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Author Archives: Alok Sama
Rajat Rex
“This is a fall from grace of Greek tragedy proportions.” Thus spoke Gary Naftalis, Defense Counsel for Rajat Gupta, in reaction to the sentence pronounced on his client by Judge Rakoff. The learned judge himself reinforced this theme of a … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged aeschlylus, anilkumar, anitaraghavan, berniemadoff, davidbengurion, euripides, gregnaftalis, hamartia, hubris, jedrakoff, kinglear, macbeth, mckinsey, oedipus, oedipusrex, othello, rajatgupta, rajrajaratnam, shakespeare, sophocles, thebillionaire'saporentice, twiceblessed, vijayprasad
2 Comments
Don’t Worry, Be Happy
“Sometime’s there’s a man, I won’t say a hero, ’cause what’s a hero? I’m talking about The Dude here, well, he’s the man for his time and place.” (The Stranger, The Big Lebowski) There are two kinds of people in … Continue reading
Posted in big lebowski, Uncategorized
Tagged 59th street bridge song, bernie glassman, bhagavad gita, coen brothers, ethan cohen, haraclitus, jeff bridges, john lennon, john turturro, kathleen falsani, lao tzu, mihali, philip seymour hoffman, richard dawkins, simon & garfunkel, tao te ching, the big lebowski, the dude, the god delusion, transcendental meditation, wittgenstein
5 Comments
Happy
Pharell Williams’ song Happy made it to the #1 spot in 24 countries simultaneously, topping the charts in the US and UK for three consecutive weeks. It’s a nice enough song, a catchy, exuberant, singalong kind of affair, but we’re talking rarefied territory … Continue reading
Posted in economics, psychology, Uncategorized
Tagged blanchflower, bono, dartmouth, david gilmour, davidgilmour, dismal science, dismalscience, Dudeism, easterlin paradox, easterlinparadox, happiness economics, happinesseconomics, Jim Morrison, jimmorrison, kahneman, krugman, lennon, man's search for meaning, man'ssearchformeaning, mark knopfler, markknopfler, michael jackson, michaeljackson, mick jagger, mickjagger, pharell williams, piketty, pink floyd, pinkfloyd, richard easterlin, richardeasterlin, roger waters, stiglitz, the beatles, the wharton school, thebeatles, thewhartonschool, thomas carlyle, thomascarlyle, thomaspikkety, tina turner, tinaturner, viktor frankl, viktorfrankl
5 Comments
Big Swinging Dick
As an investigative journalist, Michael Lewis is a Mozart to Gladwell’s Salieri, a distinction Malcolm, to his credit, most graciously acknowledges. Lewis has a remarkable talent for crafting entertaining and powerful narratives, usually centred around quirky and unlikely heroes, that … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Big Swinging Dick, bigswingingdick, Brad Katsuyama, bradkatsuyama, Dodd-Frank, Flash Boys, flashboys, Goldman Sachs, goldmansachs, Gordon Gekko, gordongekko, high frequency trading, Human Piranha, Liar's Poker, liar'spoker, Malcolm Gladwell, Marvin Gaye, marvingaye, Michael Lewis, michaellewis, Morgan Stanley, morganstanley, Sergey Aleynekov, The Big Short, thebigshort, Volcker Rule, volckerrule, Wall Street
2 Comments
Windmills of my Mind
The royal poinciana, also known as the flamboyant for its flaming scarlet and yellow flowers, is arguably the most beautiful tropical tree in the world. As I settled into a comfortable meditative pose, looking out over the leafy tree tops … Continue reading
Posted in Transcendental Meditation, Uncategorized
Tagged beatles, bill clinton, cartesian, dalai lama, deepak chopra, George Soros, james brown, Jedi mind tricks, Jim Morrison, maharishi mahesh yogi, michael miller, Professor Shiv Gupta, quantum physics, ray dalio, richard feynman, sandy lane, shiv gupta, the doors, Tiger Woods, TM, transcendental meditation, wharton school, yoda
9 Comments
Rock Me Amadeus
Madamina, il catalogo è questo – 1003 in Spain, 640 in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey. But what might il catalogo refer to in this case? Bank failures following the financial crisis? Best value wines rated 90+ by Wine … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged covent garden, don giovanni, douglas hofstader, einstein, euclid, falco, general relativity, genius, godel escher bach, john nash, madame butterfly, midnight's children, mozart, mozart effect, napoleon, puccini. rigoletto, ramanujan, rock me amadeus, royal opera house, salman rushdie, turandot, verdi, zubin mehta
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Dum Maro Dum
Of all the stars that have graced the peaks of popular music charts, John Denver may well be my least favourite. While Abba and Dancing Queen get under my skin, John Denver’s nasal drawl drives me nuts. The nauseating Annie’s Song, the … Continue reading
Posted in legalized marijuana, rock 'n' roll, Uncategorized
Tagged abba, an american prayer, annie's song, bad company, bill clinton, blue oyster cult, cannabis, carl sagan, colorado, cream, dum mark dum, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, john denver, John Lee Hooker, Led Zeppelin, obama, pink floyd, rocky mountain high, vanmorrison, zeenataman
6 Comments
Auld Lang Syne
Like MacArthur’s old soldiers, great hotels never die, they simply fade away. Sadly, this is the inevitable fate of Goa’s Taj Holiday Village at Fort Aguada, our December holiday destination for over a decade. The sine qua non for any … Continue reading
L’affaire Devyani
“Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one.” Clint Eastwood’s classic line comes to mind as the storm surrounding the saga of Ms. Khobragade unfolds. The Indian reaction is evocative of the Ramayana; it is as if Sita herself had been … Continue reading
Meditations 