Blind Candidate's exam

This is an open letter to the Vice-chancellor of Bangalore University. I'd written this letter to the VC, but haven' received any response yet. Yet, I shall not give up.

Dear Sir,

I was a scribe for one of the blind candidates for the correspondence course II Year BA examination. Some of these sentences below describe the situation in the exam center, the tasks I had to do and what actions I took.

1. The exam center had no special arrangement for blind candidates. I had to run around the exam center with my candidate and serach for the location of the candidate's roll number. After a lot of huffing and puffing, I managed to locate the center. And then, all we get is a table and two chairs to sit in the corridor!! Pathetic is an understatement!!!

2. In the History question paper, there were map questions. How do you expect a blind candidate to 'dictate' the answer?

3. The course material distributed had nothing in it for blind candidates.

Some small steps that can be taken to make life easy for the visually impaired candidates:

1. Please arrange for a special room for the blind candidates.

2. Please have a look at the curricullum and make some small adjustments for the sake of visually challenged people - make it a fair playing ground.

3. As a whole, we in our society should be sensitive to these people. They don't need our sympathy, they need their own self-respect! And we can help them achieve that ..

No more plastic bags in Maharashtra

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1210272.cms

I hope this ban by Maharashtra sets a precedent for other states to take up similar measures. Hopefully, this gets passed and strict enforcement happens. But, you never know what the communists might say. They might come up with an argument that the scavengers will lose their livelihood. Trust them to come with the most obscure of reasoning.

The last two days' rain in Bangalore caused so much confusion and Ulsoor was beginning to break the barriers and overflow. It was just some timely action by the army folks that saved some very serious flooding!

The essential areas that might be of consequence will be for milk packets and waste bags. Other than that, I don't see any other area where we would need plastic bags. When I buy vegetables, I too use plastic bags. But there must be some other way of buying vegetables. When the vedors with pushcarts come on the streets, it's very easy - we just use the direct container that is needed for storage. But for the big chunk of bikers who buy vegetables on the way back from office, it will be a challenge initially. But, it can definitely be worked out. Say, carry a cloth bag in the office bag along with other stuff. After all, if the planet needs to be a safer place, we need to sacrifice some 'conveniences'!

STAR

A very important learning as I was doing my MBA essays was that whenever you describe an achievement or failure, you should structure it in this way. It kind of kills the creativity, but acts as an effective checklist while writing a formal business communication.

S - Stands for Situation : Describe the basic situation that you intend expanding on.

T - Task : What was the task assigned or initiated by you. This is a specific thing like a deliverable.

A - Action : What Actions did you take toward fulfilling that task.

R - Result : What was the result of that action? Did it succeed because of something specific step or method you followed?
If it failed, what have you learnt from it. How do you say that you have learnt something?

Strategy

I've been involved in formulating a Test Strategy for our project. I just wanted to list some of thoughts on the process of formulating this. I really want to check later if I achieve the objectives set here.

First thing about strategy - I can never forget a Sam ra Babu quote "Never put tension, put strato". I think the first learning is that very fact - that in order not to put tension, you need to have a strategy. It's indeed a very interesting subject on its own.

In short, what the strategy involves is : stating what, how and when - whatever be the project for which we need a strategy. More sermons on strategy as I develop one. Itih ~!

Patience quotes

There's some nice soul who puts up colour print-outs near the coffee achine in office. Today's quote was on Patience - something I consider to be a key strength of my personality.

The main quote stated there was an old chinese proverb -" It is through patience that a mulberry leaf turns to silk".

I did some more search for quotes on patience. Some of them listed here:

• "Patience and perserverence have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."--
  John Quincy Adams
• "Patience with others is Love, Patience with self is Hope, Patience with God is Faith."--
  Adel Bestavros
• "If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees."--
  Hal Borland
• "Forgive, forget. Bear with the faults of others as you would have them bear with yours. Be patient and understanding. Life is too short to be vengeful or malicious."--
  Phillips Brooks
• "Our patience will achieve more than our force."--
  Edmund Burke
• "We smile at the ignorance of the savage who cuts down the tree in order to reach its fruit; but the same blunder is made by every person who is over eager and impatient in the pursuit of pleasure." --
  William Channing
• "Patience is power; with time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes silk."--
  Chinese Proverb
• "Patience is the art of caring slowly."--
  John Ciardi
• "Patience is bitter, but it's fruit is sweet."--
  Lida Clarkson
• "The greatest power is often simple patience."--
  E. Joseph Cossman
• "Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will be powerless to vex your mind."--
  Leonardo da Vinci
• "There is no road too long to the man who advances deliberately and without undue haste; there are no honors too distant to the man who prepares himself for them with patience."--
  Jean De La Bruyere
• "Patience and time do more than strength or passion."--
  Jean de La Fontaine
• "If we could have a little patience, we should escape much mortification; time takes away as much as it gives."--
  Marquise de Sévigné
• "Beware the fury of a patient man."--
  John Dryden
• "Infinite patience brings immediate results."--
  Wayne W. Dyer
• "An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains."--
  Dutch Proverb
• "Patience can't be acquired overnight. It is just like building up a muscle. Every day you need to work on it."--
  Eknath Easwaran
• "Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits."--
  Thomas A. Edison
• "I think and think for months and years, ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right."--
  Albert Einstein
• "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."--
  Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen."--
  Epictetus
• "He that can have patience can have what he will."--
  Benjamin Franklin
• "To lose patience is to lose the battle."--
  Mahatma Gandhi
• "The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it."--
  Arnold H. Glasgow
• "Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success."--
  Napolean Hill
• "There is no royal road to anything, one thing at a time, all things in succession. That which grows fast, withers as rapidly. That which grows slowly, endures."--
  Josiah Gilbert Holland
• "With love and patience, nothing is impossible."--
  Daisaku Ideda
• "Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice."--
  George Jackson
• "To hear complaints with patience, even when complaints are vain, is one of the duties of friendship."--
  Dr. Samuel Johnson
• "You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance."--
  Franklin P. Jones
• "All fruits do not ripen in one season."--
  Laurie Junot
• "Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight... When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another."--
  Helen Keller
• "Patience is necessary, and one cannot reap immediately where one has sown."--
  Soren Kierkegaard
• "The practice of patience toward one another, the overlooking of one another's defects, and the bearing of one another's burdens is the most elementary condition of all human and social activity in the family, in the professions, and in society."--
  Lawrence G. Lovasik
• "Genius is only a greater aptitude for patience."--
  George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon
• "Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius."--
  George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon
• "They also serve who only stand and wait."--
  John Milton
• "Patience is the key to contentment."--
  Mohammed
• "Patience and Diligence, like faith, remove mountains."--
  William Penn
• "All's well in the end, if you've only the patience to wait."--
  Rabelais
• "Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous patience."--
  Hyman George Rickover
• "Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves ... Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point it, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps, then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."--
  Rainer Maria Rilke
• "Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet."--
  Jean Jacques Rousseau
• "Patience is the companion of wisdom."--
  Saint Augustine
• "The two most powerful warriors are patience and time."--
  Leo Tolstoy
• "Patience is the key to paradise."--
  Turkish Proverb

Aug 14, 2005

Time 9 AM : Trips, Heku, Pooja and I left Bangalore for a 1 day picnic to the Shivasamudram falls. We were having lots and lots of topics for debate - about life, about software industry etc etc. We had a nice journey until we crossed Malavalli - there was a traffic jam there as half of Bangalore was heading. The usual problem we face on any long weekend - everybody's heading for the same destinations!

12.20 AM : We are just 12 Kms from Shivasamudram. Trips was driving. A Maruti Omni right in front, breaked while trying to overtake the car ahead of him. Trips applies the break and the car skids but hits the Omni van - result - a crashing accident. The radiator and engine had imploded! Luckily, no major injuries to anyone. The guy in front started arguing. We had a huge build up of crowd. Every passer by became an expert on driving and justice. After debating and fighting and talking for about an hour - we had to yield to the driver and pay him of 1000 bucks! Also, it helped in dispersing the crowd and think of what next. As always, the accident occurred in the middle of nowhere and Airtel or Hutch did not have connectivity there.















1.15 PM : We just drove the car back some distance. But it was fuming all kinds of vapors of weird smells. We suspected that it might be the coolant burning. We opened the bonnet and saw that the coolant pipe was broken and something like battery acid was leaking all over.
















1.25 PM: We decided to walk to the nearest village and call somebody from insurance or Maruti emergency helplines. Some villagers told us that it was 1 Km away. But never believe a villager when he says something is just 1 Km - it just went on and on. Trips and I'd walked more than a Km. Pooja and Heku stayed back to look after the car remnants. After some distance, I decided to try my luck with asking for lift. The only gracious soul who took pity and offered help was a tractor guy. He also said that he could arrange for the car to be towed to the nearest town - Malavalli. We stopped at the first village. There were phone booths there. We told him that we would take help if needed. We made a few frantic phone calls to all Maruti helplines/emergency numbers. Only one Mr. Shankarappa picked the phone and he said he would start from Bangalore only at 7 PM - the time now was 2.30 PM.

2.30 PM : We hitched a ride in a posh car. 1 man, 2 women - gave us lift to sight the of the accident. They were drinking beer while! The irony - nothing happens to such people! We got back to the sight and decided that we would go back to the town of Malavalli to get the car towed till there atleast so that we are back in cell phone territory. So that we could talk to people and get some help. And people trying to help us could contact us.

3.00 PM: After hitching another ride from a bunch of guys this time to Malavalli - we found a garage. The foreman picked up some 'tools' which included a couple of spanners and a hammer. He said he would talk to some taxi guys and we could all go there and if couldn't make the car worthy of driving, he would tow it back to Malavalli and work on it. Our hopes were dwindling - and increasingly, the option of calling for help from Bangalore which was 100Km away seemed like the best option. We started in an ambassador car and on the way the car ran out of diesel. When things go wrong, the world conspires to screw you! After some huffing and puffing, we reached the sight. They connected the car and started the towing process.

4.30 PM : We reached Malavalli. Malavalli is a small town - there were restaurants/tea shops and a horrible main road. We parked ass at a school playground. It had the paintings of Nehru/Gandhi, painted with the tri-colour in places! We had a big argument with the foreman and the car towing guys. The argument went on and on - finally we gave in and gave the towing guy another 100 bucks other than the 200 we'd alreday given.

5,30 PM : We were still desperately trying to call all helplines of Maruti for towing service. Bangalore was 100Kms away. Finally, Prakash and Shankarappa said they would come to tow us back to Bangalore.

This duration, we were just observers of the small town life. Friendly and concerned people, smiling kids playing cricket and goli, smaller kids using the ground to cycle around. That was the general atmosphere on the ground. every now and then people came asked what happened and we would repeat the story over and over again. We took turns to explore the town and have chai/coffee. First, Trips and Heku went on a walk - then Pooja and I went around. We were just killing time waiting for the promised Mr. Shankarappa to come.
















7.00 PM : I called Shankarappa again. He tells me he's started from Bangalore and already travelled 30Kms. So we estimated that he would reach by 8.30 PM. In the meantime, we had so many topics to talk about. We generally discussed the freedom vs development debate that I so much love nowadays. I also made some friends in the village - some kids, some middle age men. Time just crawled by ..

8.00 PM : I called up Shankarappa. This time he shouts at me saying don't keep calling every 2 minutes. He assured me that he's on his way! Whatever happened to the concept called Customer service.

We just lay around there. Took a walk to the medical store - Pooja wanted a lense case. We made conversation with more people - the general attitude of people was that of help and sincerity. This medical shop guy gave us bondas to eat and didn't charge for it! Something we forget living in the hustle-bustle of a city. Time still crawled .. Trips was beginning to sulk a bit!

10.00 PM : After a long wait, again I call up Shankarappa - he gives the heart attack. That they were in Ramanagaram - on a completely different highway towing somebody else's car!! We scream in vain and again he assures us that he WILL come. Pooja and I took a walk to the town and got some food. Again, the restaurant had closed down - we told them our situation and they opened the hotel for us and made fresh food! Some jeera rice and friend rice! We again thank the niceties of small town India.

In the meantime, some people from the office opposite the school offered some temporary accommodation on 'humanitarian' grounds. It was getting cold sitting out in the open in the school grounds/verandah.

11 PM : We woke up the watchman of the BESCOM office and asked him if his offer still holds. Graciously, he agreed and we pushed the car into the compound. He made a small arrangement for us by putting some tables and desks and made a temporary hard bed for us. Pooja and I slept in the room - Trips and Heku chose the car.

Finally, Mr. Shankarappa arrived at 2.30 AM, 15th August. They toed up the car's front wheels to the tow crane. We all decided to sit in the car itself. So thus began our final journey towards Bangalore. The weird spring action of the chain attachment between the truck and car made us swing like crazy. Our driver was not least bothered about potholes - he just anted to get the hell back to Bangalore. He said he'd one 30 service calls that day!


7.00 AM, 15th August : We are back home, back broken, neck sprained! But thank God! It could've been much worse.

The talkative Indian

If I have to describe life in Bangalore in three words, I would say - booming energetic anarchy! This I guess will represent the general state of the Indian mind in general, and of a booming creative city like Bangalore in particular.

To describe the energy of us Indians, take the example of a average conversation of the common man in any of Bangalore's darshinis. Firstly, we all have so much to talk! Whether it's the state of an unfinished flyover, or the water-logging in xyz colony, or the stock price of the reliance share and where the economy in general is headed. An average man is aware of his surroundings - of what's happening to the country, the economy and his job. One can judge this energy from the animated way of talking in coffee joints. There are so many business ideas floating in the air - it's this energy that's driving us currently.

Amartya Sen's new book, The Argumentative Indian,  must be a good read. I want to pick up and read it sometime soon. The french guy who interviewed Pooja asked what she thought of our argumentative nature - whether that causes a lot of delays. In my opinion, it's a historical and religious trait we have possessed since time immemorial. The great debates that happened in the courts of Krishna Devaraya or Akbar or the great religious debates by Vadiraja are all proof that our religion by origin and nature encourages us to debate. And I think, it is this trait that has been genetically preserved and progenated that makes us what we are today. We are ready for the Knowledge society precisely for this reason.

We are good readers in general. On any bus journey, whether it is through the traffic jammed roads of Bangalore or a train journey from Bangalore to Mysore or the bus journey from Madras to Pondicherry, I have observed that people like to read their books, magazines, politics and newspapers. Though I haven't really travelled a lot through any other country as much as I have through India, I'm generally happy to see that people read and are aware of things around them. This is particularly prominent if one drives through Kerala - I really admire the political awareness and societal consciousness of the average mallu.

History is one area we desperately need to improve on. We all love to talk how great our history was and so on. Our sense of history and pride needs to be improved a few thousand folds. Especially I guess in heartland of North India, unfortunately a lot of the cultural pillars and identities have been destroyed. And the punjabi society is doing itself any service further westernizing itself! A point of history is that we lack documentation as a culture. I was showing to my sweet heart a sculpture in Somnathapura. There was this carving of Vishnu holding the Earth in his hands as a Globe - an elongated sphere. Now, this is sculpture from the 11th century of the Hoysalas. It took the western world another 400 years to re-learn the same fact. And yet, from our textbooks, we have to learn that Copernicus/Magellan proved that the earth was spherical!

We also talk about the daily comparisons between China and India. There this mail going around about how Nandan got Bangalored in Beijing - the vast expansions in infrastructure. In contrast, we have to wait for Deve Gowda's death before Bangalore can go somewhere in term of infrastructure. But hey, hold on! Do we have to make a choice between infrastructure and democracy. Any day, I would prefer my freedom. I don't want to live in a country where the state controls what I think and what I write! Blogs are screened for words like democracy and freedom! Ideally, I want both my flyovers as well as my freedom. And I know that with time, I will get my flyovers. Delhi's showing us the way today. I don't want to lose my talkative Indian .. Never! It's just not us!

MBA Apps so far

It's pouring outside. Can't go home yet, and so I write this post.

This is one activity we've been involved in for sometime now. But, I've just not been in a mood to document it!

To begin with, I must admit that it's a completely satisfying satisfying experience in terms of getting to know about oneself. What're you strengths, weaknesses, goals, failures, perspectives etc. Kind of represents who you are to the Adcom of the University.

Our first app was for INSEAD. The apps went off well - so did our interviews. Now, the waiting game till September 10th.

Meanwhile, IIM-A has shortlisted both of us for an interview. This one's going to be very tough!

The questions for the essays are as below:

1. What do you expect to gain from the PGPX at IIMA?
2. Describe a situation in your life that demonstrates your leadership qualities.
3. Describe the single event or achievement that has significantly influenced your life.
4. Give a description of yourself, stressing the personal characteristics you feel are your strengths and weaknesses.
5. Any other information that you believe may help us make a decision on your application.

I'm goign to recycle most of my INSEAD essays. The Why IIM-A question needs some research. But, neither of us has the same enthu to research and find out about faculty as much as we did for INSEAD. God, God, God - please get us into INSEAD!

Bad tummy and Philosophy

I have an upset stomach! Actually, it's not an upset stomach. It's a stomach that's not digesting the loads of food queued up in my intestine. I ate only one solid meal yesterday and still there's no sign of hunger today. Had a lovely preparation of honey and bread made by my cutie wife. I had some curd rice and more curd for lunch. I thought that would help me get some food in and also help the digestion - but no luck!

When you have an upset stomach, and not slept enough the previous night - the mood is ideal for philosophizing. I'm not feeling good - mentally and physically. I'm trying to listen to some Clapton numbers and do some work. But no, somehow work's not kicking off! Today being Monday also doesn't help.

I tried the drinking-water-to-flush-the-bad-things-from-stomach technique also - but no success! My tummy's feeling bloated like a balloon. It feels ugly. It's not a good day. The weather outside's also pretty murky. No sunshine - yesterday there was plenty of it. It was such a beautiful day - until ..

I'm gonna try and do something - like say read something interesting. Like say Bertrand Russell's book - "Our view of the external world". We all love to philosophize. More so when you have an upset tummy - okay, I know I've spoken enough about it!

On the more serious side - what is our view of the external world? I haven't read the book yet fully. But independently, I do have some views. It's basically my upbringing. Our view of the external world is largely based on the environment - parents, family, friends etc.

My philosophy is based on these two points I list below:

• Happiness is a decision, not an outcome.
• Nobody means harm - I mean nobody is out here to mean bad things for a person.

I love the first quote. It really keeps me going. Also, removes all hang-ups I've had. I had a lot of hang-ups in life before I went to that magical place in the North-west of India called Pilani. My friends in college have given me the exposure and strength to get over these hang-ups. Today, I'm a relatively hangup-free person. Somebody calling me something, or telling me something really doesn't affect me. I'm glad I'm here today. It's the desert that makes you stronger. It's the ability to see things in bigger picture!

The second point - I really am not sure yet on what I mean by this. All I know is - that when people try to harm you, it's for a reason - there're no psychopaths in real life who just get kicks by harming you. Everyone's out here to do something - whether for themselves or for the world! Mostly, for themselves - so harming you can't be their priority. This gets me going too - especially in corporate life - when one faces allegations, challenges, questions, reasons - the why, how and when part of everything. I'm getting used to this as part of a minuscule manager. Someday, I hope to be a little further up the corporate ladder.

Getting bad to the upset tummy - I'm already feeling better. I've blabarred enough on this blog. Weird, bad tummy implies philosophy implies better tummy!

End of Capitalism?

Listened to Peter Drucker's interview at http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2005/08/20050802_a_main.asp.

Quite an amazing interview considering his age is 95. I haven't read any of his books. But I've heard so much about him from so many sources including the course on Management I did during my second year in college.

Just a brief of what he says :

• America's domination of the world are over
• Leaders can't be trained into leadership in B-schools
• Multi-polar world with Europe, China and India as other powers of center is a reality now

The most interesting point he made was the days of Capitalism are over - we are moving to a knowledge society! I really have to think and research on what he mans by that.

Most knowledge workers like me and my team members have this habit of thinking that any tom-dick and harry can do the work we do. But that's actually not true. Specialists are the reality of the day and nobody can do my job as well as I do :). An ego boost ;).

India's headed in the right direction I would say. We are a very hard-working people - atleast I believe we are heading that way.Everybody wants to make it somewhere in life - hopefully this intent and hard-work translates to results. Only time will tell!