New year and Resolutions

Come New Year, every year, year after year, some of us indulge in making resolutions as to how the next year is going to be! This is widely criticized as “ a one-time activity never revisited; or not taken seriously at all or being made only by those who cannot crisis manage”. Though they are not completely void of facts, still there are valid reasons for one to make some resolutions.

Primarily it enables one to review his shortcomings, consolidate the wish list and prioritize them into resolutions. On top of all these is the laudable act of one’s willingness & desire to go over the past and plan for the days ahead.  Only those who still aspire to bring their wayward activities into a constructive path, tend to indulge in such soul-searching jobs. It also shows that he does not want to give up on his past missed goals or shortcomings or failures and rephrase them into firmer resolutions for the next year. If one is so sincere, then he will also be ashamed that some of the resolutions are repeating year after year and that could egg him on to correct the same on top priority so that it is ensured that this does not find a place in the resolutions for next year. 

This activity of reviewing your acts or inactivity is expected of every individual and make periodical  course corrections in your life. But, as a matter of routine, say monthly, we will never do such a review as it becomes similar to the monthly review with our boss, which we loathe to attend. So, we need an occasion to make this and conveniently, we chose this as a new numerical year rolls over. Whether it is from Jan to Dec or from June-May, we will never really care as we need only a period of time. One has never heard of Deepavali resolutions or Pongal or Independence day or even birthday resolutions though these also come only once a year. May be following suite of the world we adopt this date, which is also universal. I am not going to become regionally parochial and advocate Tamil New Years Day resolutions . Let us not bother about the day so far as the outcome is beneficial to the progress of the individual, I am for it.

So, go head and in the remaining few days of the year, mull over the past resolutions, happily tick over those fulfilled – I am ever an optimist- and create newer ones for the year on the horizon. So far as the new resolution is “not to make any more resolutions” any resolution which makes you firmer and happy is welcome.

Just to help you in case you need, some popular new year resolutions that are also consistently not maintained are:

• Lose Weight and Get Fit
• Quit Smoking
• Learn Something New
• Eat Healthier and Diet
• Get Out of Debt and Save Money
• Spend More Time with Family
• Travel to New Places
• Be Less Stressed
• Volunteer
• Drink Less

"Suicidal" Thoughts

Age, like cricket is a great leveler  As you travel - down the years- your perspective, your outlook changes and you can view everything from different elevations giving different dimensions. I have seen and heard of few suicides in my life. Some of the souls I remember who decided to cut short their lives were many Tamil Actress like Shobha, Viji, Smitha recently a comedian, Director GV, Son of my Bro's friend who killed his near and dear ones and shot himself in U.S, a relative of mine and recently that of the husband of the popular carnatic musician in Tamilnadu.

Much is being said about the departed souls as cowards, irresponsible and fleeing from reality etc., As mentioned every attempt brings out a different feeling from the onlookers and I feel it depends on one's maturity  It is true that fleeing from reality is very close to irresponsibility but then one also has to get into other's shoes (coffins?)  to undergo the extreme pain of ending one's life. There could be some who were maintaining carefully a certain facade, which they might have felt that, if unveiled could expose their real face! There are some who could not digest the transformation of their near and dear ones. There are some due to unmanageable commitments. Some with marital discards……. In short depression, loneliness, failure, impulsiveness or mistakes seem to be some of the major causes driving to suicide.

The attempter must also ponder about the consequences of a failed attempt.There are various methods used such as fire, electricity, drowning, jumping, Gunshot and hanging which when fail leaves a  debilitating effect on your body and a more frustrating and angered relatives around you.

More than anything the trauma that one leaves behind for the family is pathetic and excruciating for the family members. Imagine a kid returning home from school to find that a parent has gone without leaving any clue for the child to understand!! Writer Sujatha used to quote often that suicide is a momentary lapse of confidence, moment of anger, moment of tit-for-tat and in all a 'momentary madness'. People who have failed or been saved from suicides have gone on record that they many not even think of committing such self defeating act ever again. But, being slowly driven to helplessness and orphaned feeling are definite symptoms to watch out. People who have these tendencies normally give out some clue, like the thieves who always leave some clue as there are no perfect crimes.

Theists on the one hand have strong conviction that all acts are from Him but choose to inflict on them this ignominy only by themselves  For long I was never worried about death because I was of the opinion that after death we may not be there to enjoy or suffer. But a browsing of Garuda Puranam dented my comfort area by narrating the harsher punishments meted out to those who choose to take God's allocation upon themselves.

To escape pain, agony, insults and failures one choose this path normally. But then again there are theories propounding that death is also as painful as ever and it also leaves one with the same nothing when he leaves as he arrived. Unfortunately these are all surmises and interpretations that some has made as we have no means of getting a first hand LIVE report from anyone dead!!

I feel it is foolhardy to attempt thwarting this at the last moment. Like cancer, the early symptoms are to be watched and addressed.

After all let us think about so much of happiness, virtues we are blessed with compared to our less fortunate brethren and one will certainly think twice before taking this extreme step. Life has got so much- to learn, to enjoy, to give and to realize. Why then should we take this unusual step of "Self murder" as my friend Bosskey used to say!!

Bracing up for the Appraisal!

Come January the annual performance appraisal system kicks up and the process keep winding strenuously with the pitch peaking anywhere between March and April depending upon the organizations' practices. This is only the time frame for the formal process to set in and peak but it would be foolhardy if the individual also wake up in Feb. For them, the appraisal starts on the first day of Jan, every year, year after year.  With some good planning and discipline, this could be converted as a pleasant and learning experience by all.

Basic input for an appraisal stems from one's daily activities and it is recommended to maintain a simple spreadsheet detailing all activities-  kudos, learning, training attended / taken, customer feedback, out of the box thoughts and efforts, absence etc.,  Also collect separately additional responsibilities you have taken such as internal audit, Defect prevention, Configuration Management, Information Security, Interviews etc., Built on a daily basis this could be a huge repository into which you can dig deep and create your own KRAs which is normally the first step in the appraisal process, in addition to the organizational expectation suitable to the role. Also note to stash the appreciations from various stakeholders in a safe location.

During the self rating period, all these inputs have to be referred so that during the appraisal discussion with your supervisor, you will be in a position to substantiate all your claims.

Apart from the expected increase in the salary and a possible promotion, the appraisal process brings out the best and the worst of an individual. Much depends on one's individual character, expectations and reasonableness in how the process is driven and led to the closure. But, one needs maturity to expect one's other side pried wide open, as seen only by your appraiser, who views your performance along with many others vis-a-vis the expectations. I feel this is the best part of the whole process which paves the way for a better performance in the subsequent year, if taken in its true sense.

Relationship between the appraiser & appraisee has seldom been smooth in reality. One could always witness & experience bruised minds, hurt egos and swearing but at the end one must rise above the occasion to get the better of the situation.

Remember the following during the whole process:

1.       Appraisal is an opportunity for you to present your deeds of the previous year.

2.       It also helps one to review their shortcoming, which creates awareness on the areas one has to work on.

3.       Be positive prior to the discussions with your appraiser and never open the meet with pre conceived notions-they may perhaps be the ghosts only in your mind.

4.       Listen carefully to the observations of your supervisor before reacting.

5.       Even if the observations are widely varying with your own, keep your calm and request the supervisor to substantiate his observations.

6.       Then present your side of the story, using the spreadsheet you have as a support to your claims, wherever necessary.

7.       Your supervisor is expected to provide you with an opportunity to express yourself about his/her leadership. If not done, politely insist that you have something to share and then proceed.

8.       Despite all the efforts, if the differences persist, close the meeting as friends and make it clear that you will be recording your disagreement on the observations.

9.       If the observations are wide apart and you genuinely feel that they could impact your career, prefer to opt for the "Review  Meeting" with the boss of your supervisor

10.   Never allow your disappointing appraisal to impact your work the next day.

God and the goddamn slips

I am at war with God !

Yes with doctors whom the suffering treat as Gods. The experience and incidences I am hearing about some of them are prompting me to take up against them, though I have the greatest respect for this ilk. This admiration has not a bit diminished, as even some months back I made a post in my blog "Gods in White Coats". But the recent incidents have shaken me as to how callous some doctors could be.

Sometime in the 90s my friend had a complex fracture in his hand from a bike skidding and had metal plates inserted. After 15 years when he was having some disturbances with minor pain, a local orthopedic, suggested removal of those plates and even fixed the date for surgery. Providentially, when he took a second opinion with another popular ortho, he was shocked to know that the removal of the plates was not possible as bone has grown over them. It should have been removed within 2 years else to be left as it is. Any attempt to remove them now will only result in crushing the newly formed bones, thereby making him a permanently disabled person without his hand, he was told.

Another relative who had undergone an angioplasty went for the first consultation after his discharge from the hospital. While the doctor prescribed the correct medicines, the assistant who wrote the prescription gave the medicine name wrongly thus omitting the vital "Aspirin" component. His son accidentally (fortunately?)  noticed the slip and brought it to the notice of the doctor whose first reaction was to ask them to rush back to the hospital and destroy the wrong prescription, a vital piece of evidence had things gone wrong.

Few years back when my brother undertook a routine complete medical checkup, the attending doctor reading the reports said there was a hazy spot in one of the X Rays and 'if he is interested and can afford it' he could go for further tests. Since the option was given to him he chose to skip further tests.

Another friend had some urinary problems in 2007 and took a scan from a 'Nationally' well known scan center which suggested some cancerous growth. The urologist who studied the scan somehow chose to or was negligent in reading the report properly with the result the finding went unattended.  Now in 2012, when he went for a routine checkup the doctor sat up on seeing the 2007 report and urged him to get a scan done immediately. To the relief of everyone, particularly the doctor, the results were 'benign'. He then went on to 'advice' not to take scans in that particular center as the reports about that was not good. That he was silent on why he did not react then is a different issue.

The same 'National . . .' scan Lab mixed up the report of my brother and delivered a combo report with the top page of his and the rest of the pages of a different patient. When the faux pas was detected only by a family member, the lab said' Sorry' !!

In all the above cases, Doctor's/Hospital's / Lab's negligence was at the centre despite a huge bill being sucked up from the patient.

What if he had gone ahead with an attempt to remove the plates? His bones would have crumbled and he would be a permanently disabled person.

What if the attendant has not noticed the absence of administering of Aspirin/Disprin for a heart patient? I leave it to the doctors' learned mind to imagine the consequences. I am more shocked by the cunningness of the doctor in procuring the slip back and destroying it, to cover his back.

The failure of the doctor in not insisting on an immediate follow-up resulted in my brother's death due to lung cancer! If the complete medical check results are not analyzed and patient not advised on the followup action  what is the purpose of undergoing such checks other than filling up the coffers of the hospital?

What if the cancerous growth maliciously warned by the lab report was true? The patient would not have gone for the next checkup in 2012, as he would have gone forever.

How can a lab center afford to provide incorrect medical report and also negligent in mixing up the reports? 

What is the recourse of the innocent patients who could only pay and go for medical checkups?

When I was lamenting with these thoughts, my learned nephew who works for an insurance major tells me that in countries like US, there are policies for liabilities under 'errors and omissions' committed by professionals such as doctors. Not sure whether doctors in India are aware of this or chose to be blissfully ignorant. Is it not time to make it mandatory for them to explore such avenues for compensations in case of liabilities due to negligence? But, in the case of loss of life and debilitating diseases such as cancer . . . .??  God help the patients. When people treat the doctors as 'Gods in White Coats' its time they realize the expectations and deliver more responsibly. 

In the light of such disturbing revelations, would it be impertinent to suggest that such doctors read daily the Oath of Hippocrates  whereby they 'promise to preserve life and act in the best interest of the patient'? 

"'Tete-a-Tete" at IIT, Madras

I had always enjoyed interacting with those looking for changes, particularly jobs. It fascinates me to learn what the anxious minds look for, the great expectations, their beliefs, their convictions which at times are misplaced, their plans in deriving their paths and their efforts towards these. Its all the more pleasing when people are willing to look for guidance and have the right mindset to adapt themselves in pursuit of their goal!

One such opportunity came knocking at my doors, when  Technobankers, a group of Bankers with IT world experience  , was approached by IIT, Madras Alumni Association to conduct a mock interview to their final year students and provide feedback on their performance, suitability and preparedness of their venture into the Finance and Banking sector. In view of my association with Technobankers as a consultant, I was offered the chance to interact and I accepted it with happiness, anxiety and some thoughts.

I had handled hundreds of interviews for different positions at different levels but I was aware that this was a different kettle of fish. I was aware that I need not be concerned about their technical excellence about which I am not even aware of. Their technical skill are already proven which has been rewarded by their berth in the Institution. Taking this burden off my mind enabled me to focus better on my assigned task. These folks are expressing their intention to make forays into my familiar areas and so was I interested. After some introspection and brainstorming with another learned and successful friend, I had the defined parameters handy and when I reached the verdant venue, I had a clear strategy to serve the expectations.

In the time assigned, I could speak to around ten candidates from different streams and each one was an experience. I happened to interact with some very alert guys who had clearly defined their ambitions sometime back and were already on the job. This was easy meat for me and my job was narrowed down in identifying the specific shortfalls, for them to work on. There were some from as divergent stream as Metallurgy and Civil and my challenge was laid bare there as I had to delve deep to make them introspect  why they wanted to take a deviated path. But, to the credit of all, everyone was somewhat aware of their current state of preparedness, had some reasons for swinging from their line and were keen & willing to listen to the feedback. When some new thoughts were deliberately tossed up, they were quick to realize the potential and in no time enlarged the same- they just flowered with the ideas. Of course, this was not unexpected as I was dealing with some All India Rank holders in the range of 500 to 1400!

I also had my share of surprises when some were found carrying doubts and uncertainties which are no different from others. It was here I felt we could pitch in and contribute more. As usual, whether it is interviewing for a Developer or Test Lead or Test Manager my experiences are always wonderful and this time interviewing techies from IIT was no different. I was happy that I could provide some guidance and also pick up few things from the Interaction.

During a break, I observed the calm and excellent green shaded campus resembling a serene sleeping Dal lake. I know that daytime is not the right hour and the real tigers will be on prowl late in the night and anything appealing to the intellect will be devoured with passion. The Alumni association had made elaborate arrangements for the event and the General Manager of IITMA defied the expectations based on his gruff voice with a nice manner and played an excellent host. 

When I drove out of the campus after a feast of time with the students and a real good lunch from the organizers, my heart was as full as my stomach - with good satisfaction of having guided some young future entrepreneurs of brighter genre.  When I braked at a signal, I glanced at the books given by IITMA, one of which read "The Second Last Bencher" and smiled . People vie for the last bench in IITs too !!

When I read in newspapers that in today's campus interview there were 90+  organizations chasing the students who were busy moving across 60 interview rooms, I sent a silent wish to the folks I met;  that they land up in the job of their expectations ! I am sure most of them will.

Tete-a-Tete: A private conversation or interview, usually between two people. 

                   From French, meaning “head to head.”

Delivering without pain

Ever since I started relaxing away from official chores two years back, I have been attending quite a number of lectures- some on social topics, some on religion, on sale of insurance &  some on subjects like banking , software testing, cyber crime and on a myriad other matters. Some of these were delivered so well that I got riveted to the speaker and was left with very little time even to observe other trivia. But, some are so lethargic and in such a monotone that the trivia suddenly loomed larger than the topic. The worst was from presentations beamed on screen and a voice reading all the contents, without any emotions (like "Floods in Bihar " in the erstwhile Films Division newsreel in Cinema theaters , without additional inputs and least of all concern for the audience. At times, I had to rudely shake myself and struggle to realize where I was and come back to this mortal world!

To make matters worse, those that were more unprofessional were mostly from the erudite with elite background. I was reminded of my brother's saying "The more scholarly a person is , the more he struggles to teach students, as he finds to difficult to come down to their level".

Some months back, a senior bank executive was just quoting the extracts of the Book of Instructions from his bank, which every bank staff is aware of!

Last month, a criminal lawyer was defining the basic law points from his slide which again lulled the audience into a blissful sleep!

On the other hand, I was fortunate to hear a senior Supreme Court judge, nicely elucidating from few points on the screen and bringing out points relevant to the subject.

Here, the religious exponents perform better as they always manage to bring different connotations of the same epics!

As they say, experience makes a man perfect and my takeaways from these sessions are:

• Do not clutter your slide with paragraphs of text.
• Follow the 8 by 8 rule in a slide- each slide to have 8 bullet points and each bullet not more than 8 words
• Never read every point from the slide
• Give only indicators as points over which one has to expand.
• Do not reproduce the definitions on a slide, unless the contents are absolutely essential for the topic; Unless you have something to add on, never quote the basics
• Speaker must attempt to provide more information around each point. If he has nothing to elaborate on, just leave the point there, as everyone is capable of reading
• Prepare the presentation with pleasing and printable colors.  Do not have jarring colors which does not go well when projected or printed.
• Animations are kid stuff and are a strict 'No No'
• The only sound should be from the speaker's voice box and not from the slide unless the intention it to shake the audience out of their slumber
• Request someone to handle your presentation on the laptop , wherever possible , so that you could focus on the lecture
• Have a pointer instead of touching the screen with hands
• Last but not the least, it's not only a good habit to start on time but also finish on the stipulated time

On the other hand, if the speaker opts to go extempore without any presentations, let him be well prepared with the points, sequence and flow. Else, he would land up in a situation where a speaker started speaking and could not proceed beyond the words " I conceive". When repeated attempts from the audience failed to energize him, a wag commented " Well, the speaker conceived many times, but failed to deliver" !!

'Landmark' visit

After a gap of some months went to Landmark at Citi Centre, looking for a birthday gift for my brother. The entrance itself was enchanting with a colorful display of books and the whole place smelled like a perfumed car interior. The buffet of a riot of books was too much to digest as the bookstore was wearing a new look with the popular Tamil books occupying the front rows.

After so many years, I was surprised to see the full dialogue book of the Rudriah movie 'அவள் அப்படித்தான் '.  More prominent was the presence of the recent sensation on "Rajiv Assasination' by the erstwhile SIT official Ragothaman. Amongst the usual heaps of Sujatha & Balakumaran, what I noticed as different was the mushrooming of every popular book translated in Tamil. I could see Robin Sharma, Rangarajan of Infinithoughts & also many self development books but the one that stopped me on my tracks was ' யார் என் சீசை நகர்த்தியது'- an exact translation of "Who moved my Cheese"- It was difficult not to be reminded of Junoon & also suppress a laugh!

But, along with the colorful wrapper the prices were also prohibitive; perhaps the publishers have included the overall costs also liberally. Saw a medium sized book 'Make or Break" and while I was making up my mind, the cost broke my thought & also my back and I hastily moved to the next rack!!

Surprised to see some Dummies book after a long long time - this time not for Windows and Internet, but for Social networking, Blogging & a separate one for LinkedIn!! It was difficult to resist travelling back to those days of 'Dummies'.

I was disappointed not to get either of the books I was angling for - 'Road less Traveled'  & Parthibhan's Kavithaigal- both out of stock.

A visit to Landmark will not be complete without browsing through the maze of CDs and the host of stationery items where the old time 'Maths notebook' which we used to buy for Rs 2.50 was priced at Rs 25/-. But still, I could not help have a feel of the smooth pages before leaving with a book of Sudoku for my bro. Considering the cost of the articles inside , still the car parking fees of Rs 30/- was much less and I wonder when this will also be jacked up  - a price that the reading habit has to pay !

While I was wondering about the increasing prices of books and driving on the R.K.Salai, I was shocked to see the turbaned and heavily silk swathed bridegroom on a horseback in front of a popular marriage hall being unceremoniously thrown off the mule's back, as it was clearly overwhelmed by the crowd and loud music. Though it was very disturbing to see the Mappillai in such a posture, it was fortunate that he did not sustain any major injury, as he hastily got up to cover the embarrassment. Hope the boy takes it in his stride and does not feel being thrown off the pedestal even before the marriage!

Some reqd skills to come on TV

Discussion sessions in TV during prime time has become the order of the day, be there a bomb blast or stampede or an approaching parliament session or a global incident. There is no reason required to have such sessions and if there are no such incidents, people will still discuss on "what is going to follow this unusually quite phase of eerie silence". Though almost on the same lines one does not require any special skills to participate in the same, there are some qualities that could enable one to be chosen ahead of others for participation. What are these? 

My one rupee worth of thoughts:

1. Must be capable of putting up a smile even when you are being crucified
2. Rock like belief in your side's stand , even though you are not personally convinced
3. Must always refer to the Guru/author/creator of your group in the most revered terms, quite often during the discussions
4. Must draw parallel anecdotes, mostly not connected & tangential to the current topic of discussion
5. Before disagreeing with the other participant, always talk high about him/her and then say directly opposite views
6. Never pay heed to the words of the anchor or others and wake up only when you want to speak.
7. Most importantly, must always talk in a voice above others and NEVER NEVER stop when others are trying to answer your points or question you- Keep talking.
8. Only cite the words of other people who are not alive
9. The more irritated you are,  more wider you should be able to sport a grin
10. Erase the word 'Logic' from your mind and also attempt to into others

Glad that I don’t qualify on any count above

Celebrate with Optimism !

Have you ever wondered how many around us continue to do what they have been doing despite the hiccups, failures and pitfalls? It's encouraging to see so many around spread the power of HOPE amongst us.

The ever optimistic sun raises everyday with the hope that it is bringing cheer to others. The expectant lotus is not disappointed & blooms with a blush.

The supportive moon hangs around for some time, so that in case the sun oversleeps, people are not deprived of light!

The birds hid themselves in the tree near my balcony, when the 'NILAM' cyclone was battering Chennai, in the HOPE that the sun will rise soon. And when it did, they came out to chirp stronger & louder.

Despite the rising petrol prices, people still book and wait for their favorite cars- in the belief that someday either the petrol price will come down or their salaries will be increased to meet it.

Despite everyday's threat as the concluding part of news about the steep climb of bullion rates, serpentine queues are seen at popular jewellery shops. Some are optimistic they could encash later while others believe they are buying before the next hike.

Despite losing his patient the previous day, Doctors appear at the hospitals in spotless white coats, hoping that they could save the next one.

Despite a 'lost cause' medical report, the attendants wait with bated breath, while the Doctor examines the patient- Hope!

Even after the iron chain snaps, 'Malaviya' ship prepared for the next tug of Pratiba Cauvery at Chennai Marina -Hope!

After unseating the party in the last elections, people elect a new group in the HOPE that they will perform better!

Despite giving a close race, people of US gave another chance in the HOPE of a better phase this time!

Despite fairing badly and getting unseated, the lost party still battles and keep the party afloat in the HOPE that they will have their day soon.

Despite a poor rating and a nasty verbal duel with the boss over appraisal, the employee is back before the system and continues the job in the HOPE that he will be given a better deal next year

Despite a laughable paunch, the walker on the Marina beach sweats himself in the HOPE …..

Despite a few arrears in the last exams, guys at the street corner reassemble as usual in the HOPE that March & September alternate and they will have their day soon.

Despite its known problems, people still throng IRTCTC site in the HOPE that they will be lucky this time!!

The whole world around us is hopeful and nobody has resigned himself to the mercy of destiny.

On this festival of lights, when some celebrate the destruction of evil, let us also celebrate. It's time for us to be optimistic, as the whole world around is so optimistic.

Let us HOPE that - this day will mark a new beginning, will make people more happy, will make my sick relative recover, will make my son an Engineer, will see my daughter get married, …..

Amongst all these HOPES let us enjoy a thing that is certain - that we are HAPPY today.

Season's Greetings and Best wishes!

Hour of joy !

Around festivals, vacations, marriage etc., the mind automatically switches to a joyous mood in anticipation of things to come. Right from the weekend to the festivals, I feel the mind celebrates more in preparation of the moment rather than the moment itself.

While at the office, my mind started to relax after that important weekly review meet on Friday afternoons and the seemingly bigger challenges are warded off to Monday, which is two days away! The sight of people leaving early silently, the mounds of backpacks stashed at the entrance, people in their casuals - all indications of the spring to come and the sparrows would warm up their wings deep inside my heart. However late I come in, when I switch on the special dim light around the dining table for a relaxed dinner with a soft tune on my lips, my family knows its weekend time. After I quit office, I see my daughter doing this and couldn't conceal my smile!

Years back when I used to prepare the crackers list many times over and over again, before presenting the final demands to my dad, it was more of a celebration time than the actual Diwali!

Around vacation, the preparatory activities, the planning, trouping to the railway station for booking tickets in the pre IRCTC era and the eve of the departure when the whole house will be packing, it was joy all around. I remember the eve of our family's Varanasi's tour in 1996, when the house looked like as though we were preparing to vacate the house.

When I purchased my first Siva PC in 1988 at an astronomical price of Rs 25000/- , I could not sleep the previous night as I kept dreaming as to how I could do all things that I was doing at the training school!

Prior to the booking of our new dream apartment, we kept on discussing for days, planning customization  exclusive places for our pet activities and articles. It was days worth remembering.

The night before I actually got the appointment order for my dream job, which was a lifetime ambition, I hardly slept. I was spreading & smelling so much joy, the smile was on open display on all faces in the house.  

I feel the days preceding the celebrations are more enjoyable than the D Day itself. So, enjoy the days before Diwali with crackers, sweets, friends and family. Let the light of hope, camaraderie, prosperity & health,  prevail all over the world! 

Happy Diwali !

Noise over Diwali noise

Come Diwali the noise about the noise of crackers in more pronounced as though it is being realized only now. Every year there are some objections to people firing crackers at night, authorities stipulating some norms and warning people of violations. It kills the joy out of celebration and festivals. It was so pronounced that few years back when some self styled guardians of public safety suddenly appeared before our apartment complex on a motorcycle, lighted a firecracker and just threw into the compound and sped away ! Their way of punishing the 'wrongdoers'!!

I do agree there has to be some reservations, restrictions and norms for firing crackers but should this be taken to extremes? After all it is a festival celebrated across major parts of the nation and should be respected atleast for its decades of observance. Have we suddenly realized that the noise levels are above the permissible levels of decibels? No user checks for the limitations or its violations when they use it. In which case, why can't such crackers be banned at the manufacturing point itself? Same is the case with pollution levels too. Please impose whatever restrictions that are required for people's welfare but don’t put the onus of its implementation on the users and shirk away from the authorities' responsibilities.

In every community, every religion and every belief there are few days when the celebrations / observance exceeds noise levels and are slightly on the higher side. I feel this must be tolerated. Otherwise how can one explain as to why should the public tolerate the noise of loudspeakers and crackers during election time. What about the unnecessary honking of horn by vehicles on the roads restricted due to hospitals and schools? Are all such vehicles being booked? What about narrow streets and street corners where there are speakers fitted for public meetings which disturb old people and students right from 5 PM upto near midnight?

Let us allow the children to celebrate and enjoy before they embark on the serious years of education, profession, family, money, worries, tension & stress. In their later years they will re-live the short periods of celebrations, which let us not kill.

In a society, there could be occasional acceptable excesses and with a better understanding they could be tolerated. It is such tolerance that has brought India, a nation of such diverse culture and beliefs to this great stature. It is amusing to find people suddenly waking up to these as such humongous hindrances and raise a big hue and cry, whipping up passions. Tolerance is the keyword for co-existence.

Doubts over US Elections

Recently concluded Presidential elections in United States, have raised some doubts. Request some American voter to clarify pl:

1. Was there agents' booth at every street corner, which distributed voter slip to the voters at their doorstep?
2. Was a line painted on the road before 100 meters of the polling booth?
3. While scores were waiting to caste their vote, was any prominent politician given preference to walk into the booth and vote ahead of others?
4. Were autos transporting voters from their house to the polling booths?
5. More importantly, were any voters dropped back at their house after casting the vote?
6. Were autos & taxis zipping fast as the closing time of election approached?
7. How many were turned back, as their names were not found in the voters list with the booth?
8. Was any voter shocked to know that his vote has already been caste?
9. Was an indelible black ink was used to mark the person voted?
10. Were any illegal voters arrested?
11. How many booths were captured?
12. At how many booths, reelections have been ordered?
13. Were schools, Colleges & offices closed for the day?
14. Was there any violence near the counting venue?
15. Were any sops given to the voters such as gold ornaments inside Laddus?
16. Were the symbols of the candidates - Donkey & Elephant- paraded for the voters to get familiarized?
17. Were there any challenge votes?
18. Has the result been contested by the vanquished?
19. Has the vanquished asked for an enquiry into the poll suspecting malpractices?
20. Was there any advertisement/appeals in TV urging people to vote as it is their right?

 Just for the sake of clarification to compare with other big democracies !!

Software Testing - Time to shrug off that slumber ?

Sometime back I was invited to a Chennai city college to deliver a lecture on Software testing to an audience of senior students and faculty of computer science department. During the course of the session I was surprised to realize that not many in the group were aware of 'Software Testing', as a concept, barring some studies on the topic as part of their curriculum. Later few weeks back, when I again faced a similar audience at a college in deeper Tamilnadu I learnt that they have also not heard much about it. Earlier my own nephew who has been working in an IT major was putting up a long face and was about to break down narrating as to how  he has been 'unceremoniously' shifted to a Testing project after having worked so long in development , which he was obviously enjoying. The above in a nutshell summarize the awareness or the lack of it about software testing among people who matter.

Initially it was rather shocking to realize how a potential area such as software testing could be considered so low and how some could afford to be even ignorant about its relevance and importance. Some reading and searching revealed that the problem does not lie with a single entity but at a larger level.  

On joining an organization, various emerging technologies and platforms attract the young freshers and the crowd gets sucked like a fly to an oil sheet. Only the leftovers, which have little choice, are allocated to testing. Thus, this part of the life cycle has somehow acquired a dubious distinction of "last Choice".  In the 1970s anyone joining a bank branch will first be allocated to the dispatch section and people used to feel low about it. The testing situation is akin to it though bankers later realized that dispatch is the most important point of entry and exit where one can learn and be updated about all communications of the branch!

No job is mean and particularly if the software majors are investing and allocating huge revenue for Testing Services as exclusive business units, should one not think about the importance of such an opportunity? Where are we missing the bus, how to dispel the misnomer and attract the best of talents to this elite practice?

The Industry, Training institutes and the Academia have major roles to play here. 

Taking the last first, at the academic level, testing as a concept is yet to be recognized as its potential as job earner has not been realized and thus the whole concept sadly fail to catch the eye of the syllabus makers. Testing is just being touched upon only in a couple of chapters at the college level. Here too, the focus seems to have been only from the perspective of clearing the exams and getting an engineering degree and not from the vocational perspective.

Even century old Universities have curriculum which carries only questions worth 16 marks. Students can easily browse through these chapters from some popular books and if they choose to , can even conveniently opt to omit the same if they are confident of other options!  This myopic approach is bound to cost our students dear in terms of job options. Also, if this negligence is the result of an ill conceived notion that a developer need not be aware of the nuances of testing, then we are in for serious trouble. Certainly this is not the way to prepare the students for an industry which as per NASSCOM is expected to earn India around $ 15 billion @ by 2020 (http://m.businesstoday.in/story/are-software-testing-firms-worth-joining/1/184788.html)

At the Industry level, IT companies, as part of Initiation & later at induction levels, should have exclusive sessions on promoting this practice by underlying the benefits such as multiple domain exposure in quick time, better travel opportunities , to name a few.  No doubt, some are already into it but then clearly there seems to be more room for improvement considering the hesitation among the entrants to the testing practice. HR could also be directed to look deeper into the feedback through the exit interviews and provide crucial stats on attrition due to dissatisfaction on testing assignments. Organizations must also review periodically their policies and liberalize the awards and incentives doled out to those who acquire certifications and exhibit additional efforts to specialize in Testing. These initiatives are to be so humongous that they should create healthy competition and provoke entrants to opt testing ahead of others. When such practices erupt, the real impact and importance will be felt across the aspirants.

The Training Institutes which provide considerable number of trained Test engineers to the Industry always starved of testers have a good opportunity to prove their worth and have a greater role to play. They have the whole field before them, but only few have grabbed it so far.

Compared to the other two, the training institutes' choices are more complex but then so are their opportunities. On the one hand they need to sharpen their course content to attract the talent and lure them to the testing arena. On the other hand, they also should focus on how to make their candidates surge ahead of others and make them stand out as 'winning candidates'.

Their course coverage no doubt includes the basic concepts and requirements for one to start his/her testing career. But, when one competes against lakhs, it is necessary to have some differentiators which will provide the candidates the cutting edge to surge and dip their noses across the finish line. In the absence of such differentiators, the list of 'also rans' will continue to accumulate.

Training institutes should think differently and associate more with the Industry to learn about their practices, to be aware of major expectations from and challenges of testing and should modify their training methods accordingly. It is no more sufficient to produce simple testers but if they could provide resources that have an insight into such key challenges and visions to meet them - only such institutions are likely to stand out and be sought after both by the trainees and the industry.  There is also a good scope to design curriculum according to the trainee's line of specialization in the college, so that freshers get more easily attracted towards it. For this, more interactions with the industry and their key resources that create testing opportunities is a must.

That the government is insisting on even public sector units who develop their software in-house to subject themselves to a third party audit and certifications is a welcome indication on awareness and acceptance. So far even some of the IT giants were treating testing as a part of their development team but with the client expectations of an Independent testing team clearance, all organizations bent on quality outputs have started employing such teams as quality gate keepers to bring in better customer satisfaction. Such focus on testing only promises to increase the need for more testers and the above arms should do well to equip them as otherwise, there is every possibility of our friends across the border with enormous resource potential making their foray into this area too!  It's time to shake off the slumber to remain in the race.

What are nationalised banks waiting for ?

Ever since I came to know of them in the 1970s, banks have come a long way. What started off as a safe keeper of your money and the consequent book keeping activities have grown out of everyone's hands and minds to assume a humongous status in the industry. It has not only provided employment to the lakhs who directly work with them, but has also catered to the creation and sustenance of other allied industries such as information technology and communications. At such a rapid growth, one cannot but help a thought - whether its primary objective of safe keeping and lending have become secondary!

On the other hand, are the main pillars of this industry viz., the staff and the customers - happy and satisfied with the journey so far? The banks have come to stay and they shall survive only if these two pillars are strong and intact. Any corrosion or even a trace of fissure on these pillars will have a debilitating impact on this financial edifice.

With the constant increase of client base and an eye on accuracy and security, the government did well to introduce computers, which usurped more than a lion's share of the human work. Allaying the fear and suspicion of the trade unions, a section of which were vehemently opposing the entry of computers into this hitherto human resources dominated industry, the advent of computers only increased the job opportunities at banks. It also enhanced pay packet to the existing personnel and lesser strain for the staff with a promised 'improved efficiency' to the customers. I recall reading recently a tongue-in-cheek comment that "banking industry is the only one of its kind, which got paid more to reduce their work load through computers".

The staff on the one hand continues to be unhappy despite big chunks of sops and largesse. Being in the industry for quiet long, my contacts there are still vibrant enough to pass on such a disturbing message. My association with some of the social networking groups also substantiate this as is evident from the pleadings of the existing staff to quit the nationalized banks at the earliest to join other opportunities! Their grouse - late sitting, defunct software packages, low pay, and lack of growth opportunities … the list goes on.

What one used to do all through the day- posting, extracting, totaling & tallying - the computers have taken over.  When some of the staff goes on leave, others used to shudder particularly during month ends and days after consecutive holidays. But, this has considerably been reduced consequent to the takeover of computers. Of course, a section of the higher echelon has taken the brunt of consequences of computerization but for everyone to say that the work has increased despite computers is amusing.

On the other hand, customers- the real targeted beneficiaries are also fuming, as even their basic requirements are not fully met. There are still banks which ask the customer to come some other day for anything from chequebook to statements to even renewal of fixed deposits. Certainly, I see some attitudinal issues have cropped up and its time the banks conduct motivational training periodically and more regularly. 

What  are normal basic expectations of a customer? Very basic things such as withdrawal and deposit of cash, realisation of local cheques and fixed deposits with periodical interests. With the advent of ATMs, prudent and some educated customers have learnt to avoid branch visits for cash withdrawal and also started using internet banking extensively for other transfers. I was able to successfully keep a distance from my salary account bank for 7 years, thanks to these. But again, not all can be expected to be computer savvy and they still need the basic customer service.

Nationalized Banks in India have become adept in introducing hi-tech banking, rather in a half baked manner. When I requested for a cheque book through online and went after a week to enquire about  it, the official coolly said no one looks at online requests! This is directly in contrast to my salary account private bank which couriered the cheque book within 48 hours of an online request free of cost- do we now get to know why there was no need to visit them for 7 years??

When my friend went to close some of his major fixed deposits, the nationalized bank official did not even care to retain the deposit but had the cheek to ask him to check the savings account after 2 PM. This is because if there are too many deposit closures it will be taken later!! This is atrocious to say the least. Pray tell me why should I, as a customer, care about your availability of staff or work load when the money involved is mine and you are bound to serve in accordance with the rules as per the contract entered at the initiation  of my association with the Bank?

When I queried about the difference in the maturity value of the deposit and actual credited, the official had the cheek to say that by mistake income tax has been deducted and after realizing the mistake and re crediting the same some days have lapsed and hence the difference ! When I insisted that I should not be made to pay for the bank's gaffes, the official wanted a letter requesting to set it right. This again is a cheap and ugly way to mentally tax a customer. The bank has violated the contract and when I insisted on my money, a separate requisition is demanded!!

My mentioning earlier about the 'half baked' computerization at some nationalized banks must have raised some eyebrows. When Internet Banking was subjected to some technical jobs where transactions are not expected to be carried out, the message displayed is technical which a customer shall not understand. Why don't they learn from other reputed and more transacted banks as to how this is done seamlessly without hindering the customer? When an email is sent to the officials, it is not acknowledged or acted upon, as no one sees the email! To escalate the indifference, if the issue is taken up with the top management, as directed by the bank's website, it is shocking that even they do not care to respond. Such a callous indifference of the staff in some nationalized banks. When the Chairman or the Executive Director does not care for the customers, God save the Bank !

When all the facilities and technological support are provided to the nationalized banks, it was only with a noble intention of serving the customers better and trying to match the same of their private bank counterparts which are always few notches above. But, it is shocking that after enjoying the facilities, pocketing some more bucks for reducing the work and also constantly increasing the work force, the main pillars are more disgruntled than ever. Why and for what are the Banks waiting to crack the whip? Private banks are improving their services in leaps and bounds and the exodus of customers has already begun. At this rate, a shakeup from both the authorities and customers will do well to shake the nationalized banks out of their slumber, which has doubled that of Rip Van Winkle!

Testing - new waters

Recently I ventured into an unknown area to test my vocabulary and answer the call to provide a statement not exceeding 11 words to match a given picture, called by the monthly "Infinithoughts". To my surprise one of my 5 responses has been selected as the winning slogan and I have been gifted with a book "Most and More". Happy to share the same with you all, through this post:

Picture:

My winning words:

Ladders

It is heartening to note that year after year more and more people are becoming vocal on their climb to glory and recall their source for the same. Man in his quest for glory and achievement runs a marathon ever since he steps into the school and the lucky ones pause at some point in his career to look back. Not surprisingly, next to one's parents, invariably people recall with gratitude many of their teachers in their schools and colleges as the cause for their positions. Some even extend themselves to identify their own gurus even in their office, the true secret behind their success.

I am no exception and on this day I would like to recollect some of the teachers that come to my mind immediately when I think of my learning years. My earliest memories of my school was Montessori school , which was two houses away from mine in Mylapore. My earliest memory of my teacher is Shymala teacher, Prema teacher and the school HM Kalyani Kutty madam. Honestly, I do not remember what subjects they taught,  but they were more considered as close relatives. I then moved over to Sri Karpagavalli Balica Bala Patasala, a school situated deep within a slum right in the midst of Mylapore. But in standards of 4 and 5, I had the best of mathematics foundation from Shri Krishnaswamy Iyengar.

The formative years of 6th to SSLC, were at P.S High School and I was the first from my family to study in English medium ! How can one summarize the learning under  Meenakshi Sundaram sir, P A Ranganathan sir, Ramabadrachariar Sir, K.N.Jayarama Iyer - an expert in Algebra and Geometry, Manickarathnam Sir- he had the foresight even 40 years ago to warn us " It is a competitive world", PT and Craft teachers.... to name some.

At the A.M. Jain College, where I did my pre university course, the names of Balu sir, Sankara Subramanian, N.Srinivasan sir  and SRS were said with a lion's roar and their classes are always filled to capacity. I can never forget the teaching charm of my Physics professor Sri Krishnamoorthy and the ever smiling Prof Srinivasan , who taught Chemistry. Sanskrit professor Ramadoss Sir was not only good in that language but his English was also equally powerful and attractive.

D.G. Vaishnav College exposed me to many doyens and the vocabulary of Sanskrit Professor Thiruvengadathan is still reverberating within me.  I can still recall his reply when someone commented that his handwriting is better than his colleague- He said "His head inside is better than my hands' exterior".  English professors M/s Vasudevan, P.V.Subramaniam and Srinivsasn really laid the foundation for the passion of that language in me. I remember the enacting of the scene from Thomas Hardy's novel by Prof Vasudevan and the words of 'normally clad in full suit' Prof Subramaniam. The teachings of the likes of M/s Veera raghavan, Sundaram, Seshasayee, Shenoy, Ramasubramaniam, Rajagopalan and Rajappa could never be forgotten. Each one had their own way of imparting education that struck to our mind like a casting on a stone.

I was also fortunate to study under the mathematical giants of M/s Vittal, K.V.Parthasarathy, Raja Sethupathy and HOD Subramanian when I did my Masters from Vivekanandha College. Hats off to these who strengthened my mathematical knowledge and created the interested in teaching , which I did undertake  some years later.

The best teacher I had in my life was my late brother  Professor Muthuveeramani, who started teaching me from my 8th standard, was instrumental in my getting a hundred in my PU and couple of Hundreds in my Bachelors too! His passion for the subject and teaching was contagious and no wonder he had so many students clinging on to him even years after their graduating from the College.

On this Teachers Day, I salute, offer pranams and pay my respects to these teachers, who helped me shape my career.

Having the cake and ........

A controversy is raging across the newspapers and television channels and anchors are burning midnight oil to interpret, misinterpret the rules and provoke the participants. It's all about allowing a student who does not fulfill certain requirements to appear for an exam. If it had been an ordinary student nobody would have cared for a second look, but the student here happens to be the latest cricketing hero - Unmukt Chand, Captain of the Victorious Under19 World Cup Indian Cricket team.

In pursuit of that coveted cup, Unmukt has not been regular to his classes at the prestigious St. Stephens College, Delhi. College, quoting rules is refusing to allow him to appear for the First year exam

A section of the people are up in arms that Unmukt was doing a yeomen service for the country and that he should be supported with extra classes to cope up and write the exams. Some section always hysterical about the game went further that the delinquent skipper must be declared passed even without writing the exams!

College principal, clearly buckling under pressure walked out of a TV talk show not before stating that the College is acting within its rules and that only the Vice Chancellor can make an exception to this!

Kirti Azad, one of the heroes of the 1983 triumphant world cup team says that he was also a student and was well supported by the College when he had only 8% of attendance against the expected 33% to clear the exams and questioned as to why it is not being done now!

Keeping aside the hysteria around the game and the hyperactive responses, let the College assess the situation- the candidate was admitted under sports quota anticipating that his strength in the game would bring more laurels to the college. While the college wanted a share in the laurels are they blind to the realities of the game and its expectations? They must be well aware of his constraints and so it is upto them to support the student instead of throwing the book at him. Come on St. Stephens - you cannot have the cake and eat it too. Kirti Azad made a valid point that in 1983, he was representing 7 leagues and that there was no way he could have attended the college. The then management fortunately realized this and supported him in his cause and for the nation. The present college would also do well to remove the dark glasses and have a better vision. I am sure that the college would ultimately buckle, as the public furore supported by the Minister of Sports would be too much for them to handle.

But, let us be clear that Unmukt and his likes should only be supported to appear for the exams and in no way should be given a pass without an exam. This is precisely the situation which the old maids of the College fear about, losing to Cricket the values of education!

All said and done, it must have taken a lot of courage for the St. Stephens to put down their feet and quote the rules. Here, win or lose is not the point; atleast they have the mind to shout against the eroding values of education, however feeble the voice may be.

Crooks becoming richer & fools becoming poorer?

Few weeks back there were furor in the media and the wires were burning with the news of frauds through Emus. Among the many charges made, a section of the irate losers also mentioned that they had invested in this dubious scheme only because some of the popular film actors came on the Ads and vouched for the returns. I was wondering and even expressed in some other place about the ownership   of the actors in such Ads against whose words only some of the innocent people invest.  

On the same lines, when the popular singer SPB was making a strong pitch for investments in a housing scheme, I was wondering whether he is fully aware of the consequences of the blemish to his otherwise clean image, when things do not go on the expected lines.

In another recent instance, my wife was looking at an Ad in today's TOI and pointed to an advt regarding Internet based work from home jobs (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/AdPrimView.asp?BaseHref=TOICH/2012/08/28/6/Img/Ad0061609.png) . 

When we browsed the website, http://www.allindianetgroup.com/, things appeared so genuine and convincing that would have prompted anyone to proceed further. But, having seen many such ads whose aim was to cull out fat upfront money in the name of Registration fee, the cautious part in me prompted to dig further deep. When searched for feedback & opinions through Google, I came to know from many postings that it is a bogus company aimed at extracting initial amounts.

But what caught my attention was a feeble cry of anguish from a victim as to why popular newspapers should encourage such advertisements which ultimately fool the public and was wondering whether the newspapers have any social responsibility in publishing such Ads (http://www.consumercomplaints.in/complaints/all-india-net-group-fraud-job-c716475.html )

This has rekindled my initial thoughts/doubts on the accountability in such promotions as to what is the responsibility of such newspapers? They may not be conniving explicitly with the advertisers of such dubious products but are the newspapers not obliged to do some background research before they publish these claims, purely to safeguard the interest of their readers? Or are they empowered to publish whatever material is being given for Ads?

On the part of individuals such as film artistes, singers and other reputed/ popular persons in the eyes of the public, though most of them participate in such advertisements more for commercial gains, what is their moral responsibility in protecting the interest of their fans, who go by their word?

Also when the Government is keen on curbing malicious news impacting the security of the country by putting an embargo on social networking websites, is it not for the authorities to pull such erring companies and caution the newspapers about the release of such advertisements? When the complaints are available in dozens on the internet, are the Police not obliged to put a watch on such advertisements? Over to the authorities and Cyber law experts to mull over.

It is time some legal minds look into the matter and clarify to the gullible public about heeding to the words of the "reputed" personalities and their stake, if the proposed project goes bust. It should also help the popular personalities to think twice before participating in such advertisements.

Bottom line is, so far as public are innocent and naïve, there are always new people with newer ideas to take them for a ride.