I just finished reading the sixth book of the Dune series. The story behind the plot is so unique that I do not want to divulge the details of the same in this blog … what is more interesting is that how the book sheds lights on issues like religion, governance and governance using religion.

If you decide to reflect on the same, then you will realize that there is some sense to it all. Right from our childhood, we have been taught that democracy is a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Is that really true … from school we come into real life all misty-eyed and full of ideals, then real life hits us with shades of grey and a despairing need of black and white.

The very leaders we adulated over, and voted into power, we know are of no good. The false promises that they make will be of no use. Thus, democracy itself is based upon and runs on mistrust. I do not trust my government, thats the whole reason for having an opposition party in parliament so that I have a double check on them.

The entire system is based layer upon layer of mistrust. The lower layer knowing and not trusting the higher layer. And surprisingly, it works!! Well, thats just democracy for you. What will heckle you further, is that when you think of a governing system which is hierarchical (like democracy) and is based on trust (rather than mistrust), then we have dictatorship!!

Funny, isn’t it, whats good at an individual level, is not a necessary thing at a cumulative level? hmm…

I tend to have these philosophical discussions with my room mates. It can meander from God to Good and from behavior to endeavor. The works. If I document these entire discussions, then that itself would be a blog. So, one fine day we were discussing God. I know, its such a great topic … if only I had a rupee for every time god was discussed on a blog, I would not need to work then.

We were discussing God as a Brand … and a very successful brand at that as well. Imagine, even the non-believers discuss god … effectively people who refuse to accept the existence of the brand also accept the brand. Can there be a greater brand recall and brand value. I think not!!

Also, imagine, each religion has a different brand of its own. So the concept of god is actually a category and not a brand :-). Being a Hindu, I can only say that my religion has a multi-pronged strategy … multiple brands. A good example of Segmentation-Targeting-Position. What say?

My sister wrote this one … just too real!! Kudos Arati!!

I trod upon the path of Life,
Looking down at my feet each step.
Suddenly I raised my eyes,
Saw this wondrous sight,
The unknown world I left behind,
Spread upon the mountainside.
Somehow I had failed 2 see,
The places I had passed thro’,
In the quest 2 see my road ahead.
Soon in the distance loomed my goal,
Relieved 2 reach it, if truth be told,
Strange indeed that it turned out 2 be,
A seat on the summit,
Looking o’er the vista below.

Well, here’s a little about me on the professional front. I manage the entire technology of a small corporate merchandising firm. People (including my family) ask me, why is an IIM grad managing technology in a small firm? Aren’t they bred for big corporate?

Answer is simple. Do what brings a smile to your face at the end of the day. Web Retailing it is. Now, managing something which always tends to move forward out of your hands is turning out to be pretty tricky.

If you can manage to foresee programmer hiring, feature roll-outs, unexpected leaves, budget constraints, server crashes, everything, and a lot more … believe me you definitely are not prepared for light outages!! Hail the city of Hyderabad :-).

What should happen when the lights do go out? Well, somehow since the computers are not working, it becomes a technology issue.

The day the lights went out, an IIM grad became an electrician.