Tryst with destiny

Murmurs from the other side

2010-08-27T16:26:00.004+05:30

Do you not hear the whispers across this side of existence?

Little babies knocking to be in presence

Innocent wisps in peaceful calm,

Then provoked to sudden excitement in agitated alarm

Do you not hear the tremors, of a fleeting human essence?

Frail old men in agony or complacence -

Aging stars of a growing dusk

Wistful thoughts, mellowing words that were once brusque

Do you not hear the silent groans, voices of a surreal presence?

Abandoned souls in the brink of evanescence

Grabbing in urgent appeal

Mind and body stretched, the soul in its mortal struggle

Pleasing art the innocence, and tiring, the constant attendance

Yet gentle blow the songs of appeal to the human conscience

Let us reach out in assistance

To these hovering spirits flitting in an ethereal space

Faith, trust and hope

2010-01-03T17:44:00.003+05:30

Once all villagers decided to pray for rain. On the day of the prayer, all people gathered, and only one boy came with an umbrella.
THAT'S FAITH.

When you throw up a one year old baby, he laughs in eagerness, because he knows you will catch him.
THAT'S TRUST.

Every night we go to bed, we have no assurance to wake up alive the next morning, but we still have plans for tomorrow.
THAT'S HOPE

Faith, trust and hope. Keep them by your side always, they will give you the strength even when everything else deserts you!

[Oops, the examples are not my own creation :) Credits to whoever wrote them first! ]

Quality Assurance in politics

2009-05-17T11:46:00.003+05:30

With the election results out, discussions are at its high peak on all news channels on what India needs most at this moment. Stability, direction, good governance, are some the keywords making the rounds. Somebody commented on how the transactional costs in our government are too high simply because of way too little trust. You have one person to do the actual job, another to watch over him, a third person to what over that person, and a fourth to watch over the third and so on ..

Perhaps politics needs to borrow something from industry. Every piece of code that we write goes through a rigorous process of Quality Assurance ( QA ). Till now QA has meant a rigorous process of human resources manually trying to break the code in all ways. In eBay, there is roughly one QA person for every two developers. Which means that for every two persons who write code, they need one person to ensure that he's doing a good job. What a waste of resource in verifying the same things over and over again!

Of late, there is a move towards Quality Engineering ( QE ) as against QA. As a developer, we know better what are the functionalities the code provides or does not provide. If we write an automated suite that ensures that the functionality the developer intends is never broken / sends out an alert the moment it is, we ensure that future developers need not worry about unwittingly breaking a piece of code I wrote, by making a change elsewhere. This is especially important in big enterprises. Of course, you automate repetitive tasks, and keep humans to do the more intelligent quality assurance required. That way your QA : dev ratio can reduce to as low as 1:6 or even more.

In politics and government, e-governance should be able to reduce the number of government hierarchies required, and leave them free to do more constructive work. As of today, the press works as the most effective Quality Assurance group, but if the problems could be detected by the government 'before' it 'releases' schemes & fails to follow up on them, we would save a lot of taxpayers money.

We need a thirdparty standards organization that can help the government to proactively minimize "production bugs" as we'd call it.

Can things get simpler ?

2009-05-10T16:24:00.002+05:30

Buddhism be classified more as a philosophy than a religion.A very straightforward, simple way of looking at and living life. An attitude and way of life that would solve half of the modern day problems. I particularly liked The Four Solaces put forward by Buddha.

"'Suppose there is a hereafter and there is a fruit, result, of deeds done well or ill. Then it is possible that at the dissolution of the body after death, I shall arise in the heavenly world, which is possessed of the state of bliss.' This is the first solace found by him.

"'Suppose there is no hereafter and there is no fruit, no result, of deeds done well or ill. Yet in this world, here and now, free from hatred, free from malice, safe and sound, and happy, I keep myself.' This is the second solace found by him.

"'Suppose evil (results) befall an evil-doer. I, however, think of doing evil to no one. Then, how can ill (results) affect me who do no evil deed?' This is the third solace found by him.

"'Suppose evil (results) do not befall an evil-doer. Then I see myself purified in any case.' This is the fourth solace found by him.

A person only needs goodness within him, to agree with this philosophy, no matter what his religious orientation is.

" Right view, Right aspiration [ the path to wisdom ]
Right speech, Right action, Right livelihood [ the path to morality ]
Right effort, Right mindfulness, Right concentration [the path to meditation ] "

In today's world even agreeing with the above philosophies sounds to be a hypocrisy :)

Strangers

2009-05-10T13:22:00.005+05:30

How often have you just laughed up over something totally funny with a stranger? Or played with their kid and told them they're ultra cute? Do you ever smile up to a person you've never met before? Do you even do that with people you keep seeing everyday, or have they become wall-posters of your life?

Our lives seem so constrained and bottled up, we hardly see what is happening with people outside our circle. Whenever I go for a morning walk I feel so refreshed and energized because in that short stretch of half an hour, I see people from all walks of life. Old pot-bellied men who are trying to pull themselves back into shape, youngsters coming out after training at the gym, the cycle vendor selling tender coconut, open air yoga/exercise sessions going on outside the nearby hospital and attended by people of all age groups and people gathering around the local farmer to get the fresh morning's supply of vegetables. Suddenly you can see the whole cycle of the cosmos in action, and truly 'feel' that you're a part and parcel of it.

It seems strange to say it, but somehow college life had taken away the smile I always readily kept for everyone - if not outwardly, at least inwardly. Sometimes life tends to make you a cynic and a skeptic. But these days I make it a point to smile and be happy smiling at people around me. But why restrict my smile only to people I know. Isn't a smile more precious when given away?

Let me try to disprove people who warn 'Don't talk to strangers' :) Unlike Paulo Coelho's Santiago, I may never meet my Melchizedek, but good or bad, it will at least be worth the while :)

Back to school!

2009-05-03T19:03:00.006+05:30

Today I registered for an M.S (Computer Science) course at Manipal University's learning center here in Chennai.

That's our logo!

It is a flexible programme designed with corporates in mind. The course consists of 1 year of weekend contact classes + 1 year of project work. You may take long breaks in between for any reason and extend the programme upto 4 years. You can also continue the course from other centers in major Indian cities. Cool na :) ?

Well, so its back to school! I know part-time classes are hardly going to be 'college' but its still exciting when I think I'm going back to college :) Orkut's fortune cookie today was aptly given as
" Education is the best provision for the journey to the old age "
Whew .. I already feel so wise ;)

Hope the classes are interesting !

Rasgullas for you!

2008-11-30T10:24:00.002+05:30

Wow .. two blogs in a day! I'm getting addicted!

Just wanted to share a few tips on unhealthy living :) My mom's simple recipe for Rasgulla follows! I've often wondered how people make that rubbery mass out of milk. It's as simple as curdling milk, adding some maida and balling it up. Useful on a day when your sweet tooth aches and you have some time to kill!

For the 10 medium-small sized Rasgulla balls I made today, I had to boil two whole packets of milk(500ml) and curdle them by adding two tablespoons of vinegar. Wait for the curdled mass to cool(unless you want a bunch of burnt fingers in the bargain), add two teaspoons of maida and roll it into balls of your favourite size. I don't like mine too big, so I made them the same size as a boiled egg yolk.

It's time to sugar your savouries! Add 1 cup sugar to 2 cups of water and heat in a pressure cooker until the sugar has melted. Now add the sweet balls to the syrup and lid the cooker with its weight on. Do not let the cooker whistle. Once you think the pressure has built up, lower the flame and let your rasgullas steam for 7 minutes. When done, you may add a few drops of some essence such as rose water to the syrup if you like. Be sure to garnish them with broken nuts before you attack!

One.Two.Three .. the routine begins

2008-11-30T08:17:00.001+05:30

I have decided to have a go at a 30-days trial on a regular exercising routine! It is possible that with my late work timings, etc, this might get a little tiring, but if I stick to it for 30 days, I have a way of finding out if this really is beneficial or not! I'm sure it will be beneficial in loosening up my stiff old muscles he heh ;) At any rate, it seems to be the only natural solution for my blocked nose :)

Today I got up at 7.30 and promptly did my one.two.three-s. But I'm hoping to get even better tomorrow and wake up early at 5 for my exercise and an early morning prayer. It's a long long time since I've seen 5 am! In fact I'm not sure 5 am is something agreeable with a software engineer's routine anymore, but Oh, how I love early mornings!

And by the way, I also started a technical blog at www.steamingcuppajava.blogspot.com, so do check it out!

Exotic Malabar ... Home calling !

2008-09-27T14:02:00.006+05:30

Nothing brings me more joy than coming home every month. So much so that, I tell my folks I'd rather stay away from home so I that I can experience this :) I thought I should dedicate this post to sharing some sights 'n sounds ( please imagine them !) of 'Kerala' that I regularly come across.

Of course, these are only one of the reasons I love coming home. The joy of seeing my parents after a month is simply incomparable.

Jackfruits aplenty! When it's jack-fruit season you can see Malayalees having the fruit in the morning, the unripe fruit cooked for lunch, and the seeds fried for dinner!! He heh just kidding, but the number of ways people have of utilizing the jackfruits during season is just amazing!

Poor Mr. Spidey's home is all drenched. A nice sight for us though, to see the little rain drops glistening on the spider web.

We call it 'bilimbi', but it's got different names all over Kerala ( probably irumban-puli is more common). You can see it hanging from the trees in bunches during monsoons. I love it pickled :)

And that's the neighbourhood cat my aunt is always shooing away! She always manages to smell her way through though - especially if you've got fish frying!!!

In the heart of Silicon valley

2008-07-13T03:48:00.002+05:30

I've always wanted to visit the US more than any other country, and this wish suddenly came true when I had to come onsite for my client eBay last month. I of course like to enjoy the scenery around me, but whenever I'm in a new place, the experiences that touch me most are those involving people and cultures. We've all read and heard enough and more about America, so I did have an idea of how life would be here. But little did I realize how heavy the Asian population is, in the heart of Silicon valley! I stay right behind eBay's south campus, and I hardly feel I've left Chennai, except for the climate!!

In general, the work atmosphere here is good. I especially like the way even strangers greet each others with a smile. And as I'm part of a new internal team that is just being built up, we actually get to think and work on real problems, rather than typing away boring lines of code that meet the stipulations of some Design document that are handed down a long line of teams, leads and managers!

Being here has also helped me to look at some problems of their own that developed countries are just discovering. Such as how hostile their easy lifestyle is, to sustenance of the environment. When I first reached here, I was shell-shocked to see the amount of tissue, kitchen/toilet paper and plastics people consume and dispose without a second thought. There is so much of energy consumption for simply sustaining life. Now I know why the poorest American, even if he uses public transport and conserves electricity at home, will still consume more than the per capita consumption in India.

I've always believed I was a 'world citizen' first, and yet I'm more patriotic than the average Indian. After graduation, I wanted to continue to work in India itself, though my parents have always been eager I settle in the 'Gulf' like most muslim families in Malabar. All this was because I've always believed my country needed people like me to stay back and work for her. Yet in this last few months, I have been wondering if it is really India that needs me, or the rest of the world, that needs to learn some things from India. And anyways, why does one-sixth of the world's population have to live cramped up in one bit of land, simply because their forefathers were born there ?!

Lets spread out our wings like ever, fellow Indians!

Why be vegetarian ?

2008-05-03T12:33:00.001+05:30

Weeks back, in a friend's blog, I had commented about reasons why I prefer being a vegetarian, though I do consume non-vegetarian food once in a while, much like social drinking :).

Till now, I had been convinced in favour of vegetarianism, purely on health and palette reasons. It was a personal lifestyle choice, in a way. Today I found yet another compelling reason to be and remain, vegetarian or even, vegan.

Did you know that at 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, livestock are responsible for a bigger share of global warming than transportation ? The measurement approach used to arrive at this value considered the entire commodity chain - from feed production (which includes chemical fertilizer production, deforestation for pasture and feed crops, and pasture degradation), through to animal production (including fermentation and nitrous oxide emissions from manure) to the carbon dioxide emitted during processing and transportation of animal products.

I guess the values for India might be somewhat different, since the type of fertilizer used, as well as transportation distances involved, would be different. There is greater reliance here on local meat shops, rather than packed and processed meat, thereby reducing fuel consumption on transport. Furthermore, animal husbandry in India is often done in conjunction with agriculture. In spite of all this, I guess, the carbon footprint would be more for non-veg food, especially with the Indian consumer too moving in the same direction as their counterparts in the US.

Check out this link for more reasons why you should be vegetarian !

Do you think it's worth becoming a vegetarian ? Do let me know !

An Ode to Humanity

2008-03-17T18:20:00.003+05:30

I have often felt that generations of humanity run within me. When I decided to make my foray into the blogosphere, I thought I should put up these thougts in my blog, so we can find out if it's another common phenomenon like the all-too-familiar deja vu !

O'er the green mountains I sing this ode,
The song of renewal and life
Sung by generations manifold
The fabric of my song carries strains of lore
Yet it is to me, my inimitable score

Being from Kerala ( seductively christened as God's Own Country ), I often find myself speeding across green hills, lush paddy fields, serene waters and other visual treats that only a tropical land can offer. Each time, I'm inevitably transported to a different time-space. Then I see the years fly by, and the horizons change. Enterprise of man, and his intellect, transform entire ecologies and the skyscape of a modern city appears. In that one moment, entire generations of enterprise and experience seem to have run within me, leaving me empowered - and a quiet confidence takes over, a confidence that we as a human race will rise to the occasion when crisis hits. Will we ? Do let me know what you think !