Do you think You're Amazing ? Think Again !

As we come to the end of the year, it's time to look back at our successes in 2018. And of course failures. Since they are or could be the cornerstones of our successes in 2019.

And while we're at it, it might be a good idea to pause and see if we're becoming victims of our ignorant self-confidence or in some cases our incorrect modesty.

The Dunning-Kruger effect which I learnt about today (And that's not modesty, just a statement of fact on my Ignorance), is a good concept to review and inspect as we look forward to 2019.

I wish each of you a eventful, memorable and happy 2019. Where your dreams become realities.

Whatever dreams you see
And desires your heart has
Let this New Year make them true
This is our Best wishes to You
Happy New Year !

http://rightquotes4all.com/happy-new-year-2019-wishes-in-hindi/

Here are a few YouTube video which summarize the Dunning-Kruger effect and its impact well;



The Dunning-Kruger Effect and Why You're Dumber Than You Think

The Dunning Kruger Effect

And here's Dunning who explains not only the effect, but what we can do to counter it.
Why incompetent people think they're amazing - David Dunning

A few good articles on the subject:

https://thedecisionlab.com/bias/dunning-kruger-effect/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-psychology-of-the-breathtakingly-stupid-mistake/

And for those who would like to read the original article:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CX9O4LTvr4XLsGqyf6cR1qg4QUn68RtS

Statue of Unity

Less than 2 months ago, an extremely interesting event unfolded in India. A statue was unveiled. Called the "Statue of Unity". What made this event interesting is that it's the world's tallest statue.

Its not very often that India is in the news for its marvels. And when it is, we love to debate about whether the investment could be used elsewhere in a more meaningful way. Like all things there is no one answer. And each of us will have different points of view. My view: For once, let's just enjoy having the world's largest statue and see if we can, as its name suggests, allow it to Unite us.

A quick look at the Inauguration ceremony of the statue on Oct 31, 2018

The statue has its own website. Filled with interesting facts. Check it out.
http://www.statueofunity.in/

And if you'd like an In Depth on the Statue of Unity
In Depth : Statue of Unity

Happy 50th Mari

Today is my sister-in-law Mari's 50th birthday. Reia and I along with my brother Frank had come to San Francisco for the celebrations.

Yesterday my daughter Freia who lives in SFO took us along with a couple of her friends to  "Commonwealth" a fancy SFO restaurant. It was her attempt to help me get rid of yet another item on my bucket list. A meal at a Michelin Star restaurant. We had the tasting menu with the wine pairings. The experience needs a complete blog of its own, and so in this one, I'll summarize, "An Awesome Experience."

https://www.commonwealthsf.com/
https://guide.michelin.com/us/san-francisco/commonwealth/restaurant

Mari's birthday event was at the FOB Kitchen in Oakland, across the Bay from the city. In Shipping, FOB is an acronym for "Free On Board". It didn't seem like that made sense for a restaurant. I found that here the FOB stood for "Fresh Off Boat". Which is most Phillipinos. And Indians. And me. So perfect start.

The restaurant which is normally closed on Sundays was exclusively reserved for the Tilos-Lobo party. And around 50 people joined in wishing Mari. In the invitation Mari had specifically mentioned "No Presents", but added, "Would like everyone to get a Haiku". Ignorant me had no idea as to what a Haiku was. Turns out, it's a Japanese poem style. And turns out that everyone knew what it was. And also turns out that they teach it in Indian schools too. Seems like I wasn't paying attention even as a kid.

For the 1% like me who have no clue of what a Haiku is:
"
hai·ku
/ˈhīˌko͞o/
noun
noun: haiku; plural noun: haikus; plural noun: haiku

a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world."

 
I turn to Freia, our local poet and say, "Please write mine". At the same time, Reia, Frank and PJ turn to her and say, "Please write mine". Freia looks up and says, "And who'll write mine ?".

She finally agrees to help us all, on the condition that we participate and contribute. And we all joined in. And had a lot of fun. Here's what we came up with. Some good. Some not so.

Reia
Mari is her name
And Granola is her game
Baking is her fame

Frank
Her beauty and brains
Is graceful and tenacious
She's strong and kind

PJ
Quiet but yet strong
Her heart goes to her children
We know we belong

We decided to have Ivy and Mummy (my Mom) and Mabel represented and so wrote for them too.

Ivy
We love her visits
Dosas and filter coffee
See you soon Mari

And also figure we could do multiple languages
Mummy - Konkani
Aamche sobeet chedu
Dusranche bore kerta
Donuchi baiil Mari

 
Translated means:
Our pretty girl
Does good for others
Don's wife Mari

Mabel - Hindi
Sundar aur susheel
Hamari pyaari Mari
Bade dilwali

Translated means:
Beautiful and good natured
Our dear Mari
Has a big heart

The poetess saved the best for herself

Freia
Like a second Mom
She nurtures and she feeds me
Home away from home.

 
And finally mine
Her beautiful soul
Abundant patience and love
Inspite of Lobo

 
At the party we were all ready with our Haiku's in case no one else had brought theirs. As it turns out, everyone had. And everyone had put an effort. And given it their personal touch. We got to say just a few.

The surprising twist was that when the Haiku session was about to wrap up, the restaurant staff said they had one. And they had their very own Haiku thanking and wishing Mari.

Post Haiku, we sat down for a delicious never ending Philipino meal. And my favorite, the Turon - banana, jackfruit, macapuno ice cream.

At the end of a lovely evening, we headed to the airport, for yet another long night at airports and on planes. Goodbye SFO. And Thank You Mari.

Learning to shoot

One of the things I've wanted to do was to hold a gun and see what shooting feels like. And this was one of the items that appeared on my bucket list. A couple of weeks ago, Reia peeked at the list and decided to help me complete it. She found a shooting range that had a shooting class and called them for details. They had a class on the 9th. It was $200 and there were spots available. I signed up.

The class was at the Fairfield County Firearms & Archery in Norwalk. I arrived at 8.45 not knowing what to expect. I was hoping that we would actually use guns and shoot a couple of rounds.
https://fcfaa.com/

Our instructor was Bill who had been shooting for over 50 years. And teaching for over 30. The session was divided into 3 sections. The classroom session. A written exam with a 90% requirement for passing followed by a shooting of 55 cartridges using 3 different guns, of which 20+ had to hit the bulls eye.

I was petrified. The silver lining was that I was not alone. The other 5 participants looked equally nervous. Bill tried reassuring us that it was going to be okay and we would do okay.

The classroom session was one of the most hands-on classroom session I've ever attended. In addition to the theory, there was a hands-on demo cum training session for each part. We handled 3 sets of guns 3 times. The 1st was learning to hold, loading blanks, and unloading. The 2nd was receiving a gun safely, dry firing, making the gun safe and passing to another person. And the 3rd time was learning to aim and shoot.

The written exam was not difficult but not easy either. Bill had warned us to listen carefully and make notes. It was an open book exam and the course book and notes were helpful in answering the exam. There were 50 questions, a combination of multiple choice and True or False. I managed to get 98%, which means I passed.

And then was the main event. Live shooting at the range. Bill was testing 2 people at a time in the range. And as 1 finished, the next would go in. 3 of the participants had shooting experience and made their targets easily. The other 2 were new but did well. I was the last person in, and was super nervous.

 

Once in the range, I managed to load the magazine and shot the first cartridge. And the second. And the third. And with each shot, I was getting a little less nervous. 3 guns and 55 cartridges later, I had completed the firing. The target was retracted. And the instructor counted the ones outside to see if I managed the minimum bullseye of 20 required. I had done it. And got the "Basics of Pistol Shooting" Certificate.

If you're interested, you should check out
https://fcfaa.com/pistol-permit

Ada

I get a strange feeling that you're thinking, "What is Ada". That's what this blog will try to clear up for you. And don't feel too bad if you've never heard of it. Until earlier this week, I hadn't either.

The story of Ada starts with my cousin Preema. She lives in Ohio, and has been inviting us for the last couple of years. She's always been very warm and I promised I would try and visit her. A few days ago, I asked Reia if she wanted to visit her in Ohio. She was game, and we decided to go. We thought we would drive. Leave on Friday. Stop on the way. Visit Preema on Saturday. Drive back. Stop on the way. And be back home on Sunday.

I asked Preema for her address and she sent it, thinking that we were kidding. And she made it amply clear that in case we weren't she wouldn't allow us to leave without spending at least 1 night at her place. Her excitement was contagious and we decided that we could not let her down. And the only way to do it was to fly.

While there were several airports between 1 - 2 hrs drive from Ada, Dayton seemed to be the most convenient. Unfortunately, the non-stop flight was reaching late evening and so we took a early morning flight via Chicago. We set out at around 4:00 am for our 7:30 am flight. We got lucky and were bumped to Business. Reia who had slept on the way to the airport, and at the airport decided that this piece of luck should not be wasted and decided to sleep like she was at home.

We reached Dayton, picked up our rental and drove to Ada. The drive was scenic. And a big change from the East Coast. We pulled into Preema's house and her son Ethan welcomed us. Preema greeted us in her typical, warm and friendly way. And then spent the next 15 minutes in trying to get us to confess the real reason for us being there. She had several theories, but the 2 I liked best were, "You'll have come to buy land here." And "You'll are running from the police." She finally decided that we were not going to divulge our secret mission. And made Bhel Puri, a favorite Indian snack. That was accompanied by Chai, my favorite beverage, the famed Indian tea.

Reia is giggly and chatty. Preema is also giggly and chatty. And the two of them got along like a house on fire. With me being thrown a few pity questions along the way. Preema's husband Ranjan who is an accomplished Professor and Doctor came home late from work. And the chatting continued. And I was no longer the only one being ignored. We discussed board games and Preema’s favorite was Bluff. Reia educated us it was called "BS" in the US. We ended up playing Phase 10, an interesting card game, that involved in addition to luck, strategy and technique. Naturally, Ethan won.

Dinner was a huge spread of fusion cuisine. Korean and Indian. We ate way more than we should have. But then, it’s not often that you have great company and great food together.

During the time that Reia and Preema were chatting, Ethan was busy playing a video game with his friends. Preema and Ranjan mentioned that the game was being played by almost everyone including smaller kids and high schoolers as well as adults. I was intrigued and after dinner asked Ethan about the game. It was "Fortnite". And Ethan was happy to share his knowledge with me. And to call him an expert on the subject would be an understatement. He educated me not only about the game, but also the reasons the game was successful, the business model being used and why on his opinion it would continue to be a huge success in the coming years. It was all fascinating to me and what stumped me completely was when he brought out a book published by Scholastic on Video Games.

The next morning, we were treated to homemade rice pancakes and chutney, an Indian delicacy. One of Preema's neighbor joined us for breakfast and we learnt about the challenges of being a Democrat in a Republican town. She also got 2 amazing vegetables and we learnt the benefits of being a part of a co-op farm.

After breakfast, we were taken on a tour of the town of Ada. There were several things I noticed in this small yet beautiful town. Satellite dishes at ground level. To beat that, the town observatory was also at ground level. And just when I thought this couldn't be topped, we came across a solar farm at ground level.

Back home, we had another amazing meal and more awesome conversations. And before we knew it was time for us to go. And just when I thought that this trip couldn't get better, Preema threw a curved ball. Neil Armstrong's childhood home house was on the way to the airport not far from Ada. And Reia and I drove there. An Amazing trip had a cherry on top.

We flew back, direct this time and drove home reaching late and tired. And Reia summed it best as she crawled into bed, "I'm so happy we visited Preema." For lack of more powerful words, "Thank you Ethan, Ranjan and Preema".

p.s.: We also discovered that not only were the D’souza family one of the towns most famous residents, each was famous in their own right. Check these out.

http://www.adaicon.com/news/201806/what-are-you-reading-0

http://www.adaicon.com/news/201601/pharmacy-professor-honored-new-investigator-award

 http://www.adaicon.com/feature/201707/slim-never-ends

http://www.adaicon.com/photo/201811/zombies-library