Les Pensées de Ed

(Let me start by saying this is complete bs. Right, you knew that.)

I’ve discovered the very simple reason for why meditation is popular here in the East, and less so in the West. It’s LOUD here. I’ve yet to find a place where I found peace and quiet in India. And that’s coming from someone who lives in downtown Austin, and can hear the constant buzz of the HVAC systems on nearby roofs, the anti-bird squawking machine, and parades on Congress. That all seems very zen right now.

I’m sure it’s a matter of getting used to it, because while my office in Austin is very quiet, I supplant that with almost always-on music. But here in Hyderabad, the office I’m using has an open door to the street (which means loud trucks and cycles passing, honking, construction crews across the street, etc). And my fan is on high constantly. It didn’t really click how loud it is until I tried to play music on my MacBook Pro’s speakers, and even at the loudest setting I could barely hear it.

But further than that, walking down the street is a very jarring experience. A full horn blast when I car is 6 inches to your left is a bit absurd. Most of the autos are diesel-fueled scooters with metal shells, so they make plenty of noise. And then of course the bastard motorcycles who lost their mufflers decades ago. Oh, and don’t forget the bull-driven cart that is blasting music from an airhorn. Or the kids at midnight banging on drums (as part of the Ganesh celebrations).

Back to my original point, given that the ambient noise level here is many dB’s higher than Austin (by my very scientific research), people have a need to “get away” and clear their minds, hence putting special effort into meditation. I have no problem in my condo in Austin, sitting in the relative peace and quiet, let my mind wander, contemplating whatever. Here, I’m either hyper-focused (thanks to caffeine), or hyper-ADD. I think this is turning cliché now, but I’ve turned into that stupid dog in UP, where every time there’s a noise, I drop what I’m doing and look. And most of the time it’s just a driver honking to announce his existence. Or a bull going up and down the road in front of my hotel trying to drive me nuts.

I may have to invest in some ear plugs and give this whole meditation thing a try.

Edit (9/15): Wow, I’m dumb. Meditation, not mediation.

We can politik about Facebook all day long, but one thing that is strikingly well-done by Facebook is their communication platform. They recently introduced the standalone Facebook Messenger application, which allows users to communicate, regardless of the technology they use. You can SMS, send an web-based message, use the mobile app, use a Jabber client, or email. 

The Facebook messaging platform has to be one of the most effective systems that ignores the underlying technology, and empowers users to use the method that requires the lowest barrier. Dumb phones can use SMS, my parents can use email, I can use the mobile app on-the-go and the Jabber client at work. I’m freed from having to worry about choosing the right technology to get ahold of someone immediately. I let Facebook worry about that. 

My only fear, is that people will shy away from it, because it is a closed loop system. What would be extremely interesting is to see Facebook publish an open standard that allows other vendors to integrate with this messaging platform. Y!, AOL, Verizon, etc could release apps and integrate into their existing systems. The goal here being the lowest possible effort on behalf of the end user. The user should not have to figure out what device is closest to me, or most easily utilized by me. The technology should take care of that.

(The caveat to all of this, is that I often get multiple alerts for a single message. My iPhone gets an alert, Facebook.com chimes, and it comes through on Adium. There is a balance between being intelligent about where to display the message to me, and not delivering a message to the right device. For now, I prefer it to get it across all mediums, than to miss a message because it only showed up on my work computer and not my iPhone.)

I simply must write a quick retort to the story Mr. Beckley shared the other day in regards to his experience in the first days being in Hyderabad. 

adamglasseye:

Across the street, a pack of wild dogs roam slowly from a ramshackle tent.  All yellow and lean, most likely brothers. They walked together slowly until one of them, the leanest of the brothers, breaks away from the pack, he crossed the not yet treacherous street and joins me as companion. At first I try to shoo him away, wholly regretting my decision to ignore suggestions of the rabies vaccination, but he stays by my side, walking nonchalantly, panting and smiling. He is clearly more at ease with this arrangement than I am, but I go with it, not wanting to disrupt the natural order, or piss him off and alarm his brothers. I can see this going very badly. Design wallah torn to bits by hungry dogs badly, so for the moment, I am his accommodating hostage.

I, much like Adam, have an interesting dog story. Except, I will tell mine with much less eloquence and slightly more candor:

My daily commute involves taking an auto (rickshaw-moped). One night, I’m going back and forth haggling with the drivers, and finally get one down to a reasonable amount. I hop into the back of the auto, firmly plant my feet down, in preparation for the bumpy ride ahead. Trouble is, there is a wild dog, nay, wolf - hanging out in the floorboard, that I was entirely oblivious to.

Rightly so, the dog is just as surprised as I am. Being awakened by a person with awfully large feet crushing your torso, must be terrifying, at best. (I’m trying to build up the concept that I have a modicum of sympathy for these dogs, before I say the following…)

The little shithead bit me. Or rather, bit my shoe, and made it his chew toy. Fortunately, my faux skater shoes, which I typically reserve for out at crummy Sixth Street bars, are excellent are protecting my feet from dog bites (and stilettos, as it would be). A swift, coordinated kick (or rather, — a girlish yelp and wild flailing) scared the dog off of my shoe and out of the auto. 

The one similarity I have to Adam’s (much more interesting) story, is that I also chose to forego the rabies shot - because I figured there couldn’t possibly be a scenario where I would need it. 

Damn you, dogs.

(Dogs in photo are innocent, as far as I know… Just unfortunate bystanders on the street.)