Random Notes: Over last 2 years

I got into habit of carrying a small notebook, adding and noting down all types of random things from walks of life.

here is first out-come of items that I noted, most of them are related yet random. I am not sure why I am publishing it, but heck, what's the harm?

1.      How high-value, low scale business will survive in Cognizant model? The thought came along with CBC or Product Design/Visual Design Consulting

2.   What is www.architecturejournal.net ?

3.       Blog Ideas

a.      Jet Airways layoffs –reaction in market

b.      USB as a movie and song distribution mechanism legal as well as pirated – unique in India

c.      Attending the event – book event – experiences about what India is looked from outside, references to Frank Miller

d.      India looks young, vibrant, cynical of global needs, confused?

5.      Actions

a.      Freedom and Responsibility Culture by NetFlix CEO - Hastings

b.      Subscribe to Elle D’ecor – Design Magzine

c.      Get old hard disk repaired

d.      What is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboys_and_Angels

f.       Know more about http://www.selco-india.com/management.html & Mr. Harish Hande

g.      Know more about http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/, Scott Schuman

h.      More about manslation

i.       Death and Power – a new Robot controlled Opera by Ted Machover, MIT Media Lab

j.       Charles and Ray Eames

                                                    i.     Design is a life skill not a professional skill

                                                   ii.     Powers of 10 concept

                                                  iii.     Take your pleasured seriously

k.      BAAS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maarten_Baas

l.       ZERO http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natasha_Tsakos

m.    Find out more about HP Bluesheet Account Planning methodology

n.      Flubber Material http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flubber_(material)

o.     Study more about http://mplab.ucsd.edu/wordpress/ Machine Perception Laboratory at UCSD

p.      Intel or any other Parallel Programming Language

q.      Career Counseling site – may be as a charitable trust or may be as a blog

r.       Place history using Mobile Devices

s.      Study more about “Attitudinal Segmentation Techniques”

t.       How to help “Inner City Students” to find jobs or to write resume’s

u.      More about “Eight Immortals who created china” e.g. Chen Yuan

v.      What is Better Place doing now days? Shah Agassi firm

w.    Read more about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singularity_Is_Near The Sigularity is near by Ray Kurzweil

x.      Find and Study more about http://credibility.stanford.edu/ , a very interesting project

y.      Read more about Icarus Paradox

                                                    i.     http://blogs.hbr.org/vermeulen/2009/03/businesses-and-the-icarus-para.html

                                                   ii.     http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1038/is_n1_v35/ai_11874512/

2.      Books

a.      The roots of American civilization by Curtis Putnam Nettels

b.      Why we lie – by Dorothy Rowe

c.      http://www.amazon.com/No-Bodys-Perfect-Self-Acceptance-Identity/dp/0439426383

d.      Mapreduce algorithm

                                                    i.     Blue Arc

                                                   ii.     Aster Data

                                                  iii.     Green Plum

e.      100 years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez,

f.       Who is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger - why do I have his name as to be studied?

g.      The end of print by David Carson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Carson_(graphic_designer))

h.      Siddharth Deshmukh :=> http://smalljoysunlimited.blogspot.com/

i.       http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/books/2010041548162.htm The illegitimate Tree by sharda sunder

Enjoy the random stuff :-)

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!

Transition Blues #17 - A generation passing away!

Trimbak Jogdeo – my grand-father-in-law passed away few weeks ago, he was a throat cancer patient and the cancer was detected quiet late. Remembering him over last few weeks forced me to realize a generation - that established what India is today- moving away from all of us.
A staunch RSS (Rashtriya Swayanksevak Sangh – a true grass-root organization in India) activist, very moralistic supporter of "The Indian Cause", somebody who has seen jail-walls from inside during Emergency Days (India Gandhi’s reaction to loss of power and control – anybody remembers?).
He was fiercely independent. I remember at age 90, even as a cancer patient, he still washed his own clothes. He lived a true Gandhian minimalist life – a very strange thing to see in today’s world focused one excesses. He visited us in USA with 1 Shoulder Bag – 2-3 kurte and 2 pieces of Dhoti compared to my bag today, HUGE checked in luggage, still not sufficient.
I remember him for his daily exercises, no matter what. He came to meet us in USA, after a lot of cajoling; he still performed daily yoga throughout journey in US. Here I need Gym, personal trainer and a dietician. :-)
He never gained weight – how can he? He knew the amount he needs to sustain and live happily. He never ate more than once a day – unless necessary. The only luxury I remember him having was – coffee; A good coffee – made in Indian way – more flavor than Caffeine. He was a big believer of Indian-ness of all sorts – never used Colgate or any commercial soap – everything natural.
Ajoba was the last remaining link to the pre-independent days; the next generation in his family has not really done much except Pratima my wife. I always wonder what he felt towards the end, I believe he would not have had any questions – he must have left everything to Karma – everybody pays what is in their Bhagya. We all will miss that generation – may not be now, but when we will be old enough, we will realize it.

Transition Blues #16: Living with parents #2

The living with parents is very interesting and advantageous situation if USA returnee can manage to adjust. Today, I do not have to worry about anything in house – my father keeps himself busy by finding best deals in the market for everything he wants. He is a HUGE fan to "Reliance Fresh – the grocery chain", knows the shop and deal schedule inside out and enjoys running the house again. He even buys anything that he sees fits his lifestyle and our needs, he is having a blast in buying things e.g. He boughta Flour Mill - he is using it in the house, experimenting with different fortified flours - as per the Yogic lifestyle. :-)

We can do our work/job with a clear conviction that my mother will take care of Kids whe we are busy. My son has grown fond of my parents to a very large extent. Their interaction is funny at worst and a blast at best. They like and enjoy being with each other, I am sure Omkar can not imagine living without his grandmother. My mother is also enjoying taking care of him.

I can think of travelling as much as my job needs, without any worry, I know the house runs without me being around. I know this is being selfish - but it the truth. Certainly there are quirks – you need domestic help that can work with my parents, their style and expectations. It is very DIFICULT to find a Bai (a maid) that can satisfy my mother’s Standard of service. Moreover, my mother is still struggling with adjusting with city Pune – a large city where domestic help is at premium and in demand.
Overall the advantages are more than challenges and quirks, but as I said in earlier post are you ready to give away control? Are you willing to negotiate and adjust at every stage – the independence you are used to in USA?

Transition Blues #15: Back to USA - A short trip #1

I landed in SF Bay area on Thursday this week, while landing on SFO - from San Mateo Bridge, I realized how beautiful the whole area is.

I am nostaligic about the time I spent here, 10 years. Bay area built me into what I am today, the melting pot, the active immigrant community, the interesting activities happening around me were the things I will always crave for. Pune is nowhere closer to Bay area when it comes to the acitivities, peoples willingness to learn new things.

Not sure why, but most of the Indians I met over last few days seem to be tired of 'bad news' and attempting to find more about India and excitement about India. I am also realizing that most of the Indians - the ones non-risk takers, in middle management jobs - are really not sure why they are in USA and what are they doing here. They are worried that they might be missing an opportunity in India. To me, the conversation is depressing, fear is genuine and lack of Conviction to move in Senior Management Position or conviction to start something new is missing from this audience.

It is really strange to deal with this fear, uncertainity on the background of growing, excited Indian environment, this trip is going to be an interesting experience.

Transition Blues #14.5: Living with Parents

Moving to India is something many people are looking for, but very few are prepared to Live with Parents. The struggle one has to go through, is very strange and weird, said and done, the Indians returning from US, are no longer Indians. We all have seen a lot and for us, "Time" is currency and we are willing to Pay for Time. This is where the first struggle starts.

Another situation is that Parents are used to living alone, we are used to live on our terms - specifically in highly automated environment (dishwashers, washing machines). Working together and intermixing the life styles results in interestting issues. For parents, having a clean house, everything organized and not spending "Unnecessary" Money is important, for you time and your indepencence is imporatant. It is very troubling conflict that one needs to be prepared to deal with.

Moreover, the issue about who is the boss, surfaces again! For your family, for your kids, for your wife, the flexibility parents offer is very valueable, but are they willing to adapt is the issue? Are they willing to handle the limitations living with parents put on you is very imporant?

We are adjusting in our family, we do have blow-ups, I would say once in every few months, I blow the lid. I am attemting to control, but I am accepting the fact that I have changed so much, my expectations have changed so much, that I have to live with what I get.

More on this topic later,

Transition Blues #14: Credit Cards and Issues

India is booming with credit card companies, you can pretty much get a $3000/- (Approx INR 1.5 Lakh) with just a job. People hawk credit cards forms on the road and will do anything to get you signed.

Today I became vicitm of Credit Collection Agency in India. This is second instance, but the trend in the behavior is alarming.

I received a call from HDFC collection department, demanding me to pay Rs. 1260/- immediately (In Hindi - Abhi ke Abhi, nahi to dekho) and started abusing language. The most alarming part is the supervisor - another Joshi (Ajinkya Joshi) was worse than this person Siddharth.

Last 2 hours, I have been trying to trace somebody responsible who can take any action, but alas, no progress. BTW, I have to yet receive the statement these guys are claiming I should be paying.

I have been reading about lack of respect for customer with Indian banks, specifically ICICI bank, but HDFC bank is also in the same league.
Basically, old Indian Jamindari (Landlord) culture teaches people to not respect peasants - so in this case I am a peseant who has credit card from HDFC- Landlord.

This is so distrubing that I am ready to pull out all my money from this bank, but do not know if others are better.

Thought you all might find this interesting, I will keep you posted about my progress with the bank.