Author: manuscrypts

  • The divide and the rules

    It has been just over a year since I wrote “A responsible meritocracy“. My view was that meritocracy had indeed played a huge role in dislodging systemic inequalities (e.g. ethnicity, religion, even economic background) but not only is it not an ideal system, it is now widening the gulf between the haves and have-nots, and even creating entry barriers to prosperity. To use an adage from pop culture, it’s a hero which has lived long enough to see itself become a villain. Arguable, yes.

    Every system is bound to create two sets of people – those who benefit from it, and those who do not. I’d rate the success of a system on two counts – the ability of its beneficiaries to see the other side, and what they do about it.  The merit in a meritocracy is accrued courtesy intelligence/smartness. Intelligence is a means to creating the universally acknowledged currency – money. In that respect, I’d say that Silicon Valley has been a big beneficiary, and probably the most visible. (more…)

  • The Glass Palace

    Amitav Ghosh

    Where do I begin? Let’s start with stating the simple – I loved this book. I haven’t read such a poignantly moving book in quite a while!

    With that out of the way, the story actually begins in Mandalay (Burma) in 1885, during the last days of the Konbaung Dynasty. The British forcibly depose the Burmese King Thebaw, his queen Supayalat and their daughters from “The Glass Palace,” so named for the large central hall which had crystal walls and mirrored ceilings. As looters raid the palace, Rajkumar, an Indian boy of 11, catches a glimpse of Dolly, one of the queen’s maids and “by far the most beautiful creature he had ever beheld, of a loveliness beyond imagining.” (more…)

  • Life menus

    In last week’s post, I had referred to this excellent post – “How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds…” in the context of Google/Facebook/Amazon. As I had mentioned, I liked it because it had a direct connection with the can-want-need framework I (try to) use in my personal consumption. Specifically, his first point on the ‘menu’ and the illusion of choice. To quote from the post,

    When people are given a menu of choices, they rarely ask:

    • “what’s not on the menu?”
    • “why am I being given these options and not others?”
    • “do I know the menu provider’s goals?”
    • “is this menu empowering for my original need, or are the choices actually a distraction?” (e.g. an overwhelmingly array of toothpastes)

    (more…)

  • Equation – Punjabi by Nature

    If we go by the number of eateries found soon as you get down the Domlur flyover on the Indiranagar side, you’d think there is a famine on the other side. To add to Hoppipola, Mainland China, Barbeque Nation, Rajdhani and so on, we now have a Punjabi by Nature as well. We’ve liked the one at Koramangala, but found the Whitefield version  a bit meh. To give it a fair best of three, we decided to try out Equation – By Punjabi by Nature, one Sunday afternoon. (map, it’s in the same building as Linen Club)

    It has a couple of floors, and the terrace seating area, I’d think, would be fantastic for a night out, but on a Sunday afternoon when Bangalore was beginning to show its summer self, we decided to sit downstairs. If they’d kept the railing a little lower, we’d actually have a great view of 100 feet Road.

    A few of the Zomato reviews had given us the idea that this had a microbrewery just as the others did. I found no vats during our little tour, but still had hopes when I asked the service staff. They confirmed that they didn’t serve craft beer. I cried a little and then asked for an Acharoska. D felt so bad that she asked for a Peach Lassi, not even a cocktail. My drink wasn’t bad at all, the alcohol presence was well felt, though the Achaar was a bit over the top. The Lassi didn’t taste as well as it looked, and wasn’t particularly peachy, literally and otherwise.

    collage1 (more…)

  • Information & Interfaces

    I’m still stuck on the narrative of consumption – both on the intent and interest front, as I wrote in Intent, Interest & Internet Dominance, as well as on the interfaces through which it will happen, something I started writing on in Consumer- facing AI : Phase One.

    In this era of abundant choice, a device I use when fighting battles with myself on personal consumption is the can-want-need framework. ‘Can’ is made increasingly easier now because of convenience, ‘want’ by the choices around, and sticking to ‘need’ is a very difficult task! I read a really good post which has mirrored this in the (consumer) technology space – “How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds…“. (more…)