Sarang Shah's Blog

The world as I knew, growing up, is changing

2012-01-25T22:32:00.000-08:00

Recently, when I saw Wikipedia blocked out in protest of SOPA/PIPA bills. It just struck me that a lot has changed (and is changing fast). Let me explain:

I began to understand the world around me in the early '90s. About the time when information technology (IT) started to become pervasive - I am a quintessential product of the information age. The major contributors being the telephone, television set, PC and beginning of the WWW era.

Back then all this technology was a novelty (well, expensive too): Telephone was a medium to talk to relatives living in distant places; TV was meant to see cartoons like Spiderman, He-Man Master of the Universe, Tom and Jerry and family serials like the epic Ramayana; Home computer was to try Logo - directing the turtle around, DOS commands, Lotus 1-2-3 or Wordstar.

IT was innocent (for me). IT was something not central to our lives.

Fast forward 20 years:

Call (and even see) your relatives and friends for free
Read your newspaper
Pay your bills
Buy movie tickets, see movies and listen music
...
Wikipedia blackout
Social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.) influences:
Arab Spring
London 2011 riots
India anti-corruption campaign
...

IT has become central to our lives. IT is not innocent anymore.

Information technology has become an integral part of our day to day lives. It has moved on from narrow individual realm to a larger realm of societies, nation-states and world. It influences decision making, at various levels, in myriad ways.

As times are changing and I grow up, I realize (even more) that it is important to use these technological advances responsibly and judiciously. I hope others do the same.
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Mumbai Marathon 2012

2012-01-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

I was looking forward to race day of my first full marathon on Jan 15th, 2012. I have been doing distance running for quite some time now (1, 2, 3), but 42.195 km is in a different league. In this post, I’ll tell you about my experience.

Preparation:

My preparation consisted of short runs on weekdays after work hours (as the work schedule permitted) and around 16-20 km run on either a Saturday or Sunday. On average, I did practice runs of 35-40 km per week for a couple of months - the maximum being 30 km run, once.

Going into the race day: I felt that I was under-prepared physically, but mentally I was determined to complete the race. The big question on my mind was: Is my body capable of going the full distance? This meant that I had to set conservative goals for the race. Hence, I decided (1) to complete the race, (2) to complete it within 6 hours (as that was the race timing cut-off) and (3) to change the plan per need.

The race day:

I got up at 4:15 am in the morning to reach the starting point of the marathon. [Note: A constant struggle with early morning timings is the ritual of going to the loo. Yes, the loo :) - our bodies are tuned to doing shit at specified time and in this case, shit doesn’t happen! Not a major problem, but definitely an inconvenience.]

Anyways, I reached on time. The race started, on time, uneventfully, without any fanfare (no movie stars, no minister speeches – they usually arrive late or speak more), which is the way I like it.

The easy part (0-21 km):

As I have done four half-marathons, I was pretty confident about the first half. A constant reminder I gave to myself was to run at a relaxed pace and not get enthusiastic (a good way to asses that is your breathing rate). So, the first 20 km were almost a walk in the park. En route, I did a couple of stops to stretch my muscles (picking the best vantage point: Sea Link bridge to do that!) and made a mental-note-of-appreciation for folks who were in their 50s attempting the full distance!

One thing that was very different from my earlier experiences was that while running the first half I was planning for the second half - observing the route (uphill and downhill gradients) and deciding on the possible options (the route is mostly the same on the way back – see map below). During the 7-10 km (Peddar road area) it was pretty evident that the long uphill gradient was going to be tough. I was almost certain that it was going to be a walking zone on my way back (If, I was able to make it!)

The tough part (21-42 km):

With the first half completed. I ran the 21-26 km with a slightly reduced pace without any troubles. (Around 25 km, I was thrilled to see Shivaji Park - Sachin Tendulkar’s cricketing education happened here). After the 26th km, I felt something strange, it was not pain in the legs or cramps, it was a feeling of emptiness - as if there were no lungs or stomach or guts, somebody just vacuum-sucked-my-upper-body kind-of-feeling… (I don’t know why – it might have to do with depleted sugars/electrolytes in the body or a bite of banana I had a few minutes earlier. Anyone?). This meant that my race plan had to be reevaluated.

The next decision was rather simple, take a couple of km at a time and evaluate the situation along the way. I followed a slow pace, small strides and kept doing it for the next 6 km or so – walk, run, walk... By the end of 32 km it was becoming difficult. I checked the elapsed time was around 3 h 45 m, which meant that I had sufficient time to complete the remaining 10 km. Also the uphill gradient of the Peddar road was approaching. So, I decided not to be heroic and take it easy - now on, it would have to be walking all the way.

I started walking the remaining 10 km at a brisk pace. Walking in high humidity of Mumbai with no breeze and the temperature rising is no fun, even if it is scenic south Mumbai’s Chowpatty. At every water-station, I had a gulp of water to keep myself hydrated - a good Samaritan provided Parle-G glucose biscuits too. This brisk walk was strenuous on the legs, but not taxing. I completed the last kilometer with a gentle jog to the finish line. Elapsed time: 5 h 26 m 56 s.

At the end of the race, my feelings were mixed. Mixed, because I think with some more practice under five hours should have been easy for me. Also, may be I was more conservative. But, then completing the first marathon is a reasonable achievement. Hopefully, now that I know what my body is capable of physically, I can plan better for the next time. Until then, happy running!

Race Route:

Race Certificate:

Race Time Splits: Link here.
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The holographic prinicple

2011-09-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

I had read a book about black holes and the holographic principle by Lenny Susskind. Recently found a video where those ideas are being discussed. It also talks about what next.

Link to the Video

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Walkin’ in the rain

2011-08-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

I was walking in the vicinity of the place where I stay. And, it was drizzling lightly. The visuals that I saw, the sounds that I heard and the smells that I sensed are put in simple words below. I call it: Walkin’ in the rain.

Rain-drops on my foggy glasses

Smell of soil

Fresh cool breeze

Clean and new look, everywhere

Flowing stream on the hill near by

Distant hill hiding behind clouds

Grass seen nowhere yesterday, trying to reach the sky today

Sun and clouds playing hide and seek

Rainbow across the street

Flash of lightening here, roaring thunder there

Walkin’ in the rain

Potholes

Traffic jams

Commotion at cross roads

Rickshawala charging more than usual

Drivers splashing water, pedestrians yelling

Passing by cyclist looking at the broken scooter

A honk here, a honk there

Walkin’ in the rain

Raincoats

Colorful umbrellas popping

People running for cover,

huddled under trees, at bus stop and on porches

Cows too!

Walkin’ in the rain

Boys playing football

Kids splashing water in puddles

Moms’ yelling: Come In Kids

Dirty clothes galore

A sneeze here, a sneeze there

Walkin’ in the rain

Drenched me

Sneezing me

Exhilarated me

Walkin’ in the rain

***

I have attempted to write poetry in the past: 1, 2. This is my third attempt. I am still not satisfied with the above completely. Please consider this as a work in progress version. Do post your suggestions or feedback.

Policy formation and the political party system

2011-07-03T02:02:00.000-07:00

I am starting to question: Is the current political party system, a right mechanism for legislation formation for a nation-state?

Why do I question the same? I am not seeing any major constructive work to form policies. It's just becoming an aimless exercise to oppose the other point of view and/or there seems to be a lack of effort to come to a common ground. (Examples:US Healthcare Debate, US Deficit Ceiling Limit Debate - striking the right balance between austerity, healthcare-expenditure, unemployment, growth will need a national consensus; India Anti-Corruption Debate - strictly speaking group lead by Anna Hazare is not a political party, but the topic is so important that a national consensus would be the best way to come to a final conclusion here also.)

Let's say Party A is the governing party (elected through free and fair elections) and Party B is in the opposition. Party A is trying to bring in a new landmark bill and needs support from Party B to convert this bill into legislation. What does Party B get for supporting Party A? If the bill gets converted to law, the credit will still go to Party A and Party A will advertise about the same in the next election (with all fan-fare as politics goes). Party B stands to gain some goodie points at the best. So there is a very high probability that party B will attempt to stall the policy.

So my next question would be be, why did we come up with the party system in the first place? The idea of having different parties most likely originated from the fact that individuals have different ideologies, different perspectives. These individuals get together to form parties. These groups then should take these different ideas into consideration while forming a new legislation for governing a nation-state.

Which means that the basic premise of having different parties is getting lost in practice, due to the nature of the electoral process. Ideally, if the parties understand the larger good for the nation-state, existing system will work - but it doesn't seem to be happening in recent times.

I believe in people electing their representatives in the government, but there has to be some mechanism to put a check to the above problem. Do reply to the post, if you think I am missing something or you have a different point of view.

Government for the people, of the people and by the people.
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Dr Manmohan Singh speaks!

2011-06-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

There was a lot of disillusionment and disappointment building up in me about Indian polity based on my readings of the print media in the last few months - towards the later part, it was just glancing at the headlines. Finally, a ray of hope. After a long long time Dr. Manmohan Singh (I believe, he personifies 'integrity') has brought back some hope (see links below) by his interaction with the editors. I am hoping his words translate to something more concrete.

PM's opening remarks at the interaction with newspaper editors

Preliminary transcript of the Q & A session between the PM and Newspaper Editors - There is a lot to learn from his responses (good and not-so-good). Particularly, response to Q13 made me understand the work that the PMO is aiming to do. It is simply mind-boggling when you consider it in the context of India!

Optimist: Where there is will, there is a way.
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My Cocoon

2011-06-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

I’ll be back soon

I ain’t going to the moon

Nor to a saloon

No one can stop me from coming soon

Until then, take care of my cocoon!

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Foriegn Policy and India

2011-04-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

Dr. Shashi Tharoor explains: why foriegn policy matters and it's importance for India with changing times. He uses all his UN experience to make the speech wonderful and easy to understand. It also helped me understand the important role that Ministry of External Affairs plays for our country.

Dr. Shashi Tharoor in Lok Sabha on 15th March, 2011 Part 1 from nehha on Vimeo.

Dr. Shashi Tharoor in the Lok Sabha part 2 from nehha on Vimeo.

Is ignorance a good thing?

2011-04-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

I read. I realize my ignorance. So, I read more.

Hmm. "I read to become ignorant!"
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Infinity: What if we lived forever?

2011-01-31T05:41:00.000-08:00

I am reading a book about Infinity: It's philosophy; role in physics and mathematics.

The book asks interesting philosophical questions like: What will change in our life if we lived forever? How will our surroundings change? How about society and family? What will be the socio-economic impact? ...

I found the discussion about infinities in physics and different types of infinities in mathematics (Yes, we have different types of infinities!) more interesting. I need to spend some quality time to understand these science aspects better.

TO DO: Delve into philosophy at some later point.
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Mumbai Half Marathon 2011

2011-01-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

Mumbai marathon 2011 was my third attempt at the 21.097 km distance run. Good news is that I was able to complete it. The not so good news is that it took me about 2.5 hours (not my personal best).

Main Highlights:

1) I got to run on the Bandra-Worli Sealink! The best view you could possibly get of the Mumbai skyline - Sun rising behind the skyline and shadow of the skyline in the sea-water. (A photographer would love to capture it!)

2) Discovered that I develop a typical calf-muscle sprain somewhere between 18-20 km range (It seems that it is not that un-common for distance runners). It is an excruciating momentary pain - I can't describe it in words. But, it gets fixed easily :) All I have to do is: Stop - Do a few leg stretches - Walk for 5-10 minutes. This has happened to me on previous occasions, though it was this time that I realized the pattern. It is also preceded by extreme exhaustion around 18 km. So, I will be watching out and be ready for it next time.

3) I got to see the best of Kenyan and Ethiopian distance runners [I was running - nah, walking relative to them :) - on the opposite side]. I don't think I can even complete a km and not run out-of-breath at their speed.

4) The marathon course was great (scenic and show-cases the best of Mumbai). I loved the Pedder Road up-hill climb - a challenge for me around the 15 km mark. And, the weather conditions were ideal.

5) Finally, the event was very well organized. Kudos to the organizers!

Happy Running.

Year Endings...

2010-12-30T23:12:00.000-08:00

Each year ends and brings forth a new one. And with it come new hopes and expectations.

Today, I look back and wonder on the year gone by. I ask myself, as an individual and as a professional: What did I do well this year? And, what could I have done better?

I think it is important to do this self-evaluation, when time is fleeting by in our constantly moving and rapidly evolving lives. Tomorrow is just another day on a calendar. But, tomorrow, I hope we'll be better than what we are today.

STOP. THINK. . MOVE-ON.
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Photon Mass

2010-11-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

While reading a popular science book, I came across two statements: (a) mass of a photon (m) is zero and (b) the famous equation from Albert Einstein which states energy E equals mass (m) times square of velocity of light in vacuum (c). Then the natural question to ask is why does photon have energy? Or is the mass really zero?

After some searching on the web, I discovered that the equation we have to use is: E² = p²c² + m²_restc⁴

Read more here: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/ParticleAndNuclear/photon_mass.html

Fascinating!

TO DO: Explore this further
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I Am...; Am I...

2010-11-18T06:35:00.000-08:00

I just flip two words and the whole outlook (in a manner-of-speaking my existance) changes.

I am wondering what happens in the brain with just two words, which creates such a big difference?
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Slums to Cleaner Cities

2010-11-09T06:54:00.000-08:00

I am assuming that the growth of slums is largely due to the migration of labor to a place which is likely to provide employment or better employment. So what is the solution to the problem of not having proper housing for this community? Obviously, the logical answer would be to reduce the migration by creating jobs in the area where laborers reside - in their towns and villages. This solution may take time to implement (infrastructure, market, geography etc.). So, until then, what is the short term fix?

I am thinking one way is to let employers of these migrant laborers provide them temporary housing and device some mechanism to register these with a central government body. This goverment body should track this community of people and be responsible for their development (provide vocational skills and education to move them up the value chain)... The end-users of the products the employers is making/delivering and/or the government will have to bear this additional housing cost...

What do you think? Is this policy viable and implementable? Are there any other short term fixes?
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Searching Utopia

2010-11-04T22:59:00.000-07:00

I know and understand the difficulties faced by individuals in their day to day lives. I read about it in the newspapers and www. I see it everyday. We see, feel or experience these difficulties. Knowing all this, I still dream of an Utopia.

I don't know the W4H of reaching this Utopia? Is it just an imaginary thing? If it exists, how many wrong turns will we take before reaching there? Are these wrong turns a part of reaching there? Is there a GPS which can guide us there?

"Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness." - The Matrix Reloaded

Imagine by John Lennon

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Speed of light

2010-11-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Why is speed of light (c) constant? (To be more precise, in vaccuum.) I am wondering about the logic, and not the observational results.

If you have an answer do let me know. Thanks!
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Thoughts and Words

2010-10-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

With time it seems that we learn to express our thoughts in the right words - sometimes just one or none! This distillation process of a thought (to words) has a certain elegance hallmarked by simplicity, clarity, precision and conciseness.
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What if life were reversed?

2010-09-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Thought Experiement: Would it be better or worse if we started our life like old people and we grew younger with time?

(a) Wisdom is based on experience. This means that we will be close to our physical best when we have acquired experiences. Will we be in a better position to use that youth energy, with the wisdom acquired?

(b) How will an individual be conceived viz. the biological concept of birth?

(c) And how will we face death - because we will precisely know when we'll become 0 years? (or may be we won't because we may start with -95 or -87 years ...)
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Autobiographies

2010-07-05T12:19:00.000-07:00

I like to read autobiographies. Why? Because, I am a strange loop.

I do ask myself - how will my small actions (and hence me) be judged? How will I be measured up by history? Though as an individual my primary aim is to measure myself against the set of moral values that I subscribe to.
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Vadodara Marathon 2009

2009-11-22T09:11:00.000-08:00

In the past, I have written about I being interested in long distance running. Today was the big one, the race day of the 21.098 km run on the tarmac of my home-town.

Pre-race

I had enrolled for Vadodara Marathon 2009 about a month and a half ago. The preparation for this event was normal - 2-3 runs varying from 10 to 15 km every week and the full distance once every 2 weeks.

I reached Baroda at 5:30 AM from Pune. Dad and mom had come to pick me up at the railway station (I think, dad was very excited about me participating). The most important thing on the race day for me is: my tummy should feel right! You get the idea, right? ;) So, fast-forward...

We reached the starting point of the race well in time. My dad went to the 5 km category and I to the open 21 km category. I got myself stamped/tattooed as a participant. This was about 6:30 in the morning. The scene was quite exhilarating with around 20 K people in the chilly winter breeze and the glorious Laxmi Vilas palace in the backdrop. All were waiting for the dignitaries to come and flag-off the race. They finally came - Milkha Singh, Kapil Dev, Kiran More, The Pathan Brothers – Yusuf & Irfan, Paresh Rawal, Narendra Modi and others. A lot of felicitations, followed by Mr. Modi addressing the gathered people (I heard him for the first time – He is quite a speaker!). He appraised the gathering about developments - suggesting that Central Gujarat would be the speed capital (with an intended double meaning) with biggies like General Motors, Bombardier, Apollo Tyres and Jindal establishing big factories in this area. I accidentally met a couple of my friends and relatives. By now, it was almost an hour, the participants were losing patience, they started clapping every few minutes. (Yeah, remember those university events). Finally, dignitaries on starting-podium and race flagged-off (About 20 minutes delay - Not bad, I would say! Some of us are used to a lot more ;-) )

The race:

There were a lot of runners at the starting of the race, so the initial bit of getting around was difficult - we bumping into each other (though nothing serious). When we hit the road I was surprised to see a lot of spectators on both the sides of the road, who had come to cheer in the winter cold. This cheering went on, all along the track.

In the initial 10 minutes a few professional marathoners whizzed past me – it was both a blessing and curse in disguise. Blessing, because I got to know how fast the marathoners run (by checking relative speed); Curse, because I picked up pace initially in my excitement.

All the way, I was running along with the cadets of the Armed/Police force (they were in the khakhi's). They made the atmosphere lively with the 1-2-1-2-1-2 (ek-do-ek-do-ek-do) marching-rhythm. And the thudding of their shoes against the tar-road was simply awesome. iPod was no match for it, so I just put it aside.

All along there were clear directions marking the 21 km track. Water and medical stations were present every couple of kms. The traffic police did a fabulous job of controlling the early morning traffic - baring a couple of incidents when some rowdy drivers decided to just cross the road, while the runners were still crossing. (Note: Impatient drivers, if possible please avoid roads during marathon time).

My race went on at its usual steady pace till I reached Manisha Chowkdi (about ¾ the distance). The first signs of fatigue were starting to show. It’s when my brain starts telling me - why are you running, you can’t do it, GIVE UP in capital. So to fool my tini-mini brain, I grabbed some water and had a sip. (Usually, I go on for the full stretch without water, so a sip of water is like ambrosia and I the Greek god!) Temporarily, for the next 10 minutes or so, it worked. Only temporarily. Until, I reached Munjmahuda …

It’s customary, to bring in an interruption when you are near the climax! >:) So here is the interruption - The race map. The race direction was anti-clockwise and the track I ran is in yellow color

The race climax:

Now on, the going gets really really tough. No kidding. The business of fooling the brain ain’t workin’ any more (Besides, I am no Greek god!). And when you don't want things to get any tougher, most often they do. What? Enter, a bridge - Vishwamitri Bridge. (Well done, track designers!) The climb up was going to be THE test, as my practice runs didn't have any bridges. So it had to be done slow, real slow. Slow buddy, slow. At the top, I was just about walking. (When you switch from running to walking, you feel the blood rushing in your legs – one can actually hear it, feel it). On the way down - I started to slowly move back from my walk to the slowest of jogs with a big effort and thinking the following:

'Man, this is your Harry Potter’s Patronous charm moment - get all your memories together. I was thinking about my family and friends, people whom I admire, people who go through a lot more - like Tendulkar or Lance Armstrong.'

Just after the climb down, it seemed as if the brain relinquished control. Zero control. Absolute, nothingness - - (Just like the white space). The legs became a machine, without any sense or feeling. None, whatsoever. The only thing that kept me going was – don’t give up, you have been working for this, dad’s waiting, don’t give up, you are about to reach, … This went on till the first sight of the finish line, a good 2 km. Excruciating.

Finally, the sight of the finish line, the only thing that I wanted to see and reach. [Though, right now I am thinking if a beautiful damsel came there and asked me out, what would I do? ;).]

I completed my first official half-marathon in 2 h 5 m (approx.)!

Post-race:

I saw dad - I said Thank You for being there. We found shade. I lied down, 180 degrees flat, on the dirt. I regained my senses in a few minutes. The only thing I wanted to do was: go home and sleep.

We went home. I slept like a log, the whole afternoon. I am having a little problem in the left knee, should go away in a day or two.

So, until next time. Happy Running.

PS. Sometimes words are poor substitutes for feelings. All I can say is: Try it yourself. Experience it. Put on your sneakers, go out, enjoy the weather, and do the little walk/jog/run!
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Barack Obama On Healthcare Reforms

2009-09-15T13:00:00.001-07:00

This is another speech of his, that I admire.

I wish...

2009-09-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

Some day, I wish to see the Earth from outer space. A nice weekend on the the moon with folks whom I love, having a hot cup of coffee, reading a good book, and just looking at mother Earth, would be my idea of a mini vacation. :)

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Long Distance Running

2009-08-23T08:04:00.000-07:00

Why am I writing about jogging/running today? Well, yesterday, I reached a personal milestone of 20 Kilometers! It's an important milestone for me, as it takes me very close to fulfilling one of my dreams of running a half-marathon. (It took me around 2 hours - the world record is in about half that time.)

When did I start running? I think, it's been almost 5 years since I have been running on-and-off. I started running just to pass time in the long summer days on my first visit to the US and since then it has continued.

Why do I run? Initially it was just to spend time. Now, it is to understand and stretch my body's limit and to keep healthy.

Where have/do I run? The road. And at different places:

1) Bethlehem Pike, Pennsylvania and vicinity. Distance: 4 Kilometers.

View Larger Map

2) University Road, Pune and vicinity. Distance: 5 Kilometers.

View Larger Map

3) NE 8th, Bellevue, Washington and vicinity. Distance: 4.5 Kilometers.

View Larger Map

4) National Defence Academy and Pashan area in Pune. (It's quite green and scenic too!)

View Larger Map

If you are a long distance runner and have tips (good web-sites, books, blogs, etc.) about long distance running, do post your comments about the same.

Importance of practical knowledge

2009-06-21T09:23:00.001-07:00

"It is difficult to peel a boiled potato, if you have just cut your finger nails!"

Realization

2009-06-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about something, and then realization happened. How many times has that happened with you? The "Eureka!" moment, like Archimedes.

So the above thought, begs some questions: How do we realize? Is realization triggered by a single event or is it a sequence of events that lead to the promised land? What causes realization to happen? (Realization - Knowing/Knowledge - may be about about the worldly aspects of life, or something more spiritual in nature.)

In some of my previous posts (a & b), I have eluded that knowledge about one's own self, is a combination of lot experiences that happen. My hunch tells me that every realization (effect) is associated with an event (cause). And hence realization is a rational process (a product of human mind).

This hunch opens up a whole new window to the world. Aspects, that I have skimmed through in the past (but not studied in depth): (a) Philosophy as described in the Bhagvad Gita - Jnana, Atman, Karma & Brahman and (b) Philosophy as described by Causality. More on this later, in one of the subsequent posts ...

Is realization, a never ending recursive process - something which will happen till my last breath?
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Barack Obama's Cairo Speech

2009-06-05T00:23:00.000-07:00

This is one of the best speeches, that I have ever heard. The speech is just so convincing, honest and direct. Barack Obama doesn't evade a single difficult issue (and mind you, resolving each one is an onerous task). Simply Awesome!

On life (and learning)

2009-05-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

A student, of life, for life.

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On Writing Responsibly

2009-05-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

"The moving finger writes; and having writ, moves on: Nor all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all your tears wash out a word of it." - Omar Khayyam
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Emotions & Rationality

2009-05-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

...Emotionally, it hurts, hurts like hell. But then the mature rational mind takes control...

Sometimes, I question, if I should let my emotional instincts precede the rational thought process?
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My First Visit to an Orphanage

2009-04-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I visited an orphanage for young kids (0-6 years) with my friends. At the orphanage I was privileged to see an adoption ceremony, where a baby was being adopted by a family. I also saw all the young kids, at the orphanage, having lunch together. After that, the lady who runs the orphanage described how an orphanage is run and the challenges encountered - distinctions between a normal-child, a girl-child and a physically-challenged child; the role of our constitution, public policies, government and the legal framework; public-private partnership.

At this point, my knowledge on the subject is insufficient and it would not be right for me to comment based on a single instance. Though, purely from an emotional viewpoint, I think that this act requires life long selflessness, perseverance and dedication of immense proportions - this ain't for the faint at heart.

For the moment, from the bottom of my heart, I wish that all babies in any orphanage, find a family who can love them and take care of them. Amen.

Orphanage Website - BSSK and some pictures here.

If you have similar experiences, I request you to share the same.

Side note: A touching song, Maa from Taare Zameen Par.

Music: Words & Feelings

2009-04-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I express myself with words (a), sometimes I just express my feelings (no words) (b)...

(b) Feelings

(a) Words

My First Night Trek - Rajmachi

2009-03-22T10:59:00.001-07:00

This is a treklogue of my first night trek.

Think of, being able to see only 20 yards in front of you, with your only aid - torch-light. Imagine walking in the pitch dark, with forest sounds as your background music score. Close your eyes. Imagine.

We did that for 18 kilometers.

And in the end, you find yourself on the peak of Rajmachi, in cool gusting breeze, seeing the Sun rising! It’s said that love can’t be described in words - I can’t describe my feelings in words. I am just making an attempt to describe my experience here, for the real thing you have to do it yourself.

The journey:

I joined the group (Avneesh, Dr. Sachin, Sagar, Sarang, Sarvesh and Titus) around 10:30 PM at Parihar Chowk, Aundh, Pune.

We were supposed to take an Asiad bus and reach Lonavala, but as things often go wrong when they are not supposed to, we did not get the bus. We deliberated taking bikes, but finally decided against it. With some 'jugad', we managed to hire a car to reach Lonavala. (Take my word, six people in a Maruti Esteem is not advisable any day). As the group didn't know each other, the time was spent getting acquainted and listening to FM radio channels, which the semi-drunk driver had put. We reached Lonavala bus-stand by midnight.

We had a nice cup of hot tea at Lonvala before we started the trek. Sachin had done this trek previously, so he was our trek guide.

From the bus stand finding the initial path is a bit difficult, if you haven't done this before. (Ask locals and you should be good.) From top of the hill near Lonavala, we saw twinkle of electric-lights of Lonvala City below and the twinkling Stars in a clear night sky above. It felt good, and we were raring to go. Next, we passed a couple of small villages (most villagers were asleep by this time) on our way to the trek trail.

While we were walking through the village (in the dark), I didn’t realize a dog was a couple of yards in front of me until the flash light from behind fell on the dog. I froze. Thankfully, nothing happened. We walked past the barks. (So, watch out for the stray dogs in a village. If you don't provoke them, it is likely they won't bother you – they didn’t bother us. Though keep a small stick handy, just in case.)

We then walked on the sides of a 300 feet vertical rock. If you have traveled on Mumbai-Pune expressway, this rock is like the ones you would see right above the tunnels - straight up, vertical, 300 meters or so. You feel small, inconsequential. You are like an ant in front of an elephant.

The long walk, in pitch dark, starts.

It was six of us, with our backpacks and the torch-light. We were walking and talking, talking and walking. The path is not even, it goes uphill and downhill, and it has pebbles/stones all along. While walking, we talked about various topics, cracked several jokes, listened to a couple of horror stories (scared?), and took a few snack breaks (water, biscuits and chocolate-bars). On the way, we found placards for some village-convention pointing to Rajmachi (and that helped us a lot). About midway, we took a wrong path at an intersection. We realized about it, when we didn’t find one of those placards for a very long time. (Dude, something is wrong here!) So we decided to head back to our junction-of-confusion. And after some time, we found the placard, pointing us to our destination. Voila! Spirits high, walking again.

While walking, we stopped, switched off our torch-lights, silence, sounds of nature. (Take a few breaths. Feel it… Hear it…) Lights on, walking again.

Finally, we reached the village at the base of the peak. Most of the walk is not very steep, until this point. The real steep climb starts from here, when you are all exhausted, your legs are hurting, and the feet inside your shoes are burning due to the long walk. It took a lot of effort and encouragement to keep going for the last thirty minutes. And finally, we reached the peak. First instinct: sit (lie) down, shoes out, straighten legs and relax in the cool breeze. A sense of achievement and a lot of relief!

On our way back: After seeing the sunrise, and taking a few group photographs, we went down to the village. We had poha and chai. Sachin knew that going back on foot was not an option, due to the summer heat. So we hired a Tata Sumo on the way back. We for the first time, now saw, what we had walked past - valleys, deep down. [See pics]. The return journey was uneventful – we gave ride to a few other folks who were traveling back, reached Lonavala, took Asiad and were back in Pune.

A great experience! I will always cherish this experience (you never forget the first experiences in life).

Note: I think, instead of starting at midnight, you might want to start just before sunset from Lonavala. You can reach around midnight and take a good nap at the village. See sunrise, and then make your return journey in the cool of early morning. Ideally you should reach back before 10 AM. Also, I think the ideal season to do this trek would be early rainy season.

“It’s about the way you make your journey to the top.” – Sarang, on trekking (and life).
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Perfect or Imperfect

2009-03-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

I am perfect in hiding my imperfections. Am I perfect or imperfect?

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Creativity and Innovation

2008-12-27T09:08:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about creativity and innovation for quite some time.

I have questions like: Does the creative process have some structure? Is innovation a repeatable process? Does innovation just happen like a flash of lightening, or is it inspired by something, or is it a continuous accumulation of experiences and thoughts, leading to a logical next step of creating something? How is the human brain of innovators/creative people wired?...

I am interested to know how is innovation/creativity applied in the context of Advertising (Those witty advertisements), Business Models (Low cost airlines, iTunes), Culture (Why is Silicon Valley, USA, the Mecca for IT start up's?), Products (The magical iPod), Technology, Music (Finding those words and tunes, that just fit together), Fiction (Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, where a whole new world is created) etc.

A few days back, I stumbled upon a book called "The Art of Innovation". It talks about creativity at one of America's leading design firm, IDEO (I will write about the book in a later post). I also found some video's that show the creative process at IDEO. It's worth a watch!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

If you have answers or thoughts about the above questions. I would like to know from you. Do write back.
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Man forgot to give me wisdom

2008-12-20T22:19:00.000-08:00

Man created me,
Man buys me,
Man loads me,
Man uses the trigger, fires me,
Man gets killed, by me.

Man cries, Man mourns.

Man does this again, and again, and again.

Man forgot something,
Man forgot to give me wisdom.
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Again, Mumbai Killings

2008-11-26T17:52:00.000-08:00

Again, innocent people dying.

I am sad, that humans kill humans. Is there any other intelligent species, which does the same?

I am scared. Why can't we respect each others existence? Is being an American a Britisher a crime? This reminds me of Nazi's and World War 2.

I am scared. If the economic situation in the US/EU does not recover, such things may start happening in the most mature democratic countries of the world.

"We think, we know. Do we? We know, we think. Do we?"
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Care About Our World: Global Warming

2008-10-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

I was seeing a movie called "An Inconvenient Truth", a couple of weeks back on HBO.

We are all aware of the damage that we are doing to the environment; we contribute to it in some way. It's a fine balance that we have to draw between development and environment.

After seeing the movie, I realized that it's not a choice that we have to make. We are way past that stage. We need to do something about it. We need to take care of the world we live in.

So, where do you and I start? By following 10 Simple Tips.

PS. I would recommend that you see the movie too, it's time well spent (www.climatecrisis.net).

What is life but knowing thyself

2008-10-07T03:58:00.000-07:00

I believe our life is about knowing ourselves, discovering ourselves, each day.

There is so much to do, so much to know, so much to learn in this world/universe. In this process of trying to understand our surroundings and our loved ones, ironically, it turns out that we come to know more about ourselves each day.

nosce te ipsum
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Faith, hope and love

2008-07-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

"Faith, hope and love are some good things he gave us/And the greatest is love" - Alan Jackson, in his album Where Were You

I heard this touching song on my first visit to the US, after 9/11 and since then it has always been with me. Read about the composition of the song here.

Update: 4/19/2009

In the Bible, Faith, Hope and Love are described as Theological Virtues

"And now abideth faith, hope, and love, even these three: but the chiefest of these is love". - 1 Corinthians 13:13
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I am a strange loop

2008-06-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

If I live in a hypothetical world without people, what will be my identity? Perhaps, I won’t have an identity.

In this world the identity of an individual is an aggregation (or an individual's selection) of identities of others - people whom you meet, you interact, you admire, you read about, fictional characters from movies and books, ...

Douglas Hofstadter explains this with some great examples in his book I am a strange loop.

So I would like to thank you with whom I have interacted and who have enriched me, authors of the print media (newspapers, books, blogs,...), directors and script writers of movies, lyricists of songs, ...

Citizens of the Information Age

2008-03-12T19:06:00.000-07:00

I am a citizen of the information age, of the flat world, the globalized world. As a part of my work, I travel/stay in the US – I have visited more cities in the US than in India, interacted with some of the best minds, experienced a different culture. I have become, so to speak a mash up of the two worlds, equally comfortable in both. The boundaries between countries are blurring.

My generation has grown up with the world wide web and mobile devices. So the question that I ponder over is: How are the responsibilities of the model citizen of the information age different? Take for example religion or society – I believe in Humanity/Unitarian Universalism, but what happens to people who are in-a-manner-of-speaking more orthodox? Only a small section of the society in India or the US actually interact with each other, the majority doesn’t – their lives are at this stage not directly affected by this change, but soon will be. How will the change affect them?...

What does this mean for business/global companies? How are the business models going to change? Which ones will survive? You can see some of the leaders talking about this at Mobilize to Globalize.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” – Ben, Peter Parker’s uncle from Spider Man.

Book: Who Killed Health care?

2008-03-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

I just completed browsing through the book - Who killed Health care? by Regina Herzlinger. It depicts the current state of US health care system and possible solutions to the same. A brief summary about the book can be seen below:

I agree with the views of the author. I believe in free market and consumer empowerment - back home in India till 90's we had the license raj and then we changed (were forced to) and the rest is history.

The situation in health care is not simple, because unlike cars or retail products (examples in the book) we are dealing with lives of people. So in my view a cautious and agile approach to implementation - experiment, measure, refine, repeat cycle is required. And each stakeholder patient, physicians (providers in general), insurance (payers), policy makers need to take active participation to achieve the desired goals.

I think Google Health/PHR and Microsoft Health Vault are steps in the right direction to get more participation from the consumers - big players will act as catalysts to this process of reform.

Parthenon & Mashup of disciplines

2008-02-12T19:42:00.000-08:00

A couple of days back, I saw a documentary on how Parthenon was constructed on PBS. It's amazing to know that minutest attention to detail was given while creating this Greek building. A building of this scale was built without the tools that we have today. Sun was used as a compass! Architects learned from the human body - about symmetry and proportions. Hat's off!

It is quite evident that ingenious technical skills were required in the architecture of this building. Also, it required managerial skills to manage the resources (material and people) and understanding of business to get those resources.

While I was seeing this documentary, and as it often happens I started drawing parallels between building architecture and software architecture - a sort of mashup of ideas to give a different perspective to the work I do. I think a software architects job is not much different - it too requires understanding of the business, domain, people, processes and technology to achieve something as beautiful as Parthenon.

I am interested to learn more about how people enrich themselves by drawing parallels from other disciplines - if you know about such parallels do share them here.

The World Is Flat 3.0

2008-02-05T20:45:00.000-08:00

I like books written by Thomas L. Friedman. I just saw his keynote address at MIT OCW's milestone celebrations. He gives an inspiring talk and also mentions about his upcoming book - The World Is Flat 3.0.

Interplanetary Internet - World Is Not Enough

2008-02-01T19:49:00.000-08:00

I was hearing a talk given by Eric Schmidt. I came across a mention of the term Interplanetary Internet (Wow! Isn't It?) - where we will have to deal with latencies due to rotation and revolution of the planets in designing networks.

Humans fascinate me (more precisely the brain). On one hand, we have problems where people on this planet don't have food to eat, kill each other. And on the other hand, folks who think about Internet across planets or galaxies.

How can the same Homo sapiens sapiens be so different?

TANSTAAFL

2008-01-30T21:58:00.000-08:00

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Millennium Development Goals

2008-01-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

Fascinating work like the UN Millennium Development Goals, is happening in our world.

I was unaware of this until now. Out of my habit of following hyper links - I traveled to World Economic Forum diaries , besides the other interesting stuff, I saw the following video:

MDG's are very high level goals - like corporate goals. But, what do they mean for me as a person? This is what they mean to me:

1) Progress in your profession. Employee people full-time or use services in a honest way - stuff which pays taxes to the Government. Buy stocks of socially responsible profitable companies - Helps reduce poverty and hunger.

2) Universal Primary Education: Go and teach in my neighborhood. At this stage it is not possible for me. So I will contribute to organizations who do that.

3) Gender Equality: This is achieved at a personal level (for most readers of this blog also). For society in general - I will support girl education program.

4 & 5) Reduce Child Mortality & Improve Maternal health: Better health care practices. Support government with sound health care policies and plans.

6) Combat Diseases: Maintain hygiene, safe sexual practices.

7) Environment: Maintain hygiene. Support "Green Business".

8) Global partnership for development: Support companies and government who do this. Use your VOTE.

Cracking the code for life, Absolute Zero and Intelligent Design

2008-01-27T18:51:00.000-08:00

This cold Sunday in NY was spent seeing programs listed below online on PBS Nova. If you are interested in health care/life sciences, information technology, sciences and religion, you might find them interesting.

Cracking the code for life, Absolute Zero and Intelligent Design

The first program is about the Human Genome Project (it's a bit dated) but worth understanding the fundamentals and how it all started. The second is a fascinating history about the quest to achieve absolute zero (Zero Kelvin) and it's applications. The final program is about the debate of Evolution and Creation.

In the age that we live in we are going to see unprecedented advances in technology and all other walks of life. All the above programs are just a glimpse of how our daily lives are going to be affected. Technologists/Scientists/Managers of our generation will have to deal with ethics and moral values of scientific and technological advances more than ever before.

Education in India

2008-01-17T06:22:00.000-08:00

NYTimes has an article : Education Push Yields Little for India's Poor

I have debated this tons of times with people whom I interact with daily. Based on the economic conditions and the state of people in India, we know that Roti, Kapda and Makan (basic necessities) come first. I think what we need is not formal education, but vocational education (teach what is helpful to earn a living). This when supplemented with formal education, becomes a powerful combination.

Also teaching meaningfully is a tough thing to do - it has to be customized to the experiences of the audience ex. relate to events about daily life. Getting teachers who can do that is not easy - even for higher education. (In the long term future I intend to do that - Teach!)

I believe the mode of delivery can be changed/improved. I have been to rural India and have really seen the reach of a cellphone - you will be surprised! Internet and programs like OLPC/Simputer can do wonders. Youtube, Google video is the future. Doordarshan also does a lot of educational programming, bring some life into it (famous people, regional actors,...) - and digitize the programming. I don't know if people from India recollect this video: but that's what education should be about for kids!

I believe this article in NYTimes represents only one side of the coin. There is the other side, where a lot of good work is also happening. Though, we still have a long way to go.

Passion for Work

2008-01-13T22:37:00.000-08:00

I was reading a book on Entrepreneurship and came across the following quote:

"I think I overcame every single one of my personal shortcomings by the sheer passion I brought to my work. I don't know if you're born with this kind of passion, or if you can learn it. But I do know you need it. If you love your work, you'll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you -- like a fever." - Sam Walton, an American businessman and entrepreneur, Walmart and Sam's Club.

Source: Sam's Rules for Building a Business.

Passion is the key ingredient, but not the only ingredient. For a entrepreneurial venture, there should be an opportunity. Followed by a sound strategy, a solid plan and an ability to finance and execute that plan.

Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh

2008-01-07T15:43:00.000-08:00

Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh, takes you through the journey of a mathematician - Andrew Wiles - pursuing his childhood dream of solving Fermat's Last Theorem. In the process Simon Singh, explains some Math concepts (in a easy to understand way) that have been used to prove the 350+ years old riddle!

Fermat's Theorem: There are no whole number solutions for x^n + y^n = z^n, for n>2. (If n=2, we know the solution: It's the Pythagoras theorem).

I would recommend the book for the mathematically inclined. I think teenagers should be exposed to such books!

Alzheimer's disease

2007-12-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

An article about Alzheimer's disease in the NYTimes

It only goes to show that we need to do a lot more in healthcare and life sciences. We know so much about the world around us; but we don't know enough about ourselves. :(

To Do: How can technology help? What are the advances taking place in this field?

Emotions

2007-12-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

Humans perceive events using eyes, ears and touch. (When I see a baby's smile it makes me happy. When I hear a baby crying it disturbs me. When a baby is hugged by the mother, it comforts the baby.)

What makes us happy? What makes us sad? What makes us emotional? (I am distinguishing this from analytical behavior). To understand this, we will have to go back in time and observe ourselves as children. Did we learn by instinct/observation or was it taught to us?

I believe emotions are a function of our visual, tactile and auditory senses. Without these senses and only intellectual faculties, we would -not- have emotions.

Endnote: Laughter - How do we learn to laugh? What will be the course contents, if you had to offer classes on 'Laughing' for a semester? :-)

Cogito ergo sum

2007-11-20T05:12:00.000-08:00

"I think, therefore I am"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito_ergo_sum

I Believe.

2007-10-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you search words for your feelings, about the way you think, about the way you want to be, about the way you are - And when you run into something by chance (like a plaque at Rockefeller Center, NYC), those words remain with you forever.

"I Believe"

I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.

I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master.

I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

I believe that thrift is essential to well ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business or personal affairs.

I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.

I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man's word should be as good as his bond; that character -- not wealth or power or position -- is of supreme worth.

I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free.

I believe in an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name, and that the individual's highest fulfillment, greatest happiness, and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with His will.

I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.

Find the complete speech given by John D. Rockefeller Jr. at http://archive.rockefeller.edu/inownwords/ibelievetext.php

A Theory of Everything

2007-10-02T01:08:00.000-07:00

Extremely good program about the "holy grail" of Physics - "A Theory of Everything" http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html

Simplicity is a result of profound thought

2007-08-31T16:15:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplicity

Languages - Why are they so different?

2007-08-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

I was riding on a bus, back from work. I heard several conversations happening in different langauges. A question came to my mind: Humans do most of the things which are common, the emotions are also same - caring, loving etc. So, what lead to the development of alternate languages in different parts of the earth? Why is English, so different from Hindi? Does our brain work so differently as to evolve different languages? If so, what are the factors that influence our brain?

We are so same, yet so different!

Any thoughts - from the anatomically similar brain, but yet very different?

What will brain do? If it did not have the routine survival stuff to do.

2007-05-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

Cognition is one area, which interests me. I was thinking of the following hypothetical scenario and was trying to come up with some answers:.

Scenario: Imagine yourself being made free of all your senses/faculties. Your brain is blanked out. You are then secluded into a dark endless room. The only thing now you have is a fully functional brain.

Question: What will the brain try to do? Here you only have your brain (everything else is disconnected). What is the first thing that your brain will do? What is the basic function of the brain, if environmental factors are isolated/fulfilled?

Primitive man had to feed himself (hunger). In this scenario, we do not have that faculty so we would not be hungry
Survival and protecting ones family, led to creation of society. In this scenario, we would not need to protect or be a part of society
Once society was created - rules, laws, etiquette and other things came. Here, we don't have to do that too.

Side notes:

Why do we feel hungry? Hunger, essentially translates to energy needs for the body? Interaction of the basic elements (remember: The Periodic Table)? What teaches us to translate those chemical needs to the understanding that we need to eat food?

If somebody knows the answers to these questions, please do comment back. Also suggestion to some references which could lead to the answers to these questions would be greatly appreciated.

We think, we know. Do we? We know, we think. Do we?

2007-05-07T22:19:00.000-07:00

We know, we think. Do we? We think, we know. Do we?

My Blog

2007-04-24T04:24:00.000-07:00

'The Web' has become our extension. E-mail and Blogs are manifestations of this extension.