Monday, October 31, 2011

Billions and Billions

So the world's population hit seven billion today, with a baby being born every two seconds. We have tripled our population in the last century due to advancements in healthcare and medicine. People are living longer, but has the quality of their lives improved? A vast swathe of people live in poverty and malnutrition, while in other parts of the world food is disposed of, destroyed, or thrown away, to balance market forces. On one hand you see pictures of children dying of starvation in Africa and on the other, one needs to just walk into any restaurant to see the prolific waste of food on any table.

The divide between the rich and the poor is increasing and beyond a point will create a civil revolution. Not too sure, but I do remember reading that the top 1% of humanity control almost 80% of the world's resources, or thereabouts.

There are two views on this population explosion, a pessimistic and an optimistic one, and to be honest I do not know which one I endorse. The pessimistic one says that population will continue to grow until the demographics create an imbalance in the order of things; to the extent that society and the entire world will be negatively affected. Water tables are receding, pollution is spreading, and critical species are becoming extinct due to man's intrusion, all of which are creating a negative spiral. A modern day version of the Malthusian Theory, almost!


The optimistic one talks about the growth slowing down as literacy spreads and growth rates slow down naturally. If history is any guide, we have managed to producs the resources necessary to feed the growing population and maybe we will continue to do so. As education spreads, people will have smaller families, which by itself should see a balance in growth over the next fifty years. Europe and North America are already seeing negative population growth rates.

I hope for the second scenario, but am scared of the first.


We all know or can deduce, that as basic necessities like fresh water, clean air, and decent food get more difficult to obtain the current fabric of society and world order will be torn. But what are we individually doing about it? How can we influence these vast forces, and more importantly should we even bother to try? Should not the more educated, the more informed, have a bigger responsibility to tackle these issues?

Should we just bury our heads in the sand and hope that someone, somewhere, will save the day? Should we just wait for the tide to sweep us away?

Or should we manage our lives responsibly, consume the resources that are needed rather than wanted, eliminate waste where possible, and endeavor to leave a better world for our children.

We all worry about the population explosion, but we don’t worry about it at the right time – Art Hoppe

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Farewell Steve Jobs

I feel compelled to write something on the passing away of Steve Jobs, a genius and a visionary. I am sure that reams and reams will be written about him by people who are much more erudite, and infinitely more knowledgeable. I can only try and write from a common man's perspective of how his life and his work touched me and my family.

From the moment that we got our first iPod to now, where almost every member of my family owns an Apple device, we are forever indebted to him for making technology not only so accessible but also so integral through its simplicity. His user interfaces are such that it makes even a child look like an IT prodigy. Just a few weeks ago I wrote in my blog that since I started reading on the iPad, I have given up reading physical books. I do not know when last I actually played a CD to listen to music - it is the iPhone or the iPod that has completely taken over.

I wish I could say that my wife never leaves home without her iPhone, but that would be lying - she never leaves a room without it in her hand!

I was made aware of his death by her, and ironically she read about it on a device that he created - the iPhone. On hearing the news I felt as if I had been punched in my stomach - it was almost as if someone I knew intimately had died. I did not want to accept it, and kept telling myself that it must be a rumour. The sense of loss, on getting to know that the news was real, was overwhelming. It is a loss not just for myself, but for the whole world. I had not realised how much, over the last few years, I have eagerly anticipated Apple's product launches and how much they meant. 

To me, this heralded the untimely demise of an icon, and someone, I just knew, who still had so much to offer humanity. I can only imagine what wonders he would have brought out, if he had been given more years. It was not just the technology, but his marketing genius, and his obsessive pursuit for perfection in all of his creations that defined him and the Company he built. From Computers to Music and Entertainment his magic touch turned everything to gold. 

I saw the tributes that have been loaded on You Tube, and especially poignant was the one by CNN, which put up a montage of Apple's product launches - from the Macintosh to the iPad 2 and iCloud. What struck me was the physical transformation in Mr. Jobs over the years. Towards the end he was a physical shadow of himself, and I guess the end was inevitable.

In this day, when all you read about are financial meltdowns, natural disasters, violence and death, he brought a ray of sunshine and beauty, and made this world a better and more connected place.

Last night I watched his commencement speech at Stanford College in 2005 again, where he spoke about facing death, and listening to him just a few days after his passing away, made me wonder whether he did live the last few years of his life as he had preached.

And so passes a Colossus of Modern Industry, gone but not to be soon forgotten. God Speed Steve Jobs!      








Thursday, October 6, 2011

Bob's your uncle

I don't know about you, but I really really get amazed when someone addresses me as Uncle. Just to clarify, I do not get upset, just amazed. For example at the gym, there is a young lad who normally strikes up a conversation with me. We talk about fitness and different types of exercise, give each other a high five or low five or whatever the current bonding ritual is, and then he ends the interaction by calling me Uncle.


I mean, I do not think of myself as an Uncle!! Do you?  

I know that I am getting on in years, and to be honest have no issue or umbrage with that concept. I do not try and mask my years, or lie about my age. I believe in ageing as gracefully as nature intended, and the benefits of being male are that there are no expectations about hair density or colour, and skin tone. Males in all sizes are eminently acceptable, whereas if a woman is not 36-24-36 one could justifiably ask for a refund. As an aside, it really is good to be a male - is it not? We can eat what we want, grow oversize, get bald, have hair coming out of our noses or ears, and we are au naturelle'. For a woman life just is tougher. Quite often even the extravagant spend on cosmetics and other “enhancements” do not do enough. Basically nature intended for males to age (or mature) better.

Strange enough I feel exactly the same as I have felt since my memories began. I ‘am’ balding perceptibly at the top of my head, but my hair growth elsewhere on my scalp is good enough to cover up for it. I know teenagers who have lost more hair then I have. The only physical aspect that I may get a bit sensitive about is my waist, which seems to have a mind of its own.


I was never a physically proficient boy, so my fitness and skill levels have probably improved since my teens, and mentally I am sure I am a match for my adolescent days. As mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, I never was one for late nights, so obviously do not feel the onset of age when I am having a late night out. I feel the way I have always felt. It is not as if, when I am subjected to loud synthesized computer generated Rave music in a nightclub, I tell myself that I am getting too old for this. (By the way remind me to write about my recent night-club outing!). I have always felt this way about loud synthesized computer generated Rave music! As a kid I would have had a headache, just as I do now.


Granted, that in the mornings I do mince my steps a bit till I have worked out the stiffness, but that I blame more on the temperature of the room, which my wife keeps at sub-zero. It is definitely not my joints that are stiffer, just the environment that is not suitable. I still walk as fast as I used to, and am sure that I can run further than I used to waddle, as a heftier teenager. Getting down on the floor and getting off it, is a bit of a struggle, just as touching my toes while stretching is, but let us not get petty here.


So when exactly did I become an Uncle? At what age do we transition from being called by our first name to an honorific? Can one call you an Uncle and treat you as a friend? Are we not supposed to treat "Uncles" with respect? If yes, how can you joke with me, spout profanity in my company, play competitive sport with me, and then end it all by calling me Uncle?


If I am your frigging Uncle, then stand at attention when you talk to me, and stop giving me high fives. Show me some respect! Or better still just call me by my name!