Legend departs!

I remember watching the first race when I was about 12. A season which saw fierce competition between Hill and Schumi and at the end Schumi controversially coliding with Hill, to win the championship. This disgraceful act, instantly made me hate Schumi.

After that incident, there have been many more, where Schumi and Ferrari have brought the sport down, by winning thru means of cheat. My perspective has always been that sport is bigger than the sportsman. A sport should be played with utmost sportsmanship. Through the course of time, I have been an avid follower of the sport and has become a part of my life. I have cheered for Williams, when they had the best package with Villeneuve and Hill, Mclaren with Hakkinen and Kimi. A team competiting against Schumi.

This season for a change, my team Mclaren, dint put a good display. As the season approached the end, it looked like Alonso and Renault taking the honors, we saw something unbelievable. In a matter of a couple of months, Schumi reduced Alonso's 25 point lead to 0, which made Alonso crib and cringe. The way Schumi drove, should have impressed one and all. It was pure driving elegance, a skill that he has honed quite immaculately. Suddenly I have developed a sense of respect for him.

Whatever the final result of this year’s championship, Michael leaves Formula 1 holding almost all the records. He has taken seven Drivers’ world titles. Schumacher has been with Scuderia Ferrari for eleven seasons, a demonstration of loyalty without equal in Formula 1, to date securing five of his Drivers’ titles here and contributing to six of the team’s Constructors’ titles.

F1 will miss the legend. I hope he contributes to the team from outside, support Kimi and Massa in the coming seasons. Good luck to him!

Mumbai doomed!

Why this hue n cry over the mumbai blasts, isn't it routine affair now? Doesn't it throw a blanket of ignominy over the hapless citizens for condoning the hopeless politicians in the every elections. Terrorism is an integral part of this so-called democracy or i have started calling it a "TAMASHA DEMOCRACY" in the hands of worthless scoundrels.

India has always been a target of cross-border terrorism and has failed to wield the hammer against the lowly terrorist, often letting its citizens down. And despite what our leaders would have us believe, we are a soft state: a fact fully understood and exploited by terrorists. After every such attack, the political establishment makes some threatening noises, hails the spirit of the civilians, holds aloft the pennant of peace, even launches buses to inimical nations, and then sits tight on its backside till the next wave of bombs rips the stuffing out of its citizenry. Delhi, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Mumbai, its time to have some action, some fireworks, how many cities can we let these terrorists destroy?

If India wants they can hit them where it hurts the most: squeeze the breath out of their networks, starve them for funds, take out their leaders (who we claim to know are hiding in this country or that), smash their hideouts, terrorise their associates. As soon as such an opinion is voiced, human rights groups, self-styled negotiators and strategists jump into the fray to say: 'We should engage these 'people' in a dialogue. We are a peace-loving nation and terrorism needs to be resolved through peaceful means, through tolerance, through negotiations, abiding by international laws.'

A quote from an article I read: 'We need to fight terrorism by understanding what triggers it and then remedying the situation. And by making 'them see reason.' Reason, my foot! The next thing you know that bloke will be stuffing a dynamite stick down your throat and lighting the fuse.'

Many people who will read this will agree that international terrorism cannot be brought to an end only by the use of bombs and military might, but neither can it be ended with mere talk. Have'nt we been talking with them for the past 40+ years? What is needed is a heavy dose of ruthless action to go hand in hand with tactical and strategic negotiations.

Just because the citizens are brave and spirited doesn't mean they have to keep suffering? Everytime I open channels like CNN-IBN or NDTV, I am moved to see the guys in Mumbai showing the resilence, I have never been a fan of Mumbai, but the way the common man from kids to adults have come out in open to help each other has touched me. Hats off to Mumbaikars, may the soul of the guys who died in the accident rest in peace and may god give the family strength and courage.

The common man wants a strong message be sent out: if any Indian is harmed in any manner, we will hunt you down. Sounds uncivilised? barbaric? But ask a newly-wed girl whose husband was blown to pieces in the blasts, ask the old widow whose only earning son will walk no more, ask a child of 8 years whose parents are no more. India needs to be ruthless in its vengeance.

Sports Sunday!

Zizou showed how a great player can lose control and arguably the chance of regaining the prestigious gold. Italy deserved it more than anyone else, believe Azzurri's were way too good for "Henry - the cribstar" studded French whinners.






Was catching up with Wimbledon finals and the score looked something like this:-

15-0
30-0
40-0
Game, set, match and championship Mr. Roger Federer.

Had my life been so easy. :-)

Desi Inc. - Booming or Booing!

IT sector in India has been working on the Chinese management belief of low cost, reasonable/low quality and minimal innovation - that is why I brand myself as a "cheap outsourcer". I am an employee of one of the biggest IT company in India and in the years of employment, have developed my perspectives on India's IT revolution.

IT companies in India hire engineers like cats and dogs, not depending on their educational background but on the basis of whether they can write a few lines of code in C/C++. After all, they can't afford brilliant engineers because they won't do the cheap work for crap salaries. Heck of it is that they make Mechanical/Civil Engineers work on developing "end to end solutions" for banking, finance, inventory management, website development, etc. Fyi by developing I mean coding, not designing. Individual interests are a part of past if you are working in one of these companies, for them generation of revenue is more important that individual interests.And then the HR's wonder why is the attrition rate so high!!!

Most of my friends ask me what is the nature of the work? Most projects in indian IT companies are maintenence - i.e someone else has already developed an application. All you need to do is to add more features/change behaviour as per client's request . Then there's production support, which is worse. It is almost call-center work - ensure that the application runs normally and if it fails, get it up and running ASAP. In a sense, like a car mechanic - I didnt get an engineering degree to be a car mechanic - I got it to design the car! Finally, if you are lucky you get development or analysis (in my case, I got it and it was the best analysis project for a long time, which senior FE Analysts from across tell me). But then, analysis is easy, designing the system is what is important. Typically, customers get the design done by the powerhouses likes of Abaqus, Altair, Accenture etc. The designs are then sent to "desi companies", who actually do the meshing and view the plots defined by them for cheap. Thus, all we do is donkey work. It is not technology - it is programming.

Technology is a way of creating a new idea, paradigm or design - programming is implementing that design. Thus, most of the people in IT waste their engineering degrees, doing mundane programming, waiting for an onsite requirement with a hope of becoming project managers - after which they spend their lives approving timesheets, conducting appraisals and sucking up to the client . Shouldnt an experienced IT professional be doing advanced stuff and leave the bullshitting to MBA's? Are'nt there enough of management schools in India which produce tons of MBA's every year?

Every now and then a question props into my mind, why is it so hard for desi companies to do design? Indians are doing hardcore design in many of the top consulting companies, but when it comes to desi inc.they've not tried hard enough to get into this space. Or worse they dont have the competence to get the job done.Desi companies dont have the brand equity like KPMG/McKensey to attract IT consulting projects , which is largely a reputation driven business. In order to build an image, desi companies need to hire high-flying consulants who dont come cheap and dont work for cheap projects. Even after all this, there is no guarantee of results?

How many software products come out of Indian companies? IFlex is one, but its the only company to have a product successful worldwide. Making products is expensive has no guarantee of success. Companies think of why risking it when services will give them an assured income?

What is the need to get products or strive for high-end consulting when companies are breaking billion dollar barriers and climbing in the global ratings? I remember the lines from a song"November Rain" by GnR "nothin' lasts forever, And we both know hearts can change". Simply because today India has an advantage of using the algorithm of low cost, low margin services will run it's course in the future. In due course the payscales are rising in india and rupee is appreciating wrt the dollar, margins are becoming more and more slim. In time, India may not be as competitive Brasil or Russia - the American cos will take their projects out there! Who knows companies out there may provide more value added work with added security (India has been guilty of which). Similar history can be seen in the manufacturing sector - earlier Taiwan then SouthKorea and now, China. For too long have we been stuck in the field of cheap outsourcing now time has come to invest in consulting and products, and take Indian IT to the next level, or else I fear we will remain stuck in this low end nonsense.

Indian companies have 2 choices - Identify and set shop in countries (Brazil/Uruguay/Hungary) where the low cost, low margin algorithm can be applied or enter into high end IT, which is independent of geography. I believe later as high margin fetching business. What could be even better, is coming up with products - like Java, operating systems (Like Sun, Oracle or Microsoft) or probably a new technology (like SAP). That is real tech. it's not that we can't do it, it's just that we dont want to risk it.
It reminds me of a quote by Sir Benjamin Franklin:

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success has no meaning."

Sucka for Socca!

After a busy week, with much of nonsense work in my so-called 100K project, I finally found time to write a blog. Today its all about the world's favorite sport (Not the one you are thinking of, ;-), **naughty**), sucka for socca. One soccer filled month with 32 participating countries and 64 matches, in the exotic locations of zie Germany.
The world's top players from oldies like Maldini and Ronaldo to the class of Ronaldhino and Henry to young guys like Kaka and Messi. Players from some of the most lucrative contracts by some of the most polished clubs in Europe are here to play with/against one another for national pride. Lets see who gets to hold the champagne at last, I am betting on England. I know England is always one of the most overrated team to enter in WC and end up as one of the under-achievers, still I have a gut feeling that they are the ones who can beat any team on their day. Good luck to England, apart from that I like Brazil too. According to me Ronaldhino can make anyone dance on his day and these days everyday is his day. :D. Good luck England and Brazil. I want to see a final between these two teams, one has the best defense and the other the most potent strike force. All in all I just wish its a world cup to remember!!
p.s.: Steven Gerrard (England 's captain in waiting), my bet for the player of the tournament... Enjoy the Socca fever!!

On Reservation!!

A friend had just forwarded this mail, am pasting it here as I found it hilarious.

MAY BE THE FUTURE IS LIKE THIS:-

Sun is rising as usual in the east .I’m standing here outside the school, waiting for my 10 yr kid. He studies is class 2.Only this year he could get admission into the school. For the last 5 yrs admissions were closed for the general category students. School bell rings. I can see a lot of happy children coming out of the gate, I waited for half an hour and my kid came at last after other children. General students are not allowed to cross the gate unless other OBC/SC/ST students have crossed the gates. OBC/SC/ST fathers drive away their children in classy cars. But I have to walk back home with my kid a 5km stretch. I lost my car some years back when Govt. came with a rule that general people have to deposit a tax equal to cost of their cars .Failing which I had to sell the car. As far as buses are concerned, the seats in buses are reserved for OBC/SC/ST .So no place there also.

After walking some 5km in scorching heat I finally reached home. It was Wednesday ... shit , no electricity. Every mon, wed, thu, sat is power cut in the houses of General category population .So that SC/ST/OBC can be uplifted by providing them with every opportunity and in that consideration electricity is an important factor.

Its 10:00 pm in night no electricity at home. Its very hot inside the four walls of home .So i dare to step out in park with my wife and kid. I seated myself with my family on a secluded bench in garden. It was hardly 5 min .. a guard came to us strolling in the park. He asked me what caste you belong to. I said with some hesitation .. G..General. He asked me to pay a fine of Rs.200 and get out of the park.

My Fault...
The bench i was sitting on was meant for again the SC/ST/OBC . for their upliftment
peace of mind is on essential things. So govt came with this decision to Reserve benches for them. Kudos to them...

Its early in the morning ...the newspaper wala just knocked the door. I took the newspaper and started reading ..,its independence day . I never used to forget this days some 20 yrs back. My kid hardly knows what 15th august is ,because I never told him any stories of greatness of our country or anything related to country. I don't feel like telling him the failures after freedom.

On front page of newspaper, in a corner their is a news about a OBC member getting 6 months imprisonment in "BAL SUDHAR GRAHA" from a juvenile court for murdering and raping a six year old girl .Yes the rules have been amended ,since the last 5 years. The Culprit was a 25 year old OBC so age relaxation was provided for trial of crime. So he was taken to juvenile court, since there is an age relaxation for OBC/SC/ST.

About 11 am some one gave me the BAD news about demise of one of my neighbor and friend Mr. Mehta. I went to his house for condolence next day ,his body was lying there still rotting in the heat. I asked his son about the Cremation .His son told me
" Many reserved category have died yesterday so we are not getting entry to cremation ground " . This rule is the latest from Govt. Where the seats in cremation ground will be reserved for SC/ST/OBC for their upliftment.


Finally next day Mehta ji was cremated could see sun setting through the Flames burning a liberated Body, liberated from caste n creed. I was surprised sun still sets in the west? It was about 9 pm , I was about to sleep in my bed my son came to me with innocence in his eyes , inquisitively he asked me the question what is reservation?

I asked me where u listened that. he suddenly burst in tears .. I asked him to keep..quiet But I could listen through his sobs "mujhe bhi reservation chahiye (I too want reservation)".
How can I convince him it’s no other toy in the market I can get for him? He kept crying that night, claiming many of "his classmates have got reservation".
To make him quiet I said ok, I’ll buy you reservation at your next B'day.

Bye Bye India

Interesting story, maybe our future. :D.

Fannaaaaaaaed!

Last 2 weeks have been horrendous with regards to watching movie in India. First it was Da Vinci Code and now Fanna. For Da Vinci Code it was said that as citizens they have freedom to raise their voice if they find something inapt - its their democratic right. Now Fanna is banned in Gujrat - reason - Aamir Khan raised his voice during the Narmada Dam issue against BJP. Is'nt Aamir a citizen of India? Or just because he is a celebrity he does'nt have the freedom of speech?

I have always detested Narendra Modi and his atrocious policies. World recognises India as the biggest democratic setup, which I am proud of, but suddenly I have realised that it is no longer a democracy. Its more of despotism in a democratic setup. Leaders are becoming dictators rather than representatives elected by the people and for the people.

I am not residing in Gujrat, but tomorrow it may happen at my place, if a prominent personality goes against the government. I believe that like me there are many who want to watch Fanna (afterall its an Aamir movie and Kajol is acting after a long time) in Gujrat. I mean who is Narendra Modi or for that matter BJP to ban the movie? Who gave them the rights to ban a movie because of personal animosity?

I have the feeling that its the failure of democracy, when a common man like me does'nt have the right to watch a movie, because the dictator is against it. One of my friend says that India will be a failed country by 2025, could'nt agree more with him. I think 2025 is a long way to go, with the leaders like Narendra Modi, Arjun Singh, Laloo, etc - list is endless, India will be a failed setup by 2015.

Da Vinci Code - Who cares!! :p

I have always hated the idea of censorship. Like once Aamir Khan said, 'In an ideal world there should not be censorship, cos this world is not ideal so theatre will have censorship'. Da Vinci Code- a fantastic book (As people told me, I read the first page and got bored, never tried to read it again :p), is an international book-seller (how can someone fool so many ppl - it has to have something in it). A movie I cant wait to watch (Tom Hanks) and all we're getting from these so called beaureaucrats is this "We need to see it first before the film can release" - simply nonsense. I mean really who died and made them the saviours of the world.

And looks like our tolerance levels are just dropping by the day. Water, Fire, earth every time an issue is raised there are some "event managers" who're just not willing to let a new perspective shine thru. Riots, protests - why cant we just come to terms with the fact that some people might just think different from the way we do - Is that really so difficult? Another question which rises in my mind, are Indian christians bigger christians than the west? Should vatican be moved to somewhere in Kerela or rather Goa (I dunno where the pope in India sits - my appologies)?

Such a cliche' I realise but "The Earth is Flat" story. Are we really as closed minded to not see another perspective? Or worse are we so weak that we're not able convince them that they might not want to see something new but some of us do.

I want watch this film. I wanna know what it is all about, what I have missed by not reading the book (like I did when Harry Potter came, when LOTR came - I never read them, but watched the movie). Like Ron howard says if you think it's going to hurt your sentiment dont watch it, why dun ppl understand that? I hear some of them saying that India is secular country and ppl have right to protest, but I also know that there is freedom of speech and media.

But lets get rid of this black blanket strategy of ours and understand that no one can shove anything down our throats if we dont want to savour it, just because you watch something, see something and listen to something dosnt mean you have to buy the idea? On the hindsight it gives you a chance to understand that you have the power to have a perspective. How are you supposed to break out of that shell, if you never see another side? How can you have make choices, if you have nothing to choose from?

Purists Night Out..!!

Paris - the city of romance is staging the dream finale of UEFA CL. The match brings together two of club football's most attractive teams with the newly-crowned Spanish champions Barcelona who eliminated the clubs like AC Milan, Chelsea on their road to Paris, while Arsenal's progress to their first European Champion Clubs' Cup showpiece has been most notable for a record-breaking ten successive clean sheets and the elimination of Real Madrid CF, Juventus and Villarreal CF.
Its gonna be one final to remember for a long long time and will surely be clash of titans. Its not only Barcelona vs Arsenal, its also Ronaldhino vs Henry. Me betting on Barcelona and Ronaldhino to take the prizes, but just pray that its exciting.

Captain in waiting!

On saturday evening, I was home witnessing one of the best soccer match in the history of FA cup. It was the finals, which according to the pundits of the game was a piece of cake finale for Liverpool FC. WHU's reaching final was a surprise, but it was one triller of a match, setup with an own goal from Carragher and the other a blunder from Reina. WHU were 2-0 up by the 30th minute. Then came some stunning strikes from the captain in waiting for England, Steven GERRARD. One pass from him made it easy for Cisse, then one goal from him levelled the match. But the best came in the 91st minute. It was a stunning strike, considering the distance from which he struck, the power in the shot and the time of the match. Gerrard certainly rocks and I think one man England will surely look forward in WC'06. Hope he scores many matches for Liverpool and England.
Wanted to let people know that my interest in F1 this season has deceased, considering my car Mclaren is a piece of shit and is unable to give Kimi a podium finish.

Microsoft vs Google

These days in the computer biz two companies are buzzing bigtime. Microsoft (who made working on computer user friendly) and Google (who made everything on the internet just a search engine away).
Its the modern mahabharat, or I would brand it as World War III, where the two giants are fighting to prove their supremacy in this computer age. MS is pumping billions of dollars on advertising of Windows and Word to keep us trapped in a world where everybody else also uses Windows and Word.
On the other hand, Googleplex have been running an innovation a minute machine which is gaining the appreciation of common man, day in day out. Products known to us like gmail, orkut, gtalk, gearth, froogle (leave apart google the search engine) are innovation of sorts, but products lesser known and in their BETA phases like Writely and numsum are there to stay till internet is replaced. Whatsmore, there's always a buzz surrounding everything Google does, without Google spending a dime on any sort of marketing/advertising unlike the fellow competitors.
No doubt, Microsoft has been doing the catch up and falling further behind. Probably, are trying to play the windows game in a google economy.
Its so much fun to be sitting here, working on Windows platform and posting on a Google product. I don't know who will have the last laugh, but us (customers) will surely be benefited in this war for global software supremacy.

Url Changed..!!

Hello guys. Due to some blogger issues, I have changed my url from previous one. I have managed to place some of my recent posts in this url.

Livin' on a Prayer!!

I am hoping that history repeats again, and like last year Kimi will rule in Barcelona. Inshahallah!!

F1 update - Nurburgring, Germany!!

F1's back on track this weekend at Mclaren's home. I hope Alonso's statement comes true like it did in San Marino. I hope Mclaren comes up with a potent car to challenge him. All the best Mclaren, Go Kimi Go!!..

Latest bigtime CONTROVERSY... Reservations in India!!

In the knowledge-based economy, people with right kind of skill-set will be able to make through and the need is to give underprivileged people the wings by giving knowledge, adding skills and right aptitude rather than providing them the crutches of reservation. Reservation in prestigious institutions is one of the means and not the only means to blend a commitment to excellence with a commitment to equity. I am of the firm belief that this move generates acrimony and promotes divisive tendencies among those who are able to make through and who were left even though they had better track record.
Already much damage has been done to the nation by the Mandalisation. Getting admission in reputed institutions is more difficult in India as compared to even best institutions elsewhere in any developed nation if we observe the ratio of candidates selected vis-à-vis number of candidates appearing in the test. Infact its much easier to study abroad, as the reputation of the university will be better than IIM's/IIT's at the global level and the entrance is far easier. Which is one of the prime reasons why some of the deserving students are moving out of India for a better quality of education at a lesser entrance fight.
On the one hand, one is coming through the ardent process of selection whereas on the other, someone is given the place just because of his/her affiliation or belongingness to a particular class. If this is allowed then the purpose of providing access is achieved but the pursuit of excellence will suffer. Merit-cum-means scheme can better serve the purpose of excellence even among underprivileged sections of the society.
In addition to this, the emphasis should be on their primary and secondary education, provision of interest-free educational loans, quality coaching institutions which train them to compete and also provision of the platform where they meet their role models who have made it even though facing same hardships. Even though it may be termed as weak form of affirmative action but at least it provides an equal opportunity to compete and has moral justification also. And if further reservation is asked for then the political establishment is asking for doing another wrong to correct the wrong done in the past. Moreover, in the name of affirmative action, reservation creates a stigma of undeservedness, whether or not it is deserved. By giving people what they deserve as individuals, rather than as members of groups we show respect for their inherent worth. Otherwise it promotes mediocrity and resentment.
We have IIMs and IITs which have established themselves as global brand and these institutions are expected to promote meritocracy and not mediocrity as these institutions are trend-setters for other institutions in the country. The need is to maintain status quo of these institutions as institutions of excellence rather than eroding their basic standards.

Crazy WI cricket team

In one of my previous post, I had written about captaining the WI cricket team is a joke. Just read another article to prove my point. :D

Kaavya Viswanathan..!!

Thruout the weekend was busy reading a novel "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life" and yes the controversies are very much true, the novel is plagurised from "Sloppy Firsts (read it long time back)".