I have wondered how countries like India, where the average person on the street is smart, if not streetsmart, still fail to do the basics right let alone reel in major innovations. Even a school dropout working in a kirana store knows how to compute the balance instantly for a total of Rs. 243 if … Continue reading
My first poem
Is this my first poem? What took me so long? Why did I not write’em? There is something wrong. I remember it’s the beginning That’s harder than the end It’s all the thinking That gets me weakened I must now not forget I just have to start I can’t later regret I have to master … Continue reading
Empathy
Much has been said about emotional “quotient”, so I thought I will talk about the “remainder” – empathy. Over the past couple of years, if there is one skill I have had to nurture, it is empathy. I have been asked many times over the past few months how I feel about working for large … Continue reading
Virtual Reality for real
Could Mark Zuckerberg see something we couldn’t when he bought Oculus? Probably. But, more interestingly, what did the pitch from the co-founders Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe look like? Slides? Don’t think so. How about just hand Mark one of these baddy goggles and have him watch a movie about the future where a few … Continue reading
Professional trilogy
On a recent vacation, a friend and I arrived at a formula for selecting one’s job or profession. It’s a function of three key drivers: Desire / Passion: This is about never settling until you find what you really want to do for the rest of your life – the sort of stuff from Steve … Continue reading
Brain elasticity
I had blogged about inter-disciplinary work in an earlier post comparing Steve Jobs and Michael Jackson. I’m convinced now more than ever. So much that I wish I could go back in time and redo my undergrad in a multi-disciplinary setting. Here’s why. Our brains inherently like contradictions that steer it in different directions. There’s … Continue reading
Woods for the trees…
No, I am not talking Tiger Woods. In fact, he would be the complete opposite of what this post is all about. I was once asked what is the one lesson I have learned from my parents or other role models that I apply in my daily life. I was hard pressed initially. It may … Continue reading
Existential question
A vacation is a good time to ponder and this one in Canary Islands (a Spanish territory that’s nearly Moroccan, although only by geographic proximity) is no different. The difference however is that this time what spurred my thinking was the location itself. I always had this assumption in my mind that developed economies are … Continue reading
Convention says…
Convention says “If ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Stretching this a bit further and applying it to conventions themselves, convention says if there’s a convention, just follow it! That’s nicely convenient. Problem is, any breakthrough mankind has ever achieved has only been possible by breaking away from conventions. If conventions were that sacred, we will … Continue reading
Darwin, are you listening?
I recently watched this video on TED about how a fly, well uh , flies. Here’s the video link: Michael Dickinson: How a fly flies Michael makes a valid point that using fruit flies as a model for humans is so mis-matched given how they produce such awe inspiring flight with a brain no bigger … Continue reading
brainlava 