Category: Life

Bookmarks of bygone memories

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I find bookmarks very handy and I use them extensively. My bookmark toolbar is filled with links and folders. From ‘Reading list’ to ‘Data Science notes’, I often refer to many useful folders in the toolbar. One-click and you’re there. So convenient! Now, these bookmarks are not only there in our browsers. They have an active presence in our daily life. I will talk about a few of them.

Songs are essentially one of the most prominent bookmarks of life. The FIFA world cup (2022) was going on a few days back and someone was playing the world cup classic song ‘Wavin’ Flag’. Almost instantaneously and involuntarily when I heard the song, my mind went back to 2010. I was in 9th standard, and during the world cup, I had just gulped a 1 rupee coin. It all flashed in front of me. Felt like it happened yesterday.

A good friend of mine (who is also a good pen pal) had sent me an old song by an Indian band called Raeth in 2018/2019. This song used to be the quintessential breakup song for the generation before ours. It is called ‘Bhula do’. Now, I would listen to my maternal uncle (who is 10 years older than me) play this song and many other Bengali rock songs while growing up. Later I had totally forgotten about this song and others. Then my friend one day sent this masterpiece, and since then I have restarted listening to not only this one but all those Bengali rock and pop songs that I used to listen to when I was a child. I haven’t stopped since. Here is the song, in case anyone wants to give it a try:

I can go on about songs for an hour or two. But let’s move on to something else: scent. It is hard to write about them like that. Probably Gulzar, Jaun Elia or Pablo Neruda can, but it is a tough job for me. But they follow the association rule very strongly. You come across a random fragrance and you suddenly remember the last time when you were touched by it. The scent doesn’t have to be of a person but it can be of various things. And boy oh boy, they trigger the past memories very quickly and abruptly.

Yesterday, after the office, I found another bookmark. Scent or songs are something that knowingly or unknowingly I have always acknowledged but this is something that I have never ever thought of: Facebook. There was a time, before its timely (?) death when Facebook used to be the centre of everything! Cheesy long romantic posts, school-college dramas, football-related brawls, trolling – it had everything.

I was going through my own timeline and randomly searched some of my friends’ names there. And man! It felt like we had shared almost everything that we used to do on Facebook. FB has a great feature where it gives a throwback ‘On this day’, they are also pretty good when it comes to bookmarks. I often cringe seeing my post and often smile. But that’s what it is, a great feature. It also serves as a great reminder of how much life has changed. There were so many people with whom I used to interact a lot, but now I have no idea about their whereabouts. Even some of my college mates are there on that list. Especially two of them. Since leaving the college, I have made several attempts to reconnect with them, but it has been totally futile.

This is the property of these bookmarks I guess. They trigger old memories. But not all of them bring happiness.

Mihajlovic and the purpose of life

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Imagine you’ve been diagnosed with a deadly disease. What would you do? How would you like to spend your time? Frankly, I don’t know. I have never given this a thought. But I do know that I would not want to spend it working a full-time job. The job that I have.

Sinisa Mihajlovic, an ex-Serbian footballer and a Serie A legend died yesterday (16th December 2022) following complications of leukaemia. Almost 3.5 years back he first announced that he had this disease. At that time, he was the manager of Bologna FC. He continued to manage them even after being ill for almost 3 years. This is something that I have failed to wrap my head around. This act no doubt portrays his character and professionalism. Still, I fail to comprehend why anyone who probably has nothing to achieve particularly from a job in a familiar domain, will continue to do it even in a situation like this. More than the physical pain, I have so many questions about the psychological part.

One reason why someone would continue to do what they have been doing even in this situation is simple. You know you will come around very soon. You know you’re far stronger than the disease that is engulfing you. You will eventually beat it and come out with flying colours. The other reason is more abstract.

After a certain point, one should find the purpose of their life. This purpose, of course, will change over time. Your purpose at 25 might not be the same as when you’re 40 or when you were 18. Many people in the industry take breaks from what they are currently doing to find this purpose. A break for a month, 3 months or even a year. And then there are many who don’t tie the purpose of their lives with the job they’re doing. They have other priorities. The sense of fulfilment comes from there.

If someone truly finds a purpose, taking the steps in life becomes really easy. I really don’t know what governed Sinisa. But, I do know, the football world lost a top-class professional. Ciao, Sinisa.

Leaving with some of his best goals in Serie A.

Hangama Hai Kyon Barpa

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When I was very young (in class 4, around 2005), one of my cousin-brother introduced me to ghazals. One of the very famous ghazals that I used to listen to was a masterpiece by the legend Ghulam Ali:

The famous lines of the song goes like this:

Daaka To Nahi Daala Chori To Nahi Ki Hai

Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa Thodi Si Jo Pee Lee Hai

(I haven’t stolen anything, and I haven’t committed a robbery. Why is there so much fuss? I have just drunk a bit of alcohol)

The 8-year-old me couldn’t comprehend the depth of the lyrics at that time. But now I find the lyrics quite poetic and poignant. I am not just writing about the song like this randomly. There is a reason behind it.

While I was back in my hometown Kolkata during the Durga Puja, I came across an old couple through one of my relatives. They seemed to be supporting the current opposition leader of West Bengal who used to be a part of the ruling party once. Now in Bengali, there is a metaphorical saying of ‘sharing the same glass of alcohol’ if you have done something malevolent in the company of someone. During a conversation, I just couldn’t resist myself and said to them “He used to share the same glass of alcohol with the current ruling party members once”. To which the couple unanimously replied: “NO! He might be a thief, but I don’t think he drinks alcohol.” I was a bit startled by that, and realised there is no point arguing with them.

There has been a similar incident with Rahul Gandhi and another political leader too. Where they were spotted drinking and from there the moral policing and virtue signaling began.

This not only shows how timeless this classic ghazal song is but also depicts a dire picture of our society. We have some conservative gatekeepers all around us. You can steal public money and make a fortune, as long as you have a particularly good man image set in the society or probably belong to a political party of their choice.

And I think the number of factors through which a man/woman is judged by these gatekeepers varies across the genders. For a man, the number of factors will be very less. The salary and some success will always be the primary governing factor. As long as those two are decent, a man will hardly be scrutinized. (Except a few times for drinking alcohol, though nowadays that is pardoned by many) And for a woman, there will be a long (a very long) list of parameters: looks, dress code, efficiency in household chores, friend circle and so many things!

My personal philosophy on this one is totally libertarian. When I was looking for a house in the new city, one of the landlords said that I can cook chicken or mutton at the place, but fish is not allowed. I am generally very bad at prompt replies but that day I was quite straight-forward: “Whatever I am doing in my bedroom and kitchen shouldn’t concern you given that I am paying my rent on time and not bothering any of my neighbours”

I wish people would listen to more Ghulam Ali (and ghazal) & stop being a gatekeeper.

26.

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Turned 26 today.

26 always felt like a special number to me. There might be quite a few reasons for that.

While I was giving my first big examination of life, that is the 10th board (or as we call it Madhyamik Parikhsa), my elder cousin turned 26. And he went on to join his first ever job. Not only him but there were many of my elder relatives who would join some big MBA colleges before landing a lucrative MNC job. 26 always felt like the age of independence to me. Always thought of it as the magic number. Whatever you do in life, you ought to find yourself by 26. I always believed that.

Another reason might be in the number and the significance in life. 10 years since the first significant examination of life. One is expected to grow enough by 26. You are not in your early 20s. You are expected to have some sort of ‘stability’ in life. You’re also far (?!) from your 30. You’re not likely to be a family man or start taking more responsibilities. (At least I think that’s the case for most of the middle and upper-middle-class families)

Previously, I had made a chart about the things that I would like to do by 26. Looking back at the chart, I see most of them being done. But one big question which I didn’t ponder upon was the purpose of one’s life. I often think about it nowadays, might be because of watching ‘The Good Place’. What’s the purpose of this life? I started working full-time 16 months back. Got promoted 4 months back. Might get promoted again. Or leave the current organization for something else. Then? When would it stop? All these nowadays feel so mundane. Lucky are those who have the purpose of life figured out.

One of my friends topped CAT 3 years back. But he didn’t join any IIM. He was aiming for ISI. He could only get into ISI last year. Now, 3 years back I thought he is crazy! Might be out of his fricking mind! Now, I feel like, he is one of the most mature men (or women) that I know of. He had clarity of what he wanted in and from life. He set his goals and achieved them. I wish I will have that soon.

The day, otherwise, was quite ordinary (really love these ordinary days). Did something similar like I had done the last year. Then went to East Bengal Club to witness the first training session of this season. And finally ended up listening to some stories by a random Swedish gentleman at Broadway.

Cheers to 26. I guess.

Connecting the dots with heuristics and empirics

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Shibaprasad Bhattacharya

Warning: This is kind of an opinionated article, based on the little experience I have. The world is Bayesian, and I may update my beliefs as I come across more intriguing problems in the near future.

One of my professors at Jadavpur University always used to emphasize on “connecting the dots”. He used to say to become an asset to an organisation one needs to master this art. Over the last 16 months of working, heuristics and empirics have been two of my biggest ‘friends’ when it boiled down to connecting the dots.

When I first started working, I was given a variant of a Facility Location Problem. And my manager said something that time: “Try coming up with your own heuristics. They are more flexible.” At first, I found it hard to understand, but over time I realised how right he was.

When it comes to mathematical modelling (and…

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