My understanding of Chat GPT

I have been hearing about the new AI-based service called Chat GPT ( Generative Pre-Trained Transformer) which, I understand,  is posing a big challenge to Google knowledge. Google says that  `Chat GPT is a large-scale language generation model developed by Open AI which can understand and respond to text-based inputs in a human-like manner`. This technical explanation went over my head. My tech-savvy brother, provided me a simple explanation. He said Google can provide information on any subject in any language instantly but you have to work on its application. Chat GPT gives you intelligent responses to your queries based on the inputs  in text form. You can request Chat GPT to draft a letter to a client on specific issues or you can ask it to give you the text for a speech you have to deliver, the options are limitless. My brother  went one step further by demonstrating the use of GPT by requesting it to compose a poem on his brother (me). I am reproducing below the query posed by him and  the instant ( just a few seconds) response from  Chat GPT.

Request from my brother:

“Compose a poem about my brother Varada who is 80 years old and full of energy”

 This was ChatGPT `s response:

 

Varada, dear brother of eight decades old,

Yet full of energy, like one who's just bold.

Your vitality defies the years gone by,

Your spirit shines, and your eyes never shy.

 

You move with grace and zest in every stride,

With passion and gusto that never subside.

Your laughter echoes, a joyous symphony,

And your voice rings true, with pure harmony.

 

You've lived a life full of adventure and glee,

And the world has been a better place for thee.

Your heart is kind, and your soul is pure,

Your wisdom endures, like a timeless lure.

 

Varada, dear brother, we honor you so,

For the life you've lived, and the love you bestow.

May your light continue to shine ever bright,

And your energy fuel your spirit's flight.

Needless to say that I was both surprised and shocked to read the poem, which I thought reflected the opinion that people have about me. My brother  had not given any other information except stating my name, age, and relationship with him and one description about me being `full of energy`. Amazing response from Chat GPT indeed.

 While I am not going into the debate about its use and misuse by people, as a person who has been using Google Knowledge extensively, I must  try and use Chat GPT as a writer/speaker. I am excited about the possibilities.

 For those interested in enriching their knowledge about Artificial Intelligence and particularly about ChatGPT please read a special report on the topic in the latest issue (2^nd April,2023) of The Week magazine.

 

What is in a height?

What is in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet said Shakespeare. But what about the height of a human being? It does make a difference in the looks of a person. Some are tall, some are short, and some are medium height. I always had a complex about my height which is only 5` 4.5”  Over a period of time, I realized that your height doesn`t matter when it comes to being an achiever. Many great men in history were short. I understand Napolean was a short guy. Lal Bahadur Shastri the late second Prime Minister of India was short in stature.

Closer home my good friend and the legendary adman Sam Balsara is short- a bundle of energy envied by all. The respect he commands in the advertising industry is to be seen to be believed. Both my younger brothers are taller than me. I think I have taken after my father who was the shortest among five of his elder brothers. However, I am happy that my son at almost 6ft has taken after his uncles.
There are many advantages of being a short person. When you are traveling in a train you can comfortably stretch your legs on any berth while you can see the tall guys struggling to keep their feet within the length of the berth. They also find it tough to keep their legs in position in an economy-class seat in an aircraft. Whereas short people can sit comfortably. Tall people find it tough to get in and out of small cars.

I remember an episode involving my first car in life -the cute little Morris Minor.  The year 1970.I was driving the car with my friend Giri who was 6`.3” and bulky. The car suddenly stalled & stopped. Fortunately, the car was closer to the kerb. Giri decided to help me and asked me to step out. With great difficulty, he got into the car and managed to start the car. When he tried to get out he got stuck between the steering wheel and the seat. I was both shocked and amused. I could see the panic in his eyes. After a lot of maneuvering, he got out of the car. Needless to say that he never traveled with me in my MM ever again!

Googling for information on this topic I found the following interesting information. According to a 2014 New York University study the marriage of men below 5`.6’” will be more Stable. They are 32 percent less likely to divorce than average-height guys, They will live longer. and have a lower risk of getting cancer.

While I don`t agree with the above in the Indian context I was intrigued by the third finding which says that short people have more sex. I have heard before that bald people always have sex on their mind. Does it mean that bald people who are also short have more sex?

While height does not matter in becoming a successful human being, it does matter in many situations!

My first attempt at reviewing a Tamil book

Though I was a Tamil fanatic during my school days,   I lost touch with writing in Tamil for nearly 60 years as I became extremely busy with my profession and other extracurricular activities. However, I continued to be in touch with the language by regularly reading popular  Tamil magazines. But my active involvement with Tamizh Puthaga Nanbargal (Tamil Readers Forum) and my friendship with writer (Late) Charukesi reintroduced me to the world of Tamil literature ten years ago. I started reading  Tamil books again. I got to know several popular writers/editors of Tamil magazines at a personal level. One of them is the `one woman army`  Girija Raghavan, editor of the 25-year-old Ladies Special magazine. A woman I admire a lot for her indomitable spirit, multitasking abilities, and commitment  to women's empowerment

 I bought a copy of her book titled `Rowthiram Pazhagu`( Winning against anger) –a  collection of her short stories in Tamil,  at the celebrations to mark the 25^th Anniversary of the magazine recently.  Here is my first attempt at reviewing a Tamil book in English.

Out of the 18 stories in the book 16 are women-centric and only two deal with male subjects. Most of the stories are based on the lives of people the author met or worked with over the years- many of them true stories with some creative inputs by the author.

Most of the stories feature women as modern in their outlook who want to break the barriers imposed on them by a conservative society. While I liked all the stories  a couple of them impressed me more than the others.

The title story `Rowthiram Pazhagu` deals with Kavitha -a divorcee with two children who works as a maidservant in an office trying to give a good education to her children. Her penchant for dressing up impeccably while going to her job leads to gossip among some neighbors;  especially a couple who stay in one of the tenements staying in the complex. Overhearing their conversation suspecting her character after leaving her husband makes her angry and later when she sees the neighbor in her office,  secretly talking to her boss trying to find out more details about her, she becomes furious.  On her way home that day she stops at the neighbor`s house and gives a piece of her mind to them. She tells them, `If a woman wants to take a wrong path nobody can stop her. Similarly, nobody can come near her if a woman decides to be firm on being morally upright. A hard-hitting message indeed!

The story titled `Oru Jeevan` deals with Ramanathan & Vasantha, parents of NRI children settled in different parts of the world.  A typical story of such parents who find it difficult to adjust to life in foreign lands and their hopes of getting their children permanently returned to India never happen. The only time when all children come to visit their parents together is when the father passes away. After staying briefly to attend the rituals they all go back leaving their old mother to stay alone, as she refuses to accompany any one of them.  What happens to the old lady when she gets tired of living alone, is described by the author with an interesting twist at the end of the story.

 Even the slightest event can provoke a creative writer to fictionalize it. The shortest short story, someone said, talks of the meeting of two persons on a train. One asked the other, “Do you believe in ghosts?” “Yes,” said the other, and vanished!

Girija`s stories are not that short.  All the stories are well structured following all the rules of short story writing. They make for interesting reading

In her preface to the book Girija says that this is the first collection of her short stories and hopes that it will be a precursor to many more as she is keen to establish her name as a creative writer. Judging by the contents of the stories and their easy-to-read style in `Rowthiram Pazhagu`  I am sure she will realize her dream soon. I wish her all the best!

( The book, priced at Rs 170/-, is published by Gayathri Publications. The author can be contacted on 9840816281 for your copy)

 

 

 

 

Kavitha- a bundle of talent!

Kavitha is fifty! I can`t believe it. Kavitha- my first child was born on 2nd March 1973, within 13 months of my marriage with Prabha. She was a small dusky baby with lovely eyes and lots of hair. A friendly baby, she was full of fun and quick to learn anything. By the time she was 6 months, she started talking and by 8 months, she was walking. She was only one year old when she was repeating the slokas that my mother taught her. What a joy she brought to the family,

Over the years  Kavitha has turned out to be a very creative person. We discovered her rare talent during one of her school functions. Sishya had a Project Day every year (it still does), where senior classes are  given a topic, and students of the class are expected to study and present the same in the form of charts and mock-ups, This is done at an exhibition to which the parents are also invited. As part of a project, Kavitha was given the responsibility of making a model of a Cathedral, based on a paper cutting with a black and white picture of the Cathedral. She was only 13 then. Without any background or training in the subject, she prepared a very realistic  model (the type the architects prepare) using cardboard, paper mache and  colored glass paper for windows to give the effect of stained glass. It was fantastic and became the talk of the school that year!

 

I realized that my daughter was growing to become a powerhouse of talent— what ten fingers could do, be it painting, cartooning, Tanjore painting, cloth dolls, you name it, and she could do it. She did all these based on sheer instinct and a natural flair. As the creative genius in the family, she would be highly critical of her own efforts and sought perfection in whatever she did— the hallmark of a true artist!

 

Prabha and I started encouraging her by providing the materials she required to work on her talent. I remember returning from a trip to the USA with Prabha in 1988, we had one bag full of materials required by Kavitha to pursue her hobbies.

 

Her inherent talent was honed at Stella Mary`s college and she passed out with a Gold Medal in Fine Arts from Madras University. Unfortunately, both  Prabha & I could not attend her graduation ceremony to see our talented daughter getting recognition as we were out of station. However, the whole family was proud of her.  My father who attended the ceremony on behalf of the family was literally jumping with joy at Kavitha`s achievement. I still deeply regret that Prabha and I were not there at this important event. How disappointed Kavitha must have felt!

 

An early marriage to RU (with `Raja Kalai` as my late father described him on the engagement day) witnessed her  becoming a part of an extended family who showered on her  their love and affection in abundance. At the wedding, almost all the guests felt that RU & Kavitha looked like `made for each other  couple`. They continue to be popular couple in their social circles. Kavitha is lucky to have a husband who has encouraged her to pursue her many dreams  that she has evolved over the years as a multifaceted personality.

 

With  Creativity, Empathy, Communication, Team Management & Planning as her strengths, I find that she is trying to make effective use of her skills to make an impact in every organization she is associated with. Kavitha has really come a long way  since her early days as a talented artist.

Because of her soft-spoken &  friendly nature and willingness to help anyone needing help, she is very popular among her social circles. I feel thrilled every time I hear good things about her in the company of common friends. Most recently the welcome address that she gave at two of the family functions I had organized has come in for much praise for the confidence and poise with which she delivered the talks.

I am also proud of her ability to face the toughest and often very daunting situations, which have been plenty in her life,  with a cool head and confidence and coming out of every problem with her head held high.

With a supportive husband and intelligent and talented kids, Arul (26) and Nila (20) with right values, she is a blessed person with divine grace and elders' blessings. I am sure Prabha is watching her from heaven and is equally proud of her first daughter`s achievements.

On her landmark golden  Birthday, I pray to god to bestow good health on Kavitha so that she continues to realize many of her dreams in life.