Noam Chomsky for Kids

When I say kid, I mean me.  Noam Chomsky has equated most modern-day employment in the US to "wage slavery".  I suppose he's referring to the absence of collective bargaining that an individual faces when determining his wages with a Firm, particularly when the Firm treats the individual like a replaceable, replicable commodity.  I suppose the approach in these Firms is "Get with our rules or get out".  Almost a forced conformity that a factory worker may feel in an assembly line.  A line of mannequin, not men.  I wonder if he ever imagined such a fate as a child. "When I grow up, I'm going to be a dummy, like daddy".  


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannequin

"Mere sir peh kya gadha likha hai?"

Aarti Sethi once guided me on the art of negotiating with an auto walla.  I have used her approach but once but with supreme satisfaction.  If any auto walla refused to turn on the meter and offered Aarti an outrageous price, she would look at him and say, "Mere sir peh kya gadha likha hai?" (that is, "Do I have donkey written on my forehead?" except it is way ruder in Hindi and therefore precise.)

The one time I approached the matter as per Aarti's direction, I had one jaw-dropped auto wallah and peals of laughter by bystanders in the vicinity.  A docile facade can be wonderful sometimes.

Brand Identity Dilemma

I was quite surprised when I saw this yesterday and was sharing my shock with my masi but as she informed me, this brand has been around for more than forty years.

Tit for Tat

One grows more and more accustomed to thinking of governments as a nefarious black box.  Especially when it comes to spending other people's money.  It therefore seems best to invest our labor in exchange for personal utils.  Barter services for services.  The lower the cash transfer from employer to worker bee, the lower the tax liability.  Cash on the balance sheet should be just enough to run a smooth operation.  Bottom line - reduce opportunities for these podgy middle men to get their grubby hands on our money.    

Immersion

Nani ji once told me this story.  There was once a King who proclaimed an award for any man who could best imitate a chicken.  It never occurred to me to wonder then why a King would be interested in such a service.  But the King was interested.  He received an assortment of men from the four corners of his kingdom who wanted to demonstrate their prowess in imitating chicken.  Men came, and they clucked away.  But their voice lacked depth and they disappointed the King.  Finally the King received a man who asked to be granted six months at the end of which he would perform before the King.

The King agreed and the man trekked off to a farm by the edge of a quiet mountain where a farmer kept a large brood of chicken.  The farmer offered the man a room in his home but the man asked that he be allowed to live with the chicken.  He squatted down on his legs and started waddling from one foot to the next.  Like the chicken, he only ate the grains that the farmer spread on the ground, one grain at a time.  At night, he curled up and slept in the coop.  For six months, this went on.  And then one day, the man decided to return to his kingdom.  He presented himself to the King and his nobles, clucking and waddling away.  The Great Hall saw a man but sensed a fowl.  The King showered the man with rewards.  And I didn't forget the story.

Misanthropy

My father died two years ago. And we've recently decided to sell the house that we were all born in. It seems that since the news got around, many "friends-of-your-father" have come out of the woods. The door bell keeps ringing. The door bell and I have always had a dark relationship and now the animosity grows. It bears these "friends-of-your-father".

Then it occurred to me, how can God bear it? All those people who come to Him beseeching away. Asking to be given special favors. Bells cackling away. I wonder if they also say to Him, "we're 'friends-of-your-father'".

[Resounding Hail Marys, as I write.]

Putting a price on your life

We hesitate to put a price on our life. As Master' Card says, some things in life are priceless.

But let's play a game and assume I live for a hundred years. That means I'll have lived for 36,500 days. In this make-belief moment, let's also price my life at a billion dollars. That's upwards of 26,000 dollars of worth each day.

Did I do something worthy of 26,000 dollars today? Silence.

It gets tougher if I divide priceless by 36,500.

"Fulfillment"

Beast-of-burden rolls easy off the tongue. It evokes images of the awe-some (in its former sense), of large powerful creatures that would leave one in awe. Tall and muscular with hind legs made for plowing and planting. Animals like elephants, camels, horses who transport hard, heavy loads on their back.

It is simpler to acknowledge ones likeness to these beasts should the likeness exist. The acknowledgement makes it possible to accept one purpose, one place. The natural propensity justifies a single-mindedness. You are here to deliver.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this state "undivided interest" where hobbies meld into work and time loses its tick-tock.