Sunday, June 30, 2013

2047 : Immortality

Someone who probably knew me in a limited context, (say work), thought initially of me as someone larger than life. That person wrote into to me to tell me that once he read my blog, he realized that I am human just like others….I too listen to ghanchakar songs, and I too watched Beavis and Butthead at some point in my life.

I have forever maintained, and not really in a self deprecating way, or in any immodest avtaar, that I am just as deeply flawed as most humans. I have the same failings, and the number of the beast is the same for me as it is for you.

In that sense, that makes me part of a larger median curve….and I fit in right in the center of the standard distribution curve.

What probably makes me a little different? Its this constant desire to know things about myself, to know the mind as if it were another alien object (which in reality it is!!…infact the self is an illusion, and this is no Buddhist Mumbo Jumbo, but science speaking!!), to understand my failings better, to know what ticks me off, and ticks me in….and most importantly, that constant beat in my heart to leave a legacy.

I know I am beyond my prime, and I believe that life has been lack luster so far – but there is a world out there waiting for late bloomers….and that hope keeps me fighting to be alive Smile

Speaking of legacy, the Steve Jobs video which surfaced this month talks exactly on this aspect. Youtube link here

Steve Jobs on legacy

Part of this excerpted from Mashable

"This is a field where one does not write a principia that holds up for 200 years," he said. "This is not a field where one paints a painting that will be looked at for centuries or builds a church that will be admired and looked at in astonishment for centuries. No, this is a field where one does one's work and in 10 years, it's obsolete and really will not be usable within 10 or 20 years."

Similar to how you can't go back and use older computer systems such as the Apple I and Apple II — because there no longer is any software to support it — technology that was once innovative will only be a part of the larger legacy of the industry.

"It's sort of like sediments of rocks," he said. "You are building up a mountain and you get to contribute your little layer of sedimentary rock to make the mountain that much higher. No one on the surface will have x-ray vision to see your sediment. They will stand on it, and it will be appreciated by that rare geologist, but no, it's not like the Renaissance at all."

2046 : Commentary

I just realized that my blog had 16 unposted comments. I have not logged into the blog site for days using a normal PC, and hence the the delay. Apologies to all for the delay in publishing. With the Chromebook should get a little better at this.

2045 : Freudian slip

Google news seems to do this very often with me. I see a different headline and a completely different subtext. Today’s one seems contextually a Freudian Slip though Smile

google news

If you cannot read the image, this is what the headline says (referring to the Uttarakhand tragedy)

New Kedarnath will come up from the rubble: Uttarakhand CM

and the subtext reads (referring to possibly the Re decline below 60 to a dollar)

This is a great time for NRIs to make remittances to India. Globally, the Indian diaspora remits over $70 bn every year to India, the largest remittance received by any country.

2044 : Little birdie shall fly away

Raavan, who escaped from Lanka, has been with me for less than the 3 years, I believe. He comes with 10 heads, and hence has multiple intelligences (what a bunch of crap!!).

As a friend, and someone more akin to the Indian landscape, I have been sharing with him details on cuisines, cars, calories and the ilk.

Steadily over the past few days, I can see his ability to speak about these is getting better and better, to a point, where in the case of cars, he has now reached a tipping point, where he knows a bit more than I do.

Today we were driving, and in the rear view mirror we saw a White Skoda. I said “Superb” and he said “Laura”. We argued about it for a few moments…but guess who won, when the car actually passed us.

Believe me, it was difficult for both of us to steal a glance in our rear view and get it right at 50kmph…but he got it right in style.

I guess having 10 heads and spider eyes helps.

Smile

Very little to distinguish between the two from the front grill, but both Raavan and I pride ourselves that we can get it right almost always. Of course, he only does it better Smile. Try it for yourselves.

22_123_lauraimagesCA6N7X1A_laura

The above two are images of a Laura.

The next two are that of a Superb.

car_photo_302654_7_superbimagesCAPPSNAA_superb

2043 : Poison

I know the seers have all recommended against it, though the Gods themselves are known to have it – the doctors believe it is poison, and all the world along they believe it is sin – what am I talking about here? Alcohol.

(Or for that matter any intoxicant, including our plain, simple and overtly abused friend the Tobacco. When I use the word “Alcohol” in this post, it should be construed to mean all of the above.)

Alcohol to me does a very strange thing. It shows me a mirror, within the throes of whose reflection I tend to see my deepest flaws and the greatest of my desires. I can clearly see that Alcohol has the influence of playing both Rahu (creating delusion) and Ketu (creating insight or release) from a Vedic viewpoint. It definitely does that to me.

Within its spell, I have seen, and I say this quite literally, both the Demon and the Seer. In its throes, I find a form of release (Ketu) that I have only vicariously experienced in Aldous Huxley’s Doors of Perception.

I don’t do Alcohol enough, probably about 5 days out of a year – and yet I sometimes feel that I have it in me to fall back on this poison, and in some sense, it can definitely become a poison for me. Till then, I shall keep rediscovering my inner recesses.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

2042 : Zen Koan

I read this Zen Koan first in my teenage years and it had this hypnotic and poetic insight over me back then. It hit me hard, just like a Koan is supposed to. I read it again today, and felt it was worth mentioning – that it used to be a very powerful Koan for me once. Here it goes:

Two men were arguing about a flag flapping in the wind. "It's the wind that is really moving," stated the first one. "No, it is the flag that is moving," contended the second. A Zen master, who happened to be walking by, overheard the debate and interrupted them. "Neither the flag nor the wind is moving," he said, "It is MIND that moves."

Another one that made a deep impression on me when I first read it was:

If a tree falls in the woods and no one’s around, does it make a sound?

2041 : Counting cars

Continuing from the previous post….One memory I shall always have with this home is sitting on the parapet wall of the terrace, and looking down at the road – really in the distance and counting cars (with Raavan).

We have spent hours in this mindless and numbing game – often arguing with no recourse of an ombudsman, whether the car was a “Skoda Rapid” or a “Skoda Laura”.

With 10 heads and 20 eyes, he has spider like vision – and yet this is an endearing memory for me.

I have never counted cars in my long life so far, and this is a first. I have never had a space to see cars pass by. It’s a bit like watching the world go past by.

2040 : The art of letting things go

I have often said this “its very difficult to see your loved ones die”….I should add, its very difficult to let your home die as well….especially when it is four walls that you built and each corner of the home has a story and a memory.

I have never been that emotional about things, and letting go usually comes easy to me – and even this time I am letting it go, but this time it definitely hurts a bit.

My current home will always maintain a special place in my heart. I actually love it.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

2039 : Chetan Bhagat’s new one

As I was sleeping yesterday, in the state just before REM, this one occurred to me. It’s a wicked and childish PJ, but I shall do anything to get Chetan to write better English Smile. So here goes.

One day, Chetan in his magnanimous avtaar as unofficial spokesperson for Modi and BJP, was walking in the Yeohur hills, thinking of ways to get himself a free Villa in that location. And what caught his eye was this little baby porcupine, which he thought was very cute (in his infinite pedagogical wisdom). So he decided to write about it (to further his pedagogical repertoire). But of course, he did not know its name. “So how should he refer to the porcupine?” in his article. If he called him Ram, folks would further bash him for his BJP affiliations and if he called him Rahim, then Muslims would say, see what the Hindutava bandwagon is doing…..”metaphorically stabbing us”.

In his infinite wisdom, he decided to not name the porcupine, but refer to him as “the 27 point someone.”

Smile

Friday, June 21, 2013

2038 : Clutter & Cookie Cutter

Enough has been said about modern societies obsession with Twitter, Facebook and the phone. Arguments exist on both sides. The ones for it, believe it makes the world a flatter place - something I could not disagree with at all.

The folks against it, believe is causes all kinds of attention disorders and social disruptions (like the inability to hold a face to face long enough).

I am probably a strange character in the middle. I do use a phone. I do use a lot of SMS. I still use my 17 year old email account (Hotmail :-)). I did try using Facebook and Twitter, both were bizarre for my tastes.

So?

Look I am no technophobe. This post is being typed on a Chromebook (so I am an early adopter!!). Neither am I an apocalypse guru.

So?

But...I have been steadily decluttering. I check my phones when it rings. If I am with someone I love or at work, I usually take the call later. I reply to SMS offline. I check my personal mail once a day and reply every night.

Some would say I am stuck in the 1990s. Maybe I am. But I need a decluttered mind to be creative/innovative.

Incessant meetings combined with incessant distractions dont help my mind focus at all.

Finally....

I respond to every single office mail and email, and SMS - esp if it is addressed to me. I might respond 4 days late, but I shall reply with an apology.

I find it completely irritating that folks now-a-days dont consider a 1-1 SMS, or email sacrosanct enough.

Get the drift of this rant?

2037 : What causes spar

I often wonder, what human dynamic causes two loved ones to claw at each other. I dont see so much of that in animals, unless its over food or territory.

Now why would a father and daughter completely in love with each other have either food or territory in mind....and yet not only do they fight, they claw, they cringe and they cleave. 

2036 : Match box world, how about a little tinder?

As I have been walking across Parle quite a few times in the past few days....I have been seeing this lady who is most definitively poor and probably destitute.

Picture this.

She is old, probably in the 60s. She is very featherweight with a deep hunch on her shoulders. She walks around the place slowly in tattered clothes, unsure of herself and the world around her. She always has about 7-9 polythene (plastic) bags with her, in which she carries assorted stuff. Some of them seem to have clothes, a few of them have old coconuts, and some of them even have rotting coriander leaves.

I have seen her in the past week, and she is always in the same dress - an old dark grey saree and blouse worn Gujarati style.

The more I think, I feel she is carrying her entire world around with her - just like Michael K.

Being Michael K in a book is poetic, in real life I cant even imagine how it shall be.

2035 : Fusetop

I do have a very short temper. Something that I myself am comfortable with - and used to.

Its surreal to see what your mind is capable of in the fist of fury. I am understanding my own (lack of) Buddha nature every single day.

Though I am comfortable with this, I am neither proud of it, nor am I apologetic about it.

Unless there is fury, there is no passion...and without passion you might as well have achieved Zen. 

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

2034 : Aarey Milk Colony

Every Mumbaikar knows that the Aarey Milk Colony road which connects Powai and Goregaon has to be one of the most idyllic scenic roads in the city.

I drove through this yesterday - almost 6-7 years - since I last passed this way.

Shailesh, my best buddy and I used to drive a Hero Honda Splendor through this road in pouring rain. As I drove through that road in pouring rain - I could not help miss his company quite a bit.

We are both past our prime....(I am definitely old)....but when we can I do fancy driving our CBR (a bike was never mine or his, it was always ours) along that road.

Waiting for your buddy...when you are upto it, let me know.

2033 : What is a philosophy?

I visited the Oberoi International School yesterday, and I walked out very impressed with the school. Its refreshing to walk into a school where everyone seems to have one single common shared purpose.

Thats what I used to love about my current place of work. That shared vision, builds commonality, consensus and of course oodles of "culture" - and that culture is the essence of a "core philosophy".

Can we exist without culture or philosophy? Of course we can. By following the reductionist stream of thought we can even exist without water :-)

If the purpose of our live is not to strive for better and more meaningful coexistence (in its basest sense), then I am yet to discover something in my life.....and if that purpose is correct, then why would you be reductionist, especially in matters of philosophy.

As for cost....yes....TISB (The International School Bangalore) is expensive, Canadian International is expensive, Mont Blanc is super expensive, and so is a Merc....If you look at any of them as an optical status statement, then they are just that....and in that case then any alternative will do.

But if you rip apart the coarseness, and understand the real essence of a brand - like the complete focus and cleanliness of design (and the unbelievable magnificence of a Mont Blanc) - only then does the cost fade away.

Everything in life costs something, be it money or some other "Giveup". I think money is the easiest thing to "giveup" - since it can always be replaced. The others are a more difficult choice.

My view is - if life offers you a chance, choose the best, Oberoi looks miles ahead of the pack - almost in the TISB league to me.

Could I be wrong? Of course I am possibly completely wrong? Maybe Indian Education Society is the place to study......but I shall go with my heart, and I must say....I Love it so far.

2032 : Alan Watts - The book on the taboo against knowing who you are





#
Date
Author
Book
Rating
Comments
23May 2013Alan WattsThe Book on the Taboo against knowing who you are10/10Must Read. My third or possibly fourth reading of this book. Its possibly one of the most rational outtakes on a rational view of the self from a Chinese/Buddhist viewpoint.
22May 2013Bruce HoodThe Self Illusion10/10Fascinating. Small book but very complex and extremely insightful. I have never known so much about myself from a single book.
21Feb 2013Dalai LamaThe Universe in a single Atom9/10Great Read. This book will buy you some peace Smile
20Feb 2013Rahul PanditaOur Moon has Blood Clots7/10Good Read. A good Kashmir memoir from a Pandit viewpoint.
19Oct 2012Arthur Clarke9 Billion Names of God10/10Fascinating. Very small story. Worth the 5 minutes you spend on reading – a thousand times over.
18Oct 2012JM CoetzeeLife & Times of Michael K8/10Good. Stark imagery and a stunningly dark book….a signature Coetzee work.
17Oct 2012Lisa GenovaStill Alice9/10Outstanding. You just connect with Alice immediately and her life becomes yours. You can see shards of her mind through the book.
16Oct 2012Arthur C ClarkeRendezvous with Rama9/10Outstanding. It hooks you on completely, and leaves with emotionally attached with Rama, quite some time after you have finished the book.
15Oct 2012Salman RushdieJoseph Anton7/10Good Read. Strictly only for a Rushdie fan.
14Sep 2012Walter IssacsonSteve Jobs9/10Excellent read. I found it inspiring and the book made Jobs a more humane person with an infantile ego
13Aug 2012JM CoetzeeDisgrace10/10Outstanding. My 3rd read of the book. If you have not read this book…I urge you to. Minimalism combined with stark imagery. Coetzee is cross between Kundera and Rushdie, my two other fav authors
12Aug 2012Randy PauschThe Last Lecture3/10Crappy. This is my third attempt at reading this narcissist take on dying. I have learnt more from the Jobs book than this shit tale. I have never finished the book.
11Aug 2012Garth SteinThe Art of Racing in the Rain9/10Fantastic. It starts of as a cute book, gets philosophical, and actually gets damn endearing and makes a bigtime emotional connect.
10Aug 2012Milan KunderaThe Unbearable Lightness of Being10/10Outstanding. My 3rd read….and 2nd in the last 2 years. What can I say? I plan to read this every year, at least once.
9Jun 2012Salman RushdieMidnight’s Children8/10Fantastic. My 4th read…..strangely I did not enjoy it as much this time around.
8June 2011Robert SpencerBooks on Islam (set of 2)6/10Engaging Read. But very Islamaphobic. I am genuinely interested in religion and philosophy, so I liked this history….but others might not.
7May 2011Milan KunderaThe Unbearable Lightness of Being10/10Outstanding. My 2nd read.
6May 2011Sylvia PlathThe Bell Jar6/10Read Once. Her poems are so much better.
5Apr 2011Salman RushdieThe Enchantress of Florence7/10Read Once. Only for fans.
4Mar 2011Stephen KingThe Shining9/10Haunting. Must Read. The movie and the book are both one of a kind.
3Mar 2011Michael OndaatjeDivisadero4/10Pass. Very mediocre book.
2Mar 2011Salman RushdieThe Satanic Verses10/10Outstanding.Controversies not withstanding. My 4th read, as a piece of fiction, this book is a masterpiece. Also, its really not disrespectful to Islam, all it does is use a bit of creative licensing while telling history.
1Mar 2011Salman RushdieShalimar The Clown10/10Outstanding. Fall in love with Kashmir.
Dec 2006Rohington MistryA Fine Balance10/10Outstanding. My own initial review at Post 197 - Book 6 – Rohington Mistry’s A Fine Balance

Monday, June 17, 2013

2031 : English


Walking through parle today saw this in a store outside vile parle station screaming "bye 1 pestry get any free".

Good for humoring up your tired legs.


2030 : Small is beautiful

Its taken me sometime to understand this about myself....but over the past few months, days I have steadily come to conclude that "Industrial" or "Commercial" is a cuss word in my scheme of things.

Let me explain.

I have always hated buffets. Now I can clearly attribute it to the industrial nature of the food. Even in weddings I like sit downs versus buffets.

I have always hated commercial or industrially produced processed food. I rather prefer street or home made food.

I have always hated huge institutions  which make our children (and adults) into conformists. I have only a bad sour taste for schools which are mass conformist factories. Any school that lacks a philosophical basis, should be looked at with suspicion.

I have always hated mass housing. I live in an apartment complex, but I like non-straight lines in it, less glass, more brick is always welcome.

I work in an industry where after a point people become just a statistic. I have always fought that both as an executor, and as a person who is part of the system.

Get the drift?

Its difficult living in the commercial capital of country and hoping for more humane conditions, but I shall fight. Thats the only way I shall keep my head above water. 

2029 : Parle G

If you are not a Mumbaikar, you are probably not a Parle G fan. I walked into their factory today and came out with a fresh newly packed packet of those tea biscuits.

My recommendation is - do that sometimes. Its rewarding. My dad used to work for a biscuit factory and I have grown up eating fresh off the oven cookies. Its a very different experience from eating the stale old ones.

Go for it. The Vile Parle factory of Parle G has a factory outlet.


2028 : Walkathon

I have been walking the streets of Bombay with a new found energy. Its my urban meditative way of connecting with an old dead friend.

Almost every conceivable place in this city has been used for either living, parking cars or for commerce. Wonder where children fit into this puzzle?

2027 : The new poison

I like quite a few drinks. Some hydrate the body, others soothe the soul, and some just are lovely because they are sinful.

If I have not said this before, I have to say this, I am addicted to a cold bottle of Soda (sparkling water). I can finish 10 of them in a day. I just love that fizzy feeling. It hydrates like no other.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

2026 : On incomplete closures

I have always maintained that a job like any other engagement in life - is an important component of your life. You commit about 60% of your time every year to this engagement, it better be good and fair and enjoyable.

I have also learned that at work, we dont do enough to thank, clarify and sustain - and I mean all three of them independently. We often assume since all of us get paid - the emotional connect is not a per requisite.

I think thats plain baloney. With every person I have worked in the past 10 odd years, I have ensured that they have understood how important they were to my well being, success and happiness.

Unfortunately in a few aberrations, I felt the closure was not available. It leaves me in a slightly uncomfortable state. For me the closure and they continuity is more important than all the wealth and power that a position offers......and sometimes when folks take that away from you....its a bit like taking the dignity away from that transaction.

I have learnt through these experiences how to ensure that dignity is never missing in any transaction at work.

Someday I hope to close these open ends out.

2025 : The Self Illusion by Bruce Hood

This book by Bruce Hood is a strange book. Its part thesis and part technical, but if you can read through it, its one of the most rewarding books I have ever read. Its worth a million minutes of your time. It shall teach you how to observe yourself better.

There were so many parts of the book, whilst I was reading, I had to actually pause and think, and tell myself
"come to think of it, its true!!".

An absolute recommendation.


#
Date
Author
Book
Rating
Comments
22May 2013Bruce HoodThe Self Illusion10/10Fascinating. Small book but very complex and extremely insightful. I have never known so much about myself from a single book.
21Feb 2013Dalai LamaThe Universe in a single Atom9/10Great Read. This book will buy you some peace Smile
20Feb 2013Rahul PanditaOur Moon has Blood Clots7/10Good Read. A good Kashmir memoir from a Pandit viewpoint.
19Oct 2012Arthur Clarke9 Billion Names of God10/10Fascinating. Very small story. Worth the 5 minutes you spend on reading – a thousand times over.
18Oct 2012JM CoetzeeLife & Times of Michael K8/10Good. Stark imagery and a stunningly dark book….a signature Coetzee work.
17Oct 2012Lisa GenovaStill Alice9/10Outstanding. You just connect with Alice immediately and her life becomes yours. You can see shards of her mind through the book.
16Oct 2012Arthur C ClarkeRendezvous with Rama9/10Outstanding. It hooks you on completely, and leaves with emotionally attached with Rama, quite some time after you have finished the book.
15Oct 2012Salman RushdieJoseph Anton7/10Good Read. Strictly only for a Rushdie fan.
14Sep 2012Walter IssacsonSteve Jobs9/10Excellent read. I found it inspiring and the book made Jobs a more humane person with an infantile ego
13Aug 2012JM CoetzeeDisgrace10/10Outstanding. My 3rd read of the book. If you have not read this book…I urge you to. Minimalism combined with stark imagery. Coetzee is cross between Kundera and Rushdie, my two other fav authors
12Aug 2012Randy PauschThe Last Lecture3/10Crappy. This is my third attempt at reading this narcissist take on dying. I have learnt more from the Jobs book than this shit tale. I have never finished the book.
11Aug 2012Garth SteinThe Art of Racing in the Rain9/10Fantastic. It starts of as a cute book, gets philosophical, and actually gets damn endearing and makes a bigtime emotional connect.
10Aug 2012Milan KunderaThe Unbearable Lightness of Being10/10Outstanding. My 3rd read….and 2nd in the last 2 years. What can I say? I plan to read this every year, at least once.
9Jun 2012Salman RushdieMidnight’s Children8/10Fantastic. My 4th read…..strangely I did not enjoy it as much this time around.
8June 2011Robert SpencerBooks on Islam (set of 2)6/10Engaging Read. But very Islamaphobic. I am genuinely interested in religion and philosophy, so I liked this history….but others might not.
7May 2011Milan KunderaThe Unbearable Lightness of Being10/10Outstanding. My 2nd read.
6May 2011Sylvia PlathThe Bell Jar6/10Read Once. Her poems are so much better.
5Apr 2011Salman RushdieThe Enchantress of Florence7/10Read Once. Only for fans.
4Mar 2011Stephen KingThe Shining9/10Haunting. Must Read. The movie and the book are both one of a kind.
3Mar 2011Michael OndaatjeDivisadero4/10Pass. Very mediocre book.
2Mar 2011Salman RushdieThe Satanic Verses10/10Outstanding.Controversies not withstanding. My 4th read, as a piece of fiction, this book is a masterpiece. Also, its really not disrespectful to Islam, all it does is use a bit of creative licensing while telling history.
1Mar 2011Salman RushdieShalimar The Clown10/10Outstanding. Fall in love with Kashmir.
Dec 2006Rohington MistryA Fine Balance10/10Outstanding. My own initial review at Post 197 - Book 6 – Rohington Mistry’s A Fine Balance

2024 : Street food is charming

I have posted several times on this. I find the whole concept of street food fascinating. It is intimidating at times, but if you can get yourself to walk in a new city and nourish yourself along the walk - it is possibly one of the most rewarding ways of getting to love a new alien city.

Bombay is my home, and yet I am never tired of doing this in Bombay. A long 2 hr walk that feeds the body, cleans the toxins and soothes the soul.

Try it sometime, its one my favorite urban meditations.

2023 : The art of dying in the rain

I am moving to a new city, which is still "old" to me. Its fascinating how in a couple of years you still develop roots, very much like a sapling, and uproot roots, though they might be transplanted, is still and always will be a harrowing process.

In the process, I have uprooted, quite literally - my entire garden, given the plants and trees to friends and folks who will hopefully nourish the saplings with the same amount of love as we once did.

I am going to miss my home, I am going to miss the garden, I am going to miss the idyllic feel of a small city, and most of all - I am going to miss my place of work - which I had so come to love and admire.

2022 : Mind space versus physical space

As I walk along this bustling city in pouring rain, I jump across manholes, along a series of parked cars along the road (every inch of the pavement), and the complete absence of a suburban walkway.

For no particular rational reason, I believe that a human being's mind space evolves in line with the physical space he/she perceives around him. Let me explain....to a small infant the crib seemingly is her world, and she does evolve around that. To an adult his/her home is their personal space and so on.....

I have always found the Japanese (especially the ones from Tokyo), very frugal, very economical and very accepting. A person from Bombay is quite similar, just that he is possibly a little rude and crass.

Flip this over from a person from California, who is far more confident that he can grab the earth, who is little more impatient and hence can lead change.

A person from Tokyo can live and survive like Bear Grylls, but a person from California can envelop the world. This is a very high level generalization  and exceptions to this are all over the place. I could stay in a 2 by 7 coffin and still think that's enough space for me to expand.....but in general I feel external space (esp the way it is perceived) impacts the internalization of how we think and interact with the world.

Have you seen life with similar eyes?

Friday, June 14, 2013

2021 : Dignity, poise, grace and charm

These are 4 attributes that no amount of money can buy. Some of these can definitely be cultivated, but that requires years of assiduous application.

Its simple and obvious enough to me, I sometimes wonder why (some) others dont see this simple fact.

As I keep telling my wife, “being good and nice” shall never ever go out of fashion.

2020 : I am shipping to Bombay

And home still feels a bit like no mans land Smile