A Lot About Society Is ‘GUI Programmed’

A few days back I read an article about software engineering. And this was so thought provoking and got me thinking about how universal, abstract concepts can be.

First the article – it talks about a phenomenon defined as ‘LeakyAbstractions’. What does this fancy word mean? Simple, when you define or elucidate an easy way of doing something complex, you are always missing (or leaking) something. I will take some real life examples to drive home the concept.

1. Most of us Indians, people in my age group at least, are into software. And most of us do GUI based programming. There is a fancy tool and lets drag and drop stuff. And with the press of a button things get compiled and without much effort your application is up and running. Great, isn't it? Well, as long as it works it’s great. What if something goes wrong? Most programmers are stuck here and don’t know how to work around it. And that is because your fancy GUI tool did all the work for you and abstracted how your tool communicates with the machine.
2. Let’s take politics. A once radical party like the DMK, which originated out of strong conviction in principles, is today finding it hard to convince younger voters that they are an ideology-based movement. Why is that? Are the old leaders of the party not true to their principles? I think they are. But the problem comes from the newer crop of leaders. They literally ‘GUI programmed’ their way into public life – had the easy routes (just like a ‘GUI programmer’ has) and didn't know the reason behind why their party is actually appreciated by the people. They didn't know the fundamental reason for their acceptance.
3. And the last example is another favorite topic of mine - religion. You hear a lot about Islamic and more generally, religious based terrorism. On the other hand you find the most loving, caring and passionate religious people. And on the other – fanatics who would kill for the sake of religious beliefs. So what went wrong? Why this drastic difference? Leaky abstractions are at work here too. The hardcore religious people, I believe, took principles to their hearts but didn't bother to find out why they work. In other words they found the joy of religion and God rather easily – it came to them on a platter, just like how a fancy tool came to a ‘GUI programmer’. They never bothered to find out why their religion’s beliefs work so well.

Based on this concept, here is what I believe is the greatest take away- Think about religion, society and popular practices by keeping in mind a phenomenon called Leaky Abstractions. Once you start doing it, your life will lose its black and white color. Shades of grey and slowly other colors will be visible to you. You start thinking about fundamental concepts of life and why great men and saints have been saying for millennia that there is but one thing called as ‘God’. Differences between religions arise only because the things that they ‘leaked’, while preaching, were different. The crux was always the same. Analyzing what religions leaked will help us get to the core, I believe.

Well, if you are still not convinced –the term ‘GUI Programmers’ also leaks. I chose the word to abstract people who don’t analyze deeply. And obviously the term falsely accuses GUI programmers who delve deeply into fundamental concepts, and completely assumes that low level programmers (assembly language and stuff) always know things in depth. Neither of which are true. 

To The Girl Of My Dreams

The poem, like the picture, will be a little coarse, but that's how I felt in the morning, after a sleepless night. This post is another one inspired by a girl I couldn't get the guts to talk to. But did she leave an impact, eh..

Hey, Girl of my dreams

Let me get some sleep.

I remember how beautiful you are.

You don’t have to remind me.

It’s hard enough being teased

By you, when the sun shines.

But to do the same thing

With the moon around ain’t cool. Ain’t cool.

A man is a slave to his habit.

But to your habit, why am I a slave.

You waltz in and waltz out.

Sweet to look, even with sore eyes.

Each night you enter my dream,

And wave a casual 'hi'. You do. You really do.

But by the time I raise my hand,

You fly away with the wind. Sly.

You had me, the day you stood

Leaning gently against a tree.

So why the mystery appearances at night?

Look at me baby. Don’t you think I could use some sleep?

Let me suggest a thing dear.

Avoid me in the nights and

Flirt with me in the days.  

I will get some sleep and you, some love.

Am I an artiste?

Like all people obsessed with art and are no good at it, I am struggling to find something that motivates me to write. On deeper analysis, I am convinced that there are two reasons why every writer or an artiste, be it a musician, a sportsman or a painter, struggles to keep improving himself.  This post is about the two things that distract any artiste. Continue reading if you are one of those who are obsessed with the idea of constant self improvement, but are no good at it.

The first is sheer lack of inspiring moments in life. Actually, let me re-phrase that; the inability to see moments of human passion and struggle all around us. Stories worth writing about are present all around us. Tunes worthy of a song abound us and the option of perfecting a cover drive is available every time you pick up a bat. But the pressures of everyday life and the fast paced thinking, that we are so used to, make it hard to see and appreciate these moments.

The second reason is a more sublime one. It is the smugness that you get after you have done something that you are proud of (And invariably its only a trivial thing). And from my experience, this effect definitely causes an artiste to plateau. Getting it right once is good, but it is just a start. The ability to repeatedly achieve mastery over an art is what makes an artiste. Even a monkey can pull off a Prabhu Deva like movement, if it kept repeating the movement a thousand times. But will it be able to do it again in lesser attempts? That, in my opinion – the desire to keep getting better constantly, is what makes an artiste. And smugness has no place in this endeavor. 

So, coming to the main question - Am I an artiste? Well, I have only one answer to the question and there are no two ways of telling you this - "Check the picture above". (Hope the hidden metaphor in the picture strikes you..!)

Adios..!

3 Reasons Why We Shouldn’t Support Baba Ramdev’s Fast



June 4th is the day on which Baba Ramdev, the famous Yoga exponent plans to begin his fast against corruption. As the day nears, the Government seems to be trembling in its knees, fearing another Anna Hazare style movement. The PM has already written a letter to Baba Ramdev to call it off; he didn’t even respond to Anna’s letter before his fast. For most of us who supported the cause a few months ago, which was led by Anna Hazare, it is reason to celebrate that the cause is still alive. But Baba Ramdev is no Anna Hazare, and the selflessness, which characterized Anna Hazare’s movement, seems to be missing in the Baba Ramdev’s. Here are 3 reasons why we must not support Baba Ramdev’s movement.

First is the Baba’s motive behind the fast. The declared intention is to protest against graft. But Baba has made his political ambitions clear on more than one occasion. He has, by his own admission, aspirations to contest elections. The inherent contradiction is apparent. How is the Baba going to draw the line between his political ambition and this movement that he plans to start? How can we be sure that Baba will not use our support for the movement to kick start his political career?

The second reason is the timing of the movement. It has hardly been two months since the Anna Hazare movement subsided and things are proceeding in the right track. There have been discussions between the members of the drafting panel and despite the differences, the law is getting into shape. Any person with a real motive to prevent corruption will engage in an informed debate about the law and not start another wave of public outburst. That is not what the movement needs now.

The final reason is that Baba Ramdev is a man of religion. By virtue of his saffron robe, he becomes a Hindu leader and the movement against corruption does not need religion to be mixed in it. It needs the support of religious leaders but does not need to be led by them. I would much rather see religious leaders riding in their turf and not on politics. Religious leaders must practice and preach religion and spirituality, instead of using public support to enter politics.

It is interesting to note that Swami Agnivesh, another leader who, by my definition qualifies as a Hindu leader, has avoided falling into any of these three reasons. He is a member of the drafting committee and in integral part of this movement. But despite his saffron robe, has avoided painting this movement with colours of religion. Perhaps Baba Ramdev could take a leaf out of his book and help the movement in much better ways.

Under the present circumstances, I will not support Baba Ramdev’s movement and neither should you. Should he start a movement to develop awareness about Yoga, which I think he should, I would be the first of his supporters.

Talent is a Four Letter Word



Talent is the most useless thing to have. Because being talented doesn't encourage you to change yourself and adapt. But it still gets you the results. But what happens when things change and require you to adapt. The results stop coming and then an amazing realization dawns upon you - 'Change is very hard to make'. To put it short, you are in the middle of nowhere and stuck without a map or a compass.

So am I arguing that talent is totally not required? Not at all. All I am saying is that talent is over-rated. Take a cricketer as an example; you don't have to master all the shorts to become a good batsman. Sourav Ganguly mastered the drive and the cut and ended up scoring more than 10,000 international runs. His talent wasn't even comparable to Sachin's or Dravid's, but he was as popular and successful too. His attitude led him to cover his weaknesses and use his strengths. His success only proves that talent is useless unless you know how to use it.

Nothing drives home a point than a comparable analogy. Here is one for this. Talent is like water in a bucket and attitude is like the bucket that gives shape to the water. A bucket without water is of no use and water without a bucket is lost. My point: even a small drop of water needs a bucket to give it shape.

This article was inspired after watching this video by Harsha Bhogle.

Kanimozhi’s Arrest And Beyond

 

The DMK’s poster girl, Kanimozhi, answered the public’s call for justice by gracing Tihar. This latest development in the 2G saga answered the popular call amongst the general public to see justice being done. Being a responsible citizen and an ill-informed one in this case, I will refrain from commenting on whether this was right or wrong. But what caught my attention in this case was something metaphysical. And it led me to conclude that God isn’t just, he only recognizes man’s craving for justice through a system of Karma.

Yes, God isn’t just by nature. I view God as being a passive observer to an act of crime because it is another event in the cosmos and also because his system of Karma runs without his supervision. Let’s take Kanimozhi’s arrest as an example and let us assume, for argument’s sake that she took the bribe (just an argument). If the omnipotent God viewed it as an act of crime, something terrible should have happened to her then and there, because God is the Master and popular religions say that He will strike down with vengeance. But no, nothing like that happened. The sweet lord took a good few years to even initiate proceedings against her. And I can only assume that Kanimozhi’s Karma took time to catch up with her while God viewed the crime as another act of Karma.

Funny, isn’t it? A good portion of our life is spent debating on justice and what is right. But the good Lord has a simple answer to all that – Karma. It is bitter sweet. But it must be true as it fits the model that God views us all as equals. In the eyes of God, the perpetrator and the victim are equals who are just living out their Karma. And I believe Dr. Brain Weiss, when he says that once you have lived out your Karma, all including the late Osama bin Laden’s soul will be blessed.  

US & Taliban - A Zero Sum Game

Operation Geronimo, which took out the world’s most wanted man – Osama bin Laden opened another unfortunate chapter in the US’s flawed policy towards the Indian sub-continent. And contrary to many people’s expectations, this event will only open more doors than it closes. Pakistan is a sitting on the cusp of a being called a failed state and America’s puppet – neither augurs well for the world. India and China will be nervously waiting for the exit of American troops, which might not happen. Even if the American troops leave, Afghanistan will slip further into chaos. And of course, there is the obvious retaliation by whatever is remaining of the Taliban.

The blame for this mess has to be shared by both the US and Taliban. America nurtured bin Laden and in its desperation to win the Cold War made a hero of bin Laden. When bin Laden realized the obvious difference in ideology between his and the US’s, he began his fight against his former mentors. What followed was 9/11, a 10 year man hunt and Operation Geronimo. If there is one thing that is clear from this story, then it is that both sides are to blame. Unless both sides realize this, there will be no end to this zero sum game.

Being the more mature partner in this fight, the onus is on the US to start a new chapter and initiate a new policy in this region. A policy that does not have it roots in the Cold War or world domination. A policy that helps clean up Pakistan’s troubles and one that respects India’s regional dominance. The way the American’s cleaned up Operation Geronimo and Osama’s body, displayed some sensitivity towards this end. But a lot more needs to be done. India needs to speak up for what is best for this region while dealing its cards very close to its chest.