Mind Blogging. Mind Boggling.

PSW is written in 2009 by Alain de Botton, a modern-day philosopher. It ruminates at length about how, why and where we work, by way of delving deep into a wide range of professions, covering transmission tower (pylon) laying to biscuit manufacturing to career counselling and much more. These ten diverse gallivants speak to something I’ve felt: there is a mind boggling range of professions and job-roles, each fascinating in its own way. However, certain professions (eg: Sports, politics, movie actors) and certain roles (eg: CEO, Prime Minister) hog most of the limelight. This book follows the lives of ‘ordinary’ workers, not superstars.

It’s written beautifully (‘river banks gnawed by jetties and warehouses’). PSW is imbued with flashes of sparkling imagination (an abandoned warehouse is ‘evocative of a primeval past and a dystopian future, a place where one half expects that a brontosaurus might emerge from behind the shell of a burnt out factory’). The observations and the accompanying ruminations offer unique perspectives (‘the origins and travels of our purchases remain matters of indifference, although, to the more imaginative, an obscure code printed along a computer cable may hint at process of manufacture, storage and transport nobler and more mysterious, more worthy of wonder and study, than the very goods themselves’).

It’s written in a philosophical bent of mind. Sometimes, the philosophical interludes are deep enough to produce goosebumps. He comments on various conflicts inherent in modern work: veneration of technology, specialization at the cost of understanding the bigger picture, odd behaviours at workplace which become a norm. He asks various deep questions – why indulge in art? Why work? Why do some professions get the limelight? The book is so interesting because while it does its philosophical meanderings, it also gets very real in terms of descriptions of jobs and people. After all, looking at ‘work’ from a magnifying glass has to be as real or ‘tangible’- can’t just be flights of fancy. It’s this conflict and contrast that was at the heart of what made the read appealing for me.  

PSW is imbued with wit (‘we were driven to a hangar not much smaller than Reims cathedral where we caught our first glimpse of the satellite in a powerful white light, being ministered to by a congregation of engineers in gowns, hairnets and slippers’). While the author’s base is England, where many stories are set, PSW does take you globe trotting to some extent. Overall, it’s a classic piece of journalism, for the author probes deep into each subject, interviewing and following the lives of many characters involved.

At times PSW becomes a bit cynical and melancholy. Cynical because the at times the author gets into a mode of saying that the professionals are in the midst of a mind-numbing charade which in the big picture does not mean anything. Melancholy for the same reason- he hints at the pointlessness of it all, especially in the long run.  

Net-net, I found it a fascinating read. There are pictures to accompany the prose, so after reading the book on the Kindle app on my Boox tablet, I bought a hard copy to adorn my bookshelf at home, and two more, to gift.

Labels: Books

# posted by Ashwin Ravikumar @ 12:51 PM 0 Comments

I played pickleball twice over a three -week duration. During this same period, I have continued to be regular in badminton and played Tennis for the first time in 7 long years. As someone who has played a lot of Badminton and Tennis in life, and at my height, pickleball does not work.

The ball bounces so low that it makes hitting fast shots difficult- there has to be a ‘lifting’ movement so that the ball rises over the net. In Tennis, I often contact the ball at an altitude higher than the net, allowing me to hit the shot downwards with force, and focus on the aim. Same is the case with Badminton, where I can smash, or aim. In pickleball, due to the low bounce, contact happens at a point below the net. So I have to plan a projectile motion: up and down.

And because the ball bounces low- I have to bend a lot. The extra bending compared to B& T is annoying. In B&T, I have to bend only for a few shots and if I move fast enough, I can contact the ball at a comfortable height and don’t even need to bend. I always used to wonder that height provides a significant advantage in tennis and badminton; so maybe someone not tall would enjoy pickleball. I will ask around and comment below.

The pickleball ball looks like an infant’s toy. If the ball were to have some small steel balls inside, it would sound like the baby’s rattle - I have a baby at home so this analogy comes easily. The sound of the ball hitting the bat makes a dissatisfactory plasticky sound which reminds me of my makeshift ‘squash’ played uptil standard 3 in the guest bedroom. The whippy swishes of the B&T racquets sound much better. There is no grip on Pickleball racquet–feels cheap to touch vs the plush grips on the B&T racquets.

Badminton demands agility and Tennis demands running speed, sometimes at full pelt. Pickleball seems to have neither to those extents. Singles pickleball can be demanding, but so is lugging back the week’s groceries from the neighborhood store. B&T and squash seem to me to be demanding in a better way.

For the developer, pickleball is a dream. Badminton requires a wooden floor with a synthetic mat on top. Tennis requires synthetic which requires maintenance. Lacs of rupees of expenditure. Whereas pickleball can be played just on a concrete surface. One could even play on regular road which has been ‘white topped’ by BBMP. More and more pickleball courts are coming up across the city. I hope that it’s not at the cost of badminton or tennis.

For non-regular sports players, Pickle is easy to pick up. Non-marking shoes are not required. Tennis required me 5-6 hours to build an understanding between the force I put and the direction the ball went ; amateur pickle takes 5 minutes to get a hang of. The Pickleball set up I went to in HAL Old airport road had music in the background, a coffee bar and lounge seats. First time I’ve played a sport with lounge music in the background! This compares favorably to the stuffy and sweaty smell of an indoor Badminton facility. I love the outdoorsy ness of tennis, which pickleball can also replicate.  Pickleball can be a good gateway sport- for those who’ve played less sport in their lives. Once they get hooked, they can graduate to B&T. We played Pickle after a big meeting with a partner, at work. To play, we did not even need to change- we continued in our trousers and tees. So, Pickle is amenable to ‘light’ plans with less preparation.

Among these new age games Pickle and Padel, Padel seems more intense. It’s a lot like squash, which I’ve played little of compared to B&T. While Pickle seems a mix of TT and tennis while Padel seems to be a mix of Squash and Tennis.

In conclusion, at the sport bar, I would order the B&T. And I don’t want a pickled olive in it.

# posted by Ashwin Ravikumar @ 12:13 PM 0 Comments