Random Musing

I'm Shocked By AAP

2014-01-22T17:52:00.000+05:30

I am shocked and disturbed by the latest Aam Aadmi Party protest. It is anarchist, inconveniencing to the aam aadmi of Delhi and worst of all -- illegal.

I had great hopes from the Aam Aadmi Party. I expected that they understood just being activists wasn't enough which is why they fought elections and got into government.

Instead of governing, they are allowing mobs to rule. Somnath Bharti's behavior was unpardonable. I salute the policemen who stood up to him and upheld the law. For all the crimes committed by the police, in *this* instance -- their handling of the situation should make them proud.

Instead of condemning Mr Bharti, the AAP folks are now trying to deflect attention from his shocking behavior by saying there is a larger question of police reform and who controls the Delhi Police. Well if they want a debate and subsequent reforms, they need to cull the crap from *within* first.

*Practise* what you preach. Get rid of Somnath Bharti. *Then* ask for what you want. Any and all "revolution" needs to take place within the framework of the Indian Constitution.

Otherwise, those who live in glass houses shouldn't ...

Update (Jan 25th):

AAP is now actively supporting Somnath Bharti by insisting they have viewed footage of the shameful mobocracy led by Bharti and he hasn't done anything illegal. They are hiding behind the fact that Mr. Bharti probably didn't personally manhandle any women that night. What of the fact that he oversaw and directed a mob to chase and "catch" women? Watch Yogendra Yadav defending Mr. Bharti here.

I completely agree with the Honorable Justice Santosh Hegde when he says that Somnath Bharti took the law in this own hands.

India needs good clean governance, not misogyny, xenophobia and anarchy.

2013 Coursera Round-up

2013-12-28T22:05:00.001+05:30

This year has been very good in terms of learning for me -- thanks to Coursera. In chronological order, here is my 2013 journey:

Statistics: Making Sense of Data offered by the University of Toronto

This was an introductory course that allowed me to gently dip my feet into the waters of Statistics. A good start for someone who hasn't done Statistics beyond school. Also good in that "R" was optional so I was able to focus on core learning without worrying about programming skills.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Internet History, Technology and Security offered by the University of Michigan

This was a lightweight course about the Internet. I learned a few nuggets of useful information.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Introduction to Systematic Program Design offered by the University of British Columbia

This was one of the most awesome courses I have ever done. I've been a "developer" and have taken "programming" courses in the past, but this was a completely mind-blowing experience. Professor Gregor Kizcales started simple -- catering to non-programmers but covered immense ground by the end of the course, even simplifying hairy concepts like recursion and making practices such as Test Driven Development and Refactoring come to life.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Information Security and Risk Management in Context offered by the University of Washington

I signed up for this course thinking it would offer me good insight into Security Testing. It was the only "management" course that I took this year, and frankly was quite disappointed by the breadth and lack of depth. Only a few nuggets of actionable (for me) information.
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Computing for Data Analysis offered by Johns Hopkins University

This was a short and sweet introductory course in R and served me well for the next course that I did.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Statistics One offered by Princeton University

I signed up for this thinking it would serve as a good refresher to the Statistics course I did earlier in the year. This course is a *mind-blowing* introduction to Statistics. Professor Andrew Conway *really* explained the concepts (v/s just applying the various tests) in a way that demystified introductory Statistics for me.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A Brief History of Humankind offered by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

I signed up for this course out of curiosity and I must say I enjoyed watching the videos. Professor Harari introduced more than a few hilarious moments while taking us through the history of humankind. A moment forever etched in my mind is that of a modern day human being hurriedly gobbling chocolate cake from the refrigerator in order to save it from the local baboon band! What I particularly appreciated about the course was the way the professor attempted to present conflicting theories to explain events without being judgmental. A fun course to take.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Doing seven courses in one year has been absolutely phenomenal for me (I'm a mom with a full-time day job). It feels great to be part of an era where the best of professors from the best of universities are teaching me advanced topics that I never thought would be accessible to me so easily and at such awesome quality.

Free availability of such superior learning on the Internet should also give pause to the rank-and-file centers of learning of my country that churn out brain-dead graduates who spew memorized material with little or no understanding of it.

On a sobering note, while the courses have put me in a very sharp place mentally, the pace is not quite sustainable and I plan to have no more than one active course at a time in 2014.

Education as a For-Profit Enterprise

2013-12-27T18:56:00.000+05:30

An article about the for-profit sector in K-12 education posted on Twitter got me all worked up and the 140 character twitter rant limit means that it is now a (long overdue) blog post.

While it is an open secret that most schools are run as for-profit enterprises, making money in the name of building funds, donations, non-refundable deposits (what in the world is that?) and even each pair of school socks that they sell, this article removed even the emperor's garment from the greed of the sector.

It is scary when educating the future of a nation gets measured against profit. To me the article seems to show that the *entire* focus is on profit, with the quality of education being an unintended by-product, if at all.

Good teachers, like good professionals in any field, are few and far between. They are far more valuable than a "curriculum", no matter how great it is. A great teacher doesn't need a curriculum while the best of curricula are rendered useless by bad or even mediocre teachers.

These for-profit enterprises would do well to reflect on the fact that they are playing with the future of the nation by setting up schools without a thought to the quality of teachers and thereby education they serve up.

It's All About Attitude

2013-12-27T18:55:00.000+05:30

Muddling through or conscious engagement.

I have seen two distinct attitudes that shape the ethos of organizations developing software and the quality of their products.

The first attitude is "muddling through". As the name suggests, in this model of product development, there is no need for experts in any area (technical, domain, management). This model is followed either by large service organizations, who have accidentally stumbled upon a product or by start-ups who feel their idea is unbeatable and there is no possibility of competition.

This attitude is characterized by late nights, long meetings and general fumbling around that occasionally delivers results -- of questionable quality. It is *the* way of working for most of Indian IT.

Conscious engagement is the other style.This style is characterized by small, self-managed teams of individuals who are very competent in their skill -- be it technology, domain or management. This the way most start-ups that make their way to success begin.

One thing that makes this style stand out is how RARE it is. It is rare for a number of reasons. The most prominent reason of course, is that it is VERY hard to find half-way decent professionals in the field of technology. Those that are good at what they do are also very picky, which makes it harder still. What also makes this style a rarity is the fact that "management" is usually threatened by competence. "We don't need superstars" is an oft-heard refrain -- when actually 5 superstars can replace 25 mediocre technical folks and the 4 equally mediocre managers who "manage" them.

However, when conscious engagement is achieved in a team, success, I believe is inevitable.

Introduction to Systematic Program Design -- a Review

2013-12-27T18:47:00.000+05:30

As someone who is a manger in her day job, I was bulldozed by a friend and signed up very skeptically for "Introduction to Systematic Program Design" on Coursera.

I was completely blown away by the *way* the Prof. Gregor Kizcales brings concepts to life.

In the field of IT, we all have heard of TDD and Re-factoring being preached. But to actually watch it in action and gain confidence doing it hands-on is just mind-blowing.

The course starts off very simple -- since it is for non-programmers, but covers tremendous ground all the way to recursion which is something that people really struggle with.

A wonderful course that should be mandatory for everyone who hopes to be a part of the IT field in technical capacity. Also good for managers to appreciate concepts that "techies" talk about.

A Wonderful Getaway to Nature

2013-12-27T18:44:00.000+05:30

A visit to the Jungle Lodges Galibore Nature Camp is an experience to remember. A myriad group of two seniors citizens, one young man, a ten year old, and of course, yours truly visited the property and spent two wonderful days.

At the "Sangam" of the rivers Cauvery and Arkavati, a kaccha road of 9 kilometers leads to Galibore, which is a small property that has just 12 tents, and 5 "executive" tents with the "luxury" of electricity within the tent. There are no air-conditioners, just a couple of pedestal fans if you need them.

We visited the camp at the end of December and the days varied from warm to tolerably hot. Nights were cool, and a sweater or shawl was welcome.

The camp had nice activities. On the day that we checked-in, we relaxed on hammocks while the younger ones played on basic wood swings and climbing ropes. After lunch, we traversed the river Cauvery on a coracle. Apart from various water birds, we saw a huge grey crocodile sunning itself on the river bank. In the evening we had a barbeque on the beach with yummy eats. Sunset by the riverside revealed beautiful colors in the sky, and once the sun was down, the starlit sky was special for city dwellers since the lack of artificial lights allowed for a skyful of bright stars. To keep the experience as close to nature as possible, the only light came from a couple of traditional lanterns and a bonfire.A wildlife film was followed by wholesome, tasty (and thankfully un-spicy) dinner at the "gol-ghar" -- which is the in-house restaurant.

The next morning started early, with a guided walk that started by the riverside. The good thing was that each group had it's own guide, so could choose it's own route and pace. After walking on the sand for some time, we chose to get onto the kachcha road, where the guide pointed out the flora and fauna along the way. Apart from various birds, we saw tracks of several wild animals that had visited the river at night.

Sumptuous breakfast was followed by a jeep ride to Mekedatu where the River Cauvery has cut an almost 70 feet deep gorge. There are extremely decent steps that take one more than half-way down the gorge to some majestic structures created by the river in stone. Some monkeys came and claimed the biscuits of the ten year old, which was a bit of a let-down, but still -- an experience! The sad part of the place were the footprints left by fellow tourists in the form of chips packets, juice boxes, paper plates and all manner of rubbish.

Another great lunch and some rest was followed by another coracle ride where we saw more water birds and an even bigger crocodile that obliged us by providing a view of ambling off the shore and sliding into the river. A starlit barbeque, followed by dinner with an unusual "bread-cake" for dessert (I have the recipe now :-)).

The next morning, the guide took us for a nature walk along the kachcha road and then cut across to the river to offer a view of the rapids. We spent some time by the river, admiring the view and collecting river stones. We also had a throw-the-stone-farthest-in-the-river game and a bit of splashing in the shallow part of the river. It is always a good idea to do an activity even if it is a repeat, since the guide will find ways to introduce interesting variations.

Incidentally, once the monsoon sets in, the rapids are raft-able at Galibore and anyone over the age of 10 can go rafting. The manager told us that August was the best time for rafting; when we visited at the end of December -- there wasn't enough water for rafting.

While all the Jungle Lodges properties that I've visited have had courteous staff who go the extra mile to make guests comfortable, the warmth and hospitality at Galibore takes service to a whole new level.

A wonderful two nights in the lap of nature...

Airtel Cannot Provide STD on Fixed Lines

2012-12-22T17:40:00.001+05:30

I tried dialing a Delhi number from Bangalore today only to be told the "service wasn't enabled" on my fixed line. I called Airtel on 198 to check. Spent 30 minutes and spoke to two CSR's.

The first one kept asking me what number I was trying to dial and really didn't get it despite repeating the number about 3 times. Then she was convinced that 011 is an ISD code and I was dialing international. I hung up in disgust and tried again.

The next attempt took about 20 minutes to reach a CSR. This time round the person assured me that he could and would get STD enabled on my phone within 4 hours and refused to give me a tracking umber.

5 hours later -- no surprises, STD remained disabled. I called 198 again and asked for a complaint number which the CSR claimed would only be resolved by December 24th (three days away). When I asked to escalate, I was given yet another number where I had to listen to that irritating Airtel IVR tell me the escalation department works only reduced hours from Monday to Friday.

I'm still without STD.

Does Airtel really believe that the way to do good business is to have customers deal with flaky IVR systems instead of competent people who can help resolve issues? Given the interactions that I've had with Airtel CSR's, the term moron readily comes to mind.

However, being the good Samaritan that I am, I've got a suggestion for Airtel. Get into the healthcare space. Here's the rationale: given the crap product and lousy customer service, Airtel causes immense grief to customers. This grief, frustration and stress will eventually lead to health issues for customers. What better way to make even more money from customers than by getting into the "healthcare" space? The quotes around the word healthcare are deliberate: I don't expect more than a facade from Airtel -- proclaiming to provide a service while actually just continuing to fleece customers.

Die, Airtel, die!

Where Are You From?

2012-12-15T22:19:00.003+05:30

Where are you from?

This is a question that *always* leaves me stumped. With parents of North Indian origin, I was born and raised in Western India, and "home" is now Southern India.

So where am I from?

From the data above, most people expect me to answer "North Indian". Do I belong to North India, because that's where my parents grew up? Having never really lived there, I don't really relate to the culture.West India also hasn't been home for more than a decade. However, answering South Indian is not considered acceptable.

The answer that I want to give is that I am INDIAN, minus any labels. Why is that so hard for people to accept?

Flipkart The False

2012-09-04T20:47:00.005+05:30

I ordered a book on Flipkart.com (at full price, i.e., 0 discount) along with a couple of other things. This book had a similar delivery date to the rest of the order, however, it did not ship at all.

When other parts of the order got shipped but not this book, I wrote to Flipkart asking for an explanation.

Customer "Support": This is to notify you that the shipment of the above mentioned product may be delayed by an additional 3-4 business days.

Me: Are you sure that you will be able to deliver the book and this is just a delay? In that case I am ok to wait. If however, you are unsure of delivering the book and there is a possibility that you will refuse the order after a few days, I would like to cancel right away and get the book directly from Scholastic. Please let me know as this is a hard to find book and I do not want to miss the opportunity of getting it.

Flipkart Customer "Support": This is to inform you that there has been an unexpected delay in having this order shipped to you. As per our records, the above mentioned book is expected to get shipped on September 03, 2012.

Naturally, I assumed this meant that Flipkart was sure about delivering the book, just that it was taking longer than usual, so I decided to wait.

...

Me: My order is due to be shipped today but the website is not yet updated with any shipping details. Please confirm that you are able to send me the book.

Customer "Support": We would like to inform you that as per our records, the above mentioned book is expected to get shipped by the end of the day today.

Me: I have not yet received any shipping information for ... -- which, after multiple delays, was due to ship yesterday.

Customer "Support": This is to inform you that there has been an unexpected delay in having this order shipped to you. We have escalated this issue and the concerned team is looking into the challenges involved which has caused the delay. Kindly provide us one business day within which the concerned team would get in touch with you by email or a call with an update on the status of this order.

...

End of the business day, no response from Flipkart.

Completely inept handling of my order by Flipkart and it's Customer "Support". I am now poorer by the cost of the book and have lost the window of opportunity of getting it directly from Scholastic.

Flipkart is now relegated to the list of online websites that are inefficient and inept at handling orders (I've had similar issues post payment with Indiaplaza and now Flipkart).

Websites I've had non-problematic experiences with (in random order):

Uread.com
Landmarkonthenet.com
Firstcry.com
Infibeam.com
Bookadda.com
Madratgames.com

So, dear readers of this blogpost, beware of Flipkart. They offer nothing new or different from the rat-race of online inefficiency in India and are no longer the lowest when it comes to price either.

Human Trafficking?

2012-08-10T22:31:00.000+05:30

In a shocking incident, a mother sold her 8-day old baby boy for Rs. 40000 in order to be able to fund treatment for her two-year old paralytic son.

The anti-human trafficking branch of Rajasthan Police got involved and said, "This baby ... was given for adoption in return of money. An adoption can only be undertaken through the District Child Protection committee. Besides, no money or gifts can be exchanged in adoption cases." The "trafficked" baby's parents were arrested (and are currently out on bail.)

While I completely agree that human trafficking is abhorrent, one needs to look beyond the superficial facts. In a country like India, where the male child is practically worshiped and people go to any lengths to have one (including killing girl children inside and outside the womb), this mother was ready part with her baby boy in the hope of curing her elder son. She who went through the process of carrying, giving birth and then parting with her 8-day old baby -- in no way strikes me as a human trafficker (even though I do not condone what she did the slightest bit).

As a nation, it would be good for us to strengthen availability of medical facilities at reasonable rates to poorer sections of society so that they don't need to resort to such acts of desperation.

If I was the investigating agency of this case, I would arrest the "broker" and the couple who was willing to take advantage of the mother's desperation by "buying" her baby.

Oh, and then I would turn my attention to *serious* and *brutal* human trafficking that forces thousands of girls into the flesh trade against their will, instead of turning a blind eye because it is lucrative to do so.

I'm a Satyamev Jayate Fan

2012-06-24T21:18:00.001+05:30

Satyamev Jayate is about the only television show that I make it a point to watch religiously. The show has come in for lots of criticism ranging from "Aamir Khan is making money over social ills" to "it lulls the middle class into believing they are doing something about social ills by watching/tweeting/SMSing" and "it's scripted melodrama".

Yes, Aamir Khan is probably making big bucks for hosting the show (why shouldn't he?) and a (large?) section of the middle class probably silence their conscience by watching/tweeting/SMSing. And I completely believe that the tears are scripted in order to gain TRPs.

Then why do I watch it each week?

I watch the show because it brings serious ills that plague our society to the forefront; issues that we'd rather not even think of because they are huge blots on our "India Shining" imagery. I watch it because, melodrama apart, it appears to be well-researched and has success stories that show all is not lost. On any issue, it's completely worth it if the success stories help even one person cross the bridge from victim to survivor.

I'd like to ask the armchair critics of the show what they are doing to help deal with the issues that the show is raising (apart from criticizing Aamir Khan for bursting into tears).

To close -- a serious tip of the hat to Aamir Khan for raising, dwelling-on and humanizing issues that we Indians would rather not talk or even think about.

Extortion

2012-05-31T11:42:00.001+05:30

Petrol prices above Rs. 80 per litre where I live and I will not be surprised if they cross Rs. 100. There have been the usual platitudes of how oil companies have been losing money selling petrol to us, thanks to the global oil prices.

And then ... there is this: Indian Oil net profit up 224% at Rs 12670 crore. *After* selling petrol at a loss, Indian Oil *still* managed a *net* profit that was 224% *more* than the previous year.

How then, is the petrol price hike not plain and simple daylight robbery?

Raising the prices of petrol leads to all prices rising even further (and inflation has been on a runaway horse for a while now). Yet, the oil companies, instead of helping the nation, choose to further line their already deep pockets.

And Team Sonia/Manmohan/UPA blatantly stand by and let them.

Shame!

Today is a Bharat Bandh called to protest the petrol price hike. While I don't support bandhs, I can't help but see that the imperial rulers of India (Team Sonia), by consistently not listening to the people, essentially leave them with no choice but to resort to bandhs.

Pearls Of Wisdom

2012-05-24T18:11:00.001+05:30

Mohit Chandra of KPMG, in an open letter to India's graduating classes brilliantly sums up the issues the corporate world faces with young graduates seeking employment.

Educational institutions would do well to address the gaps and help create employment-ready graduates who:

1> Speak and write English fluently
2> Are good at problem solving, thinking outside the box, seeking new ways of doing things
3> Ask questions, engage deeply and question hierarchy
4> Take responsibility for their career and for their learning and invest in new skills
5> Are professional and ethical

Read the entire letter here.

Flipkart & the Pointy Haired Ones

2012-04-30T22:32:00.000+05:30

Update: Flipkart customer service called to 'assure' me that an ETA of 'within 2-3 business days of placing oprder' is a better ETA than 'May 2'.

I said they are morons and stand by it!

_________________________________________________

I have been a fairly regular customer of Flipkart, having ordered ~ 50 books / CD's in the course of my online shopping with them.

If memory serves me right, when I first ordered a book, I was pleasantly surprised to find a book ordered late on a Saturday night delivered the following Monday.

Of course, there have been ups and downs with Flipkart making (and then rectifying) pricing "errors", suffering from poor website response times and throwing 500/502 Bad Gateway errors every now and then. However, I'd been going back to Flipkart because it seemed reliable for timely delivery.

Not any more.

On a a recently placed order (this weekend), the ETA changed without warning from 'May 2nd' to '3 business days from order date'. Now, a glance of the My Orders page gives me *no* useful information. In order to (try and) calculate when my order will arrive, I have to click the order, look up the order date, and then try and figure out Flipkart's holiday list in order to determine when the '3 business days' will be up.

In today's day and age of *intense* online competition, what kind of organization goes from being user-friendly to user-unfriendly? Does Flipkart actually think that reducing functionality is the way to keep customers coming back for more?

Certainly seems like Flipkart is being taken over by the Pointy Haired Community.

Eagerly waiting to take my business to www.amazon.in!

_________________________________________________

Update: Looks like I'm not the only one having issues with Flipkart. Lots of disgruntled customers vent here.

RTE -- A Cynical Half-Measure?

2012-04-30T21:11:00.001+05:30

The Supreme Court recently upheld the Right to Education (RTE) Act as legal, after the government's lawyer said that the fees of children from economically weaker sections (EWS) will be paid for by the government.

That said, the government is willing to pay less than Rs. 20000 per child per year. I don't know of *any* half-way decent school that charges an annual fee that is not atleast double or even 4-8 times that amount. The government's argument of "we spend that much per child in Kendriya Vidyalaya" rings hollow because private schools are *not* central schools.

In an interview, Kapil Sibal suggested that schools should approach corporates to pay fees for the children from EWS, because, according to him, corporates were waiting to do so! Mr. Sibal, given that you are sure corporates are waiting to fund RTE, why don't you write it in the bill/get it passed as an "RTE Tax" in the budget? why send schools out with a begging bowl? Is it because your words come from your hat instead of from conviction? Oh, and while you're at it, can you please tell me what happens to the 3% education cess that you collect from me on virtually every tax I pay?

Another issue with the RTE is that the children from EWS are taken care of from the ages of 6-14, i.e., grades 1 through 8. Children are expected to speak, read and write alteast one language and know basic math. concepts *before* they get to grade 1. How does Mr. Sibal intend for this to happen for the children from EWS if they *start* school in grade 1? And, even more weird, what sense does educating them till class 8 make? A decent milestone would have been the 10th grade (which would get them a certificate), or even better, the 12th grade (which would ensure that they are in school till they get to the legal age of work).

To summarize, RTE is nothing but a cynical modern-day equivalent of "garibi hatao" peddled by the Congress in the hope of winning elections.

What a shame.

Nupur Talwar -- Victim of a Witch-Hunt?

2012-04-30T20:41:00.000+05:30

In 2008, a young girl named Aarushi Talwar was brutally murdered in her own home in UP. The local police, in their haste to "solve" the case, came up with some theories and allowed the media in for a look-see at the scene of the murder, thereby destroying vital evidence.

Aarushi's father, Rajesh Talwar had spent more than a few days in jail when the CBI (to whom the case was handed over) concluded there was insufficient evidence against him and proposed to close the case. A judge ruled against closing the case and he remains an accused. He is currently out on bail.

In a twist of events, Aarushi's mother Nupur Talwar has also become a murder accused. Denied bail, she has been take to jail tonight.

Watching (what the media report about) the case, I cannot help but wonder if this is a witch-hunt. The same CBI that said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Rajesh Talwar now opposes Nupur Talwar's bail because she may tamper with evidence. Tamper with evidence four years after the crime? Which was insufficient to proceed with the case?

To be very clear, I have *no* idea whether the Talwars murdered their daughter or not. I just find it very strange, that four years on, the CBI is ok for the murder victim's father to be out on bail but not her mother. When they are both co-accused.

On another note, as a parent myself, I cannot help but empathize with what the Talwars must be going through. To lose a child has to be the hardest thing in the world. And when that happens, instead of mourning for the child, the Talwars spend their time in and out of jails and courtrooms as murder accused.

If they are innocent, by the time they get to prove it, will their lives not be completely destroyed not only because they've lost their only child, but because they've been spending their time fighting to prove their innocence instead of getting closure and moving on?

Tragic.

Airtel ... Aarggghhh!!!

2012-04-08T17:59:00.002+05:30

Unfortunately for me, I am an Airtel Broadband customer.

Last month, I received an email stating that a pack worth Rs 85 had been activated on my account. I called up the complaint number (198) and got it cancelled, and also said that I *never* wanted any service activated automatically.

So far, so good. Until ... 30 days later, I got the following email:

"On your request our Customer Care Executive has made purchase for you, the PC Secure subscription has been activated for your airtel broadband ID ...
Price(INR)	:	85.00/-"

Once again I called up the complaint number (and navigated through irritating options till I was able to speak to a "human"), to be told that I wouldn't be charged, and if by chance I was, I could call and get it reversed. I wasn't satisfied (given that this was the second time it was happening). I asked for a complaint #, which the customer "care" representative refused to provide. Instead I was connected (after a long hold), to the "escalation" department who tried to tell me that unless customers give "feedback" how would Airtel know? And then tried to blame the email on the "server" that sent it!

The above interactions clearly indicate:
*> Airtel doesn't care two hoots about customer service.
*> Airtel is opportunistic and will not hesitate to slap on charged unless you track communication *very* carefully.
*> Airtel hires morons as programmers who are unable to draft emails that indicate a service is free if it is free, and put customers through torture of interacting with customer "care".
*> Airtel has no concept of quality control -- why send repeated emails to customers saying they will be charged for (what they later claim) are free services?
*> Airtel Customer Care Dept is (probably) taking higher management for a right royal ride -- by not issuing complaint numbers to customers who call with complaints (and then claiming to have great service -- see? no complaint #s?)

Airtel surely makes the pointy haired community proud of it!

Punish?

2012-03-03T20:47:00.001+05:30

Once upon a time, there was an inter-club skating competition between clubs "Lenient" and "Strict" at the premises of club "Strict".

The parents of club "Lenient" skaters observed that the skaters of club "Strict", even the littlest ones, had extremely good form, stance and were able to bend double and skate through the length of events as long as 1 km. So they mentioned this to the coaches of club "Lenient". The coaches lamented that parents did not co-operate and complained if their children were punished.

Is punishment the only way for children to excel at sport? Surely there must be another way?

Corporate Greed >> Human Life?

2012-02-16T16:09:00.003+05:30

Since 2007, the drug company Novartis has been fighting to stop the production of affordable generic medicines in India. These medicines are used not just in India, but all over the developing world to help organizations like Medecins Sans Frontieres save millions of lives world-over.

Medecins Sans Frontieres is trying to stop Novartis from prioritizing corporate greed over human life.

Even after Indian courts ruled against it, Novartis has continued its legal battle and now the Supreme Court is due to hear the case at the end of February 2012.

Of course, looking at recent judgements of the Indian Supreme Court makes me very hopeful that the court will rule in favour of life and not greed.

Praying for life ...

Eagle (a.k.a. cruel) Dad

2012-02-08T20:38:00.005+05:30

My sense of outrage makes it very hard to make this a coherent blog post. Tiger Mom was bad enough, but Eagle Dad leaves me speechless with rage.

A "father" made his four year old run near-naked in the snow, even as the child cried to be rescued from the cold. Then he forced the near-naked child *lie down* on snow.

In what way are the adult's actions NOT sadism and cruelty? Hasn't daddy heard of people, *adults* at that, dying due to cold weather? What if the child contracted pneumonia or some other serious disease?

Why should a four year old be subjected to such cruel and unusual behavior, just because his (I'm assuming) biological father wants him to grow up into "tough" guy?

This happened in New York -- there are passersby in the video; why didn't anyone dial 911? Where were the child protection agencies? Why isn't the adult who did this behind bars?

Shocking and shameful.

Increasing Productivity the Apple Way

2012-01-28T20:18:00.008+05:30

The New York Times wrote about the human cost of Apple's iPad.

Among the other horrors that the article documented, one particularly stood out. Employees at a Chinese factory for Apple were at work polishing iPad screens, but owing to the tremendous demand for Apple products, weren't going fast enough. So the factory decided to "improve" productivity by replacing rubbing alcohol with n-hexane, which evaporated three times as fast. The catch: n-hexane is a toxic chemical that causes nerve damage and paralysis. In the race for greater productivity, safety was willfully abandoned.

More often than not, "increased" productivity is not the result of innovation but human cost. Want more iPad screens cleaned? Replace safe chemicals with hazardous ones that evaporate faster. Want a greater number of iPads per week? Make employees work back-to-back 12 hour shifts.

There would probably be more humane ways of getting the productivity Apple wants, if it gives suppliers a *little* more from it's hundreds-of-dollars-per-iPad profit. To quote from the article, “If you squeeze margins, you’re forcing them to cut safety.”

The folks speaking on behalf of Apple essentially shrugged off responsibility because according to them, customers care more about a new Apple product than worker safety in China. That's akin to saying responsibility for ending slavery in America lay with the consumers of south cotton, which was produced by slave labour.

If I was an Apple customer, I would certainly think twice before buying their products.

Modernize!

2011-12-24T11:03:00.000+05:30

I've been reading translations of Satyajit Ray's Feluda detective series with my eight year old. While the mysteries are interesting enough, what sticks out as a sore thumb is the fact that they have not been "modernized".

Let me explain.

Feluda thinks nothing of lighting a cigarette as he mulls over his case. At the time the story was originally written, smoking probably wasn't considered a health hazard and Satyajit Ray wrote what he did. Fast forward to the present where we now know all about the evil health effect of smoking, and guide our children away from the concept. Naturally the eight year old wants to know why Feluda is indulging in a smoke when we "all" know that's it's not good for health!

It would have made the books so much more acceptable if the translator had eliminated the bits around "puffed at his cigarette".

It isn't as if this has never been done before. In the Noddy series' created by Enid Blyton, the naughty black golliwog has been replaced by nice sweet Dinah Doll who is also black.

Why can't we do the same?

A Climber will not Creep

2011-12-20T10:13:00.000+05:30

I've lived in a typical urban environment all my life, without much real contact with flora and fauna. The closest I ever came to nature while growing up was when I grew bean seeds for school. Of course, I studied botany in school and learnt about creepers and climbers, all the while scratching my head trying to figure out the difference by looking at grainy pictures in text books.

Fast forward to the present day, where I decided to grow a kitchen "garden". I planted beans and with the help of sticks, tried to get the plant to cover a grill. The bean plant was smart, it got the idea pretty quickly and latched onto the grill -- and kept climbing. It climbed till it reached the top end of the grill. That's when I thought it would start to grow sideways (you know, be a grown up and all that ;-)). Instead the plant, climbed all the way down and then back up again! Surely a climber, not a creeper.

That's when I really understood the difference between climbers and creepers.

Mint, on the other hand, never grew more than six inches tall; but began invading space horizontally. A creeper perhaps?

I'm looking forward to more such revelations as I get to be one with nature via my kitchen "garden"...

I Too Had a Dream

2011-11-10T19:30:00.000+05:30

I've just finished reading "I Too Had a Dream" -- by Dr. Verghese Kurien; autobiography of the man who put India on the map as the world's largest producer of milk. The person who was responsible for Operation Flood, for our favorite Amul and Dhara brands.

Dr. Kurien has come in for a fair amount of criticism during the course of his work. He takes on the criticism head-on -- he did what he thought was in the best interest of the task at hand. Some decisions obviously came out better than others, since it is only hindsight that is 20/20.

Which brings me to my point.

In today's world, apart from the silent majority, there are two classes of people. One is the evil, corrupt lot that feeds off the silent majority. The other comprises of good *human beings*. By virtue of being *human*, they make do mistakes but basically have their hearts in the right place and want to do the right thing for the silent majority.

It is this "human" element of the good class of society that the evil class successfully exploits in order to (very successfully) deflect attention from their own evil deeds, and thus to continue to prey on the silent majority.

In movement after movement for social change, the human beings at the helm of trying to bring about good get viciously attacked over issues ranging from petty and frivolous to downright false.

And yet, tragically, each time, the evil class succeeds in "winning over" the silent majority and halting the very change that would have been good for them.

Flipkart, Too, is a Cheat?

2011-11-10T18:58:00.006+05:30

Update (11/11/2011): Flipkart customer service called saying it was an error and the book is now listed at Rs 295, with a discounted price of Rs 221. I was offered either store credit or a refund. I opted for the former and have received it.

_________________________________________________________

I am extremely disappointed to be writing this blogpost.

I ordered the book "I Too Had a Dream" from flipkart.com. It was advertised at Rs 395, and marked down to Rs 296. I dutifully paid Rs 296, and waited for the book to arrive.

The MRP printed on the book delivered by flipkart was Rs 295.I feel terribly cheated by this underhand way of marking up and then marking down a book. It is a book I wanted to read; I would I have bought it *anyway*. Why this charade of offering a discount?

Also, isn't it downright illegal to sell it for MORE than it costs (even by a rupee)?

_________________________________________________________
More Flipkart horror here.