Crisis = Danger + Opportunity

A recent issue of Giant magazine was all raves about Al Gore and his "An Inconvenient Truth" campaign. His book talks about how our generation needs to face the harsh reality about global warming crisis, and step up to the plate to do our bit to minimize fossil fuel usage. Gore recommends taking inspiration from the chinese symbol for crisis, which is actually a combination of two symbols - one for danger and another for opportunity.

Now, I'm really passionate about cutting down on oil and coal reliance. I believe in hybrid cars, solar power driven homes and fluroscent lighting. I wonder what the shape of the world would've been today if the shameful desecration of democracy seven years ago had not happened in Florida, and an environment lover had stepped into oval office instead of a ... (no, I must refrain from unpleasantries).

For now, however, I'm loving Gore for the insightful example he has provided. I love hidden tips like this - they make great dinner table discussions, not to mention great ice-breakers in bars. So I searched online for the said chinese symbol, and it brought me to a number of links talking about this exact duality. Seems like it's quite a cliche. But, buried somewhere in there was a link to an insightful website by Victor H. Mair, a professor of Chinese language at the University of Pennsylvania. Victor flouts this cliche, and very passionately so. He flogs the horse from so many angles, that it seems almost ridiculous that anybody could come up with the comparison at all.

Factual information aside, it almost seems a pity that the chinese character for crisis was not intended to involve a yin-yang fusion of danger and opportunity (and I hope I've not offended the professor in any form by my usage of the words yin and yang). I find it very disappointing when I find out that a perfect romanticism isn't. I've not heard a rebuttal to the professor's views, so for all I know, his comments might be based on misinterpretations.

However, no matter what oriental linguists intended, the message is clear - we have a crisis at hand, and therein lies the opportunity. I see this as not just an opportunity to redeem ourselves (very spiritual), but also to invest in the promise of the future. It's evident that we are going to run out of oil sooner or later. It is also evident that transportation only needs to get faster and more reliable in the future. I think it's a great investment opportunity if we can find the right thought leaders in the industry. It's also a great opportunity for researchers and inventors. But most of all, I think that this is an opportunity for you and I to lead by example - to have a story to tell our grandkids about how the clean air they breathe is yet another thing they need to thank us for.

my.world.com

Thirty.

There, I threw a number at you. Tell me what is the first thing you thought of - honestly.

Thirty is the age at which you start to look back upon the years - for it is just now that you have accumulated enough years to look back upon. This is also when you start to think just a little bit more about the implications of your actions - for there's a sudden realization that those implications affect more than your own personal atmosphere. But more than anything else, this is the age that makes you noticeably humbler for the first time.

Growing up in India taught me how to dream. There are the movie stars and socialites with their glamorous lives, the people in the papers who have been newsmakers overseas, relatives who I never saw but heard of as having broken past the strata of that society to the land of promise. You look at them and you dream of the perfect world that can be yours.

Ten years ago, as I stepped out of student life into the professional world, there were possibilities. There were goals to set, goals to achieve and no time to rest. Nothing was impossible. There was the world to conquer.

I have nothing to complain of the goals that I set, the goals that I achieved and the piece of the world that I conquered (okay, so maybe all I conquered is 1140 square feet with an 80% backing from a bank, but I'm sure that's my fair share). But now, I can't help but feel a bit of humility at the vastness of this world, and all that it offers that's much beyond the goals and targets that eclipse our vision. There's still so much more to see, so much more to experience, and so much more to own.

Living in America has taught me the significance of chasing your dreams. Your life is what you, and mostly you, make of it. Turning thirty, however, has taught me that one must dream in order to live well, but one cannot live a dream forever.

I think I've beaten this dream analogy to death, so let me just come out and say what I want to say. I've realized (it's about time) that for many of us, there's probably no perfect world, no wonderland - that we need to dream of, and slowly build, our own Utopia.

So I'm building my vision of a perfect world. In that world, I have ocean beaches, wide roads and environment friendly BMWs. I have people who smile at you when they make eye contact, open the door for you at a grocery store, but most of all, people who trust other people. I have casinos with free shows, malls with valet parking, and parks with public tennis courts.

I also have milk without hormones, cheap delicious junk food that my taste buds like, maid service seven days a week and twenty channels of my choice on TV. I have courts that handle criminals efficiently and people who don't sue other people for normal human interaction. I have clean streets, schools, libraries, and medical services for all to use.
Most of all, I have family and friends with whom I can relive the past and build a future.

What world do you dream of?