Oh, IPL fever again!

Many urban Indians feel proud when they see even moderate success in an undertaking that's a mimicry of a concept/event from western countries. And if it's a massive success (measured by popularity/monetary terms, of course), they go crazy; and the people who supposedly invented(!) it in India(!!), are demi-gods. I'm talking about the IPL auctions in particular, and the IPL event in general.

This whole IPL s*** is about business/entertainment than cricket. Let's be candid - has IPL ever been about cricket/cricketers? In spite of all the hoopla about being a platform for budding cricketers, this event has always been a platform for some people to gamble, and for some others to profit like owners of casinos. (I know you can quote instances i.e. names of young players, where it's been a revealing, but I'm coming to that shortly.)

Right from the beginning, the owners of IPL have gambled with the players. Most often, people weren't given a second chance; because, the whole model of this event doesn't allow you to do so. It's quick fix, buddy! Quick money, quick satisfaction!  Of-course, they need winners, so it's their preference. I certainly agree. But why make it look like a platform for spotting talent?

Coming to that "spotting talent" part. Let me ask you one thing. Do you think I'm a good writer? (Or instead of me, think of any one of your favorite bloggers; do you think he/she is a good writer?) If you think I am (or your favorite blogger is), I pity you and let's stop it here. Enjoy your life. If you think I'm not (or your favorite blogger is not), can you tell me why? It could be due to one of these two reasons:

1). I haven't blogged much, so I can't be judged.

2). Even if I have blogged much, I can't be called a good writer because blogging alone doesn't make me that.

You get it? Blogging is a showcase. It's just where you share something quickly. (We're not even discussing facebook and twitter). But being a good writer means a totally different thing. Am I digressing?

Ok, this "talent spotting", you can't really spot talent in an event that's primarily a "quick fix". T20 is an event where the player need not be on the ground for even an hour but can still make an impact, appear on the top of next day's Sports page and be forgotten in the day after that. Easy? I'm not saying so. Difficult? Neither. (considering we're talking about real "talent").

All I say is this - understand that events like IPL are entertainment for you and money for some one else.  Just like movies, T.V. serials, and other forms of entertainment. Don't delude yourself that it's the pinnacle of sporting in India, and that it takes our country to the big league of sports.  Bull s***!

Chennai Book Fair 2011 - Preview

Chennai Book Fair 2011 has started today. Unlike previous years, I went right away with my dad to checkout the books.


Chief guests who declared it open were Jegathratchagan, Justice Lakshmanan and Nalli Kuppuswamy Chettiar. I didn't listen to speeches, save Jegathratchagan's. My legs were really tired after some scouting, so I took a chair in the audience and happened to hear Jegathratchagan's speech.  Though not exceptional, he was far better than many others who take it rea.....l slow and bore the audience. 


This year, the fair is relatively bigger. Around 640 publishers/sellers have put up shop. In many stalls, the books were still being stacked as I was going around. Also, the variety seems to be good. Among them, categories of IT, literature (mainly Tamil and English), fiction(both local and international), education, business, kids studies, social studies and religion have got a fair share of representation.


Today there were not many food/snack stalls. Also, the variety of the eatables is not as good as that of the books. One glaring drawback, I could say so, is the lack of proper arrangements. The ground even near the chief guests diaz really soggy, and there were not any index/markers to guide us to the stalls of our choice. I'm not sure if it's because this is the first day. But still, I couldn't believe the kind of lackadaisical attitude followed overall by the organizers even with dignitaries visiting in the evening.


Overall, if your goal is only the books and not the general entertainment of visiting the fair with family, friends et al, I think you'll be in for a treat.


IT guys: Checkout the post on my professional blog about the IT section of Book Fair. I've elaborated a bit on the kind of books and also listed the names of some surprise (atleast to me!) titles found.

She's Now Mine!

I saw her first when I was in Singapore few years back. The moment I saw her, I was awed by her beauty. For the next few days, I couldn't help that she occupied much of my thoughts. Why not? A girl from a family where the father worships beauty in everything he does. Probably, that man took some special care on this kid of his.

Without any shame, I'll now explain her beauty. She had beautiful curves at the right places. None of the other girls matched her. And her skin was white. I even saw a photograph of her where she posed naked!

I decided that I should make her part of my life. I waited for the right time.

In between, I came back to India and continued my life here. After few years, I got married to another girl (who didn't know at that time about my secret love for this girl). I was blessed with a son who made my life more joyful.

But still, my love for that girl didn't cease. It only grew more!

One fine day during last week, I summed up the courage to talk about my problem with my family. To my surprise, my Mom, Dad and Wife agreed to bring this girl home. After some inquiries, I learnt that she was in Chennai in Mylapore.

I went to her home with my wife, brother and my kid! On the way, I prayed God that nothing should go wrong in this endeavor. We entered her home, and I saw her sitting at a corner smiling at me. I was lost for words. As I went near her, I could feel my pulse racing and my heart beating so fast. When my wife, kid and brother were away for a bit, I touched her for the first time. She responded with a bright smile, and didn't even move a bit. Her curves were very inviting, but I suddenly took my hands away the moment I saw my family members coming towards me.

My wife too was admiring her beauty. And my brother ... his eyes were on her most of the times, but luckily my kid distracted him for the most part keeping him busy.

Atlast, I took her in my hands and lead her into the car. My wife seated this beautiful girl beside her. Wow, what a surprise!

That night that I spent with this beauty was unforgettable.

I'm proud. I am proud to own her!

I'm proud to own ............. a MacBook!

Return to the roots?

Kunal had a question on which I commented earlier. Now, I am finding myself in a similar (but not exactly the same) predicament.

For those people who know about me, I am a programmer. Even though I try to learn other aspects of software development (like project management, process etc.), what I identify myself with is programming.

Some time back in the year 2007, I got into project management by choice, and my company gave me the opportunity to get involved in project management. Of late, I've come to realize that I may not be a good project manager for the following reasons:

1. Not creating enough

As a project manager in my current setup, I hardly create anything. Basically, I love to create. (Music is my other passion; I used to compose many songs for a children & youth group, but not much happening now-a-days in that front too.) And, when I come to a stage in my life when I don't create something useful, I become rather sad!

2. Managerial skills?

I believe it's totally my fault in not having a clear expectation of what project management means (or to be more precise, what project management means in a particular setup). For example, with a team that has a high technical & domain skills, superb intra-team & client communication, the project manager doesn't have much of work REALLY. In that case, it makes sense for such a PM to take up the responsibilities of his superior (could be revenue management, business development, new process initiatives.) But with a team that's not that technical and / or not with enough bandwidth in terms of client communication, the PM's role becomes more deeper. i.e. the PM ideally does some heavy lifting by taking part in the requirements AND design, apart from the usual status reports, tasks allocation, adhoc client calls etc.

This is where my problem was. I belonged to a team of the first type, but still I was not willing to accept the fact that I should be sharing the responsibilities of my superior. (I'm still not willing to do so, since there's not much scope to be really productive.) So, I give an impression that I'm not good at project management.

3. Ethical reasons!

I think this heading is self-explanatory, so I don't want to dig deeper.

Ultimately, when we keep doing something we don't love, we end up hurting ourselves real bad in long term. Maybe, I should return to my roots!

Earning Money - Made Easy

Well, I agree that it's an "attention grabber", but I've come to believe that making money is not THAT difficult, if you put your mind to it and have SOME creativity.

I read the book "Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" by C.K.Prahlad some time back. In that, he discusses how real money can be made by selling to people who are really way down in the pyramid of "money" - people who can't really afford much. Ideas like selling 1 rupee icecreams to a huge population and still making profits have been floating around. (Not as simple as it sounds since there are LOTS of factors involved in such ice-cream making and selling, but still it's not impossible either.)

This morning, I was watching the following video by David Heinemeier Hansson:



Wow, is this not fortune at the bottom of the "web" pyramid?

Enjoy!

Federal Reserve - The Central Bank of United States, a Cartel?!!

I was reading the online book "Conspiracy of the Rich" by Robert Kiyosaki and came across this paragraph:

"In 1913, the Federal Reserve was created, even though the founding fathers, creators of the U.S. Constitution, were very much against a national bank that controlled the money supply. Without proper financial education, few people know that the Federal Reserve is not federal or American, it has no reserves, and it is not a bank. Once the Fed was in place, there were two sets of rules when it came to money: One set of rules for people who work for money, and another set of rules for the rich who print money."

I was surprised to read that the central bank of a government, that prints money, is not a government institution. I googled further and found more about this. Here are few links:

1. http://www.progressiveu.org/201542-america-is-run-by-a-banking-cartel

2. http://www.panamalaw.org/the_historical_value_of_the_dollar_before_and_after_federal_reserve.html

And from the horse's mouth:
3. http://www.federalreserve.gov/pf/pdf/pf_complete.pdf (read last paragraph in page 2 i.e. pdf page 11)
Last line says "independent within the government". What does it mean? Say, I, an individual, am "independent within the family". Does it not mean that my family depends on me, but not the other way around? Also, practically speaking, does it not mean I can make my own decisions suiting my own interest even when it contradicts with my family's?

If this is the kind of setup in the most powerful and influential country in the world, where is it headed? And where are all the countries that are heavily dependent upon the United States headed?

God Bless America!

United States of India!

With demand for more states spreading like rapid fire, here are few innovative suggestions for specific groups.

1. State Name: "PMK Nadu"
Initiated By: Ramadoss (PMK)
Where: Northern districts of Tamilnadu
Description: How else can Ramadoss rule a state?

2. State Name: "Thennaadu"
Initiated By: M.K. and his elder son
Where: Southern districts of Tamilnadu
Description: Reward for Alagiri for all the "hardships" he had undergone for ensuring DMK's victories there.

3. State Name: "SachinPradesh"
Initiated By: Fans of Sachin Tendulkar
Where: Mumbai
Description: "Cricket is our religion, Sachin is our God; so why not a separate state for us??"

4. State Name: "SugarPradesh"
Initiated By: Agri. minister Sharad Pawar's followers
Where: Mumbai (Contending with Sachin's fans)
Description: Even though Sharad Pawar is more focused on Cricket, he has done some important things for Indian agriculture too (especially Sugarcane, by doing nothing about the "state" of farmers - pun unintended! ;) Doesn't he deserve a state?

5. State Name: "Sonianchal"
Initiated By: Sonia's followers
Where: New Delhi (maybe with some exclaves from Italy too)
Description: !!!

6. State Name: "Ramanchal"
Initiated By: Advani's followers
Where: In the footsteps of Himalayas (as far as possible from the Ram Janma Bhoomi)
Description: To ensure a "fair" trial of Babri Masjid demolition case, and also to act as a springboard for the next round of "Ram, Ram" politics!

7. State Name: "Binary Pradesh"
Initiated By: All Programmers in India
Where: Wherever there's a computer present.
Description: Slightly difficult to establish, but worthwhile. Separate all the programmers and dump them here. Ah, wait! They are demanding two states in this one - a 0 and a 1! ;)

8. State Name: "Bald-o-bad" (rhymes with "Hyderabad")
Initiated By: Citizens of India
Where: Tirupathi
Description: Best place to reflect the true "state" of Indian public!

The Saviours of Mother Earth

It was a cold Tuesday morning when the alarm went off. Govardhan woke up from his sleep and turned it off. But before turning it off, he couldn't help but admire the new dynamic design plastic casing mobile that produced the sound. He switched on his bedroom light and found his way to washroom.

The bath fittings were perfect as he desired, made of high quality imported ceramic, glass and plastic. After a warm shower, he noticed that he still had time for the event.

The Event!! How long he has been waiting for this! An international forum in which he's been chosen as the Chairman.

Slowly he came down to his kitchen. His refrigerator was stocked full with his favorite fruits and few eggs. Since it was too early for the maid to arrive yet, he took an apple, an egg, and prepared a bread-toast in the toaster made by one of the top quality houseware brands.

Tring, tring!! "God, why someone always calls during breakfast?!" he cursed, shot up and picked up the receiver.

"Goodmorning Mr. Govardhan! Dr. Srini here."

"Oh yes, doctor. How very nice of you calling me in this early morning." Only he knew the meaning of what he said, and continued, "So, is anything urgent?"

"Just to remind you to collect your MRI from ABC Hightech Scans and meet me by 2 pm today." This doctor had a great ranking system for his patients based on their networth!

"Very kind of you doctor. I'll come and meet you at 2 pm sharp."

"Thankyou."

"Thankyou", Govardhan clicked the receiver back in place and checked his watch. It was almost time to start for the meeting.

His dark blue BMW 730d was waiting in the portico. His chaffeur was quick to open the back door and let in his boss. Within no second, the car shot off towards the City Hall.

-------------------

When he took his place in diaz, Govardhan noticed that all arrangements were done upto the exacting standards that he always demanded from his people. PET bottles with water before each speaker, Bose sound system for best quality sound (but whether such kind of quality is required for a monologue, oops, "mono" speech, is altogether a different matter), soothing carpets plastered perfectly to the floor with invisible high quality polyurethane adhesives.

Once everyone had settled in their places, the host of the show delivered welcome address and requested Govardhan to give the presidential address.

Now, the Chairman of MAP (Men Against Plastics) slowly rose from his place. Savoring a moment of applause from a mad crowd, he then started declaring in bold voice:

"Ladies & Gentlemen, welcome you all! It feels great to be among this crowd - which is dead against the use of plastics in their life and that leads by example leading a life with very minimal or no use of plastics....!"

He continued his speech without any guilt about the level of plastics that he had let in his life!

Long Live Capitalism!

Everyone is out for blood of Ramalinga Raju. But just look at the following statements.

Ramalinga Raju, one who's let down Satyam's investors (i.e. paper owners):
"It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten."

Alan Greenspan, one who was the Chairman of US Federal Reserve between 1987 and 2006 and who's let down an entire nation:
"I really didn't get it until very late in 2005 and 2006."

Long live capitalism! :)

Leadership

If there's one human endeavour that's as old as humanity and that's vital to our existence itself, I'd say it's Leadership. Every nation, every age, every philosophy and every man on earth always required a leader to flourish. I never thought that I'd be able to lead a team - but when I learnt I can, it was a fulfilling experience that no money could buy on earth. Now, a short story on a "leadership" experience that I encountered during the latter half of last year.

I lead a team of guys who are best described by many nay-sayers as "craps" (I learnt they are not, during the next couple of months). One fine day in August 2007, I was on a status update call with my customer. Due to past experiences that left a bad taste in his mouth, this customer was enraged. He wanted us to prove our capability by completing certain goals that he set for us. By November 1st, if we didn't complete the goals, he threatened that he'd pullout and take that business elsewhere. (It's a different story whether it's easy to pullout given the complexity of that enterprise system). But something made me take that very seriously (I'll be writing in another article what that "something" is). It touched my ego and I was determined to take up the challenge. With the help of my team, I was able to see it through to a level of completion that made this customer happy. But above all, I learnt few lessons in leadership that I'd never forget in my life. So, here are they!

1. Leaders have clarity.
This is the first and foremost quality that I've observed in every successful leader. A leader must know his raison d'être - what makes his existence as a leader.

2. Leaders believe in themselves.
Even a grain of doubt in one's own capability makes the person get into a negative spiral.

3. Leaders trust people.
Trust, enormous level of trust in people they lead! Without people, a leader is really nothing. A leader doesn't (and can't) achieve anything on his own.

4. Leaders are action oriented.
A leader knows instintively (by practice) how far to analyze the problem and when to get into action. He doesn't overanalyze things.
(This is one thing that I'm still trying to get a hang of! :)

5. Leaders acknowledge mistakes.
Mistakes are never hidden for long - so a leader acknowledges his mistakes publicly. But at the same time he doesn't brood over them. He does the next step!

6. Leaders never stop learning.
No leader sleeps peacefully if he doesn't learn something everyday.

7. Leaders are energetic and passionate.
If you're around a true leader, you can see that he exudes energy that's infectious! Energy and passion are two things that never run dry in a leader.

8. Leaders communicate.
Effective leader communicates clearly, communicates beautifully, communicates honestly and communicates often. I'd never forget the day I communicated the grave situation to the team after my client threatened to screw us. It made me understand how supportive my team was in achieiving the goals.

9. Leaders know when to give up and when not to.
It might be a surprise, but a leader give up too - but unlike others! He looks for signs all around and gives up only when he knows for sure that sticking on will never practically solve the problem at hand, or even brings more problems.

10. Leaders never complain.
A leader never looks out for reasons to complain. How many ever negative people a leader runs into, he stays positive and never complains.

11. Leaders delegate.
Doing everything on one's own is a recipe for disaster if you want to be a leader. But at the same time .... (read on)

12. Leaders are hands-on and lead by example.
True leader loves to be on the field leading the team by example rather than by command alone.

13. Leaders are great in attention to details.
Whatever your area of specialization is, attention to detail is one thing that a leader should never compromise on.

And most important of all ....

14. Leaders create leaders!
This is the only way a leader can leave his legacy.

(And a secret about great leaders: they have big - but justifiable - egos that can make or break things! So, better don't mess around with a real leader! :)

Kelaamal Kaiyilae - ATM!

Every now and then, a song just comes into existence, takes me and immerses me into it in a way that while I hear it, I feel ecstatic, out-of-the-world and absolute bliss! Kelaamal Kaiyilae from ATM (Azhagiya Thamizh Magan; we tamil guys have crazy ways of abbreviating!) is that song now in my list.

If you don't like this song - you're not normal! ;)

Web Apps!

I was not paying much attention to the guys predicting the demise of desktop application. It was not easy to comprehend that web would quickly takeover the application space and thrash desktop apps out so soon. Boy was I wrong!!

Don't know why - but suddenly I realized that web apps may soon do so! Two reasons I can think of:

1. AJAX. One reason I loved desktop applications was their interactiveness. With AJAX, a web app is (almost) as easy to use as a desktop application.
2. This article: http://www.paulgraham.com/road.html. This was written long back by Paul Graham but I happened to read it only today. It explained well ahead of time things that are happening now in the web application space.

Projecting based on the "grace" that has suddenly fallen upon me, my predication is that in 2-3 years (yes, still 2-3 more years!!) desktop applications will be almost wiped out!

Bye bye desktop, Welcome Web!

Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin (The Crocodile Hunter) has died yesterday after being struck by a stingray. May God rest his soul in peace.

Pluto is dead (as a planet)! Long live Pluto!!

As you probably know, Pluto has been demoted as a planet; it's a dwarf planet now. This makes our solar system live with only 8 planets.

In India, we have this concept of "Nava graha" which literally means "Nine planets". Though it has a different meaning altogether in its definition and usage, some "intelligent" people used to boast that we already know long back that there are 9 planets in solar system. (Pity them, most of them don't even know that Pluto was discovered only in 1930.) I don't what they will be thinking now. :)

Seeking truth relentlessly

Some of my friends asked me why the title "Seeking truth relentlessly" for my blog. That one symbolises a person in history of India (some prefer to call it "mythology") who was seeking truth relentlessly.

For those uninitiated, there was this small boy whose father was performing a yaga (a fire ritual). It was a practice in India to gift something to poor people during the yaga - and whatever is given should be of good quality and should be one that's close to the heart of the giver. This father was giving away old cows that couldn't give milk. The young boy saw this act of his father. Being the one who was close to father's heart, the boy asked his father "whom you're going to gift me to?" When asked repetitively, the father got irritated and said "I give thee to Yama deva (the lord of death.)". The boy went to Yama loga (the place where Yama resides). He waited there for 3 days at the doorsteps without any food. It's considered a sin to have a guest wait. So, Yama begged his pardon and told him that he'd be granted 3 boons.

The boy asked his three wishes: first, that his father should be ridden of anger and recognize and accept him when he goes back to his home. Yama granted the wish.

Second, the boy asked to learn Agni vidya (the knowledge of fire) from Yama. Yama granted this wish too.

Third, the boy asked to learn Atma vidya - the knowlege of soul - what happens to the soul after death. Yama was stunned. Yama said "Dear boy, please don't ask this alone. This is one thing even great sages are trying to figure out and it's tougher for even them. So, drop this and ask for anything - wealth, emperorship or whatever you like." But the boy didn't waver; he persisted and requested Yama deva to grant that wish. Yama accepted his request and taught him Atma vidya.

This young boy is still remembered for his persistence to seek truth relentlessly.

And his name is Nachiketa.

Equality - Truth or Myth?

Well, the title may sound esoteric to some.

There are two viewpoints that I'm thinking of - "material" and "spiritual" viewpoints.

"Spiritually", all are equal, there's no second thought. I firmly believe and follow Advaita.

But "Materially" (I mean in terms of materialistic aspirations and related actions), I don't believe in equality. In that case, equality is the bane for growth. When two things are seen equal, there's no competetion among them, so no real growth. For example, when I certainly know that one of my friend or team member is my EQUAL, I don't care much; I keep doing things as I used to. But it's only when I see that I'm not equal to some one and I'm less capable than him, I get fired up and attempt at bigger, better things. Similarly, when I see some one not as capable as me, I make an attempt to bring that person upto my level. (It's the classic moon-earth relationship - moon always trying to fall into earth but missing it every time, thus keeping both going!)

My spiritual side always says that the person who dislikes me is also the same as me - we both are sparks of same spiritual fire. But my material side never accepts some one as better than me if he's REALLY not better.

You may think what's all this non-sense. But you know, my next post may be about Communism and Captitalism. :)

My Latest Composition

I'm part of a cultural organization - Sudhodaya Children Association - run by my aunt. Yesterday, we celebrated our 49th anniversary. The event went fine, and the moments were nice. My friends and I sung a song that was written and music composed by me. I've uploaded it in my website. Enjoy!!

P.S.: That song is a copyrighted work. Any misuse is illegal.

Newyork Nagaram

My first post in this blog!

I've been hearing "Newyork Nagaram" song for the past 2 days. It's almost 50-60 times a day! To guys who know about me, this doesn't come as a big deal - I get crazy about something that I really like a lot. This song is one such thing.

The song starts with a humming and that's followed by simple chords in guitar. First section (called pallavi in India) gets right into the heart - the lyrics and music are so much in sync that I started feeling like I'm in 50th floor in a hotel in Newyork watching through the glass windows and dreaming about ..... well, nothing! :). (Though I've never been to Newyork, I have an idea of how it'll be, through pics and videos.)

The sections that follow greatly back the pallavi up and altogether make this song a superb number.

I recommend it to all who require sleeping pills. This will make you throw away your pills!