If you need inspiration read Kyle Maynard

Filed in Uncategorized, October 12, 2005, 1:00 am by

19-year-old Kyle Maynard succeeds in everything he attempts. Before you start thinking what’s the big deal about that – Kyle Maynard was born without hands or feet. He has written a book – “No Excuses” describing his amazing approach and experiences.  (Via Joyce Wycoff – read her post for some more fascinating details)

An exalted state of motivation called Flow

Filed in Uncategorized, October 11, 2005, 1:00 am by ,

Updated May 26, 2007:  Having gained a better understanding of Flow, I now believe that it is a new concept and is not connected to the concept of Karma Yoga from the Bhagavad Gita. So please read this post with the idea that Flow and Karma Yoga are somewhat related but not the same.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s work on a state of motivation, he calls “Flow” has captured the attention of management pundits and by extension several corporations. He has published his theory in the critically acclaimed book – Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. The Wikipedia makes the call correctly that this state of motivation has been known in the east for many millenia. I for one, could not help noting the similarity to a shloka (verse) from Bhagavad Gita. It has been ringing in my ears since I heard it the first time in sixth grade. I am not sure I still completely internalize its meaning, but Flow seems to be very close to this concept in the Gita. The shloka in Sanskrit is 
“Karmanyevadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana,
Ma karmaphalaheturbhuma te sangostva karmani”. Loosely translated into English – “Those that focus on the action and not on the fruits obtained by their actions will become truly liberated. But those that are led by desire are bound by attachment to the action’s fruits”

Exploring Jazz Music

Filed in Reviews, October 10, 2005, 10:00 pm by

Recently started exploring Jazz. Priya Raju downloaded these
2 popular ones from iTunes. They blew me away. 1. Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
2. Straight, No Chaser by Thelonious Monk Coincidentally, today happens to be Thelonious Monk’s birthday.

A Question of Taste – How many is it – 4 or 5 or 6?

Filed in Uncategorized, , 1:00 am by ,

As a Tamil, I often encounter the assertion that there are actually 6 tastes and the scientific world (read western) is simply wrong in recognizing only 4 tastes –  Salty, Sweet, Sour and Bitter. The 6 tastes in Tamil are – Uppu (Salty),  Thithippu (Sweet), Pullippu (Sour), Kasappu (Bitter), Uraippu (Hot) and Thuvarppu (Taste of Plantain Flower). It is a fact that the Scientific World has been somewhat reluctant in agreeing to revisit the issue of whether there are more than 4 tastes. Consider the case of Umami, which has now been accepted officially as the fifth taste. A Japanese researcher Kikunae Ikuda identified this taste in the year 1908 and fought the scientific
establishment as the lone crusader. Finally, in the year 2000, Umami entered the world of taste as the official fifth taste when a research team in the University of Miami isolated the receptors responsible for detecting the taste of Umami. The most familiar example of an “umami” taste is that of  Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). Coming back to the 6 tastes in Tamil, my curiosity got piqued when I read Mark Kurlansky’s mention that the Chinese have 6 tastes in his book Salt. The 6 tastes in Chinese he lists are – La (Hot), Tian (Sweet), Suan (Sour), Xian (Salty), Ku (Bitter), Ma (Taste of Spicy Huaojiao). At this point, I thought if the Chinese Ma and the Tamil Thuvarppu are similar, maybe there is a case for the sixth taste. So I decided to investigate this matter. First, I consulted my goto Chinese experts Tom Chen and his mom Winnie Chen about Ma. They came back almost immediately and said that Ma actually refers to the numbness that results from tasting Huaojiao and cannot reallly be considered a taste. Huaojiao is supposedly a very very hot pepper. (Thanks Tom and Winnie). Then I turned my attention to the Tamil Thuvarppu. I know this taste very well having tasted dishes made of Plantain Flowers and other items known to give off this taste like Betel nuts etc. I searched on the Internet but could not find any mentions of this taste at all. At this point, I was brainstorming with Priya Raju as to what this taste could be. She knows this taste very well as well. During the discussion, she got a brilliant brain wave and said –
“I have tasted Red Wine and it is similar to the Thuvarppu taste and I also know that that flavor comes from Tannin which is a flavanoid found in Red Wine. So I think Thuvarppu is also coming from Tannin”. Both of us immediately started searching the Internet and voila Plantain Flowers do have a heavy content of Tannin. So we concluded that the Thuvarppu taste is  not really a taste but a flavor resulting from Tannins. It turns out that most fruits when
they are raw have a lot of Tannin which is supposedly an excellent insect repellant. For instance, a raw banana gives off the Thuvarppu taste due to its Tannin content. In scientific terms, Tannin binds with the receptors for Bitter and also triggers an astringent sensation in the tongue both of which combine to give the Thuvarppu taste. In sum, Thuvarppu is a flavor and not a taste. Having figured that out, one question still remained – is Hot a taste? Hot peppers have an alkaloid called Capsaicin which actually causes the sensation of heat. It does this by binding to the pain receptors in the tongue. So Hot is also not a taste but a flavor. Its amazing to know that about 75% of what we think as taste comes from its smell. That is why, when you catch a cold, you cannot accurately determine the taste of food stuff. References:
1. Wikipedia article on tastes with references to Umami.
2. Article in Nature Neuroscience announcing the discovery of Umami receptors by Chaudhary et. al.
3. Very well written tutorial on Taste by Tim Jacob. Must read.
4. Tutorial on smell by Tim Jacob. must read.
5. Society for Research on Umami Taste.

Unsung Blogger of the Week #6

Filed in Unsung Blogger.., October 8, 2005, 8:49 pm by

This week’s featured blogger is  Scheherazade (nickname – “Sherry”)  – a lawyer turned Writer/Coach. She has been blogging since March 2003.  I have not been following her blog for too long, but I would say her blog Stay of Execution is an excellent example of a journal-style blog. Here is the text from the email interview. So much wisdom is there in these answers received so far, that I am thinking of summarizing them into a post. From next week on, I plan to ask about other topics.  So for the last time, read on for the answers. Interestingly, Sherry says she does not ever suffer from the Blogger’s Block. 1. What motivates you to keep blogging?

I’ve written all of my life.  I have a bookshelf full of paper journals.  If I weren’t blogging, I’d still be recording my thoughts and feelings and observations in words.  Blogging is a way to connect with people outside of my small geographic circle, through this practice of writing about my experience.  2.  How do you identify the ideas that you post? Is there any secrets you can share?

I think of a weblog as a mosaic, made from fragments of daily experience.  Each post is a small glimpse of where I am at the time — what I’m thinking about, what I just saw, what I’m worried about.  For each post, I just try to be truthful and clear.  I don’t worry about the overall effect, or about what I’m going to write about tomorrow or what I wrote about yesterday.  I believe the overall effect of these small fragments linked together will be a glimpse of a life.  Whether that’s interesting or worthwhile or not I’ll leave to my audience.   

3.  What methods do you employ to overcome the “Blogger’s Block”?

This question struck me as so strange that I wrote a post about it. [Inserted the link to Sherry’s post. Makes for an interesting read including the comments. -Ed.]  I don’t tend to get “Blogger’s Block.”   Occasionally I feel tired or depressed, and I am afraid that the posts I compose in those moods won’t reflect very well on me.  So I don’t always publish them.  But I always have something to say.  Sometimes, if I’ve been reading very good writing — Dickens, or poetry — I feel a bit of despair at my own clumsiness with words.  I may never convey feelings or people as well as other writers.  Still, I have my own experience to chronicle, and I just try to do my best.   4. What are your Top 5 Unsung Blogs ? (please include only those that are not in any Top 100/500 lists).

I like the Blue Sloth, for his daily portraits of fatherhood.  I like Ever So Humble, for her sensibilities.  I like Topic Drift, for her humor.  I like Outer Life, for the quality of his writing and his thought. [Don’t miss Outer Life’s post – The List – Hilarious is an understatement. -Ed.] I like Unfogged, because of the community that shows up in the comments.   5. What are your current book recommendations ? (1 or 2 is sufficient).

I’ve just finished two great ones by Charles Dickens — Great Expectations and David Copperfield.  If you haven’t read Dickens since high school, I recommend you revisit him. 

6. Now that you have switched your career from lawyer to coach & writer, how does blogging help you?

I think blogging helps me be a better noticer.  That helps in a lot of ways.  I am sensitive to nuance and emotion, and to the small stories that play out in everyday moments, which helps me both as a writer and a coach.