Functional-Aesthetics

"Almost all crime is due to the repressed desire for aesthetic expression." Evelyn Waugh English Writer. 

The concept in this blogpost was triggered by a picture that I saw painted on a wall of Rail Museum in Mysore.

It said: Way to Maharani (Queen) Saloon!

At its first sight, I was reminded of a term usually misspelled in India, Saloon for Salon: the term for a barber's shop.

I wondered what had the painting to do with the rail exhibits. In the wildest imagination, I could think of its links, if at all any, with the hairdressing of Queens of the dynasties in palaces of Mysore and around.

I found myself wrong after looking around for a while. I found the real Saloon. A part of the rail carriage was exhibited there. It was devoted to seated relaxation combined with a dining table: The Saloon!

Anyway, let me take an about-turn now. Let me expand on the thought that occurred to me at the sight of this picture at this site.

Why do people go to a salon: a barber's shop?

Some go for their Functional 'Needs'.
Some go for their Aesthetic 'Wants'.
Some go for "Functional-Aesthetics": This is the term & the concept that had instantaneously occurred to me then at the sight of the painting.

I 'googled' for the term "Functional-Aesthetics" and giggled that it didn't exist.

What is Functional-Aesthetics?

Typically a haircut that's acceptable with reference to military norms is functional.

Actually long hair can be unhealthy as well as dangerous, both in military as well as in other contexts. In military setting in particular, additional reasons of their typical haircut could be to preempt accidents due to long hair, its maintenance, distractions or undesired attractions due to them if stylized, as the case may be, in the warfield. The functions that it is expected to serve makes it a functional haircut.

A funny haircut acceptable only to a small group of trendy people as a fad could be termed as purely aesthetic one. It's generally acceptable as a style for its funny aesthetics more than for the function that it's expected to serve if at all.

On the same lines, a haircut typically acceptable to school norms could fall in the category of Functional-Aesthetics.

In short, 'needs' that stand the tests of an acceptable system's logically acceptable judiciously balanced norms or standards or criteria could be termed as Functionally-Aesthetic.

'Wants or desires' that go beyond such logical norms or criteria could be termed as Aesthetic more than Functional, with reference to a given system. 

A style that adds substance to the function (that it is supposed to serve) without any extra cost to the offering nor to the ecology may also stand the test of being Functionally-Aesthetic: A shirt for instance bought for its extra-large pockets or additional pockets unconventionally located on its sleeve, say, in order to eliminate carrying an extra hand-bag. 

Paradoxically, a functionally-aesthtic offering to be on the right path of evolution should truly lead to multi-functionality in its usage with minimalist use of resources while at the same time simplistic-to-use, maintain & facilitate eco-friendly disposal as a part of its total lifecycle. 

Functionally-Aesthetic offering in general should 'sell' more in the longer run than purely Functional or purely Aesthetic one. Because it offers value; because it offers Total Quality to all its stakeholders. On the contrary, rest of the offerings necessarily need marketing 'push' & overselling too. Or in its absence, the purely Aesthetic may fail to exploit its full potential. 

A Lesson!

If you mindfully observe, you may find that the Mother Nature and its every design itself is Functionally-Aesthetic both in its form-and-fit. It's intelligently crafted Aesthetics! That's why everything natural from food-to-fossil is pure, beautiful, lean, value-adding and valuable. Hope human race strives to maintain it that way. Hope it draws a lesson or two to learn from (it) and invests its finite time in adding value to life rather than destroying it by incorporating the unwanted waste under the disguise of so-called Aesthetics.

Only way to do so is by arresting unneeded human activities and unwise choice/s for want/s that create a materialistic world. Spoiled choices in particular take one away from being Functionally-Aesthetic: The choices that are far from being sustainable!

Here's a MaiKu© poem while on the subject:

On way to queen's saloon
Imagination took off in balloon
Finally landed Saloon in Salon

©MaiKu Is My-Haiku
Freely ideate it's poetic rhymes
Any objective topic it chimes

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Do You Celebrate Mean-or-Green

Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need (Part-1)

Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need (Part-2)

Should one care for value? 

Do you exercise your choice meaningfully

What You See Isn't What's Made

You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable

Wish To Be Planet-Friendly?: Save! 

Less With More And More Gets Sore

Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy

Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation

That's How Morons Work

Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass 

WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling

Eternally Happy

Eternally Happy: परमानंद

Talk in-order-to Listen!

I came across an old Argnetine proverb: 'He who speaks, sows; he who listens, reaps.'

A couple of days later, on whatsapp received a picture of Swami Vivekananda that says, "talk to yourself once a day... ."

Do these statements convey different meanings?

First one emphasises listening more than speaking: Listening to others! We are given two ears and one mouth as the rhetoric goes. I often tend to forget this though. Of course at times you need to speak on behalf of the speaker herself to validate that you have understood. This is active listening.

The second statement too emphasises listening but; Listening to self!

Once the art of 'listening to self' is mastered 'listening to others' gets easier.

How does one 'listen to self'?

At subtler level, an intelligent but difficult way is to meditate!

At gross level a simple way is to write a diary; daily if possible!

Some do write a diary but conventionally it tends to be a chronology of events and problems. 

To go any closer to what Swami Vivekananda says, the diary should be about drawing lessons from the events and from one's own behavior.

Then the diary turns out to be 'listening to self' in real sense.
Thoughts and your response to situations change thereafter.
The lessons learnt from mistakes, if any, help improve one's self.
Journey from reaction to pro-action (proactive action) begins.
A step taken towards excellence!

Someday a day dawns with an appointment of a beautiful, handsome, strong and excellent person: The Self: The one that Swami Vivekananda had in mind!

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

How To Make A Difference

Big-Be Or Bug-Be !

Nauseous Communication Gaps 

Will It Work Here? 

Some Moron ! Some Great !!!

That's How Morons Work

You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable

Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass 

WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling

Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy

Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation

Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture

Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice?

Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !!

IQ-EQ-or-SQ: What-is-more-important?

Eternally Happy!

In a Problem?: No Problem ! Dwell A While !!

Do you exercise your choice meaningfully

Do You Ask Right Questions? 

Overworked? Tension? CPU of the mind hung-up?

No Time? Micro-Meditate! 

An Experience of Heart-and-Soul

Bapu's smile!

Courteously asking for 'tea or coffee'!

Issue of token for work within a minute of entry at security gate!

Prabhakar's speedy response to take car for quick touch-up!

Warm get-up of the cool waiting room!

Job done in a couple of hours although (the paint touch-up was) with a little less of finesse. Generally a dealer would take a work-shift including a bit of waiting due to Sunday rush. Of course it was a planned visit so scheduling the job was easy for them.

Being a Kaizen student, I expressed desire to take a study tour. It was quickly acceded to.

Customer does expect such activities to be performed of course with 'aesthetic-smile' that competition has 'forced' upon suppliers in auto sector in particular.

He 'pays' for the 'standards' alongwith for the Technology, Tools, Materials, etc. anyway that all paraphernalia  management does employ from 'outside' i. e. from the material world. They even don't forget to put a 'smiley' foot-mat that says 'thank you'.

But what one can't forcibly employ is the evidence of heart-and-soul, the 'inside',  while performing above kind of trivial looking but relevant activities as duty (that predominantly need human interventions).

If one passionately enjoys it as a play it gives pleasure to self and hence for others. Inevitably it adds value to self that no one can snatch away from. The 'player' looks beautiful then.

For that 'beauty' to happen the leaders at workplace must enjoy the work themselves. They must enjoy their own work of - leadership by demonstration, - pouring heart-and-soul in playing their own role, - recognizing those colleagues and subordinates who do so,  - employing 'telling' tactics if 'selling' fails to those who don't do so so that they don't spoil others who do.

Hope such Heart-and-Soulful experience doesn't fall back to Heat (the customer First) and then Cool her!

With that consistency then not only will the 'player' look beautiful but also s/he will make the workplace look beautiful!!

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

How To Make A Difference

WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling

Experienced A Delightful Payment !

Take your career in fast lane!

Succession-Plans In Fast Lane!  

Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy

Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation

Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture

Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice?

Some Moron ! Some Great !!!

That's How Morons Work

Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need (Part-1)

Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need (Part-2)

A Ride To Hell

Will It Work Here?

You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable

Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass 

Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy

Prevention: The Best Cure! ... Is it really so?

In-big-problem? Wear-hats-to-solve-it!

Deity is in the eyes of the beholder

Sometime ago I received a divinely-beautiful picture on social media. It was an idol of 'Lord-Shiva' in the backdrop of Sun. 

Deity is in the eyes of the beholder !!

This is what I murmured on looking at it instead of "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" as they often say!

I also 'read' the picture as... 

Isn't it possible to embrace even Sun if One-believes-in-Self as an infinitely decimated part of the super power though! Of course, at the same time one must not abuse the beauty of the Nature-God!

Else as another picture depicts, 'God-Shiva', The-Supreme Generator-Operator of the Universe-and-the-Nature won't take much time to switch-her-role to be 'Deity-Shankar': The-Supreme-Destructor !

What Moral-tips one may draw from so-called 'natural' calamities & devastations therefrom?

1/ Let's not push God-Shiva to be Deity-Shankar.

2/ G-O-D, The Generator-Operator-Destructor, The Universal-Energy is omni-present and  holistically well-balanced in and around the beauty of The-Nature itself and its creations rather than being concentrated in an idol.

3/ An idol itself will be helpless if we contribute in imbalancing the Nature by involving in unnatural and wasteful human activities.

4/ We ourselves must take care of both The-Self as well as the beauty of The-Nature-God rather than being under the influence of blind-faith that S/He is there to cure us of any of our own mis-doings.