What a wonderful world!

A beautiful song by Louis Armstrong...



I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom, for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue, and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces, of people going by
I see friends shaking hands, sayin', "How do you do?"
They're really sayin', "I love you"

I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
They'll learn much more, than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Yes, I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Oh yeah

Making Choices...

All of us are faced with making choices of different kinds at different points in time. Some choices are more important and difficult and have a long term effect - For example - choosing a school from the various admits; accepting a job offer among the various job offers; choosing a life partner, choosing an investment, choosing a house to buy etc etc... Some other choices are much more mundane and unconscious and are quickly forgotten - like - choosing what to wear to work; choosing which restaurant to go out and eat, choosing a movie to watch etc. etc...

I have been thinking about how exactly do we make these choices? What are the different factors that influence these choices - (1) Are they influenced by the unsaid/implicit and explicit rules in the society, (2) By what are peers do/dont do, (3) By what our role-models do/dont do, (4) By what members of our family have/have not to say?, (5) by our past experiences, (6) By our sense of intuition, (7) by our superstitious beliefs, (8) by the astrological advisors, (9) by our analytical skills, (10) by our power of reasoning, (11) by our desire to satisfy our ego!, (12) by the recognition and realization of our own strenghts and weaknesses, (13) by where we are on the "being practical" to "being ideal" slider (some of these points are in themselves a whole new topic of discussion!).

How much weight do these factors have on our final choice. Does the weightage change based on the circumstances? When is it that we find it difficult to make a choice - Which of these factors are in conflict then?? What kind of people give importance to what kind of factors - For example - does a scientific mind make its choice based on analytical and reasoning skills as compared to a religious mind that might choose based on beliefs etc... What kind of conflicts arise among these group of minds when it comes to making choices within an organization or a family or a community etc...

On a more technical side; the recommendation systems (like Amazon) are basically trying to influence your choice using point (2); where they define peers as people who have bought similar items that you have bought in the past - This is a very weak notion but given the limited amount of information about user's activity on the website and the privacy issues; it is not a bad start.... It would be interesting to see what your peers dont do or what people who are not your peers do or dont do?

The Happy Marriage is the 'Me' Marriage

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/weekinreview/02parkerpope.html - this seems to be sooo true in this age!!

3L's

Love and Laughter are the key to Life!

Japanese woman caught living in man's closet

This is funny... and its surprising that the man dint notice the woman hiding in his closet for a year!!!....

Black guy asks nation for change

this is funny - http://www.theonion.com/content/news/black_guy_asks_nation_for_change

Are Reality shows encouraging creative careers?

Are reality shows in India boosting creative fields like music, dance, acting etc. as possible career avenues for the next generation in India? The success of reality shows in India is phenominal! and it seems like more and more parents are encouraging their children to enroll and learn and be proficient in music, dance etc. A few years ago this was not common. There were only limited career options like medicine, engineering, law etc. but now India is waking up although slowly as compared to the West and kids are being encouraged to pursue various art forms. It also seems like the art forms promoted are in one way or the other connected to Bollywood (and/or glamor) almost directly and a few years ago the opportunities were available to only a few elite people in Bollywood or folks who had direct connections in Bollywood. But today the reality shows are opening up these avenues to the ordinary man which is good. Apart from music, dance and acting, it would be interesting to see reality shows in photography, ad making, fashion designing, interior decoration etc..

Diwali wishes...

A very Happy Diwali and Happy New Year to all... :)