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Nadella as Microsoft CEO: A slap in the face for Indian system

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Re: Nadella as Microsoft CEO: A slap in the face for Indian system

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a lot like saying, you could be born to any mother. It is simply an accident of birth, who is your mother. Does it mean you shouldn't love your mother, your family, and you don't owe your family for their love and bringing you up?

By that logic you should should really love the hospital you were born in. After all, it was more involved in bringing you into the world than the ground it was built upon. The whole notion of "my country" is really interesting... If you were swiss, but born and raised in India, does India become "your country" or not? The media in Subcontinent area feeds loads of BS about nationalism to the point that you start to b…

I'm talking about people, not just the physical place. The Hospital, or a barn, are inanimate objects. They did not make any decisions about the process any more than air and water decided to flow through your system. You can thank nurses, but the act of being born, although crucial, isn't as laborious as carrying to term and not sleeping every night for a year.

If you were born in England, and raised in India, you do have have dual allegiances, but probably more to India.

Re: Nadella as Microsoft CEO: A slap in the face for Indian system

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My feeling exactly. The idea that one man's decision to live and work in another country besmirches his originally country decades later when he finds great success is itself the real insult here.

That may be the headline but there's a lot more nuance. One of the stronger points made is that no Indian-born Nobel laureate is an Indian citizen.

A slap in the face is an aggressive act from one to another, usually intended to inflict pain.

I think a better comparison for Indian's success abroad but not at home would be a bucket of cold water or a ringing alarm clock.

Re: Nadella as Microsoft CEO: A slap in the face for Indian system

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again, silly to argue that dedication, concentration, work ethic, attitude, family support are not cultural. They all affect how well that swimmer swims on the day. This is really very obvious, and its disingenuous to pretend otherwise.

>silly to argue that dedication, concentration, work ethic, attitude, family support are not cultural. No, it's silly to argue that they are. You've exclusively mentioned virtues that are as common to every culture as they are to every grouping of humans that hasn't been designed intentionally to exclude them. Culture largely consists of meals, hairstyles and clothing, dancing and mating habits, religion and racism,…

That's a very narrow view of culture, and wrong. Culture in some PC sense might be defined as only those things that are cute. But peoples differ greatly in important ways. There are real differences in family support, work ethic, dedication. Sorry if that seems offensive.

Re: Nadella as Microsoft CEO: A slap in the face for Indian system

#94

A slap in the face indeed, but not in the way it's presented. I admire the Indian people, and what prompted me to respond here were the comments below that article more than the article itself. They were what I expected to find, "We are pathetic, we are whiners, we are losers.". I used to think the same about my country. Until I realized that decades and centuries of exploitation at the hands of malicious outside for…

Well, unless there are other countries literally wiling to invade yours if you don't let them exploit you, that exploitation is your (colective) fault, and your people are the ones capable of stopping it. If that's the case, just accept that it's up to you to make a better place, and act acordingly.

Now, if there are other countries with guns pointed your way, well, people from India can tell you better about that than I can.

Re: Nadella as Microsoft CEO: A slap in the face for Indian system

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a lot like saying, you could be born to any mother. It is simply an accident of birth, who is your mother. Does it mean you shouldn't love your mother, your family, and you don't owe your family for their love and bringing you up?

By that logic you should should really love the hospital you were born in. After all, it was more involved in bringing you into the world than the ground it was built upon. The whole notion of "my country" is really interesting... If you were swiss, but born and raised in India, does India become "your country" or not? The media in Subcontinent area feeds loads of BS about nationalism to the point that you start to b…

>By that logic you should should really love the hospital you were born in.

No, your family usually cares about and for you, unlike the hospital you were born in, which you cannot rely on for any favor.

About the country issue, it is simply a manner for many people to identify others on many traits using common associations (e.g Indians are poor, Eastern Asians are hard-workers, Swiss are meticulous), that sometimes relate to accurate correlations. And it's one of the few ways, other than age and salary, to do this kind of association in a neutral and non-controversial way.

Re: Nadella as Microsoft CEO: A slap in the face for Indian system

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Culture is the largest difference between people. We are the animal that can (re)program itself. Nationality correlates to culture greatly. So there is still plenty of difference between peoples of the world. Its silly to ignore this.

No one is suggesting culture should be ignored. It's pride that's the problem. Did you do something to earn your nationality? Culture in itself is an important difference that makes people a lot more interesting to each other. But the examples given are not the same kind of difference: Olympic swimmers aren't expressing their culture. They're all, by rule, doing exactly the same thing. That the one from your nation d…

>No one is suggesting culture should be ignored. It's pride that's the problem. Did you do something to earn your nationality?

A nationality is a collective endeavour -- it's the people of a country moving the country forward together (each according to his ideas of course). Even by paying taxes and cleaning some beach of garbage, or building a business in your country, you're DOING something.

And people do much more than that, from political action to take down a dictatorship to fighting to keep the nazis out, to tons of other things.

Plus, you don't have to "earn" something to feel pride about it. It just means you love it, and you want the best for it. Do people feel pride about their brothers and sisters? I know I do.

Re: Nadella as Microsoft CEO: A slap in the face for Indian system

#97
post #7

There is an implicit assumption that he was chosen because he is brilliant. Shouldn't we wait for a couple of months at least?

usually CXO level people ARE chosen because they have displayed a modicum of brilliance at something... It isn't exactly a lottery system. Plus - you can already look at what he's done with the Azure platform.

It isn't exactly a lottery system, but it is very heavily influenced by one's network, and "life's lottery" rules apply to that at least as much as a person's own efforts. The Tech world is emphatically not the meritocracy some think it is.

Re: Nadella as Microsoft CEO: A slap in the face for Indian system

#98
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

usually CXO level people ARE chosen because they have displayed a modicum of brilliance at something... It isn't exactly a lottery system. Plus - you can already look at what he's done with the Azure platform.

That makes another assumption that everything is being done in company's best interests, not individual people's interests. A lot of brilliant people has been let go because they had a conflicting vision. Is being more conservative a sign of brilliance? Also Azure is run by Scott Guthrie, but it could also be attributed to Steve Ballmer since he was the CEO when it started.

yes thats how businesses work - things are meant to be done in a company's best interests - that is also why companies have a board of directors. Furthermore - I cant see how this was in some particular individuals interest. Nor has anything Nadella said or done yet given me the impression that this has anything to do with conservatism. IF you are commenting based on some knowledge that isnt public - thats a different thing. Nadella headed the Cloud and Enterprise division of which Azure is one piece. Azure may have been started when Ballmer was CEO - but he was not running it - a CEO makes larger scale executive decisions.. Nadella was in charge of making it get to where it got in terms of revenues and profitability.

Re: Nadella as Microsoft CEO: A slap in the face for Indian system

#100
post #3

“We are all human beings, and our nationality is simply an accident of birth.” This is my position on the Olympics and basically all national pride. It has nothing to do with anything, there is nothing to be proud of. No one cares when I think it, it's nice to see others say it.

I find the Olympics unbelievably tedious. It's just physical trials. Wanting your country to win is fine as long as you don't take it too seriously.
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