2021-07-28 12:00
Interesting observation from the author of The Tyranny of Merit. Of the students he teaches at Harvard, the Sandel says:..students have always voiced a wide range of moral and political view… Read More
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Heartcrossings Blog
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2021-07-27 12:30
Reading the stories of how six families spend their money was educational. Each situation is different and the spends reflect the diversity of lives. The ratio of spend on categories w… Read More
2021-07-26 12:30
A friend I visited recently gave me a bit of her sourdough starter and I have been feeding and caring for it as I use it for simple baking projects at home. There is something incredibly sat… Read More
2021-07-25 12:30
I read this Emily Dickinson poem time and again. As we grow older, the sadness from losses of various sorts accumulate - layer upon layer, fold upon fold. Some old wounds are buried by new… Read More
2021-07-24 12:30
I had manageable levels of travel even before the pandemic. Then came a complete stop. Like many I realized, I really did not like the travel even at the tolerable levels it had been for me… Read More
2021-07-23 12:30
Traveling for the quarterly team meeting used to be routine pre-covid but seeing that invite land on my inbox filled me with enough anxiety that I could not sleep most night. This is going t… Read More
2021-07-22 12:30
His his book The Tyranny of Merit, Michael Sandel writes:Meritocratic hubris reflects the tendency of winners to inhale too deeply of their success, to forget the luck and good fortune… Read More
2021-07-21 12:30
This poem by Tomas Unger and specially the last two lines, resonate with me:The surprise alwayssomething has not abandoned us,the way, standing there, another’s e… Read More
2021-07-20 12:30
I recently had opportunity to meet an immigrant family who made their huge fortune in one generation. This includes three mansions in as many different countries, ability to spend extravagan… Read More
2021-07-19 12:30
It crossed my mind recently (and not for the first time) that I feel exhausted by my work for none of the obvious reasons. I do have decent work-life balance, do not work particularly long h… Read More
2021-07-18 12:30
Interesting story about remote work and discrimination against residents of Colorado. Upon cursory read of the situation it seems to one of those where the road to hell is paved with good in… Read More
2021-07-17 12:30
Of all the ransomware stories I have read in the news, this one feels like the saddest most terrifying one. Talking to a therapist is one of those protected, inviolable communications people… Read More
2021-07-16 12:30
When I saw this infographic somehow I thought of the cost of dysfunction in the workplace and the costs thereof. Downstream impacts could easily be the impaired health and well-being of fami… Read More
2021-07-15 12:30
I am definitely in the demographic where such interview questions could be asked to correctly peg my vintage. It's not happened so far but interesting to know. The Chinese Zodiac sign is the… Read More
2021-07-14 12:42
Commonsense advice on how to make WHF work for all concerned. The data is predictable and unsurprising. When I was a younger mother and J could suck up my time like a sponge, I took every op… Read More
2021-07-13 12:30
Interesting essay on sex-positivity and the lack thereof. Read this right after a BBC story on falling birth rates and had to wonder if there might be a co-relation there. When women w… Read More
2021-07-12 21:50
I had watched Seemabaddha as a child - one of the many efforts of my parents to get me "cultured" We never lived in Bengal and I did not have peers who spoke the language - so watching Bangl… Read More
2021-07-11 12:30
Reading this essay reminded me of a conversation I had with my mother a few weeks ago. She said in the early days of the pandemic, she would sit by her window and watch children play downsta… Read More
2021-07-10 12:30
Interesting interpretation of sexualized women in the context of Playboy in Carina Chocano's book Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other Mixed Mess… Read More
2021-07-09 12:30
There is no story about eternal youth without a plot twist. Be it Ayesha in Rider Haggard's She or some tapeworm giving ants youth forever. The tapeworm's strategy is multi-generational and… Read More
2021-07-08 12:30
Data science has become an increasing ill-defined term and all kinds of folks call themselves data scientists. Even worse is the category of people who claim fluency and proficiency with dat… Read More
2021-07-07 12:30
My handwriting has grown progressively worse over time. A few years ago, I started taking notes at work using a fountain pen but the results were underwhelming. It helped me recall the discu… Read More
2021-07-06 19:10
Explaining to my parents' generation what I do at work is challenging enough even though they are familiar with many components of it from their working years. Trying to explain what a Tik-T… Read More
2021-07-05 14:50
We were out in the park last night watching fireworks. After a long time, heard the sounds of kids squealing with excitement. The spectacular show of light and colors took me back to childho… Read More
2021-07-04 12:30
Watched The China Hustle recently and it made me feel like a pawn in a game that I can't begin to understand. Yet, it was the monies of average people like me that is being looted by an arra… Read More
2021-07-03 12:30
The Gates divorce has forced some useful discussion on the topic. If the richest most successful couple can't figure it out after 27 years then is it such a big failure when it happens to or… Read More
2021-07-02 12:30
Wonderful reading this interview with Francis Weller on grief and loss. In speaking of how little time people allow themselves to mourn and how grieving has become a solitary process… Read More
2021-07-01 12:30
For some people, not knowing whether to dress warm or cold is not just a month of May problem - it could last most year. So having shirt that can keep you warm or cold based on which side is… Read More
2021-06-30 12:30
Watching this video about play-to-earn NFT games left me bewildered. I had to go read more to understand how the monetization worked. Ever since online gaming enabled shared virtual wor… Read More
2021-06-29 12:30
A smart example for other companies to emulate. Being at home surrounded by people and things that make you comfortable helps employees cope with work environments that are difficult a… Read More
2021-06-28 12:30
Reading this article reminded me of an admonishment I often heard as a child - dreaming about stuff does not make it real, you have to work for it. That position would be worth reconsidering… Read More
2021-06-27 12:30
I read this interview on a day I had dealt with some aggravating stuff including a guy in pickup truck trying to mow us down in range as we were out on our walk. He got off the driveway and… Read More
2021-06-26 12:30
Mowing grass and pulling weeds are among my preferred ways to fight stress. It is real, tangible work and the results are directly proportional to time and effort applied. None of that is tr… Read More
2021-06-25 12:30
It takes that feeling of being in a purgatory to cling hard to one's roots. Listening to Tagore's songs on death have been my way to cope with it. To understand the beauty of the words feels… Read More
2021-06-24 12:30
Reading this story about fish that are all but invisible and cannot be caught by nets warmed the heart. Good for these fish and may we never find ways to catch them and disturb their way of… Read More
2021-06-23 12:30
Most deplore the trash in parks but walk on, some roll-up their sleeves and clean it up and a rare few turn into works of art. The artist's answer to the question what she sees in other peop… Read More
2021-06-22 12:30
Watching The Door made me want to look up Hungarian recipes. Helen Mirren was amazing as per usual - no surprise. She makes the character of Emerenc come alive - this is a person who sucks u… Read More
2021-06-21 12:30
Funny list of familiar words with new meaning attached to them. Each one is great but people can still have their favorites. Mine is : Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever ha… Read More
2021-06-20 22:45
Interesting essay about modern tyranny. The observation about writing and its ability to manipulate is one of the many nuggets of wisdom in this piece "Paul Valéry was not i… Read More
2021-06-19 13:54
The last couple of years, I have been trying to read more history. The way history was taught when I was in high school made it hard to understand the value of the subject. Fast forward… Read More
2021-06-18 12:30
Two years in a young person's life is like eternity. Long enough to form habits that are hard to change. So it makes sense that re-opening schools will not make kids just return. Being able… Read More
2021-06-17 12:30
This quote gave me a lot to ponder over when I read it recently: One of the most wicked destructive forces, psychologically speaking, is unused creative power ... If someone has a creat… Read More
2021-06-16 12:30
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is an awesome book for folks like me who want to know the subject but are way too intimidated by it. After a lifetime in software sales and consulting you… Read More
2021-06-15 12:30
Heard the phrase "consensual hallucination" in a documentary about WeWork and had to learn more about. I found the book where it originally came from and it's on my reading list. Also found… Read More
2021-06-14 12:30
Finished read The Splendid and The Vile after many fits and starts. Was also reading The Anarchy in parallel - not related to the WW2 but useful in understanding the East India Company and t… Read More
2021-06-13 12:30
Nice idea of a fish doorbell, putting technology to use in ways that help nature instead of helping us to consume even more. Crowd sourcing to keep an eye on the fish that need to get… Read More
2021-06-11 12:30
Sexy headline but not much of a story about so called "data poisoning". The idea is that individual users who are hyper-vigilant about their privacy maybe taking all the right mea… Read More
2021-06-10 12:30
This story about phones being locked up by pre-installed apps for missing loan payments makes for sad reading. The culture of coercion leading to compliance allows for this to work. The same… Read More
2021-06-09 12:30
Trip down memory lane reading about the series of missteps by Yahoo. GeoCities was once cool, and I had my starter website there like millions of people back in the day. Many of these site w… Read More
2021-06-08 12:30
Adversity sometimes does good in our lives. One benefit of this difficult time as I observed it from the outside was that it brought my parents closer to the middle ground that had evaded th… Read More
2021-06-07 12:30
Read this poem by Charles Bukowski and was intrigued by these lines:good weatheris likegood women--it doesn't always happenand when it doesit doesn'talways last.That is intriguing and makes… Read More
2021-06-06 12:30
This quote by Mary Churchill in The Splendid and The Vile is so relatable to that period of youth. She talks of her own state of mind when England is under constant attack by Germany and the… Read More
2021-06-05 12:30
Just when you think there is not much lower Facebook could sink, they manage to exceed expectations. Now its about scraping data from from hopes and prayers. Find a person at their most vuln… Read More
2021-06-04 12:30
Interesting article about good and bad English and now non-native speakers can figure out what the others are saying even if their brand of English has localization they don't know about. Th… Read More
2021-06-03 12:30
It events of that weekend started with a small mistake. My friend S and I have cars keys that look identical and she took mine as she was leaving to travel out of the country on a family eme… Read More
2021-06-02 12:30
We took our first road-trip since the beginning of the pandemic and met the families of three friends in all many different states along the way. Meeting people in a setting as normal as it… Read More
2021-06-01 12:30
Exciting news about this ultra-white paint that can help combat global warming. Always thought material scientists have among the best jobs in the world:The new ultra-white paint, which the… Read More
2021-05-31 12:30
My young friend S, lost her beloved grandmother recently. She was in her late 80s, ailing for a while and died peacefully in her sleep. S suffered a great loss no doubt but she was grateful… Read More
2021-05-30 12:30
My former co-worker L called me today out of the blue. It's been over five years since we worked together and over a year since we last spoke. The pandemic was in its early days back then. I… Read More
2021-05-29 12:30
Interesting set of exhibits at the Museum of Failure. This politically correct doll from the 60s that managed to scare the little girls it was targeted to serves as a good reminder of politi… Read More
2021-05-28 12:30
It was heart-warming to read the story of this farmer and his small yet happy world. He oneness with nature is likely the secret to his peace:Autumn is my favourite time of the year, with al… Read More
2021-05-27 12:30
Like the idea of For Days - being able to recycle old clothes and being incentivized to do so. As For Days has grown, it made sense to evolve beyond this approach. Its products now incl… Read More
2021-05-25 12:30
The poems from Hope Gap are still on my mind. This is one that I loved the most. Deja vu and that feeling you know someone from times that go much further than you know or remember. I have h… Read More
2021-05-24 12:50
Watched Hope Gap recently and was completely blow away by the performances of the three central characters in the movie - particularly Annette Bening who plays Grace . She is spectacular pla… Read More
2021-05-23 12:00
One of my very close relatives is hospitalized with Covid and I only learned about this by accident. No one in the immediate family knows about it. I told my parents and advised them not to… Read More
2021-05-22 12:30
Some of friends who are fully vaccinated talk about feeling some trepidation about going out and being "normal" again. One woman talked about being anxious about over-stimulation of sitting… Read More
2021-05-21 12:30
My friend R is an inclusion ambassador at her place of work. The job has brought her close to the real stories of people who share something in common with her - a person of color, some form… Read More
2021-05-20 12:30
Reading Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye made me think of forgiveness being a lot like kindness too - specially for those to whom it does not come easy. Before you know kindness as the deep… Read More
2021-05-19 12:30
Nice intergenerational collaboration to built a startup. The idea is to do social media in a more nuanced way and bring people together for the right reasons:Chances is a social relationship… Read More
2021-05-18 12:30
Interesting how social norms are being applied to a question that resonates with many of us. In America it is very possible to drift apart from people when the context of your friendship is… Read More
2021-05-17 12:30
I ate breadfruit for the first time on a company offsite at Panaji, Goa. Absolutely loved how it was cooked and it was decades before I found a place where I could buy it. A local grocery st… Read More
2021-05-16 12:30
My friend T told me about a recent experience she had at work. It was a quarterly planning meeting with the boss and directs. As an ice-breaker for what would be a long session, someone came… Read More
2021-05-15 12:30
Watched this nice short about the healing power of swimming in the wild. It's unclear what events lead the narrator being so badly burned out but the story is not uncommon. There comes a poi… Read More
2021-05-14 12:30
On our walk last weekend, I paused to watch a toddler making her tentative way up and down a couple of steps while her adults kept an eye on her but did not rush to help. At first she tried… Read More
2021-05-13 12:30
It's good to see that anxiety screening is now part of a well-woman check-up for girls as young as thirteen. I remember the anxieties of my own thirteen year-old self like it were yesterday… Read More
2021-05-12 12:30
Some of us have started to receive advisory from our employers on plans to return to the office in summer and fall. Not everyone is enthused about it. Just about no one is looking forward to… Read More
2021-05-11 12:30
The idea of the NFT seems to be a sensible use of blockchain technology to solve a real problem instead of it being the other way around as I have seen too often in business. The powers… Read More
2021-05-10 12:30
I don't understand anything about wines and my tastes are as plebian as they get. My buying process is very simple. The price should be "competitive", the bottle should have some aesthetic a… Read More
2021-05-09 12:30
This post made for sad reading. So many layers of difficulty. A name that does not match the face, the accent that does not fit the stereotype associated with that face and finally teaching… Read More
2021-05-08 12:30
My friend A was telling me about the dread he experiences each time he sees a call coming from India. It is starting to take a toll on his mental health. His wife has lost several family mem… Read More
2021-05-07 12:31
Peleton's leaky API is not earth-shattering news. It's basically what we should expect when we choose to share private information and the collector of data has much to gain from it. What is… Read More
2021-05-06 23:46
Silly news like this about a farmer moving the border of his country on accident is what I needed to catch a break from things. The variety of response to the Gates divorce is somewhat… Read More
2021-05-05 12:30
The bushes in my yard have been around for a decade and mostly I don't know what they are. This year, a several of them bloomed all at once, some for the very first time. These were mature b… Read More
2021-05-04 12:30
I have been reading Want and finding it particularly easy to stick with. Do I love it? perhaps not. Is it a memorable experience? maybe not. Yet, there is a raw quality to that quiet, stifle… Read More
2021-05-03 12:30
Stumbled upon this essay about Rituparno Ghosh while looking for something else that was prompted by my reading of Want. The protagonist in the novel struggles against her desires in quiet d… Read More
2021-05-02 12:30
I am spending time with friends in India trying to understand how best to cope with our anxieties over parents without suffocating them. Being in a different city than their parents, puts ma… Read More
2021-05-01 12:30
When it comes to doing good for the planet, it's easy to feel that the isolated actions taken by individuals cannot really move the needle. The problem is too big and therefore beyond one pe… Read More
2021-04-30 12:30
I have fallen into a morbid routine of checking in on my parents twice a day and bracing myself for news that despite their efforts to stay safe, they are impacted by the fire that is raging… Read More
2021-04-29 12:30
Loved this poem about a man who had never heard of Frank Sinatra. A rather silly premise carrying a faint whiff of plausibility. It is reminiscent of the popular movie trope when a big… Read More
2021-04-28 12:30
Watching Operation Varsity Blues was an illuminating experience. Much of the material surfaces in the news cycles at the time but the little details were fascinating - how rich parents can h… Read More
2021-04-27 12:30
For a lot of young people this is their dream job out of college. It was true in my time and now in my daughter's. I never understood the point of a 95 hour work week even if the money was 2… Read More
2021-04-26 21:08
Watched Inside Llewyn Davis which is probably not the best choice in such a difficult time. I dread calling home these days, people I know are sick, some hospitalized, others home before the… Read More
2021-04-25 12:30
I watched Compliance recently and was struck by how an entire group of people could be scammed and how the same tactics worked with many such groups of people. Scamming one random person is… Read More
2021-04-24 12:30
This is a story of snowplow parenting taken to bizarre levels of crazy and criminal. .. a 50-year-old mother in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, allegedly used social media p… Read More
2021-04-23 12:30
Interesting post about the value of social sciences or the lack thereof. It is not a "legitimate" science and has not produced in world-changing results like locomotives or vaccines. S… Read More
2021-04-22 12:30
Just finished reading Make Russia Great Again. One word to describe the book: hysterical. The story is tethered to the reality that were the years 2016-2020. But author lets his imagination… Read More
2021-04-21 12:30
Reading this article about near death experiences made me want to read the book After, which happily is available at my local library. The way the book's author describes it's impact on peop… Read More
2021-04-20 12:30
On the weekends, we often walk by the river with marshes along it meandering course. Depending on time of day, it's possible to see a good number of birds. Anytime I see a birder with their… Read More
2021-04-19 12:30
Every time I read Jane Hirshfield, ordinary words acquire a magic glow like this poem about decisions where is begins with that time right before we decide:There is a moment before a sh… Read More
2021-04-18 12:30
In the last week, I have thought more about forgiveness than I have ever done before. I have held grudges and suffered for doing so. At some point, I decided to do something different, under… Read More
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