Redefining Horizons

  Endless Efforts   “Callification?” Your efforts to find out what it means in the dictionary shall go in vain. I just made it up.  Patiently read through it; you will know what it means.     The three submersible pumps working continuously and in tandem could not fill the colony’s overhead tank. The employees kept the pump running. One pump ran dry far too long and burned itself out. The open well also ran dry. They told no one. Why should they? They had nothing to lose. I noticed the unusual activity and enquired. This had been going on for a few days. It should not have.   I did a quick calculation of the flow rates of the pumps, the capacity of the community tank, and the tanks over the individual houses. Considering the endless efforts of the pumps, all the overhead tanks should have been filled and overflowing. It did not happen. I concluded that there must be a leak somewhere in the pipeline. The large amount of water that leaked ...

       “ Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The Evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones  So let it be with Caesar. ”   These lines came to me just out of the blue and with it, the name of Mr JS Iyer, one of my teachers.  Act 3, Scene 2 of the Shakespearean play, Julius Caesar reverberates on stages the world over as the play itself or as part of elocution competitions in many schools and colleges. These lines did not mean anything to me beyond the next examination, those days. Strange, these lines had to come up while I was sitting in my study taking stock of life. I had just published my second book, "Dare Dream Different." With that, I checked off the 8 th of the 10 “things to do before I die,” a second time. I had drawn up that list in 1988. The paper on which the list was written could not stand its age and one day when I opened it to read, it just disint...

  "I am ready. Let us go," said my wife when I reached home from the office. It was a 'half day' in the office and I did not have to return to work. We had decided the previous day itself that we would be eating out that noon. Tezpur in 1987 was not like what it is now. There were not many eating places to choose from. We reached Tezpur only a few months before and had not yet explored the place. I also had not received much PCK ( Previous Course Knowledge ) about the place. PCK, in the army, refers to the inputs including notes, old question-papers and other tips, normally a senior gives to the junior in the same regiment or unit, about a training course he or she had attended. Over the course of time PCK extended its reach and now covers almost everything that one passed on to a new arrival or junior in the regiment or unit. Obviously, not many in the unit had gone out to eat. There were reasons. Officers and their families mostly went out in the evenings after offi...

  Robbery? Have you ever felt cheated at work?  You did all the work and someone else robbed you of the credit!  For many career men and women, this  may be a daily affair. If you have never come across such a situation in your career; you could be amongst the handful few on the planet; otherwise you may be immune or insensitive enough not even to recognise or register this universal phenomenon. Have you ever cheated someone of their credits? No. Never; I don't ever do such unfair things!! If one has a few human beings on the ladder steps below them in the organisation, such an event would certainly have happened with or without one’s knowledge. Even if it hadn't  actually happened, it is unlikely that someone below you in the ladder hasn't  thought so. If we have climbed the hierarchical ladder, at least sometime in our career, each one of us would have stood accused of giving credit to a pretender. If you haven't been told so, it is likely that you are ei...

  The Promises ! An affordable ala carte of tests from a large array, possible on a tiny drop of blood drawn from a finger prick! No more uncomfortable, scary and painful veinal blood draws! The Story A n unbelievable biotech feat that can change diagnostics the way we now know. Defiantly disruptive an idea, marvellous the stated mission, formidable the connections, acclaimed investors and bountiful their investments, nothing could have stopped the young lady, who dreamt it all up, from endless possibilities, opportunities and an eternally enviable place in history. She was indeed crowned the youngest woman billionaire entrepreneur on the planet.  The story of Elizabeth Anne Holmes, former American biotechnology entrepreneur is a lesson for materialists, spiritualists, philosophers, scientists and every one else living and aspiring. In 2003, she founded the health technology company Real-Time Cures in Palo Alto, California to "democratize healthcare”. She later renamed the ...

Life is intriguing, yet most go through it without casting a second glance. Many amongst us spend a lifetime content enough eking out an existence, dying many a daily death.  Rich or poor, few dare to look beyond livelihoods and wealth accumulation. When one dares to ask questions to oneself about oneself, the quest begins.  Quest  gives meaning to life and questions that arise, on their own slowly reach their answers. A persistent question, the ‘why’ of people’s behaviour came up in a late evening discussion with two friends, a young couple both achievers, located in San Francisco. The cause and effect notion of life, means with which it gains currency and its short lived utility found home in that discussion.   Weeks later by sheer coincidence, another persistent one ‘ purpose of life ’ came up for discussion with, a spiritually evolved, material minimalists and unbelievably large hearted couple, our hosts in Tustin, California. It was in one of many such discus...

Newport in Rhode Island is a beautiful place. Situated by the Atlantic Ocean it offers visitors with frames for perfect pictures. It also houses some stunning mansions.  I had never heard of Newport before, but was the recipient of the large heartedness of Issac Simon, my brother-in-law who not only suggested the trip but even offered to take us on the eighty-five  mile drive to the mansion town. The drive, one of the many such, he graciously hosted so far, was beautiful from the word go with the fall painting the entire route with colours, I had seen never before. With tickets in hand, we actually walked into a piece of American history. Ahead of its times, each room stood out well appointed carefully planned and exquisitely executed. In fact, everything about the mansion was bathed in audacious opulence and grandeur, all funded by slices from the immense riches the individual had amassed over his lifetime. We spent almost three hours within, what was once, someone’s summer...

  Go Along   Comical acts online or on TV, invariably comes along with an abundant dose of ‘canned laughter [1] ’. We might miss the joke but not the laughter. Sooner than later, we too tend to laugh along; even when we don't quite get the joke. Our compulsion to go along is more pronounced when there are people around!     WhatsApp group discussions play it out best. Anyone could have initiated it but inevitably, it gravitates to align with the opinion of an individual or a group of individuals. Initially there could be many widely differing views; strong, loud and clear. As discussions progress, differing voices either fall in line, or just fade into silence. Views that differ from the majoritarian are gradually given up, willfully or under pressure. It is not always necessary for the majoritarian opinion to be correct legal or valid, yet everyone goes along!  Don't   believe  it ? Revisit previous discussions on your mobile; it could prov...