Taxiforsure.com, an aggregator of taxis and car rentals, aims to ensure that commuters find a cab easily with transparent fares. In conversation with co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna. ….
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Month: December 2012
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A larger plan
Most of everyone who knows me would agree that I am a compulsive planner. This habit has been reinforced on several occasions when I have been better prepared than others in situations. However, I also believe that it is quite a trade-off – between the safety of knowing in advance what to expect and the thrill and joy of leaving oneself open to an experience. The middle path is quite difficult to achieve in this case.
That was why I was very intrigued by the phrase – Negative Capability – the willingness to embrace uncertainty, live with mystery, and make peace with ambiguity. From experience, it is forced upon us too. The best laid plans can go awry often because even the best of minds cannot sometimes envision every possible scenario. That’s not the only time I have been humbled by the limitations of the human mind. From something as simple as understanding what’s really going on in another person’s mind (not to mention my own understanding of my mind) even as they tell you things to larger questions on purpose and destiny, we’d be fools to think that we can know the mechanism of everything around us.
But as humanity progresses, is there a tendency to convert everything to science, or a skill/process that anyone so inclined can master? As we discover more, I wonder if there is a collective ego that develops and one that says we can understand and control everything around us. As a race, are we becoming increasingly intolerant towards uncertainty?
But as this post says, the idea that the current version of our mind is only one step in evolution is very compelling. I wonder if, by increasingly closing our mind to uncertainty, we are moving in a direction opposite the one that will help us solve the greatest puzzle of it all – why are we here?
until next time, what’s your plan?
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The Diary of an Unreasonable Man
Madhav Mathur
Many of us could identify with Pranav Kumar, the advertising executive who suddenly thinks out of his cubicle and realises the perils of this generation’s materialism driven existence. But he’s an aspiring author too, so he quits his job and tries to change the world through his writing. But the publishers aren’t really interested in the social commentary and opinions of an unknown person. And that’s when he decides to really do something.
With a little help from his friends, he treads the anarchist path and tries to shock the system into taking notice of what he’s trying to say. The creativity of his campaigns ensures he gets all the attention from the media and the public, and then some that he didn’t really ask for – the cops and the underworld, because he has managed to disrupt the lives of many important people.
The book reminded me of the film ‘A Wednesday’ in terms of the basic premise – the common man shocking the system. But the author treats anarchy with the same irreverence that the protagonist has for consumerist society. The plot is fairly simplistic, despite the creative disruptions, and so is the climax. It is perhaps this simplistic approach that takes away from the believability of the book. But it still is a fun read.