Month: October 2019

Leave climate change unto itself!

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

A lot has been said, discussed, written, awards given, money distributed (by nations and banks) and a lot of eye wash and nonsense and “yes” “yes”, do you want a change? “yes” that kind of rhetorical nonsense with people within it not really knowing what they want or what is that these idiots are agreeing to! Welcome to the biggest social party ongoing on planet Earth- The Climate Change party! Now before you think of not reading further, I have my sanity and qualifications intact to be writing on this topic and of course since no one funds my writing, I can be brutally honest and in-the-face with no agenda but to share what it is and then let the reader decide what they want to do with their gifted intellect!

Climate change- It’s hotter, colder, rains a lot, more storms, more powerful, more intense, more impacting and causing more losses! Well in all this narrative apparently what I want you to focus on is the last one- “more losses”. Now the question is why would there be more losses- well guess, since you follow my blog, I assume your level of intelligence and by now you too would have figured out- well as humans- our natural curiosity and ability to keep on flirting with danger and taking senseless risks have pushed us directly in the path of nature’s horror alley! This is the plain and simple philosophical truth about climate change!

Improvements in living conditions have been amazing in the last three decades, we live longer, don’t normally die when we must, keep hanging on with advance medicines, we keep reproducing ( not really caring a bit for anyone or anything) – of course some regions across the globe show a decrease in this aspect- but that’s more a demographic distortion than any real sensible intent to serve a greater cause of humanity! All these advancements and developments at the cost of nature and gross disregard towards it has qualified us to be at the receiving end of nature!

Data that is thrown in our face- citing temperature increase, sea water increase, increase in pollution levels- partly this is also because the ability to measure attributes has become more better and sophisticated with toys developed by scientists coming out of the labs and agenda drivers get to play with them as they like to sell the agenda which makes them happy and rich!

The fact remains, planet – Earth- the third rock from the Sun, cares a damn about who won a Nobel for Climate Change, Physics, Chemistry or how much donation which charity paid to which nation- we are all on this massive rock, travelling along space and time and like everything governed by rules of science- Whether we do something about it or not – things will always continue to progress in the direction that they must as per laws that govern the universe. All this nonsense and spending towards so-called arresting climate change is like wearing your old clothes and chopping yourself to fit in and look younger and nicer!

So you must be thinking, alright to what’s cooking here, well a lot – if you know to choose your menu correctly. This trump card of “climate change” is used by nations to influence how trade is done, what can be done, what cannot be done and importantly all this is dictated by a select few to service their own agendas and how much that lot cares about the climate is for anyone to guess! Just give it a thought- the amount of conferences, movements, protests that happen under this umbrella, just imagine how many people travel, money spent on communication strategies and use of paint, wood, colors, fabric and so called eco-friendly materials to propagate the thought that the climate is getting messed up and we should use resources wisely and sparingly and be just etc. etc…. the irony is that even the process of communicating this bit is filled with hypocrisy and does more harm to the cause than what these groups supposedly claim!

Things are very simple- the planet is changing and will always continue to even as it obeys the laws of physics and eventually gets consumed by the Sun in the next 4.5 billion years- at that time, no matter how many placards you hold nothing will change the fate of the planet! The learning and honest take here is simple- be honest the way you go about your living, have sensibilities to what you consume and how much you consume and open up to a culture of collective sharing and caring for the larger good of the society and respect natural boundaries and stop living where you must not- other things will be automatically managed and for all you know- you will start to enjoy live telecasts of storms and floods from the comfort of your home once you begin to live where you should be living- without trespassing into the natural zones that you mustn’t.

Always remember it is not the earthquake that kills- it is the structure that falls when the earth quakes that kills you! Think about it and stay wise and don’t get sold into this new propaganda! Be kind and do your small stuff for your wellness, take care of your home and the earth will be a wonderful place and nothing to worry about….the only thing that is certain is change ..so what if it is about the climate! Stay wise and stay grounded!

Screwed up democracy!

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

To begin with, it takes a hell lot of courage to even have a title like this, in days of constant surveillance, threats and trolls and I could not have cared enough- irrespective of my political alignments- which incidentally are bang on the central line of the runway of the society- like they should be anywhere in the world- inclusive, progressive and futuristic, the fact of the matter is we are living in times ( no mater which country, state you belong to) wherein democracy has been effectively fucked and got disguised as everything and anything else but what it should be!

In this article I present you the few easily recognizable disguises (so that next time anyone tries to bull shit you with their democratic values and thoughts- you can throw a piece of cake or pudding back on their stupid faces!)

Capitalism– This has been (since the advent of the modern world- industrialization- thanks to the toil, ingenuity and hard work of hundreds and thousands of scientists who worked behind the scenes; before lab level techniques could be scaled up- in doing so majority of them- lived and died -poor and unsung (except the names that you may know!). Capitalism was demonstrated as the elixir of progress and the unchallenged and undoubted gift of a democratic society- wherein everyone could invent, innovate and sell- everything from sense to absolute nonsense. A place where meaningless consumption was made the new normal and disregard to basic values of human intrinsic development started to be disregarded..slowly as the time went by- the result- well no surprise- a divided society- divided through the ability to access the benefits of development- either through ability to purchase comfort (genuine and implied) or geographical distance from the centers wherein this new order was being created!

Well all has not been gloom and dead- as far as capitalism is concerned but given a context – like a maniac wielding a scalpel and a surgeon holding one- makes all the little big difference between certain death and enduring life! – the same hard hitting common sense goes with capitalism- it is not that capitalism that is bad- it is the intent, the greed and the screwed up agendas underlying deep within the foundations of it that screw up and fuck the whole nation and state and bring it eventually to a point of no-return- read this as great economic melt downs/ recessions/ unrest’s/ strikes/ joblessness and whatever other similar manifestations and synonyms that you can think about!

The number game- The earlier case of capitalism disguised as democracy is very evident- take a tour though the western world and across the so called develop nations! Spin the earth a bit and you arrive in a country which is home to a billion people and the largest democracy (let’s discuss!) . This is a nation which ensures that every seventh person on this planet that you count is from this country- India- my nation. Before anyone jumps to any kind of rhetoric- let me put it on record- I am absolutely proud to be an Indian and happy to have an Indian passport (although it does not help a lot!), so don’t even bother doubting or discussing my individual patriotism- I pay my taxes and agree to sensible inclusive and progressive policies which my governments come up with (as and when!).

Number-game driven world of democratic camouflage– things often take sinister turns- numbers are often clubbed into baskets which carry labeling pertaining to sensible demographics and at times absolute nonsense. The number game driven democratic drama uses sensible data to create more garbage filled data (which primarily tries to create divide on grounds of authenticity, religion and so and so forth factors which in any case are seriously counter-productive to the the all encompassing democratic umbrella! often than not it is these types of democratic set ups that eventually end up tearing to shreds every meaningful strand of the fabric of democracy- no it is far worst than the washed out and torn jeans that you would have imagined- it goes to a level of shredding people of their intrinsic belief systems and long cherished values of simplistically put- being human and humane! Democracies which practice this are distinctly evident through paradoxical numbers floating across the data universe on any single parameter that you choose to draw some sense and standardize the chaos- at times it baffles even the most rewarded brains of the world (who are responsible to create policy and implement them)

At this juncture, one is but compelled to think, if democracy is screwed up either ways- what does it mean and what is the message that we are getting through what we experience all around! Well like with everything that we as humans can do using our brilliance at times to screw up things, the true essence of a puristic and progressive democratic society has been long last in translation by centuries run and managed of and for greedy, self-serving bigots who have either lead nations into war, senseless consumption or accumulated and hoarded wealth in one way or the other- personifying the epitome of human greed and madness!

But let me leave you with a sense of comfort and hope (if that helps!). Democracy with its origins to be found in ancient civilizations, kingdoms- wherever successful and progressive years of glorious histories have been witnessed- a few things have been in common- the presence of fearless freedom coupled with a sense of duty unto the nation/ kingdom and a strong cohesive society with a singular focus on progress and development have always been the underlying and has been one of the the primary reasons for everything that has ever been done and achieved in a sensible and meaningful manner!

This according to me is the essence of democracy- freedom to ideate, share and progress in a cohesive way as a singular unit with a vision and mission of consensus driven agendas which serves the larger population with what is necessary and what is imperative rather then indulging in any rhetorical jingoism and nonsense which normally these political actors across the world indulge in(I call them actors because hardly- if any – are really statesmen/ women in power who have the courage, and guts to take systems head on and usher in change that has meaning and real human centric focus!).

To ensure democracy is not further screwed up- it will take a two pronged effort- one from the citizens by multitudes of citizen movements and the other from the elected representatives (who for the sake of the planet and to salvage some self-respect for themselves before they lie in their graves) to arrive at sensible agendas in larger interest of societies and serve the larger good! sans the rhetoric disguised into capitalistic of number-game driven compulsions!

Let me know what your take and experience of democracy has been! wherever you are and whatever you do!

Fatal optimism!

~ Parimal Aluri ~ 1 Comment

How often have you got into that never ending trap that says; “Tomorrow is mine”! and what’s even worst is that we have tons and tons of garbage in the form of books, training material and mindless talks, examples which go on to try (and try very hard) to hard wire this thought of “never dying spirit of the human mind”, “don’t ever give up, no matter what” – well to be honest and in your face, time to face the mirror- it simply doesn’t work that way! It never did!

Now before you start to come up with judgement and a prejudice if I am actually screwing up your mind totally and you think of sending me a stinker of an email- wait- pause and hold yourself for that extra second. Just answer my question- “If all these techniques are so awesome and so accurate- with thousands of training’s happening every second, somewhere across the world- over so many decades- why hasn’t the world changed over time to be a better place with all that wisdom and glorified thinking at individual and group/society level? No, don’t start jumping to answers right away… take a pause and come back…. the flaw is not about the intent or the knowledge or the method- it is in the intent of the recipient and the flawed application of knowledge with misplaced intent! the sole reason for all the misery of mankind! The biggest among them is the fatal optimism that comes out of the rooms after all that pumped up training sessions and reading!

So now the million dollar question- what is this all about and how do we deal with this epic shit which kind of gnaws away common sense and logic even among the brightest of our stars across academia and the corporate world!

This is what really happens and what manifests this problem of fatal optimism.

Since time in memorial- “knowledge” has been guarded across civilizations and societies in funny and dangerous ways- our ancestors rightly believed in the maxim- knowledge is power and that it landing in hands of intellectually constipated minds can actually wreak havoc and do more harm than good! Hence over the eons different cultures devised structured ways to share knowledge in a way that only the very mindful and eligible would eventually be able to have the greatest exposure to the repository over a long learning curve- which continually assessed the intent of recipient at all times ( I am more specifically referring here to ancient Indian system of “gurukul” wherein all students would advance basis of merit rather than social status and standing. Of course there’s much more to that- but this article is not for debating and detailing this bit)

The point that I am trying to make here is simple- as we lost the upper hand in guarding the meritocracy with regards to access of knowledge, its use- cascading interpretation and then subsequent application all began to get into a downward spiral of diminishing intellect!

So how do we beat this- again a simple approach- choose your students carefully! Easier said then done in today’s era where- every trainer, coach (even like me) tries to make a living and hence is caught between the eternal dilemma “Will this stone in front of me breathe, live and let live!” Well , not everyone is really that messed up, let me be honest. In fact one approach that has helped me a lot to avoid people and my clients to get into the trap of fatal optimism, has been to do a realistic and honest expectation setting (from the coaching or training or engagement). This helps a big deal to ensure my clients do not end up in a optimism trap- because we all know the Sun will never rise in the west, no matter how hard you wish for that, and if it does- you are not going to be around to see that utopian sunrise- that’s a scientifically backed up certainty!

This one fundamental approach of grounding and setting right expectations, helps me to ensure my clients do not enter into the dangerous zone of “fatal optimism” which can be more destructive than having a general lack of confidence and or pessimism!

A few sure signs of fatal optimism are for all of us to see- living beyond one’s means, trying to take up assignments which cannot be delivered, promising the moon and stars to your boss each time targets are discussed and simple failure to see your own face in the mirror and always seeing the reflection of your twisted mental frame which is always grinning and smiling for no reason! These manifestations look innocent, funny and stupid but continued over a long time take shape of chronic ailments which is similar to running after a butterfly that never was! This becomes all the more complicated when people with these symptoms occupy chairs of responsibility- you can find them easily in offices- they lead the teams with the highest attrition and have a polarized team environment bordering on chaos and ambiguity and waiting for a spark to ignite into a massive fireball which has the potential to engulf an organisation depending on how high the chair is from where this misplaced optimism comes!

Do the world and yourself a big favor, and help avoid the spread of this chronic ailment of misplaced optimism which is fatal! Following simple clinical steps- like managing expectations, measuring changes in behavior over time and calibrating them across results is all that is needed ot ensure that we help our clients steer away from this dangerous fallacy of mindless “fatal optimism” and it goes a long way to make life good and enriching not only for the individual but this revived mental health also helps the immediate social circle at home and work to make the world a better place one person- one circle at a time!

At Simplifylives, we do a genuine effort to ensure every interaction has created value and brought in more clarity, direction and intent to keep away negating and dragging attributes like “fatal optimism” as much as we can!

Learning from the uncrowned masters!

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

In today’s world, societal compulsions and exposure to harmful media distractions and propaganda laced thoughts invade us every now and then! Well there are advantages and challenges in equal measure- end of the day a knife is a knife- whether you choose to chop vegetables or your sanity really depends on you and end of it ends up defining you!

If you have observed children- yes those tiny cute little things that keep on wailing, giggling, laughing and enjoying at the expense of their parents and grand parents and as they grow; at times teachers- you will find some remarkable survival techniques that they can teach us! No matter how smart you think you are, whether you graduated from Harvard or MIT, all of that becomes a big meaningless attribute the moment you encounter kids in their elements! If you are a good student- kind of a student for life personality- they are the never ending source of teaching you amazing things- until they get exposed to the senseless and screwed up materialistic and consumption driven madness which starts innocently with the first bucket of fries or small tub of ice cream!

Focus and get what you want: This is the first simple lesson that kids can give you. This is also what is taught over and over, year after year, this what your math and science teacher told you and this what your boss would have kept on telling you or yelling at you- depending on what type of love-hate equation you share with that person!

Of course, this maxim gets a lot more complicated as we end up growing and get into the endless traps of prejudices, assumptions and begin to experiment with our limited intelligence (even this is, by auto-bias set at a higher then real value by ourselves!)

So what is the real way of going about this simple thought? Well, do as the kids do, be diligent, be cranky and be driven intrinsically, irrespective of everything around them, no sense of “what will people say”, “what great aunt will think about”, “what dad’s boss and friend’s think about me”.

The fact is kids are superlatively smart (as long as they are unexposed to nonsense around- that starts with so called schooling and then just gets amplified with time) and know to find a way around their problem- which could be as simple as tying up the doll’s hair or fixing the wheel of a car or sketching their image about the world as they feel it and as they see their parents… small things indeed but end up saying a lot!

As we grow up, peer pressure, confirmation bias, misplaced self-identity all of this and all the unwanted muck that society feeds into us- the feeling and emoting and reacting society (not a proactive, responsive and responsible society) drags us further down into chaos to such an extent that we loose the child in us some where along the journey and with it we loose the most original part of us! that’s a loss that keeps us haunting always and then we seek solace in trying to rediscover the same in our offspring (which just adds up to be being another element for a rapidly developing disaster!)

Not to be a sob and go on writing like an obsessed person, to give you the space to think and reflect, the idea here is- the path to know yourself better is to know and reach out to the child in you (if that child is alive and kicking- it’s great) and start viewing life around you through this lens- it may not be an answer to all your problems but certainly will be an answer to quite a few of your unwanted miseries and unwanted headaches that you would have given refuge to in your mental asylum (as in mind!)

Finally, if you are still wondering if the kid in you is there or not- think about the last time you had a crazy, stupid moment and you laughed it off like there was no tomorrow and you did not care a damn about it!

I end here today, and hope you are able to reach out to a few smiles and giggles from here on everyday and take a little load off your burdensome existence!

Feel like yelling or complimenting, do get in touch with me! I am dying to interact with grown up kids!