Two Points For Honesty

There are many things that I have pushed back on the to-do list, nay the ULTIMATE to-do list of them all, the 'to-reflect' list.

In many ways, I'm going back to precisely the same behaviors that made me less than who I can become . Actually, I don't know if these behaviors ever went away. In India I was simply trying to do 150% of what I could possibly do, and that let me perform somewhere near my capabilities. It was the incessant people to pay bills to, the incessant stock/inventory to keep, the incessant fires to put out, the incessant incessancy? of Mahendra (God bless his soul for being so perseverant).

It's funny how this thought has even entered my mind. It's not really an internal reflection, but rather a reflection on someone else's mirror. It starts off innocuously - what classes do I take next quarter. Then it boils into, how many classes do I take next quarter? And slowly the heuristics have nothing to do with ourselves - how much is that guy taking (only 3, but the dude never has any free time!). Or, oh my God, that girl is taking 7 classes and running the show here and leading this and leading that, and still manages to look good. BTW, I don't think I still understand the word heuristics fully, but I'm sure our Management& organizations professor will burn it into our psyche forever by the end of 2 more weeks.

Perhaps it is a lack of other heuristics of comparison that forces you into the default one of your work/school peers. It is the ultimate 'crab' mentality: I am only as happy relatively to those around me. And rather than looking for other comparative heuristics, and giving personal weights to it (the logical way), I need to stop comparing altogether. I need to figure out what matters to me (aka priorities) and what am I really capable of (aka competence). And go from there. To realize that, there is only one way. You guessed it. Self-Reflection. It's what Indicorps showed me. It's what Initiatives of Change (formerly MRA) showed off so brilliantly.

I think I started off this quarter with a talk about body, mind and soul. I'm not sure if that is good enough. Or maybe the soul part is a lot more than spirituality. Actually, like heuristics, I don't really understand the meaning of spirituality either.

But Two Points For Honesty, non?

Amitabh Bacchan Now Blogs in Hindi (or rather: अमिताभ बच्चन अब हिन्दी में ब्लौग करते हैं)

While I haven't figured out a 'solution' (or perhaps even a clear problem definition), I am still quite passionate about the promotion of Hindi language usage on the web, and in computers in general. I have seen first-hand the transformation of my students in Bagar when they start using a Hindi-language interface versus an English one.

Looking back: the key difference is in the confidence to explore. I have never really been formally 'taught' Windows: my guess is by now many people who use Windows on a daily basis haven't been either. Simply the amount of time you spend on it making mistakes and then learning from them probably determines how good you get at it (of course, formal training will help you get there much faster). So the basic scenario that changes is that when an error message pops up in English, the students look for the teacher to 'tell them' what to do. In Hindi, they are much much more likely to start clicking around and learning themselves from a cause-and-effect method.

I believe that access to technology is NOT the chief impediment in the uptake of computer/cyberspace by hindi-language users in rural India. The issues is compelling applications and content. So far the only things that have worked are a) Bollywood b) Bollywood and c) Matrimonials (but even THAT is usually in English).

So, Amitabh Bacchan's announcement that he is going to blog in Hindi (बिग बी ने हिन्दी में लिखा अपना ब्लौग) is somewhat exciting. It is more of what works, but the mass media appeal of Amitabh Bacchan can't be denied. We had a Diwali party a week ago at our house, and we were showing some Bollywood videos on the projector. I remember all the Indians getting excited when Big-B came on the screen during 'Kajre Re'. And I remember my American friend's comment, "He's...got funny hair", in response to his Mehendi-dyed hair. It really his appeal and legacy that draws the crowd (and not his current performances), and through a Hindi-language channel, that could be a potential draw.

Actually, having JUST read his blog, i don't think (or rather hope) that there's going to be much traffic to a site full of photos of the view from his hotel room (I sure hope the Oberoi Udayvilas is paying him for this)

Anyways, will keep posting stuff as and when it creeps up. अल्विदा।

P.S. Here's the direct link to Big-B's blog: http://bigb.bigadda.com/