Last week’s edition saw writing gone bad. I apologize for sending a lot of my readers on that tailspin. It was an experiment with a new style on how my world may have been had the lockdown continued till 2023. Guess the humor was lost and the joke was on me.
There were a few good souls who texted me to find out if I was doing alright. A few of them sent me job consultant contacts and one person sent me his company’s IJP (Internal Job Portal) posting as well. As long as there are people who pick up such signs and reach out, one is never lonely. The silver lining from this experiment is that there are many who unconditionally care for others. Thanks to these benevolent souls, my confidence in the human race’s future is restored.
Connecting the dots, in one of the product returns discussions over MS Teams, the CMD confidently assumed that the majority of the consumers don’t cheat. Yes; a few, here and there, do cheat. But one cannot not design brand promotions because a few cheat. This stuck with me and helped me reassess if this majority of people are good or bad. Are stereotypes true or not?
Imagine, I just landed in Chennai from outer space. My first experience is with an autowala. It is not one to savor. It goes beyond the economic transactions of ‘you take me to a place 7 km far for what is worth 150 bucks’. The way he rides, rudely talks, ill-treats fellow-bikes and -cars, spits and overtakes, gives me an unsettling feeling. He uses the ride as an outlet for his pent-up anger. I console myself by owing this unsettling feeling to ‘the poor guy probably having a bad day’.
I put that experience behind me and try to start afresh in using autos. Time and again similar experiences haunt me. May be an odd good fellow somewhere out there, but majority of the experiences continue to be bad. A bias against autowalas builds up (Remember that I came from outer space with a clean slate and fresh mind). Then I talk to a few friends and they also concur that their experiences have been pathetic; they are better off with Ola/Uber cabs.
This bias of what to expect while taking an auto becomes stronger by the day. With each and every interaction, there is an affirmative feedback to the bias. With such powerful prejudices, our attitude towards dealing with autowalas change. And with such an intense bias and disagreeable attitude towards them, the autowalas - in their heads- recoil at how impertinent and distasteful their customers are by the day! This loop is never-ending!
This ability to develop strong biases is what makes us love or be indifferent to fellow humans. I didn’t use the word hate here, because to hate someone there must be stronger indoctrination or a personal loss/conflict.
May be, we can’t really eliminate our biases. But we can surely be aware of them at best! Watch Indian Matchmaking on Netflix. It is a mirror to our soul.
Let's dive into this week's mind!
A. Political
Do my tweets really threaten China's National Security?, Jimmy Lai, The New York Times
Jimmy Lai, the founder of Next Digital which publishes Apple Daily, succumbed to the new set of rules in Hong Kong. Apple Daily is one of the stronger newspapers which stood up to the Chinese Communist Party and called out their draconian policies. This article published on May 29, was written by Jimmy Lai. He explains his reasoning for the recent changes in Hong Kong and how one day he will be arrested. Lesser than three months since his prediction, he was arrested. End of free speech, once again!
B. Technology
The return of Anonymous, Dale Beran, The Atlantic
This is not an out
and out tech article, but mostly a cultural one.
Remember, remember, the 5th of
November
Remember this famous line from V for Vendetta? The first image that comes to our minds is the Guy Fawkes mask. Today’s pop culture is around the Dali mask, popularized by MoneyHeist.
Pic Courtesy: As the watermark says, Reuters
Both, in a way, have a common theme – justice. Dale Beran’s article
explores the reason behind the Anonymous revolutionary tales. He flirts with
Wikileaks for a moment. BLM is the recent Cultural Revolution. Will Anonymous
have a role to play? And all these cultural upheavals are backed through tech
means!
C. Marketing
I have not come across anything interesting apart from the deck that I create day in day out. :P
D. Economics
Nothing to write
home about.
E. Sports
Dhoni Retired.
F. eCommerce
Turn right around!
G. Behaviour
When will the Indian male by truly 'atmanirbhar' at home?, Sandip Roy, mint
Hilarious and drives home the point. With data, Sandip Roy describes how men are trying to evolve during the lockdown period. We can all look at the brighter side and affix names to the lockdown. But, the single biggest turnaround has been men contributing to household chores. Speaking from personal experience, I have changed from being that odd dishwasher to a permanent one. I went from being the weekend coffeemaker to the everyday chaiwala. I wish to become the PM one day.
But what has been the incentive for the change? Introspecting, I found two reasons:
1. The ‘we are all in this together’ cliché. Of how I can do my two bits to #ShareTheLoad
2. I get uninterrupted time to listen to podcast (Secretly, this would have been the reason no.1)
But the larger point is that not everyone wants to do everything for the sake of doing it. With the right reasoning and incentives, they can be motivated to do things that they don’t want to do.
H. Books & Cinema
The Lounge guide to India in 50 books, mint
The mint lounge team released a list of 50 books that acts a guide to understand India better. My count is 7/50 with at least 6 books waiting to be read. The list covers all possible genres except business and management. I would have loved to see Gurucharan Das’s India Unbound or PrakashTandon’s Punjabi Saga as a part of the list. These two books chronicle what the business environment used to be, in India. People from my generation and thereafter have not seen such an India.
I can definitely recommend the titles listed in the article as starters for a long voyage of reading as a habit.
The Kill List by FrederickForsyth has been an interesting read. It’s a typical Forsyth spy thriller.
Sharon and I finished watching Schindler’s List. To come to terms that these things happened is horrific. But, to see that we aren’t far away from these things happening once again is bone chilling. What will be interesting to know is how German commoners became the perpetrators. What was promised and how were they motivated? If there are any literature/books/movies/documentaries, kindly direct us. We would love to get into the mind of a Nazi to better understand the innate motivations. So that history doesn’t repeat. And when it does, we know what we’re facing while looking into the eyes of such a person.
On a follow up to Schindler’s List, we have started watching The Hunters. Just like Schindler’s List, it’s a rerun for me. Enjoying reruns knowing the climax is so much fun. You wait for the other person’s reaction and there is some excitement in that. Sharon had this pleasure with me watching Game of Thrones for the first time while it was a rerun for her!
With that, we wrap up this week's musing.
Do share your list of interesting articles that you came across.
Do share your thoughts on what was good and what can be improved.
And that's word no. 1310!
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