Hindi hai Hum -- Pardon me?!

A couple of days back I came across this post about ... yes, 'Language Terrorism' as the name of the post says. That post refreshed some of my thoughts and feelings that coursed through the mind a week or so back watching the absolutely abhorrent scenes that played out in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. But before I dive into sharing my thoughts, let me first clarify a few things.

• This post is not to disagree with what Bharat says in his post. I agree to quite a few things he says, and at the same time I have different views on a couple of things. When I say '... not to disagree with Bharat' it holds for the views expressed by him, which I am sure are shared by quite a few.
• This post is not about Hindi (or any language) chauvinism. So please hold off your spears and bows-and-arrows.
• Obviously, a lot of readers may not agree to the views expressed. They are entitled to their own views, as much as I am to mine. While I'll not be surprised at any passionate comments, I expect you to be civil while putting words to thoughts. I expect. I will understand, though, if that is not the case.

First, on the issue of the events in the Maharashtra assembly. They were totally abhorrent. Period. Even if (mind you, if) the MNS was right about the point it was making, it was wrong to express it in the way they did. In his post, Bharat (twitter.com/BharathGanesh) presents the view of ad-man Bharat Dabholkar on the issue of Abu-Azmi taking oath, which I reproduce here.

Dabolkar went on to say, what big thunder would have stuck had Mr Azmi uttered those couple of sentences in Marathi, since he knew what was coming. I am sure he could have easily managed to speak that. But he did not and will not – sheer reason being - he believes that Hindi is our national language. Legally he is allowed to take the oath in Hindi, but the legislator was quoted as saying that Hindi is our National language (Which itself is completely lame) and no one can insult it. In what way is asking him to take the oath in the state’s official language an insult to Hindi? When Mr Azmi is a member of the legislative assembly of Maharashtra, he can definitely make an effort to speak out two sentences in the state’s official language. MNS is not against outsiders. Mr Yadav rallying in Sivaji Park talking about “Tamaam Muddhey” and the rights of outsiders in Mumbai is what triggers anger in the MNS. Then they choose the wrong path to settle it out.

I remember feeling slightly ashamed at being a Marathi Manoos reading about those events and seeing the images on television. They are doing more harm than good to the Marathi Manoos - especially for those living outside Maharashtra.

The next part of Bharat's post is about the existence (or not) of a national language for the Indian Republic. He argues that officially India does not have a national language; instead there are twenty two official languages (that is, business of the State can be conducted in these official languages). In my opinion the question of whether India does (or does not) have an official national language is a moot point. The question that begs to be asked is, 'Should it have a national language?' Now, before you train your guns or bows-and-arrows or spears at me for being a 'nationalist', let me assure you that it is not my intention to be any such thing. I am simply asking this in the context of whether a national language can be a factor in national integration. Again, let me emphasize that it's not a single-point agenda for integration. It may again, be debated whether language (any language) can be a tool in uniting a country. But let me put forth a couple of views.

I have spent almost all my life in Bombay (yes, I like to call the city by it's good 'ol name). And the city is in some ways a mini-India. Growing up, I had all sorts of classmates in school - Maharashtrians, Gujaratis, Tamilians, Keralites, Christians, Muslims, Kannadigas, Marwaris, folks who traced their roots to the Hindi heartland, and yes, even a couple of folks from the North-East. The same was true for many of my friends in the locality. I grew up playing cricket with my friends, and many of them were Tams, Mallus, Gujjus as they're called in city slang. And never, once did I feel that they were from another part of the country or that they were ... well, different. As kids, I guess, we don't worry about all these things that adults bother themselves with. But one thing was for certain. We all talked - and fought, and argued, and shared jokes - in Hindi. Mind you, the point is not that it was Hindi, as much as the existence of a common language understood by everyone.

Now, to be fair, language need not be a barrier in getting to know someone. These past three years I've been in Bangalore, and I've made countless friends, Kannadigas, Tamilians, Keralites. Some of my best Tamilian friends do not know Hindi, while I often speak in English with many Kannadigas. Language is not - cannot be - a barrier in building relationships. I am just trying to make the point that while it's not a barrier, it is definitely a great boost in reaching out to the other person. I remember watching a show by stand-up comedian Russell Peters. When two Americans meet, they chat up with each other, and go out for a beer. When two Indians meet ... the first feeling is often of distrust. Well, he was exaggerating, may be. But not having a common language to start a conversation with can be a major deal-breaker! I am talking about strangers, mind you.

Here's a quick question for all those living outside their, well ... native state: so Tamilians outside TN, Gujuratis outside Gujarat, and so on. How many times have you come across a stranger in your local super-market or in the train compartment opposite your seat and overheard someone talking in your native tongue? And on how many of those occasions have you not reached out to them and said Hello and gone on to make, at least a passing acquaintance? A common language is a huge ice-breaker. I guess those of you reading this who have stayed outside India may relate more to this. In India, we are Mallus, Gujjus, Tams, Ghatis (slang for Maharashtrians, like yours truly). Outside, we are Indians. And I've heard from a lot of friends staying outside, that Hindi is often the language used to communicate with other Indians. Again, let me reiterate the point is not about Hindi, but about a common language.

So coming back to the root of it all, did we err in not having a national language? Bharat says in his post,

India is culturally so diverse, there are so many languages spoken that there cannot be any one such language that defines the culture and history.

I don't quite agree. Yes, India is diverse in terms of languages, customs, traditions. But it is not diverse culturally, or in terms of traditions. Diwali is celebrated everywhere across the country. Harvest festivals are celebrated across the country - they may, of course, be known by different names, and of course celebrated at slightly different times, according to the harvest seasons in the particular geographical area. The traditions are common throughout the country. Now, before you cry, "Nationalist!" or "Hindu Fundamentalist!" (that term is in itself a contradiction, but I won't get into that), let me say that I am not being any of those (supposed or real) things. I am only opining that we are not as diverse as we might seem, at first glance (or may be to a foreigner on the first visit to India). I also don't agree that there cannot (mind you, cannot as opposed to should not) be a national language, simply because there are so many regional languages. Just as people say, 'I am Indian first and Mallu/Gujju/Marathi or Hindu/Muslim/Christian later', so also why can't we have a national language first, and our own native tongue later? Does the existence of a national language dilute the 'importance' (for lack of a better word) of your native tongue so much?!

Bharat also quotes the Constitution:

Article 343 of the constitution specifies that the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script.
But it was decided that till 1965, the proceedings of the courts, the services, and the all-India bureaucracy would be conducted in English.
In 1965, attempts were made to introduce Hindi by force, sparking widespread protests in Tamil Nadu. Then the Union Government extended the use of English in inter-State communication.

Of course, a language should not be forced upon a people. But then, 'attempts were made to ... sparking protests' ... Think about it for a moment: the annexation of the princely states in the Indian Union was also done by force (overt or covert) by then Home Minister Patel. If the amalgamation into the union wasn't forced upon them, then what would have been the state today? And why did Tamil Nadu object to any language (one suspects that it would've been any language other than Tamil: no disrespect meant to Tamilians; I credit this opposition to Tamil politicians and their misplaced chauvinism). Why can't you have Tamil (or the regional State language in other states) as the first/second language and teach a common language?

Which brings me to the third point: What is wrong with having English as the common language. On the face of it, nothing at all. With the passage of time, English has in a way ceased to be a 'foreign' language. Hence, all objections (of nationalists - real or supposed) are invalid. But has it? As much as the goal of teaching English in all government (or private, of course) schools is noble, is it actually happening? If it's not happening with English, then the purpose of having a common language is not being served. The second aspect - and here, I may be called a 'nationalist', and I shall gladly accept that - is that we ought to have an identity as a nation. A national language is part of that identity. It is not the complete identity, but a part of it, for certain. And that identity should be homegrown. A Frenchman has the French language as - again, a part of - his national identity. An Irishman has Irish as part of his identity. Why not have an Indian language as part of our identity - as a people, as a nation? The choice of which language is secondary, in principle, at least. Remember, not everyone is comfortable with English. It is one thing to use it for official purposes - correspondence at work, etc. - and another to use it informally. Some of my friends are not very fluent in English (nothing against them, it's no big deal, honestly!) and yet are fluent in their native tongues and Hindi (and they are not from the 'Hindi belt').

This is not to undermine the importance of the local, regional language. It is very important to know that and I'll be honest enough to admit I'm not very good when it comes to Kannada. I understand and can speak rudimentary Kannada, but not very fluent (fluent would be an over-statement, really). But coming from Bombay, I can say one thing: you can get away with not knowing Marathi in Bombay. Can you say the same thing about Madras (Chennai) or Bangalore? And what do you do if your friends are from different states (as mine). Believe me, when we're all together at the lunch table, we all talk in Hindi - whether we are Marwaris, Gujjus, Marathis, or Kannadigas. Even though all of us are very comfortable with English. And we all enjoy Hindi movies. Oh well, may be that's just me/us.

Going Geeky ... and Going Google!

This post is a little different from all others. I just made a few slides showcasing some of the work that I’ve done in the past, and felt it would be a nice idea to share with all the readers. The deck was created in Google docs; this was the first time I tried out Google Docs for creating a presentation, and was absolutely wowed by the simplicity of it. Adding content, changing the slide design, and best of all, adding images – just drag images from another URL into your slide and you’re good to go! Try out Google Docs if you haven’t done it yet!

As for the slide deck, I’m very much looking forward to comments, suggestions, and feedback. I’d also be glad to answer any questions you might have about the content on the slides! Just a note: I won’t be able to be *too* specific about the algorithms used. But I’ll try and answer any questions as best as possible.

Help!!!

Update: Here's a post that shares some similar thoughts.
I'm sure almost all of you must have, sometime or the other, had to step into the confines of a public-sector enterprise office, and I'm equally sure that most of you guys have tales of torrid times to tell! So, what I'm going to post is nothing new. However, I'd like to touch upon something that such a recent experience left me thinking about. First, something about the events that transpired. I'd gone to a nearby branch of a public-sector bank to inquire about opening an account for my brother who's just been transferred to this city. Now, the gentleman sitting at the counter, first threw a volley of questions at us - ranging from where I stay, to if I have all the documents for the house, where I work. That is perfectly fine. But when I told him, that I had to open an account for my brother, who'd just been transferred, and hence, obviously did not have any documents in his name, he shook his head vigorously and informed us that he cannot have an account. I asked him about opening a joint account with me as the primary account holder. No sir! You may not! We then went to talk to the Branch Manager, expecting that he would be more helpful. Of course, this was being very, very optimistic. The Manager listened to us, and asked us to go to the counter where forms are available. I patiently told him that I'd already been there, and that I hoped that he'd be able to help with the situation that we have. The Bank, spake He, is not a place to provide documents, and you must acquire them yourselves! 'We cannot help you!', said the Manager. Now, I was patiently trying to explain to him, that perhaps he can help us figure out a way through this. How does a person who's been just transferred open an account, I asked. After a lot of rambling, I finally asked him if a letter from his (my brother's) organization stating the address as per their records would do. 'Aah,' spake the Supreme Lord, 'but, of course! That would do!' I further told him, that we can furnish the Ration Card that has our names (to establish the relation), as an additional supporting document. Now the manager was positively happy! Said He, 'Yes, yes... Please go ahead. You'll find the form with Mr. XYZ over there.' I'll be honest about one thing. At the start of this post, I did talk about a PSU office, but I've had similar experiences even in private sector enterprises. Heck, even in my previous job, we had to battle through a lot (and I mean a LOT) of crap, red-tape to get things done. So in a sense, it's not only about PSU offices. But what really left me wondering was why don't these people want to help their customers (or prospective customers) get things done? The first thing that they think is how things cannot be done, rather than how they can be! In the incident at the bank, all the gentleman at the counter (or the manager) could have asked was if my brother could submit a letter from his employer stating his address as per their records! As simple as that! Instead of that, they launched into a tirade, haranguing us for asking too many questions! I simply fail to see how this attitude is going to win them any customers. But then again, they needn't worry about that. If they lose this one, they can get may be ten others. No problem. The problem with that is that this one customer can probably wean away ten others who would have approached them. Sadly, this attitude (towards customers/prospective customers) persists even in a competitive arena. India, with it's huge (and growing) population presents an almost endless sea of people who'd approach them. How does it matter if we lose a few?! But there's another thing that goes beyond just business practices. Why don't these people (the gentleman at the counter, the Branch Manager) feel like helping out people that approach them? Just as people, just as human beings - not even as customers! Why can't they think about such treatment being meted out to them (or their immediate relatives/loved ones)? Would they like to be treated in the same way? Why can't they just help out the people who approach them, and bask in the smile that radiates from the person upon being helped out? Are we, as a people, becoming so narrow-minded? As my friend Dev would wonder, 'Why is there lack of goodness in this world?' Why can't we help people, in small ways, in whatever way we can? Even if we help someone is a tiny, wee-bit way, I think this world will be a much better place to live in... What do you all say?

A thought experiment

Just started a new blog (http://thoughtlabs.wordpress.com/). You can read more about it in my first post on the blog. Watch out for more soon!

The iPhone killer and other stories

The subject of this post has been mulling around in my mind for days now, if not weeks. And it took the form of random thoughts flitting in and out of the mind, discussions with colleagues and friends, and finally, I got to penning them down. Now, I must say much has been written about this topic, so my thoughts are but a drop in the ocean. But nonetheless, here goes!
A top exec in the mobile phones division of a consumer electronics giant was apparently given six months by his boss 'to come up with a phone that equals the iPhone'. Now, these are not the exact words, but the meaning was pretty much the same. The immediate thought that came to mind when I heard about this was that if you're going to target something that just equals the iPhone, then you've already lost the battle even before it's begun! You've lost it even before you've gotten your device to the market! Because, if it only equals the iPhone, that doesn't give the consumer any reason to switch. (Well, unless you're in the US, you might want to switch if this device is introduced on something other than AT&T. See this and this.) That, of course, was a knee-jerk reaction, if you will. Because, if that's the first thought to cross my mind, obviously it would've crossed the mind of the exec (and his boss) who are in charge of actually doing it (unlike yours' truly, who's indulging in armchair thoughtfulness).
So we'll just leave it at that (for now). But later while I thought about it, I found that the question to be asked is really, 'What makes the iPhone the device it is right now?' Apple was never in the mobile phone market. But with a single iPhone (well, the revisions of iPhone, the iPhone 3G and now the iPhone 3GS over the years, to be precise) it not only entered the market, but captured the imagination of the public in such a way that would definitely have led to Nokia put their thinking caps on. The iPhone is a combination of great hardware (the huge screen, the capacitive touch interface), fine software (the iPhone OS), and great user interface (the multi-touch gestures). But is that the reason it's a winner? The recently launched Palm Pre, while definitely not even in the same ballpark with regard to popularity, does have a great OS (Palm's Web OS), which may even be better than the iPhone OS. The Android as a platform, while not a serious competition (yet), is definitely interesting enough for some major handset makers to be a part of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). In fact, it is technically better, not in the least because it allows apps to run in the background, unleashing the potential of (especially) location-based services. Nokia is renowned for great hardware - rugged, reliable and very user-friendly. Blackberry is the go-to phone for business users. So you see, the iPhone, while a nice device, is not extra-ordinary compared to it's peers. So what sets it apart? Well, most of you have the answer by now - the Apple app store. By opening up the iPhone 3G SDK to the developer community, Apple hit the jackpot early on in the game. And now, it's an uphill game for any new player in the market. I don't know if it was Jobs' idea to do it, but whoever it was, has to be a genius. Release the iPhone SDK to the thousands - if not tens of thousands - of developers out there, and it's like having a thousand brilliant minds working for you, and your product. No one, not even Apple - or Microsoft, or Google, or Intel for that matter - can compete with the power of the bright and crazy minds lurking out there! The app store is, in fact, the propeller of the iPhone sales! So it's a win-win situation for Apple - not only does it push the iPhone sales, it also fills in its cash registers via the 30 percent cut that it takes from the app sales. One only has to see the apps available for other mobile phones to see the wide chasm that separates the iPhone and all other smart-phones/feature-phones - Windows Mobile, Nokia, Android, you name it. While Android does have the Android Marketplace, it's nowhere close to the App store - both in terms of the variety of apps and the volume of downloads. After the success of the app store, the others are rushing in to create their own app store, but again, that is playing catch-up. And then they're not doing a good job of it!
Coming back to the point of the consumer phone giant exec who's been given the brief of launching an iPhone-equaling phone (they're not even calling it the iPhone-killer), I wondered if the guys have got it right? Does a better hardware and/or software mean a better phone (in terms of sales numbers)? And will this consumer giant be open to the idea of an 'open' development environment? Will it open it's SDK to the developer community? And what will be the ingredients for this iPhone-killer? Apple revolutionized the smart-phone market by thinking differently, not by playing catch-up to Nokia (which is still, and will be for years to come, the undisputed leader in the mobile-phone space). And having come up with a device that gives a great new user-experience, it went one up and came out with the app store. In a different context, some one at Twitter apparently asked, "Can we do to Google what Google did to others?" I think that that's one hell of a question to ask. Can some one do to Apple what Apple did to the (rest of) the mobile phone market? I don't know if some one can, but I sure do wish that some one does. Finally, a competitive market is the surest hotbed of innovation. Apple has rushed ahead of the pack, and it is surely difficult to revolutionize the market with a 'iPhone-killer'.
What I'll try and do next is relate some of my own experiences as a researcher. I cannot of course disclose what our team is working on, but I'll try and make the point. Our team is working on coming up with cutting edge algorithms to build a product in the mobile phone/multi-media space. In the early stages, when we were doing a literature survey of the state-of-the-art in the field, we found ourselves looking for lacunae in the existing technology. Well, sure enough that is one way to go about it. But I later realized, that that approach would only result in incremental benefits. Instead, why not look at the problem and think of a completely different approach? By a 'completely different approach' I mean look at it from the point of view of - What would I want in this if I were using this technology/product? Of course, as a researcher, you have to answer two questions - first, what do you want to do, and second, how do you go about doing it? The first deals with ideas, and the second with execution. (Here is another excellent post about ideas vs. execution. And another one.) To paraphrase the words in the first post - the most brilliant idea takes great execution to be worth $20,000,000. So well, both are, of course, important. But I think that the first step in the process is the idea. What would I want in this technology, as a user? What would make me choose technology X over Y? And I found myself asking the same question in my own quest to come up with a solution for the problem we're working on. As long as you're looking at your competitor and asking, "What can I give my user that s/he can't?", you'll always (unwittingly, may be) be playing catch-up. Instead, the question that begs asking is, "What would my user like in this product/technology?" Of course, having answered that question, the real-challenge is to actually give it to the user! But I guess that the engineers/researchers/technologists are capable enough of doing that. The problem is not about answering the question, it is about the right question to be asked. Apple did that by revolutionizing the way people think about mobile phones. It did that by coming up with the idea of giving the user a computing device that accesses the Web on the go, and which, as a bonus, is able to receive/make calls, and send text messages! It figured out the execution of that plan (it has patents in resizing web pages for a mobile device), and bingo! A great idea and great execution, and you have a (literally) $20 million business. It did that by thinking about giving the user the power to select what sort of features s/he would want on their device. And it did that by launching the app store as a marketplace for applications that the user can download to their iPhones. Most recently (with the launch of the iPhone 3GS), it did that by giving the user the power to share multimedia content (video) directly from their mobile phone. Heck, the idea and the execution. Sounds utterly simple when you get it right, doesn't it?

The Line of Control

This...

separates this...
and this!

This particular line that I'm talking about is not between India and Pakistan, or between India and China, nor between Israel and Palestine. This one is far more interesting. This is the line between two wards in the Bangalore Municipal Corporation (BBMP). The effects of the Line of Control (LoC)? See for yourself!

So the guys responsible for tarring of the road have abruptly stopped their work at the LoC, because the stretch beyond the LoC apparently falls under a different ward - or some such similar bureaucratic reason! Can we move beyond the red-tape, please?!

Social or Anti-social?!

One of the criticisms of the explosion of the Internet in general, and social networking sites in particular, is that it has actually made people less social. Critics see the rise of social networking as an antithesis to actually going out and meeting people. They say that this is true, especially among the younger lot - teens, and pre-teens. Well, I don't know if that's true, but then that is what they said during the boom time of television as well! Critics of the so-called 'idiot-box' said that kids are glued to television instead of being up-and-about in the playgrounds. Perhaps some of the criticsm may be justified, but one thing that struck me about social media is that it is gradually evolving into something much bigger (and better) than just social 'networking'. A case in point is the ongoing dispute about the elections in Iran. A lot of people are using Twitter to get their point across. They're blogging about their opinions, experiences. They're using Facebook to 'connect and share with people' from across the world. Google Translate recently added Persian (Farsi) to English translation support so that there could be a better interaction between Iranians and the rest of the world. But perhaps the greatest proof - if ever one was needed - of the effectiveness - and power - of the social media is the fact that Friendfeed was banned by the Iranian government (Iran is actually amongst the highest activity regions on the social network). When we read about the Indian freedom struggle, we read about how the Imperial British government banned newspapers, and magazines started by the stalwarts of the freedom struggle to rouse people against foreign rule. Well, here is history repeating itself! Just that the newspapers have been replaced with social media - and networking. But the important difference is that back then (the days of the Raj in India), a few intellectuals started the newspapers to rouse the masses. Today it is the masses who are stirring protests, shaping public opinion, and being infinite citizen journalists. Twitter (and Facebook, and blogosphere) has put the power of the 'Pen' in the hands of the common man in a true sense. And who says that 'viral campaigns' are only for marketing?! The power of the 'viral' was felt even during the American Presidential campaign, where (then) Democratic Presidential nominee Obama used Twitter, Facebook, and the blogosphere to get in touch with a younger America. So is Twitter the Times (or the CNN, according to TechCrunch) of the Internet age? Well, in this age of 'crowdsourcing' everything, that's not a bad idea, is it?

Marketing!!!

Just came across this video. I'll refrain from saying anything more, and let you watch it. Leave behind your thoughts in the comments! 

Kal, aaj aur Kal

The idea for this post started out from a discussion with our VP today at work. Our team was presenting stuff we've worked on in the current quarter. At the end of the discussion, our VP asked a question, "How do you know if this stuff is going to be relevant three years from now?" What he meant was that given the current technology, of course what we were working on was useful, that it would add value for the consumer. But, what we're working on today might be rendered irrelevant by the rapid strides in technology! And he had a point. Today, the mobile phone is morphing into a computing platform. It's a device that enables a convergence in technology probably few would have visualized even five years ago. It's a device that's with you, whether you're working, or playing or socializing. You can use it to check e-mails on the go (even though it's still a nascent technology), click snaps on your lunch meeting, or capture a nifty video at your friend's wedding. Not only can you do all this, you can share what you're doing with your friends!! 

If we project this tremendous growth in the future, it's easy to see where our VP's question came from. And more importantly, what it points to. Today, it is no longer enough to innovate and come up with a bright idea. It's as important to make sure that people would still want that idea when it actually appears in a product! As technologists, it is no longer enough to be at the cutting edge today, it is imperative to be able to visualize what tomorrow's cutting edge technology would be. Else the millions of rupees that are spent in the R&D budgets would amount to nothing, apart from a smart prototype. Of course, this - visualizing the future - is not easy. Not everyone can be a visionary like Steve Jobs, and come up with the concept of an iPhone - and do it all over again with the iPhone 3G.  I read this post on Techcrunch a couple of weeks back, and that came to mind when I was thinking about this. Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn CEO) appearing on Charlie Rose commented that 'every individual is now an entrepreneur'. And it's true if you think about it in this context. You're an entrepreneur because you have to think about the technology trends, be in touch with the market directions. Of course, you could just forget about all that and just bury your head in the gory stuff - the equations, and the code and all that. But if you think about the relevance of your labors, well, you have to think about all of the above! 

Now this post would have probably concluded here, had it not been for a discussion with a friend, which I was lucky to have. While talking about an earlier post, and my discussion today, we realized that this issue of relevance is not just limited to technology practitioners. It is, in some sense, far more relevant to the technology practitioners of tomorrow! The engineering graduates of today. Yes, they face a much, much stiffer challenge to keep abreast of the latest technology. By the time they graduate, much of the stuff they learned in their junior years would already be outdated! Of course, the fundamental concepts stay the same. But their application is advancing by leaps and bounds. Is our system geared to handle this challenge? Obviously, this goes beyond the classrooms, and the labs. It goes into all those TechFests, and competitions and all the fun things that you do outside the classroom! But of course, the seeds of it have to be sown in our universities. And there lies the challenge. To the educators, as well as the students. Can they take up the gauntlet and make sure that what the universities produce is not just an 'assembly line' of engineering graduates, but guys who can actually innovate and think about tomorrow? This is especially true in a country like India, which severly needs innovators and innovation, if it is to retain the competitive advantage.  

I for Innovation, I for India

A few days ago, while chatting with a friend, she told me about an article that she read in a magazine. Till the time that a kid goes to school, s/he is always asking lots of questions about the world. Innocent questions, questions that often force adults to think for an answer. Questions about the world which amazes and stuns the little, curious kid. And then suddenly, the kid goes to school and stops asking the questions. For it is now the teacher who's doing all the asking! And the kid is expected to know the answers, rather than ask questions. And so s/he stops 'bothering' the adults with the questions. Does s/he stop having questions? Does the kid stop observing the amazing world around him? Most definitely not. But somewhere the kid learns - or is made to learn - that his questions are not really appreciated. And gradually, the kid stops having questions altogether! 

A few days ago read this article on Rediff, and that got me thinking. Why does India fall behind on innovation? Why does this nation of one billion plus (and growing!) fall short on ideas? And then while listening to my friend talk about this other article on kids and school, a thought came to my mind. It all starts very early, doesn't it? Very early on in life, at a stage where the child's imagination should develop wings and take off. Instead it is imprisoned in a cage with it's wings clipped. How else do you explain the fact that inspite of the leaps in information technology that India has made, there is little real innovation coming from us? Innovation is like a jigsaw puzzle. You have to figure out where - or what - are the missing pieces before you can put together the puzzle. And that requires constant questioning. What do I see here? How does this work? Why does it work the way it does? And kids often ask the most exciting questions! To their little minds, unbiased by any 'teaching', the world is one fascinating place, to be discovered, and explored and prodded. I remember reading the book The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, by Richard Feynman. There, Feynman talks about how, as a kid, his father used to take him to outdoor trips and ask him to observe nature. And learn by observing. And on the other hand, how the books in school teach by just stating things, and expecting that kids accept it without questioning! 

Well, let me make it clear, that I'm not writing this to rant about the education system, or teachers. But yes, some things definitely need to be looked at in a new light, if we are to move ahead in this Innovation Age. Indians definitely had the upper hand when it came to the Information Age. But that in itself will not suffice to move ahead. We will need to embrace the Innovation Age, if we are to propel ourselves in the big league, in the New Economy. 

'Tweet'ing News!

After following all the Twitter-related stuff on Techcrunch, I finally took the plunge and signed up for the hugely popular microblogging service. Actually, to call it a 'service' would be a bit wrong! For it's not a service that you'd use, it's actually your life in small, byte-sized chunks! Be it sharing what you're doing right now - dining out at that Italian restaurant, or watching Slumdog bag eight Oscars - or sharing your opinions on the latest music, or just 'tweeting' about nothing in particular, people use Twitter to broadcast to anyone who'd care to follow what's going on in their lives at any given instant of time. I used to wonder why would anyone be interested in what I'm eating, or doing, or watching, but having used the service for just a day or two, I'm hooked! Yes, the service is very addictive, and questions like 'who'd be interested' can only cross the mind of someone who's not 'been-there-done-that' so to say. Within the first few hours of using Twitter, I found myself using the service as a virtual diary of sorts. Yes, a diary to record snippets of your day, week in small chunks. The best part is that I can do it unobtrusively, and the 140-character limitation actually is a blessing in disguise. Often when I sit down to write a post, the so-called 'Writer's Block' takes over, and I don't know what to write and how to write. There're so many thoughts swirling through the mind. No such thing with Twitter. Just a few words, and you're done! Well, I'll stop rambling on about Twitter and what I feel about it. Be sure to check out the site if you haven't yet done so. For those who're active 'Twitter'ers, feel free to write on what you feel about the site in the comments. 

Taking the Bull by the horn(s)

The 'Bull' in question here is the hundreds (if not thousands) that we come across each day on the streets of just about any major city in India - Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi or even Pune or Nagpur. The 'Bull' in question is among the hundreds who charge at whoever - or whatever - in its way as if that 'it' is a matador to be gored with its horn(s). Well, just in case you haven't guessed, I'm talking about one of the hundreds of two/four wheelers, or more appropriately the beast (yes, you read that right - beast) driving them. And the 'horn(s) of the bull are well - the horns. And these bulls just love to use their horns. Even that would be an under-statement. I guess if the government made it mandatory to strip off all horns from all the vehicles on the road, then some of these bulls would even be depressed enough to commit suicide! That is how much they love the horns. Horn OK Please. 

But seriously, I have the vague feeling that many people on the streets of Bangalore (or Mumbai or ...) drive as if they are playing a video-game. That is by honking their horns at whoever is in their way, the person in front of them is just going to vanish into thin air! Poof! Gone... Honnnnkk!! And poof! Another gone! That's how they use the horn, even if they can see that the guy in front of them is blocked by another in front him/her... And he in turn by another... But our video-game character can just make them vanish by blowing his horn! Then there are the people who would be apt to be gunners in the Services. They use their horns in the same way a gunner uses his automatic rifle. Pee-Pee-Pee-Poh-Pee-Pee-Poh... Off they go firing their 60-rounds-a-minute guns - oh, horns. Then there are the ones who sound their horn as if they are a ship navigating through dense fog. The fog-horn is meant to dispel the cars/bikes/people in the vehicle's way, and warn them of the approaching behemoth. And then there are the bulls who use their horns to just show, well, that they have horns! And fancy ones at that! 

The question then is how to take the bull by it's horn(s). The road-traffic is bad enough without having people honking all around. That too when they can see that honking is not going to make things any better. Quite the converse, actually. It just increases road-rage. And then the honking, like a contagious disease spreads to all in the vicinity. And you have one big jamboree going on. Sometimes, I seriously wish the government would just remove all the horn(s) from these bulls on the road. We'd definitely have a quieter life. Or may be not. People would then yell at the top of their lungs the choicest obscenities.

The Browser is your canvas

After this post about my switching loyalties to Chrome, now for some serious stuff. Irrespective of which browser you use for your online activities, one thing looks pretty certain, going by the sign of the times. The browser is going to rule our online lives for a long time to come. The hype about Windows 7 (and OSX and the gazillion of Linux distros out there) not withstanding, it looks like the next wars will be about browsers. Microsoft's Internet Explorer though still the most widely used browser (seriously, does anyone use IE?!), is losing market share consistently, and while Chrome is yet to make a sizeable dent in the browser market, it is catching up - and fast. The browser is quickly becoming synomous with just about anything we do with our desktop or notebook. Besides the usual e-mail and web-surfing, an increasing number of apps and services are moving from a desktop-based mode to a web-top based mode. Google mail introduced integrated chat a long time ago, and Yahoo followed suit. So you no longer need to have a separate chat client to IM with your friends and colleagues. Moving on to document creation as well, Google docs allows you to create documents online, using your browser. You can also share the documents you create with your friends online. As cloud-computing gains ground, we have ever-increasing data, residing not on our desktops, but 'in the cloud', free to be accessed from any place that has a WiFi connection. Some of these services - like the Windows Live Mesh - do require you to install a dedicated software, but others just let you access them through your browser. Just open your browser, and you're good to go! 

Some of the recently - well, not that recently - announced services take this one level further. Now I do not even have to use Adobe Reader to view my pdf files on my desktop. Google mail now supports this feature from right within Gmail. There are quite a few document sharing services - like Scribd, and Docstoc - which allow you to upload pdf (and other filetypes, of course) documents and then view them right in your browser window. You can also create, view and share presentations online, right from the (safe?) confines of your browser - thanks to Google presentations and Slideshare. Coming to multimedia, Flickr, Google Photos are long the de-facto standard in photo viewing and sharing. A site called resizeImage.org even offers basic online photo-editing tools like image resizing and cropping. So you no longer have to download that college re-union photo to crop that pretty face from it! Another very recent launched service allows you to 

create, edit, and save Microsoft Office Documents on the server - without downloading the file or any plugins. -- source: TechCrunch. 

With Flash becoming ubiquitous, and media streaming getting bigger and bigger with sites like YouTube, Hulu, Joost, we are now watching more videos online - again, in our browser - rather than on our desktop. YouTube is already serving 100 million videos every day, and this number will only grow bigger. 

So where does all this lead to? Will we see the browser becoming the next OS - in a manner of speaking? Will everything that we do on our desktops or notebooks be in a browser window? Techcrunch is already building a Tablet prototype, where the browser takes centerstage. The signs are definitely there. Win the browser market and win the world, anyone? 

The Break-Up

Yes, it's true. I finally broke up with her. I never ever thought that this day would come, but it has. (I really wanted to write the cliched '... sadly it has', but come to think of it, I'm not really sad either.) But the signs were there for the last couple of months, especially the last few weeks. We would see less and less of each other. If we did, it was just the cursory glance. A few minutes with each other, and then a courteous good-bye. I never thought that one day I would part with her. After all, we had stuck together through thick and thin for almost four years now. My first acquaintance with her was when I was a grad student in the Institute of Insane Technologists (which other less geeky people know as the haloed IIT-Bombay). I flirted with others during those heady days, but she was head-and-shoulders above them all, quite literally and figuratively. She was pretty, and she was nimble. She evolved over time, else I'd have got bored of her. After a long courtship, she moved in with me. (What, this is the age of live-in relationships! Did you think we would've got married or anything?!) Then through all those years, she got better and better. I once thought that she is someone who's really, really on par with the other thing (oops, sorry, it's too bad to call that great pleasure - wine - a 'thing'). Both get better and better with time, adding flavours as they age. And both are to be tasted to be experienced. A second-hand experience will not do. No, Sir. Well, the years together were like a honeymoon. I scarcely glanced at others. Well, OK, I did steal a glance at one other (that goes by the name... hmm, no.. no names here!). But that was just a flirtatious glance, nothing more, I assure you. Yes, we did have a few times, when she would clam up, and then I'd have no option but to retreat. But otherwise, it was heaven.

And then there waltzed into my life, 'The Other'. She was BEAUTIFUL, right from the word go. I still remember how I stayed up late in the night to catch a glimpse of her, sometime back in September. The geek that I am, I'd relied on technology to be up to date with when she'd be unveiled. And then, it was love at first site (oops, sorry... sight. I'm getting way too geekish, me thinks). But we (the one I just broke up with) were still a couple. It would certainly take more than a young ballerina for me to switch loyalty. But she definitely had the G-factor (or the X-factor, take your pic). And so I discreetly found out more about her, and then, gradually started dating her. The dating phase quickly turned into a courtship, and courtship into a romance. And all this while, I was paying less and less attention to my long-time partner. Heck, I was supposed to feel guilty about ignoring her, but the fact of the matter is that I didn't. My new companion offered me almost all that my partner had offered. And she was pretty and fast. Really, really fast. You just had to drop a hint, and she'd know what it was. And get it done. Pronto. Quickly. It was awesome. And then the young ballerina flowered from a dainty girl, a teenager, into a woman. She added flavours, learnt all the tricks that my old companion could do. Well, there are still a few things she can't manage. But I can live with that. It happened so fast, I did not realize how time had flown in the past few months. That was when the germ of a thought came to my mind. But I wanted to delay the inevitable. More because it was still going to be painful. But finally, today, I mustered the courage and went ahead with it. "Is it the other woman?" my long-time partner asked. "Yes, it is. I do not know what to say," I managed. "It's OK," she said. "You do not have to say anything. I know you'll come back to me. And I'll wait." she said, rather matter-of-factly. Well, I thought about that for a while.  

Well, it may be true. It may be not. One thing is for sure. In politics, and in browsers, there are no permanent friends or enemies. But Firefox was definitely the longest in the race. And I just uninstalled Firefox, and switched to Google Chrome as my default browser. Change is the name of the game. Not just in the White House, mate! 

The sound of Music

First, wish you all a Very Happy New Year. Well, I'm a bit late off the block, but well, this is my first post of 2009! Here's wishing you all a great 2009, one filled with peace - both within and without - and joy and happiness. Here's to the good times in 2009. 

Speaking of good times, I had a great time this morning. The morning was melodious, immersed in tunes and music at once uplifting and calming. I'd been to the Town Hall, here in Bangalore, to a programme "Majhe Jagne Hote Gaane" (The song of my Life, loosely translated), presented by Dr. Salil Kulkarni. And talking to him about his journey in the musical world was Sunil Barve, a well known Marathi stage and television actor. 

Music knows no boundaries, no barriers, and certainly none on the linguistic front. And yet, there is a different pleasure to listen to a musical performance in your mother tongue. It had been a long time since I'd been to a live performance of any sort - let alone Marathi music. And today was a treat, not only to the ears, but something deep within the heart as well. It's difficult to describe it. But the compositions played by Salil were at once uplifting, and yet calming. Some tugged at the heart strings and brought a lump in the throat - his rendition of the track from his album "Ago bai ... Dhago bai" about a kid who's alone at home because his parents are at work was one such - while others made your heart soar with joy. Some renditions touched the lover in you, reminding you of that touch, of the look in the eyes, and of the sweet sorrow of parting with your loved one. Some reached out to the little child and the child-like innocence that we all have within, albeit somewhere deep down where we're no longer aware of it. There were others which were devotional hymns - abhangs as they are called, and some may balk at listening to such music, but the atmosphere that they create is something totally, totally different. Salil's comment in the middle of rendering one such composition was telling. The people who go to discs and party and drink away into the night for a 'kick' would do well to listen to some such compositions once in a while, he said. Well, nothing against discs or partying or drinking, but indeed, some of the bhajans and abhangs really touch a different note somewhere within you, suddenly lifting you above the mundane. Well, that is a 'kick', isn't it? 

Then there was some cool fusion music, which really left one wondering about the skill of the composer. There was a raagmala - a sequence of raags - on the backdrop of western jazz! That was really something. And listening to that you really felt that yes, music is beyond all barriers. It is all pervading, all-encompassing. There were a couple of numbers for which Salil did an encore, on popular demand. Listening to the music, made me feel detached from the world outside. The routine - and not so routine - pressures of our life often make us lose touch with reality, with ourselves once in a while. Listening to music is just the kind of therapy that you need at such times. Of course, we all unwind with music to suit our moods after a tough day at work, or a particularly stressful, harried week. But live music. Aah, that is something different. Where you can really soak in the music. Smell it. Let it envelope you with all its richness. And finally you lose yourself in the melody... That was what it was like today. The Sound of Music...