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Showing posts from 2011

Beatles with love

It was the year 1992, as far as I remember. I use to stay with my grandmother and grandfather, away from home. I would hang around with my mama (mother's brother) when ever he was free. He was in many ways, my early influence in many facet of my life : music, movies, clothes and what not :) Most of my early influence of music comes from his collection. Imagine was the song which use to play in loop in his stereo player. I was slowly observing the music in background, which would slowly reveal itself in future. Somehow, the song Imagine and Tears in Heaven , always had be baffled. It was after many years, I would finally recognize the difference in the song. John Lennon was not even in the picture. Then it was the year 1998, in my teen age, I finally carried away the collection of the cassette from my grand mom's house and brought it to my house. Now, I had my own room, my own walkman and my own fantasy of life. After hours of dusting out the cassettes and excitedly pe

Give peace a chance

Hidden Desire of a Monk

With his closed eyes, and calm composure, there he is disillusioned by his own conscience. The state of enlightenment, which he pretends to have, is haunted by his own existence. Like a glowing candle, he is caught in a conflict of spreading a light and a desire to exist. Like a shapeless form and an unheard sound, he is trapped in his own reasoning. Though he pretends to be a hermit, underneath lies his hidden desire to exist. [ Image Credits : Abdul Portrait and Going to Atlanta ]

It’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong.

Every now and then, I give myself a time to re-explore myself just to make sure that I am doing the right thing for myself. And in this exploration, I come across interesting characters and lifes that either inspires me or lets me understand myself more clearly. Usually there always has been this time period of 6 months for my self exploration. Yes, exactly 6 months of setting urself free from rules and restarting your journey. I met Richard Feynman after I completed by A level, though I was being introduced to him during my physic class by my physic teacher. I had exactly 6 months to explore him in/out. I picked up his famous book : "Surely you must be joking, Mr Richard Feynman.", the rest is history. Every now and then, I try my best to introduce to others, but I leave the rest to them. And today, I am trying again to re-introduce him through these wonderful videos. "Tt’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong."

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(Photo taken on 2010 experimenting with light.)

One more thing.

Losing My Grip

(Photo taken on 2009 November)

Spirited

(Photo taken at Karwar Beach 2008)

The Hero

Learning to fight and trying to live for your own sake, in this crazy world, finding inspiration is hard. But in the midst of many heros and characters, Steve genuienly stood as the ONE for me. More than anything, it was his perspective and understanding of the world, which I have come to respect over time. I believe inspiration never dies, it lives on. RIP Steve. ( Image Credit : http://www.apple.com/ t_hero )

Thoughts on Design by Paul Rand

I haven’t changed my mind about modernism from the first day I ever did it…. It means integrity; it means honesty; it means the absence of sentimentality and the absence of nostalgia; it means simplicity; it means clarity. That’s what modernism means to me… — Lecture, A Paul Rand Retrospective, Cooper Union, Oct. 3, 1996 Good design adds value of some kind, gives meaning, and, not incidentally, can be sheer pleasure to behold; it respects the viewer’s sensibilities and rewards the entrepreneur. — Design Form and Chaos Without play, there would be no Picasso. Without play, there is no experimentation. Experimentation is the quest for answers. — Graphic Wit “Paul Rand: The Play Instinct” 1991 Mies van der Rohe once said that being good is more important than being original. Originality is a product, not an intention. — Graphic Wit “Paul Rand: The Play Instinct” 1991 Source : http://www.paul-rand.com/site/thoughts_quotes/ (Photo : Taken by my sister on 20

Steal Like an Artist: Austin Kleon on Combinatorial Creativity

Few days back I had posted a three series long video with a title "Everything is a Remix". The focus of these idea is that nothing is original and everything is a mass-up of previous works. Though this thought might be frustrating for some of the artists who believes in pure originality, but it is true in many extent that originality doesn't exist. Ideas are always shared and borrowed. What matters most is the attitude with which an artist take upon others work. There are many who simple copy blatantly.  With the same reasoning and principal, there is another bloggers who have stumbled upon an interesting result of his own works. Nothing is completely original. All artists’ work builds on what came before. Every new idea is just a remix or a mashup of two previous ideas.” Source : brainpickings.org

Steve Jobs super presentation to NeXTOS

These are some of the simply superb presentation and mind opening presentation on the evolution of Internet and Online communication.

You can't Fail

An idea can fail. A product can fail. But that doesn't mean that you failed or that the company failed. You only fail when you stop trying, or when you stop pushing yourself. You fail, when you give up. So till the time you are trying and pushing yourself, you can't fail. - bexdeep (Sketch : On 6th May 2006 :Of My Father when he was young.)

Storytelling Through Animation

I am a great fan of Japanese Animator Hayao Miyazaki , who has great sensibility in story telling. Some of his greatest works include : Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky and Porco Rosso. The other Japanese Animator who is also known as the God of Manga is Osamu Tezuka. His work includes the famous Animation ASTRO BOY. One of the traits of these animators are not their animation skills, which off-course is to par with excellence, but their honestly in story telling. Now animation is a pretty time consuming process that requires a lot of planning and creativity than any other story telling process. Though modern animation means more of 3D models and realistic visual graphics, 2D animation can also be as much interesting as any other realistic 3D animations. Below are some of the weirdest animations to illustrate the variety in 2D animation and detailing which can be achieved in story telling process. Below is the animation from Osamu Tezuka, you can clearly see the detail of

I Remembered U

During those moments of Silence, and those moments of pain, I (long pause) remembered U. While the darkness was around the corner, and my shadow was still clear, I remembered U. During the conflict of morality, and the confusion of crowd, I remembered U. As the sun rose high, and I opened my eye, I remembered U. As I was listening to JM, and playing his rythm, I remembered U. As I was walking alone, holding on to my dreams, I remembered U. U didn't come from my past, neither from my present, but I remembered U. - bexdeep (Illustration done on 2009) JM stands for John Mayer, Jason Marz and James Morrison

Personal Projects

As far as remember, I have been doing personal projects since I was a kid. From a simple stamp collection hobby to attempting to build a flying glider, my life has become an instances of projects, one after the other. The whole concept of giving form to a formless thoughts/idea is exciting and challenging. That is why I am so in love with engineering, for me its the right discipline which deals with designing processes to achieve those visions. Channelizing thoughts from a sketch to a first prototype is a reward in itself. Throughout my experience, I have always found that people who have a hobby of doing personal projects have different approach to a problem solving. They seem to have clearer and wider perspective of the problem. They are also more practical in their approach and do not hold on to thoughts with a fear of failure. May be its because they have dealt with more failure than anyone in their lifetime. Overall, they are highly self-motivated and off course they are rar

Everything is a Remix : Innovation is Inevitable

This is a three part, and more on the way, series on how ideas or innovations exist and discusses the DNA of Innovation. It basically compromises of COPY, TRANSFORM, and COMBINE. Creativity isn’t magic: it happens by applying ordinary tools of thought to existing materials. And the soil from which we grow our creations is something we scorn and misunderstand even though it gives us so much — and that’s… copying.” ~ Kirby Ferguson Everything is a Remix Part 1 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo . Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo . Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo . [Updated : 25th March 2012] Everything is a Remix Part 4 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo .

Pointless and Enlightened

It was not needed, neither necessary. But there he was, standing on his own, still and calm. Pointless and Enlightened, meaningless and yet relevant - bexdeep (Photo taken at Namobuddha, Nepal on 2008)

Despair and Hope

Take away, Oh Take away this despair and hope the uncertain growth with the winding roads and the unwinding dreams with an impossible scope - bexdeep (Image : Old Lady drawn on 2006 )

Dream to Share

At the lonely side of ur dream, U may have discovered urself but u still need to find a way back to ur life, and wake up from dream to share it with your love - bexdeep (Image : Mother and Baby drawn on 2007 )

Capturing Beauty

Act of Priority Shifting

While I was back in Nepal, I met a very dear friend of mine after a pretty darn long time. She came to visit me at my house and we had great time chatting about old days. During our chat, I asked her if we should plan for something coming this week. She pulled a tattered sheet of torn paper where she had meticulously drawn a calendar with each box containing her schedules. I was impressed and embarked upon making my own sheet. We made a plan for Thursday get together with other friends. I marked in a big letters under my Thursday box. “5:00 pm Meet Up” Source : whicdn.com There is always some sense of gratification in planning which is interesting to ponder upon. Laying out agendas, road-maps and schedules are time consuming and interesting, only to realize the hard rules of priority shifting. Now I was home after a long time and that also only for 20 days, so I had simple agenda but no plan (Don’t confuse PLAN with AGENDA. It’s the same confusion between IDEA and EXECUTION). S

Aug 3rd : Meaning Behind It

screen-shots of my diary on August 3rd I live a philosophical life with full concentration on wholeness rather than a single celled ideology. So I have come to see that August 3rd is more important to me than my birthday, cause this is the day when I actually started my journey into the wilderness with full consiousness. It was on August 3 that I started my newly owned life in Bangalore. Remembering my uncertainty at that time, the only thing I was sure about was finding myself. I think I have in many ways found myself in last 3 years. There is this wonderful saying - "You change because you have not found yourself yet". So I am still changing and the process of perfecting continues. It also happens that unknowingly, I tend to take into new journey every August. May be its because of its position in the yearly calender. But beside me, I know that there are hundred of Nepalese students who embark on their educational journey to America, UK and other areas on this very

Concept of Healthy Community Design

I have always indulged myself observing people move through their life and make a living for them. The strange dependence that human beings have with each other is interesting to observe. But in this strange society, we all are bound by moral values, laws and expectations. I can never completely understand this mere presence of poverty that stares and the meaning of it. If it even means anything to be poor in a society and make your way through struggle, or born rich and stumble through pitfalls of social disaster. The examples of such scenarios are abundant in our society. Source : sscl.wordpress.com I consider myself very lucky to have spent my childhoods in between urban and rural areas. I was exposed to city life and rural lifestyle parallel. This has made my experience rich in those terms. More importantly, I could very much say that the society that I was living in was an experimental one. It was the convergence and harmony between village and urban technology, living

Creative Product Development Process

An interesting topic, as this means a lot to me and my every instances of life. Product is far more different then Service, in terms of engagement with customers and expectations. I find it similar to animated movies versus actor-acted movies. There are certain freedoms in making animated movies, due to freedom of choice of characters, whereas in case of actor-acted movies you have to deal with the personality of the actor before you even go to explore the character of the story. I chuckle every time I remember one of the statement from George Lucas, “I like working with animated characters as I hate dealing with people.” Off course, that cannot be the only reason for making animated series, because at the end it’s about great story telling. In case of products and services, it’s all about solving problems and adding value. What differentiates is how you want to approach it. Source : brainpickings.org So let me dwell into the aspect of product development process. It star

Tim Harford: Trial, error and the God complex

I really don't have anything to write this time. Though I have many thoughts winding up in my head. But then, after a very long time I stumbled upon a good video in TED. This is regarding the complex system and solving the real problems through trial and error. Though I could not help noticing Tim Harford, calling Hans Rosling the Mick Jagger of TED. By the way, Tim's book Undercover Economists is a great read for any one. Bottom Line : "Its very difficult to make GOOD mistakes."

Unsettling Dream

{Rambling with myself} My last few weeks have been reviving and insightful. After almost 2 years, I returned to my home and met old friends and family. I don’t know why, but whenever I think of them, it seems as if I am looking at the other side of the coin. The side which I have been neglecting, the side which somehow exists to keep me reminded of my roots. The side, I am trying hard to polish and shin. While I was with my family and friends, I kept asking myself why I didn’t settle for a normal job and lived like everyone else. What is it that I am pursuing in this life? Everyone seems to be going through some phase of transition, and I found myself utterly confused and stunned. To make best of my time, I went on a trip with my friends to see if I could find consolation with my questions. But I didn’t. By the time I had to return, I had more questions than before. The unsettling dream kept haunting me. Entrepreneurship is a hard choice because you are on your own, figuring out t

Being an Artist and Being an Entrepreneur is almost similar

Most people flock to big cities to pursue their dreams and struggle for years. Some people succeed but many still find themselves waiting for the opportunities. They consider that opportunity is the biggest thing that can actually leverage their talent or skill. But I believe that it is not always so. There are couple of examples that proves that opportunity along is not everything. Moreover in today’s media hyped world, opportunities are everywhere from a reality TV shows to your own youtube channel, twitter account or facebook profile. If you look around in youtube, there are lots of artists doing great with their skills and scaling them to offline. This gives a lot of encouragement to all those people who want to pursue their passion. But there is a reality beyond pursuing your dreams that everyone considers once in a while. It’s how far you can take yourself with what you have. Most people get stuck on it and lose their passion in mid way, and some people simply cannot go beyon

Where Good Ideas Come From

Passion and Flying

There is an interesting aspect of flying which grasps everyone's imagination. The freedom and the control of moving around the space without any obstacle is just too much to ask for, in one man's life :). Isn't it? As a young kid like everyone, flying was a dream. Not to mention the great stories of Leonardo Da Vinci and the Wrights brothers, who not only dreamt but also went on designing one, would inspire you to believe that some day in future it would be possible to fly like a bird. So let me tell you a short story about myself where I took myself to some limit into achieving this. :) I have been wanting to tell this for a long time but never found any occasion or reason to do so. It was long ago when I was still in grade 3/4, should be around 1993. Space Channel was just installed in our house and I would spend time watching cartoons and other science programs. That was when I noticed gliders and parachutes. The shear simplicity of the design took me by surprise.

The Art of Story Telling

Hayao Miyazaki Here I am going to write about one director who have absolutely taken me by my heart and soul. His name is Hayao Miyazaki, a Japanese animator who have produced one of the most fascinating series of animations, but more properly I would tell he is one of the best story teller that I was seen. His animations are not just figures and shapes moving but a manifestation of a story which is larger than life. The first movie that I saw of his was "The Spirited Away". Before this I had watched other Japanese animations but they were more into actions and adventures. But this was completely different, I think I was lucky to have watched it. The story line of "The Spirited Away" was magnificent and out of the box. The experience it set was unquestionable. There was nothing in the movie which sounded cheap or pretentious. You could easily notice the thoughtfulness and the passion gone into making the movie. After that I started watching his more movies. Til

Simple Rule of Success

Simple Rule of Success. Passion. I won't argue and I won't justify. Its there for everyone to understand. You read hundreds of books, watch thousands of movies and read millions of blog, but the fact is not going to change. There was one old Archie's comic strip which I remember reading. When Archie asks Dilton, "How to pass an exam?" Dilton replies, "Just Study." And I think that was well put. But people are lazy by nature and are always looking for hacks in their lives and many people are ok with living their life that way. But if you are truly looking for success coming from within and unpretentious, then its passion. Look every genuine winners around and you will find that they had something unique to offer with their passion to gain in real terms and not in terms of hacks.

Building a Business is like Writing a Novel.

First question! Have you ever tried writing a Novel? You should because it will teach you to think from different perspective. I had written one when I was in college, and it took me more than a year to complete the story. I was trying to narrate a story around an adventurous journey which I and my good friends had undertaken. It was easy, in a sense that I was aware of the story and had some knowledge about the characters that I was trying to describe. But within those time period, I went through lots of ups and downs which were affecting my story line and my characters. This was happening unknowingly and I seemed to have no control over it. While writing and describing one character I would unknowingly portray the character as something else I had no clue of. Somehow the story had its own life and it was urging me to change things. This was a strange and a beautiful feeling. Now what has it to do with building a business? When you start your company for the first time, you are un

Importance of Free Information

I have never been a die hard FOSS guy. I don't even remember attending any FOSS conferences or joining a FOSS community. But as an observer, I deeply value its presence and its motive. FOSS is about freedom in information and its owner ship to the audience. Allowing users to have complete control over the information fosters innovation and provides better opportunities. The freedom in information does not only means source code or design blueprints, but every aspect of knowledge. Knowledge has to be shared freely and openly to public. Here, I am not pointing to wiki leaks phenomenon or other piracy issues, but simply the openness of valued information. I remember getting fully excited during my A levels , when I heard that MIT will be sharing their lecture videos and materials to the public under the name of Open Course. As I was deeply interested in learning more about science and technology, I thought this was the greatest news. It meant I no longer had to beg for knowledge.

Creative Desire

One of the difficulty of being creative is not being able to conform with the surrounding. Almost every thing around you starts to become an extension of yourself. Every living and non-living things become a part of you and you try to make sure that it is the part of your conscious extension. An urge which pushes you to define your surrounding space. Some people say that Artist is born with an ego which is unsatisfiable. This ego does not have any rule and boundaries and is very moody in its nature. It has no value proposition to the society. It simple exist within the realm of ego of an Artist. You can see the example everywhere in the history of creativity from Leonardo to modern artists. It is the only think which I have found that defines an Artist, in a good way. But this urge to define your space can be a frustrating experience when it does not conform with your command. I don't know why this urge is so strong among creative people. It simply doesn't obey the rules an

Social Media and Artistic Integrity

Suddenly, I am starting to feel that there is some sense of freedom among artists in today’s society. This I realised after I observed the trends in YouTube and other social networking channels where creative people were freely expressing themselves without any need of mediator. Artists are always known for their eccentricity and individualism. Their ego defines their works of art and that is what people around love the most. But in between the artists and people, there were always critics and mass media who defined the image of the artists. These mediators were people benefiting from the whole game. Though not all are as bad as I am making them sound :) But the reality is that platforms and media always had a control over making or breaking an artist and they still do. Publishers always control the content of the book and records label always control the content of the music. Because behind this whole setup is a big business model running. There is nothing good or bad about it, it

Destiny over Choice

I think I was born to be an Industrial designer. How do I know? I don't, but I just feel it that way though I am not, yet. In similar ways I could say, I was even born to be an Entrepreneur. But ironically, I never knew about these fields until few years back. This happened cause I stopped the speeding clock of my life. I took off from a steady pitch road started venturing into no man's land. I feel glad that I did. Everyone is not born with an opportunity to know it all before hand. And not every society has a condition where one can find their destiny. So, I feel glad that I was able to find my dream. To find a thing where you could give all your life, its like finding a love of your life. My understanding of myself begins with a realization of my interests and my choices. Irrespective of what you have been doing so far, you need to be sure of your likes and dislikes. It takes an immense effort for anyone to choose their choice, I am not able to know why? A wise person ha

Design is more about Process

Stumbledupon a good article about Jonathan Ive : Ive's team at Apple isn't the usual design ghetto of creativity that exists inside most corporations. They work closely and intensely with engineers, marketers, and even outside manufacturing contractors in Asia who actually build the products. Rather than being simple stylists, they're leading innovators in the use of new materials and production processes. The design group was able to figure out how to put a layer of clear plastic over the white or black core of an iPod, giving it a tremendous depth of texture, and still be able to build each unit in just seconds. "Apple innovates in big ways and small ways, and if they don't get it right, they innovate again," says frog design founder Hartmut Esslinger, who designed many of the original Apple computers for Jobs. "It is the only tech company that does this." Article :  Who Is Jonathan Ive? An in-depth look at the man behind Apple's design magic