Background
I was born in Pondicherry, India in 1978. I attended kindergarten at SAICE, and our family moved to Hyderabad shortly after. I did most of my schooling in Bangalore, studying initially at FAPS, and then training to be an engineer at RVCE. Having been disappointed deeply by the factory-mindset of our educational institutions, I’d thirsted for years for a chance to be a part of a true learning environment, a center of excellence. The patience paid-off in 2003 when I joined Columbia in New York. I had my first graduate research experience studying neural networks & machine learning at LabROSA, and enjoyed every day of the time I spent at school.
An unexpected transition
Mid-way through the Masters, I realized my chances of getting employed in engineering were fairly slim, and on the urging of my room-mate, decided to try finding a job in finance. Ten months of rejections and uncertainty ended in August ’04 when I got my first break in the world of fixed-income, derivatives, and capital markets. This was to be my front-row Madison-Square-Garden ticket to the financial crisis. Along the way, I completed an MBA from Stern @ NYU. The ten+ years in NYC have shaped me in many ways, only some of which I might be actually conscious of. In retrospect, I can only be thankful to the ooper-wallah for it all.
Interests
Music, Poetry, Trekking & Photography. Principally Music and Poetry.
My love for reading poetry or in some cases penning down my poems has been with me since I can remember. Musically, I am inclined towards classical music – both Western and Indian. I learned the Tabla for a number of years, playing through school and college. More recently, I spent some time learning Hindustani vocal and intended to learn the Sarod.
General Philosophy
This blog only attempts to be a record of a thought that labours, “..a bullock in Time’s fields”. I am significantly influenced by my readings, in particular those of Sri Aurobindo & The Mother. My views/opinions/thoughts should of course not be taken as being implied in any way in Their writings.
“a part is seen, we take it for the whole”
I have a finite perspective, and my understanding and conclusions are necessarily based on partial data. In general, I find the weight of social opinion too heavy. I try and not carry it.
Opinions
..are seldom static. What I wrote or opined even a month ago could well have changed. I feel no pressure to be consistent with my past views. I value swiftly moving on from a poor idea than demonstrate fidelity to a past notion.
Proof
I believe I make a reasonable effort at providing references. At times, though the source may well be subjective – it could be an impression left by one or more readings, conversations or other influences. An impression could very well be unjustified, but neither the absence of ‘proof’ to support it, nor the supposed ‘presence’ of it can necessarily justify it completely. In fact, along these lines, here is an excerpt of an essay which illustrates this issue perfectly:
“Logic claims & even honestly attempts to get rid of predilection and to see things in the sure light of truth, but it is not equal to its task; our nature is full of subtle disguises and, the moment we form an opinion, attaches itself to it & secretly takes it under its protection under pretence of an exclusive attachment to Truth or a militant zeal for reason & the right opinion. We come to our subject with a predisposition towards a particular kind of solution established either in our feelings, in our previous education & formed ways of thinking or in our temperament & very cast of character. We seize passionately or we select deliberately & reasonably the arguments that favour our conclusion; we reject, whether with impatience or after scrupulous & fair attention, the arguments that would shake it. Logic, a malleable & pliant servitor behind all its air of dry & honest rigidity, asks only that it should be provided with suitable premises, unsuitable premises excluded or explained away, & its conscience is entirely satisfied. We perform the comedy with perfect sincerity, but it is still a comedy which Nature plays with us; our garb of intellectual stoicism has concealed from ourselves, the epicure of his own dish of thoughts, the mind enamoured of its favourite ideas.”
– from Sri Aurobindo’s book The Isha Upanishad, pg 578
Why this blog?
It is a record. The articles and compilations here have made it to the Inbox of one or more friends. In our collective journeys, I see some meaning to sharing our individual processes of discovery about the world around us. Like everyone else, I have a fair level of curiosity and only see it natural to share what I, in my own little way, have come across as a possible explanation.
Whether you agree or disagree with a particular thesis, or arrive at a diametrically opposite conclusion, your thoughts will be most welcome. I do read & reflect upon other’s observations. Self-development isn’t a solo journey..