This is a weekly blog that puts forward my thoughts, and my point of view.
You may agree with some. And probably disagree with most. And we can agree to disagree. After all, wouldn't life be boring if we all thought the same way.
2016 has been a years of downs and more downs. A long time client had a change in IT top management, who decided to move to another service provider. 3 colleagues who had been with us for over 10 years decided to move away. I lost my Dad. And finally yesterday I learnt that a 4th senior and valued colleague has decided to move.
Not to mention a zillion other world events. Seems like 2016 can't end fast enough. For most people. And definitely for me.
While writing this blog a couple of thoughts occurred to me. The first was of hierarchical importance. And the second was of perspective.
In all the events that I thought of not so great, to put it mildly, there was a question of hierarchical importance. In all of them, the other side was more important than us. And in all of the events, the primary question was what was the impact on the other side.
The long time client's new management in all likelihood had new ideas they wanted implemented. And decided that a partner they had worked with their previous organizations would fit their needs. My colleagues who decided to move on, moved on to what they believe to be better opportunities.
And my Dad moved on to a better world, free from pain and suffering. And so from the point of hierarchical importance, the changes were beneficial to all of them.
And all of these events can also be seen from a 2nd perspective. And each of these events provide an opportunity. At work, an opportunity to work with new clients, new technologies and even more profitable and meaningful work. Losing long term colleagues provides an opportunity to rethink and rework with new colleagues, while continuing to have our old colleagues as friends who are available for running ideas by.
My Dad is the one which seems the most difficult loss and oddly enough is the easiest to accept. He lived a beautiful and meaningful life. And left us just when he was beginning to have some pain and become bedridden. A perfect life. And a perfect ending.
Just as the ending to 2016. Perfect. Since, once we accept events as perfect, it gives us an opportunity to accept and do things that will make the future. Nicer. Bigger. Better.
And here's wishing each of you a perfect ending to 2016. And a Perfecter, Nicer, Bigger and Better 2017.
Merry Christmas and a Happy & Prosperous New Year. To your families and YOU.
I've always had difficulty in managing relationships. I've been fortunate that my spouse has been more mature than me. And we've been able to have a great relationship. Not because of me. But in-spite of me.
And this talk by T. T. Rangarajan is a must listen to every couple. It highlights how we can be silly and petty and just listening will make us laugh and the next time we think of something as a big deal, relook at the issue. And more importantly, Life.
p.s.: The talk has no video. So for a change, enjoy listening without watching.
Blockchain is one of those technologies most people have heard about, but very few people understand. While many of us know that its the underlying technology used for the digital currency bitcoin, not many know what it is.
Here are 3 videos that will give you an introduction into Blockchain and a peek at what it is capable of doing. Which is changing the world, as we know it.
What is blockchain? World Economic Forum
How the blockchain is changing money and business Don Tapscott
How the blockchain will radically transform the economy Bettina Warburg
On Friday, my colleague Al and I were having a discussion on the US economy. And he was complaining that it was bad. Very bad. Al is a staunch Republican and in his opinion, the Democrats always mess up the economy and the current administration was historically the biggest culprit.
As is to be expected, I disagreed. And my reasoning was that on all objective parameters the US economy was better than it had been since the previous 8 years when the Republicans held office. I pointed to the unemployment index which was under 5%. Al threw a huge list of attributes, all subjective and I was dismissive, since that was not data. And then Al mentioned that the real unemployment was over 10%. He mentioned the U6 unemployment index and he had my complete attention. And we checked that it was 9.30% as of November 2016.
I was now interested in the unemployment index and U6. And what exactly was the 4.9% that the media talked about. And the answers were fascinating. And like most things, the fastest way to know exactly what each of these is, is to watch a few videos.
What Does 'Unemployment Rate' Mean?
What is the 'real' unemployment rate?
Word of the Day: Unemployment (U3 and U6)
And you can view an interactive an interesting unemployment chart at Macro Trends.
"This interactive chart compares three different measures of unemployment. U3 is the official unemployment rate. U5 includes discouraged workers and all other marginally attached workers. U6 adds on those workers who are part-time purely for economic reasons. http://www.macrotrends.net/1377/u6-unemployment-rate
And finally for those who like definitions, here are the definitions for U1 through U6.
U1 : Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longer.
U2 : Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary work.
U3 : Official unemployment rate per ILO definition.
U4 : U3 + "discouraged workers", or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them.
U5 : U4 + other "marginally attached workers", or "loosely attached workers", or those who "would like" and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently.
U6 : U5 + Part time workers who want to work full time, but cannot due to economic reasons.
Very rarely do you come across something which seems to be in line with some of what you were thinking. This week I came across a talk by Dave Snowden. Its a little long winded but definitely worth listening to. The author is not a great speaker or presenter and you may get bored, but stay with it. Overall you're likely to get a lot of insights that go against popularly accepted theories, such as those of Malcolm Gladwell.
Earlier this week, as we were leaving the office, I wished my colleague Robert a great evening and he said, "Yep, hopefully I'll get a few good rides". And its only then that I realized that he drove for Uber.
Uber is one of those amazing phenomenon's where most people either love it or hate it. But cannot ignore it.
I had read and viewed several articles on Uber and the mathematics of driving for Uber always fascinated me.
Here's a video that does an excellent job of breaking it down.
Why Uber Is A Scam - Math Explains
I asked Robert about his Uber experience as a driver. His math was a little different. He thinks he makes around $ 15 - $ 20 per hour. And it gives him the flexibility of working when he can as well as whenever he feels like it.
I reviewed the numbers with Robert and for the large part, they were accurate. A large part of his earnings came from being smart about where to wait during certain hours and manage to get surge pricing. Outside bars around midnight and at 2 is almost guaranteed to get surge pricing. This could be as much as 2x and sometime even 3x. And in the last few months, Uber allows its drivers to take tips. This increases the earning even more. Of course he did not take into account depreciation, taxes and maintenance. He also calculated hourly based on how long he was driving and excluded the waiting. All of this gave a skewed hourly rate. My guess is the real earning would be around $12 - $14 per hour.
So it seems like the truth about Uber is neither what SciIQ portrays or what Robert thinks. Its somewhere in the middle. And given that, my guess is it'll keep getting better for the drivers, as the passengers willingness to pay a little more will keep rising as they continue getting used to the luxury of having their own private driver with a tap on their smart phone.
On November 8th at 8 p.m. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation. The speech announced demonetization of the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency note. The move took the country by total surprise. A move that would impact only those who had unaccounted cash or the infamous Black Money.
The finance minister, Arun Jaitley answers many of the questions that come to mind.
The next few days in which it's been implemented has led to long lines at banks and a short supply of usable currency. Surprisingly the common man has been extremely supportive of the move and there was relatively very little criticism of the move by the common man who stood in line.
The move has been roundly criticized by the political parties who are using the woes of the common man as the reason for urging the government to roll back its decision.
And even the spiritual leaders are publicly voicing their opinions.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Speaks on the Demonetization
In researching the subject, I came across one created by Dr. Navneet Goel. He has managed to convey the positive benefits in under 3 minutes.
Demonetization - Long Term Benefits Explained
While there may be long term benefits in the short term there's a significant impact on the day to day lives of people. The government has promised that everything will normalize in a couple of months.
Whether the move has a major long term impact only time will tell, but even the harshest critic of Modi will acknowledge that its a bold move which has zero political upside for Modi but could have significant downside.
And such moves can only be made by leaders who believe in trying to make a difference to the country at the risk of their own personal careers. Hats off to a man who is attempting to do the impossible. And surprisingly, he seems to be succeeding.
This week I visited the Orient Land Trust for a project. http://www.olt.org/
Its nature at its best. Hot-springs. Ranch. Bat-caves. Astronomy Pad. The place and the views were out of this world. It was breathtaking and would be impossible to describe.
A picture speaks a thousand words and so I'll let the pictures do the talking.
And natural is taken to a whole new level. They are self sufficient and generate their own power, using off-grid alternative energy. Their very own amazing hydro power plant, all on the OLT property. http://www.olt.org/nature/alternative-energy
Earlier this week I traveled from Mumbai to the US. Again. And started reflecting about travel. And I did what I always did when I start reflecting. Google the subject.
And that's when I came across an extremely interesting experiment. Not something that most of us could do, but definitely things we could get inspired by.
On Thursday Claudian and I drove to Ahmednagar to visit Snehalaya. Our host Shashikant Satbhai, a volunteer. We were given a tour of the place and none of the reading I had done on the project came anywhere close to what we saw. It was unbelievably amazing. http://www.snehalaya.org/
And if that was not enough, Shashikant would tell us the background story of the people we would meet. Each incident moving, every single person a hero in the true sense of that word.
The most inspiring story was of one of the beneficiaries of the program. An elderly lady who had been rescued by the program had used her 2nd chance to make a living by selling vegetables and continued to assist and volunteer at Snehalaya.
A few years ago, she inherited a prime plot of land in Pune city worth over 20 million rupees. And instead of using her good fortune to retire and have a well deserved comfortable lifestyle, she donated the land to the organization to start a center. In spite of efforts to get her to change her mind, she did not relent. She wanted her good fortune to be used to give 2nd opportunities to others, just as she had got one.
And as if all of this was not enough, we got the opportunity to meet the founder Girish Kulkarni at his modest home. Prof. Kulkarni is a professor at the Ahmednagar college. As soon as we entered we were informed by his wife that the reason he was home, was he was just discharged from the hospital a couple of hours back and she refused to let him leave home. The reason he was hospitalized, Exhaustion from Overwork.
The story of his life is summarized well on the Snehalaya website.
"
At 14-years old Girish Kulkarni turned up to his school friend's home. He did not know until he arrived that his friend and her mother were living and working in a brothel, in shockingly violent conditions. The brothel keeper was displeased by his visit and in a rage, inflicted indescribable abuse on the girl and her mother, making Girish stay to watch. Appalled by the brutality he had been forced to witness, the young Girish made a promise to himself. He resolved there and then to devote his life to ending the atrocities faced by trafficked and enslaved women and children in India.
"
And that was the beginning of Snehalaya.
"
Snehalaya means 'Home of Love', and was founded in 1989 to provide support for women, children and LGBT communities, who have been affected by HIV and AIDS, trafficking, sexual violence, and poverty. We operate in Ahmednagar, a town and district in the agricultural region of Maharashtra, India, and provide services to over 15,000 beneficiaries.
We are more than an NGO, we are a strong and passionate family, united in the belief that no one should stand alone. Many of our staff first came to us as beneficiaries to use our services. We understand that resilience - the desire to survive - is an extraordinary force. A sense of belonging and compassion can nurture even the most destitute and fragile people to not just survive, but to thrive in life. We welcome everyone with an open heart and without prejudice.
"
This 10 minute video on Snehalaya beautifully highlights the work of the organization.Its a must watch.
The Extraordinary Family Of Snehalaya. A Home Of Love Narrated by Seema Sharma
The visit to Snehalaya and the meeting with Prof. Kulkarni was truly humbling. It highlighted to me how little most of us had done to make a difference. And inspiring leading me to make a commitment.
All of us may not be able to do what Prof. Kulkarni and Snehalaya have done. However we can definitely support these amazing organizations with our time and money.
Earlier this week on the 11th, we celebrated Dad's months mind. We started the day by visiting his final resting place, decorating and praying not for Dad but to Dad.
Later in the evening, there was a beautiful service with an amazing 1 person choir that was attended by over 100 of Dad's family and friends. We had a small get together at which Mabel made a moving speech.
"
Good evening, I on behalf of Mummy, Stephen, Don and Frank would like to thank each and every one of you for being here with us this evening.
Mummy’s siblings having seen them at close quarters believed Dad and Mom had the perfect marriage. We kids love to believe they had the perfect kids too. So Rony uncle got married on the same date as them June 5th. Then when Vincy, Mom’s youngest brother was getting married he too wanted to get married on June 5th.
That’s when Stephen informed him that that’s a great date to get married. He will have a great marriage but with 4 kids like Mom and Rony uncle. Rony uncle had a son, then a daughter and then twins. Vincy quickly changed the date to June 6th.
Dad was always up to a challenge. Don the fittest in the family thought all of us, other than him and mummy were overweight. He challenged us to lose between 5 kg to 7 kg within a year to reach our ideal wt and we had to maintain the lost weight for an entire year. The bet money being all of 5000 dollars. Dad though he loved eating took up the bet seriously and won and maintained his weight ever since. Such was his will power even at 70. He was highly competitive and hated losing. Stephen won too while Frank and I just cried that we need more time and are yet to lose our weight. Frank maybe now we should win the bet to honor dads memory.
I would like to relate a small incident which to me best portrays Daddy. Whenever Daddy felt ill, which was very rare, he would tell Mummy, Don’t worry Mummy. NO RISK. In the last few weeks of his life just once he mentioned to Mom ‘Mummy my guarantee is over’. Those words were the only indication Dad ever gave any of us that he knew his time had come.
Even then, every time a family member or friend came to see him, in spite of his illness, he would first inquire about their health and well-being. And when they checked how he was, he would simply say ‘I’m fine. God has been very kind to me.’
For him others always came before self. To us Dad was the epitome of simplicity, humility, caring and chivalry. All we kids and his grandchildren are and will always be proud to be known as Mr Ignatius Lobos children and grandchildren.
My sincere prayer today is that ‘May all of us assembled here be blessed to lead a life as beautiful as his’.
"
RIP Dad
And do look after Mummy, your kids and grand-kids from up there as you always did.
After Dad's passing away, I have been looking at cancer in a whole new light.
And have been doing a little bit of reading and viewing on the subject. And I'm constantly amazed with the number of talented people working on solving this problem. Until I was completely blown away by a TED talk I saw.
In the highly competitive field of Medical Research, there was this young man and a small research lab that went Open-Source. Yes, Open-Source. Which means that they shared all of their brilliant findings with the rest of the world.
I'm sure you'll enjoy Jay Bradner describe the experiment in his own words.
Today is Gandhi Jayanthi, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. Here are my 10 favorite Gandhi quotes.
And my most favorite one which applies to us and if enough of us followed it, the world would be even more awesome, not only for some of us, but for all of us.
After the loss of Dad, I've been reflecting on Life and Death. A decision that was taken in Dad's case was to accept that his illness was terminal and to focus on the quality of life.
This meant that having Dad at home, the place he felt most comfortable. And all of his kids and grand-kids spending time with him. This meant that Dad's final 6 weeks were as happy as the rest of his life. Surrounded by and spending time with the people who he loved and who loved him.
During this time a lot of his friends and family visited him and everyone got to spend quality time with him.
Several person, including some close family were advocating trying to leverage the power of modern medicine and explore treatment possibilities in India and abroad. However the doctors including Ivy were clear that in Dad's case the cancer was terminal.
Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky. And most people go about extending life of their loved ones leading to an unacceptable quality of life for the patient. While it may be argued that the job of medicine and loved ones is to extend life to the extent possible, I disagree.
I believe that the choice of when and how much medicine should intervene should be left to the individual. And I for one would prefer that for me, medicine not intervene if the end result is likely to be the same and the intervention is only going to add a small slice of time at the price of major side effects.
My brother Don, sent an article on the subject, which has tackled this sensitive issue in a beautiful and brilliant manner.
My Dad had not been keeping too well since end July and had been diagnosed with Lung Cancer that had spread. He was 81 and aggressive treatment such as chemotherapy was not recommended by the doctors. He was being given targeted oral medication. He was not responding well to this treatment. In the meanwhile all of us were focused on making him as comfortable as we could.
I was visiting my daughter, brother and cousin in New York city on a layover from Denver to Mumbai. That's when we got a text informing us that my Dad had passed away a few minutes ago on September 12 at 2.30 a.m.
While my immediate reaction was one of immense sadness with a thought that if only I had left a day earlier, I could have said a final goodbye. On another level I was happy that my Dad did not suffer and had a peaceful death. My brother quickly dropped me to Penn Station and rushed back to Connecticut to make his travel arrangements and follow me back to Mumbai.
A 15 hour flight is a long flight. This time it felt even longer. And I spent most of it, not crying but tears rolling down my eyes. I was connected to the net and was getting real time information on the arrangements that were being made. I also kept playing over and over again one of Dad's favorite songs, "Goodbye ...".
And by the time I landed, I seem to have run out of tears. I was overwhelmed and touched with the number of messages of condolences. One of the most touching messages I received was from my daughter Reia, who had spent 2 months with him until a week ago.
"Don't be too upset. I think Dad is in less pain where he is now."
At home, everyone was sad yet happy that my Dad had not suffered. Arrangements were made for the funeral ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 14. Every-time I found myself alone, even in bed, tears rolled down, and yet the moment I was with people they disappeared. I guess I realized I knew nothing about the coping mechanism of the human.
We spent Tuesday in making the arrangements for the Wednesday ceremony and coped by keeping ourselves busy. On Wednesday we had a mass in church where I had the honor of delivering the eulogy. And here is what I said.
"
Thank you all for gathering to celebrate the life and journey of my Dad, Ignatius Lobo.
A large part of this eulogy is written and inspired by my brother Don. Don spent the last 2 weeks with Dad and left a few hours before Dad passed and was unable to be here.
Ignatius Lobo, or Daddy as we all lovingly called him, was a remarkable man. Just over a month ago, Dad turned 81. A loving husband, a firm but fair father, a happy grandfather and a respected colleague. He devoted his life to his family and sought happiness in their joy.
As a father, our dad was a strict disciplinarian, and all of us were a bit scared of him. However, we valued the work ethic that he instilled in us, and we were always super proud to recount to our friends on how he rose from the position of a bellboy at Taj to being the Materials Management Director, by the time he retired, a career that lasted over 50 years. And as if that wasn’t enough he continued to consult for the Taj Flight Kitchen, Mumbai and Delhi for several years thereafter. We cannot count the number of times we asked Dad to retire and start enjoying life. His response, “Puta, I’m enjoying life. There’s a long time to retire and do other things too.” And true to that, when he finally did retire, he traveled the world with Mummy.
As adults, we look back and are inspired that our Dad continued his education and got his management degree when he was in his late 40’s. Just a bit over six months ago when Dad was almost 81, when we had gone to Mangalore, my Dad was a trooper and was willing to climb the 212 steps all the way to the top of the monument to view Gommateshwara. He was determined and set a great example for his kids and grand kids.
Dad with his grand-kids 2 weeks ago
As a grandfather, Dad was a completely different person. All his grand kids adored and loved him tremendously. Dad always thought the best of his grand kids. Every time they would talk to him, whether to tell him about securing admission in college, getting a job or just that they had bought a new dress, Dad would make them feel like the most smart, talented and special people in the world.
In the more recent years, Dad did not like to travel much. In spite of that, he flew all the way to the US for the birth of his youngest grandson, Elijah. And in the following years, Eli managed to get Dad to say Yes, to his every wish like playing and going out, when he had already said No, to everyone else.
Maya and PJ’s favorite memories of their grandfather include him taking them for sandwiches and ice cream at Taj. They loved to comb his hair and scratch his back.
And his grand kids Siddhant, Freia, Reia and Simran asked me to say these words. “We will never forget your sharp memory, your special Happy Birthday song, and all of the time you spent teaching us, showing us photo albums, buying us toys, taking us out and telling us stories of our parents. We know we were special to you, but you meant the world to us and always will. You remembered all of our milestones like Simbu’s Arangetram. Just a month ago you told her to have another special performance. We will always remember how proud and special you made all of us feel.”
Dad did not touch only the lives of his kids and grand kids. He touched lives across boundaries, with the family, at his workplace and even of people he did not know. Due to Dad’s nature of being a doer not a talker, we did not know until recently the quantum of impact Dad had and the number of people in whose life he had made a difference. When people visited Dad, they spent time in telling us how lucky they were in knowing Dad and how they were there to say, Thank You to someone who had changed their lives.
To quote Leo Uncle, who speaks for most people whose life Dad touched.
“I lost a role model, a person I looked up to for family values, work ethic and helping the needy. He was an inspiration to me especially during my college days in Mumbai. I remember the dinner Bavoji had organized at Taj before my departure and the day I left India to the US from his place and all the help in completing all the formalities that I had to go through for coming here. I wish I had a few more opportunities to reciprocate and thank him for what he had done to help me. Although Bavoji is no longer with us physically, he has left many fond memories for us to cherish. Thank you Bavoji for making a difference in lives of so many in this world.”
No love story is complete without the main players. Dad and Mum had a beautiful and loving marriage for over 50 years. Just a few months ago they went on a 2 week religious pilgrimage of Europe and the highlight was being blessed by the Pope from a few feet away. On their return, they were as excited as telling us the stories of the trip as a pair of young children. And Daddy and Mummy shared the perfect love story which continued to flourish.
Dad had a special soft corner for his only daughter Mabel. And she for Dad. And in the last 2 months she spent it caring for her favorite Dad. Together with Mummy and Ivy, they made sure that Dad got the royal treatment and was comfortable and happy till the very end. Dad told me when I spoke to him last that he’s taking good care of all of you. And I’m sure Dad meant it and will continue to do so.
Dad saw the positive in everything that happened and everyone he met. He would be extremely generous with praise, especially for his grand kids. He himself however would not like us to spend time in highlighting him. And I can see him Smile and Say, Good Puth Good, Pun Athe Puro.
And while I could go on, I’ll respect his wishes. On behalf of Mummy, Mabel, Don, Frank, myself and our entire family a big thank you to each and every one of you for being part of our family. For visiting Dad when he wasn’t too well and being a huge part of making Dad’s final weeks as happy and cheerful, surrounded by friends and family as the rest of his life. And for coming here today to celebrate Dad’s life. And as Dad would have liked to say,
"Tumko Saglianki Dev Bore Keru."
Please join me in silently wishing Bon Voyage to Daddy as he begins his final journey. With a hope and prayer that he’ll put in a good word for us.
And my admiration of him which was extremely high has gone up ten fold.We go through life taking things for granted, especially the people who mean the most to us. The one thing that I would do differently and plan to now do differently is spending as much time I can with the people who matter. Friends and Family.
Konkani Translations
Bavoji : Brother-in-law
Puta : Son
Good Puth Good, Pun Athe Puro : Good, Son, Good, But its time to stop
Tumko Saglianki Dev Bore Keru : God Bless all of you
