of the night with a spark of genius- in simpler terms a solution to a problem you went to sleep thing about ? Did you ever think about where the solution came from ? Most standard accepted accounts say “the universe provides” or “the all mighty knows and helps in times of need” and a few more statements like these that in my opinion tend to belittle the power of the human mind. 

Thinking further this spark of genius is not limited to just the middle of the night.. it could happen at any time and we of course call it “inspiration” 

Well then what is the cause for this ? 

Most people tend to predominantly use one half of their brain (scientists have proven this) and people are bracketed as either left brain or right brain thinkers . Excellent another label to work with ;) . 

The spark of genius is theorised to happen when both half’s of the brain are in complete sync and ones dominant personality vanishes for that brief instance in time. History is full of inspiring folks and one common trait in them has been the stroke of their genius has been when both half’s of the brain are in sync. 

It takes a lot of effort to train one’s mind to be able to use both half’s at the same time and not leave it to some random chance. It’s taken me 30+ years after school to understand this simple idea. 

The idea is so simple and something that needs to be thought to kids as they grow up - essentially a new born baby uses both half’s (again scientifically proven) but we “loose” ourselves as we go through school and college finally forgetting this simple skill. 

Life is supposed to be a reflection of one’s thoughts- wouldn’t it be better if we used both half’s of the brain to think ? 

As always feedback welcome 

C

Arguments

The issue with the word argument is that it has a negative perception. The real meaning is that the word means “an exchange of diverging or opposite views “. Philosophical inquiry means that one has to argue different points of view within. This is a longer discussion better for another day. 

The thing I want to get at is the normal usage and normal situations of an argument. 

I can bet (if I were a betting man and would win) that most people consider arguing and arguments as a way to impose a point of view. Debates if well conducted and well articulated generally tend to validate this. The people in the debate generally use negative constructs to try and dismantle the opposite point of view - things like “ no, but” or “I differ” etc ... doesn’t help at all in winning the argument on the contrary it re-enforces the opinion that is held by the opposing view. The way to get things across is to argue with empathy I.e use a positive construct e.g “I understand, however “ is far better than “no,but”. This simple change diffuses the argument that is bing presented by your opponent. 

So simple , but lost to people in general. One could read this post as being negative in nature because of the choice of words and believe me I understand. It is so easy to fall into the trap of the negative construct. Just far too easy. I remember a few debates from school and one argument presented by a debater stands out for 2 reasons- 1st the empathy in the speech and 2nd the speaker’s languid nature of speaking. He was the best speaker in my opinion that day but was not part of the formal 2 vs 2 debate . Back to my post - arguments are what help us understand different points of view . The different points of view is what enriches our life’s and help us gain experience. 

Learning to argue well without the discourse breaking down into a slugfest is what is important- this is the difference between “worldly wise” and being “rash” . No amount of yelling or screaming will make a difference ; all that does is send the discussion into a slugfest. I miss the good arguments that used to happen on TV and am worried that kids will learn only the yelling and screaming given the mess on tv today. 

I hope I made a good argument ☺️

As always feedback appreciated 

C 

Latest Designer Bags..........

Words ?

Verbal expressions are not easy; you see

Easier to pen them down to read

One tries hard to hide

The expressions sometime

Love, hurt, care; are simple words

They don’t capture the emotion one feels

At times the word one says

Make a mess of the emotions in sway

Oh how easy it would be

If the words mean what you see

No matter what you say

No one will see it that way

Chase those demons away

Say what you feel that way

Emotions come and go

Words linger on

Words are a flux

Mind meld is a must

Till such time; capture the essence

Use words as a fragrance

... C

Engineering college days

Beer, Cigarettes, us chasing girls

Oh the college day summers

New people you meet

Some friends you keep

The lab work to do

Work submissions uncompleted

The copying on GT sheets

Late night work; work completed

The year finished, results here

Some smiling, some crying

Easy come; easy go

Start from scratch, same old work to do

Beer, Cigarettes, us chasing girls

Oh the college day summers

New people you meet

Some friends you keep

Another year, new work to do

Some guys are good and some need help

Struggle; late nights; get work done

Another year is done

Final year results here

Some are engineers, others another year to go

End of the blast we had

Now to jobs; responsibilities to take care of

Beer, Cigarettes, us chasing girls

Oh the college day summers

New people you meet

Some friends you keep

... C

Perfect Day

Not a cloud in the sky

No birds flying by

The cool breeze I feel

Reminds me of places I’ve seen

A sense of déjà-vu

I’ve been here before

Was it in a dream?

Was it real?

The serenity of the day

Tells me to find inner peace in some way

How easy life would be

If each day was like today

C

Time ......

no drug , no shaman, no guru

will figure out my inner self so

shaman's and gurus come an go

my body hear is here and now

my eye sight shot, my comprension shot

but my choice 6 pac or lost

the mandolin plays, the tabla plays

rythms to take you to there and there about's

the beats mirror my heart beat

what is here and what is not

my inner self still struggles

with the non necessary and the non now

find the way, oh simple tune

so that i can sleep on the dune

An Ode to Life

looks like i'm on a roll

chains running around a pulley,

sound so much like chips at Vegas

I never realised it till now

But chains they are both

Lifting a load is not chance

nor spin of wheel or throw of dice

effort is required to see

the end of the deal

deals come and go,

how true are you to your soul

no drink, no cigarette will help you forget

deals that went sour and how regret

all you have is effort,

and the belief that it will get best

till that time; spend at home

in prayer and in hope

that your effort is not in vain

it is the best for you to gain

spend time with kids to see

how simple life could be

......................

c

Rupesh/Ritesh/Sumeet you guys need to post more often

To Meghna

in the stillness of the night

all i hear is the hoot of the owl

the lingering smell of your perfume

and the sound of your voice in my head

how do i spend the day

waiting for you to come back

do i get to work ?

or do i kill time at home ?

the stolen moments on the phone

remained me of the time you were here

how i wish that i could speak to you

for a hour and then another so

holidays come and go

your presence completes me so

the lingering smell of your perfume

the sound of your voice on the phone

C

What is freedom

Thanks to Praveen for starting me on this .. :) I would have posted something on freedom may be a couple of posts down the line but any way here goes.........................

Freedom is often miss-interpreted as free will. Why ? Because people have different concepts of freedom Btw -- Has nothing to do with "free will" check my earlier post about "free will"

Freedom has multiple meanings .. again depending on what the point of view is

1. Political Freedom – It is the absence of interference with the sovereignty of an individual by the use of coercion or aggression. Freedom is commonly known as a state of being free from government oppression. The opposite of a free society is a totalitarian state, which highly restricts political freedom in order to regulate almost every aspect of behaviour. In this sense ‘freedom’ refers solely to the relation of humans to other humans, and the only infringement on it is coercion by human

Or

2. Economic Freedom – It comes from the libertarian tradition emphasizing free markets and private property, while another extends the welfare economics study of individual choice, with greater economic freedom coming from a "larger" (in some technical sense) set of possible choices

Or

3. Freedom (Ethical) – Here we are speaking about morality – what is good / bad , right/wrong . I see it as the justification that you give your self after taking any action or inaction

Are these three definitions different?

I don’t think so all of them depend on ethics .. well then what is ethics

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with moral responsibility.

I could go on about ethics but will stop here to see what everyone has to say about Freedom

….. Ethics we can cover in another post

C

ps: I could be wrong :) remember its my point of view .. would like to discuss this and other ideas to learn about other points of view ... Keep posting guys

What is your Purpose in Life

Looks like i am on a roll .... :)

I had posted almost a year ago a sentence from a book i was reading at the time.. for those that have forgotten here is the line again

"The Point of life is not to get anywhere - It is to notice that you are, and have always been, already there . You are, always and forever, in the moment of pure creation. The point of life is therefore to create - who and what you are, and then to experience that."

During this period some of the questions on my list of questions to my self have been answered and some removed as they are no longer relevant but at the same time my list of questions has been growing longer and answers not forthcoming; As a result I have thrown my self into work and have neglected a basic necessity of life... that is to think and resolve all questions when they pop up. Looks like its time to start answering those difficult questions again.

Well the subject of this post is the question I would like to ask my self today; and I guess by now the readers would have guessed the reason for my posting that line from that book. The question has troubled mankind since the beginning to time, and the line I have posted answers the question but throws up a set of new questions.

The only way to answer what your life purpose is to ask your self who you are and what you are, (not simple) because the normal answer to the first new question is “ I am so and so son/daughter of so and so , husband/wife of so and so etc etc…” Is that who you are? Is your existence defined by the existence of others? If that is the case then you have not discovered who you are and then the true purpose of your life would be to discover who you are and then experience that.

So how does one discover what he or she is ? Well try this

Sit at home with a paper and pen, try to clear your mind of all thought. You will reach an instance when you realise that there was no single thought in your head a moment ago. At that instance ask your self who am i?

The answers might come in a rush. Start penning them down; all of them without trying to analyse what the answer is.. Just write them down as they come…After a short while your mind will start to wander again. At that point look at the paper and see what you have written down

I have done it and will be doing it again in a day or two.. Will post my new result on the blog as a reply to this post… Would love to see what every one else gets

Regards

C

Food for thought

Hi all ... been a long time since any one made a post .. so here goes

Couple of questions

1. All religions say that man is composed of something that god made and that god decides what has to happen ... where is the space for free will in this ?

2. All modern philosophies say that man is made up of molecules that came together at the right time .. and that electrical impulses decide what man is and does. These impulses can be shown to have a definite pattern in a lab ... again where is the space for free will in this ....

finally what is free will .......................

hope u guys have sleepless nights figuring out the answers

C

the science or the art or decision making

Decision making.. is it mathematical solving equation or decision making backed with scientific tools? or is plain guess work.
in the past few days I have been contemplating this thought. Before I head any further let me settle some dust out here. to me decision making is not the question and answer module to derive the outcome which will tell me what action I need to do. like I don't have to involve my self in making decision between choosing at kick start or self start my bike.

Decision making is about selecting the best action that I need to do, to do a task, or maneuver my self, the result of such action would be futuristic, and outcome of the decision that I make or the road that I travel may affect me and ppl around me.

I am told it’s a science fused with mathematical calculation, which can help you to understand the best option. I am told that it also gives me options and the risk factor attached with each option
Alright I am pretty crude at this, I have had no formal training nor have I read any books for decision making, however of what I have been able to learn from ppl is that I have to pin down all the factors that may affect the course of action that I am contemplating about, and then I need to draw a road map and attach all the possible outcome and the factors on the flip side. I am also told that I can work on the risk factor for each of these outcomes. And then I come down to the calculation, based upon the investment, returns, and risk factors of each of the outcome I pick the best.

However despite the convincing argument I believe that it not the way decisions are made. If I were to believe the scientific tool, then I am unable to answer the argument “why is that we fail in lot many decision that we make” if science and math are the best of the tools that I can use, and I fail despite using them, then what is the X factor that is vital in decision making.

This post of mine carries no conclusion, because by now you may have guessed, I have no conclusion to make, rather it’s an attempt to understand what it is. Looking fd to understand form you, the science or the art or decision making.

Give ppl what they wann?

what struck me reading a blog is that we all are good marketers who give their customers what they want...."We often give ppl what they want"..... but then the second thought blew me down, leaving me cold and thinking are we actually this? do we give ppl only what they want. Apparently what the same sentence also speaks is that we do not give ppl what we can, i.e. if I am an individual who can deliver more than what ppl expect out of me, do I ever deliver that extra.
may be what ppl are looking for is a trivial..... to make it worst i would be elated to find that ppl appreciate what I have delivered, instead of rottening i would accept that, and also consider what i have delivered to be good.
what leaves me cold is that i have always believed ppl when they appreciated me, and my work, however i have never marked and checked if i have hit the bulls eye.

21 Economic Models Explained

Ofcourse this is copy-paste, some are old, some are new, still funny.

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk
away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of
credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four
cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a
Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells
the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an op tion on one
more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you
with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you want
three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and
produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called ‘Cowkimon’ and market it
worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk
themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the crap out of you and invade your
country.
You still have no cows, but at least you are now a Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

Missing India

Feeling little homesick today, so thought of sharing these two amazing videos with you. Turn your speakers volume way up!!

Book Review : Family Planning by Karan Mahajan

I got tired of reading non-fiction books. In last couple of years I read several books about personality development, leadership and personal finance. I finished reading some and gave up on others. So finally I decided to take a break from those books and read something different. So yesterday after doing 15 minutes of research in our small town library, I found Family Planning by a young author, Karan Mahajan.

I am glad this was my first fictional novel ( in my adult life). This short book is about a big, middle-class Indian family living in Delhi. The main character, Mr Ahuja is into politics ( ministry of urban development to be specific). Yet, the book is more about his personal life than his work life. Mr and Mrs Ahuja have 13 kids. The eldest is sixteen some years old. Mainly the story revolves around Mr Ahuja and his son. These are the main characters in the book. The book is bold and witty. Its content includes everything from sex-lives of Indian couples to the lives of urban Indian teenagers who start a rock band. There are several good laughs. It was very good and refreshing break to read this novel. The only thing I didn’t like was the ending. It was sort of abrupt or may be it sneaked up on me because I read the entire book in less than 24 hours!

My rating : 4 out of 5.

Coffee Party

Last Friday, all the HYD cousins met up for a late night coffee party at my place. it was fun. We missed sarvesh bhayya n bhabhi as they were in Jaipur then. There were varieties of coffee we made- hot, cold, cold with ice cream, hot with ice cream served with brownies and pineapple cake which Abhi had baked especially for deepajiji. then we also had a round of yummy hot brownies with ice cream and chocolate sauce...it was cheer joy to have met all so relaxed. There was a constant chatter for 3 hrs or so that we were together. The baccha party were busy with their discussions, so were the men.. the baby team- Diva n Siddhi were very busy pulling each others cheeks and pinching ..hehehe...

Its was a very happy meeting.. we got to catch up with each other. I guess we had taken a few pics.. shall upload them soon.

We should plan for such short meetings in a couple of months...
so the next time most of the cousins are in HYD..lets plan another coffee party at the GUPTA's

Stanly Kubric's Movies

Been some time since a post by anyone .. thought that i need to make the post to keep the blog running.

Its not a new post .. something i had written some time ago (has some edits to update the content) , anyways reproducing it here

I have seen Spartacus, Full Metal Jacket, 2001 a Space Odyssey, Lolita, Eyes wide shut, Dr Strange Love, A Clockwork Orange.

Something that i noticed in all the above movies and i guess is also part of the few movies that i have not seen  is the method of the director. All the movies have a theme that is portrays one or more character in a deeply dark  form; as much is possible (as compared from a normal human perspective)  within the boundaries of the story.

The use of the camera is unique when compared to other movies of similar periods, the director makes use of the camera to zoom into the main character to show emotions that would be difficult to catch from a normal angle or view. Most of the zoom in and zoom out is part of a longer sequence that moves the story forward, unlike a cut in the action that is employed by a lot of directors. The movie flows….

Am almost a fan of the format of presentation that he employed.. 

There is not much more to  see

1. The Shining
2. Barry Lyndon
   

And a couple more.. I think he did 10 or 12 films and was supposed to do AI. Something Steven Spielberg did and was dedicated to his memory.

All in all a great director who did the most controversial films of his time

C

ps: wont recommend seeing any of the movies with kids around. (the only one you can see with the kids is 2001 space ...)