What if LUCK runs out? (Part 1)

February 2014, I met with an accident while driving back from work. It was around 21:30, when a truck hit my car. It crushed driving side door, bending it inwards. I had shift towards center of the car to avoid getting hit by the bending door. Seems very scary? It was. I was totally unharmed barring the mental trauma I went through that night. Interesting fact of the accident: Both vehicles, my car & the truck which hit me, were stuck in traffic with little or no room to move. Both of us tried to move ahead with limited space and I was caught between stand still traffic & this monster truck which did not see my car.

Being a senior manager at a big corporate, I have a habit of advising people to get to the root cause and try to control things that fall under their circle of control or influence. I thought; why not apply the same principle to this accident and figure out what went wrong. What can I do in future to avoid it? After much “due diligence”, I concluded to drive more carefully and leave rest to my luck.

Few months later, morning of 7^th July 22, 2014, I was driving towards my office… Normal speed on relatively empty road, enjoying good music, accompanied by Amrita, everything “as usual”. I started slowing down my car as we were approaching a diversion. Just as my car came to halt to turn, I heard “BAM”… and it wasn't a sweet sound. A taxi rammed into us from behind. Driver’s excuse; I tried to apply brakes but the car did not stop in time. Amrita & I stood stunned; moment of silence was followed by an argument, which isn't relevant for this topic, so let’s move ahead. Yet again, my thinking cap was on. What went wrong this time? Was I driving too fast? No. Was I in wrong lane? No. Did I stop too suddenly? No. This time, after much detailed “due diligence” & “root cause analysis”, I blamed everything on my luck.

Week later, I was happy that my car was back from service center. They repaired everything which was damaged plus couple of things which were not broken but were old. I was prompt in passing on good feedback for my claim executive.  14^th July 22, 2014, on my way back from work, it happened again. You must be laughing, but believe me, this incidence shook my confidence. There was heavy traffic; vehicles were barely moving, when a SUV hit my car. Why? Driver accidentally released brakes. This time, I had no energy to argue, I kept driving.

Over ten years of driving experience, never drove at high speeds, always cared about slow moving vehicles or pedestrians. Why was my car hit thrice in the same area within few months? I don’t know. Most of my well-wishers advised me to get divine blessing. Start visiting temple, focus on Gods with special powers, hang some stuff in your car to keep evil away, were some of them. None of them sounded logical but were the only options available, so I agreed to one of them.

I kept thinking about these accidents over the weekend. Is there anything I could do to avoid such thing in future? While contemplating about the reasons of these accidents, I wondered; what if I get stuck in a similar situation at my work? What if I cannot figure out reasons behind a problem? How would I be able to correct my action if I don’t know the real issue? Can I blame everything on luck if nothing works out?

During my 13+ years of professional journey, lot of people told me I was “lucky”. I was told my success is a result of my good luck. I would often have people complain about their bad luck and how things never work out for them. These comments lead me to find more about how few people have good luck and others don’t. 

I stumbled upon an article in 2012 which explains why some people seem to have all the luck. This article referred to the research done by Richard Wiseman. Richard is professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. Richard interviewed several people who considered themselves very lucky or very unlucky. The results reveal that although these people had almost no insight into the cause of their luck, their thoughts & behavior are responsible for much of their fortune. After several experiments & interviews, Richard claimed to have found the elusive “luck factors”.  1) Listen to your gut instincts – they are normally right. 2) Be open to new experiences and breaking your normal routine. 3) Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well. 4) Visualize yourself being lucky before importance meeting or call.

I like Richard’s recommendations. I did apply some of his suggestions. I find them logical; in fact, I felt I have been practicing couple of them even before I read this article. So, what if you do everything advised by Richard and you still don’t get the desired outcome? This question haunted me for a while. How do I deal with failures in situation where I thought I had enough confidence, enough experience & executed the task with full conviction? Like in the case of my accidents.

My curiosities lead me to another book; "The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing" by Michael Mauboussin. I feel Michael untangles several layers of skill & luck, which eventually helps your decision making process. I made an attempt to connect some of his research with current business realities to develop my own simplistic way of explaining factors which contribute or influence outcomes.

More to come....

The Cosmopolitan Capital

Over several years, the culture of West Bengal has emerged as the perfect blend of modernity and traditions. The culture of West Bengal is considered to be one of the richest cultures in India. Apart from boasting of its immense contribution in reformation movements, the state also takes the credit for being the pioneer of cosmopolitan culture in the country. India has many cultures & religious believes, why is it that only Bengali tradition has kept its culture alive, yet has transformed its ways to sync with modern times. 

Cosmopolitan - Oxford defines Cosmopolitan as: "Familiar with and at ease in many different countries and cultures". Streets of New Delhi's mini Kolkata would give you a glimpse of this cultural fusion. While you will find youngsters with ultra modern attire, you will also see them dressing up in their traditional outfits for key occasions. Cotton or silk sarees, kurta (or Paanjabi) with dhoti are still not out. Their designs may have evolved with time but the essence of keeping the tradition alive, prevails over modernization. I feel a lot of other cultures are simply giving up their traditional attire in the name of being modern. Often comfort prevails over our sense of following tradition, but that shouldn't mean you totally let go of your past. Does it? At least Bengali people haven't.

While eating "Chinese & Thai" food is common, you will still find crazy crowd outside fish markets. Dimsums (momo) are fast catching up but Muglai paratha, devil egg, jhal muri are still in demand. Chains like ROC do good business but open fish markets still rule the place.

While late night parties are now common, youngsters still greet elders by touching their feet (yes feet, not knee). Off course not the ones you meet everyday or stay with but you get my point.

While multifloor structures are taking over areas due to rising cost of construction and ownership, you will still find old single story houses with big lawns/ gardens. You will not find hand rickshaw but you can still see workers beating sacks of ice to keep their fish fresh.

While they use modern medicines, almost everyone believes they can survive any catastrophe with a tube of boroline, bottle of zandu balm and gelusil :)

With time they have evolved but kept their tradition & beliefs alive. What makes bengali pople more adaptable and accommodative to changes? Is this linked to "English" influence which East India company brought as they made Calcutta their capital? I don't know, if you do, share your views....

Adda

What seems like a taboo to rest of India happens to be a part of life & culture of Bengalis. Adda for a North Indian refers to a location of a group or community, usually shady people. At least this is what I could make out watching typical Bollywood movie from 80’s where all bad guys had an “Adda”.

So what does it really mean to a Bengali or to Kolkata? Adda appears to be a timeless passion with endless conversation. Topic can be anything; sports, politics, music, literature, celebrity, governance etc. It can be between two or group of people, more the merrier… I guess. This is what web says on Adda – It’s is a form of intellectual exchange among members, who were originally of the same socio-economic strata, but the process has democratized in modern times.

Yesterday, I told Amrita about my plan of writing about Adda. She immediately looked at me and said it’s not Adda, its Aadda, with an extended “a” sound at the beginning. There it was, now it all makes sense. Now I know how to differentiate good one from bad one. Just add an “A”. In fact the first time I heard this term was from her. Few years ago I heard her talking to her friends to meet in evening. When I asked her what’s the occasion? She said; nothing, bus Adda marenge. Till then, I knew Adda as a Noun, but it happens to be a verb too. Again, I’m no linguistic expert so I’ll leave it up to you to decide its category.

Although many Kolkatans boast of the city being the birthplace of Adda culture, Satyajit Ray (in his film Agantuk) traces back the origin of the tradition to regular intellectual dialogues prevalent in Ancient Greece at the time of Socrates or Plato. It doesn't matter who started it. Fact is, it exists here because of a specific community and the way I see it, it’s here to stay. Other cultures or communities may also claim to be contributing to similar tradition but none has been as successful & long lasting as Adda for Bengalis.

Returning to the essence of Adda for Bengali people... Is it only popular among the youths belonging to the so-called "middle-class intelligentsia"? Or is it another term for gossip? As I see & read more about it, it seems to be an ageless tradition. As with everything, Adda has also evolved. Urban Addas for teenagers can also be looked as hangouts. Topic & quality of discussion may not be very intellectual but at least the tradition continues. 

Few questions around Adda bamboozle me. Do they do Adda because they have time or they keep time to do Adda? It is conversations that drives these meetings or is it desire to meet which drives these conversations? Is it because almost every Bengali has an opinion on everything or is it because they really gain something out of it? I don’t know the answers but it’s clear that Adda generates arguments and arguments are good for democracy. The great political thinker Thomas Carlyle had described/defined democracy as "THE COLLECTIVE WISDOM OF INDIVIDUAL IGNORANCE ". I’ll leave it to that :)

One place in Kolkata has been particularly known for its endless Adda sessions. The Coffee House at College Street has been termed as the breeding place of several political and cultural personalities and movements. Many people come here just for the sake of Adda and just being a part of the long talking sessions. Several talented and illustrious persons from different streams have been thronging this renowned Adda for a long time. The history of the Coffee House at College Street can be traced to Albert Hall, which was founded in April 1876. Later, this co-operative society - Coffee Board decided to start a coffee joint from the Albert Hall in 1942. In 1947, the Central Government changed the name of the place to "Coffee House". Place became a meeting place for poets, artistes, literati and people from the world of art and culture. In 1958, the management decided to shut down the Coffee House, but it was re-opened the same year, after professors of Presidency College and Calcutta University rushed off a special petition to the government to save the heritage place.

In general, if two or more people see the same thing from the same viewpoint, there's nothing more to say. If there is nothing left to say; wouldn't Adda loose its charm? I hope this tradition continues. It may not benefit every individual participating in it but it definitely benefited Bengali community & our country. Although there isn't any conclusion to these Adda conversations, it does generate awareness. Moreover, if there ever was a conclusion, wouldn't it end the conversation and wouldn't it end the “Adda”?

First Impression

Being married to a Bengali girl for 2 years doesn't make me an expert on Bengali culture, history or cuisine. This blog is merely an effort to present an outsider’s inside point of view. Don’t know why, I had this eccentric desire to write about this stuff for several months. So, why now?  I don’t know. As they say, better late than never. I hope this blog brings better awareness of this wonderful culture to India & to the rest of the world.

Before I met Amrita, Bengali culture to me meant nothing more than a community of fish loving people and C. R. Park represented the “land of chubby cheeks” :) Well, both these believes still prevail but there is much more to it than what meets the eye. Now when I reflect, I wonder how I ended up falling in love with a Bengali girl when I never preferred or was rather ignorant of their culture & believes. It’s an interesting story but this blog isn't about love story, is it? So let’s stick to the topic. There are so many things I want to write about. How do I start? Having spent several days in Chittaranjan Park, let me start from there. “This place is different”.

I belong to Delhi, born & raised here. I have been to several localities & neighborhood but this place is different. At first, C. R. Park looks just like any other up town area. Blocks of houses, endless cars, hawkers on the streets, shops, temples and so on…  Is it really different? Look closely and you will find the difference. Where else in Delhi will you find a 24/7 carrom board corner on the street, where else can you exit a temple and step into a fish market, where else will you find Durga Puja madness, where else can u still enjoy kullad (clay cup) tea. From the way women wear sarees to its cuisine, place is different.  My curiosity to know more about this place led me to history. Yeah, I know, history is boring. But I had to find out the why & how of this uniqueness.

C. R. Park was established in 1960s. Back then, it was known as East Pakistan Displaced Persons Colony, which was created to provide shelter to displaced Bengali people. The colony was founded with about 2400 plots going exclusively to migrants from East Bengal. Progressive, cosmopolitan yet deeply rooted, this place is continuously evolving. To understand flavor of C.R. Park, we have to go back to the mother ship: Bengal. I promise to come back to present, for now it’s important to understand its origin. Gopal Krishna Gokhale once said – “What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow”. Bengal has been pioneer to so many things: First capital of British India, first railway in India, first tram car, first telegraphs line in India. It is the origin of India’s national anthem & nation song. List goes on…


This is just a start. I will continue to toggle between past & present to present Bengali people & culture through my eyes.