Wi-Fi Mumbai?
6:49 AM
Now this may sound like a very high ended non feasible approach to Infrastructure problems but I believe it can work. Mumbai, being the commercial capital of the country, and a land of opportunity for all the people around India is without question the most popular destination for the ambitious and industrious in India. The Metropolitan region development authority will always be 20 steps behind the demands being placed on the Transport and Infrastructure services in the city owing to constant influx of population.I personally feel that improving the Telecom and Internet Infrastructure within this country and promoting the "working from home" model for IT and other services sectors would definitely reduce the need for the working community to travel and will help them put their commuting time to more productive use, improving their standard of living in the process. Professionals in the IT and services sector are increasingly used to interacting with their onsite peers or peers within offices in other cities within India. This competency is being highly demanded by several job opportunities. A recent report by McKinsey & Co. states that the impending issue and crisis for the economic development of India will be the exhaustion of the reachable and available talent pool within the country. There are hordes of talented individuals in the non-metro cities within India who have to relocate else compromise on their career ambitions. By making it possible for them to work remotely from their cities, it would be possible to increase the size of the talent pool and the work force overall. Another effect of such an infrastructure would be the disemmination of information and education to remote corners of the country where there is a dearth of good quality or modern educational institutions. With decreasing costs of affording computers and by ensuring thin client architecture the possibilities of securing a bright economic future for India are plenty. I see the government and PSUs playing a big role in this initiative. Akashwani and Doordarshan already have a reach across the span and depth of India. A feasibility analysis could be done, how effective and efficient would it be if Wireless Internet connections were available across certain potential regions (possibly free of cost). Within Metro cities where currently one observes several towers facilitating wireless telecommunication, it should be easier if not effortless. In addition, tax breaks could be given to firms promoting working from home (in return for their help in reducing the demands on Transport and infrastructure while commuting to work). The benefit to the environment and the savings in the tons of gallons of fuel that we burn everyday for going to work are also strong motivations in support for this venture. Philly is going wireless soon and so is San Fransisco. And don't tell me that can only happen in America because in terms of Telecommunications we are far ahead of them. If you think its impossible check out this article on Newyork Public Radio : http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5053488
Immunoefficiency
7:49 AM
Immunoefficiency: The obsession with privacy and its correlation with the popularity of Reality Television. Our world is shrinking around us. We do not know our neighbours or the person staying in the opposite apartment. Any attempt by a stranger to strike a conversation with us is perceived as a threat. Pause for a moment and observe the people around you. Commuters in a Subway, each sitting there alone in crowd, always on guard, with their iPod/Walkman/Player plugged into their ears, making every attempt to shut out the world around themselves. This is my world.. the perfect world, where I have total freedom, I do what I want, I listen to what I please. I am self-reliant and independent. I need no one for my existence. Sounds like I am stretching it too far, may be the person is just trying to enjoy the music on the player that he/she has so painstakingly bought. Or may be the person just had a bad day and does not want to talk to anyone for the moment. Well yeah sometimes it so happens that a Carriage full of people want to do their own thing and want to be left alone. And who ever wants intrusive and personal questions from a stranger. What's his/her business with it. It's my life and "I choose" to live it the way I do. This same commuter, goes home, switches on the television and takes immense pleasure in watching "Survivor" or watcing the "private" moments while a millionnaire dating a series of men/women and attempting to choose his/her bride/groom to be. Hear about the latest gossip on celebrity couples. In other words, we take immense pleasure in becoming "Legalized peeping Tom's" into other people's lives. We don't mind watching a mother and a daughter argue about some very emotional and personal issues on Oprah. You might argue that we all know, most of reality television is a hoax. Its fabricated, its staged, its Entertainment. But that's besides the point. I am questioning our curiosity and delight in watching reality television. Somewhere it satisfies our urge to know others, relate to them and learn from them. Unconsciously it satisfies our urge to know where we stand amongst our peers, and our urge to justify our ways and existence through a comparison with that of others.
Time and again we hear of human beings as "Social Animals". Isn't the natural instinct of a human being to know others around him/her. Well they are, hence the increasing number of social groups, networking groups, dating services and more. Here I actively interact with a number of people. We get together for a mutually beneficial purpose and stick to that business. Besides, "I get to choose" the ones I want to interact with. Now observe this, the Mumbai local train stops in between stations due to technical problems. My co-passenger in the Mumbai Local train makes a loud guess about how late is he going to be, for an appointment. The other co-passenger, she remarks how this has become a frequent occurance on this line, especially during the monsoons. Others jump into the conversation. Someone cracks a joke.. "the Local train stops at all stations.. The Express train stops in between all stations." I put in my few pennies of thought and reasoning. I gather that one co-passenger works in the same firm as I do, another works for a call center for the same mobile company that I hire services from, yet another is a teacher in a computer education institute. I had a problem with my mobile which I shared with the co-passenger working for the mobile company..he immediately advised me on the most efficient manner to get it resolved. I had been wanting to give a certification examination in Oracle Apps and got enough information to make my decision. My colleague, she discussed about a few problems at work and I ended up giving her my take on it..only to receive a thankyou from her a few days later on how I helped her to sort things at work. Yes, there were those "intrusive" questions in between, am I married or single, how many family members do I have, do I stay with them or alone.. so on and so forth. I answered many of them frankly, as a matter of fact. These were things that a person following me closely for a day would know in an instant. Other's I chose not to answer and they respected my choice, some after a little resistance. I see answers to these questions as investments in the relationship that you are building at that moment. The opposite person get's to know what your boundaries are and the nature of relationship you want to enter into. Many of these casual acquaintances, I never meet again or hear from ever. It was just that one spontaneous act of sharing and nothing thereafter. Other's are now my close friends and confidants. Life's easy here.. it flows like a river where rivulets contribute their few drops into it. The river is what it was made by hundreds of rivulets that flow into it, on the way to the ocean. It does not and cannot choose what flows into it, or what effect some of the rivulets have on its flow and speed. The river knows that inspite of all this water it accummulates on the way.. it is what it is. Living one's life is a collaborative effort. In the prior there are distinct advantages, you get to choose.. who, when, why, how do you interact with other people. You are given your time to prepare yourself before the interaction, put on your best self suited for the occasion. You have greater control over how fast/slow the river flows and what flows into it. One's a cultivated farm, the other is the wild forest. What do you want your life to be?
Head over Heart
4:34 PM
They tell me follow your heart,
They tell me to look before I leap,
Fact tells me that the heart is but an instrument,
Incapable of thinking or feeling..
These emotions - joy, rage, sorrow, love and hate
Products of the head attributed to the heart.
Yet Reason, own the head alone.
Reason, that stands on the crutches of evidence and rationale
Reason, that is cripple without the faculties of perception.
Faculties, that the head so blindly trusts, but are easy to deceive.
Pity the heart which so dutifully does that its meant to do..
Unmoved by the accusations of deception
Of being foolish, un-predictable with no sense of direction.
Of promises and dreams that it never fulfilled.
Of making you run where only fools rush in.
But a slave of the head..it toils to keep the flame burning
My head-the opportunist master..
Takes credit for all good that goes
Accusing the heart of all bad that comes
Yet the heart goes on.
Oh Heart, pray tell me what purpose drives thee,
What inspires this devotion, this rhyme, this beat,
This sense of contentment, serenity, calm and peace,
As if you're purposefully marching
Where you could suspend this rhythm to eternity.
-- Nirmal Merchant
Never fall in love???
9:09 PM
Navigating my way through the crowd at the 53rd and 5th Ave Subway station, I heard this man say "Never fall in love.. You know you get hurt when you fall.. but you still fall in love.. " and rambled on and on implying that it was only stupid to fall in love.
Now I have heard this man before, infact regularly. Probably a homeless, with a majestic voice.. I wish he would be recording audio books because I could listen to him for hours. With impeccable English.. atleast better than most I come across here, this man goes on to ramble about almost anything under the sun -- Political events, Philosophy, Psychology, Economic events or plain anthropology or religion. One often finds oneself smile or giggle at some of the remarks that are quite politically incorrect.. but on retrospection probably true. Its just that one would not put it the way he does. He thrives on tolerance and the fact that no one would want to engage a verbal debate with him especially when one is in a hurry to get home or to an appointment.
That however, does not stop me from engaging in a counter reply to some of the statements he makes. I often ponder over his thoughts in the subway and sometimes they make their way to my diary or in this case to my blog. "Never fall in love" he said "just because the fact that you fall you get hurt". Now I find it a plain choice of vocabulary when you say "rise in love" instead of "fall in love". No one has ever been able to explain the difference to me. However, to fear the act of falling in love is probably to fear to live at all. Its like never ski becoz you could fall, never drive coz you might have an accident, never fly coz you might crash down. Oh come off it.
Anyone who has ever succeeded has known that mistakes and failures are stepping stones to success. Same is the case with love I guess. I see it as a way I can understand myself better, and also explore my potential to love, to give, to nurture, to receive. Yes it hurts when your heart breaks but often its for your best. What it gives you is probably a fresh start with a deeper understanding of yourself and the meaning of love itself. This time around you will not choose the same reaction, the same methods, the same state of mind. Will the new way lead you to success? I don't know.. but atleast I know that the previous one was not the right way.
Its like learning to roller blade. With every fall you learn something more.. your balance, your posture.. your sensitivity to your body increases. I guess same is the thing about love. I don't mean to say that you should keep on falling in love and breaking your heart again and again. If you forever fall while rollerblading.. its probably not for you. I mean if you have a strain of wisdom in you, you eventually learn.
And guess what.. the experience of falling in love is such a beautiful one. How full of optimism, hope, faith and zest for life does one feel when you are overcome with love. Doesn't the experience make it worth another try?
Meeting my family in LA
12:35 AM
One of the principal highlights of my Los Angeles visit was meeting one of my first cousins, one whom I hadn't seen all my life. My Aunt and Uncle reside in Los Angeles..same goes with their three sons. The fact that I actually googled their addresses, phone numbers and email addresses a day before making the trip goes a long way in saying how Google connects people. (Thankfully I could confirm the email with one of my other first cousins.. who also stays somewhere around Los Angeles but with whom I have only chatted over the phone and never met in person). It was only a matter of minutes that I got a reply to my email..and what followed was something not quite anticipated. I received a very warm welcome with open arms, such that I could feel the bonds of blood pulling us together. It was an emotional yet very fulfilling experience to meet my relatives in LA. My big thanks to them, they made this trip so memorable by hosting me and putting me in contact with the rest of my relatives in the vicinity. I took the opportunity to secure some video footage as their messages to my parents and sister back in India. (Bummer I didn't take one from the cousin I met for the first time this summer)..
My best wishes to you all.. I can't wait to see you all again... And I shall try to bring a digicam this time....
An Atheist meets God!!
11:07 PM
At the end of a really long day as I felt sapped out of energy.. this joke made me laugh aloud.. Big thanks to my dear friend and colleague Vishnu Srinivasan for forwarding me this cute and witty joke..
An Atheist was walking through the woods
"What majestic trees!
"What powerful rivers!
"What beautiful animals!" he said to himself.
As he was walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.He turned to look and he saw a 7 foot Grizzly charge towards him.
He looked again, and the bear was even closer.
He tripped and fell to the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.
At that moment the Atheist cried out
"Oh myGod!..............."
Time stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was silent.
As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came outof the sky,"You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don't exist, and even credit the creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of the predicament?"."Am I to count on you as a believer?".
The atheist looked directly into the light, "It wouldbe hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat meas a Christian now, but could you perhaps make the BEAR a Christian?".
"Very Well", said the voice.
The light went out.
The sounds of the forest resumed.
The bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke,
"Lord bless this food, which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen"
Leo's incomplete creations..
10:31 AM
I had almost made Leonardo Da Vinci my role model. Someone whom I could look upto and pursue close observation of his life so that I could bring into my life atleast some of the wisdom and genious that he possesses. However, before I could take a nose dive into Da Vinci, I was cautioned of the consequences. The fact remained that most of Leonardo's works remain as WIPs.. in other words incomplete. I came up with a quick explanation.. Leo didn't desire to seek anyone's approval. If he no longer felt like completing a piece.. he abandoned it. May be he liked variety and pursuing something for a long time was not in his nature.. But that still does not explain it. If there is anything that a genious wants is to see the perfection in his creation. How did Leo remain motivated in taking up one work after the other, how did he experience the sense of achievement... I have seen many a non-approval seeking types rush into tears when they witness the completion of their works.. "Its my baby!" is the feeling that they have and that is a wonderful feeling. Did Leonardo not desire it? The question haunted me awake or asleep.. I went through Leo's works once again. Why did he leave it half way? I rephrased my question.. Assuming that Leonardo like most genious' did pursue the sense of achievement, what is it that he achieved that no longer required the completion of the piece of art. And then it struck me.. Of course.. its the same Archemedes' Eureka!! feeling that made him run naked in the streets of Athens. Its the discovery of the principle behind it. I looked at Leo's works once again through this new point of view. Lets assume that these were not meant to be works of art but were prototypes or laboratory apparatus... Would it be important to bother about the state of the apparatus once the goal has been achieved?? I think not.. Leo discovered one principle after the other.. in art, in physiology, in anatomy and more.. He was experiencing being hit by multiple bolts of enlightenment and to witness the web that connected them all.. Its Eureka! Eureka! and more Eureka! And to think of his laboratory apparatus being such beautiful pieces of art (someone has said looking at Leo's painting that if God was an artist this how he would have drawn).. That brings us to the next question.. Why did Leo feel sad on his death bed that he was leaving so much work unfinished? It wasn't because he didn't finish his works but because he was unable to hand the torch to the next bearer.. I am sure you would agree that it was indeed a major step backwards for mankind that Leo was unable to pass on his knowledge in totality for other to pursue discovering more principles like he did.. With that lesson in mind, I embark on this journey and would consider myself lucky if I were to discover even one of the elementary principles like Leo did.. I would consider myself lucky.
Preserving Knowledge
10:19 AM
If you have read my post "The Final Question", you well understand the primary inspiration for this article. How can we conserve knowledge in a way that it is easily accessible and reused so that one does not have to reinvent the wheel? It is this re-inventing of the wheel that is probably wasting millions of dollars for businesses world wide. So I attempt in my own small way to understand this quest and wonder if I could contribute anything.. Lets first start with the question.. What is Knowledge? We can probably derive from those who have attempted to answer this question... Graphically put Data --> Information --> Knowledge --> Wisdom The arrows indicate the process of analysis, derivation and conclusion. Data is plain stimulus. It is a packet of native properties of an entity that are just there. Data becomes information when they are presented in a comprehensible manner.. in other words if you cannot comprehend it, its not informative. Information may be useful or useless as once who browses the web can well understand. Knowledge is when we process usefull information to arrive at an understanding of the working of the entity. It is when we discover the process which if followed will reproduce the results. How do we know if information is useful? If it satisfies the desire to understand an entity and derive some knowledge from it, that information is useful. After having understood the process, if we were able to understand why the process works the way it does, we have discovered the underlying principles behind the entity and that is wisdom. Wisdom answers the question WHY!. I shall not dwell on the questions of means of communicating knowledge and its accessibility over physically far of places. The Internet answers these beautifully. But that brings in another complication... a relevant one today..preventing information overload. Quick comes the answer... classify it, catalog it. Now in order to classify it we need to know the significant properties that characterise every piece of knowledge. What are those properties of Knowledge that can form the basis of our classification? Like everything else around us, both tangible and intangible.. Knowledge is contextual. Meaning its partly defined by the twin axis of Space and Time. Knowledge outside is context is misleading and that defeats our purpose. Third of course is the form in which it will be accessible or in which we would comprehend it. The form of knowledge should suit the purpose of the seeker. Elementary as it seems this 3-dimensional system of ours.. its rather inadequate. If I have a document that relates to a geography and a year or quarter can I be sure it suits my purpose? Of course not. What is our purpose? Our purpose is to understand an entity. How is it that we understand this entity? By understanding how it operates.. what are the processes that comprise of the entity? In other words how does this entity function? Wunderbar! we have two more properties... Entity and its Functions. Lets see if this works... Knowledge (Entity, Function, Space, Time, Form) Sounds good to me.. So far as I know these five attributes of the knowledge I seek, I should be able to access that knowledge (and no the Heizenberg's uncertainty principle does not apply here). Now what if the entity is not very general but rather specific. What if I don't want information on Mammals in general but Rats in specific! We use the basic principles of classification.. that of parent child relationship, that or hierarchy. Next question.. is knowledge represented by a point that lies at the intersection of these co-ordinates? I would think not.. depending on the requirement, knowledge may span several sub-classes or classes themselves. The answer to that is to choose the correct measuring instrument. You will not use a meter scale to measure the distance between earth and the Sun, and similarly you will not use light-years to measure the tolerance of a nut meant for precision wrist watch. Also expanding our definition of knowledge, we can say that it is not defined by one set of values for an attribute but many.. so that it has a starting point and an ending point. Its a five dimensional figure after all.. Go figure!! Whew!.. I need to ruminate on these ideas more.. I don't think its reached a point of knowledge let alone wisdom. Ponder on this, I shall.. (guess which movie and character). I am eager to read your comments on this. An update: Upon discussion with a few of my friends, a grey area was developed on whether Time and Form were dimensions that helped you understand knowledge better or where plain metadata related to the knowledge object. As far as Time was concerned, we attempted to define the dimension. For me Time represented the date on which the document was created. I came from the point of view that information documented at a given time in indicative enough of the understanding of that information at that point of time. It also gives us a point of reference to which we can relate events occuring at that time that might influence the understanding of the information. My friend came from a different perspective. According to him, Time indicates the time in past, present or future to which this piece of information relates to. So if you have some information on say -the assassination of J.F.Kennedy, that information should be tagged to the point of time in history when the event occured. I begged to disagree. If the same event was documented at different points of time, the understanding of that event might be deeper as more was understood / investigated on that event. For example, a piece of information documented during Democratic regime might portray the Iraq war in a different light than during a Republican regime. To me the time of creation of a text / documentation of a piece of knowledge / delivery of a speech / an invention / a piece of art gives a very good idea of what events and ideologies influenced the opinion expressed in that piece. Then came Form. Now this was a particularly good one. My friend argued that the same piece of information expressed in words or in any other form should not possibly distort the information conveyed. Well not to me. If the same speech was read on paper, heard on the radio or viewed on television, we might gather different opinions of what was said. The person delivering the speech might sound very confident on the opinion expressed on paper, might sound less convinced on the radio and may actually look very insecure on television. Mediums have limitations and liberties. A graphical representation is generally much more powerful than a descriptive text. In a graphical/visual representation people tend to take home different observations and inferences (the 6 blind men phenomena). I am open to more discussions on this, so feel free to drop in your ideas.
From dreams to cyber-reality..
4:55 PM
Its amazing how having websites that reflects ones achievements, have become so important for people. After having developed almost 10 different websites, I have realized how the websites are not just cyber presences but an extension of the identities and persona of the ones for whom I have developed them. Yet I observe that people find it very difficult to describe with precision what they want. Many a times they are heavily influenced by what they have seen around or what people have advised them to be the best or the safest step forward. Others are so misled by their own prejudiced image of their clients who are the ones they intend to attract through their websites. Two thumb-rules I play by "It pays to be different" and secondly "Have tremendous respect for your clients". I respect the years of experience that my clients have in interacting with their customer base.. they know them quite well.. but they have never explored whether they could delight them with something different. Another important aspect to realize.. is that the website is also an opportunity for my clients to express themselves creatively. I have learnt that it pays to listen and allow them to demonstrate, illustrate, gesticulate what they want. The first thumb-rule helps me delight my clients. At times it is obvious that your client's ideas are not that appealing or atleast you don't seem to get the right picture in your mind.. or the beauty that lies in their ideas. I suffer from that defficiency too.. So I go by my gutt feeling.. I prepare a design that I think I would like to make if I were in their shoes.. Yes, its the same principle that I use when I act in my theatre group. Getting into the skin of the character.. talking.. walking.. feeling like the character.. And believe you me, I have had my clients leap with joy, scream in delight.. when they see a certain design of mine.. Now I don't say that I know anything about graphic design.. Infact I know nothing and it is in this area that Miss. Orsella Reyes.. an upcoming graphical and interiors designer and architect has come to my rescue.. Orsella has been kind to offer me training in color theory and use of graphic design tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator to help me out. In return.. I explain her and walk her through the process of a website design and development. I never knew there was such a reliable thumb-rule as the color-wheel and devices such as complementary, monochromatic, analogous themes to help you with color combinations.. None the less, I am proud of my latest creation.. the website for mythologist Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik. I looked at a couple of books that Devdutt had written and found a common thread running through them. It was his humility inspite of vast knowledge in the subject that struck me.. and it was the pair of eyes and a couplet.. an original creation of the writer himself that reflected this attitude. I knew at once that it was to be the homepage of the writer.. Devdutt again is not someone who sings his own praise.. He is an illustrator too and a very good one at that. I decided to use this little known talent of his on the homepage.. the background images around the eyes.. A slight hint of color and an innovative use of blogs is all that took to create this website. I am glad to say.. he is extremely pleased with it. As much as it has pleased him.. I have been most satisfied with my latest creation.. but I know that perfection is a never ending race.. and these are but WIPs on the way.
Strictly Ballroom....
5:16 PM
The weekend began with birthday celebrations for Chryss.. Chryss also leaves for Greece this week and her return to NYC is uncertain.. A Full Bright scholar and a puppeteer by profession, it was our love for dance that bonded us together.. She was devoted to tap-dancing.. and to see her belly-dance was a spectacle not to be missed.. Chryss.. come back soon.. Temperatures are soaring high here in New York. On Saturday it nearly touched 99*F.. yeah I know for Mumbaites this is nothing to be alarmed about.. but trust me the Sun here hits you harder than back in Mumbai. Determined, however, to step outdoors, I walked to the nearest theatre playing "Mad Hot Ballroom" (MHB) with the intention of enjoying the AC if not the movie.. But ended up enjoying the movie more.. My salutes to the instructor of the Indigo team.. you brought out the best in your students.. taught them how to feel the music.. and let it flow through their bodies as they swayed so gracefully to the beats of Merengue, Rumba, Swing and more.. Your passion for dance and your unlimited faith in your students were very inspiring. I had buckled under pressure of work and social engagements.. I hadn't been to the gym regularly.. so decided to partly recover the loss by pumping some good iron at the gym on Saturday. And then rushed to the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Times Square to attend the Empire State Ballroom Dance Competition. I was invited there by my dance instructor Franko and Kristina who is a professional ballroom dancer. To my delight I saw one of the dance instructors from "MHB" in the lobby.. Kristina and Christian were performing in the Open Latin Professional category and they stood 4th. Kristina looked awesome in her Tarantula creation.. Had a great time being quizzed by Franko on the beats, the music and the dance that could be performed on it. Sunday.. was beach day.. decided to go to Sandy Hook.. with my friend Chuck.. grabbed our bikes and took the ferry from World Financial Center.. and voila you were on the beach in less than an hour. We biked all the way to the north beach and then settled on Guinisson.. As far as I can remember, I have been in the sun for hours back in Mumbai but never experienced the heat of the sun so intense as on the beaches here in the US.. inspite of layers of sun-tan lotion.. Tried body surfing.. but the waves were too choppy.. Chuck who is an ex-marine.. had a field time.. Met Melissa.. a vivacious beauty with an adventurous spirit and a jolly good sense of humor.. very extrovert and social... Messi I look forward to meeting you again and biking around Manhattan.. Had wonderful dinner at Mama Mexicana. A must visit place for New Yorkers..It rained heavily on Sunday night.. Missed Mumbai.. wondered how 38 inches of rain in two days would have felt like.. More later..
Busy times..
3:17 PM
Whew!! There is something about being neck deep in work that just thrills me. Work at my office has picked momentum and the project that was so far in limbo has gained speed like a mad rushing river. That done.. there are other things that I have been catching up with..
Workout sessions at gym.. I love them.. kickboxing, cardio sculpt and now abs and cycling.. nothing's more satisfying (I am lying here coz I am shy to state the obvious) then being drained of all the mental chaos and extra physical energy at the end of a rigourous workout...
The world is full of good people.
5:24 PM
Yesterday was one of those day | | |
