Una verdad simulada

The batch of 2008 has just graduated. The convocation was held last Friday and I got to meet a few of them during there. Since I taught electives last year, only a few of the graduands were my students. Still, I got to know a lot of them. While there were some “characters” who fit some of the negative stereotypes, there were many more who just gave me pleasure of being a faculty. And to them, I will always be greatful.

Of all, though, two students particularly stood out. I won’t name them. They stood out due to their sheer amount of committment and their smartness. They both took up challenging problems and got far ahead with them. One published a journal paper, the other got the work accepted for a conference. Both their projects were their own stuff, not merely doing what the advisor told them to do. Both of them worked in labs that were not completely running: in one case because the lab was just being set up, in another case because the student had to resurrect a long-discarded piece of work.

There will be times when I will use this blog to complain about things. But more than that, I will cherish this opportunity that makes me very happy to be in this job. I can firmly say that both these students are miles ahead of where I was when I was at their stage.

More than any “Teacher’s day gift,” this is a gift that I will cherish any day: To see my students excel in the fields of their choosing. So, thank you to all the graduands and wish you all the success in your future careers.

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J. K. Rowling was the commencement speaker at Harvard. Her commencement address to the graduating class on the benefits of failure and the importance of imagination is one of the best I have heard (via Atanu Dey). I had tears in my eyes when she was talking about how her initial failure became a foundation for her later successes. While I have heard several people say this about failure, Rowling is a person who has lived it and there is no one better to describe it vividly in words. Here are some excerpts:

I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.

Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.

What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.

You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.

Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise.

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

Only qouted selected parts of the speech, which got almost a two-and-half minute standing ovation. Please read the entire speech. And if you are too lazy to read it, go watch it here.

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What better way to end an exciting 45-day IPL Twenty20 series than a game decided on the last ball!

Who better to fight out in the final game than the teams lead by the two best captains in the tournament.

I think the last over personified why Warne and Dhoni have been the best captains with contrasting styles. Warne, on one hand is very expressive and has the ability to motivate his side and marshall his troops. Dhoni on the other hand is the captain cool. The reactions to the penultimate ball of the innings showed it all. Jubilation on Warne’s face when he realised they couldn’t lose; the way he approached Tanvir after running two runs. On the other hand, the smile on Dhoni’s face was just amazing: a smile not of resignation or disappointment but a smile that acknowledged the situation… and moved on to the next delivery.

If there was any doubt about choosing Dhoni rather than Yuvraj as the captain, that moment cleared it.

If there was any doubt that ”Shane Warne was the best captain Australia never had,” this final cleared it.

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If the defeat of BJP means victory of secularism, does the victory of BJP mean defeat of secularism?

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Profit is generally considered a bad word in socialism. It is my opinion that in spite of its intensions, socialism leads to a few people making profit often with unfair means instead of a lot of people making profit through fair and just means.

Profit is generally considered a good thing in capitalism. It is my opinion that capitalism leads to a lot of people making profit at the expense of a significant minority of marginalised folks.

I consider both these statements as generally true, though flawed in a minor way; the flaw is a function of both time and space. A successful society is one that balances the tight-rope walk between these philosophies.

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Vikram Doctor explains why Marathi food hasn’t gained much popularity outside of Maharashtra (via Abi). While Mumbai can be credited with a number of innovations (or bastardisations, depending on your point of view) in North Indian, Udipi and Chinese cuisines, the local cuisine never got a shot in the arm.

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Here is a video about a 12-year old singing about his life as an adopted child of two (gay) fathers.

Its a beautiful song and a beautiful message. Go watch!

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