Friday, October 30, 2009

Two States

I read Chetan Bhagat's Two States recently. The thing I like about his writing is his acute observation of Indian mentality. The thing I don't like (or at least don't enjoy very much) is his plots are a tad too unrealistic. This one is no different. The plot is even more dramatic than usual. I personally liked the first half much better. Overall the book is not significantly better or worse than earlier CB novels. So if you have enjoyed earlier ones, you will probably like this one.

Enjoy!!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

An old (and somewhat fuzzy) memory

A snap of my Engineering class (second year probably). I think the photo was taken on Tie day (of course it's obvious). A Tip o' the Hat goes to DJ for forwarding me this (and forcing my transition to senti state).


Wednesday, October 28, 2009

You might already know this..

But I discovered it only a few moments back. For the lovers of TBBT, I present The Big Blog Theory. I absolutely loved the idea (explaining the science behind TBBT, the show), and the first post. Haven't read the rest coz I just could not wait to tell you about it. I am going to it right after this. And so should you.

Enjoy!!

Friday, October 16, 2009

When I am bored..*

PHB: Aayiye aayiye developerji (Did you realize the joke? Of course you did. I mean, Dev and ji? Anyway as all this is fiction, I might stretch it as much as I wish). Ye lijiye aapke sare bugs taiyaar..

Developer: Marking as 'Fixed' nahi, marking as 'Wontfix'..

PHB: Lekin aap to hamesha bugs Fix karte the..

Developer: Karta tha.. lekin jab koi invalid bug holiday time me log kare to koi Fix kyo kare, Wontfix na kare?

PHB: Maan gaye..

Developer: Kise?

PHB: Aap ki parakhi najar, aur aapka compiler, dono ko..



*Now you know I am really bored. I hope you are not. Happy Diwali.

Monday, October 12, 2009

A different Entrepreneur

Recently I finished reading Leaving Microsoft to change the world. I simply loved the book, probably because i) It is about a software guy, which I am. ii) It is about books, which I love. and iii) It's about making meaningful contribution to the world, something about which we all keep thinking.

John Wood was on a vacation in Nepal. Being a senior Microsoft exec, his reasoning was, "If you get high enough in the Himalayas, you can not hear Steve Ballmer yelling at you". But on an unplanned visit to a local school, he was dismayed at the condition of the library. A few books, unuseful to students, and those too locked up, because kids may not handle them 'properly'. Being an ardent reader himself, he decided to return with books for the library. And he did. But sensing this was not enough, he decided to commit his energies to this cause full time. So he quit his job and established Room to Read, which has by now opened thousands of libraries and schools, and donated millions of books in Nepal, India, Combodia and elsewhere.

The book details John's journey from M$ to R2R. He describes the months of anxiety he had had before he took the plunge. He describes the enthusiastic support, and also the setbacks of his early years. He tells us how he applied the business lessons he learned at M$ to charity, and got great results (I loved this). And he candidly talks about the compromises he had to make, things like not being able to afford the house he always wanted, or even not having enough time for a permanent relationship. But he wisely accepts what he has to do, cause nobody else is there to do it.

I have read about charities earlier, but this one captivated me. The reason I can think of is I understand the value of education. Coming from a small town, only a handful of us from my primary class rose to graduation level. I can name dropouts almost from every stage. And I can see the difference education made, first hand.

I think everybody should read this book, and I am more than willing to share my copy. But I also think you should read it, after buying it, cause the author has pledged the proceeds to his organization, so by buying it, you will be helping someone. And if you want to donate, this is the place to go.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Go kiss the world

Recently I finished reading Subroto Bagchi's Go Kiss the world. The subtitle 'Life Lessons for the Young Professional' gave the impression of a self help book, and I am no fan of that kind (in fact I don't read them, almost as a rule), but I had read some of Subroto's readings earlier and liked them, so decided to give this a try. It turned out be just wonderful.

The book grew out of the inaugural lecture with the same name Subroto gave at IIMB in 2004. The book has a biographical flavor, but from each incident in his life, Subroto tries to draw some lesson. Some might appear trivial, some are priceless, which you tend to learn the hard way. And the special thing is, the events themselves are not that extraordinary. It reminded me of the old adage 'A good student can always learn more from a mediocre teacher than what a mediocre student can learn from a good teacher'. And Subroto is a good student of life. He recounts his journey from modest beginnings in a small town in Orissa, to found MindTree and take it from idea to IPO. I think there much to learn for the so called 'young professional' here, a class I guess most of readers will fall in. Subroto also discusses 'mid-life crisis', an oft heard word and how he dealt with it. He bashes the dreams of 'retire by 40' that some of us have. And ultimately what success means, at least to him. I have just one complain, it should have been longer.

Go ahead, read it. You will surely learn a thing or two.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Of the day

What an idea Sirjee award of the day

Goes to this. I think you'll agree.


Song of the day

Band jo baje tera, Khul ke tu bhi saath gaa..
Mann ka radio.. Bajne de jara..


Quote of the day

'Good enough' is never good enough ;) What is the ideal implementation? Let's implement that.
[Found on KernelTrap]


And to top it off,
Advice of the day

Do not set your favorite song/tune as your ringtone. You will witness a sudden rise in the number of missed calls.

Enjoy!!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

My (current) Dream

Ek bangala bane nyara..

Most people have a dream home. I really haven't given the topic much thought, but there is one feature in particular that I would like want to have. This feature is an isolated room, the size of a large hall, 36 X 36 X 12 would be enough. The walls of this room need to be strong, scratch resistant and sound proof. There is not much furniture required, just a bed/aaram-kursi. And chairs. Here we can have variety; plastic chairs, rotating chairs and a couple of wooden chairs. They are not to be all put in a corner, small groups need to exist, spread over the area of the room. Now if you already haven't guessed what I intend to use the room for, here comes the surprise. I want to be able to throw a chair whenever I feel like it. In any direction. It's a great stress buster (at least I think so, haven't gotten around to throw my first yet, but these days the feeling often overpowers me). You might think I got the idea from Mr. Ballmer, but no, I think humans have this basic urge to throw chairs. And there is a lot of scope for improvements. One that I can immediately think of is a healthy supply of cups. I suspect throwing cups might be another basic human urge. Of course, somebody needs to clean the room, and refill the stock, topics I would leave for some later post. I also think developers would be a lot more productive if companies make such an arrangement possible.

So what ya think?

Update: It occurs to me that I can also build this dream in second life.