Archive for Thoughts

A lot of questions

Another news item which kept lingering in my thoughts the whole day.

Why did they target only women in western attire and not men? When did pants and shirts that most of the Indian men wear become our traditional clothing? 1827 A.D. ?? Why not stop all men in western attire, chase them, swear at them and beat them? Why did they beat only women who were in the pub and not even a single man? Does the Rig veda say, Men can go to pub and drink?

Who are they to tell me what to wear and what not to wear? Who are they to dictate where I should go and where I shouldn’t?

Are there any followers of this so called political party? If there are any, shouldn’t we be admitting them to an institute for mentally(socially??) retarded people? Weren’t political parties supposed to provide welfare schemes or at least promises to people? Has this party ever done any good for the society? May be a water tank, a bus stop, a public toilet at least? What do we call a group which has not done any significant philanthropic activity or a welfare deed but only disturbing and harassing people? Terrorists?? What are the real police doing? Why couldn’t they arrest these moral police when there is a video proof? Why is the central government not empathizing with it’s female citizens?

Why didn’t anyone stop to help when these women were in danger? Are we so irresponsible that we would go to a pub and drink to oppose this group and not stop our vehicles to protect a woman in trouble?

Why do they harass only women? Is it because most women are physically weak? Or is it an expression of fear that women have become equal to men? Women are educated, they go to a job, they dream about their future – A result of a silent war that lasted for more than hundred years against people who were obsessed with female infanticide, sati, illiteracy, dowry deaths and a lot more evils against Indian women. Just another idiocy to fight against. Where are Karate, Kung fu and judo classes in Bangalore?

If Mahatma Gandhi was alive today, he would have said, “Real freedom is only when a woman wearing jeans can walk safely on M.G. road in the day.”

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What real life bad habits has programming given you?

I stumbled upon this link and I thought I’d answer it first before reading.

Here are my list of bad habits:)

  • “You would end your English sentences with semi-colon”: 6 years back I laughed at this statement when I read in YPK’s Let us C. By the end of that semester, I was ending my normal sentences with semi-colon;
  • My pranayama count is 8 and 16. I feel a sense of completion with 1024. Any number which is a power of 2 is a round number these days.
  • I’m multitasking when I cook two or more dishes at the same time. I’m context-switching when I move from one dish to another. I think of little Endian and Big Endian when I break eggs. I sometimes explain colors in their RGB values.
  • Attributing to my laziness, I always want a for loop for all menial tasks.
  • Thanks to Larry and Sergey for their Page Ranking Algorithm. I google for even simple things.

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August 15, 2008

The first doubt that sprang up in my keyboard class: Can I play National anthem sitting down? Can I play it whenever/wherever I want? The first civics lesson taught to a kid in primary school, “Stand up for National Anthem”

My independence day was not special. As a citizen of India, I started my day watching Prime Minister. Manmohan Singh address Indian citizens on DD. With my very little Hindi, all I could observe were only the celebrities and  kids in white, saffron and green seated to depict our flag. I switched on to my independence day special playback of national anthem at home. After a few attempts, I decided to spare our national anthem at least on independence day. ;)

Like most Indian citizens, I was also glued to my television set the entire day. We’ve heard a lot of people ask “Why do you interview an actress/actor on Independence day and Republic day? Did they get freedom for us?”

I wonder if anyone would watch documentaries about our freedom fighters for at least 4 hours. But applause to Vijay TV for providing some sensible material to watch. There was a good mix of entertainment and ….(er,.what do u call that??) stuff that doesn’t make you feel very bad because you blew the whole day watching TV?

Another Kannada music channel also wanted to answer those questions through their I-day shows. They expressed their independence day spirit in a style which gave me a hearty laugh for minutes. Colors of the Indian flag adorned the background of this Live music request show. The VJ was wearing a military uniform which looked more like a new suitcase cover stitched as a shirt. He was holding a gun( most probably it’s the air gun kids play with. I wish it’s a bubble gun and he should have triggered it ). To top it all, he didn’t have any non-verbal communication. He did the entire show holding the gun across him with a perfect fighting posture and asking for music requests.

Besides drinking Complan, I’ll also write some substance here to depict I’m growing up. A few questions that sprang up to my mind today: Is expressing nationality right? Are we saying because I’m born somewhere near N 9 55.075, E 78 07.205 and it belongs to a region defined as India, should I call myself Indian? If so my parents and my grand-parents were born in a caste called ………… Are we not promoting the same groupism? Should we think we belong to a bigger group called Homo Sapiens? Should I also say, “Mahatma Gandhi did not take up his non-violent fight for India but for the human race in India”?

Were Vande Mataram, our flag and the Indian national anthem, a means to spread this group emotion with freedom as purpose? Just like the new AR Rahman’s Vande mataram and our cricket idols who also spread the same emotion with a well defined purpose – to win a match against Kenya? Why do we have to propagate this emotion at all when basic facilities has not reached common man even after 60 years of freedom? Would we need the new Vande Mataram, the movies and sports as a channel to fight against our own corrupt politicians in future?

Before I trigger the bubble..

Other than VJs and RJs, I believe I’m the first person wishing you. Happy Independence day :)

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Top 10 Cool Jobs

On a boring day in office, have you ever wonderedHow long am I going to be another Dilbert?, Can I start my own business?, What will be my kinda business?”. You are excited reading famous blogs and you discuss about a small business to your colleagues, a startup idea with your brother, sister or partner, a hobby plan with a friend. You start coming up with new ideas for your own small businesses, startups and that cool NGO plan to make a difference into your monotonous living pattern. This has almost become my weekly routine. Another day I think “What if I had to work for someone for the rest of my life and what kind of work will I want to do?” and I start writing this post on my top 10 cool work profiles.

(10) I would love to design my own outfits. What if I had to design Aishwarya Rai’s outfit in her next blockbuster movie? The fame and money that an extraordinary fashion designer gets is huge. And it involves more right brain activities. A very good opportunity to rekindle the creativity in you.

(9) My inspiration is Mr.P.Chidambaram. I do understand that I’m not qualified to become finance minister of India just because I read almost half of this financial year’s budget. Working towards improving your country’s economy and growth to compete with other developed nations is exciting. But the responsibility that comes over to you is also huge. A role to be taken up with dedication, systematic working model and most of all superior financial intelligence.

(8 ) I wanted to be a librarian in my high school days. You can be lethargic, read a lot of books, have a separate room for yourself and look into returned/lent books once in a day. I got this impression from a school which never encouraged reading anything else but text books. Obviously the librarian had little work. But in reality, the task of a librarian in a huge library is too big and not really exciting to me now. A librarian indeed has more work than shouting Silence to Rajnikanth. :D If I had to live in a small organized town then this would be the ideal job for me.

(7) Organic farming.. no, Natural farming.. no, Spiritual farming.. no, it’s Pragmatic farming.. My father’s new experiments. I’m gonna have my own farm when I grow old and if I had to do now, the only person I would work for is my father ;) I often wonder how could a chemical engineer go against chemical fertilizers and stick on to pesticide free farming methodologies? I want to build a small house in the middle of a farm, use vegetables and fruits from the farm itself for food and spend time watering trees and leading life lethargically, Isn’t that a peaceful life? It’s not going to be tough if you put up solar panels to power sprinklers and rain guns to water those trees, a machine built with intelligence to plant saplings and seeds at constant intervals. By the time I grow old, I wish I have those equipments at a cheaper price.

(6) Have you ever tried Vanilla ice-cream with Pepsi? This is my favorite combination. This work profile I’m gonna describe is really cool. Ice cream taster :) Yeah.. The road side ice cream vendors sell Vanilla, strawberry, butter-scotch, Mango, Pista. Local restaurants serve American delight, fruit salad with ice cream and three in one cup. Bangalooru malls have outlets which serve Italian Gelatino ic creams. My favorite ones are those at Kodaikanal where you get custard apple, chickoo, mango ice creams made from real fruits. Hey.. I’m a qualified Ice cream taster. Anybody hiring Ice Cream tasters reading this post??

(5) A man is lying dead. His neighbor says they had a fight and he shows his bruises as a proof of the other person trying to kill him. The blood drops on the floor are spherical. They would be elongated and pointed at one tip if they had a fight. And the case unfolds with so much points about the carefully cut wounds, blood stains discovered on the floor. An episode in New Detectives. Only by the time I entered graduation, I realized forensic science in India is not mature. The opportunities to study and work as a forensic scientist is less and it is not as exciting in India as they show in Discovery channel. Given good opportunities to work, forensic scientist is still my favorite job profile.

(4) Ian Wright walks into that beautiful hotel, he admires the artistic work, he has a sea side room, he travels in bus and train, he visits local people’s house and city markets, he eats local delicacies, he plays on sea, he reaches the top of a mountain…. Ian Wright is the host in Lonely Planet, now known as Globe Trekker. Travel show hosts, a cool job, lots of places to visit, good money and most of all work is never a pain. A slight variation in this work profile is traveling to places, cooking and eating local delicacies. A travel show host in Planet Food cooks Caramel Custard in Mexico, eats a crispy insect in China , cooks fish on a boat in Kerala. Wow..

(3) I’ve been reading ET these days to follow stock market. Sometimes I look at what stocks mutual fund houses buy and sell. The role of a fund manager is exciting. Making money for thousands of people, doing strategic stuff, having a list of statistical data. It’s easy to become a fund manager. Study for CAT, join one of the IIMs, choose a fund house to begin your career and earn a lot. :D

(2) Have you read Anti 9 to 5? No? Me neither. It has been sleeping in my book shelf for months. (I don’t lend my books unless I complete it :) ) Being a freelance writer is a good option when you can write well. I believe I write better. Do I? Transforming the pictures that you alone see into words that everyone can understand is an art by itself.

(1) The first position goes to the most challenging job in the world. You have to build cities, fight enemies, shoot people, manage armies, form an empire…. The job title is Game Tester :) Why not game developer? A game developer will end up hating the game because of the process in the company which will allow him to work only on a archer or a boat component ;) Freelance games testing is becoming a hot job these days. What if you get paid for playing games? And that too a strategic game? Which is stable? Hoo.. Hoo.. You can ask for new features to developers and enjoy your favorite game, hmmm.. no, favorite work everyday. Nobody is gonna scold you for playing games in office.

P.S: It would be nice if you share your kinda cool job here :-)

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My Ideal Short Story

An ideal short story to me should definitely have a climax that leaves the reader with surprise or makes him think about it for a few minutes. A famous example would be O.Henry’s After Twenty Years.

I discovered this affinity during a class in which we were given a few words and asked to write a story which has all those words. I wrote a story about a small boy who longs for going to a school like his peers. The climax would shatter his expectations when his father takes him to a school not for studying but for constructing the building. I wanted to highlight on child labor in India with this small story. Another small story which I wrote focused on the impact IT/ITES has created on the low income group. Of course being an amateur, I published anonymously or never published them anywhere.

I still like this style of writing. I’ve not yet completed reading all the short stories in Neil Gaiman’s ‘Fragile Things‘. But I’ve developed a liking to his style. Making the reader guess someone is a ghost, the detective story, about dreams… More than all that I liked the way he ends “Time is fluid” and the shoe-box story. In my terms, it’s a circular linked list :) The end implies the entire story is going to happen all over again with someone else taking the narrator’s role and the narrator becomes another character in the story. A good before-sleep reading if you want lion, ghost, witch and blood in your dreams :D

I would definitely want to read more of his books to read more of my ideal short stories? What is my ideal short story? An ideal short story to me should definitely…

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Remembering January 30, 1948

Truth + Vegetarianism + non-violence + SatyaGraha = Mahatma Gandhi.

My new hero after reading The story of my experiments with truth. The very thought of this individual leaves me with guilt about my integrity of thoughts, speech and action. A simple human being who had the power to change the mind of a society as a whole with his principles.

I have developed a curiosity for reading his books on vegetarianism and more about his struggle in South Africa. And of course to read “Let’s Kill Gandhi” to know more about the controversies involved in his assassination. On his 60th death anniversary, I wonder what would have been the headlines on Jan 30, 1948. “Mahatma Gandhi assassinated” or “Hindu nationalist kills Mahatma Gandhi”. Whatever be the headlines, the pain would have certainly inflicted a lot of people.

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You see someone on the road and remember the person and the entire scene for sometime. Be it a cute child, a playing kid, a kid working instead of studying, a honest seller, a cute girl or a handsome guy. You can get this picture on your mind whenever you want for a span of few days or months or sometimes, forever. I came across one such individual today while waiting for my bus. I cannot predict how long I’ll get the picture of this individual. But I couldn’t resist thinking about this person for at least an hour after this encounter.

Wearing a pink sari, a handkerchief turned into a scarf, walking over the road and demanding money to every single person on the road. Most of them succumbing to the demands of this individual. Of course, I gave my share of 5 bucks too. A gentleman who passed by asked me with irritation “Why are you giving money?”.

“I do not give money to beggars unless they are old. I do not even encourage those women who come with a small child and ask for money on the roads. India becomes a beggar country only if we encourage begging. A lady with a small child sells ear buds. With so much appreciation for her efforts, I bought them. Realizing they were of low quality, I decided to buy only things I really want. For the sake of thinking that I saved a young woman from her plights with 10 bucks, would I want to make me or my family members deaf?” Emotional blackmailing.

In this instance, I didn’t give money out of fear but guilt. The guilt of being a part of the society which has recognized this individual for nothing more than belonging to Homo Sapiens. Haven’t we classified a part of Homo Sapiens as ‘Eunuchs’? When we can accept dishonest and opportunistic people for our leaders, Why can’t we accept these people into our daily lives? What kind of support have we given for people with transgender problems? A person identified as male by birth and having XX chromosome is not his fault.

What have we provided them to lead a normal life? A Chinese proverb says “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. Even if someone teaches this individual how to fish, Who will buy fish? Or Who will ever sell fishing equipments to this person? The government has recognized them by adding another option E to gender in Indian Passports. The media acknowledges beauty competitions among them and publishes a big picture of the beauty queen on newspaper. How is this going help earn their own bread and butter?

“God doesn’t have gender. So do you”. Dumb Talk. The only recognition of belonging to the human race is also lost. Untouchability will not erode from this country unless we accept all human beings as our equals.

P.S: I’m leaving this post title less to represent the inequality we as a society impose on few human beings.

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Ethics and Software

“Infy fines CEO for breaking rule”

How many companies have fined their CEO? I was amazed at the brave and honest decision taken by Infy. The issue was as simple as not reporting the change in his share ownership in one BD. Infy has asked Gopalakrishnan to pay a penalty of 5,00,000 rupees towards charity. Infy’s

Infy has always been an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs. The answer to Narayana Murthy’s quest for ethical and profitable business is Infosys. This news has come out at the right time when Politics has entered even Software companies. Infy has always been in the forefront in enforcing ethics within the organization. Hats off to Infy!!

One reason to regret for not accepting Infy’s job offer after college :)

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Movies+Music+Books+Cooking+Games = PerfectWeekend

My new equation for a perfect weekend :)

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Cookies and MK Gandhi

How do Cookies and MK Gandhi relate? Weird, Isn’t it? But these are two primary things I did during my weekend:

1. My experiments with Cookies on Vinodh

2. My experiments with Truth by MK Gandhi

:D Not so funny. It’s alright

Cookies, A word which brings delight to everyone. Not for me.

Gandhi, Another word which commands for respect. May be for me too..

The rainy and filthy Friday in October 2003 is still fresh in my memory. Delighted at seeing Cookies on my card, I began addressing a group of 600 plus students about Internet Cookies. On the sound of a bell, I should switch my topic to biscuits from Internet Cookies. “What can I speak about biscuits?” Before I could start, a huge sound from the male audience to push me out of the podium. Heights of Male Chauvinism. Why would they support the other 4 male competitors though they stammered at a few places?

If you read MK Gandhi’s autobiography, you would realize Male Chauvinism existed even in Kasturba Gandhi’s life. This could have been the strongest reason for not having a liking towards MK Gandhi if I had known at 15. Another scenario at school when my friend said “I hate Gandhi. He started the reservation system in schools and colleges”. My Anti Gandhi Ideas was sown without putting further thought to it. I had these ideas only for the sake of being different from everyone else.

My Anti-Gandhi Ideas took for a beating once I started reading his autobiography. A very good narration. I’m not through with his book yet. His principles about truth has inspired me. But not much impact on me about vegetarianism. I guess the transformation from an ordinary man to Mahatma should have taken its roots in South Africa. The two stories On the Way to Pretoria and More Hardships left a deep impact on me.

Talking about truth, Once I was punished in school for being truthful and another person praised for a lie. It was one of the biggest injustice done to me in my early teens. It was after reading this book, I realized Truth should always be followed by discipline and integrity. If not, the essence of truth is lost. Every chapter I read makes me do a self introspection.

Here is another introspection about my weekend experiments. Experiment 1 turned out too sweet and Experiment 2 was bitter. And I learnt more out of the bitter experiment than the sweeter one. Next time my cookies will also be bitter. :D

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