Musings on Rain

I can hear the church-bells as I sit here, on ‘top of the world’. I don’t come here a lot, this magnificent balcony of Rush Rhees, punctuated with pillars which assert their majesty. The weather is perfect: too cold for shorts, yet too warm for a jacket. The grass has turned into happier shades of green as if to express gratitude to the clouds.

Rain isn’t typically associated with joy or pleasant weather here in the West. I have to say though, that after having lived here for the last three years, I am not surprised at all that rain is associated with gloom. Here in Rochester we see only around 60 sunsets a year. The winters are long and the sun shines only once in a blue moon, but when it does, students ditch the library to sit outside and soak in the sunshine. I myself have come to appreciate the sun a lot more since I have come here.

But where I grew up, rain is welcomed with nothing less than celebratory joy. After months of searing heat, the rain brings the much needed cool. It waters our crops, on which depends the livelihood of the countless people engaged in farming. Rain is also associated with romance, and is a typical backdrop of romantic scenes in TV soaps and movies.

For urban-dwellers like myself, the fun of rain is sitting inside and enjoying a cup of hot teai and ‘pakoras’ (a fried Indian snack), which, at any other time of the year, wouldn’t be as pleasant, given the heat. And of course, me being quirky, adventurous type, I also like to go out, get wet in the rain, and experience the pure delight of having those heavenly diadems pierce my skin. The traffic on the roads slows down. The sounds of the roaring engines and the honking combined with the pelting and the pitter-patter of the rain makes for an interesting medley, one which I have begun to enjoy. As I make my way in between the puddles, invariably, I do end up stepping into one and getting my ankles wet. My mother warned me about this. I didn’t care to listen. It’s okay. The pleasure of being out in the rain is so worth it, after all.

For me, rain still has the same effect as it did back at home. It’s an almost infallible source for creative inspiration. I had written this around 7 years ago, and it is as true as it was back then.

pitter patter, pitter-patter

the sound touches my heart

inspires me to continue my literary art

mighty and influential is the rain

I am wasted by the latter

Haunted and captivated

I stand here motionless and still

Watching them fall

These pretty pearls of nature

As they descend to the ground

It is also the perfect antidote for a bad day..

[Last stanza of a poem I wrote 6 monsoons ago]

It was a bad day, truth be told

Yet, now I feel rather sedated

With the window open, out I glance

And the breeze kisses my hair,

The uncanny aura of romance.

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Lessons from 'The Art of War' By Sun Tzu

This week I finished re-reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu. This really short book is such a goldmine of lessons which can be applied in day-to-day life especially in leadership, politics and business. Let’s take a closer look at some of the lessons Uncle Tzu had for us.  

1. ‘If a battle cannot be won, do not fight it.’ Pick your battles wisely. Not every conflict is worth turning into a major battle. Some battles cannot be won no matter how hard you work. It is important to not let your pride or anger cloud your thinking. As they say, the ultimate objective is to win the war, not each and every battle. Sometimes, it is important to simply move on, keeping the ultimate objective in mind.

2. Know the cost of the project or task that you take on. Ts’ao Kung has the note, ‘He who wishes to fight must first count the cost’.
   Sun Tzu says in the book:

‘In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand li, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.’

It is important to consider the cost of the battle. What Uncle Tzu was trying to say was that don’t jump onto every opportunity that presents itself to you. Whatever endeavor you choose to undertake will take in your time, effort, and sometimes even money. It’s important to consider all of these costs and convince yourself that it will be worth it before you blindly take on something.

Even in college today, there are several ways to learn new things and grow as a person- you can do it from joining greek life, from sports teams and clubs, from academic clubs, from taking on extra courses… the list is endless. It’s fantastic to be involved in as many things as possible,  the important thing to keep in mind is that for each activity or endeavor that you choose to partake in, you will have less time and energy to do something else. It is crucial to ‘pick your battles’.

3. Win first, fight later
   Sun Tzu said:
   ‘Every battle is won before it’s ever fought.’

‘Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.’
First, you must come up with plans that will ensure victory and only then fight. If you don’t have a strategy to begin with, you won’t be able to win. In the game of Go, or even Chess, for example, the adept players typically think at least three steps ahead. They visualize in their head which move will lead to what outcome in three steps (or more), and play the movie which they believe will lead to the best possible outcome. Likewise, in the world of business, especially in technology, companies often spend a good amount of time validating the concept of the product before they actually try to build it. It is important to first know whether the product is worth building before investing the time and the resources to build it. Companies usually collect data, conduct analysis to come up with the monetary value of a business idea based on factors such as potential market size, market share, potential revenue per user etc. All successful companies follow this mantra. First they plan, research, and do their homework diligently. Once they know they have a successful product idea do they execute.

4. Create a situation where failure isn’t even a possibility.
   Sounds like something from Suits, doesn’t it? Well, it is!
   
   Turns out Harvey’s original source was Sun Tzu afterall:

The skilful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.’

Don't Think. Just Do It.

Found this excerpt from a journal entry I wrote a few months ago and thought I'd share it here:

There are some people, who just think so much about what they want to do, and, as a result, don't actually end up doing it. I am sure you know at least one person like that. Well, I am, or at least was, until now, one of those people.

When you have goals, when you have deadlines to meet and when there's a lot of workload, you have no time to think about it, you just have to go out there and do it. That's typically the case in school or college or when you have a demanding job. But what about those periods in between- when school has just got over, or you have summer break, or you're just out of college and still figuring out what to do, or you've just quit your job and are looking for a change. In these times, life is completely in your control. No one is there to tell you what to do, you have full freedom to choose how you spend your time. Sounds awesome, doesn't it? Most of us dream of living such a life. But when the time comes, if you're wired like I am, you might just lose yourself, only because of this one word- "THINK".  

You think about what you should be doing, you even google what you should be doing, you start thinking about the right ways of doing it: this happens every day, and every night, you tell yourself that you're going to go ahead and do it tomorrow, but that tomorrow is, again, spent thinking or wasting time or worrying too much. 

Last night, a dear friend made me realize the power of these two words-"DON'T THINK". 
Just go with your gut feeling. And everything will fall into place. Steve Jobs said, 'You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.' 

Keep doing you. Keep finding yourself. Follow your intuition. Stop worrying. Don't think. Just do. And it will all fall into place. Just trust that it will. 

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Books I Read in 2016

I love to read. Back in middle school and high school, I used to finish at least 2 to 3 books every month, even more during the holidays. In the last two years, my reading habit has deteriorated as far as books go. Sure, I have begun to read a lot more articles than I used to earlier. But books are books, and in my opinion offer a more edifying reading experience than articles- be it the pleasure of reading fiction or the insight and depth that you gain by spending 300 pages on one idea as opposed to a thousand word article on the same subject.

Here, I have given the (rather short) list of books I read this past year, including brief personal comments and occasional links to my posts on the books.

* -  favorite/recommended

Non Fiction:

1. *The Element by Sir Ken Robinson
2. Meditations by Marcus Aurellius
3. *The Art of People by Dave Kerpen
4. The Millionaire Next Door
5. Innovation as Usual by Paddy Miller and Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg
6. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki- While the previous book is a novel and takes you through a journey, throwing in Zen lessons along the way, this one is more direct, and also more profound in the insights it offers. I read it only once, but this is the kind of book that you must work with on a day to day basis, implementing the practices mentioned into your own life as you go along with the book. Will definitely be revisiting this in 2017.
   
   
7. Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig — I’ve been curious about zen and meditation for a long time now, and stumbled upon on this classic book on Zen. To be honest, for me it didn’t turn out as insightful and useful as I would have hoped. Fascinating read nonetheless.

Fiction:

1. *Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - For the perceptive reader, this book certainly offers valuable life lessons... Most people have a tendency to label others and are quick to jump to conclusions about others without making efforts to get to know them. Reducing others to labels and judgments makes us comfortable, giving us a false sense of power over others. We prefer to believe that we completely know the people in our lives. Through Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf tries to refute this fallacious belief, while also trying to guide readers against labelling and pinning people down. She does this by exploring the multiplicity of human nature along with the depths of human character, and by delineating what it takes to truly know a person.
2. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
3. The Rainbow by DH Lawrence
4. *Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie - On the birth of a nation. Memories. History. And how we remember it. Nationhood. India. A Dream....this novel encompasses all of these themes and much more. Perhaps one of the most intelligently written novels I have ever read. Might take you more than one careful read to unfurl the deep layers of this novel.
5. A Passage To India by EM Forster
6. *Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro- The last one I read this year. Beautifully written. Ishiguro ropes you in, until the very end. Genre- sci-fi, coming-of-age. Recommend it for all literature aficionados.
7. *Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery - Hands down, one of my favorite novels. It's a kids book, but I recommend all adults read it- has some profound life lessons on imagination, creativity, and child-like wonder. (See link for more..)
8. God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy- encompasses themes of love and loss, tracing the journey of two fraternal twins. I found the plot movement a bit slow, but the literary style and  writing certainly compensates for it.
9. Hyperbole and a Half  by Allie Brosh- It's a comic graphic novel. Definitely a fun read. I'd recommend it purely for the humor, when you're not in a mood to read anything heavy and want to unwind. 

There are definitely more nonfiction books on my list that I want to read, that should have been on this list. This year, my attempt will certainly be to read more, and also to read at least as many nonfiction books as fiction books. Update- 1/9/17: After reading several nonfiction and self growth books, I have learnt that for a lot of these books, there is literally no point in reading them unless you put the suggested advice to action. Often time, it is beneficial to stop reading midway and start experimenting with doing all those things the book suggests, and seeing for yourself how they affect your life. This applies, of course, specifically to books whose content is very actionable and meant for self-growth. For these books, the key is action- actually doing the things suggested by the book.

Here's to a year full of a lot more reading, learning and writing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you liked reading this post, do comment below. This will encourage me to write more :)

My Three Favorite TED Talks

Ken Robinson- Schools Kill Creativity

Julian Treasure- How to Speak So People Will Listen

Amy Cuddy- Power of Body Language

1) Ken Robinson- Schools Kill Creativity

Education is a topic that has always been close to my heart. I was lucky enough to go to a school which experimented a lot with the way students were taught and with what they were taught, in order to try and improve the system. I always had strong reactions and opinions about the way we were taught in various classes and about the way the system was set up, which was not without some fundamental flaws, in my opinion.

This talk is about how our rigid educational systems impede creativity rather than encourage it. One of the main points of this talk is that if you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with something original.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoeFETjmUP4&w=320&h=266]

Sir Ken Robinson is not only a brilliant author and educator, he is also a poignant and entertaining speaker.

2) Julian Treasure- How to Speak So People Will Listen

I have always believed in the power of words- to motivate people to action, to heal a wound, to prove a point, to start revolutions. It is important to choose words carefully- in this talk, Julian Treasure shows us how. He talks about the negative habits that make people not want to listen to you- habits like gossiping, lying, being excessively negative etc. He leaves you with the Mantra - HAIL- Honesty, Authencity, Integrity, Love.
Furthermore, he convinces you of the fact that how you say it is as important as what you say. He talks about the importance of breathing, timbre, pitch, voice modulation etc.

3) Amy Cuddy- Power of Body Language

Amy Cuddy is an American social psychologist. Her talk about body language makes the point that our body language not only influences how others perceive us, but also how we feel about ourselves. This is one talk which really changed my life. I used to be a shy, introverted kid who had a hard time socializing and talking to new people.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you liked reading this post, do comment below. This will encourage me to write more :)