Eclectica...

The drama season is finally over! I played a small role in "Tenant Commandments" by StageFriends USA and we staged it in Houston, Boston, New York City and New Jersey.  This is the second year I'm hanging with the team and it is certainly heartening to find a nice accommodative extended family. The pics from the play in Boston are hosted at http://picasaweb.google.co.in/balaji.manoharan/NewEnglandTamilSangamChithiraiVizha?feat=email#

Malcolm Gladwell's thoughtful pieces are always interesting. His article about Davids taking on Goliaths in the New Yorker serendipitously touched on another of my favorite topics - the success of my legendary ex-Boss, Vivek Ranadive.  http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell?printable=true

Fluid Intelligence (Gf)

Is intelligence entirely inherited? Apparently environment plays a big role in nurturing and developing intelligence. If you are interested in boosting your performance in intelligence tests, the way to do it is by increasing your "working memory". Here is a NYTimes column on the training you need to boost your Gf.

http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/guest-column-can-we-increase-our-intelligence/

Now, after reading the article you are probably curious if there is already a version of the training software available. Fortunately, there is and I have the link. Send me an email and I will pass it on. rjgpl at yahoo dot com.

Maya Angelou in Letter to My Daughter

* You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
* Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity.
* Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.
* Never whine. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood.
* Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking and you might find a new solution.
* Be charitable. Being charitable doesn't always involve a monetary gift; you can be charitable with a smile and a kind word.
* Kids make mistakes; its ok to love them through it
* When you are genuinely proud of your children, you give them permission to be proud of themselves.
* Miracles can happen through prayer. (uh...oh! -rg)
* When people ask, "How are you?" have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully.
* A friend may be waiting behind a stranger's face.
* Each of us must care enough for ourselves, that we can be ready and able to come to our own defense when and wherever needed.
* You are never too old to find true love.

Aravind Adiga

Of course, The White Tiger won the Booker. And deservedly so. His writing is edgy and captures the contemporary scene in India, post-globalization and call centers. His recent novellette in New Yorker ( http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2009/01/26/090126fi_fiction_adiga ) continues the wildlife theme with the title - The Elephant.

If I understand him right, he seems resigned to the stratification of socio-economic classes with one notable exception - the really intelligent villager or slumdog who by dint of smarts outwits the glass and steel ceilings to break free and bubble up into frothy riches. I certainly see a theme running through his stories and a story like Slumdog Millionaire. A combination of healthy curiosity, intelligence and luck by chance seems to propel the protoganist to reaching their destiny.

Talking of books, I was wondering if there would be sufficient interest in starting an eclectic "discussion" club which might include a session on a topical book every so often. My zipcode of choice is 08540. Let me know if there is interest and I shall tabulate a quorum.

Metaphors and Tamil Plays

One of my abiding interests is the use of metaphor and allegory in popular entertainment. The kind when a Cigar is not just a cigar ( ;-) ). Sometimes we underestimate the use of metaphors and simply pass them by without a second glance. As you may or may not know, I participate in an informal Tamil drama group, Stagefriends (http://www.stagefriendsusa.com/index2.html ). Our next venture is a Crazy Mohan play called Tenant Commandments. S Ve Shekar staged this in Madras and called it "Oru Sondha Veedu Vaadagai Veedagiradhu". The play is all about an autocratic landlord who indulges in much schadenfreude, harassing his tenants. As I prepared and learned the lines, I was struck by the similarity of the Indian American immigrant experience - Uncle Sam as the landlord while the hapless H-1B seeks tenancy. I will not belabor the metaphor and will leave it to you to show up for the staging of the play in New Jersey - sometime in May. Our premiere will be in Houston in March.

Which teacher impressed you most?

Usually Malcolm Gladwell touches topics that are of current interest and has something interesting to say about it. I like his writing style. Here he takes on one of our favorite topics - what makes a great teacher?

http://www.gladwell.com/2008/2008_12_15_a_teacher.html

A slice of Life at Stuyvesant...

We thoroughly enjoyed the NYTimes piece

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html#/omika_jikaria

Life for teenagers these days is all about depth ...

Do spend a little time on the comments the story attracted!