Here is one of the best movie reviews I have ever read:
http://insearchofi.blogspot.com/2007/10/my-confession.html

NRI

My idea about NRIs was, since they live out of their motherland, they would be very nostalgic about their country of origin. I used to think that the urge for money was the only strong reason for the several lakhs of NRIs to live in the prosperous countries, and they all would like to return to their motherland someday. Alas! I was so wrong. Here I would talk about the NRIs in Detroit USA, which perhaps can be generalized.

I got to attend the marriage ceremony of one of my relative’s daughter. They are settled here in Detroit since the last 40 year. On this occasion I met many NRI families and talked to them about their views and emotions for India. I will now share my inferences:

The 1st generation of NRI has an identity problem. Though he is settled here since many years, he is still at least 40 % Indian. How do I know it? Talk to some Bengali, Bihari, Tamil guy. You will notice the very unique accent of the place of their birth.
Not only the accent, the thought and behavior is also very much the same. E.g. In India we know the typical characteristics of a Bihari, a Tamilian and so on. From behavior of a 1st generation NRI, one can know in which part of India was he born and brought up. So I conclude, the 1st generation NRI has a divided identity, he may be an American among Indians but he is Indian among Americans.

The second generation who were born and brought up in USA, are no at all NRIs. I am sad that the govt of India tries to give duel citizenship to these people. They may be called Rahul or Vineeta or Surabhi or anything meaning something in Hindi. But nothing else is “Indian” in them. I request the people and govt of India, please do not call the kids of NRIs as NRIs. They are not.

PS: These are general observations and as always, there will be exceptions, but not many I think.

Mindless Research

I was just browsing the website of my engineering institute and happened to see the “Professional Resume” of one of the professors. He claimed to have 51 technical publications. The document listed the titles of his research thesis, papers published, the lectures delivered at national/international conferences and so on. I started to read the list and it went on and on. My god, such a long list, so many publications, lectures....

While
“Generalized Cell Formation in CMS using Metaheuristic Algorithm”

“Design of Cellular Manufacturing using Neural Network Model”

“A Methodology for Evaluation of Service Quality using Neural Networks”

“Application of Theory of Constraints on Scheduling of Drum-Buffer Rope System”

were some of the titles of his papers almost none made any sense to me.

Then I opened my own “Professional Resume”. It had almost nothing worth mentioning except a B.Tech degree and some 3+ years of experience in an IT services company.
I feel dwarfened. But the logical mind tries to argue.
No, I can not dare to compare my resume with that of my esteemed professor, but I remember Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam saying the universities to stop doing mindless research and do something productive.
I wonder how many people except this prof would have read his research papers. Well, he is just symbolizing the hundreds of research scholars in India who keep publishing technical literature here and there some for getting a better job, promotion, certification etc.

Thousands of people get PhDs from various Indian universities every year in engineering disciplines. So why don’t at least a few exciting technologies come out from India every year. Clearly the researches are directionless (as acknowledged by many including Dr. Kalam). I think the exam oriented mentality in our country has devalued PhD which now is mere another degree or certificate of a course completion rather than being finder of something new.

The heights of Great Britain was fueled by the industrial revolution, that of USA was similarly supported by the pioneering technological innovations. So I think India can not ride high forever by only providing cheap services and labor. Innovations will be needed to sustain the growth and not the hundreds of publications without practical output.

Cost Reduction

Why are things so sluggish in big organizations? As students we do a lot of activities in our colleges, which are parallel to what the industries do. For example, I am working on an assignment of modifying an electronic circuit (which is an intelligent brake control of automotives) in order to reduce its cost. I belong to a service provider company in India which has posted me in USA at the client company location for this assignment. I have a couple of suggestions to achieve the goal. These are nothing but some slight modifications similar to what we used to solve in our engineering classes while solving numerical problems. My company sent me here in USA bearing all the cost to do these slight modifications which an engineering undergraduate does in his classroom as simple problems. Worse, with these ideas I am waiting for multiple levels of approvals so that it can be implemented or rejected. It has been one week since I am waiting for the team members and the manager to assemble for a meeting to discuss my idea. I know that if they accept it, it does not end there. It will go to the design team and from there god knows where for approvals. My concern is, why does it take such a long time to do a small thing in a big organization?

Actually, my company will be happy if it takes more and more time. Because they will get more and more hourly billing for my work. But it is a definite loss for the client company. Well, my job here is to try and reduce the cost of the product by modifying the design, but I think, if they become a little more efficient in execution of works, co-operation and communication among the various departments, they can reduce a lot of cost. Alas! I can not give this feedback for cost reduction here as it is against the interests of my company.

Relations

Life is an unknown journey. Everything, every moment is unknown. Although we can predict the outcome on a few occasions, most of the times future remains unpredictable. In this journey we make friends and relatives. Whose behavior towards us is pretty much predictable, e.g. I know how my mom will care for me when I go to my native place after many months. This also is a function of time and space. A mom in USA will not have the same feelings (or expression of feelings) for and the same expectations from her son as a mom in India. The relations mean differently in different parts of the globe.

NBC news channel here once reported that people have 40-45 % divorce rate in USA. Even the couples over 60 have around 40 % chances of getting divorced. I am sure these couples would have spent over 10 times more money on their honeymoon than an average Indian couple. (I am yet to go on a honeymoon after 7 months of my marriage.)
So, it implies that these cosmetic affections do not promise a stronger bonding. An Indian husband can not tell his wife, “Well, it was nice living with you these 5 years, may be we should look for a change.”

Detroit Diary

The world is a village, thanks to the globalization, internet, the economic reformers and MNCs. Today you do not feel away from home in the sense of food and commodity market. I wonder what those early birds had faced when they flew to the USA or Britain all the way from India in early 80s or even before. It is unlikely that those people knew if pizza is edible or anything else, what is MacDonald’s or Subway or any other such brand. Today we are used to all these even in India, so when one comes to USA for the first time, apart from the infrastructure and the cars, you do not find much difference when compared to the Bangalores or the Delhies of India.

I reached Detroit at around 12:40 PM local time. As I came out of the airport, a smart young man approached me, “Taxi service required, sir?” I answered in affirmative but before that I wanted to make a couple of calls. He gave me his cell phone to make the local as well as international calls. This kind of generous behavior is hard to find in India. The taxi was a luxury car (I dunno which make it was as it is not available in India). With the help of GPS we reached the hotel without any difficulty. In India, I am sure; you can’t reach a place without asking several people if you do not know the way.

The first day, Vic and Steve took me for a lunch. We went to “Jimmy John’s” a famous restaurant here. Having spent around 27 years in India, I can’t say a veg sandwich and a coke a good lunch but their gesture was good. They wanted to know more about me. It was kind of a welcome meal.

The next morning as I was walking to office, someone called from a car, “You want a ride Sushil?” It was Hamid, my colleague here. He told me how he spent time till mid-night playing soccer at a club. My god, the guy looked above 45 and he has got such an enthu. And we Indians feel too old to play after 25 or so. It reminded me the saying, “You do not stop playing because you grow old, but you grow old because you stop playing.”

Then came the News of strike at General Motors. I saw all the demonstrations as the GM plant is just next to the hotel where I am staying. In our office people were of the opinion that the GM employees are cutting their own throat by going on strike. Fortunately, within 40 hrs the employees union reached at an agreement with the GM management and the strike was called off. Still the strike left its impact as I read many other suppliers of GM (primarily Delphi) started laying off people.

Truly, Detroit is the automotive capital of the world. All the major automotive companies are having their presence here. But hey, are not all the major global companies (of any sector) have their presence in India and still going strong? So India is definitely on her way to become the world’s factory and the world’s market.

अभिमान सौन्दर्य का

गर्व मत कर पुष्प अपनी अधखिली सुकुमारता पर
गूँजते चाहक भ्रमर की कामना की विवशता पर
मत अकड़ इस वायु विस्तृत फैलते मकरन्द ही पर
तितलियों का दिल लुभाती देह के इस रंग ही पर

पवन तुझको गोद में लेकर झुलाती है सदा
सूर्य की किरणें अभी तुझको हँसाती हैं सदा
किन्तु इतना ध्यान रख तू ऐ सुकोमल पुष्पवर
रूप के अभिमान की तो कुछ दिनों की है उमर

अन्त की तो कल्पना कर जरा को ला ध्यान में
वृद्ध सा मृतप्राय सा जब तू पड़ा उध्यान में
जिस पवन की गोद में तू झूलता था प्रेम से
उसी के इक तीव्र झोंके से गिरा तू भूमि पे

श्वास अन्तिम ले रहा तू है पड़ा अब भूमि पर
साथ देने आज तेरा है नहीं आता भ्रमर
सूर्य की अब वही किरणें जो हँसाती थीं तुझे
आज तेरे वृद्ध तन को हैं जलाती तपन से

अन्त के इस दृश्य को ही याद करके पुष्पवर
रंग का अभिमान मत कर गर्व मत कर रूप पर

क्या हुआ जो.....

क्या हुआ जो अब हमारे, स्वप्न में आने लगी हो

अधखिली सुकुमार सी जो कली थी वो खिल रही है
और उस पर ओस की जो बूँद थी वो हिल रही है
ओस की उस बूँद सा ही स्वच्छ निर्मल प्रेम मेरा
और उस कोमल कली के बदन जैसा रूप तेरा
वर्षा ऋतु के बादलों सी हृदय पर छाने लगी हो
क्या हुआ जो अब हमारे, स्वप्न में आने लगी हो


चाँद से नजरें मिलाकर पूछने अब ये लगा मन
क्या कभी देखा धरा पर तुम सदृश सौन्दर्य का धन?
रूप यौवन औ गुँणों की कल्पना से भी अपरिमित
मंजु मुख की कांति जिसकी सदा करती जग प्रफुल्लित
हाँ तुम्हीं तो काव्य बनकर छंद में आने लगी हो
क्या हुआ जो अब हमारे, स्वप्न में आने लगी हो


सूर्य की हों रश्मियाँ या चन्द्र की हो चाँदनी
नदी की लहरें हों या फिर खगों की कलरव ध्वनि
देखकर सौन्दर्य जिसका प्रकृति भी ऊर्जित होती है
रूप रस का पान करके स्वतः गीत सर्जित होती है
हाँ तुम्हीं तो कलम बनकर गीत लिखवाने लगी हो
क्या हुआ जो अब हमारे, स्वप्न में आने लगी हो

Sine Wave

My professor of Electrical Engineering once opined, “Sine wave is the most natural wave.” It seems to be true. Everything in this world has rise and fall. Be it our age, friendship, strength, beauty, knowledge, progress, wealth, happiness or anything. The sine wave has equal rise and fall at regular intervals. Physics tells that everything in this world has a natural frequency of vibration. That means everything, including the massive planets and stars, is vibrating. Vibrating in simple harmonic motion (a sine wave pattern).
So sine wave is the most natural wave which describes the behavior of the universe.

We don’t have the same level of affection with our mother as we had when we were babies; we could not live without mother then, and now we can easily be away from her for a few months or years.. Your love (or infatuation) towards your GF first increases till the peak and then reduces. Same is true for success and failure.
So don’t you worry if things are not going your way, it will one day. Yes efforts should be continuous else your sine wave wavelength may be comparable to your life span i.e. by the time success comes to you, you may be too old to enjoy it.

Momentum

In physics the momentum of an object can be conceptually thought of as how difficult it is to stop the object. So, the moving object continues to move unless it is stopped by applying an external force. That’s why in all kinds of vehicles, the power required while starting is much more than the running power. Life is also like this. We know that doing certain things will benefit us; still we are not able to do it, rather not able to start it. Only if we apply extra efforts and start doing the work, it will be difficult to stop.
“Well begun is half done.”
What is the explanation of the juggernaut of Australian cricket team? How else can one explain of some player being in-form for certain time? It is the momentum which plays a vital role in win and loss.

Late Mr. Newton also told us that the objects will remain in no motion state unless they are applied on by “sufficient external force”. So there is also a momentum of no motion, laziness and defeat. This explains some players being out-of-form.

Momentum p = mv

So we need to have mass (knowledge/talent etc.) and we require external force (extra efforts/motivation etc.) to acquire substantial velocity. After that life is cool. Enjoy Madi.

Deserve, Then Desire

This has become the current trend. We often find people complaining about their salary, people changing companies for better pay package etc. Some of them may be really deserving better salaries than their current employer pays, but, I think, most of these crying souls desire more just because some of their pals are getting more. A recent NASSCOM survey says that the number of jobs outsourced to India has started reducing because of the explosive increase in salaries and attrition rates. Do these people really perform extraordinarily in their new companies to justify the hike? Well, Dinkarji answers logically in the following lines.
छुद्र पात्र हो मग्न कूप में जितना जल लेता है,
उससे अधिक वारि सागर भी उसे नहीं देता है॥
-------दिनकर (रश्मिरथी)
(The water taken by a small vessel from the sea is no more than the water it takes from the well.)

The steep increase of salaries is the root cause of many problems in the socity. An average employee in IT/BT sector gets 20% annual hike whereas an average government servant gets 2-4% annual hike. So year after year the difference in their assets widens. Is the Hi Tech cities like Bangalore, Gurgaon, Noida, Hyderabad are occupied only by these priveleged IT/BT sector employees? Certainly not. Then where from a govt. servant will get Rs 60 lakhs to buy a house or Rs 1 lakh for deposit + Rs 10,000 per month for house rent? How will he be able to pay Rs 40,000 donantion for admission of his kid in a good school in LKG?
What happens to the education and career of his children? No wonder, the crime rate in Bangalore (and other Hi Tech cities) is on ramp. The increacing financial imbalance makes it difficult for the lower middle class to survive. The easier option to their kids is to loot an IT employee on the street in mid-night or so. There has to be a way to reduce this financial imbalance. Otherwise the 21st centuary will have new set of naxals, mostly in Hi Tech cities.

Creator Vs Degree holder

When I see graduates rushing for an MBA degree in order to “boost their career”, I wonder if it is the only way to boost one’s career? I don’t know what they teach in B schools. But when I see most people who are top achievers in the corporate world, I find that most of them do not hold an MBA degree or equivalent. Dhirubhai Ambani was a non MBA. He made india’s biggest business empire from zero and many MBAs including his sons are busy running his business. Ghanshyam Das Birla created a similar business power house and his grandson Kumarmangalam Birla, an MBA is running it. Same holds for almost all the big enterprise creators e.g. Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Steve Balmer, L.N. Mittal, the founders of Infosys and a host of successful companies of today. The other day I was reading a story in “The Week” about a 10 class pass guy from Pune who started as an unskilled laborer and today owns a Rs100 Crore company manufacturing power equipments. Many MBAs are working in his company to take care of his business. Then I watched “The Pursuit Of Happiness” where the hero builds a business empire struggling all the way with no college degree.

All these thousands of examples force me to believe that an MBA degree, or any degree for that matter, is not a prerequisite to excel in business. It needs something that is not taught in the college. Possessors of “that thing” create businesses and possessors of degrees work under them to run their business.

Mrityu

मृत्यु तू ही संगिनी अन्तिम छणों की, फिर मुझे तू क्यों डराना चाहती है।
प्रेम में तो हार को हम जीत कहते, फिर मुझे तू क्यों हराना चाहती है।
छोड़ देंगे साथ सब अन्तिम छणों में, दीर्घ निद्रा में हृदय जब व्यस्त होगा,
तू ही है वह प्रेमिका जो साथ होगी, आ अगर तू पास आना चाहती है॥
---- माधव कृष्ण
The story goes in the epic “Mahabharatha” that Yaksha asked Yudhishthira, “What, in your opinion, is the biggest surprise in this world?” And the eldest Pandu replied,” Even after knowing that everybody will die one day, people are afraid of death. This is the biggest surprise.”

I asked myself, am I afraid of death? I think rather than death, I am afraid of the suffering before death. Death may be a natural one, or an accidental. In any case, I am least bothered about what happens to this world after I die. I am afraid of the suffering before I die. One of my friend’s father is a driver in Indian Railways. He tells that he has seen many people coming on the railway tracks determined to commit suicide, but as the trains come frightening close, they run away. A person who has decided to die is surely unbearably sad about what is happening (or not happening) with him in life. But the terror of watching death face to face closely proves to be bigger that anything. I am afraid of the sufferings of life more than the death. May God let me die painlessly and peacefully, whenever it happens. I am not afraid of it.

Learning n Teaching

You teach that what you want to learn most.

Learning is infinite. We start learning any subject physics, biology, literature, arts, finance or anything. In the beginning we don’t feel the infinite volume and depth of the subject. But as we progress in learning the subject, the depth increases, and the more we learn the more depth we discover. At the end we decide a limit on how much we want to learn on that particular subject.

One of the professors of my engineering institute told me once, “When you finish your B.Tech, you feel that you know a lot. After finishing M.Tech you think, the subject is really vast but you know quite much. And when you do your PhD, you realize that you don’t even know 5% of the subject.”.

The best teacher of a subject is the one who himself is learning the same subject. Experiences are important but merely sharing experiences doesn’t make somebody a great teacher. The teacher should be aware the condition of the student. Whether he/she is actually an eager student or the teacher is trying to force his/her teachings.
So, though teaching is great, one should teach only to an eager student and not insult his knowledge by forcing it to an unwilling person.

Happy Learning n Teaching.

There is time for everything.

There is time for everything.
----- Thomas Edison

In today’s busy schedule we feel short of time. Short of time to study something or doing yoga or other activities which interest us. But surprisingly we get time to eat, shit, sleep and other necessary activities regularly. The only explanation is we always do high priority things in life. So, the so called interesting tasks actually possess lesser priority than the things we do. One may think that if s/he had enough time, s/he could go for jogging every morning. But actually jogging has lesser priority in his/her life than half an hour of extra sleep or late night internet browsing / TV show.
So, there is time for every high priority thing.