Yet another Team STUDSAT Birthday Bash :)

After more than two years of being associated with the Team Studsat, and knowing my mates for that long and having been in various situations together, today again was one fun event: Birthday Bash with buffet lunch. Thanks to the 'calm and composed' Chetan Angadi, one of the most important persons in the Team, who happens to be the Team Leader as well. He was treating us for his birthday,
Happy birthday again Chetan :)

The lunch was at Canopy, Brigade Road ( my second time there in 30 days :). We all kind of liked the ambiance for it being 'open', as it is on the terrace, with good food overall :)

Talking about the Team, the warmth amongst the interactions between us is still the same, and feels nice to have seen each other groom in different ways. The kind of constructive team interaction we've grown between us can never be emulated in other places, as I have tried to compare it with my own work, or at any other workplace that I know of.

Anyways, we still have lot more special events between us in the Team,including the Launch itself, and more treats soon from the mates who are travelling abroad for higher studies. And, yeah I owe the team one, I too am on the list, and my chance will be coming soon ;)

The Desperate Weekend Syndrome

By Friday evening, the most recurring status messages I find on all the social networking sites is about the 'respite from a week of work', welcoming the weekend in a - euphemistically put expectant, or bluntly desperate manner.

This is a syndrome emanating from the work and work culture endorsed by the individuals as enforced by the system.

Let us analyze what is happening in today's "Corporate" world:
*(All these comments are generic,and there could be exceptions. I am addressing only the majority)

Firstly, in ideal scenarios desperate respite from work is actually unnecessary. We are supposed to be exercising our skills at work,and that actually isn't supposed to be anywhere close to be burdening 'work'. On the contrary, it should be enjoyable.
So, what is the problem?
People aren't actually exercising their natural, and/or acquired talents and skills at work.People are molded rigidly into stereotype laborers as required for a Company, in the Company's interest. In most cases against the individual's,of course. There is nothing much to be done about this 'clash of interests' in the current Capitalistic system ,for, it is designed to be so.

Secondly, why do people volunteer to get molded into this 'rigid human products', to be used as a resource for any company?
To win the rat race,i.e., to compete and cope with the pressure mounted on them by the system of today's (missing adjective!) society.

To analyze this, we need to go deeper, and look at the causes and consequences.
Catching the consequence is easy: A devotional reverence given to IT and related jobs, starting from the homes of the 'just-okay-fairing' families, and also the impeccably mediocre education system, coupled with naturally accumulated peer pressure.

The cause- One unanimous motive: Study and earn money.
Kids are provided with education with slowly, but strongly infused idea of 'grow up and earn money', giving no heed, whatsoever, to grooming the skills and talents seen in them.

So, who's helping them to get to this?
The education system,(keeping in mind the huge number of 'Engineering' institutions across the country) it preaches them that getting a job in a haven called the IT sector, irrespective of what stream of engineering you are in is the prime objective of educating yourself.
Huff ! Thats more than enough to doubly brain-wash the bubbling minds to such an extent that, most of us see working for someone else, in something you won't enjoy as the best thing in the world!

Thirdly, try appreciating the paradox of work:
Most of us are - Thinking expectantly of the forthcoming weekend from the mid of the week, whilst having just recovered the first two days of the week at work from the hangover of the weekend.
So, where is the massive productivity the industry is boasting of?
Oh, yeah. It's there. But, just look at the quality. Even if there is some little quality attributable to it, look at what price?
By draining out the quality of the lives of all the employees, eventually an entire society!

I know it is already late to blame what has happened. But, how and when did it all get so clumsily complicated?
It happened when all of us were blind, as we are today, towards a peril growing like a monster right in front of us. And, it is like The Earth (not fair to compare to the Earth, but the simile works):

Like we cannot feel ourselves rotating on the Earth, while it rotates,given it's massiveness and our minuscule nature;
We haven't been able to observe the rapid pace at which the system around has drained out the very essence of 'living',
from the proud diaspora of the IT and related industry, while we were busy living fast, impulsive and unbalanced lives.

There is no climax-like epilogue, or a hint of solution for this post, as I touch upon in most posts of my posts, for,
I leave it to you and your mind to churn something proactive this time out.

Questions that haunt!

Is this right?!
Is this what I am supposed to be doing?
Am i headed in the right direction?
Is this the person, or ?
Have i gotten complacent?
What if I had done that, and not this, or not both, but something else?

These, and more such questions are the ones which keep hitting us at regular intervals of time. This happens most of the time as repercussions emanating from the uncertainties of decisions which each of us would have made in the past, and try to blame those for the present, while speculating about the future.

These are normal occurrences with each of us. But, to dwell on these uncertainties, without overcoming them is the worst thing to do with oneself. The solution to this would be either to set the things right in the present - right now, or to make another decision now, which will put the course of activities in future in the right direction.

Both of these actions, firstly, require each of us to clearly interpret ourselves in a correlative manner to the circumstances we are in.Without this, there cannot be a solution out of dilemma of this kind. Just cribbing about it, or talking about the change or betterment will do no good, but will further add to the cause of deterioration.

And again, the occurrence of these question isn't negative by itself. On the contrary,these introspective phases act as checks to the mistakes we might have made. We can either reduce the damage caused by them, or go on to accumulate more of the burden.

Being honest with ourselves, without giving too much reverence to the circumstances conditioning us, would do a lot good in tackling these checkpoint-like introspective questions.

Boulevard of Indian Dreams

Heavy crowd, a lot of noise, shopping malls with no adequate parking space, an eternal traffic jam - These are the constant sights one would see there on a daily basis. I look around, to find an enormous shopping complex with all amenities in it. Just beside it, there is a multi-storeyed apartment, housing the "Brand Bangalore" ambassadors -the ITans.

This is the ambiance from which I start my walk of about ten minutes from my home to a friend's place. Then the song on my lips was "Boulevard of broken dreams", an all time favourite.

As I passed this mayhem, I reached a single crooked street which would end at my destination of that evening. The ambiance there was the most complete definition of something which would be called "utterly messy". The road there had just the slightest hint of surfacing. I observed a medical stores there, calling themselves, "Chemmists". As i smiled to myself and looked away, I confront this guy who is now almost a rogue. He used to play cricket in our team during school days. He looks at me and throws an artificial smile but I could sense his bitter feelings when I looked into his eyes. He always wanted to pursue his education after schooling, but he couldn't, due to few family issues. I think he gets reminiscent about all this when he sees me. After a formal talk with him, without disturbing him much I continued my walk.

As I transcend into that ill-shaped street, I notice the drainage system there was poorer than any of the primitive systems, with an open type system running along the street. That by itself could be a great source of epidemic. The houses standing there haphazardly were either ill planned or non- planned.

People walking on the streets, carried a complacent face, seemingly satisfied with the "almost nothing" they had. They were the people who were not aware of what they should actually crave for - Freedom from Ignorance. These people living a life of ignorance is like a proud blind man who can only traverse within his house and thinks that it is good enough.

I could see men who did nothing, but were just resting under the shade of trees. They were not resting just then, but it has been their routine for a few years now. A few people here categorize themselves into various groups, based on a number of criteria and are ever ready for a communal clash. But, there is harmony amongst the rest of them.

In my opinion, this place is a perfect miniaturization of India in all aspects.

Before the song on my lips could get over, I had reached the end of the street. A sharp turn, then my friend's place was there.

As I walked further, away from this alien, yet so Indian place, I see a totally contradicting scene. Tall apartments,with luxury flats, well surfaced roads, at least one car in front of every house, people who seemed to be in their own complex world, seemingly naive about the pathetic life going on in the neighboring street. I speculate that the average income of these people per day would equal or even exceed the entire month's income of their adjacent neighbors.

I ponder as to how a single street could just divide this group of Indians into people at the two extremes on the economic gauge of India. If this is the case with a small group of people, spread over about a square km area, then the situation on a wider scale with our nation in perspective would not be very different. And this requires serious attention from our side.

This type of diverging growth of India in two opposite directions will never make the 60 year old dream of India becoming a sovereign and developed country. This should be the concern of highest priority in the mind of every Indian citizen. We should work proactively in helping the country's economy to converge in a healthy manner.

All Indians should get the same opportunities to pursue their dreams. All Indians have equal rights to the resources of our lovely nation. Politics, ignorance, poverty, shouldn't be the setbacks for our fellow Indians to live respectfully, with total access to the same services, comforts and luxuries as the other class of Indians.

Let us not blame our forefathers for the present day. Let us work together proactivley and give a better future to our future generations.  

PS: Verbatim copy of what I could call my first article written in September, 2007. This article was published in my College's Annual Souvenir, and I was also awarded that year's Best Article Prize for the same. 

Talking about the disparity, I can tell you it has only worsened in the above mentioned place, as it has in the entire country! 

Escapsim!

Michael Jackson, in last of his appearances in "This is It" says that people crave for entertainment as an 'escapism' from their routines, and that exactly is what entertainers are supposed to be doing - Help people in their pursuance of Escapism.

The idea of Escapism has since then occupied my mind. I happened to relate Escapism as the source and sink of creativity - Many use creativity as a means to Escapism, while the rest seek Escapism in the creations of creative people.

Then the question arises: Why do we need to escape from ourselves?

I'd say, it's not escaping from ourselves - It is escaping to a truer self from the socially fabricated one. Escapism isn't something negative, serendipitously, it helps increase the positivity within oneself.

In simpler terms, we could analyze the concept of true relaxation: It plainly is breaking free from the forces of social commitments, drifting towards the rendezvous with a Utopian self, who has only one ideal - To be blissfully happy.

And, whenever we are able to reach this state either by consuming others' creativity or creating something on our own, we have succeeded in the escapist hunt of the self :)

ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ : ಒಂದು ಚಿಂತನೆ

"ನಾವು ನಿಂತ ನೆಲಕ್ಕೆ, ಅದರ ಚರಿತ್ರೆಗೆ, ಪುರಾಣಕ್ಕೆ ಮತ್ತು ಪರಂಪರೆಗೆ ನಾವು ಸ್ಪಂದಿಸಲಾರದವರಾಗಿದ್ದೇವೆ. ನಮಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಚರಿತ್ರೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ, ಪುರಾಣ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ, ಕಲೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯೂ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಹೀಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲದಿರುವುದು ಒಂದು ನಷ್ಟವೆಂದೂ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ!"

ಜಿ.ಎಸ್. ಶಿವರುದ್ರಪ್ಪನವರ "ಯಾವುದೂ ಸಣ್ಣದಲ್ಲ" ಗದ್ಯ ಸಂಕಲನದಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವ "ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ : ಒಂದು ಚಿಂತನೆ " ಲೇಖನದಿಂದ ಈ ಮೇಲಿನ ವೇದನೆಯ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನು ಸ್ಮರಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ.

ಇದನ್ನು ಓದಿದಾಗ ನಿಮಗೇನು ತೋಚುತ್ತದೆ ?

ಚರಿತ್ರೆ, ಪುರಾಣ, ಪರಂಪರೆ, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ - ಇವೆಲ್ಲ ಈ ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತೊಂದನೆಯ ಶತಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾಚೀನ ವಿಷಯಗಳಾಗಿ ಹೋಗಿವೆ ಎಂದು ಅನಿಸಬಹುದು. ಇವುಗಳಿಗೆ ಈ ಗಣಕಗಳ ಯುಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಏನೂ ಮಹತ್ವವಿಲ್ಲವೆಂದು ಭಾವಿಸಿ ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿ ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ಜನ ಕೃತಕ ಜೀವನವನ್ನು ನಡೆಸುತಿದ್ದೇವೆ.

ಆದರೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಬೇರುಗಳಾದ ಕಲೆ, ಪರಂಪರೆ, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಮರೆತು, ಪಾಶ್ಚಿಮಾತ್ಯ ಅಥವೆ ಇತರೆ ಕಲಾಚಾರಗಳನ್ನು ನಮ್ಮದೇ ಎಂದು ಭಾವಿಸಿ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯಿಂದ ಅನುಸರಿಸಿ ನಡೆದು, ಈ ದಿನ, ನಮ್ಮ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯ ಮೆರುಗು ಕುಂದಿಹೋಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಜೊತೆಯಲಿ, ನಮ್ಮ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿತ್ವಕ್ಕೆ ಗಣನೀಯ ತತ್ವವಿಲ್ಲದೆ, ಅದು ಹರಿಯುವ ನೀರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊಚ್ಚಿಹೋಗುವ ಕಸದಂತೆ ಎಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲೂ ಹರಿಯುತ್ತಲಿದೆ.

ಆಂಗ್ಲದಲ್ಲಿ "identity crisis" ಅಥವ "ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿತ್ವ ಬಿಕ್ಕಟ್ಟು" ಎಂಬ ಕಳವಳವು ನಮ್ಮೆಲರನ್ನೂ ಒಂದಲ್ಲಾ ಒಂದು ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಡುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಇತರೆ ಕಲಾಚರಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಏನೂ ತಪಿಲ್ಲ, ಆದರೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಸ್ವಂತ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಮರೆತು ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ಅಳವಡಿಸಲು ಯತ್ನಿಸುವುದೇ ದೊಡ್ಡ ತಪ್ಪು.

ಹೀಗೂ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ, ಇಂದಿನ ಜಗತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒಬ್ಬ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿತ್ವವು ಗಾಢವಾದ ಗೊಂದಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಲುಕಿ, ಅಸಮಾಧಾನ ಹಾಗು ಕೃತಕತೆಯ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಸೋತು; ಸೋತರೂ ಗೆದ್ದದಂತೆ ನಟಿಸಿ, ತನ್ನನ್ನು ತಾನೇ ವಂಚಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಬಾಳುತ್ತಿರುವ ಜನರು ಹಲವಾರು.

"ಎಲ್ಲಾದರೂ ಇರು, ಎಂತಾದರು ಇರು, ಎಂದೆಂದಿಗೂ ನೀ ಕನ್ನಡವಾಗಿರು" ಎಂಬ ಕುವೆಂಪುರವರ ಮಾತುಗಳು ನಮ್ಮ ಮೆದುಳಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸದಾ ಪ್ರತಿಧ್ವನಿಸಿ, ನಾವು ನಮ್ಮ ಬೇರುಗಳನ್ನು ಮರೆಯದೆ, ನಮ್ಮ ಕಲಾಚಾರವನ್ನು ಬಿಡದೆ, ನಮ್ಮ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಬೆಳೆಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗುವಂತೆ ಬಾಳಬೇಕು. ಇದು ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ ಹೌದು, ಅದಕ್ಕಿಂತಲೂ ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ನಾವು ಒಂದು ಗುಣಮಟ್ಟದ ಜೀವನ ನಡೆಸಲು ಬಹು ಅಗತ್ಯವಾದ ಮೂಲ ತತ್ವ.

The Mad world of mostly Bad Ads!

Off late, although my TV viewing has drastically fallen, I am aggravated for the little duration I manage to watch it.

No guesses. Yes, I am irritated by the silly,pointless commercial ads, and the havoc creating stupid media and news.

Ads can be funny, creative and entertaining, but never should they make you feel stupid or antagonize you with the products.
Let me take you through one of the good ones. The biggest winner here has been the Vodafone Zoozoo campaign: Cute and appealing; It did work a magic for Vodafone to overcome the charisma of the ever following Pug of Hutch fame. Also, there are other good ones from Nokia, Airtel, Mercedes, Toyota, and few others. Kudos to them :)

When such innovations are possible, there are also these ever-increasing disgusting/silly/soft head ads:

• Pepsi's latest with Sanjay Dutt and Ranbir Kapoor: Yuk! That's the only thing I can say about it. Zero brains, Ain't even funny, just repulsive. This for a brand like Pepsi, who had had MJ as their brand ambassador is embarrassing.
• The Gamut of Men's body spray ads, which depict these sprays to be 'THE APHRODISIAC', with flocks of women being seduced by just spraying these is ridiculous, and doesn't do an good to sell their products. AXE did it as an exaggeration and marketed it frivolously, but the rest who followed presumed it to be the fact and have gone foolishly doing it more piously!
• Irrelevant Eroticism to sell basic products speaks volumes about the perception of these brands about the consumers! Look at Close-Up's recent campaign- "Makes you kiss" they say! Also, the Aamsutra tag for Slice's Mango juice with an enticing Katrina. Futile!
• India not Racist: Come on, who said that! Look at all your skin cosmetics ads. They have been consistently, over decades, depicting that people with dark complexion cannot achieve their 'dreams' and you ought to be 'fair' and ' lovely' or 'fair to be handsome'. In this context, one of my friends said, "If India isn't conscious about skin color, why don't we have a product called "Dark & Lovely" ". This is a profound issue, because kids are most influenced by TV and much more by the impulsive Ads. With such dogmatic ads incessantly shown on TV, kids are prone to think , Skin fairness only wins, and not being fair in actions!

I could go on recollecting all the nonsensical ads which are ruining the perception of people, fooling them with hoaxical  and digressing facts, no true facts about the products, mind you!

The so called 'Celebrities' should be more responsible in their endorsing of brands and the ads they are a part of. But, as the ultimate culprit stand the consumers, or the general public for having given such an identity for themselves, where manufacturers treat them like nut-cracks with zero IQ.

The Abstract Mother Nature

Two traits manifested only by Mother Nature are : Her awe-inspiring Majesty and the 'immaculate' abstraction in her manifestations.

To me, the closest of these manifestations by Mother Nature are The Clouds:) If you have known me quite well, you would have observed my passion towards observing the Clouds and clicking its patterns. The inherent intricacy and abstraction attributed to them, makes it all the more appealing.

Like today, I was observing the dark clouds just before today's rains, and there were so many stories being told by the Clouds. The portions of clouds passionately embracing each other, and gracefully departing from each other, with specially added essence by the sometimes loud and sometimes feeble thunders, and the sparkling bolts, as if portraying intense emotions.This act was just 'marvelous'. It actually impressed me so much so that, I have been looking for synonyms for marvelous, as just calling it marvelous makes my experience incomplete!

The best part about any of Nature's feats,like the Clouds is the zero constraining or prejudicing which is imposed on the spectators. Unlike, our own highly prejudiced ways of expressions, take for example this post. I have been trying really hard to bring you close to the frame of mind I was in, instead of letting your imagination guide you the path, like Mother Nature does.

Or maybe, that's why, she's the Mother and we are the nascent!

Connect to M$ exchange server from Evolution in Ubuntu

After trying numerous methods to get my Ubuntu machine connected to the M$ mail server which my company uses for it's domain, finally I found out a simple method to retrieve mails from it. I was lost in trying to add my system to domain, which is cumbersome. To access the mails from the server you needn't be added to the domain.

This isn't a geeky tweak or anything, but it will be helpful to many of you who switch to M$ Windows just to access your work mails coming from M$ server.

• Configure the default mail client in Ubuntu - Evolution by following these steps

1. In the first step, provide your domain mail ID 

2. In the next step select the mail server as M$ Exchange and in the OWA tab fill in the URL of your domain server

3. Authenticate by typing in your domain password, and once authentication is done you can proceed further and complete the rest of the process, which basically sets up your mail client with M$ Exchange.

• Next, if you've already been using Outlook on Windows and have personal folders saved on disk in .pst format, you can still access these mails in your Evolution on Ubuntu by following the steps given in the Help menu of Evolution. This procedure would require you to install Thunderbird or similar clients on Windows.

 

Help for Migrating from Outlook to Evolution

Although, in an ideal scenario one would not want to connect to M$ Exchange, instead, run the server also on GNU/Linux. As organizations seem to fancy the M$  for some unknown reason we can work around this way :)

The Irony of Freedom!

A realistic, contemporary interpretation of "the ideology of being free", or Freedom was put up in one of the mailing lists. It is a transparent and dialectical analysis of freedom, rather than being superfluous and unrealistic. It goes as follows:

Is a jobless man who is starving, free? Is an illiterate, ignorant person, shut off from the world of books and culture, free? Is a man chained to a job 52 weeks a year with never a few days off for rest, vacation, and travel, free? Is a man continually beset with worries about making ends meet, free? Is a man in constant fear of losing his job, free? Is a talented person unable to afford the school-ing which would help his talent flourish, free?


Only the rich are able to enjoy freedom in its broader sense of abundance, security, leisure. The poor are not free. There is a struggle to share the freedom.

After reading these lines, I, conversely started contemplating the ever existent, but, the subdued urge to set ourselves free from various forces binding us to rigidity, in various forms and to different extents.

I believe, the quest to Freedom manifests itself in people, at different strata, to different extents, based on which of their needs are fulfilled and which aren't. It is more dependent on the social coordinate of each individual in this ever expanding, disparity prone framework of the society. The urge to break free from shackles, which hold back an individual is the strongest amongst the suppressed people, who in most cases, aren't in a position to exercise their will because of their disadvantageous socio-economic position.

Freedom, as a matter of fact is not absolute- contrarily it is highly relative, varying from individual to individual, section to section.

For instance, a person who is not able to cater to his basic needs envisages a freedom which would break the gradient between the inhibitors and the needy. Likewise, a mind which is constrained by the lack of any true value or purpose in the society, would want to break free from the rigid shackles of ignorance into cognizance.

These are natural traits in us, which most of the times are expressed only when the suppression breaks beyond a threshold, which again varies with individuals.

But again, most of the time, even when we are aware of the need to be free from such constraints, we seem to grow numb towards this urge, mostly because of the compromises we make in life to keep our wants fulfilled.
We end up being servile in one aspect or another, to something or the other.

This is the Irony of Freedom, constantly haunting each one of us!

Raghavendra's Rhapsody

After having longed for quite sometime, my desire to own and learn a musical instrument has turned into reality- I am thrilled and excited about it :)

I have wanted to learn an instrument for quite sometime, and of all the instruments "Guitar" is that one special instrument which, like it has captured the imagination of every guitarist, convinced me to own one.

The gamut of fun and emotions portrayed throughout the history of music in lives of people has been- should I say-Revolutionary! Here I am, trying to inculcate a little more of it.


I already have fallen in love with her- My guitar- My Rhapsody, hoping soon to churn out rhapsodies from her.

I shall keep you all updated about the transformation of this novice to a passionate player :)
For now, still getting to feel her...

Well... That don't impress me much :)

While talking to a colleague at work about the latest Ubuntu release, he happened to say that he had already started liking it, and it was tough to get him hooked onto any particular thing. 

I immediately started correlating to this trait in me, and how that people or things  I'm passionate about aren't anything close to be being just mediocre- They are the best!

Take for instance, A R Rahman in Indian music, Bryan Adams for his strings and lyrics in the western music, Sigmund Freud for his research, Bhagat Singh and Che Guevara for their revolutionary ideas, Ayn Rand for her philosophy, Swatantra Software in technology, and at personal level - all the people I am intimate with are the best in their own realms :)

I do not know if I'm subconsciously conscious about this, or I happen to get so lucky. But, after deep analysis I cannot deny the fact that propositions in terms of people and everything else approaching me need to be more than just mediocre to appeal to and impress me. 

By saying this, I am implicitly conveying that, I too am more than just mediocre, or, should I add a pinch of vanity to it, and say, more like - tending towards being 'The Best' in whatever I do :)

Defective by Design!

The struggle against Digital Restriction Management (DRM) is going to be the  most important step to secure the access to seamless information as required by an individual in future.

Personally, I have been apprehending this malice for quite sometime now.
And,by using a GNU/Linux Operating system and maintaining open standard data within our personal realms is the basic contribution each of us could be doing towards this campaign against DRM.

Going further supporting this novel cause, we, being the source of creative art, music, literature, technology and every other resource influencing our lives in digital format should stick to the principles of Open Standards, and shouldn't succumb to any restrictive laws.

Public domain data is what will help the world in the longer run, and by encumbering 'Access to information' with selfish and perilous restrictions we are preventing a large population of the world from growing with the rest of us.

To know more about the Defective-by-design campaign and to do your part, visit

http://www.defectivebydesign.org/

'May day' with ITEC

The IT haunted World


My first 'Workers Day',after I have become a 'worker' got me more closer in understanding a threat which I have been personally apprehending about for quite sometime now.

IT in India, and more importantly the unhealthy work culture it has brought with it, eroding the lives of plenty of young IT and IT enabled Services professionals. A serious problem which has been accumulating over the past decade seems to be surfacing up now, after it has taken a rapid toll on a generation of Indians in IT. This is culminating into an awareness these days, with people in IT at least having started questioning the system which is grueling them.

One such effort is the "IT and IT enabled Services Employees' Center" or the ITEC (http://www.itecentre.co.in/) ,which is trying to float a  forum for the IT professionals, so that a common platform is created to discuss and collectively contemplate the remedies for the issues each of them is having to put up with.

Using today's occasion of 'Workers' Day', ITEC had organized an awareness program about " Extended Working hours in IT & it's Effects on Employees". With participation of about 40 IT professionals and other inclined enthusiasts including myself* participated in the event.

The program started off with a small video depicting the ever-stretching work in the lives of IT professionals, ultimately making them brittle.

After the video, one of the ITEC member briefed the audience about ITEC and its objectives, followed by an appealing but concise skit by few members.

The skit emphasized on the physical, psychological and social constrictions on individuals, which have become so ubiquitous these days as a consequence of hectic work. The skit completes with an expectant kid on her birthday, wanting to show her gifts, instead trying to wake up the two IT professionals, who unfortunately are her parents! A consistent undercurrent of remorse was present throughout, on the part of being an IT professional!

The notion of employees being just another material resource, to be fully utilized for the profit-motive of the employers was projected in a prominent manner in the open discussions. Also, the point of the policy about eight working hours even at IT was debated.

Personally, I feel the relation between IT and its employees to be paradoxical!

Quoting a point made by my mentor(not verbatim:),  People blindly aspire for and endorse the supposedly 'elite' status which IT entices.

Initially,people endorse the grueling bestowed on them ignoring all the hardships they are put through. Subsequently, when they are complacent enough about their lifestyle, it is then when they start to notice the 'atrocities'. This culture of compromise at the start is the gain for the Employers, who try to accomplish their objective-More profits!

One pragmatic solution which came out, put forth by a member was about shrinking down the 'Larger than Life' lifestyle people aspire for, and by being ready to take risks to safeguard their personal interests.

ITEC has proven to be a good platform. With more conscious IT professionals involving themselves with ITEC, and raising their unified voice for the common claims is when the objective of this forum be reached.

*FYI:I'm not an IT'ian