Magarpatta – A success story

'Magarpatta' is a IT city in Pune and the thing that fascinates me in this IT city is that it is built by farmers. When 400 farmers in the 'magar' (a surname) dominated area were struggling to sustain their occupation of farming, they decided to pool in their lands and build a IT city. With some loan from financial institutions today they have realized their dreams. ‘Magarpatta’ has already got two fully occupied towers working and has plans for adding 4 more to their list with the demand growing. The city not only has buildings for IT infrastructure but they also have outsourced gardens, playgrounds, schools, hospitals and all necessary amenities.

The IT city is owned by all those farmers who are see in Lancers instead of their usual tractors. Their relatives, who were working outside Pune in reputed companies have left their jobs to take care of the IT city like electrical fittings, painting etc. What an example of Entrepreneurship. All the Business School may teach you everything that you may need in life but not things like common sense and presence of mind.

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Ga Ga

It was not long back that I published one article regarding GARUDA the volvo bus service from APSRTC. I think I have penned down things in a rush, there are more reasons for highlighting APSRTC as I have discovered them in my latest trip to Vijayawada. Look at these.

1. All buses are Bharat-I and Euro-I emission compliant
2. They give an awesome mileage of 6 KMs / L
3. They all have speed lock, which prevents the bus from accelerating beyond 80 KMs / Hr.
4. Some of them have Global Positioning System attached (tried as a pilot), which enables the passenger in other stations to know the location of the bus at any point of time.

More reasons to travel by one now...

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Goof up of the year

Just when you thought that Maruti has done everything right from slashing prices to airing ads where Sardar kid jumps all around, you get this heart shocking ad. The ad reads out

Happy? then you must be having a Maruti

Here they have assumed that the answer would be Yes, what happens if the answer is No?, yet the reason is Maruti?

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It's coming, free and it's everywhere

Precisely this is what was communicated by IBM in the LINUX add recently aired, did anyone of you got a chance to look at it?

It was a refreshing change and a most awaited one.

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BIW

I accidentally landed in a interesting blog BIW, having some interesting article, this is a sure to be read blog for all the valid reasons.

Now all you bloggers, blogroll this site, which is a blog to watch!

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Take my advice, I don't use it anyway

Last day I got a chance to surf at Sify. It was a broadband connection and
all I got was a customized desktop, a shareware office application to work with my word documents and the worst part was that the right click was disabled. I was deprived of accessing "My Documents" folder in the computer and most of the web pages won't load all that happened was that the page would load half baked with an error, internal server error. The only thing to work very fast is sify.com website.

What a pity, they charge you 25 Rs. per hour if you are not a member and 20 Rs. if you are a member and they give you such things to handle.

My advice: Please stay away from such cyber cafes.


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Definition of GOD

This discussion has been for long but I got a very different opinion from my fellow friend Kannan Swaminathan here is how it goes

"Who is God? He is like the Poochandi who never came. Read how... Remember the poochandi story when we did not take breakfast? Our mothers told - poochandi kitta pudichi kuduthuduven(means- I will let the poochandi-"one who vanishes away with the kids", take you away). But tell me if that poochandi ever came. Even if he came,did our mothers give us away? For the innocent kids, who wont have breakfast it is POOCHANDI(source of just fear) For the thinking adults, who wont live properly it is GOD(source of veneration) Though Poochandi and God are diametrically opposite - Evil and Good, the response that they are supposed to evoke is GOOD BEHAVIOUR! Theist believes = To ensure Justice, Discipline and Love, there is someone called God Atheist believes = To ensure Justice, Discipline and Love, there is no one called God LOOK ONLY AT THE FIRST PART of their beliefs- IT IS THE SAME. Let us spend energy and time on that part. They both are aiming at the first part. They only find different resources to achieve that. In a society, 1. If atheists exceed in number, chances are indiscipline creeps in, since there is no one above human rationality 2. If theists exceed in number, chance are that humanism loses importance, since theism gains importance. Both 'ists' are needed in equal proportions to maintain the equilibirium. Thiru Vi Ka says - Aanmeegam illadha pagutharivu arakkathanam. Pagutharivu illadha aanmegam moodathanam.(Rationality without spiritualism is HOOLIGANISM. Spiritualism without rationality is STUPIDITY) Its never important, to which school of thought you belong to. YOU HAVE EXCESSIVELY, ELABORATELY, PROFUSELY MAGNIFICIENT literature for both sides. Dont care - What is important is - Humanity is to be celebrated and let Love and Samaritanism Survive! Please think. Cheers! Anbe Sivam!"

Now at last we have a different opinion all together.

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Getting it wrong always

While election parties in India are fighting hard to please the voters, common sense seems to have taken the back seat. While one party has changed the punchline from "..party ka haath gharion se saath" to "...party ka haath aam aadmi ke saath" the other is busy in making glow sign boards at the cost of government's money.

I don't think people are going to fall for these traps. The best thing that is about to happen is the inclusion of "None of the above" in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) that would put the power of choosing no one and expressing the feeling of trusting no party in the coming elections. I think the idea is a great one and should be implemented from this election onwards, but some parties have come strongly against this, we know why! after all this is democracy.

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Movie Review - Tum

I don't understand why people make movies like these. The movie has got nothing in it. After seeing the movie only, I realized that the movie was supposed to be suspense thriller. Surprises were in store, when I realized that Manisha is acting as a mother of two children (10th class). Even though I was seeing the movie for the first time, I was able to guess the sequences of the movie, it's that bad. In the climax, the characters were more surprised than the audience. I would say three hours of waste.

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HoliDAY

Come ‘Holi’ everyone of us gets into festive mood, as a kid we always wanted to play colours like others do but nobody would colour us or involve us as they would assume that we would get hurt or we would be taken ill.

In south though we don’t observe holiday during ‘Holi’, we surely make it a point to play after our school time but in north come ‘Holi’ we all get into it with full enthusiasm. Though the things have changed but the spirit remains the same, share happiness with people around and spread happiness like you spread colours. I am out of my hometown this time around and would surely miss the fever. This net has given me an opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Holi, enjoy and one more thing, take care these days colours are also adulterated !

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Times have changed

Elections are round the corner, so what! is the question raised by everyone. But I am not talking about India, elections are round the corner at US, now people take me seriously. Gone are the days when people used to ignore elections, "You better take interest in whatever is happening otherwise you run the risk of loosing the job.." advices a Technology Evangelist.

It's a serious matter nowadays and I am not surprised that this would continue to be so

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Another case

Another girl aged 18 years died on the spot when her head got crushed by a tempo, the police have registered a case and have arrested the tempo driver but what amuses me is that these youngsters never learn the importance of a helmet. My heart goes out for parents of these teenagers. I see girls with a one meter cloth all over the face while driving, the time is not far off when they are going to land in accidents because of chocking or whatever, can't we get the basics right.

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Headstrong and Haughty

We software professionals think that we are superior to others, that is we earn more money as compared to engineers from other streams and so we become headstrong. We think that everyone in this world should have at least average IQ level and we even think that stupids have no right to exist and they should die but think, we may be stupid to people around us. We never realize this fact, I think the money we earn takes away all the human values from most of us, we try to be aggressive always and at times we become arrogant.

I can quote one instance when I was traveling in a bus, I was holding the same seat as by another person and this person turned out to be a software engineer. When he approached me to know my seat number, he screamed as if the world is falling down "Oh s##t, it can't be possible". I told him, cool down and told him to take his seat, I resolved the issue with the ticket conductor. The boy didn't realize that I am also a software engineer because of my attire. As these young grads perceive, a software engineer needs to be in denim and t-shirt with sport shoes. A stop came where we got down to have our dinner, we were given 20 minutes to gulp it down and our own SE sat down to get a grand dinner, he ordered all the things that he could try to show off that he has the money. We all finished our dinner and were in the bus but for the SE who was enjoying his food, the ticket conductor screamed at him in local Marathi+Hindi and his English didn't work now, he climbed the bus and everyone was seeing our dignified SE with such a grin that he could barely lift his head.

I somehow get a feeling that we software engineers are headstrong and we should try to be polite and cool down at times. We may know all the things in life but there are people who are superior to us and superiority doesn't mean rudeness in any dictionary. I think because of our attitude and likes to jazzy things we are robbed royally by even the illiterates. Just think!

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GARUDA - A dream ride

When people are getting more familiar with private operators for their day to day activities, bringing up government as one of the competitors is a huge task and I think AP Government is doing it in style. When there are already hoard of buses operating between Pune and its adjacent cities, AP is not way behind in positioning itself as a prime choice for people commuting.

I had got a chance to travel in one of its vehicle "GARUDA" recently and it was nothing less then floating-in-air experience for me. If you are used to a government bus then you would first have difficulty in identifying this bus as it doesn't inherit even a single value from it's predecessor. Clean, vibrant colors, tall, punctual are some qualities that would use to describe these buses. When someone told that it is by Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation then I was searching for a sign or atleast a poster of our politicians depicting them as "discoverer" of this vehicle but contrary, it just had a small edging in one of it's corners "Govt. Vehicle".

The pricing was perfect to tempt me buy one ticket from Hyderabad to Vijayawada (just 80 Rs. more than normal bus) and the bus started it's journey at 8 AM sharp. To my surprise I was offered some refreshments by the attender in the bus (of course chargeable) in addition to the usual water bottle that is given free of cost. The quality of the air-conditioning, seats and curtains were perfect and to add to the ambience the TV was functioning without a single glitch. At the end of my travel, the attender distributed feedback forms to help them improve their services; I was impressed to say the least.

I was home by 1:30 PM, after traveling for 5.5 Hrs. And on my way back to Pune, in one of a poster regarding the schedules of these vehicles, it was written that the traveling time between Hyderabad and Vijayawada is 5.5 hrs (isn't that punctual). Now, when I wanted to take a bus from Hyderabad to Pune then I was having no doubt but to opt for GARUDA.

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Make it happen or rest in peace

In life we all experience ups and downs, moments which we would like to hold on and moments which we like to forget forever, people who we want to have as friends forever and people whom we don't want to get associated with, companies for which we want to work and companies we hate, things which we aspire and things which we get. The best thing that could happen to us is that we get all the things that we want and reject all the things that we don't want, but things doesn't happen that way and we have to live with whatever we have and then try to achieve whatever we want to do.

There are people who wait in a well of darkness for a ladder that would help them climb up outside the well and there are people who cling on to small branches of hanging trees that could help them climb some portion of the well. Nobody is sure whether the darkness would be totally removed or not but people half way are happy compared to people who are still drowned and waiting for that long ladder to be placed. It's all how you perceive things in life, if you see the light at the other end of the tunnel to be a train then you better stay where you are but if you can take a risk and consider it to be the path outside then march ahead. What we do to our own lives, are we ready to go in for a decision that would put us into the right path but progress would not be that great? Or wait for that express way that would zap us through the journey with the uncertainty whether that would happen or not.

Fortune favors the brave, don't forget that, even though you may not believe in fortune, you would get paid for being brave. When I walked into a company for an interview the panel put across a question: will you work for your current employer, who gives time to study, who gives enough holidays for you to relax and where you know the kind of work and people / With us after knowing that we wouldn't give you that many holidays, you can't study here in office and you may be required to work on weekends also added to this, you would be put under tremendous pressure as this is a new setup and we want to have all things in place. My answer was to select the second option, for I knew that I am capable of doing a good job no matter whatever the situation is and I emerged victorious, I soon found out that the situation was just the right kind platform I wanted and gave me all the experience of great importance in my life.

Be brave and break your shackles, I am sure you deserve more and you can do more. If Gandhi would have just remained a student of law then 1947 would have been just a dream. To transform dreams into reality chase it and make it happen, nobody can judge you better than you yourself and never underestimate your potential and capability. The situation in which you are at present may not be that great but you know that you can make things happen. Make it happen or rest in peace.

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Technology makes life simpler

The first example of this came to light today when I wanted to open my ICICI bank account in Pune. A representative came in and wanted me to fill in the account opening / relationship form. Just the thought of filling this form gave me all the nightmares of putting down all your details from your childhood to employment in detail and in 10 places but my thought soon vanished when I just had to put in bare minimum details like my name, mother's maiden name and nominee details.

The convenience didn't stop here when I was finished filling the form and gave a photo to the person, the person handed over a welcome kit, I now thought what a wastage of money from the bank, there is no need for this but the welcome kit had 1) Cheque book 2) ATM / Debit card 3) Debit card instructions 4) Telebanking number and password 5) ATM / Debit card pin number 6) Internet banking username and password 7) Internet banking instructions..ufffff

I got everything in 5 minutes flat and everything was working also. I think this is what we would want technology to do to us, I could remember in Indore I had filed an application for enabling internet banking in my account and I am still waiting for the instructions from the bank. A great beginning by the bank and for me too!

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Open it up

Group of guys talking "thu bhi...chal re...bore mat kar". If you enter this scenario then you would take these guys as white collar gundas or people without manners, that's how corporate world would put it but these guys are just enjoying their work. No barrier exists between these guys, they communicate in whatever language they want and in whatever manner they want, no bureaucracy, what others want from them is that they should work together and achieve the objective. At the end of the day nobody should be complaining about anything and they are achieving that quite easily.

I can remember people waiting for emails to start their jobs even though they might be situated next to you, Thank God those days are gone and now what we have is a real open culture, I am not talking about the buzz words of the MNCs but what I feel when I go to work is what I am expressing. Designations and management levels are things of past, what we have now is respect for co-workers and the objective of maturing together. This kind of culture is really heartening to see and I am sure most of the Indian companies are yet to break their shackles and that's because of us (Indians) only.

Informal atmosphere is what that keeps people motivated. Companies tend to do whole lot of things for people to get comfortable but if people around you are irritating then I am sure all those thousand things will not make you happy. I remember one of my friend who is working as a clerk in an Indian firm, has a habit of getting 'pan' for his boss. I ask him, what if you tell NO for which he is s##t scared. You can't help it and have to wait for your bosses to die and get replaced by someone else who is more mature and is exposed to this open culture. I really pity those guys who toil day and night to earn their living in such suicidal environment.

People admire such companies as world leaders, pioneers but nobody is concerned about what they do internally. I think there should be some report which should get opinions of people working in all big companies and publish them, it's high time that we live with such stupidity in place.


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Software blues part II

Are you a software engineer? Are you married? How many hours do you spend with your family?. I am sure most of us, just want to avoid these questions and carry on with the job but just pause for a second and think of the family that is living for you, wife who is waiting so that you would make it on time at least twice in a week, children waiting to see your faces before they go to sleep. You get married to stay together; you have children so that you can groom them along. You never set out to take this job so that you peacefully forget your family and carry on with whatever you do. Just think yourself in your spouse's shoes, you will feel the pain.

I think, we software engineers are setting wrong examples as far as personal life is concerned. As a bachelor, we try to hang out with our friends in places like Pubs, cafe shops, restaurants just because we can afford it but we never think whether it's absolutely necessary to do this, spend like this. Once in a while, things look great, but I am sure most of us do this daily.

I remember once I asked a question to my manager that why can't he give me a soft loan as he has the permission to do so, the answer was simple, "just because I have the access to the money, I shouldn't spend it as I like..". Just because we can afford such great prices for simple things, we shouldn't encourage such practices. Today, a decent food in a IT City comes at a price and Nobody is there to be blamed for this but for software people. Anything you pick in an area near IT park, you pay a price for it. Same facilities in other places is normal except for areas where people are dictating terms for software people. Our same people who feel proud of the services that we do to the nation by putting ourselves in the IT map are doing this.

It's high time that someone intervene and put an end to this, otherwise even drinking water would be rocketing in such places, what's the use of IT when civic amenities are sky rocketing. Our government gives so many discounts to cos. setting up offices in the city but doesn't care about it's own people working there, strange isn't it. In this field of software most of things are strange because nobody's cares about other things but for earning a million from this field.

Can something be done to stop this ! just think

Software blues part I

When we enter into this line with all that struggle, I mean all that mug-slugging acts for getting a seat in IT either in BE, BTech, MCA or any other PG, we dream of so many things that we would want to do in life. I am sure many of us would have anticipated the field to be full of challenges and with the much of hype created by the media and other, we would have got the impression that the so called Knowledge Workers are not here to do simpler tasks that any tom, dick and Harry would do but to do things that require some special knowledge, something special that only few can offer, but things change and I really mean it. As a college passed out you might have that fire in the belly to do things that you would really want to do, even I did it as I worked for a pager company as a Customer Service Executive, contrary to what I aspired but I constantly upgraded myself, I learnt C and other languages and soon was famous as a techie, though I could never use the knowledge into use.

Though I am managing enough to quench my technical thrust, I am hardly going into the direction in which I wanted to go to. People call me techie and even they go a step further to call me super techie but I know from deep within, what's my worth is and what kind of techie I am.

The journey continues for me from one company to another who can quench my both the thirsts; Family and myself and I fear that any company you take will fall short in one of these lines. I am in search of something, which is close to my dream of becoming a true software engineer. It's pity that when we are at in our college days, we are not being told about the true work that is existing and how hard it is to become the select few in this Industry. In a country, which chunks out some 50 Lacs professionals yearly, nobody has the time to tell the generation next as to what they are up to if they take computers as their subject. I think as a country we have not matured enough to understand the nitty grities of this line, we may boast as the IT hub of the world but deep in hearts we know the kind of work that we do and the capability that we possess.

I am not saying that all should do high profile jobs, i.e. super techie jobs but at least we can set example for our next generation, in US they have a lots of people to follow, but is there someone like here in India (known nationally), I doubt. I think it's high time that we realize our potential and set high standards in R&D and Innovation too. I am very proud of the ripples that we have created in such a short span of time but I want these ripples to become waves and sweep the world one day.

We should all realize that we are a part of the ripple, so if you think that you are earning your salary then continue otherwise seek one and do justice to your aims and others too.

First day first show
The impression of my new company was ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, such a beautiful
building, I should have trusted the words of Suman but you know, how trust worthy he is :-).

Well inside this beautiful building I entered starring at a whale sized reception looking for that HR guy who interviewed me, I was not at all nervous, thanks to some earlier experiences of entering a new company as a new recruite. Dozens of people sitting besides me made me comfortable for I know that the guys at the reception is not only looking at me but others also there to grab their attention, I made myself comfortable by picking Economic Times to start with and then diverted to Times of India, cricket was un-stoppable.

The momemt came when finally I met a guy from HR, he was a different from one with whom I was talking but neverthless my first contact with a person, all dreams ended here the guy didn't even shook hands with me when he heard that I haven't brought the papers with me... I didn't panic, I said this is the way I have come from Indore, it was just a small fault but if you say then I shall join on Monday to which the HR guys wanted to have discussion
amongst themselves, when they came back it was obvious that they wanted me to join on the same day with an assurance that I would be giving them the papers on Monday (The ever dependable Nags and Sam gave me the strength to say YES to them).

My joining process started, I was given to fill just about 50 page document, it was enough to give me headache, I somehow managed to fill all the documents given by them, it took me nearly 5 hrs....but at last I met my
project manager (a medium aged guy), I didn't made the mistake of calling him Sir, I called him by his name and introduced myself. He lead me to a group of Lotus Notes professionals who were already in the job, 90% of them
were tamilians, so it gave me enough opportunity to know abt the project etc...etc..(Suman, I know you don't like etc..but please adjust). By the time I made my face look familar to them, it was 6 and it seems they
are just back from San-Fransisco and so they decided to call "Bandh", I went with the gang and sat down in Shanmukha(Old friend from my previous employer)'s cubicle to write down this note....well this was the one for which I was waiting the whole day long.

So far so OK (I wouldn't say good, the HR guy should have shook hands with me)