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The Fascination with Ancestors

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 Time is a healer and even as we feel that the associations of the moment are very important and vital, it is indeed surprising how memories fade with time. Yet all religious traditions have a fascination bordering on obsession to preserve the memory of past associations especially the immediate family who have left us. We all imagine that these persons are existing in some other world in the nearly same state as we imagine them to be. The physical form, the emotional tug and their inbuilt presence in me as a person makes this a fertile ground for imagination. As I personally reach an age of 64, I am increasingly conscious of old age and the memories of much of my life are rewinding like an old movie. As we go through this week before the Parsi new year prayers are on in the fire temples. The sentiment and faith rooted in belief that our ancestors somehow come back to visit us on earth in this week and we need to use some rituals and prayers which can be recited only by part time p...
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Framework of Overrated-Underrated-Complicated

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 Recently I heard a Hindi podcast called Pulliyabaazi hosted by public policy experts from Takshashila Institute of Public Policy Pranay Kothasthane, Saurabh and Khyati. A framework of discussing issues was taken up to decide which ones were overrated or underrated in terms of importance and which ones were too complicated to slot into either of the above two categories. There are so many points of debate and the argumentative Indian revels in these debates with often extreme views? Sometimes there is a over hype to these questions and at other times there is a feeling that issues which are important are underrated. And sometimes they are too complicated to be categorized.  I will try and make this blog interactive and long and take few words or topics and try and give my opinion on whether the issue at hand is overrated by which I mean we give it more importance than it warrants or it is underrated in that it is not getting the importance it deserves or finally since both sid...
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Patience: Is time running out?

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Time is so relative and almost like sand escaping from the clenched fist. The more you clench it the quicker it escapes. As I come to the end of my innings it almost seems that I am walking or running at frantic pace but the picture of my life is changing albeit slowly and steadily. However, it still sometimes feels that the same things are repeating again and again. All of us in positions of some form of leadership or as persons who are lead are dealing with personalities which fall into four main categories, risk taking drivers, the cautious analyzers, the blockers and the showman projector who promises to deliver but remains static. Amidst all this it is important to be innovative, creative and cautiously optimistic.  In the long journey of one's lifetime there come moments when you evaluate your life and wonder as you look back about your accomplishments and failures. At such times there can be moments of despair and joy but at such times patience is the one quality needed. The...
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Dreamers Legacy and Institutions

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  This blog is a small reflection of the many institutions that have touched our lives and how they were created by visionaries and dreamers. The challenge of the times has seen some of them falling by the wayside, some becoming stagnant and some remaining relevant and prospering and a few seeing bad times but reviving again like the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes.  In my life I will allude to my schools, my Medical College, my two major workplaces and the residences we as Parsis reside in.  At the outset let me talk about the Parsi Baugs and colonies. The community is blessed with respect to housing which ranks as a primary need provided at near zero cost. It is a tribute to some great stalwarts like Jerbai Wadia of the whose descendents are the Bombay Dyeing group Nusli Wadia and it leaves many of us wonderstruck that a relatively uneducated lady from a family of ship builders and ship breakers from Sura port followed the Britishers to Mumbai and created a nam...
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The Online Shopping for Daily Needs

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  The simplistic notion that we are in control of the choices we make when shopping for our daily needs is something that needs to be thrown out of the window. India is perhaps one of the very few countries where we are getting so much at home in literally minutes. No delivery costs and so many items at special prices, plus cash backs and discounts make the online shopping for daily needs a dream. Now, with increasing use of eco friendly packaging and use of electric two wheelers the guilt of increased carbon footprint too is receding. The direct farmer to customer model with cold storage chain support makes a win for the producer and the consumer. The sweet spot of what I call double thank you moment is a dream come true for all concerned.  In the busy life of the metro the online shopping linked in the early days to shops like Star Quik to Big Basket who were the early movers advertised by the likes of SRK. They offered convenience and good pricing but the initial quality of...
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Is Artificial Intelligence posing an Existential threat for Humankind?

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  What is real never ceases to be, what is unreal never is, the sages who know this know the secret of what is and what is not. This statement means a great deal in the context of the fast world in which we live. We live in an artificial digital world of instant gratification. We want bodily enjoyment, emotional stability and mental peace at all times. We think it is available outside of us and chase this dream. But the more we chase and satisfy our body-mind-intellect complex the more we realise that everything we gain is fleeting and ephemeral. As it comes and goes we start craving for more till we get restless frustrated and seek the final knowledge. So do we with all the technology and science at our command have instant answers and clarity on subjects we need to know about in seconds? The answer seems to be yes on an unprecedented scale today. Those of us who have lived in both the analog and digital generation know the difference. As children we were privileged in days of sca...
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Science and Technology

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The world as we know it today is evolving and changing in unimaginable ways and at unprecedented speed. Driving this is to a very large extent is the contribution of Science and Technology. My thoughts today are to try and analyse Science and scientists as entities distinct from Technology and technocrats. While they are two words thrown together as though they are synonymous there exists fundamental differences between the two and their approach.  A scientist is trained to solve or pursue projects and find explanations for observations or experiences in the past or present and based on that give answers which are certain and replicable. The quest for this knowledge may be long standing and may or may not yield predictable results. In some circumstances years of effort may get completely wasted in terms of no tangible result benefitting anyone. The reward of scientific pursuit is the actual journey the scientist undertakes. In any society the ratio of scientists to population is de...
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