2009 - 2010

To do justice to 2009, the word would be unexpected.

In a good way ... at least that is how I would see it.
A fulfilling year learning lots of new things (really), unearthing good people and discovering new opportunities; if I were to be succinct.
Of course there were equally matched incidents of drama but honestly I can't waste ATPs on typing them let alone think about them.

As much point there is in whining over lost time,
the same amount of worth is in basking over the good times.
Both are in past tense, and I am not doing a memoir, thank you very much.

While it has been quite a successful run, coming to think of it ... there was a lot of work done in order to get them ... sometimes much more than the next person.
I guess kites rise best against wind.

I don't do resolutions as I am a firm believer that I make God laugh when I make plans. The irony is that I always make plans and far too much of them. I could give Phileas Fogg a run for his money (not that he wouldn't put a wager). As much as everyone else reading this, I live an ordinary life and these plans sometimes bring extraordinary things into them ... hence we need plans. How much we follow them or rather how much I overlook a thousand things while planning is another story which you will have the entire new year to hear about.

So with that note, I wish everyone

A very happy new year and more happier ones to come!

In somno securitas?

That means: In sleep there is safety.

Sort off cliched that the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland adopted this as their motto but that's not the point now.

While I suffer from somnolence now after the month long sleep-deprived state, I think about those days that even four hours of sleep was considered lucky. I thankfully did not suffer from insomnia and the sleep deprived state was voluntarily induced for a reason. However it was in sleep (which thankfully came quickly and left quickly), I truly felt free and safe. The rest of the hours were charged with some adrenaline or cortisol. Deadlines were the graffiti of those hours.

Now with sleep batting my eyelids easily, I marvel at how I was then. My then-self would have given the look of ultimate pity to my now-self; the weak-willed creature to sleep.

Surprising isn't it; how we mold to our objectives so quickly,
How subconsciously we accept change even though we consciously resist it,
How comfort zones are mere fixations of imagination.

Well I am not made of gold,
I am not made of iron either,
Or steel for that matter (that's Superman),

I am made of plastic.

Adapting, Malleable and Indestructible.
And so is the rest of the world.

Insight into Decision Making

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused.
Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track.

The train is coming, and you are just beside the track interchange.
You can make the train change its course to the disused track and save most of the kids.
However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed.
Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make ...

Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child.
You might think the same way, I guess.
Exactly, to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision
most people would make, morally and emotionally.
But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact
made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was.
This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday.
In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society,
the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority,
no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are. The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined.
And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him.

The great critic Leo Velski Julian who told the story said he would not try to change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens..
If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe.
If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake!
And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made,
we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one.

---
The above tale is one which I got through a forwarded mail.
It seemed to have the relevance and the edge of these challenging times ...

P/S Children should never play in train-tracks even if they are disused. Think about it.