Mid point Crisis

Sachin and Kumble's suggestion for 25 over (x2) and 40 over format respectively for the one dayer looks like they want to revv up the throttle even in this slightly longer version of the game. But how far can you press the adrenalin accelerator?

Assuming that the slam-bang version of the game has the highest excitement quotient, ask any cricket enthusiast and he will inevitably swear by the first few and last over’s of the match. The rush of adrenalin , brought about by the pace of change is always exciting. Its the middle over’s that a trifle little sedate and boring and I think that is at the center of this reformatting suggestions . 

The batsman consolidating, scratching and accumulating runs and preserving wickets for the final flourish while the opposite team trying to further peg them down has never been an exciting proposition in the short form of the game. The graph that usually depicts this phase is a drooping curve or at best a staid flat line while the tendency is to seek a rocket like trajectory.

Is it a universal phenomena that got to do with everything ranging from sports to general change encompassing everything from project management to human lives? On this Rosabeth Moss Kanter has an interesting insight, she says ‘Welcome to the miserable middles of change. This is the time when Kanter's Law kicks in. Everything looks like a failure in the middle. Everyone loves inspiring beginnings and happy endings; it is just the middles that involve hard work’.

I wonder why...

Taare Zameen Par (TZP) a Hindi movie based on the story of a 10-year old dyslexic boy takes viewers on the journey to a world of amazing possibilities achieved by encouraging an young mind. While TZP may have inspired many constituencies, it profoundly impacted audiences on a kind of sensitization that is required to understand and encourage the world of small children and their imaginations. 

As they say creativity doesn't come with a boxed set of instructions. By nature,creativity is unleashed by stepping outside the normal thought patterns to connect to a new idea or new way of saying or writing something. And it’s not just limited to children with normal abilities as the film clearly depicts. It is very important to encourage children develop imagination and here’s a piece of information I gathered on some of its amazing benefits


• Imagination helps school-age children solve problems by helping them think through different outcomes to various situations and role playing ways to cope with difficult or new circumstances.

• Imagination allows children to practice real-life skills. From shopping at a pretend grocery store to assigning roles and dialogue to dolls or puppets, children's pretend play helps them practice and apply new learning and better understand how those skills are used in the real world.

• Imagination encourages a rich vocabulary. Telling and hearing real or made-up stories, reading books and pretend play help children learn and retain new words.

• Imagination helps children grow up to be adults who are creative thinkers. Adults who were imaginative children often become problem solvers, innovators and creative thinkers.

My 4 year old son lives in his own world of imagination which reflects in many of his sketches. So apart from his computer & TV games he spends a good part of his free time sketching drawings and playing with his favorite car toys. I have put together a collection of his sketches on strange creatures that somehow come alive in his world or let’s say ‘Echo in his grey Hills’. Looks like some strange alien planet to me but interesting nonetheless



"You see things and you say Why? But I dream things that never were and I say, why not?" - George Bernhard Shaw

Wow TED

This week & one before has been tough for me, I have been going through excruciating pains of body induced infirmity. And I have been trying to take my mind away from it by watching endless sessions of brilliant presentation of ideas on TED. Now what’s TED? Many people may have not heard about and many more may not have fully comprehended this 3 letter phenomenon called TED. I’ll give an interesting analogy; Everyone must be aware of the smash hit movie of the early 80s called Superman. In the movie there is this glowing green crystal that magically builds the Fortress of Solitude resembling the architecture of Krypton on earth. Activating a control panel inside the fortress, a vision of Jor-El (Superman’s father) explains Clark (Superman, originally Kal-El) on origins, educating him in his powers and responsibilities and finally empowers him to save the world. Now imagine if there ever was such a green crystal in reality what would it do? Ofcourse it would build a fortress of wonder & rediscovery by enabling visions of some of the most talented & intelligent people on earth doing things that usually occupy the outer reaches of fiction. They may not be Kryptonites but their ideas certainly border on Möbius Strip, much like its mathematical origins, blurs boundaries and they are out there to suspend people’s beliefs & imagination and to educate them just like in the movie. TED is equivalent of that green crystal because that’s exactly what it’s set out to do.

TED in short for technology, entertainment and design is a small non-profit devoted to ideas worth spreading and was the brainchild of Richard Wurman but now run by Chris Anderson. It may have started with three disciplines 25 years ago but has become the meeting place of the greatest minds from across disciplines today . The Quality of the speakers & their crisp 18 minute and thereabout talk addresses just about everything. Sample this
• Do you know just in time or as it happens mapping of brain is possible? Christopher deCharms demonstrates a new way to use fMRI to show brain activity -- thoughts, emotions, pain -- while it is happening
• Want to know why the Osama Bin Laden’s or the Pramod Mutalik (of Pink Chaddi fame) of the world do & act the way they do? Blame it on dangerous Memes that Dan Dennett explains
• Are you aware of the 4 sets of Ideas that are impacting India & its implication on the world at large ? Delve into Nandan Nilekani’s mind for answers
• Do you know that the search for cosmic company till now has been equivalent to scooping one glass of water from an ocean and we are already expecting fish in it? SETI's Jill Tarter explains..

You could watch this & many more at www.ted.com and be a part of the growing list of 100 million plus lucky viewers to date.

Freakonomics: Economics for the Rest of Us - A Book Review

Economics can feel like a rollercoaster of extremes. On one side, you’ve got a mountain of theories from greats like Keynes and Smith, unraveling the mysteries of market forces at macro and micro levels. On the other, you’re neck-deep in mind-bending math and stats, where economics drowns in complex equations and endless data. Enter Levitt and Dubner with Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, a book that fearlessly meets economics in the middle, stripping it down to its relatable core and making it understandable—even enjoyable—for the average reader.

Through an engaging blend of case studies and wit, Levitt and Dubner argue that economics, at its heart, is just a system of incentives and disincentives. And with this simple concept, they manage to connect the most unexpected dots. For instance, they highlight the curious similarities between schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers—both, as it turns out, have been known to bend the rules of the game to benefit themselves. And did you know drug cartels operate like McDonald's? Yep, Freakonomics compares their organizational structure to that of any savvy corporate entity, and it makes for fascinating reading.

The book even dives into controversial waters, like the assertion that legalized abortion significantly reduced crime rates in America—a claim that challenges popular beliefs. Levitt and Dubner also reveal how the Internet has thrown a wrench into "Information Asymmetry," leveling the playing field between experts (think doctors, lawyers, real estate agents) and everyone else. “Information is the currency of the Internet,” they write, illustrating how it efficiently shifts knowledge from those who have it to those who don’t—bad news for experts hoping to guard their secrets.

In short, Freakonomics is an incredible collection of insights from a self-described “economist who, instead of grand macro thoughts, prefers offbeat micro curiosities.” It’s economics for the curious, the skeptical, and the rest of us who just want to know how the world really works.