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.

Hinges of friendship never rust

As I have mentioned in my autobiography,  membership in Round Table India, a youth organization with similar objectives like Rotary opened up a whole new world to me when I was 26. I joined  Bombay West Round table no.6 in Bombay(1968-71), later shifted to Delhi Round table no.5 (71-74), and finally landed at Madras West Round Table no.10 in 1974. Truly an All-India Tabler. I took to the Round table like a duck to water. Over the next  16 years, I not only got actively involved with the activities of the Assn at the national level but also got the Distinguished Service Award from the association, one of the first two-floor tablers to win this coveted recognition, for my role in helping with the  Round Table House project, a dream project of Bob Chandran of CBE.

 As an active member of MWRT 10, I made some close friends whose friendship I continue to enjoy even today- thanks to 41 Club no 7, a club of predominantly ex-members of Table 10. One of the most active 41 clubs in India, the club ensures that the  `hinges of friendship we made during Round table days, never rust`- which is the basic objective of 41 Clubs of India an association of ex-tablers across India. We meet regularly every month. The meetings are hosted by members in public facilities or their homes. Club members contribute a small sum as their share of the expenditure.

It is a meet-and-greet fellowship opportunity and a fun evening where members spend time going down memory lane.  Over the years we have lost some important members to old age-related health issues. However, we continue to invite the spouses of such members as special invitees to our get-togethers.

The Feb.,23, dinner was hosted by a group of five special invitees ( Sangeeth Chopra, Gita Mehtras, Venu Kesu,  Hema Krishnan, and Usha Sudhir) at the spacious residence of Sangeeth Chopra, the charming spouse of the ever-popular (late)Inder Chopra ably supported by the son (Rahul) and daughter in law (Anu) of Venu Kesu. The evening had the touch of ladies in the way it was meticulously planned and executed.  Floral decorations with small `Diyas` in the center were placed on all the tables. A live band was singing retro film songs in Tamil & Hindi. A special bar counter with a variety of spirits was there to raise the spirits of members.

The meeting also witnessed  Rani Ananth spouse of C.S Ananth,  briefly describing her life story and Gopi sharing a recent medical emergency he faced. There were mandatory birthday & wedding anniversary greetings by President Ganesh Kini who also briefly outlined the recent activities conducted at the Area Meet. As a token of appreciation, the hosts were also presented with special gifts. Some members took over the mike from the band and belted out songs they knew. There was also some dancing by the ladies.

A well-known caterer was in attendance serving a variety of delicious starters – both veg. and nonveg. They were so delicious that most of the members made a meal of the starters that they could not do justice to the main dinner fare offered later, as it happens in many such dinners. I was so full of the starters that my stomach could accommodate only some `Thayir Sadam` and the desert!

The highlight of the evening was the participation of some children of the members who were also  41ers in some other clubs in the city. There was a  record attendance of over 40 thoroughly enjoying the well-organized dinner meet.  Thanks, Sangeeth and team for a memorable evening! Truly `Hinges of Friendship` among ex-tablers never rust!

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A friendship to cherish

I was happy to receive a special visitor at my home a few days ago. A friend and well-wisher for nearly forty years he was a pillar of strength to me in many of my projects connected with some voluntary bodies I was associated with. The reason for his visit was to wish me on my becoming an Octogenarian as he could not attend the official party I had hosted on my 80th Birthday. I was touched but not surprised. Because he always had a soft corner for me and attended all important events in my family. He not only extended a helping hand but was also actively involved in a few of the professional bodies I was associated with. I am referring to Mr. N. Murali, the Director of The HINDU group and President of the Music Academy.

My first interactions with him were as a Rotarian in the early eighties when as a Publicity Convenor of my Rotary club I would visit him seeking the support of the HINDU for the two-page supplements that were being brought out to celebrate some occasion or the other by the club or the Rotary District to which my club belonged. I got closer to him when I became active in the Advertising Club, Madras. He was a great supporter of The Ad club taking an active interest in many of the club's activities. When I was the President of the Advertising Club, Madras during 1993-95 he spontaneously offered Rs 2,00,00 from The Hindu for interior decoration of the permanent Secretariat at its own premises. Later when I took on the challenging responsibility as the Chairman of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations Committee he not only helped in many ways but also accepted the role of the Chairman of the second edition of the `Advertising`s Future Shock` Convention conducted by the club as a part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations. He also released the first copy of the Golden Jubilee Commemoration volume giving the history of the club which I had the privilege of compiling with the late Krishna.

Another connection that brought me even closer to Mr. Murali was my long stint with AMIC, an NGO devoted to mass communication in Asia Pacific Region headquartered in Singapore. First as a Country Representative and later as a member of the board of AMIC, Singapore. After I completed my six-year term, when I recommended Mr.

Murali`s name as my successor, it was accepted by the AMIC Board. Later to further boost the activities of AMIC India, we decided to form an AMIC India Trust, registered in Chennai with Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the well-known agricultural scientist as the Chairman, and me as the Founder Secretary. Mr. Murali was roped in as one of the board members.

My long association with AMIC led to my involvement with IFRA, another non-profit organization based in Germany devoted to research in Newspaper development. I was instrumental in starting IFRA INDIA, as a private limited company with Mr.Murali and me as the founder directors. As Mr.Murali was already on the board of IFRA Germany, he managed to get the rights to hold an IFRA EXPO and INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE in India in 2007.

I consider IFRA Expo India in Chennai 2007 as the crowning glory of my 18-year association with IFRA. Every year when I visited IFRA Expo in Europe, I would dream that one day I would be actively involved in organizing a similar International Expo in India. Thanks to the favorable atmosphere offered by the booming Indian economy then and the consequent development of the Newspaper publishing industry, IFRA agreed to have IFRA Expo for the first time outside Europe in Chennai, in 2007, though on a modest scale.

With active support from the IFRA Expo team in Darmstadt in Germany and the dedicated efforts of the small IFRA India team consisting of Magdoom Mohamed and Antony and using a checklist I had drawn up over the years for organizing such events, we went about organizing IFRA Expo India with a missionary zeal. With over 100 exhibitors participating, nearly 3000 delegates visiting and over 600 delegates attending the parallel conference, IFRA Expo India held at the Chennai Trade Centre became a resounding success. The nearly 200 foreign exhibitors, speakers, and delegates went back awestruck at what IFRA India could achieve in terms of meticulous planning, quality of speakers, excellent time management, and the wonderful execution of the project to international standards. All this was possible with the active support of Mr.Murali and his team in The Hindu.

I always considered Mr.Murali a lucky mascot in my life. He has been a chief guest at many of the events that I had organized over the years. The most memorable was when as the chief guest at the two-in-one function organized by the Rural Marketing Association of India in 2009, attended by the who`s who of the advertising industry in Chennai, he not only presented the `RMAI Life Time Achievement Award` to me but also released the first copy of my autobiography `Courage My Companion`.

The last official function I attended was the 65th Anniversary celebration of the Advertising Club, Madras in October 2022 when the Club was honoring a few Past Presidents. I had the privilege of receiving a memento from N. Murali who was the chief guest at the event.

In response to my note thanking him for his visit to my home this was his reply, "I enjoyed my visit and your hospitality immensely. Those old happy memories ( that we shared) will always remain with us."

Yes, Mr.Murali, I will always cherish our friendship and the wonderful memories made possible by your unstinted support to many of my activities. Pray god to bestow good health on you so that you continue to inspire people associated with you to do their best.

Divine grace and Elders blessings

My parents taught me the value of divine grace and elders` blessings right from my childhood.  Every four years my father would take the family on a holiday to the South. Holidays meant not seeing new places but visiting relatives seeking their blessings & visiting temples in the towns which we visited. Using Chennai as the base we would visit all towns in Tamil Nadu where his extended families, especially relatives who were elders to him, lived. Both my parents would prostrate before such elders seeking their blessings. We would also be forced to do the same.  I religiously follow this advice to this day. However, at 80 with related health issues prevent me from prostrating before my elders. If I try it I find that  I need two people to lift me from the floor. Instead, I do the `PAI Lagey`` in true North Indian style.

My visit to see Prabha`s Chithi ( mother`s younger sister) in Pune with my daughter Sowmya was primarily to seek the blessings of this 92-year-old lady, who was staying in a Retirement Community with an assisted living facility. Her son who has a flat in Pune had decided to leave his mother in this facility when he and his wife were proceeding to Australia to visit their son`s family settled there. Even after he returned to Pune, he decided not to take his mother home. I found out the reason during my visit.

The old lady, always full of energy and enthusiasm was thoroughly enjoying her stay in the home. She told us “ I Have many friends here. All the staff members are very nice to me. In fact, every morning before they start work they visit me to seek my blessings because  I am the oldest person in this Home. Though they serve food at your bedside, I prefer to walk down to the canteen. I like the food here, though it is typically Maharashtrian fare”

 She was very excited when she told us about the grand celebrations held by the staff in her honor on her 92^nd birthday a few days earlier. She called the supervisor of the home to show us the pictures taken on the occasion. “You know they had decorated the hall with balloons and festoons. I even cut a birthday cake! They all sang the Happy Birthday song`. Oh! She was excited like a child!

When I asked her if her son visited her that day she responded without any remorse ”No he couldn`t come because he was not doing well. It is ok. I am sure he will visit me when he can”

When I asked her if she would like to go back to stay with her son. her face changed. “I am very happy here. At my son`s home, I feel lonely. My Son and daughter-in-law are so busy, I have nobody to talk to. I sit watching the TV the whole day or read some books. Here I have made so many friends”

I was reminded of a  similar statement made by my late mother-in-law almost 20 years ago when she was staying in an old age home and I would bring her home to give her a break, or so I thought.

Chithi pointed out some bedridden inmates and stated innocently- ”You know I am not even getting a fever.  Though I have a nurse  attending on me I do all my chores myself”

After handing over the several gifts which we had brought with us and after taking the mandatory selfies and photos we left the Home feeling happy that the old lady was having a good time at the Home. However, the way she was looking shrunk and emaciated  I  am not sure If I will see her again.

While leaving I sent a message to her son congratulating him on his wise decision to put up his old mother in the retirement community.  

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