Language in thoughtless Inaction:

Language  in thoughtless Inaction:

Eversince  I had attended  a month long NLP course  @ the feet  of venerable NLP  Guru ,  Jesuit Priest and Indo American ( IMV he is more Indian than many who are born, bred and brought up here)  Dr. Richard Mchugh,   I  was interested in language constructs. My good friend  and trainer   Daniel Pacheco  who  is also into NLP ( he  studied under maverick Richard Bandler)  used   to say that anythhng  people say  has 3 meanings.  Stated, understood and hidden. And I would hasten to add most often we miss all 3 of them.

S.I. Hayakawa’s  classic book  “ Language in thought and action” just reinforced that belief.  It
is a small book , written some 70 years ago.  That wonderful book offers  invaluable insight into how language affects human thought and conditions behaviour, and addresses the question of how
language should be sued  to achieve cooperation and understanding  than  confrontation.

A few days back  TIME magazine published an interesting  article about two  well meaning ladies who live in  Mexico. It  was reported , “ The survival of an endangered language may depend on two people -- and all they want to do is ignore each other. Manuel Segovia and Isidro Velazquez, the last speakers of a language called Ayapaneco, live less than half a mile away from each other in
Ayapa, Mexico. But no matter how precious the cultural implications of keeping their language alive are, they are not going to speak to each other.”

The Guardian notes that, “It is not clear whether there is a long-buried argument behind their mutual avoidance, but people who know them say they have never really enjoyed each other's company.”

Btw, Ayapaneco is one of many dozens of indigenous languages remaining in Mexico, many are on the verge of extinction. Regardless, linguists are still attempting to preserve the language despite the lack of communication between the last two fluent speakers, who no longer converse with
anyone regularly in their native tongue. When Segovia, 75, and Velazquez, 65, both die, their language will pass away with them.

Still, Daniel Suslak, a linguistic anthropologist, sums up their relationship succinctly: “They don't have a lot in common."

Senator Hayakawa's main point is that, we need to pay focus on how we use the language, since it is language  humans use in order to think, and since language has such an extraordinary power to influence others and ourselves.

Then when what happens  when we cease to use a language.  Do  we stop thinking ?  or how do we influence others ?
It is said  that “By age four, most humans have developed an ability to communicate through oral language. By age six or seven, most humans can comprehend, as well as express, written thoughts. These unique abilities of communicating through a native language clearly separate humans
from all animals.”

The animal that comes closest to producing anything that even vaguely resembles human speech is not another primate, but rather a bird.

For instance, a famous African gray parrot in England named Toto can pronounce words so clearly that he sounds rather human. Like humans, birds can produce fluent, complex sounds.  Infact I do remember during my childhood, my cousin  had  a myna, which could utter a few words.

One of the big ‘success’ stories in looking at the human-like qualities of non-human primates is a male bonobo chimpanzee known as Kanzi. Kanzi was born 28 October 1980, and began his long
journey to learn to ‘speak’ as a result of the training provided for his mother, Matata, via a ‘talking’ keyboard. Matata never did master the keyboard, but Kanzi did. Through many years of intense training and close social contact with humans, this remarkable animal attained the language abilities of an average two-year-old human. By age ten, he had a vocabulary (via the keyboard)
of some two hundred words. In fact, Kanzi was able to go beyond the mere parroting or ‘aping’ of humans; he actually could communicate his wants and needs, express feelings, and use tools.

One of the examples of Kanzi’s behavior is In an outing in the Georgia woods, Kanzi touched the symbols for "marshmallows" and "fire." Susan Savage-Rumbaugh said in an interview that, "Given matches and marshmallows, Kanzi snapped twigs for a fire, lit them with the matches and
toasted the marshmallows on a stick."


The biggest trajedy  is  while those animals make a sincere attempt in mastering the single most differentiating factor between them and humans (  language),  we humans cease to communicate.

For example  Jaylalitha and  Karunanidhi ?  Or  Mulaym Singh and Mayawati ?

 And aren’t we really happy that  many others  do  talk in Tamil and Hindi ?  

 

Every Saint has a "Corrput" past and every sinner an "honest " Future

Every  Saint has a “corrupt” past  and  Every Sinner an  “honest”  future…

It is easy  to miss a forest  for trees, when you are in the forest. Distance brings in clarity.  I was
resisting  the temptation to  write in my  blog about the  recent specatcle  of “ War against corruption”. So when a colleague   of mine asked for my view, I thought  I will pen my thoughts   rather than offer another commentary  as a butterfly  on the wall  of Jantar Mantar, TV Studios  or even  @ the source of  that  mysterious CD. These are  some random thoughts  connected tenously  to the subject matter.  Some of them may be paradoxical.  But our wold is  a paradox.

J.  Krisnamurthy, one of  the  original philososphers   did  have  a way with words.  To quote Mr. Krishnamurthy "You are the world, the neighbour, the friend, the so-called enemy. If you would understand, you must first understand yourself, for in you is the root of all understanding. In you is the beginning and the end."   We make our world. We contribute to the good, bad and evil. Add to the river of consciousness, either directly or indirectly. So it is important to introspect, before separating  “Lilly white” self   from the  “corrupt” and “dark”  world out there  and take a holier than thou self righteous stand.

It is also important to realize that  our world  is not an Ideal place.  Especially since it is made by less than ideal human beings.  Most probably  Rama Rajya is an inner longing of a guilty mind, than a melancholic recollection of  good old days.  There is nothing there in our world, absolutely  in Black and White..  It is a big band of  continous spectrum  (2G / 3G ) of Grey lines  two thin lines of  Black and White.  A vast majority of human beings, dynamically  oscillate between those thin lines  as context  (Or  Circle) changes . It is  mankind’s innate understanding of  this truth forced him to create  Ideal GODs who behave perfectly in a absultely honest ways.   So Ideal World is a Myth .  (like  Ideal God and Godmen ?).

 Especially a Corruption free world  is an Utopia. Why ?

As  U G Krishnamurthy remarked, as long as we need a  fence to save us from our neighbour, we would  rely on  Armies to protect us from other countries.   As long as each one of  us retain  a certain amount of  greed and selfishness (what is in it for me ?), there is going to be one form or another form of corruption. Even though each one of us scorn at a Raja or a Kalmadi, not many would prefer an absolutely honest  Civic authority (  A lot  many of residences  and commercial
complexes  in Bangalore do violate  laws) and  an honest traffic constable would be the most
hated figure (Infact  as we waited  @ the busy Sarakki Junction traffic signal, 3 cars whizzed  across the   Red Signal on  a Good Friday  morning.)..

Now I could hear the familiar clamor. It is the system and  we are all poor  victims of the system.

But  we started with the view, We make the World. System is made by  the “Self”. 

Considering this as another Chicken or Egg dilemma,    Should we strive for a solution  ?
 Of course we should,  if  we getover the the need for an Ideal world and ideal solution.

Then  what  could be a good  solution ?  Where it should start ? Self or System ?

IMV, it need to be started with the System.  While  Self is the best unit for change, it would take a  very long time  for each one of  us to be Saintly.  Keeping in mind the fact  that we have considerably evolved  ever since  we started  walking on two legs,  there could be a phsychological or biological
mutation for being better human beings, in very distant future.  So while waiting for that internal
transformation to happen in each one of us,  there should be systemic changes  as  an external motivation  to comply with generally accepted  principles of society.  Or unfettered  or  unregulated  greed  would  ensure a faster fall to the abyss.  So systemic changes is a must. 

 Even though Yudhishitira  said to have answered  Yaksha  “absence  of desire makes one rich”,  all of
us  are trying to be wiser than him  by trying to  GAIN riches  without  having to  LOSE our desire.  So if the Self does not change,  any system we put in place, will be ineffective.  Also a lot of effort  by way of religions, prophets etc have not made much of  a dent on Self.  Some of the most greedy people are  Hindu Godmen,  Many Muslim clergymen does not get proper sleep everynight  unless they  delcare a fatwa on some one’s head during the day and Vatican is struggling for a solution  for those priests charged with pedophilia in USA.  Human mind  will always find ways and means to beat the system.  Man  is an innovative animal  and  he has created  enough Mental Tools  to  do that.

Another question comes to mind, is whom we should entrust to change the system ?  Considering the area of  corruption should they be one  with no skeletons in their closet ?

When the stock market bubble  burst in USA and caused  the great depression, Franklin D.  Roosvelt , US President  had decided to bring in  stock market regulation and  US SEC was born.  He chose Joseph P. Kennedy  to become the first leader of the brand-new SEC.  Kennedy had thrived on Wall Streetbefore coming to Washington, making millions as an investment banker. He also  reveled in being a back-room player who cultivated ties to anyone -- reputable or not -- with power and wealth. Indeed, Roosevelt is said to have responded to criticism of his appointment of Kennedy by saying, "It takes a thief to catch one." Yet Kennedy succeeded beyond anyone's imagination in his efforts to create a watchdog for the securities business -- to the surprise of both his Wall Street associates and
those who distrusted him. (http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2003/nf20030529_7026.htm).”

The same principles  applies  to  security of IT systems as well. The best security systems are created by the best hackers.  If Tamil Nadu police  had  caught Veerappan alive, probably   we would have  had a best selling guide on how to stop poaching of  wild elephants.   That does not necessarily mean that  every cop need to have a criminal history.  But it does help. Even the  God  can’t be more religious than the recently  converted  athiest.

Then many  good men are endowed with  great ability to imagine the ways of  human psyche.  They can add immense value in creating a  good system. But  one quality they need to have  is  not being onion skinned. The moment we  offer ourselves as  models of perfect  virtue in public service,  we end up  like fish in a  glass bowl.  One of the most succesful attorneys in  USA, Jerry  Spence in his wonderful book “How to Argue and Win every time”, offers  a wonderful solution for all Presidential
candidates.  Write  down all our misdemeanors in our life and send to  the press and all opponents  before even announcing our candidature.  Infact  Mr. Obama started his own campaign  by writing his memoirs  “Dreams from my father” very candidly.  And went to become the President of USA.

So I did not really understand  Shanti Bhushan’s  logic and defense of  “ I have never known or met  Mr. Amar Singh”.  What can be a better qualitfication that  representing Amar Singh and his party in courts.    Or Hedge coming out  and writing to Digvijay Singh a note on  his learning  from his effort of  Cleansing the most corrupt state in the country .

So the 10 wise men  have come together to create the system.  They need to start, by learning about the Law of Entropy which states that  the moment we create a perfect system of order, it will start moving towards disorder.  And  as long as  the  Self  does not change, the movement to disorder will
be faster and  this Jantar  Mantar  act will keep repeating.. 

Then   JP.. now Hazare..  Tomorrow ?

Man , Machine and Search for Meaning..

Man ,  Machine and Search for Meaning..

Even though  my face  time with MD Pai  was just for an hour or so  some  6 years back ( I did meet him for a few seconds during a function @ IIMB much later), he  is  one of those  who  left an indelible  mark in my psyche and  life.  Don’t get me wrong. I am  not one of those star gazing , name dropping type who was looking for  5 minute of fame  under the Sun. Also many who had worked/Still work in that organization  would vouch for the fact  that  one of the mails  that they  least look forward to  is ( “is”  till June 2011 J )  a meeting invite from the  reigning (now
dethroned!)  Tsar.

In spite  of many   colorful and captivating  legendary stories  about his deeds and notorious temper,  I did not have much of trepidation (maybe due to the Communist chromosome in my DNA), as  I walked  to meet him and his team thru the squeaky clean floors  and corridors. (Btw it is
one company which ensures   the success of   a Reckit Benkiser or P & G in India.  A naïve visitor may  even wonder, whether they have OCD like Lady Macbeth!).

His physical presence is quite intmidating, even with that half- friendly smile.  Almost built like a wrestler, his unkempt beard, scars around his eyes and baritone voice adds to the effect.

Contrary to expectations , he gave the impression of  an absolutley honest and straight talking human being.  One who preaches very little, but does practice what he preaches. (Unlike many
others who remain perfect paper idealists.).  I did feel that  the chosen/entrusted  mandate  of “Taking care  of his organization”  did  take precedence  over his own  world views and values.  And it was not that easy   to verbally spar with someone  with that  kind of razor sharp intelligence and  crystal clear articulation. Even though there was an amount of ruthlessness  like  Gary Kasparov ( especially  when playing mindgames  against some one as gentle as  Viswanathan Anand),  in a sense he did show signs of an compassionate and fair side, especially  when he shared  his own  career experience  in his previous  organization and how it had shaped  his own career.

Many  Infoscions, did share  with me that  he was quite instrumental  along with Phaneesh Murthy  in the success of   that iconic organization, and  he  was always looked upon as  a Future CEO of Infosys.  Especially his own success stories on the business side of having led Infosys BPO, financial
wizardry (hails from South Canara) as CFO and the director  with widest span of responsibility) added to that myth.  So it was bit surprising  for many to learn about  Pai’s  resignation.

But what really stuck to my heart  was  his own statements   in those endless  interviews  he gave to those teeming   journalists after the  announcement.  He said and I quote “I feel liberated”, “I feel free” and “Life is all about tomorrow. You know I am a Bangalore guy, but I have not had lunch at a restaurant in the city in the past 17 years. I want to spend a lot of time with my wife, kids and friends. I want to catch up on my reading. My wife has bought me a houseful of books. Also, I want to
destress and tame my temper.”

It left one wondering   whether he was truly enjoying his stint.  Or whether it was just an
adrenalin pumping and teeth gritting kind of forced motivation born out of ambition to prove a point. It also raises an important question, even conceding the point that earning a living, contributing to the society and organization, leaving a legacy etc are worthy pursuits, does it have to be @ the cost of everything else.

Does life have to be single spoked wheel?  Is it a wrong notion in our circles that Life has to be single dimensional.

Did not Gandhi take time out to listen to a M. S. Subbalakshmi keerthan, even when he was racing against time to get India independence?  How many know that Einstien was a gifted violinist and Richard Feynman learned to paint and play drums?  Ratan Tata enjoys flying planes and sketching? And a Jack Welch truly worried about his Golf scores and diligently worked on it?  Did they had a
lesser contribution to the society and their chosen fields  compared to others?

It would be interesting  to read a story about one of the successful Generals  Indian Army  ever had,  “So innovative was his operational planning and so meticulous its execution that Lt-Gen J.S. Aurora did not forsake his daily round of golf even once during the 12-day battle to "liberate" East Pakistan, which emerged as Bangladesh in 1971. As India's Eastern Army commander tasked with evicting the tyrannical Pakistani military from East Pakistan, the Sikh soldier even played a relaxed 18-hole round inside his Fort William headquarters at Calcutta, before leaving for Dacca to accept the surrender of Lt-Gen A.A.K. Niazi and 93,000 soldiers.”

These are all pointes to the fact, there are many good examples  of great souls   who did excel  in their chosen field, without  depriving  themselves  the  good moments  life offered them moment
to moment.  One common denominator  in all of them  is  a multi dimensional approah to life. A single minded focus on any goal, even if the goal is enligtenment, being a  Prime Minister or  even a CEO, oblivious to other finer aspects of this wonderful life, may not  necessarily be a better choice.  Considering a finished painting as a metaphor for one’s life,  if one stops insisting on  being the sole creator  of the painting and let   life paint a few brushstrokes, then  we may have a master piece.  That happens only when one accepts the Truth  that Life is what happens to  you
here and now.   “Life is not necessarily what happens tomorrow” as he seems to believe.

Because tomorrow never comes.

End note:  The non-aspiring  Taoist non-writer earns his living  working for IT industry.

“The Way I See that”  is absolutely  his personal perception (or lack of IT) and relatively nothing official.
about IT. J

Classic ends -- immortal stories about mortal deaths.

Classic ends -- immortal stories about mortal deaths.


The most clichéd and boring statement I have heard during my times @ Toastmasters was “Public speaking is the most feared thing among the public, far above the fear of death or disease. “. I really don’t know the basis of that statement. Probably most of the populace may be afraid of the prospect of public humiliation, considering the fact that our collective egos may cover the distance between earth and sun.

Incidentally I was not afraid of public speaking, even before I learned to fly as a little kite there and never thought much about death till my father passed away four years back. Even when he was ushered into the operation theatre by a well known cardiothoracic surgeon in Bangalore ( who said my father had one of the lowest risk rating in the Euro score), he was very calm and collected. After some four days he was the only one left behind in that 15 bed Surgical and soon he had slipped into the unknown as graciously as he had lived leaving us all behind. For some strange reason, as I stood beside his bed, as those attendants were cleaning up his body, I did not feel bereaved nor did I cry.. Tears came back to o my eyes much later.

Soon after that, I had chanced upon a book titled “The Tibetan book of the dead” , among the piled up books,  in the no longer alive  "Premier books shop"  @  Church street corner. And it remained one of the books I did not make much progress… A few weeks back, one of my wonderful colleagues (who is really one of the rare species in the corporate jungle... a kind of Zen master or would be saint), told me it is really a nice book.. That brought that old dusty volume out of the book shelf into my reading list again... I also started jotting down the imprint I had in my mind from my readings on what else, classy deaths.. Here I am jotting down a few of them... I am retaining the original, for fear of killing the life in those wonderful lines...

The first one has to be one of the Americans I admire a lot.... Richard Feynman... When LA times, sent him an advanced copy of his obituary, he thanked the author but said, “I have decided it is not a very good idea for a man to read it ahead of time, it takes the element of surprise out of it.” He knew he was not recovering. He was 69. The cancer had relapsed. Pain had wracked one of his legs. He was exhausted. In one corner of his dusty office blackboard @ Caltech, he had written a pair of self conscious mottos and a running list under the heading “To Learn”….. He had not accumulated much: A hand knitted scarf, hanging on a peg, a photograph of Michelle with her cello, some black and white pictures of aurora borealis, a van painted with chocolate brown Feynman diagrams. On Feb 3, he had entered UCLA Medical centre again. His remaining kidney had failed. One round of dialysis was done. Feynman had refused further dialysis that might have prolonged his life for weeks or months. He told Michelle calmly, “I am going to die.”... He had anticipated his own death as he had shared with one his friends “You see, one thing is, I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible belief. I don’t have to know an answer. I don’t feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose, which is the way it really is as far I can tell. It does not frighten me.”



.. He drifted towards unconsciousness. His eyes dimmed. Speech became an exertion. He drew himself together, prepared the last phrase and released it; I had hated to die twice. It is so boring… Soon he was gone...



This one I got it from the Outlook obituary of Bhimsen Joshi... Saba Naqvi writes about the death of Mallikarjun Mansur, the saintly Hindustani classical singer legend from Dharwar. “. He had lung cancer. The doctors had given up. So his daughter was instructed not to keep him away from things he loved most. The last thing he asked for was a bidi to smoke. He was humming Raaga Jogia, almost inaudibly. His daughter placed between his lips a lit bidi. And his head rolled over. He was gone. I told this story to Bhimsen Joshi. He heard the story with a distant look, smiled and a tear rolled down his cheek.”

And continues in the same story about the Abdul Karim Khan.

“Singing at platforms links up nicely with a story from Abdul Karim Khan’s life or rather his death. On his way to Puducherry at the invitation of Sri Aurobindo, Khan sahib had a premonition that his end was nearing. He left the train at an unknown railway station, spread out his prayer mat and sang his last song. He died on the railway platform. The news was carried to Sri Aurobindo by the disciples accompanying him. “

Let me end with the story of another American who was a constant presence in my life thru the last page humor column of The Hindu for many years.. Art Buchwald . He was a very popular humorist and political satirist whose work was syndicated in multiple major American newspapers including the New York Times and Washington Post. In addition to being a writer, he was also someone who apparently suffered from serious bouts of depression throughout his life. He died last Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 after a long illness and extended hospice care.Mr. Buchwald has the distinction of being the first person to pre-record his own video obituary for the New York Times. Far from being grim, this interview and documentary is quite uplifting, and I think, very much worth watching. The most important point in that videos is

Knowing that you are dying is no reason to stop living.

“You may have to alter or adjust some of your previous activities, but there is no reason to shut down completely. If you can no longer read, find some books on tape, or have a family member read to you. If you can't type, have a person email or type for you, etc., etc. Consider reuniting with lost friends or forgiving old enemies. You don't have to be a famous columnist to pass on a legacy. Compose a letter or videotape your own interview to share your thoughts and life experiences with future generations.

Till his very last day, Buchwald continued writing, hosted a lot of guests. "I’m having a swell time — the best time of my life” he quipped.

I hope that the rest of us don't wait until we are dying to have such fun.

Forgetting your eye and remembering ‘the WAY’…

Forgetting your eye and remembering ‘the WAY’…


Sheik “Al Kabeer” Iyer sincere samaritan, ace Tennis player and my friend, got hit on one of his eyes quite badly, during a drab doubles game on a chilly winter night .

True to his being as the ‘ Arabic’ Iyer , he returned to the court, as if nothing has happened, after a stroll outside to calm down his hurt ego. When asked by Kumar, our common friend, whether he can see, pat came the reply. “Yes, but through a colored film on one eye”. Hearing this, Sriram the “Intel inside” Tranquil and our no-nonsense leader of the pack directed us to take him to a Doctor. We took him to Nethradhamma on Kanakapura Road where Kumar’s neighbor is practicing. The good Doctor was waiting for our “one eyed” Sheik even though it was time for her to wind up. She was quite gracious at the fag end of a long day of work and took her own time for a thorough examination without hurrying. There was a sigh of relief, when she announced the good news. No major damage. Prescribed some medicine and Rest to the Restless Soul of Sheik so that his Body system can repair the damage. Seeing his eagerness to get back to tennis court, Doctor stressed the need to ensure no further damage to the eye during recovery.

It is altogether a different matter that, Sheik Iyer had probably the fastest recovery from an eye injury and was back @ the Tennis court in no time with an improved eye sight and faster reflexes .

A few weeks later I happened to come across the following lines in one of the commentaries on “Tao Te Ching”.

“You forget your feet when your shoes are comfortable and only remember it when shoes pinch.

Similarly you forget about the right and wrong when your conscience is clear. You remember it only when conscience is troubled. “

Human traits are quite fascinating. You forget that with which you are in harmony. You remember only that which you are out of harmony.

In my humble view, this is a good litmus test.

When a politician is on a patriotic zeal chances are some “unpatriotic deed” is troubling him. When a religious preacher preaches on celibacy, in all probability he does not see consider himself as an audience for such an advice.

As Tao Te ching says

“If you are truly following the way you forget about it; you only remember the way when you have strayed from it.”

tWisT: There is another good quote from Tao (maybe meant for yours truly!)

“Those who know don’t talk and those who talk don’t know”