Time Machine - More Politics Than Science

H. G. Wells' Time Machine was the first novel to talk about a time "machine". Time travel already appeared in various mythologies, stories and fantasies. But a machine that can travel through time first appears in this novel. We have to give H. G. Wells the due credit for his idea and materialistic approach towards an imagination which stayed in the realms of mysticism, fantasy and spirituality. But on a closer look, except for few narratives here and there about the appearance of sky when the time travels faster, evolution of humans in to two different races and fate of solar system in distant future, the novel is almost about the social and moral aspects of human race.

At the first sight of the future world in 802,701 CE, the Time Traveler remarks "Communism". This is because he sees no individual houses but collective shelters that resemble apartments. Second, he observes that there is no competition for food, no health problems, reduced growth of population (almost constant) and so on, which he again relates to product of an ideal Socialist state. On seeing the frailty and meekness of the Eloi (surface living fruit-eating people), he reckons that they are like this because of lack of struggle as there is no necessity to struggle for anything at all. He also assumes that struggle against nature and necessity are the driving forces for development, culture, language, science and so on. He sees the future Eloi species as a dormant socially self-controlled species that has nothing else to do than to eat, live and reproduce.

Image Credit: Wikimedia

After the shocking discovery of the subterranean cannibalistic species, he concludes that it is due to the extraordinary class segregation of rich and the working class. He briefly relates the condition of late 19th century workers with the Morlocks (underground living carnivorous species that consumes Eloi for food). How the ever widening gap between classes might drive the evolution of mankind in to a predator prey speciation is beautifully(?) captured in the Eloi - Morlock relationship. Even after becoming the predator, the Morlocks "serve" their Eloi "masters" (read prey) with fine clothing and the likes. Today the capitalistic system may find pleasure in subjugating the working class. Today the roles may be reversed. But in the future, the prey is the one that is fattened for the predator. And we all know who is getting fattened.

Wells, like Orwell and Einstein was a non-Maxist Socialist. It seems almost all remarkable minds of the 20th century were discontent with both the imperialistic capitalism and the totalitarian communism. They wanted people themselves to realize that cut-throat capitalism will not work and embrace a form of democratic socialism. In India too, many leaders like Nehru, Kamraj, Periyar and Annadurai wanted both democracy and socialism to co-exist. They can co-exist given there is no pressure from outside (on either way). But with growing economic pressure, lobby and black-ops by capitalist nations, soon this democratic-socialism fell out of favor. Currently the most happiest and least problematic societies are those that have, in some or other form, democratic-socialist governments.

It is not too late now. If we want our future generation neither to become prey nor to be predators of our own species, we have to act. So instead of traveling faster through time and just observe the future, it is up to us to engineer the future itself! The power is ours!

Leave and Travel?

For last few days, there was much noise about the tax on EPF. Thankfully the government has reversed the same now. But there is a feeble cry in my mind for a long time. This is about the non-taxable nature of Leave and Travel Allowance (LTA). To makes things simple and not to waste time on things that are not related to this post, please read about LTA here: http://taxguru.in/income-tax/taxability-of-leave-travel-allowance-lta-and-relevant-aspects-to-keep-in-mind.html

Why traveling alone is given a privilege over other forms of recreations or entertainments?

So what is the problem with LTA? I am not against LTA tax exemptions. But I am asking why traveling alone is given a privilege over other forms of recreations or entertainments? It is correct to argue that travel encourages tourism and indirectly benefits the economy and hence the tax exemption. But this can be said to anything. For example, a good guitar costs around 7,000 to 15,000 rupees. A good set of encyclopedia costs around 5,000 to 10,000 rupees. A hobby telescope costs around 4,000 to 8,000 rupees. Can you get tax deduction on these? They also encourage trade and business. It is profitable for the business and pays the craftsmen. It also encourages the "scientific temper" among the public which in turn may result in more inventions, discoveries, creativity and overall progress of the nation. Why there is no tax exemption on these things?

Also not everyone likes to travel. For example, I like to spend days together in a locked room than visiting 10 locations in 3 days. It is neither relaxing, not informative to travel that much in the small vacations we avail now-a-days. Some people may have a working spouse or studying kid or bedridden parents and hence couldn't plan for a travel. Physically challenged people, people with chronic diseases etc. also prefer to stay home instead of taking that extra risk of travelling. Also travels result in increased number of accidents, which indirectly harm the economy through reduced productivity, insurance cost and loss of life. As we can see, LTA is skewed towards people who like to travel a lot. But why leave behind the considerable population who don't want to travel?

A group of friends can travel to Goa or Pondicherry and booze and happily claim the travel expenses under LTA while another group of friends interested in astronomy have to fund their telescope without any encouragement like tax benefits. Is this acceptable? I think it is not! I try my best to list few of the things that can be exempted from tax. This can be clubbed under one new category "Recreation and Hobby Allowance" or RHA!

a. Exercise and Fitness Equipment

As an encouragement towards a stronger and healthy India, fitness equipment with valid scientific backing can be excluded from taxation. Why I say they should have valid scientific backing? Because claiming tax benefit for a magnetic amulet that can "cure" obesity is not what we want end of the day, right? Indian Medical Association and other such Government bodies should have a transparent process to identify valid fitness equipment so that people can get tax benefits for them. Also spending on proper sport gears like balls, nets, helmets etc. for children should be non-taxable for the parents. The price tag on a 600 rupees shoe will look like 540 rupees for a salaried middleclass parent. Will it not encourage a student somewhere to become a Olympic gold medalist holding the Tricolor?

b. Musical Instruments, Drawing and Painting Tools and the Likes

Music is integral part of our culture, so are the various arts. Music, drawing, painting, dancing, sculpting and other forms of arts demand lot of money for the equipment and tools involved. We all know that it is not cheap to learn any art. And art has no age too! Art is long and life is short, right? Is it wrong to learn Tanjore painting at 35? I am not even saying that the fee amount should be non-taxable (I will be happy if it is!) At least the money spent on the articles, tools and instruments involved should be non-taxable. Again, institutions like UGC should strongly scrutinize the candidates for this exemption as pseudo-science and religion can sneak in to this category easily.

c. Books, Infotainment Media (CD/DVD/e-Books/Downloaded Contents)

Good books are indicators of a good culture and civilization!

We are reading lesser and lesser if we don't consider our WhatsApp and Facebook ASCI diarrhea as reading. Good books are indicators of a good culture and civilization. In this modern era, not only books, but interactive software, videos and audios can also play a good role in shaping us. Again, government should make sure that no religious or pseudo-scientific books or media slips in to this category.

d. Scientific Hobbies

Young children often ask their parents "Dad, can you buy me a microscope?" or "Mom, can I get a electronics kit for this birthday?". Even if the parent is willing, when they check the price of the "gift", they get upset and settle with a video game console or a cricket bat, for which the kid shows no interest. But when the kid doesn't get what it loves and forced to love what it gets, we are silently murdering a scientist in making. If the government gives a double tax benefit on scientific equipment (again no pseudos!), we can see more and more kids looking in to the night skies or testing the salinity of the nearby pond. Who knows how many Sir C. V. Ramans and Satyendra Boses are going wasting time on WWE only because they couldn't get their hand on a book or an instrument they wished for? Giving a 10 or 20% tax benefit on these items can return the nation in many ways. Even if only 1 out of thousand becomes a scientist, given the population of India, we will be world's number 1 in few decades.

Conclusion

There can be more such things which can be classified as both entertainment/hobby and beneficial to the individual and society. I am not here to list them all. This post is just to share my opinion on the skewed nature of LTA benefits. Why I am saying this is because, government cannot decide that travel alone is what everyone wants and it is not sufficient to give travel alone some tax benefits while things far better and beneficial than travel are given no encouragement at all. As we have seen in above examples, there are lot many things people like to get involved in their free time. Given the direct positive effects on trade and economy and the indirect benefits of building a stronger and brighter nation, tax exemption on these secular and scientific areas of human interests is need of the hour!

Leave The Bulls Alone!

The the common bulls of Tamil Nadu are classified along bears, panthers, tigers etc and hence Jallikattu is technically banned. Wow! Kerala can go ahead with its elephants, which are actually wild animals in every sense. But Tamils should not touch the bull. The bulls of Tamil Nadu are selectively bred for their strength and endurance. As an agrarian society, Tamils relied upon bulls for ploughing and drawing carts from prehistoric times. You can't say that selectively bred and domesticated animals are "wild" by any definition. Also, if bull is wild then how cows can be allowed to be kept in farm and their milk to be sold? Can we sell tiger milk?

Unlike bull-fights of Spain, where the bull is actually killed, Jallikattu actually ends with just holding a bull for certain seconds or certain count of jumps. Usage of liquor, torture devices etc are non-native practices and they should be monitored and stopped. But to stop the event itself is far-fetched. Are we going to ban cricket due to gambling? Also regulations can be made to ensure audience safety. Instead of taking such rational and simple steps, organizations like PeTA are forcing government to ban the event itself.

On the other side there are people who are crying that there is a corporate conspiracy to kill the native breed. This also seems to be an overkill. So these people are saying that same PeTA which wants to ban milk and leather industry in the West wants to bring foreign breed cattle here in India! Also some Facebook/Twitter posts by these conspiracy theorists claim that PeTA is silent about beef but protests Jallikattu. In reality PeTA is actively protesting against all forms of meat from chicken to beef. They will surely protest against goat/rooster sacrifice in rural temples. They have already protested against Eid sacrifices. Please go through the links below.

http://www.petaindia.com/blog/celebrate-life-vegan-eid/ - PeTA against Eid
http://www.petaindia.com/issues/animals-used-for-food/milk/ - PeTA against milk
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/meat-environment/ - PeTA against meat
http://action.petaindia.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=111&ea.campaign.id=2856 - PeTA in action
http://www.petaindia.com/blog/victory-animal-sacrifice-banned-at-nepals-gadhimai-festival/ - PeTA against Hindu animal sacrifice

From above links, it is clear that PeTA is a militant and stupid organization that wants to push its version of morality, disregarding the sentiments and traditions of native people. But the conspiracy theorists selectively portray that PeTA is only against Jallikattu and trying to bring other breeds of cows. This nonsense also takes religious and racist tones in some posts. If you people are silent about other activities of PeTA, then the price you pay for it will be a ban on Jallikattu. Are you ready to fight PeTA in all fronts? Then we can get Jallikattu back!

We either look it as a conspiracy by West/NGO/Corporates or we see it as animal cruelty and act of barbarianism. Both are not exactly true. The truth is some where in the middle.

PeTA, which protests against everything from KFC to cow's milk, is often ignored as a fringe group. But that fringe group already has a lot of impact in our everyday lives. They want to save stray dogs at the cost of road users and children's lives. They want to portray meat eaters as criminals, rapists etc. They want to portray traditional foods like fish, poultry, lamb etc as unhealthy. They want to ban fishing, farming of animals, leather, wool, testing drugs on animals and the list goes on! All these have a direct and enormous impact on our lives. Yet they are deceptively hiding the facts and portray themselves as people for protecting animals and a group that is fighting against cruelty.

From hate speech to scaremongering hoaxes, PeTA has tried its hands on many "below the belt" tactics with the public. And with politicians and bureaucrats, they cheat, bribe, threaten or lobby with people's money against people's interest. This organization without any help from corporates can do such dirty jobs and I think this group itself is a corporate! So what we need to do is to identify such groups, isolate them and ban them. One such group is Greenpeace, which our government rightly identified and banned recently. PeTA should face the same fate.

Some people are cherry picking PeTA's campaigns to support some of their views and care less about what PeTA is doing in other issues. For example, some people who are opposing meat, support PeTA thinking that they are actually helping. But they care less about PeTA's stand on milk. How many Indian vegetarians are ready to give up milk? If you support PeTA, think twice. Check out their motto and modus operandi in all issues and then decide if you want to really support them.

So to conclude, the fight is not only towards Jallikattu ban. Tomorrow it may be a ban on animal sacrifice in temples or ban on camel slaughter during Eid. So for everyone's interest, let us fight these inhuman organizations like PeTA, AWB and other such elements that cause too much trouble in the society.

Update: Central Government has made amendments to allow Jallikattu in the law, but the decision has been challenged in court!

Testing The Waters

There are two things currently trending in social media. Beep song and Sagayam for CM. Thanks for our short-term memories that we have already moved away from recent floods, let alone protest against liquor. In my understanding, these two incidents seems to be testing the waters before a full fledged public "coming out". It is safer for the parties involved.

The song was written, sung, recorded with music and vulgar words beeped-out. Perfectly ready for posting in Youtube or Soundcloud. Then suddenly someone "leaked" it. If the public reaction was positive, then we might have seen people claiming that "Simbu alone didn't do the song." "It is my music." "My recording theater!" etc. But as the reaction is negative everyone else had forsaken Simbu to fight the legal battles alone and face the angry crowd of people. But as the song is not "published" in proper sense, Simbu can claim that the song is "leaked" without his knowledge and it is none of his fault. Perfect example for the benefit of "testing the water"!

Now take the another case: Sagayam for CM. He may be a good IAS officer. And the idea of Sagaym for CM is not that bad. But the way this idea is brought to public is what strikes a nerve for me. Sagayam can resign his post and start a political party or join any existing party if he wants to run for CM. Else he can just openly give a statement that he is not interested in politics and no one should use his name in that way in social media or public gatherings. But his "silence" is deafening as he just sits like it is somebody else's problem. If there is enough support, he may come out as a candidate in coming elections. Else he may just downplay this entire episode as a social media sensation created by some over enthusiastic fans. A Goundamani comedy scene comes to mind!

Even Dr. Kalam tried his hand at this trick, when he said that he was willing to be the president for second term if there is "certainty".  (http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/kalam-surprises-third-front/story-YxWB2XRUrveu8aCHigxvBJ.html)

So the lesson for us is, if this method works even for public figures, why not we utilize the same? You can tell your wife that there is a good offer on pizzas in nearby shop. If she shows some interest, you can go ahead and order pizzas and escape from upma. Else you can silently glue your mouth shut with upma without further "consequences". Practical isn't it?

Beep Song

"Yes... I am a Simbu fan and I am going to support him blindly..."

"I respect women and such songs should be banned."

"They are spoiling our culture and Simbu should be hanged."

"Simbu should shut the f*** up."

"Clearly this is a government conspiracy to divert people from Chennai floods!"

These are some of the opinions I heard from my friends on the so called "Beep song". I feel almost all of these arguments are outright stupid and harmful. To start with the ritual disclaimer, I am no fan of Simbu and I am considered feminists by some and male chauvinist by others while my own "self-respect" says that I am a neutral person. So please don't take my opinions so seriously!

Now let us discuss some hard facts.  You know that a single Google search can land you in a hardcore porn movie right? If not, just don't tell me that I am the one who spoiled your innocence and made you to "sin".  Ok, now let us assume that all online porn is banned, and you couldn't circumvent it with proxy servers or VPNs. You know that you can get a porn DVD for 30 bucks right? Again, don't tell me that you never heard of it! Leave it. You know where they show adult movies? If we ban all these things, we can only expect an increase in number of headlines like "Youth beaten for peeping in to bathroom", "Juvenile arrested in brothel", "Massage parlor sealed for mischievous activities" etc. Again it is a public secret that at some or other point of time everyone of us seek such vices in our life. People who deny this are those who live in outright denial (and themselves doing everything secretly) or those who are psychologically abnormal.

So, saying that what Simbu has sung is going to cause problem is society is outright stupid. All the people who are protesting on this issue are getting political mileage or publicity through this. Nothing more. They all know existence of above said vices and they themselves would (must) have consumed such materials in their lives. This applies to Communist Party Comrades fighting Simbu here to ISIS retards who are raping minor girls. We all know how moral you (we) are. Why you people like to preach others on things which you yourselves indulge in secret?

Let us discuss some points:

1. The song beeps out the offensive word. Many such songs are out there. Many such movie dialogs are also there. If they just guess the beeped out words and take it to streets, sorry, you have to go to Pakistan or Nepal, as Indian streets will be overflowing.

2. The song blames women for love failure. This is factually wrong. There are many men who cheat women too. But this song is not supposed to be a documentary poem highlighting the statistics of men/women affected by love failure and the root causes. This is just an emotional outburst of a spoiled youth. That's it. If songs with such meaning are to be taken seriously, banned and the writer punished, then we can even interpret Thirukural in such ways and demand for Thiruvalluvar's arrest.

3. The song, as per their claim, was not released to public and was "leaked". It may be a way to test the waters before going public. But even if they have released it, who is forcing you to hear it? I remember a song from the movie "Mahalir Mattum". In that there are lyrics like "Men's genital should be cut". Where were the people protesting against the lyricist against this? What about this "progressive" magazine publishing an explicit poem about male genital by a transgender? http://www.unmaionline.com/new/1754-kalki-subramaniam.html

4. In most movies, men are shown as villains, drug dealers, human traffickers, smugglers, rapist etc. So can we take it as attack against men?

5. How may of you heard the colorful language women use when they fight each other in water pumps? What about drivers who are frustrated with traffic? We all freely use such words daily. In an average, by the age of 10, most of us start to use filthy language.

6. Is the problem is only with usage of the word for female genital? What would happen if he release an uncut version with the word replaced with a word for male genital?

7. If the problem is only about talking bad about women, will they accept such explicit words in songs in any other context?

8. How different are you from the Pakistanis who are demanding capital punishment for people whom they accuse of insulting their holy scripture or their prophet? If it is holy for you don't force it down my throat!

9. Usually the conservatives do these type of protests in developed nations. Here, the left-leaning parties are also doing this. This clearly shows that we don't have a "true left" in India!

10. You all are not fighting for dowry or honor killing or marital rape or female infanticide with the same vigor. These all caused and are causing real deaths and physical harm to thousands. But your problem is with a song and to censor it. This itself shows how bad you are than how bad the song is!

So my suggestion to such people is not to listen to what they feel offensive. Just don't visit the song link. If you accidentally click the link, click back button or close the browser tab or close the browser itself. You can even shutdown your PC or disconnect your Internet to keep your mind safe.

In between YG Mahendra's holy anger against this song can really be taken serious if he has voiced the same about "Why this Kolaveri" or "Adi daa avala" songs.

What is the advantage an English speaking yuppie has over a person who only knows Tamil? He can enjoy 50 Cents and Eminem without a problem while the Tamil only guy need to wait for such songs another 500 centuries. And do you think that, those who rape children and murder for inter-caste marriages are all from this tiny minority of people who are fans of rap music? It is exactly the opposite. More women are dying in the hands of  so called "morally superior people" than in the hands of people who listen to "beep songs".

Long Live Freedom of Speech!

Animal Farm - Book Review

Do you want to know why Russia and West are fighting over Ukraine? Do you think communism can save the world? Do you like children's fantasy? If you answer 'yes' to any of the above questions, then ”Animal Farm” by George Orwell is a good choice for you. Counting just less than 100 pages, the book tells the story of a farm in England. But wait! Are you wondering how a farm in England can explain current political mayhem surrounding Ukraine? Written in early1940s, the book is much of a prophecy that can even belittle blabbering of Nostradamus.

Most of us would have read or at least heard about ”Gulliver's Travel”. The story about Lilliput's! You got it? But many of us are not aware that Jonathan Swift wrote the story not only as children's fantasy, but also as a political and philosophical satire. Swift ridiculed the Imperial French and British as well as the struggle between fading archaism and emerging modernity in Gulliver's Travel. Orwell on the other hand encapsulates the raise, progress and fall of USSR (Soviet Russia) inside children's fantasy, with clever parodies. The wow factor is, Orwell wrote about events happening today 70 years before.

The story opens with a farm run by one Mr. Jones in England. The animals of the farm, fed up with the mistreatment at the hands of human masters, plot and execute a rebellion successfully and take over the farm after expelling Jones. Soon, they create certain rules and orders for themselves and start running the farm all by themselves. But as time passes, the power at the hands of pigs start to corrupt them. Soon the farm is attacked by neighboring humans but the attack is successfully thwarted but with great losses too. But the pigs start changing the laws to suit their desires and gradually collaborate with humans and start imitating them in everything. They go so far that even the animals can't identify pigs from humans. At last all other animals go back to the state which they were when humans ran the farm.

The story narrates how power corrupts people who rule(pigs), how religion is used to keep people under ignorance(raven), how army and police forces are used to suppress free thought and speech(dogs), how media is used to promote personality cult(Minimus and the black cockerel) and at the same time brainwash people and spread false news(Squealer), how even after all these things some people blindly support ruling class(sheep) and finally how bad the sufferings of people can go unchanged whatever way they choose(other animals, especially horses and hens)!

In the last chapter, there is a scene when the pigs fight with humans. But this time, it is not about the ownership of the farm or welfare of animals but about the card game they are playing. This is what happening now between West and Russia. As Orwell predicted 47 years before fall of USSR, they even renamed the nation! Communism in theory is good. It can be practical in short run too. But sooner or later power will corrupt the rulers and thing will end no better or even worse than before. George Orwell, came to this conclusion long back. I still admire USSR, their rational culture and their radically new political and economic structure, their raise from a poor nation of peasants to first nation to put a man in space within few decades, their books, their bold stance against capitalist West etc. But alas... It all fell apart for just one reason. It too was run by humans.

So read the book, not only as a fantasy. The power is all yours to corrupt your mind with truth :-)

May 1st

Everybody know that today is world labor day. And if you want to know the history and geography about this day, you can head to the Wikipedia article on the same by clicking here. But I am here with a different message. Especially to the younger generation of so called "professionals" working for corporates.

Who is a worker? Anyone who is not the owner of a business is a worker. Even owners of smaller business like salon shops, iron (laundry) shops etc are workers in proper sense. In that aspect, we are all workers. We are all labors. Don't let your 5 digit salary make you feel that you are different from those who collect garbage or lay down the roads in scorching sun. You are still a labor.

Most of the IT professionals, while interacting with a plumber or carpenter, don't think they are one of their own kind. They isolate themselves thinking they are uneducated, low class while themselves educated, high/upper-middle class. This is a very dangerous mindset. Your salaries won't define who you are. Your nature of work defines who you are.

Let us take a typical day...

You wake up from your bed made by carpenters.

Your bedsheets by textile mill workers.

You go to bathroom constructed by construction workers and plumbers.

You eat food produced by farmers.

You wear shoes made by cobblers.

You lock your door with locks made by blacksmiths.

You drive a car or take a bus manufactured by mechanics.

You travel on the road laid by labors.

Your office is maintained by housekeeping people.

Your office is guarded by security people.

Your network cables are laid by labors.

Electricity and air-condition maintained by electricians.

Your PC manufactured by technicians.

Your .NET code can't build this water tank!

Without all these, you can't work. You can't even live! And remember, you are not the owner of any of the above mentioned services. You are just getting benefited by the services.

You too are one of the labors making the world better.

You are the one who make people's life easy with ATMs.

Your applications make it easy for people to apply for exams.

Your work makes exam/election results readily available.

You create options to book tickets and pay bills from home.

You save nature by reducing paper works to mouse clicks.

You make it possible for people to connect with each other.

You work to trace cyber-criminals.

And the list goes on.

So be proud that you are also part of the work force like everyone around you. But you also need to learn from valuable lessons from the same people whom you despise.

1. Unity

You should stay united. When salaries are not paid properly for some new joinees, don't take it easy as market trend. Remember, the mill workers fighting for the benefits of temporary workers. When someone is fired for no good reason, don't console yourself saying "Thank God! It is not me!" Instead, stand united for his cause. Who knows, when your turn of getting fired will come? Learn these lessons from the workers around you. Nobody can mess with them and walk safely. Their fellow workers will gather like swarms of bees to make them repent and apologize. The same spirit should come to us. That will make us stronger. Corporate CEOs and HRs should know that we are not second to anybody when it comes to our rights.

2. Modesty

Don't allow your high salaries decide how you live. You should be the one who decide how your money is spent. Don't become dependent on too many luxuries of life. Imagine, if we all use public transport and stop using ACs and invertors, how much fuel and electricity can be saved! Invertors consume more power. While the rich are watching IPL with invertor, poor children are struggling with candles to study. Your cozy apartments, luxury cars, LCD TV etc won't bring you happiness. You are just a recession away from those people living modest life. For them it is the normal life. But when you fall, you can't tolerate the ground reality. So it is better to stay at ground than to fly like a plastic bag carried by wind.

3. Humility

Treat people not according to their economic status or educational qualification. Treat them according to what their character is. Treating a human with dignity and respect, we need to learn from them. For example, a construction worker respects teacher of his son more than us. A taxi-driver respects a doctor more than us. You may be an onsite return. You may have more degrees. You earn more money. But your behavior is not like that. Don't put yourself above everyone in everything.

So, this May 1st stuff is not for "them". It is for "us". We as workers, are the force that builds and sustains this world. So let us leave behind corporate fed "elite" mindset and embrace our fellow workers, united in thoughts and deeds.

The MBA Problem

Scenario 1: IT Company

Our profit margins are falling... What to do?

BE: We can use this new framework, that will reduce lot of effort and rework.

BCom: There are lot of pending payments from this customer. We can put a little pressure on them.

MBA: Fire all senior developers and hire freshers for lesser salary. To ensure quality hire MBAs from top B-schools

Scenario 2: Hospital

Our patients are leaving in a very short duration, even before the treatment is completed.

MBBS: We need to keep the hospital clean. Also we need more equipment to diagnose and treat ailments correctly.

BCom: We are buying over-priced medicines from foreign companies. We can buy from domestic companies and that will reduce the cost for patients.

MBA: Increase the shift timing of doctors; reduce spending on house-keeping. Also change the uniform of nurses to mini-skirt.

Scenario 3: Pickle Manufacturing Unit

We have a new competition. Our sales are expected to go down!

BE: We can use the latest packaging to enhance shelf-life and aroma.

BCom: We can give discount on season specific pickles like mango to keep up the market share.

MBA: We can file a patent for "adding chili powder to pickle" and sue the competition for patent infringement.

***

Love it or hate it! MBAs are ruining our lives in all aspects. Hospitals are not run by doctors, hotels are not run by cooks, IT firms are not run by techies, even labs are not run by scientists. Every imaginable business/service/manufacturing/establishment are run by MBAs. They fix poor quality with fair skinned receptionists. They fight price competition with in patent courts. They gamble by firing highly experienced people for short-term profits.

Lifesaving drugs and vaccines are patented and priced so much so that even rich find it costly to afford. Noble professions like medicine and research are now seen as opportunities for sure cash, where people have no other choice but to pay what these profit hungry demons fix as price.

Education is refused to the poor. There is a need to differentiate the syllabus between what children of poor and children of rich study. Parents are brainwashed to an extent that they feel humiliated, if their children study the same syllabus (not even in the same classroom or school) as the children of poor people. Now parents are ready to pay hefty amount, just for a different syllabus!

Even essentials for life like water are packaged and marketed. 10 years ago, every teashop had a pot with a tumbler. You can drink as much as you want. Now every teashop has a fridge with water-packets and bottles. You have to buy according to your budget.

Seeds of food crops are patented and farmers threatened with lawsuits. Natural healthy foods are replaced by sugary, fatty junk foods and drinks on one side. On the other side, problems like obesity, malnutrition etc caused by these foods are used to advertise some other products as natural/organic/herbal etc.

Products are intentionally manufactured with poor quality and are less durable to ensure that people will be buying new items again soon. Some features are not included intentionally, so that they can be included in the next version and force the users "upgrade". In computers, later versions of software are designed to make older hardware obsolete. TV, set-top box, AC, fridge, invertor and every stupid thing around you is designed with one thing in mind. "People should buy this. But should be satisfied only for a short time, after which they should buy new."

Cars and bikes are forced on us with loans, adding to our economic burden as EMI, fuel cost and maintenance. Not only our economy is destroyed, our environment is also devastated. Just for those sales managers of banks and showrooms to reach the target, our future is made bleak. On the other hand, some corporate NGOs try to save the planet by taking your money.

Meaningless restrictions on second-sales of goods, sharing of information/artworks/software and improving an existing idea are imposed to cripple innovation and increase profits of few elites. Even the authors, musicians, software developer and scientists are cheated by these gimmicks.

Women (now-a-days men too) are used as mere sex objects for their advertisements. Existing superstitions and irrationalities are encouraged as they provide even more control and opportunities to exploit people for more money. Making people feel inferior for their skin tone or height etc may sound politically incorrect. But they are perfectly fine when it comes to marketing!

Everything is auctioned and over-priced by creating virtual demand. Earlier, over-pricing was a crime. Now it is the norms. If you ask, they tell you that they are not running a charity. But the truth is they are not even running business within the limits of business ethics. They are gambling with no rules. They are running mafias.

Due to this natural resources are exploited, our environment polluted and our livelihood destroyed in irreversible ways. All of these are done for one thing. Profit. More profit. But at what cost? Lives of millions. Hunger of innocent children. Sufferings of the diseased. Extinction of several species. Invasion of weaker nations. Exploitation of labor. Families caught up in never-ending EMIs and impossible to pay debts. Suppression of women and people considered low by caste/race/religion.

If I say, unethical quest for profit and rabid competition to take the market monopoly by people with MBA (and people without MBA but have the MBA mindset), is the reason for all of these problems, that can never be an understatement. Before MBAs, Newton didn't worry about patents. Bach had no copyrights for his music. Vaccines and anti-biotics were invented/discovered and made available to all for cheapest possible price. Doctors and teachers served people with so much dedication as they served God. Industries competed in terms of quality and price.

I am writing this, not to attack any individual or group of people. But a course that teaches people just to make and maximize profit at any cost is surely NOT what the world wants now. This type of mindset has crept in to almost all branches of education. This is a dangerous infection. Once if a person finds out almost everyone around him are acting ruthless for profit, then the person assumes that it is the new trend and starts doing it. That is how Lays and Coco-Cola took over not only star hotels but also roadside shops. No wonder your house owner or auto-driver is ruthless to you. Because they see you keeping calm about overpriced potato chips. They know that you are proud about your Rs. 40,000 mobile. Don't think you are highly paid and hence safe. You are well fed to be slaughtered for their feast!

Don't think you are highly paid and hence safe. You are well fed to be slaughtered for their feast!

We need a more ethical and moral approach to address the problems we face today. We can't fix things by throwing money at them. We can't save the world with guns and bombs. We can't settle our problems with lawsuits and economic sanctions. We need co-operation. We need collaboration. All of us should work together. Not for money. For betterment of everyone.

Disclaimer: If you are an MBA by accident and don't subscribe to the MBA mindset, pardon me!

Why I Am Not OK with What OkCupid Is Doing

First, I am not against homosexual relationships and my opinion on that subject is neutral. Second, recent changes in Firefox like plan to include ads and consuming lot of memory etc made me some what upset with Firefox. So don't think that this post is by a Firefox fanboy defending whatever crap Mozilla is doing.

OkCupid, an online dating site, is now asking visitors who use Firefox, to consider changing their browser as the new Mozilla CEO donated $1,000 out of his personal wealth for a campaign against gay marriages. Brendan Eich is not only Mozilla's CEO. He is the main designer of JavaScript. Will OkCupid go clean of JavaScript too? All they wanted is cheap publicity. I assure them that they got it because, someone sitting here in India, who never knew that a stupid dating site named OkCupid existed before, is now writing a rebuttal.

Everyone is entitled to have their own opinion and views. Like fingerprints, no two persons have exact set of views and opinions in this world.That is what makes us humans. Any person's view should be kept as personal and should not affect his/her work. With that said, Brendan Eich can have any opinion as long as he doesn't allow those opinions influence his work.

Up to my knowledge, Firefox has not done anything against homosexuals. None of Eich's works or decisions as CEO of Mozilla were against homosexuals. Even Mozilla reaffirmed their support for equal treatment of homosexuals. The donation supporting gay marriage ban, in question was made 6 years before. Eich had just mentioned Mozilla as his employer and he didn't make the donation on behalf of Mozilla.

So is that like no person can have a personal opinion on trivial issues while holding top level positions in organizations? Should Christians boycott Apple product as Jobs was Buddhist? Instead they should boycott it for its closed nature and patent lawsuits which violates freedom. Should Muslims stop using GNU/Linux as both Dr. Stallman and Torvalds are Atheists? Instead everyone should use GNU system to tackle NSA like surveillance. Where will we be if we take personal views and opinions of people behind a product in to consideration before using it, even when the view or opinion has nothing to do with the product?

Mozilla is not having child labor. It doesn't run sweat shops. It is a non-profitable organization with community support. They are people from different countries, speaking different languages, eating different foods etc joining hands to build a free software. So to oppose a collective effort just because of a personal opinion of a member of that group is morally wrong and outright stupid. I am OK if OkCupid or anyone else opposing Firefox for their shorter release cycles or larger memory footprint or anything else related to their product or organizational decisions. Instead of that picking a person's individual opinion to undermine the collective work of thousands is unacceptable.

Ironically, OkCupid's homepage has JavaScript on the first line of code itself!☺

Now, I know that there is almost no probability for any OkCupid user to read my blog. But still, if you are an OkCupid user, please consider using any other dating site, not because the people running OkCupid are scumbags, but their mean tactics to gain popularity sucks!!!

Update: Sadly Brendan Eich has resigned :-(

References:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26830383

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

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

Photo Credit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brendan_Eich_Mozilla_Foundation_official_photo.jpg

Tamil Nadu Government Offices to Ditch XP for BOSS

I have already written in this blog about ending XP support and Free Operating Systems as a possible alternate. I have also written why to use a Free OS instead of proprietary OS like Windows 7/8 or OSX. Now, I am so happy to know that TN government is taking this initiative. This is a step in right direction to liberate our computers from corporate monopolies and those viruses/malwares/back-doors.

Image courtesy: http://distrowatch.com/

Though, the Government's order is a good one, it still has some gray areas. It didn't enforce the use of BOSS (Bharat Operating System Solution, a GNU/Linux distribution developed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing). But it is given as a suggestion. The Government offices are asked to "consider" installing BOSS than purchasing proprietary operating systems.

BOSS is the operating system bundled with free laptops given by Tamil Nadu government. Earlier it was planned to ship only with BOSS, but later Windows 7 was given a place. Due to this, many students simple ignore BOSS. Here I place my request to ship free laptops with any free operating system ONLY. Now let us see the pros and cons of the BOSS

Pros:

1. BOSS has excellent Indic fonts support. So our people can use the computers in their own language.
2. BOSS is relatively robust, almost virus-free, free of cost, requires no hardware upgrade and easy to use.
3. As a free software, our Government data will not be under immediate threat of NSA(or NSA like) sponsored corporate back-doors.

Cons:

1. Its repositories are relatively old. So latest and wide varieties of software are not available easily.
2. It is bundled with proprietary codecs and freewares like Adobe flash, mp3 etc, which are not needed in context of Government offices.

My Two Cents:

The battle has just begun. But we need to do lot of things.

* Indian government can spend a little more and build a better OS suitable for Government office needs.

* If community supported distros can give latest and greatest software with rock solid stability, why can't one of the fastest developing nation develop and support one?

* Government should mandate that all PC/laptops sold in India must have a OS-less version available.

* All proprietary software should be kicked out from curriculum.

* Government should encourage/mandate universities to contribute to Free Software projects and also give generous donations to Free Software projects. They should not (ab)use free software as they are available for free of cost.

* Dangers of using proprietary software should be advertised as in the case of unprotected sex.

References:

1. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/state-departments-asked-to-switch-over-to-free-open-source-software/article5798429.ece
2. http://bosslinux.in/
3. http://cdac.in/
4. http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws101011MICROSOFT.asp

Why You Don't Need an App for Everything - 10 Reasons

We need the so called "apps" in order to get the maximum out of the hardware of our phones. For example, without apps, how can we take photos or use the magnetic compass or flash-light? Apart from these hardware specific tasks, I think we don't need apps for things we can easily do with a good browser. I am not against necessary apps. But some people start to install every possible app out there. Is that the right way to go?

1. They eat up your memory

 

Apps usually eat up lot of memory in your mobile. Especially if you have a low end mobile, memory dedicated for apps will be lesser (< 300MB). Every app will occupy around 5 to 10MB and some even take up to 25MB (these are normal apps, not those games with fancy graphics and sound effects). Also with time, they store data as cache. This will result in low free memory in your phone which may cause it to slow down, crash often or behave in unexpected ways. Some "clever" people say they can move the apps to SD card. That too is not a good option. SD card apps are relatively slower and when you change your SD card or the SD card becomes corrupted, those apps are lost.

2. They consume your RAM

Apps are started and stopped by Android automatically. So when you reboot your phone, even without opening any app, many apps will be up and running. They occupy more RAM and when you open a message or contact book, those apps will be closed by Android to free some RAM for the app you are accessing. So, it too slows your phone down. Some people claim Android is smart enough to handle tasks. But those who use their phone with good amount of apps know what I am saying. Some "smart" people use task-killers to kill those tasks. But again, in few minutes those same apps will be started. There is no sure way to ensure that particular app is not started automatically than to uninstall it.

3. They suck your network bandwidth up

As mentioned in above point, apps automatically start and also start to consume your Internet connection. Some apps will be synchronizing, some may be downloading ads, others may be busy checking whether a latest version is available while some "great" apps are sending your private information to their servers. There are apps that upload your SMS, contacts, emails and even whatever you type etc to their servers. All these take a good amount of network bandwidth and you may run out of free data soon. Some "brainy" people try to circumvent this by going for "unlimited" data plans. Even then there will be a limit after which the connection speed will be throttled. Also when all these apps are chocking your network in background, you may wonder why that small email is taking so much time to be sent or why your browser is taking too long to show that your IRCTC ticket is not booked.

4. They drain your battery

As mentioned in points 2 and 3, these apps start and connect to Internet automatically. So they consume lot of power. They cause phones to heat up and you may not be able to call someone or listen to music as these apps had already sucked the last drop of power out of your battery. Some people come up with some "tricks" to sort this out. That is by installing an app to improve battery life. What an idea sirji! Some say they are not bothered as they always carry the charger with them. I think they also carry a generator with them or their charger is solar powered!

5. Slows down your phone

Due to insufficient internal memory, processor load, insufficient RAM, clogged network etc, your phone may slow down to unusable levels. One of my friend came to me saying that his phone's touch-screen was not working. I checked it. Actually the touch-screen was working fine, but due to overload, the response was slow. I uninstalled few bloatwares, and it started to work normally again.

6. Threat to your privacy

Most people won't give a damn about what all the permissions the app asks before installing. And Android's innovative design makes it impossible to restrict access to SD card or Internet at app level. There are some options like Droidwall to restrict the app's access to Internet, but still, it is is bit tough if the app demands that an Internet connection is needed to proceed and our people will set that app as exception permanently to avoid "hassles". There apps like Truecaller which uploads entire contact book with photos, pet name, and other details to Internet. I know people who store their PAN number, Bank account number, ATM PIN number etc in their contact book. Imagine what will happen if these details are uploaded to someone somewhere! I have recently seen some apps that require permission to send/receive SMS but they are actually meant to be live wallpaper.

7. They distract you a lot

These apps annoy you a lot by giving unwanted notifications. You may be awaiting an SMS from your bank stating your "one time password" for a credit card transaction or you may be in a meeting. "beeeep" There is a notification saying that some has invited you to play a stupid online game. To take it to the next level, some apps give alerts/notifications/reminders to rate their app in Playstore, purchase unlocked version or to try their new app. All these things distract you and waste your time for no good.

8. They have misleading ads

Yes, ads are there in websites too. But why I am mentioning it here as a specific problem in using apps? The ads in apps are displayed like buttons or links in the app itself. This misleads the user and make them click on them. Once clicked, you are taken to malicious websites/apps. Moreover, there are some apps which are meant to be used by kids, but contain ads suitable for adults.

9. They are hard to maintain

These apps are hard to find, install, keep updated and to use. For example, if you want to book flight tickets, then you have many apps to do that. How to tell which one suits your needs? Are you going to install every app and use them to find out? In case of websites, it is easy to just hit the URL and try it and move to other. Similarly, if you have many apps installed, you need to keep them updated. That costs you lot of data and also battery power. It can be time consuming at times. Also, if your home screen and app-drawer are crowded with these apps, it is hard to spot the app  you need. Yes, we can use the built-in search to spot the app, but still, it is not that easy right?

10. Most apps are unethical

Most apps are so called proprietary software or "closed-source". So, even if you want an app, please look in the F-Droid repo for a free software alternate. Don't use apps that don't respect your privacy or freedom. Don't feel proud about yourself that you have purchased an app and that is going to support the developer of that app. No! The developer only gets a fraction of the money you paid unless you directly pay the developer and get the app in some other way other than from the Playstore or App store. So these apps also cheat developers. So which developer will allow themselves to be cheated? Those who want to cheat others in some other ways right?

Points to Note:

So, as you can see, don't buy in to the apps argument and install any "crapp" unless and until you are sure that there is no other good way to do it and sure that the app is legitimate and respects your privacy and freedom.

1. Check for website alternates and use a good mobile browser like Firefox to access the site directly instead of using apps

2. Check the apps' developer and ensure that it is from a legitimate source. For example, you can find apps with same/similar names but from different developers (some apps are just repacked malwares)

3. Don't install .apk files shared in forums/sites/bluetooth etc. Download them from F-Droid or Playstore alone

4. Check the apps permission before you install. If the app asks unwanted permissions or if you feel suspicious about the permissions, don't install it, even if it seems a must have. Security first. Rest later!

5. Read reviews about the app both in the repository as well as in tech-sites. Now-a-days paid reviews are very common and there are companies that offer services to boost your Playstore ratings/reviews. So you should be able to differentiate between genuine and bogus reviews.

6. Periodically check and uninstall apps you no longer use.

7. Disable Internet connection while using apps that have ads.

Conclusion:

Apps are waste of time for users and waste of money for companies developing them. If you are a business looking for app development, my advice is, don't go for it. Are you going to build an app for every platform out there? (Android, iOS, Windows, Symbian, Ubuntu etc) It will cost you more to develop, bug-fix and make changes in apps for multiple platforms than to develop and maintain a good mobile site. If you are a developer, please advise the same to your clients who come to you for developing an app.

Sooner or later, everyone is going to realize that apps are not the solution for everything. So you better realize it now.

Related Sites:

• https://f-droid.org/
• http://www.replicant.us/

Jallikattu

Jallikattu:

First, let me make it clear that I don't support or oppose Jallikattu. My opinion on it is neutral. I don't watch it and I don't participate in it. But still, I have some opinions on the same because it is singled out and criticized for no good reasons.

"Jallikattu", for those who are not familiar, is a traditional Tamilian sport where bulls are fought by young men. This is much similar to the bull fights of Spain (only foreign imports are "great" for our people). It is conducted in days following to Pongal celebrations (harvest festival of Tamils). These type of tradtions exists in almost all cultures.

But in recent years, there are voices against Jallikattu, and I also support some of the opposing views. For example, drugging the bull to increase it ferociousness, conducting the competition without safety measures and thus resulting in injury of audience. But none of these reasons can be used to stop the event itself. We can just regulate the practice. A government representative can inspect the bulls and other safety measures taken and give approval for Jallikattu.

But the other reasons these people give are silly and sometimes outrageous. Below are some of the claims and my refutation to the same.

1. Bulls are hurt in the sport
My Response: How many other animals are injured and killed everyday for various reasons? As far as I know, many other animals are treated worse. Example from lovebirds in your backyard to elephants in temples. These bulls are cared and maintained in good conditions and they live a better life compared to other bulls. I have personally seen the special treatment they receive.

2. Bull is an endangered species
My Response: This is also a lie. And even if there is a grain of truth, then stopping Jallikattu will result in extinction of bulls. As tractors had replaced the plowing and cars had replaced bullock carts, the need for bulls are just to impregnate cows. Only some bulls used in Jallikattu and bullock cart races are the only remaining bulls apart from those farm bulls. How can stopping Jallikattu increase the number of bulls?

3. Bull is a wild animal
My Response: Bull is a domestic animal. Even wild animals like elephants, birds like peacock are kept in temples. None is opposing those things. But when it comes to bulls, they claim that bulls are wild animals. Does that mean we all are drinking milk from forest?

4. Jallikattu results in death/injuries
My Response: So is the F1, bike races, martial arts etc also results in deaths and injuries. Indian government spent billions in F1 race but deny Tamils to conduct Jallikattu. Why? Where those protests against F1 and other races? I don't support people dying. But we have to ban all such sports. We should not single out Tamils and common people while allowing rich corporate sports like F1.

5. It is very old sport, time to move ahead
My Response: I don't have any problem in this view. But this not only applies to this sport. Some games like running race and swimming are even older. Don't we have them in Olympics now?

So in my view, there is no need to ban Jallikattu. Regulating the sport is sufficient. But the calls to ban Jallikattu seems to be plain discrimination towards Tamils.

Site Suggestions for Techies

Here I will give few site suggestions for those who have interest in technology and computers. These are my personal suggestions as of now. The list may change/evolve with time :)

So I will give 2 tech news sites, 2 tech message feed sites, 2 tech forums, 2 tech fun stuff sites and 2 tech political sites.

1. Ars Technica

The site has a title that reminds us the famous Greek phrase "Ars longa, vita brevis" meaning, "Art is long, life is short". The site gives various RSS feeds covering various topics. The site has a good look and it is easy to get what you want.

URL: http://arstechnica.com/

2. Tech Crunch

This is one of the sites that fuels my tech quest on daily basis. Their way of covering things often resemble conventional media. But still, they live up to the name. New time-line like interface is cool.

URL: http://techcrunch.com/

3. Slashdot

This is one of the best tech blog feed site. The main attraction of the site is not the content but the comments by the user community. They are very informative with a touch of wit that is typical to nerds. The site's recent takeover by Dice Holdings and major change in interface (in beta mode) is receiving lot of negative criticism. Some people are moving to Soylent News, which is much like classic Slashdot. But still, Slashdot worth mention.

URL: http://slashdot.org/
For those who like classic version: http://soylentnews.org/

4. Hacker News

This is run by a geek from India, Mohit Kumar. The site reports news that others try to silence. The site's feed UI is very simple and easy to use. You can subscribe to its feed to get updates right on your browser too...

URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/

5. Stack Exchange

The largest democratic QA forum. It has lot of "sub-sites" which many of us assume separate sites. For example, Ask Ubuntu, Super User, Stack Overflow etc are from Stack Exchange family. So this is much like one point access for all your tech forums.

URL: http://stackexchange.com/

6. Linux Questions

This site specializes in addressing your questions about Linux. This site has a very active community that will help you readily with their technical expertise. They also send daily and weekly digests to your mail, so that you can get an outlook on what is going on.

URL: http://www.linuxquestions.org/

7. XKCD

The ultimate fun for all techies. If you show some of these cartoons to non-technical people, they will find them uninteresting at best and meaningless at worst. But for us, this site gives a relaxing fun filled pastime.

URL: http://xkcd.com/

8. The Joy of Tech

This is for those who don't like the monochromatic stick people of XKCD, The Joy of Tech provides colorful, life like cartoons but with good wit weaved together.

URL: http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/

9. Richard Stallman's Political Notes

This is a daily update feed of political articles compiled by The Father of Free Software Movement, Dr. Richard Stallman himself. Though the site have frequent links about American politics, those links are equally valid for anyone living under globalized/privatized market. The site lacks any fancy interface. But the stuff matters a lot more.

URL: http://stallman.org/archives/polnotes.html

10. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

This site covers political activism and technological battles happening around the world. They are non-profit organization that fights legal battles against corporate monopolies and bending of law by the rich.

URL: https://www.eff.org/

Being a BE

Everyone of us are born unique. Our tastes differ. Our choices vary. But when it comes to education, everyone is pushing for BE. I am here to share you what I feel about the entire BE-mania.

My Case

When I was a kid, I always dreamt becoming an astronomer. I was very much interested in space. Before we even had our own TV at home, me and my parents used to sit at the steps of our house during nights and I used to watch the sky and ask a lot of questions. Days rolled. My dad took me to a computer center when I was 7. He told me that to become an astronomer, you need to learn computer (really he meant it, as there was no IT boom back then). I was very happy. Those were the days of QBASIC and Lotus 123. When I was 10 years old, my demand was a telescope if managed to get first rank. But I didn't make it that time. Hmm... But by that time, my dad bought me lot of books about space. Almost all of them were printed in Soviet Russia, the pioneer of space. So, they served as a paper telescope for me.

Night sky was my playground!

When I was 15, things changed. Everyone around me started to tell me that unless I get "good" marks in SSLC, I won't get "science group" in higher secondary school. OK, so what? Then I can't study engineering or medicine. But, what about my astronomer dreams? Then I realized that I myself had lost my interest somewhere in the middle. I was shaped by the education, society and lack of opportunities. The same parents who encouraged me when I was a kid, started to say, you first improve your handwriting or you memorize the poems, when I watched programs on space in Discovery channel.

I scored moderately good in SSLC, and landed in science group. By that time, my dad had some health issues, and I couldn't give lot of thoughts about space or anything else for that matter apart from school and family. But at the same time, I was blessed with great teachers. Back then, we had entrance exams for engineering. So I joined a coaching center like everyone else. My friends who were with me know how much I hated the entire engineering thing (even though I had interest in electronics and computers it was not up to the level I loved physics and space).

My first DIY FM radio, while at school

But the pressure on me as the only son to take up the family responsibility before my dad retired was so bad. I had only 5 years in hand to study, find a job and earn to support my family as my dad's health continued to have issues.


I was left without options. I didn't even apply for any other courses apart from BE "as everyone did". There was literally no one to tell me. No one to support me. If this is the case of the only son from a middle class, educated family, imagine what will happen to the rest. I joined BE, electronics and communication in a private college through merit (That is just a lie, I am coming there). Even at that time, I thought if I can study well, I can become anything I want. I did so. I envisioned lot of jobs. I thought, at least, I should become an electronics engineer in some space labs. But people told me that I will not be able to find a job with a decent salary as I am not studying in a "good" college. FUCK! Everyone is studying Anna University syllabus right? I was wrong.

Believe me! It is a trap! But you have no choice...

I was one among the first 4 who got selected in an IT company in our college. I didn't even know the name of that company when I was selected. I believed for sure that I will not work in that company. I was very much interested in circuits and micro-controller programming. But when I finished my education, even with a good streak from primary school to college, I couldn't find any job that I dreamt. I became, not an astronomer, not an engineer in a government or private space lab, not a circuit designer, not even a guitarist but a "software engineer" (I still hate that title). The company that recruited me took people in batches. It was not until you are called, that you know which technology you will work on. I was called in a batch. Until I went there and joined, I didn't know which technology or nature of job I am supposed to do. I didn't even know whether it was a development or support or testing or anything else. It was much like "Shut the fuck up and do what we say or else get the hell out of here!". There was so called "bond" too!

Yet another faceless person in the crowd! I feel that I have lost my identity :(

I thought that they would fire me within the training. But cleared it. I thought I will resign after the bond ends. But fortunately or unfortunately I was tied up to work and earn. People say, "if you don't get what you love, then love what you get." That happened to me. I slowly started to love what I got. Life as a programmer goes on. The only achievement I can boast till date is my resistance against onsite positions. I was offered to travel abroad to client location many times. I declined. I hate to follow crowd. Especially those who want to go to US on whatever cost. By ignoring their family. By playing dirty politics in office. Just to earn money and become inhuman. I don’t want and never wanted to become one of them. This is my life. Not only mine. Many of the BEs live like this.

Why parents are forcing their children to BE?

If I tell that the government policy is the main reason for all this mess, will you accept? I am not saying DMK/ADMK/BJP/Congress are the reason. No matter who rules, the policy is determined by corporates and rich elites. That is the reason. At least, that is what I believe to be the reason. The greed and culture of the society is having a minor impact too.

The government opened doors for corporates and multinational. The corporates need skilled labor for their air-conditioned sweat shops called IT companies. So the government increased engineering seats. As it can't afford cheap and quality education to everyone, they bargained with rich industrialists/movie stars/politicians to open colleges. The fees is rightly set so that not too low to make the parents and students feel that the education is cheap. Not too high that makes parents think this is not for us. It is rightly set to the level that every parent can pay after getting loan or with very tight economic planning. The students are preached day in and day out that they are risking their parents money and their future. So they should not talk with girls, involve in politics or social movements. Instead they should present paper in symposiums. Join IEEE and add weight to their resume.

Students should not talk with girls, involve in politics or social movements.

Hand picked students are sent to campus interviews to lift the college's image. The students are brainwashed to become mute and not even in their thoughts they rebel against authority. That is the corporate mindset. That will make them obey their PM unconditionally if he shouts at them and force them to work on weekends. That is how they shape the young generation to become aware of the world. "Keep quiet and live! Else, suffer.", "Cultured people won't fight for their rights, they just live calm", "Settling in life is more important than doing what you love." Good lessons indeed. These colleges are run by rich people who see it as yet another business. They exploit poor people and milk the middle class everything they have and force them to take loans and sell properties. They call it is merit seat, yet demand Rs. 60,000 every year! Is that the respect you pay for merit? Fuck off bastards!

Which parent will think, "let the kid next door become a doctor or engineer. My son will become a hockey player as he wishes."? Everyone wants to see their grandchildren. For that they want their children to marry. For that they need own house. For that they need money. For that they need a job which can give lot of money. For that they need to do MBBS (only few seats and need for MS/MD makes it hard for many) or MBA (only B schools or foreign universities makes it hard for many) or the last option BE, which can land you in an IT job with "onsite" option. For that they need to score well in 12th. For that they need to study in a "good" school. For that they need money. For that they need to earn more. And this cycle never ends.

The people who study other courses are forced to feel inferior to their BE counterparts. They have to force these BEs to take loans, drive their cabs, build their apartments, manage hotels, serve them as air hostess etc. We are just chickens from newly opened factory farms to meet the demand created by KFC and Mc Donalds. Other are just local chickens left with no food to eat and no water to drink. They have to eat the leftover of KFC and Mc Donalds and drink the water they wash their hands.

A typical parent's mindset:

I will join my child in a high class school even if it takes 1000 times more money compared to "normal" schools.

I will take up the interview to join my kid in LKG.

This will make sure that my kid will get seat in a good school for 6th.

For 6th admission, even if he doesn't get good marks, I will give donation and get seat in a good CBSE school as Matriculation follow the same syllabus as government schools after "samacheer kalvi". YUK!

If my son is interested in kabadi, who cares? I will join him in skating class. No matter there are no good roads to skate in my town.

I will start sending 10th tuition from 9th standard itself.

Even if he gets lesser mark in 10th I will get recommendation or pay donation and get seat in a strict school with good coaching.

There is no 11th. My kid will study 12th for two years.

After that I will join him in a engineering college with "campus interview" through merit by paying 60,000+ per year!. Even with donation.

If the company he got selected doesn't have good onsite option, I will send him to B School or MBA in foreign university.

My kid will pay the loan for first 4 years of job.

After that 2 years onsite.

After that an apartment with 20% down payment, rest EMI.

Marriage with 1 kg gold and 5 lakhs dowry, apart from car and all home appliances from soap box to AC.

Force his wife to work and have only one kid.

He will pay EMI for 20 years. Else go to onsite and reduce it to 18 years.

Join my grandchild LKG in a good school to start the cycle again.

I will close my eyes in peace!

Shit! You better eat shit, than living like this.


Frankly I Don't Know!

I don't have much idea to say what we need to do! I am not expert. All I have written is the emotional outburst I have everyday. I think we should diversify our education and allow young people to do what they love. Opportunities should be created equally across various sectors. Science and arts should be given importance. Agriculture should be given priority.

We are an agricultural nation. We need lot of research in crops and irrigation. We need to build dams and power plants. We need to explore the space. We need to build bridges. We need to establish food and social security for all. We have to afford free education. We have to invent and discover new things. That won't happen with the our young generation locked in BE/MBBS/MBA and forced in to slavery for corporates.

I know some may think that this guy is in IT, living a comfortable life and writing something to fool us. I am sorry for still working in IT. But I have no other option. I am still trying hard to switch to some other stream. But the harder I try, the more frustrated I get. Only thing I do is, I live cheaply. I try my best to keep luxuries like AC, microwave, LCD TVs etc at bay. I try not to join the crowd in traveling to onsite, killing time in malls and pubs, buying car and apartments on loan. I call on everyone to do the same. If you are in IT, just earn for your life like everyone else in other fields. Don't let the excess money entice you to get addicted to luxuries. Once you are addicted, you can't leave that IT hell for ever. You will demand for more and more and more money, until you forget all important things/people/joys in the life.