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Faith Vs Logic


Faith and Logic both have their own special significance in development of the human society and civilization as it exists today. While logic has provided human kind with the ways and means of rising over the natural state from where the journey of the species begun, faith has provided the underlying belief system that ensured that this journey was faced with courage and determination.
If I were asked to select which among these traits were more important to humans, I would, without the slightest hesitation select Faith; for while logic often needs a foundation of facts and figures to support itself, faith by definition is a self contained foundation which has the strength to carry upon itself the burden of a person's greatest joys as well as his or her trials and tribulations.

It has been, faith in past, which gave our pioneers and explores, scientists and artists the strength to forge on in their chosen path, when faced with seeming insurmountable hurdles. For instance while common logic dictated that anything heavier than air couldn't be possible expect to be air-borne, faith enabled the Wright brothers to keep trying until they were able to invent a propulsion system that could keep the airplane in air.

Faith also remains the only source of a person's strength at times of great success as much as at times of great tragedy. At such times, it becomes extremely hard to retain ones bearing only on the basis of logic; it is faith and faith alone that can ensure that momentary lapse of judgment during such times don't end up causing issues that one would regret later.

Finally the biggest argument that goes in favour of faith is its relative permanence as opposed to logic, as far as the possibility of it get changed during a person's lifetime is concerned.

All this is not to say, that logic should be thrown out of the window, not at all. However logic should rest on a foundation of faith so that it reflects what a person's being really stands for and steer one in a direction that allow one to experience true internal harmony.

 

 

Posted in Philosophy.

12 comments

By Jim – January 29, 2009


Conversation with Cab Drivers


Talking to taxi drivers has always been an interesting diversion after a day of hard work when I have been out of the country. As the prospect of getting cooped up looms large, the sundry taxi drivers have always provided their insightful philosophies while getting there. Last time in London, it was not much different. Here’s a selection from some of the interesting, funny and sometimes thought provoking discussion that I had. 

Almost all the drivers that I rode with this time were immigrants.  

Last time an Iranian Christian guy was impressed a lot by the all embracing nature of Hindusim which allowed me to happily accept the divinity of Christ; a Pakistani blamed politicians from both sides of the border for the environment of distrust between Indian and Pakistan; and a Afghan, who believed that India has always been a friend of Afghan people thought Pakistan and lack of education was the root cause of all problems in south Asia.

I remember at one time, a Russian Taxi driver in Los Angeles sang me Raj Kapoor songs all through a ride back from the first-day first-show of Matrix-3 that I had gone to see, and a African immigrant to NYC, who knew that Indians were good at software and interestingly knew what SQL Servers were!! I have had such wonderful experiences across the globe and they have left me enriched.

One thing that strikes me the most of these people when they migrate bring with them something of the own country’s culture and thought process, which I feel, in most cases, enrich the recipient country. In contrast most of the drivers from India that I met either here or in the US, usually had two standard questions, first, did I know Hindi, second how long would I stay and then the inevitable passing on their mobile numbers. One time one guy inquired whether, for the week, I would consider staying as a paying guest at his house, leaving one of the finest hotels in Europe I had stayed in a long time :) On a whole I find Indian immigrants more focused with the  "here and now." That may be a reason why Indians as a community are usually considered the more successful among the immigrant communities. But somehow, I feel when you forsake your values and convictions in the alter of material success, you miss out on an interesting portion of yourself. That’s how I feel anyway and and I know it doesn’t have to be same for all. :)

Finally, I think all of us are individual dots of light in some timeless journey, the chance encounters that give us a glimpse of other peoples lives and minds makes trips out of ones own "small well" interesting..

Perhaps that’s why we enjoy reading peoples blogs as well, for a brief moment, when you read through years of painstakingly written chronicle of someone’s life - for a brief moment you feel perhaps you have touched the writers soul. In my years of blogging I have come across a few bloggers that I guess I would have loved to know as friends - but then friendship is the stuff of destiny.

Que Sera Sera!


Disclaimer: Again a re-post of a very old post to make up for emptiness of mind brought about by non stop analysis of 64 bit processors, WTO, Copyright laws and perfmon counter values of .NET Gen 0, Gen 1 and Gen 2 heap sizes. 




Posted in Blogs.

4 comments

By Jim – January 20, 2009


Lord Hanuman - The Invincible


The Ramayana is an epic with a timeless appeal. A story of forces of good prevailing over evil intentions borne out of pride and ego in face of seemingly insurmountable odds finds a ready echo in our hearts today as much as it did to its first listeners so many centuries ago. Ramayana is not a story for the Hindus alone but a treasure trove that our fore-fathers have left for all humanity. Ramayana, like all Indian epics and legends have so many layers to it, so much to explore and learn in each reading.

The main protagonist Lord Rama,  is a mortal who makes no claims to divinity. Indeed the unique aspect of Rama is his humanity complete with his fair share triumphs as well as moments of trails and despair the life deals to him. In fact the one thing that perhaps sets him apart is his sense of propriety and proportions, not something his is born with but cultivates aided perhaps by his understanding of the Yoga Vashista. He represents what each King, Husband, Son, Student and Warrior could aspire to be within the bounds of being a human. He is Maryada Purshtam, he is Lord Rama of our hearts.

There epic features some many other engaging characters; be it the brave and devoted brothers Lakhmana and Bharata, the allies Sugriva and Vivishna, the adviser Jambhuman, the architects Nala and Neel and countless other all play selfless and significant parts in aiding Rama fulfill destiny that he was born to bring to fruition. But still I can't help but think that they are as planets around a blazing sun. Without Rama, they have no anchor, no central force to keep them in their orbit, as indeed is the case with us, except that we often forget that bond.

Not so. however, for the other towering protagonist of the story ' Shri Hanuman. Though the foremost devotee of Lord Rama; he is a hero in his own right; brave, wise and perhaps even an equal of Lord Rama when it to comes to the art of warfare. Indeed were it not for Hanuman, would Rama have become the Rama of our hearts? While the creation (in Hindu way of thinking at least) owes its very existence to Lord Rama, Lord Hanuman has the unique privilege of some one who could get Rama out of a bunch of sticky situations.

Here are few instances ' had Hanuman not found Ma Sita in the clutches of Ravana, would Rama even know where to start looking? Had he not borne the mountain of herb for a wounded Lakhsman and thus saved his life, would Rama, for all his might, not have given way grief and forfeit the war? And wasn't it Hanuman, who had the power to venture to the Netherworld and rescue Rama and Lakhman for the clutches of Mahiravan? In all his endeavours he emerges invincible. One has to be unique and blessed indeed to be able to help the Lord, even in His human form.

And in return of all this, what did he want ' nothing, zilch, zero. For him serving the Lord, without for once boasting of own exploits, great as they were, truly defined the enigma that is Lord Hanuman. Remember his is not just a big rampaging monkey waving his wand around, but also an exponent of the Vedas, a selfless helper of the weak and wronged as well as a yogi in the truest sense of the term. Truly it is said, prayers directed at the Shri Hanuman brings one closer to Shri Rama, and removes accumulated pains (arising from ignorance) of previous births.

Tumhare bhajan Ram ko bhave, Janam Janam ke dukh bishrave.

 

Beginning to understand Hanuman, needs one to look beyond the epic story and into the symbolism and philosophy that Ramayan hides within itself.

And believe me the journey is nothing short of being wondrous and if nothing else, gives you a whiff a the eternal bliss or Ananda that the scriptures talk about.

Try karke Dekh Lo :)

Jai Shri Rama. Jai Pavan Putra Hanuman.


Posted in Philosophy.

3 comments

By Jim – January 4, 2009


The Song of the Rains, The Shadow of Mumbai


The shadow the Bombay tragedy lingers heavily on the mind still. Somehow the initial blind rage has changed into an constant undercurrent of anger and resentment. Directed at who or what, I don’t know. Certainly not at  any one country or any one terrorist group, not even at the ineffectual centre. Perhaps, it is more towards the state of human civilization today, if it can be called civilization that is. What differentiates our times from the times criminal warlords like Timur and Ghori raided us? Very little I fear.  During the time the operations were on, going about doing normal things such as conf calls and meetings, when you knew somewhere in the country there was virtually a war on, was quite surreal. Couldn’t quite reconcile the contrast for sometime. Did all the usual things, wrote blogs, and did candle vigils this time, but somehow couldn’t get rid of the feeling that these were just recourse of the perpetual escapist. Anyway, time lessens the contrast of even irreconcilable feelings, until at some point of time they all become  gray simmering memories. Maybe such is the make of human mind.

The immediate question I, like all Indians, ask is when will the criminals that were behind all this be brought to book? But behind this question looms the even bigger question - Will we as a species really ever evolve? Will we stop being anything more than what our early ape ancestors  were, whose concerns were always food, mate, hierarchy, shiny beads, territory as much as it is for us?

Our obsession with these have made us virtual parasites for earth, and we have now gone and given momma earth a bad fever which appears to us in forms of global warming. Perhaps it is her way of telling us to restrain ourselves a bit. There is an old story in Puranas that say when the clouds thunder with the DA  DA sound, it actually carries a message from Lord Brahma, the Creator. The message is, Datta, Damayata, Dayadavam, i.e. Be Charitable to the less fortunate, Exercise restrain in seeking pleasure, Be Kind and Merciful.  

Perhaps humankind would be wise to pay heed to this. But does anyone even listen to the song of rains? We would need to be humans to do that and for centuries we have proved to ourselves that we are perhaps even worse than those we call beasts. 


Posted in Blogs.

6 comments

By Jim – December 18, 2008


Got Spine?


Our beloved, much respected, squeaky clean PM was in Shantiniketan today. There in his squeaky voice he apparently said, “India is angry, intolerant, divided today.” Maybe it is just me, but I simply didn’t have the stomach to read beyond the first para of the news reports.

Such stupid, shameless statements which our politicians of all hues try to use as fig leafs makes me livid. I mean, are they stupid thinking that we will buy their bull or or are we stupid not to have learnt in the last sixty years not to trust this lot.

I wish someone in the audience could ask this guy, “Boss, who do you think is responsible? We are angry because of your stupidity and inefficiency. We are divided because of the divisive, casteist, communal, and minority appeasing policies all you guys have been practicing since Independence. We are intolerant because we have tolerated you lot long enough. No more, No more.”

In many discussions I go to, one of the hilarious comments I hear, is Manmohan is a good man, he is a good economist. That’s bull, because that doesn’t give him the certificate to be a PM. If he is a good man, that’s great, let him start a satsang, perhaps his goodness will rub off on to us, if he a good economist let him find ways to remove hunger and poverty and write papers that earn him a nobel prize or something. But for god’s sake we had enough of a spineless man and a valueless party leading country. No good can come off it.

Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it, I am afraid no one remembers what happen to VijayNagara empire. Under Krishnadeva Raya, a wise and brave king it prospered like never before, on his death it went to an inapt successor and was burnt down to ashes. Only we can ensure this doesn’t even happen again in India. The only weapon we have is our Vote. Let us vote in the Change we need. Let us vote in a strong Centre.

Wake up India. Please. 

 


Posted in Blogs.

4 comments

By Jim – December 6, 2008


A Dream Deferred…


Years ago, when I started my working life, providence had decreed that it would be in Bombay where I put my education into use. Post serial blasts and the riots, Bombay was still a fantastic place to stay and to work for those fresh out of college. Most evenings, we would take the company bus, get down at Dadar, take a train to VT and from there have fun till late in the evening. One of our favourite hangouts was Fort. Hanging around in Marine Drive, catching a movie and eating at Baghdadi restraint just behind the iconic Taj was want evenings and weekends mostly consisted of. Those days fresh programmers never got the kind of money to dine at the Taj, but doing that someday was a dream that many of us shared in those early days.

The Bombay Taj, for those that has been inside and those who have seen it only from outside has held a special place in hearts of all those that have lived in and loved Bombay. Since then I moved away from Bombay, but Taj continued to retain its special place. I have stayed in the Oberoi a couple of times but Taj somehow never happened.

The terrorist attacks to Taj may have scarred it its body but these vermin don’t know the resilience of us Indians. Taj shall be renewed again and my dream may have been deferred but it shall not remain unfulfilled.

India shall prevail. Indians shall prevail.

Hold on Taj, there is yet a guest that is awaiting entry…


Posted in Travel.

6 comments

By Jim – November 28, 2008


World War or Evolution: What will it be?

Watching NEWS these days is a scary proposition. Religious and political strife, economic meltdown, environmental decay and stories of human sufferings assail the sense in vivid details every single day. The air is seriously a despondent one and these days and suddenly every one is scared. Almost every social gathering I have been to in the past month the discussions have inevitably turned towards the prevailing winds, of the uncertainty of the times that we live in, of the fact that in face of all that we have learnt as a species in the past five or six thousand years, in face of all our dogmas and inventions, our technology and science, we are like the all shivering like a pile of un-bound hay waiting for some unseen storm..

 

Capitalism, much as Communism a couple decade or so before it, lies in shambles. The pillars have crumbled and the foundation is cracked. Money, the force that fueled the world engine, seems to have run out. A friend predicted this as the onset of World War III yesterday. His prophecy has merit, the world today runs on money, there’s not enough of it to go around right now and so survival instincts would naturally make you fight for it. If this is true for individuals, it is true for nations as well. Throw into this bubbling fat the spark of religious fundamentalism, distrust between nations that seems to be building up steadily over the past, insatiable greed  and you shall have in your hand the blazing fire of a world that is at war with itself, a self defeating war from which no one emerges the victor to claim the spoils.

 

"It would be hubris to think humans as they now are God’s chosen race" 'Lovelock says in his book Revenge of Gaia [1]. Still the scenario that he considered in his book is just related to the environmental catastrophe that global warming could unleash. The holistic situation is even grimmer. And before you get all smug and say that such doomsday predictions almost never come true, consider this: almost 99% of all species that ever inhabited earth are now extinct [2]. Among those that no longer roam the earth are bigger and meaner critters than we can ever be. And yea, humans have gone through such periods of danger. Babylonian and Roman incursions into Judea and Israel, Genghis Khan, Black Death, Arab and Turkic invasion of India, the past two world wars have all spelt not just end of life but a way of life for many. However at no time in past the skies of the entire world as overcast as it suddenly seems to be now.

 

In face of such overwhelming facts, I could only offer a few stammering words like God and Spirituality, but perhaps with much lesser conviction than I would have liked to have mustered. The image of the burning earth that the mention of world war conjured up in my mind, with the accompanying feeling of dread effectively put lid on anything I wanted to say. Submerged, as we get in the struggled of everyday existence, perhaps after a long time I saw suddenly how dangerously close to the precipice of extinction we had wandered to, still unseeing, still irresponsible and unrepentant

  

One question burnt in my mind, is this how we are going to go? Is this the end of human species? Or are we going to evolve into something better?  

 

Perhaps for all humanity the time has come to look within. Perhaps there is yet an answer, a way out

 

1.      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revenge_of_Gaia

2.      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_event     

Posted in Philosophy.

5 comments

By Jim – November 23, 2008


Service with a Smile

Would you pay for something that you can't take home with you? Something that even when have you really don't? Something that is intangible but is perishable, i.e. if "it" doesn't get sold within a certain period of time, it disappears?

 

If the question sounds funny, think again. When you fly from Chennai to Bangalore, do you carry the seat back with you home even though you paid for it, you actually bought that seat, not rented it or leased it but actually bought a seat in the plane, Still at the end of the flight the seat isn't yours to take home. Why? Because you didn't buy a product here, you bought a service from the Airline to transport you. Now if in the flight there were 10 empty seats would the airline be able to hoard those up and sell the next time the plane flies? No. Once the flight took off without people seating on them, the seats perished.

 

Welcome to the crazy world of Service Industry. So why should you even be bothered to know about anything like this, you ask. Well, 50% of India's GDP comes from the Service Industry today, so it perhaps makes some sense to understand what drives this engine.

 

Service has been defined as an act, performance, process or benefit that doesn't result in the customer owning anything. By its very definition Service embeds a few inherent features that makes it different from Products. An example can explain this best.

 

Let say that on Sundays you go to the neighborhood hair-cutting saloon to get a relaxing head massage, while his is pounding away on your head, meditate a little upon a few key aspects of the service you are getting such as

  • Simultaneity ' the masseur giving a head message needs to have the said head in his hands
  • Heterogeneity ' the message by two masseurs or even the same masseur at different times of day may feel different
  • Intangibility ' Barring from the feeling that you come out with, you really didn't bring anything back with you (did you?)
  • Non-Inventorablity ' The masseur, if he didn't give the head-massage at 1.00 can't store that massage to be given the next day, hour or sec. What's more if at the end of the day if you drop by and ask him how many he has in store, he will perhaps turn you over to a shrink.

If the British have called a nation of Shopkeepers, we Indian have probably done well in the Service industry particularly in IT and IT enabled services. Technology, Standardization, Process Adherence, Branding etc ensure that even after being remote we can overcome the hurdles that the head masseur faces. During the N-Deal debate in US Senate yesterday even those opposed to the deal acknowledged India as a technology powerhouse and a key ally to the United States.

 

Interestingly it wasn't always so, Nehru with his misguided notions of Socialism and Indira Gandhi through institutionalization of MRTP and License Raj, ensured that for decades after Independence we remained proud under-achievers. Rajiv Gandhi, PVNR and Manmohan Singh started the liberalization ball rolling which really took off in a big way when finally Vajpayee took the reins of the nation. In a way NDA rule opened up the pent-up potential of the nation and the Outsourcing/Offshoring Industry really took roots.

 

You are out-sourcing when you get your work done outside the organization, and when the people who do it do it from another country, Lo and Behold, you have off -shored. God, our dear Lord Krishna, has out-sourced the core work of providing fathomless love to mothers. However we humans are still light-years away from attaining godhood so what Industries typically outsource are the non-core activities, standard activities that doesn't bring differentiation to the firm.

 

Thus, Nike outsources shoe making to sweat-shops in Vietnam, and Industry Majors get their code written by people in India. For a bank, doing banking is the main business, not being a technology company. By out-sourcing work to India they not only enjoy cost benefits but many other advantages such as quality and scale.

 

India's journey as an technology outsourcing destination of choice had its genesis in the liberalization process we spoke about a little while back, it got stronger with falling communication costs, improved skills in people and finally got ingrained when Indians started to realize that future was in moving up the value chain, such as coding to consulting, process implementation to re-engineering etc and started to offer higher values to the customers.

 

This shift was also reflected in the way outsourcing strategies evolved from In-house development, to on-site (body shopping), to off-site coding houses, to full function off-shore development centers. A few questions beg answers from a evolutionary perspective:

  • Why did firms chose to outsource to India: They came looking for low cost, found high quality and stayed on because of the Knowledge we bring
  • How the evolution unfolded: The pioneers started with Captive development centers and sometimes Joint Ventures. With time other models such as BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) and 3PSP (Third party service provider) became popular
  • Where did the work actually take place: During this evolution the work used to happen onsite, out-sourcing was a business imperative, cost considerations moved work offshore, the quest for leveraging the best value proposition now moves work to what is termed "Best-Shore".

India, most certainly is the best shore for most of the Software Development type of work. Jack Welch 70:70:70 rule in GE was an acknowledgement of the value he saw in India.

 

Outsourcing, as a concept however was thought of much before GE or Edison was born, and evolved from the Adam Smith's concept of Absolute Advantage, to David Ricardo's theories of Comparative Advantage. Michael Porter theory of Competitive Advantage of Nations now rules the roost. The story of Porter's diamond is a story for another day. Perhaps the future lies in Collaborative advantage, the genesis of which can be seen in the Open Source Movement.

 

Outsourcing and Off-shoring are touchy topics and have been demonized justly and unjustly. Humans make businesses what they are so human factors can't ever be undermined.

 

Off-shoring does bring a lot of advantages such as cost benefits, profitability, high returns etc, but more importantly if organizations use the surplus generated creatively and responsibly it helps the out-sourcing nation to take steps towards higher innovation. At the end everyone benefits.

 

Today India is doing well, but our enemy is not China or S E Asia, it is complacency. Like we can't let down our guard in our borders, we can't let our levels of competency and the quality that we deliver slip even a bit. It takes effort from every software engineer, manager, engineering school to keep it that way. Providing value, focusing on innovation and finally offering our service with a smile shall ensure that we remain ahead in the game for a long long time to come.

Posted in Philosophy.

2 comments

By Jim – October 4, 2008


Late Night Haikus

 Long Con Call. Late Night

 

You re-think the reason for life.

 

Mind. Strategy. /dev/null

  

 

Export workflow states

 

Import these elsewhere, wilt thee?

 

Why d’ye ask that much?

 

 

The tool that thou seek

 

Hasn't yet been written dude

 

Write it thyself. Or Die.

 

 

SWOT analysis

 

Is not what thou need, pilgrim

 

Go to thy bed. Sleep.

Posted in Business.

4 comments

By Jim – September 25, 2008


Changing Equations

“Are you sure you want to have that coffee? You will complain of acidity?”
“Why don’t you have a swig of water instead?”
“Perhaps I should have gotten your sweater. You never know what is good for you.”
“Don’t wander about.”

No matter how old you get, the experience of travelling with your mom never changes. Some equations never change. Thankfully. Though you may sometime make sham assertions of your grownup-hood, there is an unconditionally and concreteness about Moms that is perhaps unique. Which, much to their chagrin, girlfriends and wives never understand until they attain their own motherhood.

However, if the recent headline-grabbing N-Deal is anything to go by, the equations of International relations do change and how. One can see a new polarization of the world forces, with India, US, and presumably Israel and NATO on one side. The “other side” perhaps would be a China led front comprising of Pakistan, Iran, N.Korea and others that the west brands as “rogue” states. Russia is perhaps the dark horse in this unfolding saga. The recent incursions in Georgia has raised the hackles of the West, but push comes to shove, one hopes that its long standing friendship with India and more importantly its instinct of self preservation against a common enemy will see it side with the right side.

Coming back to the more important story, last week Mom and I were headed towards Chennai to see Mahabalipuram. It has been a long standing promise and finally I was able to take the time to keep it and I was so glad that I did. Of course providence helped in ensuring that it coincided with a business trip :) Mahabalipuram is about a couple of hours away from Chennai and is feast for the eyes. The five rathas, the temples carved out of stones, the sculpture on rock faces and the sea shore temple are sheer poetry and speak volumes of the artistic temperament of the Pallavas.


While Mom and I were getting enchanted by the magic of Mahabalipuram, China was surreptitiously planning to play the spoilsport. Had they succeeded it would have perhaps been a perfect replay of the “Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai” story. However this time they had perhaps not anticipated the strong support from Bush administration. One phone call and the Chinese resistance crumbled and along with that crumbled the illusion that they really wanted to be friends after all. One hope India’s stand on Tibet now becomes more pragmatic. Tibetans are our people and His Holiness as much an inspiration for Indians as the Tibetans.

Mom and I visited the croc park in Chennai’s outskirts. It is difficult to describe the feeling of fascination laced with revulsion that proximity to these creatures bring. While one appreciates the conservation efforts but still one hopes that one never has to see one of these reptiles outside its enclosure. Mom was fascinated to see a turtle which rode on the back of a gharial with superb elan and grace.


The NSG waviver has been a major diplomatic win for India and the US. The hurdles at some point did seem insurmountable, however some deft maneuvering by both the Governments saw that that the Kung-fu opposition bit dust. My own work, thankfully, was equally successful and I came back with fond memories. The only fly in the ointment was an uncouth auto-driver, who thought shouting in Tamil would scare “outsiders”. However, I hope that an encounter with a Bengal Tiger has left him wiser.

India and US, I feel are natural allies. I hope this equation does stands the test of time. For me what is more important is that I could finally keep a promise that I made a long time ago.

Posted in Politics.

8 comments

By Jim – September 8, 2008