Warrier's blog

Truth is stranger than fiction, so is AI The review of this book in The Hindu Business Line prompted me to place an order for my copy. Post-Covid, I have not been into serious reading, as I had 'retired' from serious writing. Still, my love for books is not fading away. And occasionally I respond in the media. Some of my friends encourage me to share my thoughts. I continue to write my daily quota of 150 to 300 words as part of my exercise and some such writings I'm sharing with you all. This is part of that! M G Warrier AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference https://amzn.in/d/9etYVis Amazon Review From two of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, what you need to know about AI―and how to defend yourself against bogus AI claims and products Confused about AI and worried about what it means for your future and the future of the world? You’re not alone. AI is everywhere―and few things are surrounded by so ...

Story of a "Gift" Yesterday (November 21, 2024), I had mentioned in a response in our RBI Retirees Group that the leader MO Jacob was my protector in RBI from Day One (January 15, 1968). My friend Somarajan asked me "Was there a need for a protector from day one?". I gave some answer and acknowledged that Somarajan joined the team which protected me, soon after. We three, Ramachandran, Somarajan and Warrier was an inseparable trio in RBI, Thiruvananthapuram for a long time. They moved together, they ate together and they lived together and many envied them. The inseparable friendship continues. It's about their relationship, Krishna said in Gita : https://vivekavani.com/b2v23/ Excerpts : "Weapons cannot cut, fire cannot burn, water cannot wet, wind cannot dry up this trio" Coming back to the story. One day, as on many occasions earlier, Somarajan was taking Sudha and me to Thiruvananthapuram Air Port. I was seated next to him. He asked me : "...

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Thursday November 21, 2024 A Media Response Letters November 20, 2024 Inflation and rate cuts* This refers to the report "Centre, RBI speak in different voices over inflation, rate cuts" (The Hindu Business Line, November 20). It is uncomfortable to find the media expecting Government spokespersons and the top brass of statutory bodies to think harmoniously on the policies and issues they handle. The suggestion is not that they should fight like the treasury benches and the opposition in legislatures these days. But we should allow open debates on issues like the tolerance level of inflation, methods of arriving at various types of inflation and perhaps even the inflation target. To discuss and advise RBI broadly how to handle the Monetary Policy, there is a statutory arrangement (Monetary Policy Committee-MPC) which has been working well for some years now. MPC during its periodical meetings, will factor in in their a...

Ilanji Tree : Nostalgic Memories https://melangeofmine.blogspot.com/p/under-ilanji-tree.html?m=1 I was just searching for an appropriate image to give some idea about the giant Ilanji tree which was there near the steps when we were entering my ancestral Manakkal Tharavadu compound spread in few acres, where trees and plants of every description were there till 1950's. When I opened the above link, I felt someone else has shared nostalgic memories which describes much more than what I thought of writing today. The first monsoon night rains with breeze brought down kilos of Ilanjippookkal in a vast area below the giant tree spreading a large carpet of white yellowish flowers and an aroma across the boundaries of the sprawling compound(close your eyes, just imagine and inhale... you can feel the fragrance just now). The tree was sold to Paroli Illam for Rs112 those days. The timber had to be pulled by elephants and was sufficient for use in the construction of a big temple and the...

Freedom from fear Copied below is Shri V T Panchapagesan's (Ex-RBI, Chennai...He celebrated Navati few years ago) response to a write-up on fear by Vathsala Jayaraman : "Our living as a whole is full of anxiety covered with Fear Due to various factors within, and with external influence. Every individual has to struggle. Some are Lucky. Many suffer due to internal Conflict going on. Remedy. Develop good Association from the Start. Avoid Outside interaction if it is harmful. Aim high but not too ambitious. Analyse your Potential within . Do not Compare. What you are, YOU WILL BE. FEAR WILL BE ERODED FROM YOUR MIND AS YOU ARE A NEW HUMAN BORN TO BE FEARLESS!" As age progresses we come across more and more reasons to fear. When we try to find out solutions, we are threatened by more and more frightening aspects which further add to our fears. If one doesn't know when to stop, accumulation of fears will continue. I'll share my recent experience : I started reading ...

Plato's Dream : Voltaire Greek Philosopher Plato (4th Century BC) is one of the earliest thinkers who had clarity in thoughts. I found the short story Plato's Dream by Voltaire (18th Century) interesting : https://websites.umich.edu/~esrabkin/sf/PlatosDream.htm Reading the story, sitting on the 20th floor of 21st Century Dreams in Mumbai is a pleasant experience. Excerpts : "Truly you have performed mighty feats! You have divided your world into two parts; and, to prevent them from communicating with each other, placed a vast collection of waters between the two hemispheres. The inhabitants must perish with cold under both your poles, and be scorched to death under the equator. You have, in your great prudence, formed immense deserts of sand, so all who travel over them may die with hunger and thirst. I have no fault to find with your cows, sheep, cocks, and hens; but can never be reconciled to your serpents and spiders. Your onions and artichokes are very good thing...

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Int'l Accounting Day, 2024 Accounting was part of my career throughout. But I was moulded to what I am today, during the 40 months in AG's Office Thiruvananthapuram (1964-68). Of course, from Cash Section in the Regional PF Commissioner's Office (Thiruvananthapuram 1963-64) to the Department of Government & Bank Accounts, RBI (2001-03) there was an accounting component in work which I enjoyed. So, let's celebrate the day. Regards M G Warrier A International Accounting Day https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/accounting-day/ International Accounting Day is all about promoting the accounting profession. It seeks to give people the opportunity to network among their colleagues and aims to provide the opportunity to continue education for those interested in the industry. B Collage Books The book on my table WHO is EQUAL? The equality code of the constitution By Saurabh Kripal Who Is Equal: The Equality Code of th...

Spiritual Atheist : Sumit Paul (Speaking Tree, ET, November 8, 2024) Most of the atheists I've come across claim to be non-believers in God and consider believers to be an illiterate class needing to be helped to understand the stupidity in believing in something which is not amenable to direct perception. Of course, the reverse is also true, as believers don't have a high opinion about atheists. One more category who call themselves iconoclasts is also there, but they have no intention to change believers and atheists. The statement "I don't believe in God, but I am not an atheist" attributed to Albert Camus is interesting. Like HG Wells tried to explain the inevitability of the fourth dimension time for the existence of three-dimensional objects, God is an inevitable necessity for athiests to explain they don't believe in God. Iconoclast by definition is a person who attacks or criticizes cherished beliefs or institutions. Albert Camus's philosophy i...

The Day After Diwali Yesterday (October 31), despite my passing observation about the monkey-character of mind, a friend wondered how one can connect a poem essentially lamenting about the agony of the lover not caring enough and age-related issues post-eighty. Lazy me never reads anything written by me a second time. No proof-reading before final print order. Someone who struggled to correct my spelling and grammar is raising his eyebrows touching the specs-frame! I loved reading this 'Algo of Blisstech' by 'Anonymous' published in ET on the tomorrow of Diwali 2024. The symbolic Diya 🪔 speaks a lot. No one really cares to sit back and think the day after (any event) like this. But journalists get a holiday 24 hours late. This year, I don't know the logic, some others also had to work on Diwali 🎇 Nice Day M G Warrier

Krishna, You Know Me Not! Long ago Sugathakumari had written a Malayalam poem titled "Krishna, Neeyenne Ariyilla!" (Krishna, You Don't Know Me!). https://ministhysnair.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/krishna-you-know-me-not-poetry-translation-from-malayalam/ I leave the poem for you to read and contemplate. I really started writing something else. This is an age-related problem, jumping from one thought to another, you will try to console me. Really it's not. I've been living with this from childhood and it is my good luck 🙏 that my mind developed the skills to jump from branch to branch and tree to tree and when necessary from one compound to another without getting injured beyond repair! When I read scriptures I always enjoy reading the "Phalasruti" first. To my limited knowledge of religious literature and philosophy, Krishna is the only incarnation we can depend in an emergency. Like some political parties, once you 'surrender', Krishna accep...