LIVING IN WAKAD - Part 1 - Stay Inside Stay Cool

Vikram Karve: STAY INSIDE STAY COOL - LIVING IN PUNE

Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: STAY INSIDE STAY COOL - LIVING IN PUNE.

LIVING IN WAKAD

Part 1 – Stay Inside Stay Cool

By

VIKRAM KARVE

 

STAY INSIDE STAY COOL

 

Stay Inside Stay Cool. That is the best thing to do if you live in Wakad, or for that matter, if you live in anywhere in Pune.

 

Just stay inside your home, for if you do decide to venture out it is highly possible that you will lose your cool.

 

To start with there is the crazy Pune traffic, and with most of the roads dug up for the never-ending repair, the chaos is even crazier. That is why I say: The best way to travel in Pune is to go nowhere!

 

As far as I am concerned, the best thing about this place is my apartment – it is a “no-neighbours” apartment.

 

On a lighter note, yes, there are no neighbours at present since most of the owners seem to be long-term investors waiting for appreciation of their property and have kept their flats securely locked in the hope that the value of real estate in Pune will shoot up. Then, there are a few short-term investors who have bought flats to rent them out to young IT Pros and balance their EMIs and one never knows whether they will ever stay in these lovely apartments: exemplifying the adage – Fools Build Houses and Wise Men live in them. Well, I am not a real estate investor. I have bought the house to live in it, so I seem to be one of the exceptional few who is enjoying staying in my own brand new house.

 

Luckily, this place is not in the middle of a concrete jungle and you do not feel boxed-in by huge buildings surrounding you like in most places in Pune, and in the proliferating townships on the other side of the road in Wakad. Here you have a much better view than your neighbour’s balcony.

 

There is plenty of natural light, plenty of fresh air, a breathtaking view of the Mula River and its verdant surroundings, and a “feel good” vibe, which fills me with cheer and makes me happy to stay at home. I must say that the architect who designed these apartments in Rohan Tarang has done a real good job. One gets a feeling of roominess, brightness and liveliness here as this is not one of those ubiquitous cramped matchbox design flats, proliferating all over Pune, where one feels claustrophobic and uncomfortable the moment one enters.

 

I like my home. First impressions are good and as far as the other aspects like quality of construction, amenities, maintenance services and promises kept are concerned, well, it is early days yet and I will tell you in times to come.

 

Where is Wakad?

 

If you drive along the road from Aundh to the Rajiv Gandhi InfoTech Park at Hinjewadi in Pune, the moment you notice a large number of hoardings advertising various apartment townships in the concrete jungle, which you can see to your right, you know you are nearing Wakad. Well I am quite fortunate since Rohan Tarang is not in this overcrowded concrete jungle but is the solitary housing complex to the left side of the Aundh-Hinjewadi Road adjoining the Wakad village on the banks of the Mula River. 

 

One of these billboards features a sexy skimpily clad model frolicking in a cool blue swimming pool with an iced cocktail in her hand and has the catchy slogan: Stay Inside Stay Cool. (I wonder whether the gorgeous beauty is really going to spend the rest of her life staying cool sipping cocktails and having fun in the swimming pool of that luxurious township or any of the others in the vicinity most of them bearing fancy enticing names reminding one of exotic destinations). Most of the advertisements for these so-called integrated townships exhort you to stay inside and claim that with all the amenities provided inside it is best to stay inside and there is no need to go outside.

 

Well I am not going to spend the rest of my life inside the walls of a ghetto immersed in a swimming pool or working out in the gym or brooding inside my house – no Stay Inside Stay Cool or Stay Inside Stay Enthralled for me.  

 

So I am going to go out, walk all over the place, drive around, explore, and tell you all about living in Wakad. By the way, I am quite fortunate that Rohan Tarang is not located inside the overcrowded concrete jungle coming up in Wakad, but is the solitary housing complex towards the southern side of the Aundh-Hinjewadi Road adjoining the serene Wakad village on the banks of the placid Mula River which affords quite a picturesque view from my balcony, especially at sunset. But then, everything has its pros and cons.

 

Bye for now – Stay Inside Stay Cool and don’t forget to read my ramblings on Living in Wakad right here in this blog of mine.

 

VIKRAM KARVE 

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

 

VIKRAM KARVE educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale, and Bishop's School Pune, is an Electronics and Communications Engineer by profession, a Human Resource Manager and Trainer by occupation, a Teacher by vocation, a Creative Writer by inclination and a Foodie by passion. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. He has written a foodie book Appetite For A Stroll and a book of fiction short stories which is being published soon and is busy writing his first novel. Vikram lives in Pune with his family and pet Doberman girl Sherry, with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile of Vikram Karve:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Email:

vikramkarve@sify.com
Foodie Book:

Appetite for a Stroll 
http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm

http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

http://shopping.sify.com/appetiteforastroll-vikram-karve/books/9788190690096.htm

 

© vikram karve., all rights reserved. 

WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE CHILDREN ?

WHY HAVE CHILDREN?


By


VIKRAM KARVE



Why do people have children?

I don’t know.

In our case it was just a simple natural process. We got married [She, 21; I, 25], followed our biological instincts, let nature take its course, and in due course of time we were blessed with a delightful little bonny baby who became the cynosure of our life.

This was almost a quarter of a century ago.

Now it’s different.

I’ll tell you a story.

There’s this “successful” couple. Accomplished, ambitious, and competitive, they [She, 33; He, 35] are both software geniuses, exceptionally brilliant IT Professionals. Their hearts passionately in love, their heads fervently in competition, each trying to outdo the other.

They got married five years ago, after both had established themselves in their careers. They planned everything. First they would focus on their careers for a few years, strive for new zeniths and realize their dreams with their quest and passion for excellence, and then when they were successful and reasonably prosperous, they would plan their first child, so that they could give their kid the “best” in the world. Doesn’t matter, if this plan entailed periods of separation and long-distance marriage from time to time in the nascent years of their wedded life!

Their planning was perfect. They have just been blessed with a bonny baby. Just like we were, a long time ago. But here the similarity ends.

For he, the father, is flying off to the States, and she, the mother, is off to Singapore, to separately pursue their respective professional dreams, material ambitions, and achieve new pinnacles of success.

And their bonny baby will stay right here in their luxurious apartment with her granny who will shower her with all the “motherly” love and look after her with loving tender care.

And, of course, they will ensure that the baby gets the “best” in the world – the best comforts, the best toys, the best schooling, the best docs, the best nannies, the best care – the best of everything, except motherly and fatherly love.

Why is the mother depriving herself of the bliss and joys of motherhood? And why is the father distancing himself from the baby’s growing up process? I still remember the supreme joy and happiness my wife experienced when doing simple things like massaging, bathing, feeding, tending to and nurturing our baby. And I can never forget the matchless delight and fun I felt taking an active part in all facets of the baby’s development and growing up process.

Nothing can even remotely equal the unique joys of motherhood and fatherhood, and there is no substitute for it. And if they didn’t want to fully experience it, why did they have the baby?

Was it to just to prove to the world, or maybe even to themselves, his manliness and her fertility?

And what about the poor hapless darling baby? Will she never know what true motherliness and fatherliness are like?

Can a proxy, however compassionate, be as good as the real thing? Why go against nature?

That brings me back to my first question. Why do people have children? When their priorities lie elsewhere, and they don’t want to cherish the sheer unadulterated joys and thrills of parenthood and parenting.

Dear Readers, will you please be so good and enlighten me?

VIKRAM KARVE

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/

vikramkarve@sify.com

DEFINING MOMENT

Métier

[Short Fiction – A Romance]

By

VIKRAM KARVE


What is the best way to kill a lazy hot afternoon in South Mumbai?

You can go window-shopping on Colaba Causeway; enjoy a movie at Eros or Regal; loaf aimlessly around Churchgate, Fountain, Gateway of India or on the Marine Drive; leisurely sip chilled beer at Gaylord, Leopold, Sundance or Mondegar; browse at the Oxford Book Store or in the Mumbai University Library under the Rajabai clock-tower; watch cricket sitting under the shade of a tree at the Oval; visit the Museum; or, if you are an art lover, admire the works of budding artists on display in the numerous art galleries in the Kalaghoda art district.

That’s what I decide to do.

At 11 o’clock in the morning I stand at the entrance of the JehangirArtGallery at Kalaghoda in Mumbai. I walk into the exhibition hall to my right. The art gallery has just opened and I am the first visitor.

Standing all alone in placid relaxing hall, in peaceful silence, surrounded by paintings adorning the pristine white walls, I experience a feeling of soothing tranquillity – a serene relaxing calm – and for the first time after many hectic, harried and stressed days, I experience an inner peace and comforting silence within me and, at that moment, I know what it feels like to be in harmony with oneself.

I leisurely look around at the paintings. I see a familiar face in a portrait. An uncanny resemblance to someone I know.

The face on the canvas stares back at me. Comprehension strikes like a thunderbolt. It’s me! Yes – it’s me! No doubt about it! Someone has painted my portrait, my own face.

I look at myself. I like what I see. It is a striking painting, crafted to the point of the most eloquent perfection.

I am amazed at the painter’s precise attention to detail – my flowing luxuriant black hair, delicate nose, large expressive eyes, even my beauty spot, the tiny mole on my left cheek; the painter has got everything right.

Never before have I looked so beautiful; even in a photograph. My face looks so eye-catching that I can’t help admiring myself – like Narcissus.

I look at the title of the painting on a brass tally below – My Lovely Muse. Muse?

I’ve never modelled for anyone in my life. Who can it be?

Suddenly I notice a wizened old man staring at me. He looks at the painting and then at me, and gives me a knowing smile.

“Excuse me, Sir,” I ask him, “do you know the artist who painted this?”

“I’m the painter,” a gruff voice says behind me. I turn around and look at the man. With his flowing beard, unkempt hair and dishevelled appearance he looks like a scruffy scarecrow. At first sight, totally unrecognizable.

But the yearning look of frank admiration in his eyes gives him away. No one else has ever looked at me in that way and I know he is still desperately in love with me.

“Do I see the naughty boy I once knew hiding behind that horrible shaggy beard?” I say to him.

“Do I see the bubbly and vivacious girl I once knew hiding inside the beautiful woman standing in front of me?” he responds.

“You look terrible,” I say.

“You look lovely – like a flower in full bloom,” he says.

I feel good. Aditya may be in love with me, but there is no pretence about him. I know the compliment is genuine.

“Come, Anu,” he says taking my arm, “let me show you my work.” And as we walk around he explains the themes, nuances and finer points of each painting.

Here I feel a sense of timelessness – a state of supreme bliss. I wish this were my world; sublime, harmonious, creative. I wish I’d stayed on; not burnt my bridges. Or have I?

“Let’s eat, I’m hungry,” Aditya interrupts my train of thoughts.

“Khyber?” I ask.

“No. I can’t afford it,” he says.

“I can,” I tease.

“The treat’s on me,” he asserts, pulls me gently, and says, “Let’s go next door to Samovar and have the stuffed parathas you loved once upon a time.”

“I still do,” I say, and soon we sit in Café Samovar enjoying a lazy unhurried lunch relishing delicious stuffed parathas.

“What time do you have to go?”

“I’ll collect the visa from Churchgate at four and then catch the flight at night.”

“Churchgate? I thought the visa office was at Breach Candy!”

“That’s the American visa. It’s already done. The British visa office is at Churchgate.”

“Wow! You are going to England too?”

“Of course. US, UK, Europe, Singapore. Globetrotting. The next few months are going to be really hectic. It’s a huge software development project.”

“Lucky you! It must be so exciting. You must love it!”

“I hate it!”

“What?”

“It’s unimaginable agony. Sitting in front of a computer for hours and hours doing something I don’t like.”

“You don’t like it? Then why do you do it?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “Aditya, do you know what the tragedy of my life is?”

“What?”

“My biggest misfortune is that I am good at things I don’t like.”

“Come on, be serious! Don’t tell me all that.”

“I hated Maths, but was so good at it that I landed up in IIT doing Engineering, and that too Computers.”

“But you’re damn good. A genius at computers. That’s why they are sending abroad aren’t they? The youngest and brightest project manager! You told me that.”

“Being good at work is different from liking it. You know, the thing I despise the most – sitting like a Zombie in front of the monitor for hours, discussing tedious technical mumbo jumbo with nerds I find insufferable. It’s painful, but then I am the best software expert in the company, the IT whiz-kid!”

“Yes. I know. It’s true. It is indeed a great tragedy to be so good at something you hate doing. That’s why I quit practice and am doing my first love – painting. I don’t know how good I am but I certainly love doing it.”

“But you are so good. You must be minting money, isn’t it?”

“Not at all. I told you I couldn’t afford Khyber. Just about make ends meet.”

“I thought artists make a lot of money. The art market is booming.”

“Only the established ones. Not struggling types like me!.”

“Come on, Aditya. Don’t joke. Tell me, how can you afford to have your exhibition here in Jehangir?”

“There’s a patron. An old lady. She encourages budding artists like me. She’s given me a place for my studio.”

“Just like that?”

“Yes. There are still a few such people left in this world. I present her a painting once in a while,” he pauses and says, “But today I’m going to be lucky. Looks like My Lovely Muse is going to fetch me a good price. Thanks to you!”

“Thanks to me?”

“You were the model for this painting. My inspiration. My Muse!”

“I never modeled for you!”

“You don’t have to. You image is so exquisitely etched in my mind’s eye that I can even paint you in the nude.”

“Stop it!” I say angrily, but inside me I blush and feel a kind of stirring sensation.

“Tell me about yourself, Anu,” Aditya says, changing the subject.

“I told you. About my painfullyboring work. And you won’t understand much about software. Spare me the agony. I just don’t want to talk about it.”

“You still paint?”

“No. I stopped long ago. At IIT.”

“Why?”

“No time. Too much study, I guess. And the techie crowd.”

“You should start again. You’re good. You’ve got a natural talent.”

“It’s too late. That part of me is dead. Now, it’s work and meeting deadlines. An intellectual sweatshop.”

“Come on Anu, cheer up. Tell me about your love life?”

“The company is taking care of that too! They are trying to get me hooked to some high flier Project Manager in my team.”

“Don’t tell me? What’s his name?”

“Anand.”

“Wow! Anu and Anand! Made for each other!”

“You know they set us up as per their convenience, facilitate working together all the time, encourage office romance, and even give us a dating allowance.”

“Dating allowance? Office romance! It’s crazy! Just imagine - Paying people money to fall in love!”

“Helps reduce attrition, they say; makes people stay on in the company. Nerds understand each other better; can cope better together, at work and at home. That’s what they say. Smart fellows, those guys in HR - they try and team us up as it suits them. They are dangling carrots too – like this trip abroad. They’ve even promised us a posting together to Singapore on a two year contract, if things work out.”

“It’s great!”

“Great? Are you crazy? Just imagine living full-time with a boring number crunching nerd all my life, doing nothing but being buried in software, day in and day out. I shiver at the very thought.”

“Tell me, who would you like to marry?”

“I don’t know.”

“How about marrying me?”

“Come on, be serious.”

“I’m serious. We could paint together, do all the creative stuff you always wanted to do. Live a good life.”

“Let’s go,” I say changing the topic.

“Anu. Remember. If you love flowers, become a gardener. Don’t curb your creativity. A lifetime of having to curb the expression of original thought often culminates in one losing one’s ability to express.”

“I’ve got to go, Aditya. It’s almost four. The visa should be ready by now.”

“Wait. Let me give you a parting gift to remember me by.”

Aditya calls the curator and tells him to gift wrap and pack the painting titled ‘My Lovely Muse’.

“Sir, we’ll get a good price for it. I’ve already got an offer,” the curator says.

“It’s not for sale,” Aditya says, “It’s a gift from an Artist to his Muse.”

I am overcome by emotion at his loving gesture. I look at Aditya.

It is clearly evident that Aditya is really deeply in love with me. And me?

Am I in love with him? Tears well up in my eyes. My throat chokes. My heart aches.

I find myself imprisoned in the chasm between the two different worlds – Aditya’s and mine.

But soon the rational side of me takes charge, and as we part, Aditya says, “Bye, Anu. Remember. If you can do something well, enjoy doing it and feel proud of doing it, then that’s your perfect métier. There’s no point living a lie. You’ve got to find yourself.”

I hold out my hand to him.

He presses my hand fondly and says, “Start painting. You must always do what you love to do. That’s the highest value use of time – time spent on doing what you want to do.”

“And what is the lowest value of time?” I ask.

“Doing what you don’t like just because others want you to do it.”

“Or maybe for money!”

“Money?” he asks, and then he looks lovingly into my eyes and says, “Anu, don’t destroy your talent by not using it.”

I get into a taxi and drive away form his world, my dream-world; into the material world of harsh reality.

In the evening, I sit by the sea, at the southern tip of Marine Drive and watch the glorious spectacle of sunset. As I watch the orange sun being gobbled up the calm blue sea, and crimson petals form in the sky, my mobile phone rings.

It is Anand, my Project Manager, with whom my romance is being contrived, from the airport. “Hey, Anuradha. The flight is at 10, check in begins at 8; make sure you are there on time. Terminal 2A.”

“I’m not coming,” I say.

“What do you mean you’re not coming?” Anand shouts from the other end.

“I mean I’m not coming,” I say calmly.

“Why? What’s wrong? Someone made you a better offer?”

“It’s nothing like that. I’ve discovered my métier. I’m going back to the world where I really belong,” I say.

“Where are you? How can you ditch us like this at the last moment?” he pleads.

I know if this is the defining moment of my life. It’s now or never. I have to burn my bridges now. “I have made my decision, Anand. I am not coming back. I have to discover my true self, do what I want, be happy from the inside. I’m sorry, Anand. I’m sure you’ll find someone else, your soul-mate, at work and for yourself. Best of luck!”

I switch off my cell-phone. I look at it. The last of the manacles! Deliberately, I throw the mobile phone into the Arabian Sea.

I begin walking towards the place where I know I’ll find Aditya.

And then I will return to the world where I really belong to realize my true metier and be my own Muse!



VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.


vikramkarve@sify.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

ITBHU ALUMNI MEET PUNE CHAPTER

This evening, on Sunday the 22nd of March 2009, we had the first get-together of the Pune Chapter of the ITBHU Alumni Association at the Poona Golf Club. A large number of alumni ranging from golden oldies of the 1960s batches to fresh 2008 graduates enjoyed a delightful evening of nostalgic memories and camaraderie.

We are grateful to Pushpendra and all the dedicated volunteers who took the initiative to organize this pioneering alumni event in Pune and wish the Pune chapter grows from strength to strength and we look forward to many such fruitful interactive alumni events. I am sure Pushpendra will write about this memorable evening on the alumni website.

Meanwhile, to set the ball rolling on this occasion, I am posting below a small nostalgic piece of writing I had written on my blog in Jan 2008 to revive fond memories of our Alma Mater.


MEMORIES OF MY ALMA MATER

By

VIKRAM KARVE



The class of 1972, who graduated in 1977, the first IIT-JEE batch, had organized a reunion at our alma mater, ITBHU, Varanasi, in the first week of January 2008. I had planned to go, but couldn’t make it, owing to a sudden unexpected job relocation. I’m sure all my classmates who were there revived fond memories of our student life at Banaras, so here is my nostalgic piece on my alma mater.


ITBHU [Erstwhile BENCO – Banaras Engineering College]
Institute of Technology
Banaras Hindu University
Varanasi
India


Let’s begin with the college song

IT BHU Chorus

HAND IN HAND WE GO TOGETHER,
HAND IN HAND WE ARE SINGING ALONG.

SIDE BY SIDE WE FACE THE MUSIC,
WIN OR LOSE WE ALWAYS SING A SONG.

WAVE THE FLAG, WE’LL KEEP IT FLYING,
TILL THE SUN SHINES O’ER THE LAND.

IF THE LUCK IS GOOD WE’LL ALWAYS SHARE THE CHEERS,
IF THE LUCK IS BAD, WE’LL GLADLY BEAR THE TEARS.

TILL THE DAY WE TURN THE CORNER,
WE’LL KEEP ON AS LONG AS WE ARE HAND IN HAND.

IF YOU KEEP ON SMILING AT THE RAINBOW,
YOU WILL NEVER MIND A SHOWER OF RAIN.

KEEP YOUR HEAD ON THE CLOUDS,
DON’T GET LOST IN THE CROWDS.

ALWAYS KEEP THE SONG IN YOUR HEART,
AND SHOUT HIP-HIP HURRAH.


Composed by:
Prof. Charles. A. King
The First Principal of the
Banaras Engineering College (BENCO)



On what basis do you judge an educational institution – an Engineering College or a B-School? In today’s world there is just one criterion – market value – the starting salaries and campus placement the students get – the more outrageously astronomical the pay packets, and the greater the percentage of lucrative campus placements – the better the institution. And with the increasing commercialization of education, many institutes blatantly compete, advertise, and focus on these materialistic aspects to attract students – it’s a rat race.

I feel the cardinal yardstick for appraising the true merit of an educational institution is the value-addition it instills in its alumni – and I’m not talking of utility and materialistic values alone; but more importantly the inculcation and enhancement of intrinsic and intangible higher values. The student should feel he or she has changed for the better, professionally and personally; and so should other stakeholders observing the student from the outside be able to discern the value enhancement.

I studied for my B.Tech. in Electronics Engineering at ITBHU from 1972 to 1977 (first batch IIT JEE) and I experienced the well-rounded value addition I have mentioned above. Later in life, being academically inclined, I continued studying, and have completed many courses, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management, an Engineering and Technology Post Graduation at a premier IIT [M. Tech. - IIT Delhi] and have worked in multifarious capacities and even taught for many years at prestigious academic institutions of higher learning, but I shall always cherish my days at ITBHU the most. I knew I was a better man, in my entirety, having passed through the portals of ITBHU, and I’m sure those scrutinizing me from the outside felt the same way.

ITBHU was amalgamated by integrating three of the country’s oldest and best engineering colleges: BENCO (Banaras Engineering College) – the first in the Orient, and certainly in India, to introduce the disciplines of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, MINMET – the pioneer in Mining and Metallurgy in India, and College of Technology – the first to start Chemical and Ceramic Engineering. Indeed these three institutions were the harbingers of industrialization in our country.

In my time ITBHU was indeed a center of excellence, an apt institution to study in, and a lovely place to live in. The vast verdant lush green semi-circular campus at the southern end of Varanasi, the largest university campus I have ever seen, with its pleasant and relaxed atmosphere was ideal for student life. And being a part of a premier university afforded one a consummate multidisciplinary experience.

It was a delightful and fulfilling experience I will always cherish – learning from erudite and totally dedicated Professors, who were authorities in their fields of specialization, amidst excellent academic facilities and ambience, elaborate labs and workshops, lush green campus, well-designed comfortable hostels, delicious food, expansive sports fields and facilities for all types of sports, the beautiful swimming pool, the unique well-stocked and intellectually inspiring Gaekwad library, and the exquisite temple that added a spiritual dimension to the scholarly ambiance.

One could learn heritage and foreign languages, fine arts, music, indology, philosophy, yoga, pursue hobbies like numismatics – the avenues for learning were mind-boggling. Many of us learnt music and foreign languages at this sanctum of learning. We had a truly holistic education and the idyllic environs of BHU helped one develop a philosophical attitude to life.

Like all premier institutes ITBHU was fully residential, which fostered camaraderie and facilitated lifelong friendships amongst the alumni. I can never forget those delightful moments in Dhanrajgiri, Morvi, Vishwakarma, Vishveswarayya and CV Raman hostels, mouthwatering memories of the Lavang Lata and Lassi at Pehelwan’s in Lanka, the Lal Peda opposite Sankat Mochan, Chinese at La Bella in Lanka, and the delicious wholesome cuisine of Banaras, watching movies at the quaint and unique cinema halls, strolling on the holy ghats, and the cycle trips all over Varanasi, Sarnath, and even across the holy and sacred Ganga on the pontoon bridge to watch the Ram Lila at Ramnagar.

Way back then, in the 1970s, ITBHU was a wonderful place to study engineering and live one’s formative years in. I wonder what my dear alma mater is like now!


VIKRAM KARVE

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

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vikramkarve@hotmail.com

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Decision Management

The SHOR Paradigm

[Decision-making in Uncertainty]

By

VIKRAM KARVE



“The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides” …Frederic Amiel



Decision-making is so pervasive that everyone, professionally or personally, is involved with making a variety of decisions.

In today’s fast-moving world, the timing of a decision is of paramount importance in many decision-making situations. In real life even the “perfect” decision may not be optimal if it is made too late.

Information is a vital resource in decision-making. One of the most important characteristics of successful managers is the ability to make the correct decision when confronted with imperfect or insufficient information (i.e.) Decision-making under conditions of uncertainty.

In the context of decision-processing, two realms or domains of uncertainty are:

1. Information Input Uncertainty which creates the need for hypothesis generation and evaluation;

2. Consequence-of-Action Uncertainty which creates the need for option generation and evaluation.


THE SHOR PARADIGM


A decision taxonomy: The Stimulus – Hypothesis – Options – Response (SHOR) paradigm, formulated by Wohl, is useful in such decision situations. The SHOR paradigm represents a qualitative, descriptive, model as distinct from a quantitative, predictive model, and comprises three primary decision-making task elements:
S: Stimulus Input Data Processing
H: Hypothesis Generation, Hypothesis Evaluation, Information Processing [What is?]
O: Option Generation, Option Evaluation, Decision-Making [What if?]
R: Response Output Action

The SHOR paradigm is basically an extension of the classical Stimulus – Response (SR) Paradigm of behaviourist psychology. The SHOR paradigm provides explicitly for the necessity to deal with information input uncertainty and consequence-of-action uncertainty, and helps us understand some of the peculiar human factors that affect the quality of the decision-making and answering questions such as:
What makes some decision-makers perform better than others, especially in placing high-value assets at risk, in business?
What are the sources and dimensions of “poor” performance?


HUMAN ERRORS IN DECISION-MAKING


Based on the SHOR Model, human errors in decision-making appear to lie in four domains:

(S) Stimulus: “I didn’t know…”
(H) Hypothesis: “I didn’t understand…”
(O) Options: “I didn’t consider…”
(R) Response: “I didn’t act…”

Stimulus based errors of the type “I didn’t know…” result from lack or inadequacy of information, the true inability to obtain information.

“I didn’t understand…” is the fundamental result of information input uncertainty, while “I didn’t consider…” is the product of consequence-of-action uncertainty.

It is possible to have accessed all significant information, to have developed the correct hypothesis and to have selected the best option and yet fail to take appropriate action. The two possible reasons for the “I didn’t act…” type of response error are:

1. Paralysis: This is a complete failure to act, the pathological ‘observation of an inevitable course’ without intervention. It is caused by an over-riding emotional struggle in which some internal factor is being placed in conflict with the course of action selected by the decision-maker. The final scene in the evergreen classic film The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) exemplifies such a situation.

2. Misjudgement: The decision-maker correctly decides what to do but errs in either or both of the two dimensions – how [the specifics of the action] or when [the timing of the action].

Prediction of the critical consequences of inaction may be of some help in dealing with paralysis whilst the ability to perform sensitivity analyses may assist in alleviating misjudgement.

Any Decision-Maker [and designers of decision aids] must address the four cardinal types of errors epitomized by the SHOR paradigm: “I didn’t know…”, “I didn’t understand…”, “I didn’t consider…” and “I didn’t act…”



DECISION-MAKING IN UNCERTAINTY


In the context of decision-making in uncertainty, the conflict theory paradigm developed by Janis and Mann may be apt. This paradigm postulates five patterns of coping behaviour which tends to occur in such situations:

1. Unconflicted Adherence in which the uncertain, or risk, information is ignored and the decision-maker complacently decides to continue whatever he has been doing.

2. Unconflicted Change to a new course of action, where the decision-maker uncritically adopts whichever new course of action is most salient, obvious or strongly recommended.

3. Defensive Avoidance in which the decision-maker evades conflict by procrastinating, shifting responsibility to someone else, or constructing wishful rationalisations and remaining selectively inattentive to corrective information.

4. Hypervigilance wherein the decision-maker searches frantically for a way out of the dilemma and impulsively seizes upon a hastily contrived solution that seems to promise immediate relief, overlooking the full range of consequences of his choice because of emotional excitement, repetitive thinking and cognitive constriction. In its most extreme form hypervigilance is referred to as “panic”.

5. Concerned Vigilance in which the decision-maker optimally processes pertinent information, generates and evaluates hypotheses and options before selecting a response as characterised by the SHOR paradigm.


In many real-life situations a decision-maker cannot always keep waiting until the entire information-input and consequence-of-action conditions are known a priori with certainty. In most cases there is no such thing as “perfect” certainty.

If a single most important characteristic is crucial to a decision-maker in any field, it is the ability to make optimal decisions in conditions of uncertainty. Qualitative descriptive models like the SHOR paradigm may prove useful in such situations.

To quote Frederic Amiel once again: “The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides”.


VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2008
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.


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