A thought on risk

I just had an insight into my approach to risks.

I do not live life reckless. I do take risks but only risks that come under the "acceptable risk" category albeit an acceptable risk at a personal level.

So what is acceptable risk:

"The level of loss a society or community considers acceptable given existing social, economic, political, cultural, technical and environmental conditions.

In engineering terms, acceptable risk is also used to assess structural and non-structural measures undertaken to reduce possible damage at a level which does not harm people and property, according to codes or "accepted practice" based, among other issues, on a known probability of hazard."

source: http://www.unisdr.org/eng/library/lib-terminology-eng%20home.htm

ISDR = International Statergy for Disaster reduction.

What are the criteria that i choose to put events in the "acceptable risk" category in my life ?

At a personal level i assess an event to be in this category if and only if the probablity of failure or something going drastically wrong is 10% i.e. i should be 90% sure that at the end of the action that i take there is a 90% chance that i come out clean.

However this does not mean that I view all events at the same level. Sometimes i do take brazen risks i.e. knowing fully well i shall never be able to contain the repurcussions. Its just a part of my nature i guess.

Brazen Risk : and event that guarentees that there is a 100% chance that i will not come out clean.

Oh Mother!

A very interesting conversation between me and me mom.

Of late the two ladies in my house (my mom and my sis) have been behaving like crazy idiots .. (but then women are crazy idiots at some point of time or the other; atlease perceptually) and i have not been shy in vocally emphasizing this point at any given oppurtunity.

There was a sort of conversation about life and everything else going on in the kitchen and my mom, through pure and simple reasoning, had completely rebuffed one of my higher notion on life and the universe (the point was actually so trivial that i promptly forgot what it was; out of a feeling of complete foolishness).

Seeing my glum expression she said:

"You're probably thinking that i am crazy aint you?"(in konkani)

and my prompt reply was

"Thats what i have been maintaining for the past two weeks"(in konkani again).

Now my mother is the sort of person who is used to get feel good replies from me. For example my answer to her question (mentioned above) would have under normal circumstances been a silly grin acknowledging my foolishness or a long eulogy about her food and how important a role it has played in my development as a human and how grateful I am to her.

It took a few moments for my answer to sink in. I expected all hell to break lose (Women especially moms i have noticed have a deep resentment to such answers).

One Two Three ......

Silence .... I looked up ...

Mom was actually grinning. A silly grin. A grin that did not acknowldge the fact that she was crazy rather the fact that i have been maintaing that she was crazy.

I had a lip smacking dinner. There have been no repercussions as yet.

Now I do believe that miracles could probably happen with mothers too.