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!

Goofiness pays off, sometimes!

http://www.dana.org/news/blog.aspx?id=19488

Malavika continues to extract her pound of usury flesh, 20% of all winnings!

Online Mind Reader

http://www.getyourmindread.com/

How do you think it works?

Courtroom Laughs

Courtroom Laughs

These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and
are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now
published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these
exchanges were actually taking place.
> >
ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that
morning?
WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!
> > ____________________________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
> > ____________________________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.
> > ____________________________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you
forgot?
> > ___________________________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in
voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do.
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.
> > ____________________________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his
sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
> > ____________________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: The youngest s on, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He's twenty, much like your IQ.
> > ________ _____ ______________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you shitting me?
> > _________________________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: getting laid
> > ____________________________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get
a new attorney?
> > ____________________________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.
> >
> > __________________________________ ______ ____
> >
ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the circus was in town, I'm going with male.
> > ___________ __________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a
deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
> > ______________________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on
dead people?
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.
> > _________________________________________
> >
ATTORNEY: All your responses must be oral, OK? What school did you
go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
> > _________________________________________
> >
> > ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
> > WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
> > ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
> > WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.
> > ____________________________________________
> >
> > ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
> > WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?
> > ______________________________________
> >
> > And the best for last:
> >
> > ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check
for a
> > pulse?
> > WITNESS: No.
> > ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
> > WITNESS: No.
> > ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
> > WITNESS: No.
> > ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when
you began the autopsy?
> > WITNESS: No.
> > ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
> > WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
> > ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive,
nevertheless?
> > WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and
practicing law.
> >