The Iliad: Initial Thoughts

The Iliad has overwhelmed me.

This may seem like the most obvious thing to say considering it is 15,000 verses and especially if one has abandoned reading it in the past. This time I was especially motivated to read, understand and for lack of a better word conquer it.

I read Chaucer in middle English or rather struggled to read it in its original middle English. The struggle really made me feel like I was traveling back in time. Since I don’t understand Greek, I started searching for an English translation that would hopefully replicate the feeling of time travel that I had with Chaucer.  George Chapman & Alexander Pope’s old manuscripts seemed to transfer me to the familiarly unfamiliar place in time & typography that I needed to experience time travel. Unfortunately a review to the effect of "It is a pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but you must not call it Homer." made me suspect the authenticity of these translations.

With deep regret I settled for a simple contemporary translation and prepared myself for a subpar homeric experience.

I wonder if there is a feeling equivalent to the overview effect experienced by astronauts for readers of the Iliad. The overview effect is defined as ‘a cognitive shift in awareness during spaceflight, often while viewing the Earth from outer space. It is the experience of seeing first-hand the reality of the Earth in space, which is immediately understood to be a tiny, fragile ball of life, "hanging in the void", shielded and nourished by a paper-thin atmosphere. The effect may also invoke a sense of transcendence and connection with humanity as a whole, from which national borders appear petty.’

I am sure I’ll be able to compose a better essay on the first 4 books during the course of this tutorial. This was supposed to be that essay but it’s not. This initial reading of Iliad left me paralysed with a lot of conflicting thoughts and feelings. Reading the Iliad in Greek or Middle English with incredible poetry would have made me revere Homer’s words but the experience of reading it in a simple translation was unexpectedly visceral. I could feel my hair stand. I didn’t feel a reverential distance from Homer. Reverential yes but no distance.

I’m documenting my feelings at this stage so I can return to reflect upon them after the tutorial is over.

Just like the overview effect where astronauts experienced a connection with humanity as a whole by the absence of borders, the Back to the Future effect is brought about by the absence of time and space when reading the Iliad in a simple English translation. It felt like the story could have easily played out in the right now and the right next to me instead of over 3000 years ago in the mediterranean. 

I feel intense envy at all the school kids fortunate to have a syllabus that includes the Iliad.

I also feel an intense sense of self satisfaction at having reached the foothills ready to scale the Iliad knowing fully well that this mountain was always distant in the horizon the last few decades. Here we are.

My friend was describing how he had predicted different possible outcomes of a stock trade he had entered and his trade exit decisions based on different outcomes. Yet in spite of all his homework, foresight and preparation he said when the time came, he could not pull the trigger to exit the trade and cut his losses.

Intelligence and wisdom is not action.

The absurd actions of the players in the Iliad seem contrary to their inherent intelligence and battle wrought wisdom.

In some way this made me realize that studying the Iliad as a kid in school may not have prevented certain outcomes in my life. The Iliad is no substitute for a child who gains wisdom only through blood soaked scraped knees more than once. This realization has helped to temper the envy I have for kids studying it in school. My turbulent real life experiences have definitely made me appreciate the Iliad so much more as an adult.

My Best Friend

Hey loneliness

You're on my street again

I thought I lost you

but you're my best friend

I can fly

Leave you behind

Have you beg and plead

Not blink an eye

I can turn my back

But every time I close eyes

I think of you

And you're by my side

Just wanted to say

Thanks for coming by the other day

You always make the time

To check if I am fine

Leadership and the 'art of Potato Committees

Once upon a time in a distant land, there was a kitchen that made the best potato soup in the world. People traveled far and wide just to sip, to taste, to swallow what they called the ‘soup of the gods’. Tucked in a small room, almost hidden from the rest of the cooks were six men who peeled the potatoes.

These were not just ordinary men, not just ordinary potato peelers, but the greatest and fastest peelers to have to have ever touched the hot skin of a potato. They moved so fast it was difficult to see their hands, almost like a blur. They hardly talked to each other but with one look each knew what the other was thinking. No matter how much, the head cook gave them; they would finish it in no time and ask for more. They finished the work so fast he didn’t know what to do with them. So one day he decided to modify their work slightly. He came up to the group and exclaimed, ‘All these days, you peeled and I chose the best potatoes from the lot. I would like to reduce your workload, so from today, decide among yourselves and peel only the best potatoes.’

Four hours later, when he peeped on the group through a small crack in the door. He was shocked to see that not one potato was peeled and the whole group arguing with each other. The head cook was a wise man; he knew he had made a mistake at once, but decided to continue watching and learn from this bad experience. As he watch he slowly realized that he had actually taken his well oiled team and turned them into a committee.

Is a committee such bad thing? Well frankly, while I love leaders and their teams I detest committees. So today please allow me to break down the three biggest myths so you can understand why I feel so strongly, starting with:

Myth 1: A Final group decision is a good decision.

What is the role of a committee? To discuss and reach a final decision that everybody agrees upon. And that is a good thing, right? To my surprise I found out that a final decision that everyone agrees upon is basically just that, a final decision that everyone agrees upon. It is not necessarily the best decision. I had always thought that good decisions are made after a lot of discussion. But have you realized that some of the best points are made in the first ten minutes. Think of a time in your office meetings when you made a fantastic point and watched in horror, how it got diluted sequentially till it satisfied everyone’s egos. A good leader knows how to extract the best from a discussion.

Myth 2: No one is as smart as everyone put together.

How obvious. No one person in the committee can be as smart as everyone put together. But when it comes to committees, the rules fly out of the window. . Infact I found out that, on the contrary, the entire committee is as smart as the dumbest person with the loudest mouth. Since in most cases that person’s opinion is imposed on everyone. That becomes the final decision. And the final decision is a representation of the whole committee. A good leader will always make sure that she has a pulse on every member’s thoughts mainly because knowledge is power. To do that she needs to tune out the nagging high frequencies and help the others find their voice because she knows that not saying something and not knowing are two different things.

Myth 3: If you wait long enough you will get consensus.

Think back and you will realize that the men were stumped deciding between good potatoes and bad ones. They were experts at peeling, not decision making, experts at following orders, not leading. Like a mother who lets her kids run free in the park and holds their hand when they cross the road, a good leader know how long to wait for consensus, and when to go out and get it! An organization without good leadership is like a headless chicken running around without any sense of direction.

To summarize, a good leader must remember to:
1. Extract the best ideas from the team.
2. Treat each team member as a unique individual.
3. Make good and timely decisions.

A lot of us judge a leader by his followers. The point, like Ralph Nader says, is that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers’.

Silent Stranger

When it rains and the sun doesn't shine
Would you see the light
When darkness falls,
Do you hear their cries

Sometimes
You feel so insecure
Sometimes
The light don't shine on you
Sometimes
You just need to hold a hand
Sometimes
All you need is a...

Silent stranger
To let in the light
With no eyes, to see the pain inside
And no ears, to hear your cries

Did you ever look under your bed?
Did you ever consider that the voices might be in your head?

Fly Away

Hang on my baby, don't you cry
Remember how we used to lie
Talking 'bout you and me and days gone by
Talking 'bout all our years down the line

Now you're my drama queen by day
And my porn queen by night
You're just someone I used to know
Forgotten yourself become someone else

So Amy
I give you what was always yours
I give you wings
Climb the mountains, cross the oceans
Live like you've never lived before.
Kiss the boys with their fancy toys, big cars and faster lives
But my life is not yours to run around taking credit for
Realize there's a you inside you, reach out and get her out

So Amy
I give you what was always yours
I give you wings
Fly Away

My Kinky Baby

I could follow you if you want me to
I know your style and it's worth the while
And I can feel your eyes draw me close
Your daddy's up sleeping and the gun is locked below

Dying to know what you've planned for tomorrow
Since I met you, everyday has been brand new
If the floor don't creak we might just make it to the kitchen
Get out the whipped cream and do some cooking of our own

Yesterday you had me dressed like a superhero
Today you'd rather have me wear your mother's clothes
Rub your back n feet and do your toes
Your daddy's up sleeping and the gun is locked below

Dying to know what you've planned for tomorrow
We kinky people can't help but put on a show
If the stairs don't creak we might just make it to the backyard
Turn on the sprinklers and do some gardening of our own

Dying to know what you've planned for tomorrow
We kinky people can't help but put on a show
If the stairs don't creak we might just make it to your sister's room
Get her in uniform and teach her a lesson of our own

Afterthought

Funny how,
it’s on a perfect day that I find myself missing you the most
And it’s not the lack of perfect women, of that there’re many
And it’s not the lack of perfect days, still counting by
It’s just, the lack of you that makes me wish that I could forget

Open the door, you fall into my arms and your skin is like my second skin that it hurts when its gone cause I let you go when the times were low hoping you'd get to see a better show. Making tea at the break of dawn cause we’ve slept so much, just none at all and your hand feel soft against my cheek when you raise my face up to yours and I, should have moved on by now but every step I take gets heavier somehow.
It’s just, the lack of you that makes me wish that I could forget

Cause
I’m falling for you
again