Girish's Blog

My 8 km drive to work takes between 25 - 45 minutes based on the traffic and I typically spend this time listening to podcasts. This Monday morning commute had one of the most unusual podcasts I've listened to in recent times - Kara Swisher, who is known more for her tech pieces, talking to Hansa Bergwall, the co-founder of the WeCroak app on how reflecting on death five times a day results in increased happiness. According to Bergwall, the app is based on a Bhutanese saying: “To be a truly happy person, one must contemplate death five times daily.” The only thing the app does is pop up quotes that remind us of our mortality. This idea isn't new, but it became more widely known when Steve Jobs, in his much watched commencement speech at Stanford University , said: My third story is about death. When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on ...

Just been listening to Michael Lewis's new podcast, Against The Rules . The first episode is about basketball referees and how although the quality of refereeing has increased over the last few years with the addition of video replays and an off-court referee providing a call in less than 30 seconds, player dissatisfaction against the referees has increased. Further analysis shows that, while referring has become more objective and accurate, it is the stars who are leading the confrontation against the new system - because the Rules Don't Apply to Us. A very similar story to what has been happening in India. With social media becoming more prominent, the established mainstream media has no way to push the stories that they used to do earlier and build their own narrative. The suspension of @TrueIndology on Twitter for busting many of the myths of the “secular” gangs is a reaction to this. But change is inevitable, and a new order will take the place of the old, where...

A technology or a civilization is judged based on the problems it is trying to solve. The Western world sought to address the big challenges of science which led to breakthroughs such as the Theory of Relativity and also double-edged technologies such as nuclear science. The big questions that originated in India were related to us, what happens to us in the universe we exist in and how we can transcend it. Most of Indian thought started with questions and we see this in almost all the scriptures. The universe is vast and our knowledge is limited. The 7th-century BC Greek poet Archilochus is famous for one line: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing", while in the Mundaka Upanishad, Saunaka asks " What is that, through the knowledge of which, everything becomes known? " In other words what is the one big thing? Humanity has always been puzzled by death, the transition to the unknown . In the Katha Upanishad, the young boy Nachiketa...

From the first poem in the world, Valmik's Ramayana, comes a template for what he defines as a perfect human being. Valmiki asks the following question to Narada Who, in this world, is a person: 1) of great qualities, 2) of great valor, 3) of acute discernment about right and wrong, 4) that appreciates, remembers and is grateful for the help received from everyone, 5) that stands by his word all the time, 6) and pursues his goals to their completion, unswervingly? Who is a man 7) of great character, 8) who always wishes and does good to all beings, 9) who is well read about all aspects of life, 10) who is capable of getting the most challenging things done, 11) who is also approachable, personable and pleasing to all alike, at all times? Who is a person 12) of exemplary courage, 13) in complete control of his temperament, 14) of great intellect, 15) that is unbiased and doesn't indulge in slander, 16) and whose displeasure would be taken note of by even ...

Day 3: 19 April 2016 We're woken up at 4:45 AM by a cacophony of bird calls outside our room. I step out and am struck by the glorious view of the Kanchenjunga with the morning sunlight falling on it. There are times when the camera and words cannot capture the enormity of what you're seeing and this was one of those moments. We clicked dozens of photos of the mountain emerging over the clouds. Reports have come that the road to Lachung is still blocked and we may not be able to proceed. We go for a walk in the town on Mangan as we wait for the work to progress. As the district headquarters, Mangan has many government offices, schools and even a post office (PIN code 737116). The "Special Branch" also has an office with a great view of the mountains. Football (the global one and not the the American version where players use their hands and wear helmets!)  has a huge following in Sikkim and we cross what is probably one of the most scenic football gr...

Day Two We're awake at 5:30 AM and it's bright daylight. Our first sight of Sikkim in the daylight shows a land bursting with greenery and flowers.     The valley is shrouded in fog. Occasionally the fog lifts to show glimpses of the mountainside. Everything we see is in  panoramic mode - sweeping hills, rolling clouds and the fog appearing suddenly shrouding the entire landscape in grey. Before we have breakfast, we go for a quick round of birding - there are Mountain Bulbuls, Oriental White Eyes and lots of Mynas. We have a breakfast of Alu Parathas with yogurt and pickle, some toast and marmalade and the teas for which North East India is famous. Our plan for the day is to leave after breakfast for the town of Lachung, in Northern Sikkim. Lachung is the gateway to the Yumthang Valley and Zero Point in Yumesamdong beyond. While it is just 129 km (80 miles) away, the uphill ascent and the bad roads mean that it would take us close to six hours to get ther...