Pursuing an Identity

Mugging !

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:20:00 +0000

I got back home earlier than usual in the night to go to a local temple with my cousin and his little daughter. As we were nearing the car, I saw a guy shouting at the top of his voice and another one chasing him. Now the first guy fell down and the second guy snatched his bag and started running. For a few seconds, I thought they are two high-school kids playing pranks, but what was happening was clear in a moment- Mugging ! .

From the looks of the 'mugged', he seemed like a software engineer from India. For a few seconds, I had no idea how to react: 1. Should I help or not ? 2. If I do help, what if the mugger has a gun (which they usually do) ? 3. What if I am shot ? 4. If so, what abt family ? All this in a couple of seconds .

My instinct to help over-ruled other thoughts, and the next moment I saw myself chasing the mugger, and the the 'mugged' chased him too. As I was running faster than both the involved parties, I almost neared the mugger who was carrying the stolen bag now. But as I neared him, he dropped the bag and disappeared into the dark street, and I stopped chasing once he dropped the bag. The victim tried chasing for a while but could not catch up. He returned back, panic-stricken, expectedly, we went thro' the usual introduction cycle and all ended fine.

Though the entire drama ended in a minute or two with nothing untoward in the end, it left me partly happy, partly disturbed and partly puzzled. Happy because I helped someone though that came with a huge risk, and did end up making the victim happy at the end. Disturbed because, I witnessed mugging live for the first-time, it happened inside the apartment where I live, and because I get back home late every night , taking the same route and carrying my Vaio and iPhone. Puzzled - because I could not answer why I gave up chasing the culprit after he dropped the bag, because of the possibility that the mugger carried a gun (and the consequences if he did). Was it an act of stupidity ? Many nagging questions !!

Thank you, Almighty, once again , I am writing this now !

Tirunelveli , the Singur of Tamilnadu

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:37:00 +0000

TATA Steel has planned to invest Rs. 2,000 crores in its titanium dioxide (TiO2) plant proposed to be established on the Sattankulam-Kuttam stretch in Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts of South Tamilnadu which is one of the least industrialised parts of the country. The plant would provide close to 1000 direct and 3000 indirect jobs. It was originally scheduled to become operational in March 2008. An MoU in this regard was signed in 2002. As part of the agreement Tata will provide various livelihood programs to enhance the lives of the people who gave land for the project. (apart from compensation paid for the land). Every land owner will be enrolled in the Tata Kudumbam (Tata Family), and the company will monitor the income levels of every single family and strive to improve the quality of their lives. This is a big incentive in a region where most land is arid and reason enough why industry and employment generation means a lot here.

The project was mooted during last DMK rule and taken forward by the AIADMK govt. But the same AIADMK and other opposition parties barring CPI(M) have come out in opposition of this project now. While CPI(M)'s muted reaction is understandable as it would not want to be accused of double standards in West Bengal Vis-a-vis Tamilnadu, other parties are opposed to the project because of caste politics, which is predominant in South Tamilnadu. Some land owners ( just as the case with Singur) are against the project and unfortunately they exert a heavy influence on people of their castes. As is the trend in South Tamilnadu, this might come to be considered a move targeted against some castes and hence the parties supporting it risk alienating certain castes and hence losing their votes. They are pitted against the project with least regard to development which is long evading the region. Hence the CM of Tamilnadu, Mr.Karunanidhi has stalled the project because he does not want a repeat of Singur.

South Tamilnadu lags behind most areas of Tamilnadu in terms of Industrial growth. For some unfortunate reason, most projects launched with fanfare get stalled eventually each for different reasons. Koodangulam and Nanguneri SEZ are good examples of such projects that have not lived up to the initial hype they generated. TATA Steel's Titanium project hence would a big boost to the entire region. With one success story, more corporates will be encouraged to set up shops. TATA as most of us know is one of the most socially responsible corporates and hence opposition without substance is quite unfortunate. Its ultimately not the TATAs that lose out because they have other alternatives in Orissa and AP to mine TiO2 but its South Tamilnadu that is the loser.

Well, if this is one side of the story that concerns me, there is another aspect thats bothering too. As I strongly think this issue is of paramount importance, I posted this in the orkut Community for Tirunelveli which is an active 5000+ strong group all belonging to Tirunelveli district. But to my dismay the post got mercilessly buried under the onslaught of threads like 'vaarthai vilaiyaattu', 'love and friendship', 'Name a movie for the person above you' etc.. lol :-)

Coming back, as responsible citizens who would not get carried away by caste politics, can we do something about it as we cannot afford to lose this ?

A few links:
1. economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2245484.cms
2. www.hinduonnet.com/2005/10/18/stories/2005101808220400.htm
3. www.tatasteel.com/newsroom/press363.asp
4. www.hinduonnet.com/2007/08/07/stories/2007080770720500.htm
5. www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/04/20/stories/200804205...

Google Chrome: Winners and Losers

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:33:00 +0000

My first blog from Chrome browser and incidentally its about chrome too.

Google Vs Microsoft:
I am no nerd to experiment every new software that makes news. But anything from google stable has always been an exception. Every google product excites me just as it excites million others. But the enthusiasm that Chrome generated has far exceeded everything else before. One reason could be that I always wanted a browser that's not just customizable and secure but light as well. But the enthusiasm is primarily because its the first ever time Google is fighting the lion (read Microsoft) in its own den (read browser). Although there are quite a few google applications that are pitted against MS products (like Google docs Vs MS Office), there were substantial non-overlapping regions with Google placing its bet on Cloud computing and Microsoft still vouching for desktop computing. Hence google did not pose a huge threat to any of flagship MS product. Rather (arguably) Google reveled in areas where Microsoft either did not have anything to offer or did not taste success. In contrast Microsoft never stopped trying options that would directly threaten Google's flagship products (like search engine) and its revenue base. These facts combined together with the timing of its launch makes Chrome a critically important product in Google Stable.

Timing:
The recent IE Ver 8 has a feature wherein a user can browse without being tracked of their browsing pattern. Clearly to me it was developed keeping Google in mind. Google Ads are generated depending on your browsing pattern and hence hiding it would make the google ads less relevant (presumably thats what Microsoft hopes for). That in turn would mean ad clicks and hence ad revenue for Google would go down. Though speculative, these are clear possibilities. But clearly, such moves by Microsoft do not augur well for Google. Launching their own browser is hence a logical extension (and a business compulsion).

Threat to IE:
Now the important question, can Chrome threaten the IE's market lead ? I am somehow not convinced it would, atleast as long as Windows dominate the PC market and as long as IE (and IE alone) comes shipped for free together with Windows. That is because there is still a huge chunk of customers who are plain vanilla computer users who just require a plain browser to check their emails, watch some videos apart from some news and shopping. They do not really require the security and Add-ons of Firefox or the speed of Safari. They are very happy IE customers who are unwilling or rather find it unnecessary to try a different browser. How easy would google find it to lure them ? I think its going to be very difficult and challenging (Unless google comes up with something really innovative.. remember how gmail generated so much interest sheerly because of the 'limited invites' they provided in the beginning..turned out to be a wonderful idea). One possibility is Google convincing PC makers to have Chrome pre-installed in computers. Though it would cost Google substantial money its worth spent.

Threat to Non-IE:
Indeed this in my opinion is more plausible. Look at most Firefox loyalists- they are more professionals that spend most time in their offices in front of computers, they are more knowledgeable computers users, they are not wary of experimentation, they understand memory usage, security, add-ons better than an average computer user. To them browser experience is of critical importance and hence will not stop short of trying out Chrome that promises to address issues that others do not. So a huge shift from firefox to Chrome looks more probable.

So my guess is Chrome is more likely to eat away a bigger chunk from Firefox than Internet Explorer, though it may prefer it the other way. Its way too early to predict anything. As John Lilly, the chief executive of Mozilla puts it : 'this is a story that will play out over weeks, months, and years, not hours and days'.

Best of luck, Chrome !

Good Reads:
1.Chrome's Pros and Cons - PCWorld

2. Inside Chrome  - Wired.com
3. IE 8 - In private mode threatens online ad tracking  - Paul Cook, CEO Positive Feedback
4. Microsoft adds privacy tools to IE 8  - NY Times

The Chosen Man

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:14:00 +0000

They say God cannot appear in person in front of everyone, instead he sends chosen men to different parts of the world to help the people in need. History is replete with many such noble men and women - Martin Luther king, Mother Teresa, Christ, Buddha and so on.

But does this chosen man always have to be a religious leader, philosopher, philanthropist or social reformer ? As long as i am concerned, not really. As long as he heals me when i am bruised, inspires me when dejected, lifts me up when crippled, energizes me when depleted, I can fervently say he is the chosen one. The methodology and his profession least matters.

Well, if there is one man who has done it all for me, its Ilaiyaraja. His music has healed me during turbulent times more than the philosophies of many great men. His music is the closest I have experienced God and the closest i have seen God's healing powers.

Enjoy this one among myriad beautiful compositions of his: "Senthazham poovil" from the movie "Mullum Malarum" .

Languages known + 1

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:34:00 +0000

Resisted blogging for a while for one, my priorities are (supposed to be) different now and two, there are my near and dears who might find it extremely annoying to see an update here when i should be spending my time in something else.. but I found this one so hilarious that i couldn't resist.

I have a good friend Ram (name changed) one of whose friend recently was attracted to the tenets of a new religion. Now please dont expect me to call you a genius if you guessed the religion right. Just in case, he is now a faithful pentecostal...now is there anyone who says "never knew they do this...thought they only heal and share god's messages".

Ok, lemme not digress much. As most fresh converts do, our friend was trying to convince Ram that he is more enlightened now and how regularly he strikes a conversation with god almighty (didnt know God too is bored like me these days.. somebody gotta read him today's newspapers on the bomb blast in Bangalore or may be show him An Inconvenient Truth) and that Ram is missing all that, so and so on.. There was nothing new for me here, all my life I grew up listening to this. Here is the bombshell though, if someone converts from any other religion to pentecostal he will miraculously be imparted with the fluent knowledge of a language hitherto completely unknown to the convert !!!

And Ram was surprised as I am now, as anyone else would be... I was very proud of my country yet again because as such Educated Indians are polyglots knowing a minimum two languages and the rest are mostly Pentecostal ( or becoming one) that makes the whole of india polyglot ( or will soon be) .. i bet no other country can ever lay claim to this record now and for many years to come.. I digress again. Our friend goes on to add that his wife now knows a tribal language that is spoken only in Africa. Wowwwwwww..thats amazing, its gonna be so useful to me.. i can use it during all those trips to Africa (that i make so often.. ya rite), if ever i get lost in an African jungle (that i frequent so much) and a tribal gang covering their bare minimum with leaves ever catches me ( that has happened quite a few times.. ya that came in African newspapers printed in Egyptian papyrus) .. Just as they are rubbing stones to lit fire and fry me in the pyre for their next meal, i can take them all by surprise by speaking in their own language.. prospect of that happening excited me to the hilt..( ya riteeeee.. ) . my mind was weaving complex imaginations here.. asked Ram to tell me more...here goes the conversation..

Ram: Very interesting, which language is that?

Friend: Don't know, but its spoken by some tribals that live in the deep jungles of Africa ( its very clear now, i definitely know whom u are talking of here ..isnt Africa a county next to sussex in New jersey where there is one tribal family surviving according to a recent survey.. i can find their address right away from my uncle who works in the survey department of new jersey.. mann, ur information is always precise)

Ram: thats OK, one can always look up if the name of the tribals is known.. any clue on that ?

Friend: No, but i know they are in Africa.. ( You sure have all the information to prove your point mate)

Notwithstanding that incomplete information, knowing a new language is still a big incentive i think. I want to learn Spanish and French and i don't have the time to go to classes or cram any of those huge books. I think i have a much easier way than i ever knew.. yupppppiee.. But then i want to learn two languages, but this way i get to learn only one..Bang, comes an idea.. (1) Convert- Learn French- (2) Reconvert to my religion of birth-(3) Convert- Learn Spanish.. Omg, never knew learning languages is as easy as 2 minutes noodles... more than than, never knew i was so smart.. mom, u r so so bad, you never told me that i am smart ! Shut up dumbo, u never were.. i cant hear u mom, call u another day...

As i was drooling all over about my new found smartness, more ideas were flowing my way..A few that ran through my mind (A) If i have to translate a popular book from language A to language B and make lotsa money, all i need to do is CRC (short for Convert-reconvert-convert) .(B) i can also start coaching French .. not just for money... i know lotta young, pretty women that are Francophiles... (C) Why do i even restrict myself to teaching just French and be content with Francophilic girls alone...why not choose a girl of choice and then choose the language she loves.. all i need is just another CRC ..don't like her anymore , never mind, another girl, another CRC... CRC ..CRC .. CRC.. it was echoing all around me .. its getting too irresistible..

As I was building castles in the air, comes the real whack from Ram..this one hurt real bad.. NO, thats not how it works dude, the language is not decided by you, its random....Down comes my castle razed to rubbles ...with it all my dreams of becoming a polyglot-teaching French to beautiful girls and pocketing loads of dough.

My advisor crosses my mind and that brings me back to reality ! There is no shortcut to anything you lazy sloth !

Domain name front running

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:22:00 +0000

I am not sure if lotsa surfers are familiar with this term. I wasnt until I became a victim of this practice :( . I was looking to see if the internet domain by my name is available ( I was sure it is, thanks to my dad's not so prevalent name) ...Its a different thing altogether that i would not have gone ahead to register it as i have no clue what to have in there.

I wasnt quite happy with the $10/year offers and started looking out for the best deal. There is this tiny stingy guy in me that occasionally pops out asking me to do so ( he does at wrong times always) .Google took me to this page networksolutions.com that is one among myriad others through which one can register domain names.

As I looked up the domain that I wanted, it expectedly said 'available'. However as it did not give me the exact quote, I had to go a couple of steps when it quoted a staggering $40/year . Obviously, I wasnt happy with the deal and i proceeded to godaddy.com to see what they gotta say and to my disbelief it said, the domain is already taken. I looked up in the net to find out that it was owned by networksolutions.

This is exactly what is 'Domain Name Front Running'. Surprisingly the wikipedia entry mentions the name of Network solutions. A little too late !!

If this is a serious problem it surprises me why google search for terms like 'domain name availability' and 'buy domain name' fetches network solutions as the first result. Can google not tune its search algorithm to weed out such people from their search. They probably might not do it as far as ads are concerned for loss of revenue, but why not for search results ? Given the dependence of the world on google results, wouldnt it be wise for google to keep away from such people so that their credibility is not under threat ?

More Links:

1) http://www.domainnamenews.com/featured/domain-registrar-network-solutions-front-running-on-whois-searches/1359

2) Network solutions Scam

3) http://itlegalnews.net/2008/03/08/network-solutions-scam/

4) http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080110-network-solutions-defends-frontrunningto-stop-frontrunners.html

Learnt my lesson the hard way. But the consolation was I was just e-window shopping ! beware of Network Solutions nevertheless !!!!

Update:
--------
Thankfully the domain name was released by n/w solutions after 4 days. It wasnt 1 year as it initially stated. Nevertheless, the practice still needs to be condemned and stopped.

Day or Night ?

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:32:00 +0000

Are you a nocturnal guy ? A question that I have faced innumerable times but one for which I never had a convincing answer.

Tend to stay awake all night and hit the bed after dawn almost regularly. i seem to like the silence of the night while i work, time when the rest of the world sleeps, a trend that started during my 4 years stint at REC, Trichy where staying up all night is a norm for almost everyone in the hostel.

But at the same time, I have found myself more productive when i start the day together with the sunrise.. . Its gives me a lot of confidence that I have lotsa time in hand and that serves a big enough motivation.. and more than everything , i just get elated the days i am up early, the sight of birds departing their nests in groups forming those adorable patterns in sky, the fragrance that accompanies sunrise, those fresh flowers that look more beautiful in the morning sun than when bleached in the afternoon, dew drops that decorate the leaves - all these make me feel much better than when i wake up to see the world at 12.00 in the afternoon.

decision is not clear.. i have added it to my list of myriad other confusions and life moves on !!

Machan in love

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:10:00 +0000

A bit about myself b4 anything.

1) Having spent the first 20 years of my life within the boundaries of Tamilnadu and Tamil being my natural choice of spoken language whenever I am permitted, and most important of all as I can read and write tamil as well as anyone else could, I think I can call myself a pachai-tamizhan (as self-proclaimed tamil loyalists would call) OR a Tam in the nri lingo

2) I hail from a conservative town where girl-boy interaction is still considered a taboo and most schools/colleges have banned girl-boy interaction (Instances like a girl being dismissed from a school because she fell in love with a guy are quite common)

3) Thanks to my last 15 years of cosmopolitan existence, I have seen a fair amount of Indians from every state (literally)

With all this, i contend that Tam guys are one the most deprived (and hence desperate) souls when it comes to having a girl-friend or for that matter even be-friending a girl. Blame it on the conservative and authoritarian brought up by our mamas or the tonque-twisting names of tams as Cidin puts it, or it may be to do with the tamil figures (well, figure is a slang in tam land that roughly translates to 'babe') that lock themselves up inside their house apart from the times they visit temple and college or the lack of too many fair-skinned beaus in tam land that our guys are often desperate after ( which will partly explain why n.indian babes become a huge hit in kollywood), or the society that cannot take the sight of a girl-guy together (that stems out of our elders own inability to do so in their young age). Whatever it may be, guys from tam land are one of the most desperate lots i have seen.

God pity the first girl that comes into our machans life .. If the girl goes on to become his girl-friend, god cant save her either .. Among all other histrionics and behavioral changes that our guy adopts to impress our figure, he has to talk something to impress her as well. ( most of the times, when he opens his mouth to talk and impress, it takes an equally desperate girl to hold on to him) And due to inexperience, most of our guys usually indulge in one of the following to get into her best books:

1. makes a hit-list out of his own friends whom he considers a threat and makes sure he lists all bad qualities about the ones in the list to make sure they get into her bad-books. Of the friends that he trusts, he would go introduce the girl not his girl-friend, but their Anni.. sentiment புழிஞ்சுட்டே machan !!

2. If our dude is just a friend but looking for more in the relationship, and the girls eye is set elsewhere, our guy will be at his creative best. He now dons the role of a psycho-analyst and crime investigator and creates an encyclopedia of 'why he is not a good fit for you? ' . Of course that will all be summed up by a statement 'i dont do all this so that u love me..but as a friend i care for u hence i want u to get the best guy' .. and only our tam girls can be so dumb to believe it !!

3. when there is a conversation back in his room about our dude's friendii (its our way to mean a
friend tht happens to be a girl ), he makes sure that is faithfully communicated to her (with editing as appropriate). His way of further making sure, the potential threats indeed get into the wrong side.

4. Our guys are extremely possessive about the girl and hence any guy that walks into girls life after him no matter how harmless his intentions are will come under our machan's scanner and all desperate attempts will be made to ensure she never gets close to them. the measures can range anywhere from a kind request to a threating tone to a character assault to a physical attack of the girl (sometimes that guy as well) at times.

5. Our machan thinks that she is the most appropriate girl for him and has all qualities that he is looking for although i can swear on anyone that he has not spent a minute listing down his expectations. The fact is any first girl who goes on to become his friend ( or in an extremely unfortunate case the one who accepts his proposal) would have been the best girl in his life , probably out of fear that he is not very confident of getting another girl.

6. Machan sometimes thinks he is in true divine love that he will stop all his normal activities like going out with friends , drinking ... sema pure machi.

And of course being a tamilian, i can totally emphatize with our machan :)

Footnotes:
Everything that I have listed here is just from what I have observed and nothing is made up. And i do not mean any offense to individual who might have done it and of course, i do not mean to demean Tamilnadu or tamilians in any way. I am extremely proud of my tamil roots myself.

Roads, the rivers of modern civilizations

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:02:00 +0000

Well, Not quite literally..

When we read the history of ancient world civilizations , we find one commonality (out of a few) among all of those. The initial settlements happened and flourished along a river- Harappans along Indus, Mesopotomians along Tigris and Euphrates , Egyptians along Nile, Chinese along Yellow river and Yantse and later the population seeps inwards away from the river. ( I guess the only exception may be Greek that developed along the Mediterranean sea instead of a River..correct me if i m wrong) . It has got to do with the fact that Farming was their main occupation and that needed a constant supply of water and hence rivers were a natural choice. Though I do not know if buying and selling of land existed in those civilizations, we can safely assume that had something existed, land closer to a water source would have been more expensive than those in the interior. Even to this date this is true about farming villages where farmlands are more expensive when they are close to a water body be it a well, canal, pond or river.

Let me switch to modern Civilization now. Until yesterday, a place 'X' in bangalore cost Rs.50 per sq.feet. Today the government announces a new road is gonna come up that would pass thro this location 'X'. In a day the land value shoots up 500% and in a month 1000%. This pattern is not just restricted to metros. An example of this in small towns is the National Highways. We are familiar with the idea of by-pass roads in our Highways constructed along the outskirts of cities and small towns alike to facilitate the vehicles destined elsewhere to avoid the interiors of the city. The moment a by-pass road is built, people start buying lands along these roads, land price shoot up and these gradually develop into residential colonies and few years down the line, the population pattern would suggest a significant inflow into the cluster around the by-pass. Slowly but steadily the difference in activity levels dwindle between city roads and by-passes and the whole purpose of bypasses takes a beating here.

In ancient days a reliable, accessible river is discovered, a new settlement develops. In modern days, a new accessible road is built, a new settlement develops. So have roads have replaced rivers in modern civilization ?

if then else

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:18:00 +0000

No, this is not yet another frustrating life story of a software engineer - Nor, it is a 'Learn XYZ language in 24 hours' type tutorial. Its about my excuses -myriad reasons that I attribute to events that do not go as planned and invariably these excuses in some form or other manifest themselves as 'if-then-else' . Do statements like these sound familiar to you : 'If this has not happened, then i would have finished that' - if I havent met her in my life, i would have been much happier'

When i look back as far as i could, in this (almost) three decades of existence, every time I encountered something "undesired" (Not necessarily failure, but a result contrary to the expected.), I almost immediately blame my immediate circumstances and people for what happened, many a times the scapegoat had been my own parents, my sister, my friends too bore it at times. At times when such options were ruled out, non-living ones bore the brunt like 'unlucky pen' for a bad exam, 'lucky opposition' for a lost cricket match and so on. The summary is, I have always concocted an excuse or other and thereby stymied further chances of any exploration of the self to identify true reason(s) for any failure.

This has been nagging me for a long time but off-late I am a little too concerned as I have started to feel that the consequences of it may be worse that I imagine and occasionally catastrophic.

The reasons for this false implication could be due to multiple reasons, I feel three buckets are sufficient to put all of them into.
1) Lack of courage to accept our short-comings to others - this in my opinion is the easiest to overcome. this is a situation when we are aware of our mistake and our self-respect stops us from going one step ahead in admitting it to others. Consequences of this is not very bad as one knows the actual reason himself but the worst case may be losing a good relationship
2) Lack of courage to accept our short-comings to ourselves - this is a little more tricky and one has to treat and overcome his 'ego' to get a hold on the situation and get to an optimal solution. Consequences of this could be worse if we dont admit our shorcomings to ourselves.
3) Lack of intellect to read the situation appropriately and appreciate the true reason, which is the most difficult to overcome - this in my opinion is the most intricate and most of the times lots of us fall under this bracket and it is easily the most difficult problem to deal with.

In hindsight, I realize that here is where I was struck most and due to my failure to get to the roots of the problem, I was ill-equipped to handle it correctly, no matter how many times it happened to me. Usage of 'hindsight' and 'realization' does not mean, I have realised in hindsight and that I am handling situations better now. It just means, i am handling familiar situations better . Even todate, I keep facing situations when a problem is unfamiliar-a new situation-reasons are unknown. And I go back into self-exploration. Though what I strictly want to avoid is a if-then-else and would want to solely own responsibility for what happens to me.

Made in India - 1990 Vs 2010

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:35:00 +0000

As I was writing the earlier blog , the name that immediately came to my mind was Sasken and its visionary founder Mr.Rajiv Modi . For those who do not know, without going into details of Sasken's history, let me just tell you that it is a telecommunication software company that in late 90s was one of the biggest investor in R&D among Indian Companies and they hoped to generate lots of their revenue through Patents. They ventured into something that hardly any other Indian company ( including the cash rich Big-6 IT companies) had the guts to do - it was product development from India with a 'Made in India' tag. Infact their caption at those days was ' Unleashing Indian Creativity' (Isnt inspiring ? ). Being a telecommunication company, they chose Cellular communication to realize their dream. Apart from just filing for patents and getting royalties, they chose to develop complete software solution for '3rd Generation Cellular Technololgy' as well. At those days, it was a massive undertaking for a relatively new company based in India and only the team in Sasken could dream of such a bold step. However the question is 'Did they Succeed' ?

No, they did not. It was due to a combination of factors the primary of it being the bubble burst of 2000. But even after the market recovered and when a telecommunication boom ensued, their success in product development has not been very encouraging. I personally opine that a major part of this failure has to do with the perception that the world had of 'Made In India' brand. Textiles from India is thinkable but a High-tech product from India is not especially when alternatives available to them include names like Texas Instruments - Nokia - Siemens - Samsung - Infineon - Inter-digital. Even if some of them did not have a brand reputation then, they had a 'Made in Europe' or a 'Made in USA' tag attached.

The irony here is, this was the time when we thought ' India (is) Shining' and I.T outsourcing to India was constantly proving to be unavoidable for western companies. The difference here is: Sasken tried carve a niche for India in a High-technology product market, whereas other Indian IT companies or MNCs in India were trying at that time to just provide solutions as dictated by their bosses / clients in the west, their product would not carry an India tag. This was because the potential clients for Sasken still did not have the trust for Brand India as far as providing a complete protocol solution is concerned. But the same client might have bought the Sasken solution had Sasken developed it for a company in the west ( say a US based 'XYZ' ) and XYZ approached the client with 'Made in USA' tag.

Also during that period, India as a consumer was still small. She was then creating her now strong middle -class and the prosperity that we see now was not around even 5 years ago. ( I think of it like this: The number of people that join software profession in a year becomes a strong middle-class along with their immediate family in three years ) ..So there was no company that dared to make handsets from India. Had India had an attractive market, it would have been possible that a India based handset company was started and it offered to buy the software solution from Sasken.

In contrast, Soliton solutions a recent product company mentioned in my last blog has a huge market potential in India itself that will give them enough buffer time to market themselves outside India. Also India in my opinion is gaining respect in the west as in indispensable force and the perception about India is changing slowly that makes 'Made in India' brand for a high-tech product has more respect in 2010 than what it had in 1990.

Just a thought !!

IndiaInc2.0

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:42:00 +0000

I was going through an Article in The Economic Times that talked about a new product launched by this company by name Soliton . i was quite tempted to ignore it as yet another company dotting the techparks of bangalore. But a careful look revealed it might be an interesting company to watch out.

Let me start with the product that they have launched recently. Its a Smart Digital Camera. It is not one of those household gadgets but but for the industries to identify product flaws during manufacturing. I am not qualified and informed enough to review the product or predict how the market would receive this product. However I am reasonably sure that a considerable success in this attempt might buoy them to widen up their product portfolio. One such arena could well be the relatively impregnable market segment like consumer cameras where they have to compete head-on with Japanese stalwarts in Canon, Nikon, Olympus etc... Too early to tell this and may be over optimistic as well. But in a sense, this company embodies what I firmly think, a new found confidence in Indian Entrepreneurs, confidence to produce High-technology products in India, tagged 'Made In India'.

If narayanmurthy, Azim premji and Shiv nadar represent the first generation of High-tech entrepreneurs that had the vision to tap the IT outsourcing potential and dared to do something different from the people of their times, people like Dr.Devaraj (Ceo of Solitron) represent the next generation entrepreneurs that decided not to follow the hordes of Software Solution providers but tread a new path by creating not just software products but develop an entire product out of India. I would take the liberty to call them Indiainc2.0 .

If India were to sustain the momentum generated by the IT outsourcing revolution of the 90s it is not wise to just stay there. Its but the law of nature that countries cheaper than India would evolve in the future ( there are enough already) that would take the jobs away from India just as how we grabbed from the west. Better than regretting and not being prepared for such eventuality, our thought process will have to evolve. Indiainc2.0 might be the way to go !

Good luck Dr.Devaraj !

Why not Primary Education ?

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:57:00 +0000

I was talking to my very good friend Sankar a while ago when he was telling that he is more concerned about Primary education in India than others. So was curious why College for Technology education ? Clearly, I really did not assess both the options and chose one over the other. I agree there can be plus-minus on both ventures. I am yet to carefully assess that. however a quick thought that came to my mind was:

1) India has a surging demand for engineers and high-tech workers. Our coffers are overflowing because of these jobs. As long as we can ensure that we have revenue from this source, the money can always be redirected for other developmental activities like Primary Education. So producing good quality technocrats is essential.

2) Technology education is clearly profit generating. Its easy to get people motivated in this job and so there is no need to identify people with great desire for social service. Money can be the biggest motivation . Its like, I am running a charity that makes profit. As I mentioned in the earlier blog, it would achieve in the education sector what e-choupal achieved in farming sector.

I am sure , one can come up with points that suggest otherwise. Do voice your thoughts. Infact this whole thing is going to work with feedbacks from people who care.

Another Engineering College ???

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Sun, 04 May 2008 08:13:00 +0000

Few years down the line, when I am fairly content with my career accomplishments, I have been mulling over this idea ( one among myriad ideas that I have) of investing in a chain of Colleges that would teach High technology in India, not exactly limited to just Engineering. I hear you say, oh comeon, we have seen enough of this !! I Agree every political elite in India, every rich goon, every self-proclaimed God-men ( Remember this evangelist dude DGS. Dinakaran .. he uses his college as a propaganda for his religion ? ) has one or often many. Why do I want to add up to the mess ? Am I just tempted by the potential revenue ? Well, dont really intend to sound philanthropic but my only intention here is to have an institution that would eventually rank alongside NIT/IIT/BITS and hence the intention is not to multiply money here. Equivalent to IITs ??? Are u kidding me ? Nope. I am quite confident of doing this. My plan is very simple yet workable and I am sure I can achieve what I intend with enough cash ( how much would that be ?? ) , right planning and a bunch of right people around. And let me humbly remind you that ISB did precisely what I am talking about in Management Schools. And for all you know, they are featuring in rankings better than IIMs off-late

1) To begin with start just one college with heavy investment in infrastructure that includes buildings, equipments, self-contained spacious classrooms with amenities same as what u find in the west, Libraries ( Now tell me how many of those private engineering colleges have all of these .. honest opinion please !!!! ) and hostels with enough privacy to students, access-controlled broadband Internet access. [ I am definitely of the opinion that college is when the students are most curious about sex and spend a good fortune of their time in watching pornography if given a free hand ].

2) Get the right professors by: (a) Poaching (b) Attracting people from other professions like I.T and other industries who like to teach but are discouraged by the money (c) Attracting Indian born professors that teach abroad ( Money is the trick again) (d) Have regular visiting professors who can teach an entire semester (similar along the lines of ISB )

3) Pay scale to the faculties would far exceed the recommendation by all central government appointed committees. I would not say it will on par with industry but fairly comparable

4) Entrance to the college would not be through a separate entrance at all. It would be through a combination of JEE and Plus-2 scores. The idea of having both is to give fair chance to students who might have done one well and other not so well. The potential problem here is, we would lose out on the elites to IIT and NITs as they would top the JEE but a similiar system adopted by ISB is gradually turning out to be a success. As year go by, when college gains reputation through its placement and rankings, topper of JEE would start looking in our direction just as what is happening with MBA aspirants who have started shunning IIMs in favour of ISB ( very marginal , but the trend has started) .

5) Initially though the college would be tied to a university, its better to cut off once we build enough reputation. Becoming autonomous would give us a lot of freedom in designing our syllabus that has lots of relevance to industry and spur students into higher studies and research. I am quite discouraged by the university syllabus, especially by the prescribed textbooks and the repeating pattern of questions that encourage students to by-heart subjects and the wider appreciation for the subject is quite lacking IMHO. Even in NITs where the prescribed textbooks are top notch, the abysmal quality of faculties makes it pointless to have such textbooks because the students pretty much go unsupported in their efforts to learn from them.

6) Once the University builds a reputation start more institutions but like BITS start with the same name that would make the brand name stronger ( Many of those money-minded college founders start in different names to reduce on tax burden).

Now the glaring thought in your mind might be whether I can still make profit. Yes and No. In the initial years, we might not be able to charge a hefty fees as the brand name is missing. So we must infuse enough capital from our pocket or by going public to begin with. But it is a question of time before we start making money.

Challenges:
There are quite a lot of challenges with the idea. They are:

1) Though we are ready to pay a hefty salary, are there enough teachers out there ? Yes and No again.
No, as of now India does not have enough good teachers at all.
Yes, because the package we offer would be competent enough that people from industry , Indian professors abroad who desire to return to India are attracted.
If we succeed in this, the bar in the education sector will be raised because other colleges would have to compete with us in attracting talents ( teachers i mean) . Once that happens, gradually( lotsaaaa years) teaching would become a respectable profession with competitive salary in India that, lots of youngsters will take that up. Once that happens there is no problem but until then, we ll have challenges but money is the answer again.

2) Can we compete with other founders ( read as politicians and goons) who might go to any extent to stop us ?
Yes, we need to develop that political clout as well.

3) How well can we sustain during the initial few years when we might not be able to attract motivated students ? Its because these are the ones who would go out of college and build the reputation for the college.
Its again a challenge. but my firm belief is that the environment that we would provide in our college would be extremely different that students would be an entirely different bunch as they come out. And well, lets stop thinking that IIT elites are the only brilliant set of students that India produces every year. I beg to differ. Peoples intellect can be built. Lets thrive to build that in our college.

4) I mentioned that once we build enough reputation we shall become autonomous ? When do I know I have enough reputation ? what if once you declare yourself autonomous, students start walking away as might grow wary about selling themselves under the banner of a brand new university ?
Yes, there might be a temporary setback here. It could be compared to reduced net profit in a company quarterly due to some major acquisition. It would just be temporary but the idea here is not to panic. While at the same time concentrating on the students, focus equally if not more on the corporates who can be more easily convinced with reasons. Once companies turn up for placements and if we are able to send a few people abroad for higher studies under our banner, we can always regain the reputation.

Benefits :
Coming to benefits this idea might hold:
1) This is one such initiative that on a long run can go a long way in improving the sagging education quality of India. As I mentioned briefly earlier , it shall happen in different ways. I might want to have a separate blog for this one :) but believe me it will.
2) Profit making Venture. This is one of those initiatives like e-choupal where we are addressing a fundamental problem facing the country today while at the same time we stand to make profit as well.
3) Lots of indirect employment generated. I would predict that a minimum of 1000 indirect jobs would be created by having just one college. ( Catering, Laundry, Office work, Landscape maintenance, Security, Stationary )
4) Banks stand to gain because of Loans extended.

I will visit and revisit this blog, edit and re-edit as ideas become clearer. I might really sound stupid to some of you to have such an ambition of others. But this I believe can go a long way in improving the sagging education quality of India.

Encroachment of farmlands in Ambasamudram

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:32:00 +0000

This Temple seen to the left of the above picture is locally referred to as Periya Koil ( Bigger Temple relative to another Shiva temple that is smaller, in Ambasamudram) OR Aathu Koil ( River Side Temple because the temple is located in the banks of River Tamiraparani) .

As seen from the picture this temple is located in a picturesque and serene location away from the town. The main deity of the temple is Lord Shiva (Eritthatkondaar) and Parvathy.

From the town of Ambasamudram, this temple can be approached by a single lane road to the right of the temple as seen in the picture. The road is locally referred as Aathu Salai translated to River Road because the same road is used to access River Tamirabarani as well. This road is very well known to Kollywood movie goers and can be seen in many Tamil movies like Mudhalvan, Gentleman, Sundarapurushan, Dum dum dum, Pudhu nellu pudhu naathu and many more. The road appealed to many because the road are covered by a canopy of tall trees on both sides with Paddy fields on either side. The story does not end here though.

Since the late 90s, these farmlands on either side of the road that add to the charm and fame of this road, is being encroached and lots of houses are coming up in the location without any sensitivity to the extremely unique beauty of this place. This road is gradually losing its charm. The day is not far , when there will be no trace of those green fields and the town of Ambasamudram would no longer be the same again. A closer side view of the road below will reveal what i mentioned.

A satellite picture of the locality can be found below

View Larger Map

Having said all this, let me emphasize that beauty or charm is not the only reason why I do not favour this. This encroachment is not legal, but that does not bother me either. Firstly, Ambasamudram is one of the very few places in Tamilnadu that has been gifted with a perennial river and dependable monsoon. These encroached farmlands are located very close to the river and for ages have proven themselves to be highly reliable and productive. Under such a circumstance loss of such fertile lands are irreparable. Secondly, food crisis in the world has started to take ugly proportions and there is a global awareness now that the grain production is insufficient. Loss of fertilelands will only serve to add to this misery.

Address Change in USA - Things to Do

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 03:49:00 +0000

As a foreign student in F1 Visa in USA, if you ever have to shift your residence, there are quite a few places where this change of address has to be reported. Though this list may broadly be applicable to others, certain things are specific to students who go to Rutgers and stay in New Jersey

1) Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)

2) Post Office

3) Department of Homeland Security -US Citizenship and Immigration Services. If you do not want to change it online but prefer to mail the form, it can accessed here

4) Banks

5) Credit Cards

6) Store cards (Amazon, Kohls, Target etc..)

7) TELCOs (Wireless, Cable, Landline, Internet)

8) Gas/Electricity Companies

9) Hospitals ( If admitted before, they might have some bills for you later and you dont want them to go unnoticed).

10) Insurance Companies ( Car/Medical/ Dental/Vision)

11) University Database - ( Click here for Rutgers)

12) Current and past companies of work ( Past companies required as you would want their W-2 received at the beginning of the year)

13) Magazine Subscriptions

என்னுடைய முகங்கள் (My Faces)

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 21:23:00 +0000

Photography - Solitude - கடல் மண்ணில கோபுரம் கட்டி , அதை அலை அடிக்க விடாம காப்பாத்தின சின்ன வயசு - 10 வயசுல, இனம் புரியாத காதல் கொடுத்த என்னோட ஸ்கூல் 'அழகி' - ஒரு பொண்ணை காதலிச்சா அவ pregnant ஆயிடுவான்னு நினைச்ச அந்த innocence

தாவணி போட்டு கைல ரெண்டு நோட் புக் எடுத்துட்டு, முகத்துல சின்னதா வெக்கத்தை சுமந்துட்டு காலேஜ் போற அழகான தமிழ் பொண்ணு - காவேரி ல தண்ணிக்கு பதிலா மணல் பாக்கும் போது மனசு ஓரமா ஒரு நெருடல்

பிறக்கும் போது என்னோட பிறந்த absent mindedness - Introvertaa, extroverta ஆ ன்னு தெரியாத confusion - agnostic, rationalistnnu ஓவரா பேசினாலும் எப்போதும் நெத்தியில இட்டுக்கிற விபூதி பட்டை.

புதுசா அவதரிச்ச அக்காவோட குட்டி -அந்த குட்டி தேவதைய மாருல தூங்க வைக்கும் போது ஆகாயத்துக்கு போற சந்தோஷம்

கிராமத்து வயல் வாசம் - ஏரிக்கரை காத்து - Coconut Groves - Sprawling Paddy fields green till the horizon - Sunrise - Morning Dew waiting to fall from a leaf - Morning Fog and fragrance -நடக்கும் பொழுது உடம்பை நினைக்கிற மழை துளி - மழைக்கு முந்தின மண்வாசனை - புழுதிய கிளப்பிட்டு சாயங்காலம் வீட்டுக்கு திரும்பும் மாட்டு வண்டி ஓசை - சூரியன் கண் மூடினதும் எட்டி பாக்கிற ஆகாய நட்சத்திரம்

அம்மாவோட மடியில தூங்கிற தூக்கம் - அப்பா ஊட்டி விடும் பொது அதிகம் ஆகிற சாப்பாட்டு சுவை - அடுக்களை ல உக்காந்து எதையாச்சும் கொரிச்சிட்டே அம்மாவோட பேசும் சின்ன சின்ன கதைகள் - அப்பா பாட்டு பாடி தூங்க வச்ச சின்ன வயசு ஞாபகங்கள்

Childs innocence - முறுக்கு மீசை பாரதியார் - Illayaraja's masterpieces - குழந்தையோட கண்ணுக்குல தெரியுற சின்ன கடவுள் - குழந்தையோட தூக்கம்

இனிமைக்கு ஈடு இல்லாத மலையாளம் - கேரளா - சேர நாட்டு மஞ்சள் புடவை, அதை கட்டிட்டு நெத்தியில சந்தனம் வச்ச அழகான கேரளத்து பெண்குட்டி... ( வழியுது.. துடைச்சுக்கோ )

ஒவ்வொரு தடவையும் trichy/bangalore/USல இருந்து திருநெல்வேலி மண்ணில கால் வைக்கும் பொது வர்ற இனம் புரியாத புல்லரிப்பு - அம்பாசமுத்திரம் ஆத்து சாலை - நான் பிறந்து, விழுந்து உலகத்தை கத்துக்கிட்ட என்னோட அம்பை வீடு - அம்பை மலை அடிவாரம் - தாமிரபரணி

highways ஹோட்டல் மர benchல உக்காந்து order பண்ணின "அண்ணாச்சி.... ரெண்டு ரொட்டி.. ஒரு half-boilஉ" -எந்த Taj/oberoi சாப்பாட்டுக்கும் ஈடு இல்லாத, 50 பைசா க்கு வாங்கி சாப்பிட்ட வாழைக்காய் பஜ்ஜி , தொட்டுக்க தேங்காய் சட்னி - ரோடு ஓர கடை ல உக்காந்து குடிக்கிற hygiene இல்லாத கிளாஸ் Tea - மர bench ல உக்காந்து அந்த Tea குடிச்சிட்டே தின தந்தி ல படிக்கிற உதவாக்கரை news - பொங்கல்,வடை, இட்லி, தோசை, சாம்பார்

Traffic இல்லாத bangalore - ஏப்ரல் ல வர்ற மழை -walk in drizzle - gazing at clouds and talking to the sky - வெட்டி பேச்சு- an inseperable love for my mother India

ஸ்ரீரங்கத்து தேவதைகள் :-) ... அழகான எல்லா பொண்ணுங்களுமே (அலையாதே daa ) - bhoomika chawla - Nandita Das - Nadhiya - Manisha in 1942- Gayathri in Swades - Sridevi in Johny - Tabu in KKKK -

ஈழத்து தமிழ் மக்கள், அவங்க மொழிப்பற்று , அவங்க அன்பில பாத்த அழுத்தமான உண்மை, அவங்க அனுபவிச்ச வலியை கேட்டு கண் ஓரமா எட்டிப்பாத்த கண்ணீர் துளி

Trichy மலை கோட்டை - BHEL/REC Kovil - திருச்சி முல்லை ல பயந்து பயந்து பாத்த முதல் பெரியவா படம்-அந்தபடம் பாத்ததும் அன்னைக்கு தான் ஆம்பளையா promotion வாங்கின மாதிரி ஒரு அல்ப சந்தோஷம் - REC Coral Hostel ல Seniors க்கு பயந்து பயந்து பாத்த முதல் தப்பான படம் - அதை முதல் முறை பாத்தப்போ வந்த அருவருப்பு - REC final yearla மனசை வருடின தேவதை, அவளை எப்போ நினைச்சாலும் மனசுல ஏற்படுற அந்த அழகான அமைதி - Evening walk tannandaniya ... Sasken ல சந்திச்ச ஒரு தப்பான பொண்ணு .. அப்படிப்பட்ட பொண்ணுக்கு மத்தியில மறுபடியும் உலகத்து மேல நம்பிக்கை வர வைக்கிற உன்னதமான பெண்கள்

வெளிநாட்டுல எங்கேயாச்சும் தாய்மொழி கேட்டா , குரல் வந்த திசைய எட்டி பாக்குற கண்கள் - சுயநலம் இல்லாம குழந்தைக்ககாவே வாழுற, every Mother in the world

கொழுத்துற வெயிலா இருந்தாலும் மெட்ராஸ் ஐ கொஞ்சம் கூட திட்ட முடியாத இனம் புரியாத ஒரு attachment - திருநெல்வேலி நெல்லைஅப்பர் கோயில் - அங்கே போய்ட்டு வெளிய வரும் பொழுது காணாம போற பாரம்

தனக்குன்னு எதுவுமே சேர்த்து வைக்காம, தான் படிக்காட்டிலும் ஊர்ல எல்லாரும் படிக்க ஆசைப்பட்ட காமராஜரோட தியாகம் - ஜாதி இல்லாத இந்தியாவை ஒரு நாள் பாப்பேன்னு நம்பிக்கை..அரசியலுக்குப்போய் நாட்டை கண்டிப்பா மாத்தனும்ற ஆர்வ கோளாறு..

a few facets of mine here.. others prefer to live and die within me..

Price of Innocence

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 01:37:00 +0000

I still can recall those adolescent days when I was never short of happiness. those were the days when i never could have believed that happiness is a commodity that is sold in meditation classes for 2000$ over a weekend or counseling centers for 100$ an hour. Isn't it true that mirth and happy is naturally how a man should feel ? Isn't everyone around endowed with innocence when born ? Why and how do we lose it and in search of which the humankind goes around losing millions. It costs very less to lose innocence, it costs our entire lifetime and a re-birth to gain it back that eventually we dont..

I have lost my innocence in phases... I have stopped loving everyone I see, I m being wary.. My worries and my priorities dominate my mind now. I have become extremely choosy in loving people... But I know something for sure, the Sankar that existed before is someone I still love and I am now ready to part of all what I have to reclaim that back !

Why Blog ?

noreply@blogger.com (SANKAR SALVADY) — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 03:19:00 +0000

Have always wondered why people blog ? What is it that has become an epidemic around the browsing community ... Well, I am starting it now, but yet to ascertain the reason why.... There are so many people who ask me "Do u blog".. i was probably tired of saying no.. is that what prompted me to blog ? Or is it something else ? May be , its the me within me that says, when others do it, u must do it too.. Or is it because , I really want to blog and I would enjoy blogging .... Or is it because, i have my ego satiated when I author sth lest i dont always have to look upon peope whom i used to for their writing skills.. Is it because I enjoy it ? Will I continue to do it when I am not read and dont get comments ? If so, is it because I do it just for appreciation ? Do I have the conviction to continue this.. Well, do I really have to think so much.. Whatever, here you go, my first blog comes out.. .