Fun to be a cynic

I am an aspirational cynic. I am not really cynical or sarcastic about most things in reality, but being the devil's advocate for anything and everything that comes my way is fun.

It doesn't win you many friends, but it does a few. And conversation with those few is a pleasure that doesn't seem to have a date of expiration.

I am motivated to write this as I read the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' again and can't resist a chuckle or a belly laugh every other paragraph. Douglas Adams is a master.

Once you do explore the road of cynicism and sarcasm, you realize that the whole world is your playground. You can be close-minded and argue expecting the other person to prove the validity of his/her point while who chip away at it with imaginative (yet logical) arguments.

Towns where it actually happens

Its the 22nd of May and today is a good day. I arrived in Philly yesterday night and crashed at an old friend's place in center city.

I have done the round of acivities that characterize the day - brushed, showered, had breakfast. And after having done that, I have settled with my faithful netbook to explore the web, stumbling away on nice websites. But, knowledge without context, inforamation without action has its limits. I explored the dinner table to find this cute postcard of a cute theatrical group that performed in Philly recently. I got a paper & pen together to put the inspiration down. And, when done, I did some research, found the email address of the director and sent her the sketch.

I like the developed countries. They remind me of the things that we were taught when we were kids but which we never found to exist when we stepped into the real world. For example, I was taught that you should stop your car and give way to the ambulance or the fire truck. Really!? With the narrow roads and jam-packed traffic, that never happened. I was told tales of this magical place called a library with books that stoke your imagination. Really?! Even if I did find one, never did I find it worth enough to visit twice. And then I remember being taught stories where people were firemen, postmen, actors and painters who co-existed with the doctors and the businessmen (who actually never figured in stories, now that I remember). Really?! Of the 22 years spent at home, I knew absolutely no-one who pursued the above 'alternate' professions.

But these things are not tales of fiction. They happen in reality in the developed countries. Like this theatrical group...

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Characterize yourself ...

I used to think that characterizing oneself is, on the whole, a negative trait. My argument was that it is self restriciting. Imagine for example, someone charaterizes himself as an active sports enthusiast but has failed to charaterize (identify) the fact he also enjoys, let's say, cooking. Then, in times of conflict in even the most mundane activities such as watching the TV, this individual will follow his conviction, and steer towards sports channels, further fuelling the mis-notion that sports is all he likes.

But, I have started to feel that it is not such a bad trait after all. There are a lot of activities in this world to pursue; an abundance of interests. If one spends time sampling each and every one of them, under the belief that he can like them all, then he is in for a very unproductive and shallow set of experiences. It might not be a bad idea to select a few (being careful to choose the most desirable out of the many) and commit to them.

In the social environment we live in, characterizing oneself has tremendous advantages. It opens up doors to office interaction, it enables one to search of activities outside of work (hence prevents loneliness), and in general helps one to live a more focussed and fulfilling life. I wouldn't stretch it if I were to say that if one is lost in a sea of potential suitors, then knowing what your interests are can be a quick filter to identify the ones who are eligible.

Mid life in the bay area

30's are the mid-life crisis years in the bay area.

Its such a comfortable place. No wonder people itch to do something. The comfort is not comfortable. A good house, an assured future, a great car, a great loving family and a community of like-minded, aspirational young people.

All of this by the time you hit the late 20's. All of this is through one's own efforts. But there is more! The environment around you suits you perfectly, almost by design. Large parking spaces to accommodate cars at the CalTrain stations, wide roads, safe surroundings, very very employee friendly companies and a great sunny weather. Eutopia, yes. But the problem is, men (people) dont want eutopia. Men love the itch. And when there is precious little left to itch about, men find ways to create an itch to scratch.

I'll attribute 20% at the minimum to these conditions to the wonderful entrepreneurial environment in the bay area. People just want to scratch!

Lets see if there is anything worthwhile

I sit and think ... these two weeks of vacation are a time to process ...

Its been many years since I grauated ... but now things reach stability ....

I have been spending these years after two pursuits both of which were so important and so oriented towards the long term, that everything else seemed childish and fleeting in comparison - a career and a mate.

As I make strong steps in both these domains, I look at the world to offer me something worthwhile that comes close to them. I have a strong yet untested belief, that the pursuit of a field is probably going to be the most challenging yet the most fulfilling of the options ...

Lets hope that art is able to fill the space that a stable life creates ...

Mountain View - California

I am sitting in a coffee shop (red rock cafe, for those who know) on castro street in Mountain View, CA.

As I sit here, I get the feeling that this town is probably the modern version of a factory town that used to dot the american landscape. I dont intend to typecast the town; these towns are unique and deserve a category of their own. However, as I listen to the buzz of conversation amongst people from different companies discussing about their companies and the current business trends over coffee, I perceive a similarity to the conversations blue-collared workers would have had over beer in the industrial towns of the past.

But, the fact of the matter is that its not. In fact, quite the contrary. I have been told by people familiar with the bay area that these conversations that I talk of above are in fact thoughts and ideas being exchanged, engines for the growth spurt of innovative companies, much different from the blue-collared conversations. In fact, this very coffee shop, with its free internet and no-questions-asked seating space is the birthspot of several of the local startups, some of which might indeed make it big.

Across the table to me, sits a well dressed gentleman, probably waiting to meeta young entrepreneur, intending to to evaluate one of the many such business ideas that might have been developed in a coffee shop similar to this one ...

Data exclusivity

If companies want to enter the US market, they will come across the barrier of exclusivity.

I am not sure which way the wind will finally blow, but currently the debate forbids biosimilar companies to file an application for 4 years from the date of filing of an innovator product. Also, the innovator company gets 12 years of protection only after which any biosimilar product will receive an approval (if its worthy). Over and above that, the innovator can get extensions in exclusivity for another 12 years if it modifies its products reasonably.

However, if the biosimilar company relies on its own data completely to develop its biosimilar product, then it can circumnavigate the 12 year restriction mentioned above. Maybe that is the ploy of companies like DRL which are generating tonnes of data from emerging markets which can be used to file when the patent expiration of the innovator therapies occur in the US.

I hate sweet breakfast

Did I ever mention how much I detest sweet breakfast?!

Why have food habits evolved to leave only the sweet items for the morning meal? Muffins, jam, cereals, oatmeal ... ? If this is supposed to be the most important meal of the day, I would prefer it to be available in all sorts of palatable flavors including salty!

Yes, yes. The toast and the bagel speak up. But they are just sorry excuses for saltiness. What I am talking about is the real deal. The kind of saltiness you find in lunch, in curry, in sandwiches.

Well, I guess its a matter of research and setting up the systems as you become independent ...