I'm for keeping the blogging world separate from the physical world. My position stems from my discomfort when someone walks up and says, "Hey, I read what you wrote last night! Pretty deep hanh! What's up?"
Having spilled my innards in a cathartic fit on blogosphere, I'm not ready to face those who witnessed it! I need to quietly slip back to reality. I need my cocoon of serenity. I need my mask of normalcy.
Being accosted about your post is like being pulled over by a traffic policeman for speeding in the Playzone video game! Its like your teacher shouting, "Get out of the class!" because you were having naughty thoughts in your mind!
side bar: Its funny how you are real in the virtual world and make-believe in the real world - well that's for another post :-)
Lets make conversation via comments. Lets be as forthcoming or inquisitive as we want to be. But please don't walk up tomorrow and say, "Hey, I didn't know that talking about your blog bothered you so much!"
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Masks
Sometimes a fake smile, sometimes a forced grin
Yesterday I had to put on a face that looked grim
Just now, am supposed to lock my brow - show interest
Tomorrow, I'll have to pull them up - in mock jest
Big room, big egos - a face that's pliable
Small room, eager eyes - a face that looks reliable
Talked down, don't agree - but face shows agreement
Asked anew, don't know - but face looks omniscient
Today I want to rip the layers of pretence
and search for my real face
I take off one mask and another and so on it goes
till I'm staring at nothing but empty space.
Yesterday I had to put on a face that looked grim
Just now, am supposed to lock my brow - show interest
Tomorrow, I'll have to pull them up - in mock jest
Big room, big egos - a face that's pliable
Small room, eager eyes - a face that looks reliable
Talked down, don't agree - but face shows agreement
Asked anew, don't know - but face looks omniscient
Today I want to rip the layers of pretence
and search for my real face
I take off one mask and another and so on it goes
till I'm staring at nothing but empty space.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Winning..............not captivating enough
When it comes to reading, the burden of sustaining my interest is with the book.
There are books, too many to innumerate here, that are un-put-downable. From the first line to the last page, they consume everything around you. Any conversation is time away from your dialogue with the author. Meals are series of morsels punctuated by stolen paragraphs. Office seems time away from what you should really be doing. Turning the last page is equal measure relief and regret.
Then there are others. They seem interesting in title and cover. You start with great expectations. And then the plodding begins. One page a day, a paragraph another time. Before you know, a month has elapsed and the book is still waiting with a bookmark wedged in its body.
What makes some books page turners and others bookmark holders? I don't intend to delve into the answer (assuming there's one) but just say that Winning by Jack Welch fell in the 2nd category for me. It begins nicely, is pacy, full of insight and real examples by Jack. But then it became an effort. I struggled to get back to it at the end of each day till finally I abondoned it with a bookmark still wedged. Nothing particularly wrong with the book - you might even like it if you hold Jack Welch in awe. But for me, Winning was just not captivating enough.
Am now on to Frames of Mind by Howard Gardner. Lets see how that fares........
Friday, June 15, 2007
Equality - the wrong end of the barrel
The current fixation on conspicuous consumption among rich in India is laughable, if not pitiable.
Rather than fixing the root cause of inequality, Manmohan Singh is deflecting responsibility by drawing attention to CEO salaries and conspicuous consumption.
First, there can never by equality in society. Equality in opportunity - maybe but equality in economic status - never! The latter runs against the principle of natural selection. The strong, the smart and the spirited will always win. The weak, the mediocre, the diffident will always be left behind.
Setting a goal of economic equality is a recipe for disaster as communists all over the world have realised (except in Kerala and W Bengal!)
What government should gun for is Equality in Opportunity. This means giving everyone access to 3 basic things -
Quality Education
Quality Healthcare
Quality Nutrition
After this, let the abilities and efforts of individual determine the distance they cover.
Politicians however, in their pursuit of short-term populism, have little time for what's right. They'll earn cheap applause by targeting the rich and deflecting attention from their own shortcomings. This is a recipe for social unrest that they could avoid if only they focused on the causes. That, I'm afraid, is too much to ask from 5 year term deposits.
Pls leave your thoughts on what are the best ways in making the 3 basic things mentioned above, available to people.......
Rather than fixing the root cause of inequality, Manmohan Singh is deflecting responsibility by drawing attention to CEO salaries and conspicuous consumption.
First, there can never by equality in society. Equality in opportunity - maybe but equality in economic status - never! The latter runs against the principle of natural selection. The strong, the smart and the spirited will always win. The weak, the mediocre, the diffident will always be left behind.
Setting a goal of economic equality is a recipe for disaster as communists all over the world have realised (except in Kerala and W Bengal!)
What government should gun for is Equality in Opportunity. This means giving everyone access to 3 basic things -
Quality Education
Quality Healthcare
Quality Nutrition
After this, let the abilities and efforts of individual determine the distance they cover.
Politicians however, in their pursuit of short-term populism, have little time for what's right. They'll earn cheap applause by targeting the rich and deflecting attention from their own shortcomings. This is a recipe for social unrest that they could avoid if only they focused on the causes. That, I'm afraid, is too much to ask from 5 year term deposits.
Pls leave your thoughts on what are the best ways in making the 3 basic things mentioned above, available to people.......
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Will you do it even if you aren't paid?
Anonymous mentioned that the true test of loving what you do is : Will you do it even without getting paid? Interesting, albeit a trifle utopian.
Here's another ponder: Is Job Love like Value Rating? (Avoided using Job satisfaction since its much abused like that other favorite - Work Life Balance!)
Value rating is Benefit over Price. Value can be high if the benefit you get is a lot more than the price you pay. Or, for a given benefit if you end up paying a low price. (This last bit was for the poets :-). Is Job Love: Return over Effort?
If it is, what drives Return higher? I think
Return = f(money, appreciation, ego fulfillment). For the poets, this means Return could be any or all or some of monetary remuneration, appreciation / respect and a feeling within you that you have made a difference.
What drives effort lower?
Most people believe that they put their maximum effort into their work. Few would get up and say, "Today, I'll only give my 60%". Haven't come across many. So in a sense, effort is a constant.
Another school of thought says that effort can 'seem to be' less if the work is enjoyable. Hmmmm......now its getting circular. Lets consider this a bit more.....
Maybe, Return is only about money. Maybe Job Love = Money/Effort. Maybe appreciation and ego fulfillment make the Effort seem lower rather than making the Return higher. They reduce the denominator, thereby increasing Job love........ you see where this is going??
Net, Job Love is not loving your job in isolation. It seems to be 'how much money you make and is that worth given the effort you seem to put. The money is real, the effort is a perception. What goes in the numerator or denominator is up for discussion........
Whatsay????
Here's another ponder: Is Job Love like Value Rating? (Avoided using Job satisfaction since its much abused like that other favorite - Work Life Balance!)
Value rating is Benefit over Price. Value can be high if the benefit you get is a lot more than the price you pay. Or, for a given benefit if you end up paying a low price. (This last bit was for the poets :-). Is Job Love: Return over Effort?
If it is, what drives Return higher? I think
Return = f(money, appreciation, ego fulfillment). For the poets, this means Return could be any or all or some of monetary remuneration, appreciation / respect and a feeling within you that you have made a difference.
What drives effort lower?
Most people believe that they put their maximum effort into their work. Few would get up and say, "Today, I'll only give my 60%". Haven't come across many. So in a sense, effort is a constant.
Another school of thought says that effort can 'seem to be' less if the work is enjoyable. Hmmmm......now its getting circular. Lets consider this a bit more.....
Maybe, Return is only about money. Maybe Job Love = Money/Effort. Maybe appreciation and ego fulfillment make the Effort seem lower rather than making the Return higher. They reduce the denominator, thereby increasing Job love........ you see where this is going??
Net, Job Love is not loving your job in isolation. It seems to be 'how much money you make and is that worth given the effort you seem to put. The money is real, the effort is a perception. What goes in the numerator or denominator is up for discussion........
Whatsay????
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Doing what you love - how much is enough?
Visual DNA was nice but lets get back to the thread of doing what you love. Got comments from both Type 1 and Type 2 - those who took the plunge early and those who are thinking of embarking on doing what they love. This post is for Type 2s ..........
Someone said, 'My dad was a soldier so I could be a farmer. And I'm a farmer so my son can be a poet'.
Doing what you love is easy if unencumbered by the need for earning a livelihood. It's also easy if the definition of livelihood is kept at a basic level.
Very often, this is not the case.
Most of us are from middle class backgrounds with no big inheritance to fall upon. Also, we have our ideas of a good life that include a house, a car, holidays, parties - enjoying life without a care for the wallet.
This necessitates building up a buffer to insure your lifestyle before you embark on doing what you love (unless, as wattman says, you love making money ;-)
So, how much is enough for that buffer??
A bit of financial modelling will tell you that in Singapore, you can get by comfortably with S$7000 a month. In India, the figure is about INR 100,000 a month. I guess, it'll be US$5000 in the US??
For simplicity, I'll stick to Singapore. Assuming, doing what you love will fetch you $2000 a month, you need to get $5000 from investments - translates to $60,000 a year. If you manage your investments well, you can get a return of 6% in Singapore. So you need to build a buffer of $1 million for financial independence.
That's what you gun for. The day you get to $1 million, Stop. This is the day you can start doing what you love, without any worry.
Of course, you can model different scenarios, different rate of returns, different lifestyle needs. The point is that if you're Type 2 and start today, there is a way to doing what you love.
The biggest challenge is stopping when you've made that $1million. Human desires have a way of creeping up on you and money has a way of making the resolve go weak :-).
Thoughts???
Someone said, 'My dad was a soldier so I could be a farmer. And I'm a farmer so my son can be a poet'.
Doing what you love is easy if unencumbered by the need for earning a livelihood. It's also easy if the definition of livelihood is kept at a basic level.
Very often, this is not the case.
Most of us are from middle class backgrounds with no big inheritance to fall upon. Also, we have our ideas of a good life that include a house, a car, holidays, parties - enjoying life without a care for the wallet.
This necessitates building up a buffer to insure your lifestyle before you embark on doing what you love (unless, as wattman says, you love making money ;-)
So, how much is enough for that buffer??
A bit of financial modelling will tell you that in Singapore, you can get by comfortably with S$7000 a month. In India, the figure is about INR 100,000 a month. I guess, it'll be US$5000 in the US??
For simplicity, I'll stick to Singapore. Assuming, doing what you love will fetch you $2000 a month, you need to get $5000 from investments - translates to $60,000 a year. If you manage your investments well, you can get a return of 6% in Singapore. So you need to build a buffer of $1 million for financial independence.
That's what you gun for. The day you get to $1 million, Stop. This is the day you can start doing what you love, without any worry.
Of course, you can model different scenarios, different rate of returns, different lifestyle needs. The point is that if you're Type 2 and start today, there is a way to doing what you love.
The biggest challenge is stopping when you've made that $1million. Human desires have a way of creeping up on you and money has a way of making the resolve go weak :-).
Thoughts???
Friday, June 01, 2007
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)