Vision 2010

And yet another year ends and yet another one begins…here are a list of things I intend to do before 2010 ends.

Mistletoe: Bring to life what I have had in mind since my 3rd grade summer vacations at gran’s place and every time I read an Enid Blyton…my own farm! The plan is to buy or lease some farmland at Ottapalam, Kerala. From simple paddy cultivation to high end organic farming to a dairy farm, there is a wide range of options! I get to try my hand at solving the food problem and I get to provide employment to three people who were a BIG part of my childhood! Operational Status: Feb 2010

Amazon: Dedicated to all the “Oscars” I reared! For the uninitiated an Oscar is a popular and intelligent aquarium fish with its origins in the Amazon River. The plan is to set up my own pet store in Coimbatore and change that landscape forever. Create a whole new “experience” around rearing a pet! Finalize business model: June 2010, Operational Status: Oct 2010

Ironman: Two years ago I got myself a Lego Mindstorm NXT robo kit to build on what A and me started off at the Robotics lab in Pilani. This year’s acquisition list includes the Mindstorm V2. The plan is to build myself a couple of “intelligent bots” with operational capabilities that include fetching beer from the fridge. V2 Acquisition: Jan 2010, Robolab Set Up: June 2010, Beer Test: Sep 2010

Roar: Get involved with an organization that is fighting to save what is left of India’s wildlife and forests. Do everything I can to keep the 1400 wild tigers in India from going extinct…because if the tiger goes, we go too.

X: Work on coming up with two viable business plans…Dec 2010

Fighting Fit: Continue to build on the health focus from 09’, run at least 20km a week, gym thrice a week, eat healthy and sleep 7 hours a day. 70kgs of a tough lean fighting machine by December 2010.

Family “pack” to be made up of two german shepherds and me…June 2010

Travel to at least one of these three places – Ranthambore, Dudhwa, Kazhiranga

Travel to one new country on personal time and money

Version Merlin

The Buddha Operating System was first established in 2005 as a Gen 1.0 framework to life. Its precursor, Project Brahma, was a Gen 0.0 prototype, which first toyed with the concept of a life operating system. The Buddha OS established eight logic rules aimed at navigating the intricacies of life. Its foundation was built on a few Ayn Rand concepts laced with other experience-based truths. It also formalized the 9th Knight and the 9th Dragon orders – the list of forever friends & foes.

Version Nomadic: Over the years, keeping pace with an evolving truth, the Buddha OS underwent two critical upgrades. In 2007, the Nomadic framework was established with an addition of three logic points and an elaboration of the original eight logic points. Logic #11, “Making the highest exception for your highest love” was introduced to resolve any fuzziness while implementing the prior logic points. Contrary to its original intent, logic#11 introduced a near fatal flaw in the OS which was primarily driven by an incorrect interpretation of the logic. When interpreted incorrectly, Logic #11 inadvertently created the illusion of a contradiction, directly violating logic#1. This led to multiple OS crashes in late 2007 and the very core was threatened.

Version Invincible: In early 2008, the Invincible framework was established. This framework was meant to fix the apparent flaw in logic #11. However, at this point the real flaw in logic #11 was still unclear. While there was a sense that it was causing the overall OS to crash, the root cause of the failure was not established. Invincible then introduced logic#12, “the principle of this far and thus no further”, to be used as an override to logic #11. Instead of determining the real meaning of logic#11, it established that logic#11 excluded self-destruction from the definition of “exceptions”. The Invincible framework succeeded in stopping the destruction of the core. But at best it was a stopgap measure.

Version Merlin Genesis: The Merlin framework owes its genesis to an evolving “self awareness” within the Buddha OS as it continued to operate on the Invincible mode. The first key breakthrough came when, based on new inputs, duality was challenged and the OS grappled with the concept of trinity for the first time. To Know, To Experience and To Be - this concept represented a quantum leap in the way the OS operated. The second breakthrough was made in early 2009 when the contradiction in Logic #11 resolved itself into its false premise. The OS determined that one’s highest love had to be oneself and no other. When the student is ready, the master always appears. The self aware OS had discovered the wizard within - Merlin had made his appearance.

The Nomadic and the Invincible frameworks were incremental in nature. However, the Merlin framework represents an exponential change to the Buddha Operating System. The Merlin framework is a “life-dominance” OS and reflects a self-aware OS which is now able to go beyond operating within a structured logical framework to an OS which, under certain operating paradigms, constantly adapts and evolves. Version Merlin will introduce only one additional logic point to the OS - The Thirteenth Logic. Logic#13 will broadly define the operating paradigms of the Merlin framework and will override any of the prior logic points, should such conflicts arise.

Version Merlin:
Logic#13:

#13.1 Eliminates the illusion of a contradiction in logic#11 by recognizing that one’s highest love is oneself.

#13.2 Eliminates Logic#12 by clarifying logic#11 and by recognizing that self-destruction is impossible.

#13.3 Eliminates the concept of linear time by refusing to recognize the past and the future. Fully directs all attention and available resources to the present moment.

#13.4 Eliminates duality as an absolute truth. Good & bad are not absolutes, only relative references.

#13.5 Establishes observing instead of judging and separates the observer from the observed.

#13.6 As a consequence of eliminating duality, eliminates the 9th Knight & the 9th Dragon orders.

#13.7 Eliminates all predefined mental constructs and automatically evokes the “highest” response to any given situation or circumstances.

#13.8 Fully recognizes that life is perfect and there is nothing to accomplish except To Be.

Once again, recompiling and restarting. And Being.

Captain's Log #270109

The last time I tried a three-day transcontinental trip I ended up with facial palsy. Was an interesting experience, to say the least, and I remember promising myself to not be that stupid again. With the subsequent return of my face to its normal elastic condition, the lessons and the promises were soon forgotten. This past weekend, I attempted stupidity again. Thankfully, there were no disastrous consequences this time around and I remained in full control of my face throughout the weekend. As always, had some interesting travel experiences.

On the flight from Frankfurt to Chennai, had my seat changed at the last minute. A few hours into the flight, ended up striking a conversation with Ms D, seated next to me. I’ve always had a little bit of the philosopher in me, or so I’d like to think. What started off as the “do good and go to heaven” philosophy as a kid evolved into an objectivist “I” oriented one with “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged”. Didn’t find all the answers to the questions there and the quest hit another tipping point with “Conversations with God”. More tangents from there eventually led me to my current pursuit of the Zenist philosophy of mindful living. On my current reading shelf are the following books, “The Power of Now” and “A 10 week course on Mindfulness”. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear, so goes the saying. Ms D ended up being a ”Mindful Living” teacher. What followed was a very interesting conversation on spirituality and coincidences. I could feel the universe winking at me. I winked back.

The flight from Chennai to Coimbatore saw me sitting next to a random person. And no, it’s never that interesting twenty something year old girl that I know is long due. The random person had the book “Debt of Honor” by Clancy. Being quite the Jack Ryan fan, I remarked to him that it was a good book. I was sleepy and we spoke no more. The universe would have none of it. No surprises then, when I found myself seated next to the same guy on the flight back from Coimbatore. I told Mr. A that the occasion called for an introduction. Mr. A happened to be the CEO of the Indian arm of a well known MNC and what followed was an interesting conversation on the world and it’s various economies. I didn’t even battle an eyelid when he told me that he was going to be in Chicago next month – his office is right across the one I will be based out of the next four months. More winks.

On a non-travel related note, met KK during the break and we ran a couple of laps at the uber prestigious “Race Course” in Coimbatore. Long ways from the time I used to gape at people running there on my way to school. There are few things that would motivate me to miss the Republic day parade on TV, and a chance to catch up with KK rates as one of them. The guy is phenomenal – a bundle of energy with a superb attitude to life. Walked off feeling super energized and extremely bullish on life. So much so, decided to shamelessly copy KK’s resolution for the year – “Fighting Fit” albeit with my own tweaks to it. For anyone in Chennai, look him up for getting involved in a wide spectrum of activities – running, cricket, frisbee, volunteering and entrepreneurship.

And finally, I have traveled a ton the last couple of years across multiple airlines. I’ve had a wide range of experiences – from the fabulous to the notorious. However, nothing prepared me for the question from the “premiere” class Jet Airways cabin crewmember “Sir – can I make the bed for you?“. And she then proceeded to actually convert my seat into a full stretch bed. I’ll admit, it did feel a little weird, but I’ve never slept that comfortably at 37000ft before. All those lessons on “Wowing the Customer”, and I finally saw a superb demonstration of the concept.

It feels good to be back, in more ways than one. Safe travels, everyone! Over & Out.

The Keeper of the Goats

Ten unforgettable childhood vacations. The one place I still return to when I want to get away from it all. When I feel the need to find myself, stay grounded. When I need to remind myself where a lot of it began. The days when without any hesitation, for two months every year I proudly proclaimed myself to be "The Keeper of the Goats". Someday soon, I'll finish everything I promised I'll do.

Closure.

He had had more than a year to get over it all. Now he had a few miles. To think about it all. To attempt to make his peace with it. Or to let the wound fester forever.

Deep down he had known it would come to this. That this was the only ending possible. And yet he had made excuses for the both of them. He had refused to accept. He had forever thought that strength lay in holding on, now he was forced to consider how much more strength it would take to let go.

As he ran the miles, he started back from the very beginning. A cold and violent November night more than a decade ago. Lightning. And he was certain, fully soaked with the invincibility of his age. Nothing seemed impossible and the universe seemed to conspire to grant him his wishes. He wished. Some of them on shooting stars. Two years later, the universe granted him his deal. He was high on life and on her. Simple. Strong. Mutual.

More miles. More years. He laughed at a corny quote “Absence does to love what wind does to fire, inflames the strongest, extinguishes the weakest”. All he knew was when two flames came together, the fire only grew taller. He was put to the test. He passed, barely. He believed in graphs and that after the lowest lows only the highest highs remained. She was strong. She was perfect.

More miles. The muscles began to scream. He wondered if there was some truth to using the pain in the body to forget the pain in the mind. More years. A blur. Cracks. Expectations. Fundamentals. Great times. He tried running faster, hoping that it would bring clarity. But it was not to be. It was hard to see what went wrong. It was futile to find someone to blame. He was used to seeking false premises to uncover contradictions. He found many and he found none. And then that fateful call.

The last few miles. The last year. He saw himself at his worst. He had never imagined he could be destroyed. He was, many times over. He had never imagined that some problems were beyond solving. He had found the unconquerable. The tears, the madness, the pain. To the point where he was disgusted with himself. He hated himself. And he loved her. They told him it wasn’t the end and years later it would all seem trivial. He only recognized the moment. He tried every trick in the book. He hung on, barely. He imagined it was worse for her. He would never know.

The last mile. The last straw. He had asked for one last favor. It was not to be. There was to be no setting the record straight. He reached the end of the road. He dug deeper. It was now or never. The sun was fast setting and the cold biting. Cleansing. The answer stared at him, from eleven years ago. He had felt an absolute. One that required no other. Somewhere along the way, he had forgotten. He had given the keys away.

He stopped. He had always maintained that he would make the highest exception to the one he loved the most. He saw the fatal flaw in the logic and the fix. He had always thought of her as his highest love. He was wrong. He was himself his highest love. No other was possible, not her, not anyone. He smiled. Then and there, he made his highest exception. He finally forgave himself. There was no one else to forgive. There was no bitterness, no hatred, no regrets. He withdrew what he had granted to her, that which he realized wasn’t ever grantable. He felt exactly what he felt about her years ago. Absolutes. The last few steps were the summation and his recognition of his past with her and his peace with his present. And her future.

Closure. He made it, with seconds to spare. He was invincible, again.

Things to do...

Keyed this one during a transatlantic trip, and reading it one more time makes me wonder....But anyways, here are some of the things I want to do,before I use up my 650,000 hours. These are in no specific order.

# Make a trip to Africa,to the Serengeti…watch the lions, the elephants, the cheetah, the hyenas, the wild dogs, the buffalo. Dance with the Masai.[Made a trip to the Masai Marra plains in Kenya and watched the Masai dance...heck, you could watch the whole cosmic dance on those plains!!...done & done!]

# See a tiger in the wild…before its too late. Meet Billy Arjan Singh…and tell him “Thank You”. Listen to stories about Tara, Prince and Eelie. [Billy moved to the happy hunting grounds a few days after I made up my mind to visit Dudhwa...this one will never be done and will always remind me to seize the moment! ]

# Fly a plane…all by myself. Actually say, “Tower, Eagle One is now ready for takeoff”. Take that trip to space and be stunned at the view.

# Trek the Appalachians…to determine if life makes more sense at the end of it

# Run a marathon…to exorcise all those “running race” fears from my school days.

# Live for 3 months at Manhattan….run at Central Park everyday. Make my peace with mankind.

# Make a long road trip in a jeep…with two german shepherds. Meet a girl on the way…also with two german shepherds…jeep optional. [Got the order and the details a little mixed up, but this one is done...got two labradors, met a girl with two labradors and we have driven 30,000 km in a car to date...close enough!!]

# Trek from Noradhar to Churdhar one more time. Run a fever at the end of it. Feel cleansed.

# Start a company…do the unthinkable. Redefine “going to work”. Create. Be a primary mover.

# Live for a month in a small fishing town by the sea. Watch a few storms. Listen to stories over beer. Go fishing.

# Spend a month at Topslip. Learn to track animals. Work towards better management of wildlife sanctuaries on the Western Ghats

# Own a farm….like the one in “Six Cousins Again”. Cows, horses, dogs, and high tea.

# Have a “private” runway in the farm, to fly RF planes. Fix cameras on the plane and have “real-time” intelligence capability…a capability I wish I had in 11th grade

# Rehabilitate all “domestic” elephants into the wild

# Learn to play the guitar.

# Feel the way I felt on a cold, violent November night….one more time.[Blitzkrieg yet again!]

Version Invincible

January 1st 2008. A New Beginning. I’ve spent half the day on the phone and a few hours watching a really nice Tamil flick. Now, an extra hot caramel macchiato in hand, at my usual corner in Starbucks and watching just the hint of snowflakes sailing down, I think its time to launch Version Invincible of the Buddha OS.

Logic #11: Fuzzy logic – Make your highest exception(s) for the one(s) you love the most. So when all other logic points lead to a fuzzy conclusion, make the exception. At this point, contradictions disappear, faith is rewarded, winning and losing don’t matter, deceptions vanish and happiness is experienced. By definition an exception is a condition unacceptable to you, but acceptable to the one(s) you love most.

Logic #12: Invincible Function- The principle of “This far, and thus no further”. This is based on an ex Air Force Chief’s advice to his pilots that they shouldn’t kill themselves by attempting to save a plane that is beyond saving, and to bail out at a certain self preservation point. Timing is critical. Self-preservation is key and the highest exception from logic #11 excludes self-destruction.

Time to compile, reboot and start all over again.

Nomadic Notes #1

7:30AM. Local Time. Frankfurt International Airport:
I have 2 hours before my flight from Frankfurt to Chicago starts boarding. For someone who has spent the last 8 hours in a metal cage at 38,000 ft and the 12 hours before that sitting in the same spot at Chennai (Anna) International Airport, I feel pretty good, not outstanding, but definitely good. The German coffee is helping. It only seems appropriate to take a few minutes to key in my thoughts at this random place/hour. This is my fifth transcontinental trip this year, and I can almost hear my body screaming in protest. Work engulfs everything, or at least I’d like to think it does, and the balance with life seems to be swinging the wrong way. The wins and the losses from ’07 seem to be adding up the wrong way as well. Yet, as I think about it, “Travel”, my newfound friend, has helped me gain a better insight into life and its mysteries. Here are some of those insights…

·Faith: When the massive Boeing 747 shudders in the turbulence at 38,000ft, like a powerless toy, and you still make that smooth touchdown. Faith, in the outcome of events you cannot control or influence, faith in people doing their jobs to the best of their abilities, faith that the Universe will take care of you, as you try your best to take care of the Universe.

·Joy: When the German Lufthansa employee said “Merry Christmas” and gave me a free upgrade to First Class. Joy, at all those little surprises in life.

·Patience: Sitting inside a plane on the runway for 3 hours, waiting for a software glitch to disappear, watching a few people at their worst, unreasonable selves. Patience, where aggression was of no help.

·Goodness: When R, an airline employee my mom met on a bus she takes to work everyday, went out of her way to help me get an alternative flight when the original one was cancelled. When V, R’s colleague, went out of his way to get all my flights rescheduled, when he had no obligation to help. People are good and helpful, and that’s more the norm than the exception. I wonder if I always thought otherwise.

·Appreciation: When on a crazy Christmas night, after 2 hours of trying to get the engines to work, after half the passengers walked out, and a quarter screaming in protest, I told the tired co-pilot that I really appreciated what he and the others were doing to get the plane to fly…and he smiled a grateful smile. That flight was eventually cancelled; I still meant what I told him. Appreciation, where it’s truly deserved.

·Friendship: When 4 best buddies get me through a long, horribly depressing 12 hours at an airport by chatting incessantly on gtalk, despite having their own stuff to take care of. One of my lowest “mental” moments, and yet these 4 had me in decent shape by the time I took off. Friendship, unconditionally. V, M, D & N, Thanks!

·A Higher Force: When I ran into friends and acquaintances at random airports, when the statistical probability of such occurrences was negligible and yet they occurred. “The Alchemist” taught me that if I desired something a lot, the Universe would conspire to get it for me. My travels and my life in general has convinced me that the Universe is a friend, an omnipresent force, that looks out for me even as it conspires with me. Everything happens for the good.

Safe Travels! May the Force be with you!

Version Nomadic

Sunday afternoons have always been tough, at least for me, for as long as I can remember. And sitting in a mostly empty but elegantly built corporate office somewhere in the wrong part of the world, I am amazed and somewhat amused that I still feel the same way about Sunday afternoons. It’s a strange feeling, a mixture of loneliness and despair and I find myself questioning my normally bullish attitude to life. My still school based life-attitude and philosophy comes under intense scrutiny and I seem to notice clouds I don’t normally see on the horizon. But this moment too shall pass, just as surely as it will come back to haunt me again. And as I channeled the power of the web in an attempt to get through the afternoon, I found myself looking at my long forgotten blog with its one single post, written about two years ago. That was back when I was bitten by the blogging bug, but right after the first post, a total lack of confidence in my writing skills killed any future posts. Till today. And I think, today, I am just posting to myself. The writing skills be damned.

So I decided to do a self-appraisal, a validation of sorts, to what I had deemed as logic points for my life operating system – The Buddha OS. And as with any operating system, release an upgrade. Launching, two years after inception, The Buddha OS – Version Nomadic

Logic #1: You can have no contradictions in life. When you encounter a contradiction check your premises, one of them will be false. Eliminate all such false premises. Keep life contradiction free.

Logic #2: You must always have faith in the process in everything. Life takes care of the betrayals.

Logic #3: You must prioritize your battles. It is futile to try and fight all the battles at once. And make sure you only fight the right ones. Sometimes you win by walking away

Logic #4: The best form of deception is the truth or a version of the truth. Just stick with the truth. And stop deceiving yourself.

Logic #5: Every force has an opposing force. To win you must always fight a certain force with its opposing force. Use logic #3 first to determine battle priority, win conditions and use of force. Then apply logic #5.

Logic #6: That which does not matter, you must let it pass. And when it doesn’t pass fast enough, look at the night sky for a cosmic perspective.

Logic #7: In matters of offence, you must strike swiftly ,forcing your enemy into indecision and thereby giving you a chance to make swift gains, which you then use to negotiate from a position of strength and decisively and eliminate the opposition forever.Keep a high bar for what can be deemed a matter of offense. Fully integrate with Order of the 9th Dragon.

Logic #8: There is no pot of gold happiness waiting for you at the end of the rainbow. The gold happiness is scattered all across the rainbow. Gold is not equal to happiness. And happiness isn’t limited to any one color in the rainbow. Take your time, enjoy the ride and make sure you experience all the colors.

Logic #9: System Scalability Balance - Never grow up at the cost of core values and dreams. If it seemed important in school, it’s still important. Disregard arguments and advice built on words like “sensible”, “practical” and “economic sense”.

Logic #10:: Reusable system blocks - Respectful. Simplicity. Passionate. Honesty.

Logic #11: Fuzzy logic – Make your highest exception(s) for the one(s) you love the most. So when all other logic points lead to a fuzzy conclusion, make the exception. At this point, contradictions disappear, faith is rewarded, winning and losing don’t matter, deceptions vanish and happiness is experienced.

The Beginning...

Enlightenment! And then the Buddha Smiled.

The Buddha OS is my attempt at simplifying life, my attempt at making life a little more understandable and user friendly. It is built on a backbone of copyrighted Single Kid Intelligence and Imagination Concepts(SKIIC). Having been On the Buddha OS for a while now, it only seems right that my first post explain the core of this OS.

The Source Code:
Logic #1: You can have no contradictions in life. When you encounter a contradiction check your premises, one of them will be wrong (Ayn Rand)
Implication: So when you think the dog likes you and you end up getting bitten, there is no contradiction, either the dog didn’t like you or his bite was an expression of love
Logic #2: You must always have faith in the process
Logic #3: You must prioritize your battles. It is futile to try and fight all the battles at once.
Logic #4: The best form of deception is the truth or a version of the truth (Army Doctrine)
Logic #5: Every force has an opposing force. To win you must always fight a certain force with its opposing force. (Newton and Kung Fu Principles)
Implication: So when you get shouted at, whisper back. You will win.
Logic #6: That which does not matter, you must let it pass (RN)
Logic #7: In matters of offence, you must strike swiftly, forcing your enemy into indecision and thereby giving you a chance to make swift gains, which you then use to negotiate from a position of strength. (The Cold Start Doctrine)
Logic #8: There is no pot of gold waiting for you at the end of the rainbow. The gold is scattered all across the rainbow
Implication: So take your time, there is no hurry to reach the end.
Note: Future Service Packs will incorporate added/deleted logic

The Plug In’s
The Order of the Ninth Knight: You hold anyone who makes it to this list as a friend for life
The Order of the Ninth Dragon: You hold anyone who makes it to this list as a foe for life
Note: The above lists only have a add feature and are devoid of the delete/edit option. The lists are also unconditional.

Beta Concepts
The 110th Cockroach Battalion
The 9th Ghost Battalion
Note: These are probable third generation concepts. Imagine having two battalions at your command.

Copyright/Registration
The Buddha OS is Open Source and one is free to Install/Uninstall/Modify/Ignore