catch the stars!!

Went all the way along the choral road again to the sunset point and along and then followed a vague road. Kept thinking for a long time abt sartre. have to think thru it. the road itself is brilliant. wud take about 30-40 min from campus

'India was our friend'

That is precisely what the top brass of the Iranian govt must be feeling at present. Even though India did not achieve much through the leadership of the Non-alignment Movement (NAM) it did act as a mature country, a country which understood the compulsions of international politics, but still maintained an identity of its own. But now, first through the 'historical' alliance between the US and India under teh BJP regime and the conitnued 'partnership among equals' under the congress regime, India seems to be acting like a country without a spine. Take any sphere of international polictics and India has come out in the dumps. The negotiations on WTO where India failed ot convince the African countreis that the best foot forward would have been to stick together. Instead the smaller Afrcian nations moved to cut deals with the US. India needs to understand that the best in its position as a developing nation wiht wide demographic characteristics, it is a natural leader of the developing countries. In this aspect our detonation of nuclear bombs and continuing development inspite of the sanctions only reinforced the trust that was imposed in us. We might have taken to the US because it is the only superpower right now, but the gains that accrue could be at huge costs. As a nation what are our major requirements? Energy, Security, Markets for our exports and a few particular imports. Each of these needs except possibly security ( which could still be met by France, Germany etc) would be better served by going together with the world rather than USA. Our people have made significant progerss in US as a nation and might be influential there but it will take time before they become influencers in policay making with a lot of anti-india hawks still doing their homework. That India has asked Iran's programme to be referred to the IAEA can at best be seen as a sell off by a Shiite nation whose support could be crucial to us over a period of time. Asia is rising and we need supporters here as much as we need the US for our nuclear capabilities. Seen in light of the fact that chances of an armed conflict are minimum in the near future it is imperative to get the support of all the countries in Asia. Dont sell out India.
that is that

dreamcatcher

the legend of the dreamcatcher in the indian lore is related to choice one must make between good and evil the dream catcher holds the destiny of the future.

iam intrigued by the fact taht most of the civilizations have some sort of superstition or the other. it has just not been possible even for the msot advanced of soceities to escape some sort of symbols or the otehr. are the symbols just the result of complex thought process, too difficult to be documented or just a manifestation of simple rules which people would find difficult to obey otherwise?

But by that definition most of the concepts that are known would fit in. the symbols are as i see it a tribute to the stupidity and slavishness of the normal population. superstitions are created by the movers and shakers as a means of enforcing some rules ( good in some cases, bad in others and pure propaganda in many others).

i like the dreamcatcher legend tho :D

Albet Camus-Outsider

The book is a thin volume which describes a particular phase of Meursault. The author takes us through the protagonist's mother death, his relationships ( both romantic and with the people around him) and his trial.

The book is a statement about existentialism, about everything being perfect in its place and the feeling of regret etc being not necessary. Above all it is a damnation of the soceity which cannot accept individuals who do no conform. That Meursalt does not feel bad at his mother's death, neither does he regret the killing of the arab makes him a sadistic criminal in the eyes of soceity. Meursalt is waiting for death.......

Can every action of an individual be reasoned out? If not anything can actions be called as impulse? Or is there a cause-effect type of reason for every action. Can actions be explained easily? Is it important for the individual, being a part of soceity, to give an explanation for his actions? Or is it jsut the arrogance or ever fear of the soceity that it wants to understand.

For people who are busy living life, enjoying the existential bliss, their fate is tied to Meursalt. Soceity will veiw them as not being part of the larger whole and hence they are condemned. Death will catch up eventually.

PS: Albert Camus is an Algerian born French Philospher who won the nobel prize for literature at the young age of 44. His famous works include outsider, stranger etc.

survive

Is sport played on the physical plane or the mental plane? So many times it happens, pretenders fight against the champions, get to the brink of victory and then manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It does not matter if its is individuals or teams. It would be interesting to note taht we call sportsmen champions precisely because of this reason, to bring on that additional extra when the odd's are stacked against them. Think Sampras's 3rd service ace. But I would really doubt whether there is really a difference in talent/skill in many of the also rans. It is the mind. For the winners the game has already been won, they seem to knwo that the opponent is only their mind, the level of the opponent determined by only what their mind is willing to concede. For the rest of us mortals , we are there to fight, the fight is what the glory is for us becuase we are taught to fight, not to win. To see only victory is difficult because what then fo the defeats that would definitely be there. ( I might even argue that the consideration of teh possibility of defeat is acknowledgemetn of weakness ). If you see victory, play like a champion and still have been beaten, understand that you have met your match and go out with the head held high. Next time, out perform yourself. The loser's always seem to say, the pressure is on them, iam going ot play my shots. Its not about the shots, its playing each shot as if that is the last shot that you are ever going to play. Sport is one realm where the proponents have reached levels of performance that we can call 'perfect'. For these people the competition is only against themselves, the parameter of judgemetn is what they can achieve, perfection exists. My salute to the champions that I have seen:
Valentino Rossi
Micheal Schumacher
Lance Armstrong
Micheal Johnson
Lennox Lewis
Pete Sampras
Roger Federer
Gustavo Kuerten
Haile Gabrasselaisse
Paula Radcliffe
Steve Waugh
Brian Lara
Zenedine Zidane
Frank Lampard
Arjuna Ranatunga
Glenn Mcgrath
Shane Warne
Andrew Flintoff
Hansie Cronje
Wasim Akram
Allan Iverson
Shaquille O Neill
Tim Duncan
and many many more.

strategy

Today was the end term examination in strategy where we were supposed to analyze HBR cases using conceptual framework in a clear concise format. I really dont know what the entire purpose of analyzing HBR cases is. For one the teaching notes that are provided along with the cases always seem to be so out of sync with reality. HBR really does not inspire any associations in the indian management student i think. we just use the cases coz we are very lazy to wrtie something on our own. We all got to know what Schaefer did with Caterpillar but what the fuck is that supposed to mean? Indian cases have not been written is a point that i can understand , but for how long? Management education has been in India for close ot 50 yrs and with all the famed IIM's has it been so difficult to churn out 200-250 cases? All the cases of Indian companies are also written by HBR. The only other entrant seems to ICFAI business school which has put in some decent work.

For a course such as strategy it is imperative that practical experience be made compulsory. Most of the students in India come in with little of management experience, so directly starting on strategy is not the best thing to do in such a scenario.

excitement!!!

will leave for leh in 2 days. cant keep my feet on the ground. its never been liek this for a long long time. i feel as if there is going to be a spectacular experience awaiting me in leh. one that will chagne my life forever. prabhu kept saying that i will find my calling in the himalayas. maybe i would, maybe i wont but it sure is going to be fun. nature has always tempted me. it is not as if i feel that only nature can create beauty, man is nature's most beautiful creature and hence his creations are also as much of nature as man is. but mountains .. hmm.. they are of a different class. no two of them look alike, they are gigantic when compared to us but are still eroded by small streams some of them that dont even flow througout the season. mountains stay on, men come and go. listen closely and they will say: " we are watching. guns boom, emotions run high but we will keep watching. and its quite a solo watch. we are the guardians, we are aging but still hold the keys t0 the gateways that you seek." i have not even got anywhere close to the mountains but i think i understand what gives the mountain climbers the kicks. mountains represent that ultimate conquest, nature's monoliths, its your ultimate triumph to be able to carve out a path over or around them. the power of the human mind unleased. i think this will be the first of many trips of mine, k2 , hindukush and so on. the valleys will give you the feeling of open space, but all my life i have been in awe of mountains, lets see how it will turn out this time around. leh!!! here i come.
expected route:
6 4 pm intercity to delhi
7 delhi
7th night jammu
8 th evening to srinagar . bus
sringar-kargil-dras-leh. taxi
leh
return via manali
16th campus.