Knowledge has come to define our society. In India which used to be dominated by caste and class discussions acquiring knowledge seems to have taken a precedence over other aspects. Its quite common to see individuals striving to improve on their knowledge quotient (KQ) to improve upon their chances of success in various endeavors they pursue.

Starting from Job sector in India where knowledge seem to be the single biggest determining factor in choice along with behavioral traits (which again can be classified as as part of knowledge), KQ has become the factor which defines individuals. 

An example of this opportunity in India are the software professionals who have earned their success through knowledge of software engineering, which in turn has been acquired through education. An individual is sure to succeed If (s)he is educated while the same is not guaranteed based on his/her background. This phenomena is a result of the power which knowledge possesses in paving the way for non linear growth in value while property/money can only lead to conventional, linear growth in value. 

 Another great example of our times is Bill Gates, while he is not educated in the conventional sense (did not have a degree when he started of), he had the knowledge needed to create value which he acquired by education himself.

 200 Years ago, education would have provided an individual with the opportunity of serving rich or noble class, this in turn meant that educated could have never (almost all the times) become more successful than rich or noble class. Hence in those days, property and money were critical to the success one achieved. It should be mentioned that examples such as those of Bill Gates or Software professionals existed even 200 years ago but they were a tiny minority and the opportunity provided today by education is far greater in the egalitarian & democratic societies of today.

Almost all the challenges of today, be it climate change, social justice or equitable growth needs knowledge as key enabler for movement forward. Even in my routine & mundane job I notice that we are challenged to learn something new on a periodic basis. 

It is important to note that we must not limit definition of knowledge to an understanding of Game Theory, Quantum Mechanics or behavioral sciences etc. Even ability to manage a group of people in political rally would classify as knowledge for me and indeed this helps you get one of the most prized roles in Indian society that of a wealthy and powerful politician. 

However this change does come with its own set of challenges. One of the biggest debate in my mind has been the challenge of access to knowledge. Some of us are more privileged and some others do get left out. But I guess solutions would come by, as B R Ambedkar revolutionized Indian society through the knowledge he had by penning down one of the most progressive constitutions of our time, I am sure its a matter of time before we see more pro active work in this space....

Hum Dono Rangeen

Managed to watch "Hum Dono Rangeen" this Saturday. Must say I was a bit disappointed with the movie but It still helped me with my dope of..... It has got some beautiful performances of Dev Anand and Sadhna. I especially love the way Sadhna uses the lighter to help Dev smoke in the opening scene of the movie. Hum Dono has all that a quintessential Hindi movie is expected to have, a mix of confusion, selfless love, sacrifice, the divide between rich girl and poor boy, friendship among other things. We must however note that in 1961 this may not have been as essential to Hindi Cinema as it perhaps became later.
But the real highlight of the movie are the songs. Main Zindagi ka Saat Nibhata Chala Gaya is as fresh as it can get.
The other song which I really enjoyed was "Abhi Na Jao Chod Kar Ki Dil Abhi Bhara Nahin", wonderfully written by Sahir L and I loved every line of this song. The line I loved most though is "Jahan Main Aisa Kaun Hai Jisko Gam Mila Nahin". Of course me, I thought.
Another beautiful song is "Kabhi Khud Par Kabhi Halat Pe Rona Aaya". A commentary on the situation Dev Anand finds himself as he is forced to join Army to prove himself worthy of Sadhna. All of us would find use for this song one way or another.
Overall, I was a happier entity after watching Hum Dono. It had the message of selfless love and friendship through out. There was no reason for Sadhna to stay with Dev's mother in a poor neighborhood while he was away in war. Its the same with Dev when he returns from war and he is needed to help Nanda overcome her heart disease by acting as her husband and in the process moved away from Sadhna.
Characters in the movie never asked why should I do this or what's the use of it? They just did it, perhaps for themselves....But then we never know why humans do acquire this quality of selflessness. As to be selfless you have to consistently believe that you are not and more you believe that you are not selfless, you become better at it..There's always more to be done......

Laws of Life......

This post of mine is an effort to put down Laws of Life as I see them. They are simple, intuitive and inspired by my love for Thermodynamics as a subject. While discussion on thermodynamics is for a different blog, I have always been intrigued by its application to my daily life.

Zeroth Law: If A hates/Likes C, B hates/likes C then A respectively likes/hates B. This is an interesting one. Rarely I have come across two friends who have similar approach to life or similar interests etc. Invariably they are on the opposite sides. This is unlike inanimate systems who are governed by an exactly opposite law. A popular version of this is opposites attract

First Law: Life is a Zero Sum Game. While many of us would like to believe that this is untrue, this is as basic as the fact that we are alive. Career vs. Family, Wife vs. Mom, Money vs. Job Satisfaction, Democracy vs. Growth, Liberty vs. affluence are some of many choices we all are required to make at any point of time.

Second Law:  With every passing moment, Life gets more Chaotic. This is simple and I am sure all of us can relate to this. Once we manage to get our hands on to something we want e.g. a house we wanted, we have a list of ten more things to do. If as part of organizational restructuring we create more internal positions to manage expectations of external customers then chaos increases due to internal alignment issues, If we were to cut down internal positions then chaos increases due lack of satisfaction at the end of external customers. There are many more examples but the plain simple rule of life is with every passing moment we face more uncertainty which leads to more chaos. 

Third Law: Zero state of mind can never be reached. Its quite common for all of us to say that I would like to take a break from my life and go to Himalayas. The reason is something as simple as to get away from worldly matters completely so as get to what I call as Zero state of Mind. Its actually impossible, yes we do get closer to what we want but never exactly there. Another important point to note here is more we want to get closer, more chaos we create in our life in general. Imagine you were to go to Himalayas, it would bring a tremendous amount of change to your daily life, concern to your loved ones among other issues.

Above three laws sum up my take on Life, though I do not want them to be this way perhaps, this is how life seems to have turned out. As someone wise has said, What you get is not what you want but.......