First Impressions !!!

Human mind has a tendency (or rather desire) to simplify things. A first meeting with every person will result in a first impression. Few words which will define the person and make it easy for us to put it somewhere with others, who supposedly are of the same kind. It is always easy to put people in categorical boxes .. some people might say it is demeaning and some might find it an insult to their individuality but the truth is that is how it works ... for you and for me. We categorize people. Period.


In normal situation, we can afford not to form a concrete image of the person based on first impression.With enough time and conversation we start to understand
the person.In fact, if enough time is given, it would be really difficult to find a bad person.To put it in simple words," Every person is nice, when you finally know them".

Nevertheless, this luxury of time is absent in a business scenario where we have limited time and interaction.We need to gauge the other person as quickly as possible to gain an advantage.The rules of body language and reading faces;are probably meant for such situations.These rules provides us a handy way to form a reasonably true first impression of the person.This information can be used(if inferred correctly) for making our decision making process easier.

The caveat with such rules is that they need sufficient expertise and experience before one can apply then effectively.And also one should not feel tempted to use these rules in personal life as they might hinder the way we see people, the way they need to be seen.Without a bias.Period.

The Smart Kids

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As most of the people who read it, I found both of Chetan Bhagat's books (Five Point Someone & One Night@Call Center) very interesting. But then these books are not just any interesting books. These are trend setters. Chetan Bhagat started an interesting trend of similar books. Everyone who was someone(read IITian,IIMian and XYZian) wanted to become a bestselling author and some of them actually did(e.g. Harshdeep Jolly of 'Everything you Desire").Even if they didn't, at least the cover page of their books says so, and I being a firm believer of sanctity of printed words..Believe it.

Now consider some similarities between these budding 'authors'.

They all are bright people, they are market savvy and they all know what to write and for whom to write. They have turned writing into a business plan, and a sound one at that. After all, Kotler was taught for a reason :).

Here is the list of a sample questionnaire cum checklist they all ensure to complete while writing their book.(talk about being methodical :))

Q1.Will I get a publisher?

Ans: Hell yeah!!!, there are enough Rupa Publications in market waiting for another college memoir and did I told you my IIx degree works like a magic wand ?

Q2.Who will read my book?

Ans: Apart from thousands of desperate students hoping to get into these hallowed portals, some of my college mates and few odd alumni ...phew!!! That makes it quite a sizeable customer base :)

Q3: What will I write about ?

Ans: I just finished 'Five Point Someone', So I guess I HAVE to include all the juicy details about campus life. I need to ensure my protagonist is not the very intelligent types(who like 9 graders neways :)).Don't forget to include account of male desperation and female bitchiness(Irrespective of what gender I am and how much I know about it).

And...yes, pay heed to the mushy love story amidst all the chaos I'll create, the more details better it is.I mean there HAS to be a LOVE STORY, all the Eric Segals of the world step aside , lemme show ya !!

And just like that, I have a book and Yes, I am an AUTHOR now. Even a process oriented software company will have to try hard to beat the dead on execution of these plans.

And then there are usual questions of what to wear for the photo on the book cover but then "authors" don't bother about such trivialities.(and let a image consultant do it for them ;-))

Chetan Bhagat(and all the 'inspired authors') belongs to the market savvy new breed of Indian Authors who understands economics better than human emotions. Both of his books filled the void in the Indian Book Market where Mills & Boons and usual Chic-Lit (Opel Mehta type books) is still trying hard to find their grip. He actually started a trend and what we see now is a flurry of books where the author's educational qualification matters more than the quality of what he writes. I have read some really bad books recently owing to this trend. I am sure there are many other authors who deserved to be published and read but they are left in a lurch since they don’t have flashy tag behind them.

Here are some areas of concern with these books: (Great minds think bulletwise…so do I :))

• Most of characters are caricatures, with hardly any details and effort visible from the Author.
• Juvenile stunts (at times exaggerated) remains the highlights of the book.
• Love stories are there for the same reason a Bollywood movie has songs.
• No one sincerely tries to tell a story, it HAS to be a light-hearted banter all the time ….why? Because it sells. Period.

Now before you all jump at me and blame me for being too harsh, let me tell you that I completely understand the hard work involved in writing any book. It requires a certain talent to be able to do so and I do not deny it. All those who have finished a book and got it published are achievers in every sense of the world. But I find the shallowness with which a story is told, quite discomforting. The oversimplification of issues and characters is too evident to ignore. It is not difficult to understand why a Vikram Seth, Rohinton Mistry and Arundhati Roy will belong to a different league and why some “mortals”(If I may say so) will remain mortals. Talent cannot be an excuse for mediocrity. The great authors became great authors because they were passionate about what they wrote; so you will have a Vikram Seth rewriting the whole ”The Golden Gate” and Rohinton Mistry leaving his job to turn a full time writer. These were not great milestones of a sound business plan but then writing is no business either. Writing is their métier and the fact that they are able to write what they truly want is enough for them. Money is just a happy co-incidence and the sooner our young ‘Authors’ understand it the better it will be for us readers.

Smart kids as they all are, I am sure they will understand it soon. J

PS: Rupa Publication has been there in low cost publication for quite a while now and has millions of thankful readers across the nation for making reading affordable. Cheers !!!

Philosophy-101

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This is first in the series of the articles I am planning to write about Philosophy. I have read this fascinating book "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder which is a beautiful compendium of all the important philosophical thoughts.

And I have all the intentions of borrowing heavily from this book :)

Here I go:

What is Philosophy ?

Going by the etymological analysis Philosophy literally means "Love of Wisdom". I would go ahead and daresay that philosophy is the celebration of Mankind's ability to wonder and to ask questions. The basic philosophical questions we have been asking and wondering since time immemorial are:

How was the world created? Is there any reason or meaning behind what happens? How ought we to live?

And the most important (I believe) of them “Who we are & why we are here?"

It is difficult to find a culture which hasn’t dwelt on these questions in one form or the other. Here is an extract from the book:

"A Greek philosopher who lived more than two thousand years ago believed that philosophy had its origin in man’s sense of wonder. Man thought it was so astonishing to be alive that philosophical questions arose of their own accord."

In fact, according to the author (and I agree) THE ONLY THING WE REQUIRE TO BE GOOD PHILOSOPHER IS THE FACULTY OF WONDER.

Have you ever seen a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat? It never fails to amaze us. Now try to put yourself in the place of the rabbit. The only difference being that you would be aware of being a part of something magical and rabbit won't. A philosopher knows that this world and this life is actually a magic trick and we are the rabbit in this trick (Some even say that we are actually little insects buried in Rabbit's fur).

Most of us find comfort deep in the Rabbit's fur and few of us (the philosophers) try to get to the tip of the fur to see the magician in the eye.

Enough of rabbit talk, summarizing:

The very sense of wonder and the quenching thirst of answers for some basic questions maketh a man 'the philosopher'.

Many a men had already asked these questions and tried to answer them...some even asked new ones ....we will talk about them later :)

Stay Beautiful :)

Amitabh

You are Your Favourite !!

I seem to remember unusual things, good thing for a small time quizzer :).I remember this particular instance very well; Me and my sister sitting on the backseat of the Rickshaw (when we were small enough to be put there); she casually asked me "who is your favourite hero"(of course, hers being SRK in those heady DDLJ days :)).Though today I have a long list of favourites/likes/dislikes/pet peeves etc etc...believe me, that day that question made me think.  Those were the days when I was too busy playing LANGDI,GALLERY, reading Comics(Dhruv, Nagraj et al) and watching cartoons, I never found time to pick a favourite hero. I used to find any Mithun's movie awesome; the more the stunt the better it is, simple enough. But then I was equally fond of Amitabh Bacchan too..(imagine an 11 year old kid watching SHAAN alone on TV till 1in the night...phew...it was me again).But who had the time to classify heroes into favourites ?...you see the movie and then become the hero for a day or two(I became AJOOBA and Shanshah for a whole week once J) and it was over. 

With age I learnt that everyone seems to have their favourites in everything. Favourite Hero/Heroine, Ice cream, clothes, shoes, drink, color, book, song, movie, undergarment brand (did anyone just said ..Jockey :) )..you name it and they will have a favourite. It makes our lives a lot easier in this world which is brimming with choices. The more money you have, more choices you can have. Then some people go ahead and start picking their favourite people too ---favourite politician, teacher, painter, uncle, cousin and many others. What could be the reason of someone/something being your favourite? I will not quote any dictionary definition here and will assume that anything that captures our imagination and we find enchanting broadly constitutes our favourites. 

We root for our favourites; pay extra for them; relate to them and discover a sense of identity with them. We believe they are the best that can be. We don't like if people criticize them and defend them with determined ferocity. Though we allow concession for other people's doubt; we frankly do not care what they think. My favourite is the best; that's what we say all the time, unabashedly. 

Growing up is not easy; one moment you are your Father's little son/daughter and then suddenly you are on your own. One moment your mother combs your hair and the other moment you find yourself stranded alone on island full of stranger. We realize that Life is not a Mithun Da's movie after all; it is like all those Kalaa Movies(art movies) that you never wanted to watch when you were a Kid. People can be mean and friends do not play with you again if you have a fight, even if you say Sorry!! Papa is there no more surprising you with the toy you always wanted. You will have to fight it on your own and earn everything. Nothing comes for free and money is never enough (even when you earn in THOUSANDS !!).

But it wouldn't have been so bad if you felt good about yourself. Though everyone wants you to be positive and have a healthy self-esteem; it all seem so fake to you. You had done things and still are doing things which you are not proud of. But such is life. Sometimes you feel at top of the world, sometimes Abyss is just not deep enough.

I am not trying to paint a gloomy picture of life here; but I think every normal person goes through such phase at least once in his life(and I may be wrong).So let's do what Geet (Kareena Kapoor) said in 'Jab We Met'.....BE YOUR FAVOURITE !!!

Let's root for ourselves, understand the basic fact that every single one of us is a Masterpiece of Legendary Painter named "Destiny". She took every pain to make us what we are today, sometimes added a few brushstrokes here, smudged a few stroke there to give this sterling Masterpiece to this world called 'YOU'. Did you ever found anyone just like you? Don't just go by the Canvas's rectangular shape; look deeper in the paint and brushstrokes.... this is Master's touch. An original piece, exclusive edition forever, only for YOU.

People will doubt you; but you’ll know better, after all you are your favourite :).

They might try to put you down, but you defend with passion of your soul, you are your favourite.

You will not feel good about the things you did and are doing, but you know these are the finishing touches of the painter that made you the masterpiece you are, you are your favourite.

You know future might not be the paradise; but you won't give up hope because you are your favourite.

You will respect everyone around you for the masterpieces they all are, but you will know you are special, you are your favourite.

You know with time everything will change and will go away; you won't because you are your favourite.

Stay Beautiful,

PS: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you :)

Top 5 Bollywood Actors

Presently:

Amitabh Bacchan
Black,Sarkar, Baghban ...need I say more ?

Pankaj Kapur
See Maqbool, Saher, Dus and Blue Umbrella to know what I mean.

Aamir Khan
Look for Aamir when he cries in DCH and RDB, any questions of anyone being a better actor
than him in his generation will be put to rest forever.

Irfan Khan
See Haasil, Metro and even a ridiculous Aan-men at work to see why all the critics go bonkers over his performance

Ajay Devgan
No one can match his ability to deliver one knock out performance after another with minimum fuss.Every shot in 'Gangajal' speaks volumes about what he is capable of.


All time greats:
Amitabh Bacchan
Since no one else in Bollywood can do what he did in 'Black, Aamir can ..but maybe 10 years from now

Sanjeev Kumar
Simply for the reason that he dared to play characters more than twice his age at the peak of his career and pulled it off

Smita Patil
Just to remind you that 'actor' is a gender neutral word

Aamir Khan
He is well on his way to top of this list by the time he finishes, the best we have seen in decades.

Hrithik Roshan
He could be our best export to Hollywood, he has got the face, the body and tell u what ...he can act !!!. He is the face of the future bollywood and that is a major reason why he is on this list.