How do u value a person??? What makes you successful???

If you had to value a person, how would you go about it? What criteria would you consider, and what would your weights be? Looks, success, character, intelligence, wit? And even if you did come up with a system, how would you measure these highly subjective attributes?

Society from ages past has developed a system of proxies to measure these qualities. Success is measured by your bank balance, goodness of heart by the charitable donations, intelligence by the degrees and institutions you go to. The problem sets in when we take these proxies to be the real thing...

Take degree and education for instance. Low marks could easily mean that you didn't study that day, or this examination didn't test what you are good at, you are so smart that the examiner didn't understand you (quite possible in our system) or that you were plain unlucky. Everyone knows the shortcomings of our education system. But it's scary to see the dependence everyone, from your nosy neighbour to your potential recruiter have on these highly faulty measures to measure your intelligence. And so, to prove their intelligence, people go around collecting degrees like postage stamps. First the engineering degree, then the masters, then the post graduate, then a doctorate.... preferably somewhere abroad. A school drop out who didn't like to read or write, but had vision and courage is assumed to be not smart enough for school. But what do our schools teach? Exams mostly test your short term memory. Just how necessary is this for your job? People are not encouraged to innovate, follow their natural inclination and use their ingrained skills to excel in different fields.

And this may be the reason why we churn out so many highly qualified and smart graduates every year, who still expect to be told what to do in their jobs. Who think that it is 'not our's to reason why'.

Maybe Education ruined us after all..

Then there is the bank balance. How do you define success? Achieving what you wanted? Well, how about if you wanted peace of mind, and went about getting a great job, so that the money would give you security. You spend your life with stress and ulcers, surrounded by enemies and sycophants. You have the money, the cars, the houses.

But how successful are you in the end???? Can a millionaire be really called successful??? I guess that is a million dollar question :)

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Rationality vs. Irrationality

In Game Theory, you build everything on the assumption of 'rational and selfish behaviour'. Traits that are not necessarily observed in real life. And the reason 'rationality' and 'selfishness' are assumed, is that you can predict a person's actions only in these cases. As Rhett Butler says in Gone With the Wind, he'd prefer to work with selfish people, because you know they'll only do what's good for them, and hence they are predictable. But 'good' and 'charitable' people on the other hand, could swing in their loyalties quite fast.

I've noticed that most 'smart' people, are just the ones that show the most rationality. They are the chessplayers who have all the moves figured out and always do what makes most sense. And I get to meet a lot of these people nowadays - the ones who have the IRR of every action and every piece of effort all figured out.

But, as the saying goes, it is not the rational people who are the hope of humanity. It is the irrational. It is those who go out do things for no obvious gain, the artists who follow their hearts, or the Mother Teresa's who spend their lives improving the lives of total strangers. The ones who dance in the rain. They make the human race more interesting. And more 'human'.

'Irrational' is a common compliant against women. And I think it is a valid charge. I cannot imagine why any 'rational' woman would put up with the majority of the men out there. Or why she'd willingly go thru 9 months of pregnancy followed by a lifetime of the traumas and heartbreaks of motherhood. It must be the same irrationality that makes her insist that 'peach' and 'melon' are colours. Or that the pattern of the curtains really matter.Women are irrational. And therein lies hope...

The end of a roller coaster ride...

Life is a series of adventures and experiments - school, college, and college again... And now I'm facing the end of one adventure and the beginning of another.

The thing about roller coaster rides is that no matter how much they terrify you, they always end too soon. The past two years have been a roller coaster ride - sometimes thrilling, sometimes scary and sometimes just bewildering. But mostly exciting. And now, I'm left wondering - why does it have to end?These years were spent in a different world as far as I'm concerned. A world with its own people, pressures and politics. An amazing world, where all friends live within walking distance, thanks to it being a residential program (we actually considered rooms on a different floor as being beyond reach!). A world surrounded by greenery and a lovely view. Every face you see is a familiar one (which can be good or bad). A small thing can flare up into an irreparable rift, while big things pass unnoticed.

As life gets more complicated, I'll probably look back at these days with longing. And here's what I'll miss the most:

• The freedom to choose when you sleep, when you wake up, when you work and how, when you take a break and how
• The midnights when you and your group are working on some awful project and suddenly your mind starts thinking of deep and profound things, like the meaning of life, relationship dynamics, politics and why so many people are such big idiots. Long drawn out conversations that last for hours on the state of the nation, economy, and general important stuff, the details of which you can't remember the next day
• Staying awake till you hear the Suprabhata from down the servant quarters, the sign that you have stayed awake too long and you'll have hell to pay the next day
• Bike rides in the rain (ok, I went only once, but it was fun)
• Meeting friends over coffee everyday, at 11am, 5pm, and for soup and maggi at 2 am!!!
• Working in the computer lab till 11pm
• Night outs in the hostel rooms
• Singing completely off tune on the way from the canteen to the hostel
• The new cute pup on campus that has made everyone her fan
• Classes where laptops are allowed
• Counting the square floor tiles on the way to class (that probably started 5 minutes back)
• The short uncovered stretch between the class and the hostel where you had to make a dash for it when it was pouring
• Gtalk pings that go: “Assignment shuru kiya?”
• Chicken biryani at Bheemas
• The Rushikonda beach road view of college, especially at night with the campus lights twinkling
• Long solitary walks
• Long walks with company
• Juice and a little conversation at the Sai Ram’s
• Mail wars
• Spam wars
• Space – both physical and personal
• The people!