Suresh Chandrasekaran's Blog, page 32

Fruity Friends?

"I think friends are like fruits", said my friend, musingly. I looked up in alarm. He did say 'fruits', didn't he, and not 'fruitcakes'? For some unknown reason when a person is called a 'fruitcake', some chaps think that he means that the person is a shy a few brain cells. And you do know what my friends generally think of me. "Some are like apples. Just like you can readily enjoy an

Self-satisfying philosophy

You know, the problem with most philosophy is that it wants you to do things that you do not want to do; and not do the things that you do want to do. Religion, for example. I mean, like, you are not to allowed to gorge yourself, not allowed to boast about how you got the better of your neighbor, not allowed to leer at anyone other than your own spouse...No wonder it took burning at the

Better to have loved and lost?

"It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all", says this friend and smirks at me. Why smirk at me? It's obvious that I have not 'loved and won' or, at least, held on to my 'winnings', considering that I am single (And put a sock in your mouth if you are about to bleat 'ready to mingle'.) But exactly why should he assume that I am of those who have 'never loved at all',

Confusing proverbs

It may only be me (which, as we all know, means 'Of course, it is not only me') but I really do think that there are these proverbs put in primarily to confuse people. It is almost like two people with diametrically opposite views started firing proverbs at each other. AND, instead of organizing it in two separate 'isms', people put it all together higgledy-piggledy and peddled the whole thing

Do thine duty

You know what, it is astonishing how we have such a keen eye for what other people's duties are and how they are doing it. As for our own...well, truly, do you really expect me to do anything? But that is what I set out to talk about. It is more about that thing everyone spouts from the Bhagavad Gita - 'Karmanyeva adhikaaraste maphaleshu kadachana'. Yeah, the same 'Do thine duty, bother not

Selfish altruism?

"People think just because someone is doing something altruistic that person is noble. Nonsense", I burst out. My friend looked up with that expression that I knew so well. The one that said that, before the conversation was over, I would be feeling six nano-meters tall and crawl out vanquished. Not this time, by God, I had impeccable logic on my side. "I'm sure you have a strong reason

A human resource

The sort of things which make people happy leave me stumped. Especially when it comes to the corporate world. No wonder my managers found me impossible to manage. Like, take this 'Human Resources' for example. Employees of an organisation were dealt with by what used to be called the 'Personnel Department'. I never had realized that to consider people as 'Personnel' made them inferior to the

I am illiberal?

You know how it goes when you are in your teens and tweens. You just love the idea of labeling yourself - atheist, cynic, what have you. More often than not, it is a label that is the in-thing for the day, for what is the point in troubling to label yourself only to be a rank outsider for all your peers? And, in my time, liberal was the thing to be and, so, I counted myself a liberal.

Unreasonably reasonable

Maybe it is only me (I KNOW this is usually used as a euphemism for 'Of course if you do not agree, YOU must be crazy' but I REALLY mean it at face value, believe me) but I find that most of the so-called virtues, when practised by others end up being vices as far as I am concerned. (Yes, of course, virtues are defined as what does good to me and vices are those that do not) You know, like

Convincing Insults?

There was this time, in my long gone childhood, when I had a rooted conviction that 2+2 equaled 5. At that time, between my father and my math teacher, I probably learned every possible synonym that could be used to call someone mentally deficient. After being so insulted I eventually conceded that 2+2 may well be equal to 4 after all. I believe that there are countries in the world today