Settling in India?

Today, I argued, successfuly about NOT moving to America and my passion surprised me.
Why do I think it may not be right time for somebody to leave India and settle in America?

• The life in India - if your are already settled - is really more interesting and more enriching than totally work driven, fear (of losing job) driven life in America. Even the TV (CSI, Law & Order), News Papers (Bin Laden), threaten you about impending doom.
• The Support System - neighbors, overall collective living, joint family are exceptional facilities during child rearing days and job growth. We have lived through the phase where we really, really struggled, fought, argued when we were alone in America. In India, it is tough to live in a joint family - independence is lost - but children are certainly happier and independent in India.
• Work content - that is still my main attraction to work in America - is changing in India, but very slowly. The good quality, interesting, high-end creative work is still in America and very difficult to outsource or move to India or any other country. If you are young, no dependency on Support System, daring to learn new things and move at 100 Miles/Hour, America is still place to be.
• Money difference is not much between America and India - actually, It may be worse in India slowly, the money spend is higher. Recently, I reviewed financial plan and counted the Monthly Expenditure for Joshi Clan, I realized it is more than I was spending in America.

So, I realized, if you do not need support system, not in middle age with Kids, it is better to be in America, but otherwise, India can be more fun.

Still question remains, have I settled in India?

A Tribute to Watts Humphrey (1927-2010)

Watts Humphrey passed away on 28th of Oct, 2010, a tremendous loss for Software Engineering Profession, especially a loss of leadership in the software development process improvement and software quality improvement.
I still remember; I was ISO 9001 Auditor @ FICIM in 1992, where I read Watts Seminar work “Method for Assessing the Software Engineering Capability of Contractors”, followed by the book “Managing Software Process”; I have been an avid fan since then.
As a young software engineer & process trainer, I was not only impressed with the thought provoking ideas but was intrigued with Capability Maturity Model. Over the years, I did follow-through with all different articles, books. I feel sad that after ‘Management Bug’ caught me, I did not keep track of further original publications around PSP, TSP, and the loss is mine.

Watts was the guiding principle in creating the Software Process Management Industry and founder of Software Engineering Institute (SEI @ CMU). ITES industry in India will not be where it is today, had it not been the CMM Level certification and our quest to conquer various levels, various models and use it proudly to convince our customers about the work. CMM legitimized outsourcing industry and here we are today, declaring another good quarter till date.
There is an interview between Gary Booch & Watts Humphrey at Computer History Museum site http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/102702107 .

Watts Humphrey was a true engineer, a genius and visionary, we all will miss him!