A short story
Ah, the bustling Indian metropolis and the adventures of our dear friend - let us call him Raj! A morning that begins quite ordinarily for Raj swiftly proceeds to take a rather peculiar turn.
Raj, you see, is a creature of habit.
No sooner does Raj descend in the elevator, piloted by the ever-smiling liftman, than he waves adieu to his little ones - who are embarking on their sojourn to the school for the day under the watchful gaze of the domestic aide.
Once outside, Raj's faithful chauffeur, with a dexterity that would have made Jeeves proud, whisks his briefcase away. As Raj settles himself in the car's plush backseat, the gateman – ever alert – offered a crisp salute. “Salaam, sa’ab!”
Without looking up, Raj nods as the drives whizzes by. Raj is very busy today. Very busy indeed!
But, alas! The traffic of the city is an unpredictable beast. An abomination, if you will. So many people! Do they have nothing better to do than to be outside and to ruin Raj’s day?
Yet Raj is nothing if not an indefatigable soul. He thumbs his briefcase and pulls out a copy of The Economist with the air of a man who has found a silver lining in a rather cloudy day. He flips through and starts to read an article about the root cause of all the issues in the Middle East and the antidote. He knows the answer too. But politicians are too stubborn to ask him.
Traffic eases up.
Arriving at the venue, his trusty MacBook in tow, Raj proceeds to the speaker’s podium. He anticipates a smooth transition to his presentation. But, oh, the caprices of technology!
The screen is as blue as a a whale’s dream in the middle of the Pacific.
The dongle doesn’t work. Raj tries restarting the computer and the projector. Nothing works.
Frustration begin to show on his raised left brow.
The clammy host is also perturbed. And so he calls on every one of his subordinates. And they all fumble around for a bit as their confidence gets deflated like a poorly tied balloon.
Everyone is sweating profusely. The seats are filled with business stalwarts and illuminated dignitaries doing important work on their phones mainly via WhatsApp. It is all very comical and chaotic.
Everyone wants to have a go at it, trying to coax the projector to do their bidding. After a procession reminiscent of a family reunion someone produces – not a magic wand, but a humble pen drive.
Raj plugs it in to his MacBook and saves the presentation file. It is transferred on to the computer at the venue. This time-honored hack seems to work like a charm. Raj, our host, and everyone else breathe a sigh of relief.
Time to get on with the important business of the day - the stuff of Substack newsletters and LinkedIn posts.
After a brief and glowing introduction from our host, Raj steps up to deliver this keynote like an Indian Steve Jobs. Or a fatter Sam Altman.
The screen illuminates with the title of his keynote talk. - "HOW AI AND AUTOMATION WILL DISPLACE JOBS AND CHANGE LIVES".
I’ve got a lot to share in the next newsletter from the world of science (and from my keynote two weeks ago on how AI is disrupting science discovery and communication).
For now, this is it. ;-)