Whatever...

I have been ogling at tablet PCs for quite some time. Though iPad always seemed out of reach, the launch of Samsung Tab looked like the arrival of a affordable option. But my experience with touch-screen android phones was not very good (details in further post). So I kept weighing my options of owning a tablet - should it be the only computing device I have, should I sell of the laptop and buy a tablet, what would be the best combination? And I never came to a clear conclusion. Something always pushed me away from a tablet. A few weeks ago in a casual conversation with a uncle, the answer emerged. A tablet computer was a consumer device. It gives a brilliant content consumption experience. Watching movies, reading blogs posts, playing games is awesome. But when it comes to creation, its a pain in the ass. My uncle owns a iPad2, supposedly the best tablet device of our time. But even he complained that a task as simple as responding to an email was laborious as compared to a laptop. ...

As I write this post, at 4 in the morning, my father in law is desperately trying to put our 3 month old daughter to sleep. He is the only other man in her life right now; other than me of course. Sometimes, she is more comfortable with him than with me. Similarly, she is comfortable with my mother in law. This got me thinking about my childhood. How was it with me? My maternal grandfather wasn't alive when I was born, so I don't have any memories of him. But I definitely remember my mother's mother. Then I realised that especially in India, most people have more attachment towards their maternal grandparents than the other set of grandparents. This is mostly true in case of nuclear families where grandparents are not staying with you. In my opinion this has it's roots in the tradition where an Indian lady stays with her parents during the delivery. Not only does the child hear the mother's parents while in the womb, but is handled by them right after birth. Most ...

Yesterday I completed 3 months as a father and I decided to write on this right away. For those of you who haven't had a child, let me try to put it how it is. It's like having a new person enter your life, without any personality or baggage. You don't know the personality that will enter your life, you are going to make that person who s/he is. So obviously, it is different from marriage. Is it a responsibility? Hell yes! But then so is zipping your pants. Why did I wait three months? It took me that long to figure out what was happening. So here goes... I always wanted a daughter. Everyone guessed from Shveta's looks, eating habits and what not that we would have a baby boy. But I deeply wanted a girl. Because I think girls are more balanced. Besides, a girl can do what a guy cannot but the vice a versa is not. Also, I wanted to bring up our daughter in a manner that would be unique with lots of freedom and adventure packed into her life. With a boy that would be...

I personally own a laptop and a desktop. The desktop is a windows machine and the laptop is a Ubuntu machine. A tried to keep the desktop as closely rooted to Microsoft as possible while the laptop is everything that is free in this world. But thanks to Shveta's increasing inclination and familiarity to Google Chrome (the browser thingy), this browser found it's way to both the machines. Let me admit it at the onset, that it is one hack of an application. Kickass is the word! It can most efficiently take care of all your entertainment, information and communication needs. YOU DON'T NEED NO OTHER THING. Period. But as the usage increased over time, I found my desktop getting slower. It took a lot of time to open applications other than Chrome. A coffee time conversation with friends, little Googling (ironic!) and some deep diving revealed that the culprit was Chrome itself. The browser is very much hungry - both for processor and  memory. Hence, the desktop lost it's ...

Yesterday (23/12/2011) I came from Hyderabad to Goa by our car (Ford Figo Diesel). I took the following route: Gacchibowli (Hyderabad)-->; Gulbarga --> Bijapur -->Athani --> Chikodi -->Belgaum -->Anamod --> Ponda (Goa) View Larger Map The drive till Bijapur is really smooth. The original route on my mind was Via Jamkhandi--Yargatti after Bijapur to get to Belgaim. However, locals advised me that Athani-Chikodi route is shorter and the road condition is better. Well, they are so wrong! The worst part about getting from Bijapur to Belgaum via Athani is that there is loads of Sugarcane traffic . So in no time you are coming from 100 Kmph to 20 Kmph, very frequently! I did the total distance of about 700 Kms in 12 hours 45 minutes . I left Gacchibowli in Hyderabad at 12:00 Noon on 23rd and was at my home in Ponda, Goa at 00:45 hours of 24th. There were 2 major (30 minute) breaks, one each at Bijapur and Belgaum. And there were 2 more 'butt breaks' of ...

In one of my earlier posts, I wrote on how I saw 2 ways of doing something. Today, I write about two kinds of people in the world. You will see these kinds of people everywhere - at work, in a family, in sport teams, art circles...everywhere! One kind of people are the sail. They propel the entire ship forward. They are the reason things happen. They are the engine that drive the circumstances. They are always energized, raring to go and are mostly the stars of the gang; unless some thing goes wrong. When things go awry, the anchor people are the ones who are in control. They keep things rooted. The sailor guys has been bragging a bit too much and has taken the ship on the wrong course. The crew is lost now and needs time to get back on course without being lost any further. The anchor people are your saviors in such situations. So, who are you?

I have an unpublished post in inbox that I wanted to complete and publish today. It was about using death in reality TV. But then I saw this film - Eat Pray Love. And filled me with positivity. The film starts with a lady's divorce thoughts. She is impatient, always seeking something and somehow not at peace with herself. She decides to take an year off and visit Italy, India and Bali. In each of these places through an array of people she runs into, she learns to Eat, Pray and Love. I cannot exactly write in words what the film is about. And that, I think, is the success of the film because it has conveyed something so unique to me that I cannot transfer the experience to you. You will have to feel it for yourself. This film has definitely definitely shown me a new way in life. Highly recommended!

In a short span, I have seen two partition related movies. The first one was Khamosh Paani . The movie set in the late 70's deals with the scars of Hindustan - Pakistan partition. The silent suffering of women left on the hostile side of border are aptly depicted by the amazingly talented Kirron Kher . It's a film that is loaded with subtext. Notably, the film stars only 2 Hindu actors, Kirron and Shilpa Shukla . This film has in fact been so well directed that it left me haunted for almost a week. The director, without being too much 'in your face' leaves a lot to the viewer's imagination. There are so many moments that compel you for a thought process that completes the image on the screen. The cinematography has also played a major part in the narrative. The camera has very realistically captured the arid landscape of Pakistani Punjab. There are some locations that are very peculiar, like a barber's shop or the bazaars. Scenes that are shot in such public...

Over the last 4 months, I have been completely off television. I have not been missing much, as I catch on my favourite TV sops on the internet and that too break-free. That got me into considering a high-speed internet connection and a IPTv service. Majority of the FM transmission I receive is in Telugu, the local language. So even that is not a persistent entertainment option. So most of the time I am onto internet radio listening to the genres and playlists of my choice, 'social' favourites etc. In short, over the past few days, I have seen two prominent channels of entertainment/information being completely replaced by the internet. Since then the subject of consolidation of channels has been on my mind - it's basically about what the internet has done to the rest of the communication channels. The internet in a single master stroke has replaced the television, radio, newspaper, telephone and snail mail.We have an option of enjoying all these services through a single...

I had visitors today. Erstwhile neighbours who have now moved to their own house. As we sat discussing real estate prices , I realized that almost everyone I know had either bought a house or was planning to buy one. A good flat in any 'IT' city in India costs well around 5 million rupees.And everyone seems to have access to that kind of money, thanks to housing fiance companies. What do these companies take to secure these borrowings? They ensure that that the borrower is employed and has the capability to repay. Most people working in the IT sector seem to fulfill the conditions. But the question is, will IT continue to bring in money from the west on ongoing basis? Especially given the economic conditions in America and Europe. Most of the real estate growth (at least the one around me) seems to be fuelled by IT employees.  These people have migrated to Hyderabad, Bangalore or Pune to join some IT company. Along with a well paying job, many also spend substantial time ...

An old thought gets its due today - I have wasted numerous potentially productive hours stuck in the pathetic Hyderabad traffic.Traffic congestion, caused by several players trying to achieve a common (?) goal while they make choices that potentially effect the interests of the other players. This is a classic case of game theory problem. Yes, the same theory that John Nash proposed in a bar ! When in a perfect competition, a player must do what is beneficial not just for him but also for the group. Game theory has been applied to politics, wars, marketing and even biology. I think it should even be applied to traffic situations like roundabouts, traffic lights etc. This will lead to a simplified study of what causes these congestions and how to avoid them. Individual players should be forced to make choices that are beneficial to the group. Having said that, there are two princiapls that are outside the purview of game theory and are imperative for solving traffic issues - Enforcemen...

So what does a creative person do? Or rather when would you call a person creative? What is the qualifying criteria? The simplest answer would be someone who creates content. But what I observe around myself is that there are more channels than content. In fact, channel as a resource is unlimited now. And what happens when resource tends to infinity? Efficiency approaches zero! From my own example, I have an email address on every possible free mail hosting service. Twitter, Facebook, Orkut, LikedIn, Flickr, Picassa, Photobucket ...the list is endless but I have an account in all these places (and yes, Blogger!). Where I have failed miserably, is creating worthwhile content. Neither do I write much email (personal 1 to 1) to people, nor do I receive much of them. All my mailboxes are flooded with spam and forwards from people that they have not put any heart into. Channels have become fads and we keep moving from one to the other. But we are not adding any value to these channels befor...

It has been more than 6 years since I have started working. I have worked in a bank and a couple of IT companies. I have had my share of good times and bad times. But last week or so has forced me into reflecting on the question 'what constitute my work values or work ethics?' If you have a look at some of the top performers in different fields - Sachin Tendulkar, Big B, Aamir Khan, ARR, APJ, Ratan Tata, they all have a strong set of work ethics that they strictly abide by. This has only made their character stronger leaving no chance for anyone o point fingers. I have learnt over the last 6 years that this is something absolutely necessary. Having a set of rules for yourself helps in making decisions when in doubt. Over the next few days, I am going to create a set of rules for myself. Some of them may be trivial, but they will help nonetheless. I plan to limit the number of such guiding principals to 10. May I ask each reader to suggest one distinct 'though shall...' ...

While on our way to office, I and Bijou had an interesting conversation about freedom without responsibility. The discussion was sparked by a traffic jam around us. :-) What we got on 15/08/1947 was independence; to run this country as our's, toil for it's progress, restrain for its dignity and stand for its defense. What we would get in return was freedom. Freedom of expression, speech, religion et al. Freedom to exercise our fundamental rights. But this concept of independence should have been engraved into every Indian by the leaders of this freedom struggle and their ideological successors. Instead what the leaders chose to do was to only stress on the rights of every Indian. There were social movements of very large magnitude for the rights of an individual or a group of them. But there have been no movements so far in 'independent India' that have made us realize our responsibilities. How many of us have thought about progress, dignity & safety of our country ...

There is actually no reason to manipulate the title of the post. The post is actually about why we bought the Ford Figo . Let me begin by confessing that I am more of a biker than a car guy. So when it came to choosing a car, we started by seriously considering a Hyundai Santro and moved all the way till TATA Indigo over a period of 2 months. The economics turned in favour of a diesel mill and it was decided to shortlist a few. The ones that were thrown off the list were: 1. Swift - Overpriced in my opinion. No air bags & ABS off showroom. Long wait (3 months) 2. Indigo - Tdi Engine is old now. No safety features. Poor quality of interiors. 3. Ritz - Unattractive shape. It finally boiled down to the Indica Vista Quadrajet Aura+ with ABS. The engine felt peppy and we decided to overlook the quality of plastics for lack of any more choice in this price band. Just then a cousin recommended we consider Figo and strongly insisted we test drive it before booking any car. A test dri...

Yesterday I donated blood platelets at the NTR Blood bank at Banjara Hills. I had responded to a post on my company's bulletin board asking for help. Then, they had enough donors.But fortunately they had kept my number and called me again when they needed. The process is pretty simple. First your blood sample is checked for a healthy match. This takes about 45 minutes. After this comes the real process which goes for about 60 to 80 minutes. In this process, a needle is inserted into your vein. The needle has 2 (or 3, I don't exactly remember) pipes to it. In an engineers simple language, one pipe is suction and the other is delivery. Both of these go into a 'washing machine' like equipment. The equipment has a touch screen on which the technician simply sets how much of platelets he wants and what should be the suction and delivery pressure. Once configured (IT consultant jargon - beat that!), the process is initiated and a progress bar appears (like the one appears w...

Not being able to dedicate enough time at home to blogging, I have decided to try out an alternate approach. The time required for blogging is more for thinking and putting the thoughts into words than actually typing the content. So, the first part will henceforth mostly happen in office in a diary. The second part will then be at home - a quick go at the keyboard. This should hopefully help me in more ways than one: 1. Practice writing - as in real 'pen on paper' writing. 2. Second look guaranteed - I will go through my writing at least one last time while I type it. 3. Load balancing - If I don't find the time to type the post when I get home everyday, I can club multiple posts and type them all on the weekend. Thus the thought won't be lost (hopefully!). 4. Standard portions - I will try to limit the posts to a standard size. For now, I will stick to the size of this notebook page I am writing o. This will help me say stuff effectively. Poke me when you think I am ...

<I may have written about this earlier>   As I drove to office today, like any other day, there were hordes of people on the road breaking traffic rules. Overtaking from the left, changing lanes without indicators, disobeying traffic signals…all of it. This irritates me the most (well second most, if you count ‘scratching nails on a blackboard’). Why is that we need policing all the time to obey a set of simple rules? Why aren’t we civilized enough for this simple thing? Breaking all rules may take me to office in 25 minutes instead of the usual 30 minutes. But it increases chaos on the road manifold. It also increases the chances of an accident. And I am not even counting the stress it causes. We Indians being the wisest in the world, why have we failed to apply this simple logic? Though I see this situation to be a lot better in Goa, it is not certainly ideal. People there have a lot more civic sense. Not out of education, mind it. It...

How to make the best of the time you have? Like this! While I cannot post from my office, Blogger allows me to post via e-mail. I don’t know whether this works or not; but since you are reading this, I guess it does. So many thoughts have crossed my mind while I am in office. My employers IT policies, slow data services on the phone are some of the things that have stopped me from sharing these. I am wondering how I can overcome this … any ideas?  

My work over the last few months also involves intensive people management. I lead a bunch of 10 souls of different age groups, not much variance there though and the oldest member of my team is not older than me. I have realised that the following facets of human behaviour need to be considered by anyone in leadership position. These must have been definitely written in some book on leadership, but I have learnt them the hard way: Ego - Mostly observed in senior team members who have as much work experience as you. These people could have been in your position but for some bad appraisal. Such team members mostly do not take any work allocation lying down. Typical responses are 'I will see what I can do' or 'Let me see'. And by the way, these people may also think that you have 'sucked up' your way into leadership. Incompetence - These people may not necessarily be dumb. They may be acting dumb to avoid work. Or they may have earlier worked in a place where comp...