Outside of a dog, a Kindle is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read – Groucho Marx, c. 2007

How's the Market Today?

Yesterday I was reminded me of a comment made by a financial analyst during the last stock market boom – when your grandmother starts looking at the stock prices in newspapers, it’s time to move out. The cabbie who was driving me home from office had a “bhav copy” (a two-sheeter with closing stock prices, printed every trading day) tucked behind his steering wheel. So, there.

On Creativity and Education

I just heard this outstanding speech by Sir Ken Robinson on creativity and the role of our education system in nurturing it. It’s simple, inspiring, witty and profound – everything the current education system isn’t. He delivered it over a year ago at the TED conference. What a pity it took me this long to stumble across it. Listen to it, if you haven’t already. Actually listen to again even if you have. It’s beautiful.

Update: Got a couple of mails saying the download was somewhat patchy. So I've uploaded the mp3 version here. Hopefully this should be easier.

Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit

Today is my birthday. Not relevant for anybody but me.

But the text messages I’ve been receiving is indicative of the pressure a lot of friends are under. Most of the people don’t seem to be happy just wishing a happy birthday. There is almost a compulsion say something more interesting / smart / witty. So all sorts of contorted witticisms find their way to my inbox.

There was a time when greeting cards took away that pressure by being witty. So one just had to spend twenty bucks and bask in somebody else’s wit. Alas, e-greetings have taken that pleasure away. Most of the e-greetings are too busy serving up gif files of cartoons to have anything smart to say. Ditto for mobiles and their dry emoticons. Hence most people are left in the lurch trying to be smart while messaging their friends. Which leads to me believe that people may be willing to pay money to be able to easily access smart quotes for birthdays, anniversaries etc. It saves them the time and trouble of thinking too much and makes them feel good. So what if they aren’t able to conjure it themselves, at least they’ll be seen as having the right sensibilities to choose and appreciate the smart lines; the way I've headlined this post by borrowing a quote from Oscar Wilde. Am I not smart?!!