Embouitallage

The French 'Title' literally translates to traffic jam in English...
It is popularly said that "One is either a part of the problem or a part of the solution"...
Yesterday evening I was stick in a traffic hold up which was caused due to a VIP's movement in that area...
It was in this sedatary state that a thought occured to me, which goes...
All the people in the hold up can be categorised in to three, viz
1) those who have voted for the ruling party,
2) those who have voted for the opposition &
3) those who did not cast their ballot...
The feelings of those belonging to the third category would be straight forward -> I did a good thing by not voting for such an unempathetic lot (indirectly meaning, not having taken their side)...
The people belonging to the second category would feel I did a great thing by not voting for those in power since as it turns out they have no concern for citizens time...
The feelings of those who actually voted for the party or coalition in power would wonder why they had voted for someone who is so nonchalant towards to its supporters...
Interesting point here is that the members of the first two categories are blaming the effect & not the cause, it could so easily be the case that the second & first categories would get interchanged in the next election but the result would still remain the same...
So going back to the popular phrase of either being a part of the problem or a part of the solution, neither of the categories in question fall under either of the dicotomic headings (they are neither the problem nor the solution)...
Unmindful of what they had done the outcome would still have been the same...
Point to ponder over here would be to analyze what is going wrong, on one hand I say none of the partys is at fault but for sure there is a problem on hand, how can there be a fault without a defaulter...
The only goof up here seems to be that 'vote', which is said to be one of the most powerful tools in the hands of citizens is not as powerful as it is made out to be after all...
It is very easy to say the political class ought to be made more accountable, not just in the spirit of the word but in the literal sence of the word...

Signing off...

Freakonomics...

Is it a freak's take on economics or does it deal with the freakiness of economics or do the authors opine that economics is freaky or have they come up with a new concept concerning money matters...
Upon a decently close inspection, one might be excused for believing that the book has nothing to do with economics...
The authors actually try, in more than one place, to impress upon the reader the idea that economics is not necessrily a stand alone field...
One might not approve the author's way of thinking at places or find it trying to attack the "conventional wisdom" out of sheer hope of bumping in to something interesting & insightful, but the fact remains that very few other books manage to increase a persons horizons as wide as this one does...
Discussing about topics ranging from parents to teachers to teenagers to criminals to klansmen to wrestlers to real estate guys...
THe authors have done a good job of introducting a lot of ideas & thoughts, which they join to show the patterns that emerge out of them...
Did it deserve all the hype that is got? YES
Has it lived up to the hype generated? YES
Must Read...

Signing off...

Communism decoded...

It would be fair to say that of all 'ism's' communism is the most misunderstood & misinterpreted...
I am neither a proponent nor a pursurer of communism however I would want to account my understanding of this belief (however limited it be), to help atleast those who are less informed than me...
The major perceived difference between capitalism & communism is the fact that former encourages all classes whereas the latter only promotes the lower classes of society...
The fact however is that communism doesn't support all classes since it doesn't want more than one class to exist, communism in essence is about equality as against the concept of equity propagated by capitalists...
It is often argued that communism has some inherent flaws, viz...
Communism claims everyone is equal & get equal share of resources but this goes against two very strong age old beliefs :-
The first one being that of "survival of the fittest" &
The second one being that of "maximum utilization of available resources"...
The above arguments are from the point of view of those who are ruled upon but what about the rulers themselves, greed & selfishness are as much a part of human evolution as genes & chromosomes...
Should a person holding power want to do so over a long period of time with the same impact it is imperative that he be slightly biased...
In any scenario where more than two people are involved that whole idea of logic flies out of the window...
It is said when two people are interacting the there are perceptions actively playing, viz :-
A's perception
B's perception
A's perception about B
B's perception about A
A's perception about B's perception about A & finally
B's perception about A's perception about B...
This should give a clear indication of how complex the whole idea of inter personal dealing is...
I must plead guilty of digressing but I also opine that the digression was needed...
More on it later...

Signing off...

Opportunity cost...

Its mid day in Chennai, sun is going about its business as usual...
I decide enough is enough its time to head back home...
Walk out of my place of work at six in the evening & contemplate which mode of transport to seek...

Bus -> a stone away from where I live
Rail -> nine kz away from my place however more convenient especially it being a night journey
Flight -> Crops off two dimensions -> time (hours) & width (wallet)

There is no way on earth I'l suffer in a bus for twelve what with an alternative existing...
Train's have always interested me but the fact that I am an impulsive perepatetic made it virtually impossible for me to seriously consider them to satisfy the wanderlust in me...
(I can never forget the experience that I had while travelling general class overnight... Mumbai to Ahmedabad, what actually scared me furthur is a friends observation that he has spent worse times in a general cubicle...)
By employing the process of logical elimination I am left with only one choice -> to fly...

Reservation time...
Which airline to take & whats the ideal time...
I run googles to go to all the home pages, compare the prices & schedules, start off by eliminating those which do not feature on my preference list & those that are not convenient...
I finally make my reservation & head to the airport...

One hour from the time I board I am in good old Hyderabd...

Signing off...

Lag...

I for one strogly feel that Indian Office bearers & beauracrats should be atleast tech literate if not savvy...
If before mentioned scenario had been a reality then such silly goof-ups would not have happened...
One point of view would certainly be that the aam junta will always be critical about any & everything the sarkar & the babus do...
On one hand the entire country along with media of all kinds is up in arms that no head way has been done in the 7/11 investigation & the same social entities knock on SC's door when the ruling class in its own wisdom or ignorance takes some measures for damage control...
What is interesting to observe that whenever an incident of such kind takes place a ripple effect can be felt, one thing leads to another, which in turn leads to a totally different third thing & then the issue of priority comes up (immediate term, non so distant future, eventually a concerte structure)...
Maybe not the most appropriate thing to do but the fact remains that I've decided to stay away from giving my take on the issue & tried to put forth an assortment of happenings...

Signing off...

Numbers!!!

Italian win has proved once again that numbers dont always reveal the true picture.
Neway Italia was one of the teams i was rooting for so atleast some consolation...
Nothing can actually balm the pain caused by the realisation that my predictions have gone wrong and Brazil has crashed out...

Signing off...