Cijo Thomas

Software Development Process....

2012-01-14T01:31:00.000+05:30

Software Development Process in IT Services company

I do not know how many will agree, but this is what I think!

1) The project manager along with onsite co-ordinator gathers overall requirements from the client.

2) Using some models like COCOMO, the duration for development will be estimated to be around 12 months. ( Note that COCOMO relies heavily of previous projects delivered by the firm) But business managers inform the client that the project will be delivered in 10 months (to prevent competitors from grabbing the project away.)

3) Delivery managers splits the project into 2 parts – 1 to be developed at unit A of the company, and other at unit B.

4) The project managers at Unit A and B will be having an internal competition and so each will try to deliver the project ahead of the other, so givens a time of 9 months to his unit to complete the job!

5) The project begins at both units, and Software Engineers start the development.

6) Since the software service industry is heavily 'process-oriented', the developers are required to submit their 'activity reports' every week. This report will contain, among other things, the duration spend on each specific activity within the software cycle (like designing,test case preparation, reviews,coding etc).

7) Developers were told this by their managers. “This process is estimated to take 10 hours, so if you want to get a good appraisal next time (Out-performer), you should finish it in 9 hours or less!”. (The original estimate would be definitely above 12 or more hours!)

8) The developers works hard but sees that it is going to take much more than 10 hours. But to get that 'Out-Performer' tag, he decides to work extra hours every day, but while submitting the 'activity report', he says the job was completed in '9 hours', (it actually took 15+ hours )

9) Developers themselves will be doing a lot of peer review and testing, and they are supposed to enter the defect information found in deliverable in some internal tracking tool. This internal repository is to be used for training purposes and to prevent the same in future. But most developers will not enter the defects found in peer reviews into this system, but informs the peer (usually his/her friend) about this offline. (in person). This 'mutual-help' habit is followed by all developers to prevent their bugs/defects from being recorded in the system.

10) The entire duration of the project will be like this, with developer submitting 'excellent' activity reports. Finally the project is completed and will be delivered to client and everybody is happy.

11)The end-result : Project will be delivered in time. All the internal systems will show that there weren't any defects/bugs at any point of the process and all jobs were completed well before the estimated times!

12)Now, the next project (very much similar to previous one) comes in, and the estimating models will be giving a much shorter duration for this, because the internal systems says these jobs can be done faster than ever thought of!!!!

13) And now the cycle repeats itself, with developers ending up working late nights/weekends and spoiling the good part of their lives.

"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat."

Christmas releases..A Review...

2010-12-26T19:54:00.000+05:30

After bit busy schedule at work, watched 4 X'mas releases back to back...Here goes a brief review on them..

1) Tournament(malayalam) - Scripted and Directed by veteran Lal, this is truly a youth movie. Excellent direction and script is the highlight of this movie, but the climax couldn't live up to the expectations. All the newcomers did decently well, and the songs were colorful and well choreographed. Cudn't believe it was Lal who wrote a totally youth-special script! There were no unnecessary shots, and all the parts connected well with others. Excepted a lot in the climax considering the build-up, but nothing happened really and it ended silently. Anyway I would give close to 7 out of 10.. :)

2) Best Actor(malayalam) : I went with lot of expectations about this but it was a disappointment for me. Mammootty was just okey, and the only good thing about the movie was supporting cast. Lal, SalimKumar etc did superb and minus that, the movie would have been a flop. Songs were just average, and script was quite weak. Will give it a rating of 5-6/10.

3) Manmadhan Anbu (tamil) - Again, I went with a lot of expectations about KSR-Kamal movie, but it ended up as the most disappointing movie for me. Kamalhasan is my all-time-favourite but, even he was only a shadow of his classic performances. Kamal's introduction sequence was awesome, and the only other good thing about the movie was the lovely locations (Europe, and cruise trip) which was cinematographed well. 2nd half was utter crap (reminded me of Kamals Michael Madana Kama Rajan at times with a low-fi comedies!) . Anyway 5/10 for manmadhan anbu..
(I know its irrational, but I except of classics from the Genius Kamal sir!)

4) Marykundoru kunjaadu : Beyond doubt, this is the real winner for this christmas. Dileep has made an excellent comeback with Shafi, and this is a pure entertainer to the core. Nice direction, script and average songs. :) However, do not expect something like thenkasipattanam/kalyana raman..:) 8/10...

Also, seen Karyastan, and Thriller. Karyastan was okey, some comedy here and there, sahicable..But Thriller was horrible :(. Prithviraj's cooling glass shows only and it was among his worst movie!

Aiming for the stars......

2010-11-09T21:46:00.000+05:30

Companies in IT industry can be very broadly classified into 2 tiers.
Tier-1 companies, which include the likes of Microsoft, Google etc,
make software products and technologies. Tier-2 companies, where
Indian players like TCS, Infosys etc fall in, are predominantly
service based. I.e. they make applications making use of
technologies/products developed by Tier-1 firms. Let’s see some
statistics on salaries. A junior developer in a tier-1 firm gets
around Rs 800000/- pa whereas their tier-2 counterparts get Rs
300000/- pa. For more senior positions, the gap widens more. (refer
www.glassdoor.com for more salary comparisons)

It’s no secret that majority of maceians are employed in Tier-2 firms
even though MACE is always considered among the best colleges in the
state. 4 years of engineering college life at MACE is not an easy one
at all, with more than 40 theory papers, 10 labs, 2 projects and a
technical seminar which are among the most sought-after for
plagiarizing by others.

Despite having vast and deep knowledge about computer
science topics, maceians typically end up in service firms. In such
firms, they typically make/modify applications based on requirements
given or handle support tickets from clients. Many end up in testing
jobs as well. These jobs are mediocre and don’t require core
engineering skills. On the other hand, imagine the kind of
professional satisfaction one gets from being part of projects like
‘Google search’, ’iPhone’ which has dramatically changed people’s
lives. So which side you want to be in?

The main reason why
maceians end up in service industry is that, they are the only
companies conducting bulk campus recruitment. And we hardly see firms
like Microsoft, Oracle etc visiting our campus. So, if we need to find
jobs in such firms then we have to reach out to them and this requires
some preparation as it isn’t a cake walk. Let’s see how you can
improve your chances of being hired by technology players like
Microsoft, Oracle, Google etc (naturally these will also improve the
chances of being hired by service players as well!)

The first step is Networking-It simply
means making good contacts with people in the industry and people
having similar interests as yours and it will play a very crucial role
in your career. You can know about the technologies in demand from
people who are in industry. The best way to get a call for an
interview in a tier-1 company is through referral. Even in cases where
you don’t quite match the company’s requirement, which usually is the
case, if you are backed by someone within the company, chances are
high that you get hired. Apart from Mace alumni, professional
networking sites like LinkedIn and other sites including Facebook can
be useful in making networks. Don’t just spend your time playing Mafia
Wars and Farmville….. Do more or your career will be at stake.

Next important step when you pursue a big dream is developing
good communication skills, which is not merely explaining your resume
and project, but it can be in forms of casual talks with your
interviewer while catching up on a coffee about a recently released
movie . Talks can also be formal in the middle of an interview as it
expresses your keen interest in terms of technology and domain.
Clarity and brevity is very important while articulating you ideas.
This is not something that can be achieved overnight. It’s a long
term process which requires certain amount of dedication. Various
things like engaging in group discussions with colleagues or even
online discussion boards, promoting English inside class rooms,
seeking professional help, regularly reading English articles,
blogging, writing movie reviews etc. can help a lot in this.
And finally, the most important of all: having strong
technical skills –both theoretical and practical aspects; be ready for
an interview with a big arsenal. Each of the weapons in that should
give the interviewer an impression that they need this person. Do some
projects of your own; there are plenty of resources in the servers
across the globe which are just a click away; all you need is an
attitude to explore and excel. Open source projects will surely help
you in developing and polishing your technical skills. Make the best
use of sites like sourceforge.net, codeplex.net etc. Be aware of the
latest technological developments. Take a chance to watch the
procedures of a company as a part of final year project, rather than
forcing yourself into some technology which is outdated or will be
obsolete soon, this obviously need some support from the department.
It’s also very important that you have a consistent academic score to
impress top companies as most of them consider academics from 10th
standard onwards….even though talent play its own role.

Don’t lose hope even if you don’t end up with your dream job after
graduation. You have the option of higher studies and if you can do
your post-graduation from a reputed institute, you have a good chance
of being hired by top notch companies as they visit most good
institutes for campus recruitment. So consider preparing for GATE/GRE
or other exams during long semester breaks. Also, taking technical
certifications add lot of weight to your resume.

All this might sound humongous, but like it’s said…. there are no
shortcuts to success. However, don’t have the misconception that you
need to be “Mr. NERD” to achieve all this. You can bunk many classes,
party every weekend and still you can achieve this if you have passion
and an attitude with fixed focus. Remember, always aim for the stars,
and even if you don’t quite reach there…..you can still make it to the
tree top.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their
dreams.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

NB:
This is an article written by myself and my friend Lloyd George. This was published in Zing20, a souvenir published in connection with 20th year celebration of Computer Science Dept. , MACE,Kothamangalam. (my alma mater)

More Regulations or Better Regulators?

2010-10-06T23:46:00.004+05:30

When I had my 1st gprs enabled mobile phone, there was a dedicated 'Internet' button in it, which gets frequently pressed by accident. And each time the button is pressed, a certain amount is deducted from my account towards data charges, even though less than 5KB of data was transferred. Also, by default, focus is set to some expensive downloads like Games/Wallpapers (approx. Rs30/-) in the home page. So if we accidentally pressed 'I' button twice a reasonable amount will be deducted from our account.

If someone went to complain about this to the telecom czar, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) we know what would be the response!

Now, a similar situation occurred in USA. Verizon mobile was accused of charging its customers around $1.99 for a single click of 'I' button even if negligible data is transfered. Though Verizon denied it early, once FCC (american counterpart of TRAI) started a formal investigation into this, they yielded and started refunding customers' money to avoid penalty. The total amount is a whopping $90million. (roughly 450crores INR)

This clearly shows how weak our regulators are. India arguably has the best rules & regulations in the world, but when it comes to execution we lags by a mile!

Another similar incident is the notorious bhopal disaster- for thousands of lost lives, court punished the company a few thousand dollars, but BP was fined billions of dollars for killing few fishes in gulf oil spill!

Like someone aptly said "We dont need more regulations, we need better regulators"

From iPhone manufacturers to iPhone designers…

2010-09-13T01:06:00.001+05:30

“Which company manufactures iPhones & iPods? “ – A question which I have asked many of my students. And after some googling, all will come up with Foxconn as answer. But my intention is never to find out who manufactures iPhone, but to allude to ‘outsourcing’ industry which is led by China and India in manufacturing and services sectors respectively.
The ’iPhone manufacturing’ jobs done by the Chinese and the Indians can aptly be called ‘low-fi’ jobs as it doesn’t require innovation or high-fi thinking. Of course, it’s the cheap labor at coastal china which enables Apple to sell iProducts at low costs; but it is the innovative design and features which makes an iPhone, an iPhone, not the docile Chinese workers. Yes, it is true that Indian firms supply parts for Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s, but it is the technology behind their engines which makes them kings of roads, not the Indian made nuts & bolts.
Coming to the big question, why do we have to do these low-fi jobs, instead why don’t Foxcon design an iPhone5? Why don’t HAL design a Boeing 748? Why don’t Infosys & TCS make a new operating system to compete with Microsoft? Simple and most apt answer would be ‘we don’t know’. It’s not that Chinese or Indians lack brains, but the best brains of both countries have one thing in common – they no longer hold home country passports.

The root cause for this issue is nothing but our sub-standard education system. Our engineering students can write tons of pages about almost any topic part of their syllabus, but their real knowledge of the subject is a big fat ZERO. Writing an essay about a topic and having real knowledge about it are entirely different things, as different as true love and infatuation. University exams only test a student’s ability to write down ‘chavar’(crap) about a topic and nobody ever bothers to peruse the answers sheets. And this motivates students just to memorize something and reproduce it at exam sheets. And as long as this trend continues, we will remain ‘iPhone manufacturers’.

Now, what’s the solution? I think teachers and students themselves must be vanguards in this shift from ‘iPhone manufacturers’ to ‘iPhone designers’. If teachers were to play a bigger role in this transformation, then our colleges should hire and retain real talents, people with real passion for teaching and with substantial industrial experience, not the ones who opt for teaching just because they could not find jobs in industry. Also, the teachers should not be tied down to college; constant efforts must be taken to hone their skills by sending them for industry projects/consulting etc. Teachers must encourage students to take up projects which are not merely some automation systems (comparable to iPhone manufacturing). Unless real support is given by teachers, students will be reluctant to take up ‘iPhone Design’ projects as such projects are inherently difficult and there is no guarantee of a perfect final output!

Having good teachers is just half the thing. It is the students whose paradigm must first change. They must be willing to take challenges in life. They must understand that the teacher who sets easy questions for exams is their enemy. Always remember ‘A smooth sea has never made a skillful mariner’. If the sea is not rough, pray for Katrina’s and Rita’s to hit you. For e.g., if India govt. had tried to protect Indian automakers in 1990’s from global players, we would still be driving ambassadors and maruti 800’s. In India, it’s practically impossible for all students to gain an in-depth knowledge in all the subjects, so they must select few subjects which they like (and also welcomed by industry) and deep dive into it. Innovations come only if one truly masters the existing technologies. And that’s what going make the difference between ‘iPhone manufacturers’ and ‘iPhone Designers’.

This paradigm shift is not an easy one for students. They will have to wake up from their comfort zones and start working smarter than ever. The onus of making India a real, global super-power is on our young engineers. They must become uploaders of technology rather than mere downloaders. So, be ‘iPhone Designers’, or innovators of technology.

Social Networking and Us..

2010-07-24T17:17:00.002+05:30

Q: "Hey! Hows your best friend?"
Ans: "He is fine, we met yesterday also.."

Q: "Hey! Hows your best friend?"
Ans: "He is fine,I couldn't meet him, but we talked over phone"

Q: "Hey! Hows your best friend?"
Ans: "He is doing well. Got his SMS today morning as well"

Q: "Hey! Hows your best friend?"
Ans: "He is busy. But we chatted over gtalk for hours".

Q: "Hey! Hows your best friend?"
Ans: "He must be busy with work. Anyway has sent some offline messages"

Q: "Hey! Hows your best friend?"
Ans: "He is good. Couldn't chat but has sent scraps."

Q: "Hey! Hows your best friend?"
Ans: "He is excellent! Didn't have to scrap/chat. His status was posted in twitter. He will read my status as well from my profile. Cool!"..

What next?

Me and Indian Telecom Players

2010-07-06T22:08:00.005+05:30

When 3G auction started in India, Uninor stayed away from it, They responded "India is not yet mature for 3G". I didn't understand what the meant by that then, but my experience with mobile operators prove that 'Indian telecom companies are matured for nothing yet'.

Here's my story.

Lemme start with my first mobile phone. It was a Nokia 4300 (which had radio)and I took Escotel (current Idea Mobile) post paid connection. Unfortunately on the 1st day itself, the phone was stolen . I was upset and immediately went to Nokia office in Cochin, called up Escotel customer service and reported the theft and even gave a complaint at local police station. A month later , Escotel sent me my bill! Stunned and I called them up (calling Escotel customer care from Bsnl landline was not free!) and asked why am I sent the bill since I have already reported phone theft/sim loss. The customer care executive replied I should have given a written complaint to inform theft and also I will get my security deposit refund only if I present myself at their Ernakulam office in person!... GRrrr....

>If they really had good customer care, they should have told me about giving written complaint when I called to report the theft.

Months passed.I am now having a GPRS enabled cell phone and had activated gprs service from Airtel. There is a shortcut key to start internet in my phone and by default it goes to some Airtel home page. Since the connection is too slow, I pressed center button once. (the screen was still loading). Few minutes later, I found my balance lower by Rs30. !!! Later I realized that, in the home page of Airtel, the focus is, by default, set to a button which says "Download abcd game Rs 30. only". So when I clicked center button that download got activated and 30rs was gone, with NO CONFIRMATION asked.

> Its great business acumen to put default focus in home page to a 30rs download, but this is not the way to treat customers. (remember, mobile internet was not that common yet!)

Next one was with a CDMA landline from Reliance. We got a bill (along with a warning/threat) from them around 1 year after disconnecting the service. Got escaped from it anyway.(we replied with a counter notice with the help of an advocate)..

Similar story happened with us with Airtel Broadband, Mangalore. After disconnecting their service, one day we took the modem/phone to the local airtel office and asked if we have any pending bills. The customer care officer checked and said, "There is no need to pay the last bill amount (around 799rs) as we are entitled to get Rs1000/- security deposit back from them. Also keep the modem/phone at home, their representative will collect it from there.".. We went back home and one day a courier came from Airtel. We were all excited about getting some cash since it was month end and our wallets were almost empty. We were stupefied when we opened the envelope! It said "despite repetitive request from our executives, you have refused to pay due amount to Airtel and also you refused to surrender the equipments". It also threatened to initiate legal action if not responded in 15 days. Got really frustrated with the language they used, and I complained to nodal office. (the issue got solved in a weeks time with 3 or 4 Airtel executives deluging me with apology phone calls)

Next is with Vodafone! I took one add on pack from Vodafone, which deducts 56rs per month for getting all STD calls @Rs1/min. One day I recharged for an offer by which all my std/local calls rates were slashed to 50paise/min for 1 year. Still, that 56rs was deducted every month! When called at customer care they said I should explicitly cancelled that plan!

> No words to describe these kinda stupid rules to squeeze customers.

And the latest ones...
Airtel is back!!
I activated GPRS connection with Airtel. Went to a local airtel office and asked what should be done to get unlimited GPRS for a month. They said recharge for 98rs and 1 month GPRS free. I did as they said but still money was being deducted for GPRS usage! Tried calling customer care, but I was not able to connect to customer care executive. It took around 4-5 minutes to navigate to GPRS section , but there was no human support there.. Just automated advertisements of their offers and craps. I spend more than 2 hours finally to get to speak to an executive. He said he is from GPRS tech support, but he didn't even knew basics of mobile phones!
He said my balance is getting reduced because I have recharged with 98rs flexi recharge, instead it should have been paper recharge, which used a different set of settins bla bla bla.... I asked whats the difference and informed that it was a local airtel office which recommended this recharge. Then he said" I am from GPRS tech support, you should get in touch with regular customer care to get information on recharges". I wasted my next hour dialing customer care no to speak to a executive but failed! Somehow I found a *55%#5* or some number like this and spent another 98rs to get GPRS free.

And the latest one happened a week back..
Airtel again.
I got a message from Airtel, "dial *55*## something... to get 10 minutes free std/local minutes!!"..

Excited about it, I keyed in the number and Immediately a message came "Rs 5 have been deducted from your account for this service. You 10 minutes free call should be used with 24 hours! "

Is this what they call "free" ??

All this happening from a company headed by one of Asia's most acclaimed entrepreneur.

Hundreds of another instances have occurred to me/friends/relatives.
Yes, India is faster growing mobile market in world, but unless Indian operators learn basics of customer care, I don't see much future for them..

Regards,
Cijo

Few suggestions to online travel sites

2010-05-11T22:42:00.004+05:30

I had a bad time searching for flight information last day, and here goes some suggestions.

1)For flight search, have an option to show flights available in chosen date +/-3 days. yatra.com and makemytrip.com has this feature , but cleartrip.com does not have it.
Additionaly if there is an option like "shift dates by 'n' days", in the search result, it would be really helpful. Silkair has this facility.

2) A frequent error encountered after selecting a flight from search results is the message: "sorry flight not available." If flight is not available why do they even come up in search results? A very irritating feature found in cleartrip.com is that, this error message comes up after we fill in all passenger information, and if we chose a different flight, then all the passenger information needs to be typed in again. This wastes a lot of time especially for people who are not that quick with keyboard. yatra.com also has this error message coming up very frequently, but the message pops up immediately after clicking book button, so there is no need to waste time entering passenger information.

3) All sites require us to type the passenger names exactly as per passport. But these sites has a limit of 28 characters for name fields. So what do people with long names do ? Most people who encounter this issue will call up customer care and the reply they get is, type in only as many letter as would fit in the space. The best solution would have been to increase the character limit or at least write down the message ("type in as many letters as would fit in the space given") near the name field itself, so as to avoid a expensive 5 minutes traffic to customer care.

4) Have a toll free customer care number which is available 24/7. Do not always expect customers to make calls to paid lines and that too during your office hours. (cleartrip.com doesn't show any toll free numbers to their customer care in any of the search results page and out of frustration I tweeted about this. ClearTrip replied saying that toll free number is available under the link http://www.cleartrip.com/support/. Why don't they just display the toll free number in search results as well, as done by other sites? You just lost a customer because of this.

5) Make a flexible payment option. For international travels, the total amount may be higher than the credit card limit for most users. And while booking via phone, only credit cards are accepted. yatra.com has a superb offer under which we only need to pay 35% of total amount upfront and the rest can be paid before flight dates. This is really helpful if one is booking flights too advance.
Also Emirates has an option for not paying any amount while making online reservation! The full amount can be paid in cash/dd to a Emirates offer within 3 days of online booking.

Picking a fight!

2010-03-10T21:07:00.000+05:30

NO. I dont mean physical fight! I am referring to constructive arguments with people. Acc. to me , one of the best way to innovate and improve ones knowledge level is to engage in healthy fights between co-workers,college mates and friends. I can tell you numerous instances from my own life where I had fighted with friends over things which looked ‘silly’ for some others. But those are the moments which created sparks of ideas in my mind. My fights with one of my best friend Tarun which usually lasts for hours over phone and it mostly ends up in some new idea which we both never thought of before. Our paper presentation topic which fetched us plenty of cash prizes & certificates was the result of one such fight!
The urge to prove one’s idea superior to others will motivate you to analyze the situation much better than before, and even If at the end you lose, dont worry: you learned a lot more than you would have learned had you not fighted !
From my experience the following must be noted while ‘picking a fight’.
1) Be careful not to take the fights personal. One of my senior manager commented about his experience in Infosys “ this is the place where I can fight and argue with even my boss without the fear of red ink in my employement records and without affecting the personal relationship with my boss”. Never be afraid to ask questions with colleagues even to your boss. Only thing is, be careful not to take things personally. Like Michale Corleone says ’its not personal Sunny, Its strictly business’
2) Make sure you supply justification to your arguments. After all, we are not politicians. You should also help your opponent in finding out justification for their ideas. In this process you will not only understand you opponents stand much better, but also you will be able to provide better justification to you own arguments! Paraphrase your friends’ view just to make sure you understand their stand thoroughly.
3) Make sure you are going in right direction. Sometime in the spirit of fighting, we may deviate from our topic which results in unproductive fights. At frequent intervals, ask yourself the question “are we going in right path?”
4) Never be afraid to involve a third person if you think your fight is not finding an end in a reasonable amount of time.
5) And finally, never forget to appreciate you opponent for their efforts.

(I once had a beautiful experience in one of my project, where me and other 2 team mates had long productive fights over detailed designs. Each of us came up with our own ideas, but we fought over it for a good amount of time, until we found out new ways of doing things which none of us never thought about before!! Its really a good thing to work with team members with such fighting spirit.)
What are you waiting folks? Go and pick a fight!

Cloud Computing for you!

2010-03-03T21:03:00.002+05:30

Anyone who frequently uses internet would have come across the term ‘cloud computing’ at some point or other. And most likely, majority will think it is some ‘hi-tech’ thing or something which doesnt fall in my area of interest. Yes, you are right- its hi-tech funda, but its aint something which doesnt affect you!

I dont intend to give a tutorial on ‘cloud computing’ here, but I will try to explain how you can benefit from this revoultionary technology. By definition Cloud computing is a way of computing, via the Internet, that broadly shares computer resources instead of using software or storage on a local PC.

Let whatever be its definition,here goes the simplest example of cloud computing which is applicable to all of us!.
Simple: go to www.docs.google.com and sign in with you gmail id. Thats it, you will now see options to create documents,excels,power points etc right in you browser (similar to creating docs using ms-word)! Your files can be organised in folders like you do in your normal desktop. You dont want to install any software and the best thing is you dont have to pay a penny to use this. You get all the features you get in microsoft office and you will never lose your files when you format your system or buy a new system! Your files are safely stored in google servers and you can access it from anywhere in world (of course u need a internet connection). You can even invite your friends to view/edit the files stored online.
Yes, this is google docs, and its cloud computing for you!

(Note: Techies dont read this!!)

Most exciting things @ IT Companies!!

2010-02-16T21:37:00.002+05:30

Being trained in 4 different technologies back to back and then getting a project which uses a 5^th technology! (flexiblityyyyy!)
Changing client and project 5 times in 1 month! (wow..! wow..!!)
Working 15-18hours a day including weekends and finally getting the comment “You should work more” from managers!
Topping in .net/java trainings and end up working in infrastructure management, handling ‘Desktop Shift Requests’ and ‘Software Installation Requests’ for people from same batch!!
Getting calls from offshore folks @ midnight when @onsite. (Great na! Ur 3 year old kids get to grow up learning business issues!)
Working in production support for applications developed by someone else and without any documentation!
Being loyal to the company by sticking on for 5 years and later realize that the guy who jumped to another firm and now joined back the original company is getting double the salary!!
You get to tell “WHAT THE *******” after seeing payslips of your junior people!
Reading in news that your company has come on top in some ‘best companies to work for’ list when you have never seen any happy employee!.
Your manager getting the credit for all the good ideas you suggested and when any of them fails, you alone taking the blame!

Saving a chicken!

2010-01-24T23:00:00.003+05:30

An unforgettable childhood incidence!

My 1^st attempt on recollecting an old incident for blogging!

This is the story of a boy saving the life of a chicken! The boy is about 12 years old and the chicken is just few days old.

One night, as usual I was sniffing around our kitchen looking for some eatables. My mother was there and she looked upset ,so I asked what happened. She didn’t tell anything, but I was sure that something is wrong. When I walked to work area just outside kitchen, where she was preparing something, I heard a small cry of a chicken. I looked around and I saw around 6-7 chickens walking around back side of the house, but I was convinced that the crying which I heard was not from there. It was from somewhere closer...I kept on asking my mum what’s going on there!

Finally she opened up. One of the chickens had fallen into the waste water outlet just outside our work area through a small hole. She was upset about this but was keeping silent, because she knew it was impossible to save the little chicken. She was also worried that if my dad comes to know about he is surely gonna scold! I again heard the weak cry of this chicken.

I took a close look at this waste water outlet. It was totally dirty and a real mess thanks to the waste from kitchen. I shared the same feeling as my mum for some time, but something woke up the ‘animal lover’ inside me! I told mum we can try and save it. She said it’s hopeless. I looked through the hole to locate the chicken. YES! I cud see something, which I convinced my mind that, is the chicken. Didn’t think about anything, I put my hands through stinking hole with the intention of reaching out for the endangered chicken. My hands felt something like the lip of the chicken! Hurray! I came out like a winner to tell my mum that the chicken is still there and we can save it. (the pipe was ‘T’ shaped and it got stuck in the joint I guess!)

By this time, dad also joined the ‘rescue mission’. He brought torches to help us. I almost lied down in the ground near the waste outlet and tried harder and harder to get the chicken. I think I touched the chicken many times, but failed in all attempts to pull it up. We started losing hope and decided to abort the mission and go for dinner. I again heard the faint cry of chicken, and I was totally upset. I thought a while and an idea struck me! Get VACCUM CLEANER! I shouteddddd! My parents didn’t approve my idea of bringing the vacuum cleaner but I somehow convinced them! I managed to find out our never-used-but-not-new vacuum cleaner and Dad found out the necessary extension plugs .

Mum, who was not so confident about this idea initially was the one who put vacuum cleaner pipe to the sewage hole. Dad switched it on and I was anxiously waiting nearby, praying for a living being which I have never ever seen! And within seconds, mum felt something at the end of vacuum cleaner pipe, and SHE SHOUTED!! “STOPPPPpppp”. She took out the pump and God’s grace, the chicken was in it! She took it out carefully but it was neither moving nor making any sound. L (dead! L L )

Dad told it might have dead due the pressure. I cried inside my heart. But mum knew more about chickens than anyone else there. Mum said it was frozen, and needs heat. So she took out some warm clothes and covered the chicken in it. She rubbed it gently then for some time. And finally it started making some moves. She kept on rubbing it gently like we do for a small baby! After being in ‘Intensive care unit ’ for around 10 minutes, it started moving . Mum placed it in the ground and it made failed attempts to walk. 1 leg was dislocated I guess, but in few minutes it walked some distance though with great difficulty!

OH! A sign of relief for all of us. Mum later told me that, its legs became perfectly fine after few days. After a month or so, when I see the bunch of chickens in our home, I try to figure out which among this is the one I saved. I couldn’t find out, but does that really matter?

This day, I always remember as a day when I really did something good.

To all young engineering graduates.....

2010-01-17T11:14:00.003+05:30

Just thought of giving some idea to young engineering graduates about IT organizations in India, as a lot of them, irrespective of their branch , end up with offers from IT firms.

When I say Indian IT firms I am referring to Indian players like TCS,,Infosys,Wipro,HCL,Mahindra Satyam, services division of IBM India (GBS) , Accenture, CTS ... etc

1) 99% people are absorbed into Software Services businesses. The key difference between a software product company and a software service company is that, service companies serve their clients using tools and technologies developed by product companies.

All technologies/products are made by US giants like Microsoft,Oracle, Apple, Google,...etc

And services firms use these technologies to develop custom applications to their clients.

For eg: Infy,TCS etc works in windows OS developed by MS, to develop a payroll processing application using java/,net (both technologies from USA) , with Oracle as database and deploy the same in servers made by Dell/HP. And in this very process, they make extensive use of VOIP phones made by CISCO and Internet powered by Google and Yahoo!..

So if you are hoping to work in developing high end technology applying engineering skills - aim for companies like Microsoft,Oracle,SAP... etc.. and not on firms which are purely 'service' players.

(An analogy with Automobile industry : The job done is IT service industry is comparable to the work done by a mechanic in a auto garage! Only difference is, your job is white collar and you can work in A/C cubicles with 10 times the salary! )

2) A major portion of the work done by Indian IT firms are maintenance work. The required applications are already developed and deployed by Accenture /IBM/US firms or developed in house, and the maintenance jobs are outsourced to Indian IT firms. Maintenance jobs are not bad at all , and you learn a lot if you work in maintenance projects, but it can be boring for smart engineers! So if you hate working in maintenance projects , consider offer from India IT firms as a last option only!!

3) A good amount of people will be working in support jobs in all these firms. And If you think that you are a high-performer and you wont be put into support jobs - you are damn wrong about it!!

4) Don't expect that you will be put into an area of you interest! Its not uncommon to see Sun certified Java people working in mainframes, embedded systems certified people working in web technology, and people from Computer Science branch with 'n' certifications working as software tester!

5) Don't expect that you will get an onsite opportunity just because you topped in training or your are excellent in technology- onsite is purely business demand based. So you need a lot of luck to get an onsite these days. People doing the job of Database/network administration/monitoring etc have more chances for an onsite.

Although I mentioned that most end in services industry, few get products firm as well. Not only in MS, Google.. but also in Indian firms. Oracle Financial Services (previously called I-Flex Solutions) is a product company, Infosys has a product - Finacle, Sasken - a technology player and not pure services, Subex- telecom products .... Some end up in software division of companies like Siemens, Bosch,Alcatel etc where a lot of high-tech projects await you.

Also all these IT service firms can act as a good place to begin with. There are lot of people who started off their careers with services firms and later got into high tech companies and of course, high salaries!

For people who considers themselves as average, and want to get into some job, Indian IT services is the best choice! You get good respect in society, an 'IT lifestyle' in cities like Bangalore,Hyderabad with plenty of money to hand around with friends.! (gf/bf's as well)

For people who dream bigger, aim for the top shots, like MS,Oracle.. etc.. :)

(

when people come and tell me that "hey I got placed in so and so IT company in India."...

What should my reply be?

If he/she is average type, then obviously , "Congrats! "

For high performers, the reply have to be "Congrats! and Condolences!"

)

2009- Best Ever Year For Malayalam Film Industry.

2010-01-10T19:04:00.000+05:30

2009- Best Ever Year For Malayalam Film Industry.

I am not a film industry expert, still I can confidently say 2009 is the best year mallu movie industry has ever had. Not only in terms of gross collectionbut in terms of quality and variety of movies as well!

Pazhassi Raja – Hariharan’s magnum opus starring Mammoty, Sarath Kumar, Manoj K Jayan...etc. No need of telling it here, all knows its the biggest grosser ever in malluwood and it is also the most expensive movie ever made in Malayalam. The movie very well lived upto expectations. I wudn’t give much credit to mammotty ,i guess this is very much a team effort. SarathKumar and Manoj K Jayan leads the list of people who must be given credits for the success. Hariharan and MT did a good work. Oscar winner’s sound mixing was another noteworthy point. Kaalapani may be the only movie comparable to this one J

Rithu- Dont think it rocked in box office, but Shyama Prasad’s brave attempt with new comers deserves a lot of appreciation. A treat to watch, with excellent cinematography,songs and a nice theme. The movie very well addressed day-to-day issues of modern tecn-population!

Palery Manikyam – A midnight murder story – Renjith deserves a lot of applause for this brave attempt and Mammotty really really rocked in his role as Ahmed Haji. I can’t find any really memorable shots/scenes but overall the movie was quite different and it was a hit too.. J The new comer Mythili looks promosing.

Passenger – Another variety movie. A plot which we usually see in Hollywood, and a variety view on heroism, its truly a remarkable movie. Sreenivasan plays the protagonist in this movie, and he has done an excellent role. Dileep and Mamta also did well. Malayalam really need these kind of movies and must encourage debutants like Renjith shankar.

Puthiya Mukham- Not because it gave PrithviRaj a super star status in malluwood, but the stunts in the movie was taken differently – arguably the best stunt choreography after BIG B. The movie had nothing else to offer to impress me, but Prithviraj really impressed his female fan associations! ;)

Loud Speaker – Low budjet movie directed by Jayaraj. Not much of a variety movie, but i really liked it.

2009 was the year for Mammotty with PazhassiRaja, Palery Manikyam,LoudSpeaker,Daddy Cool, Chattampinad and the 10minute role in Keralacafe. Mohanlal needs to improve a lot (just compare lalettan of 80’s and now!). Save Bhramaram – lalettan has nothing to brag about!

I have read a lot of good reviews about Kerala Cafe the 10-director -10 story movie, but i haven’t yet seen it ! I read in some blogs that it deserves an Oscar!

My disappointments!

Sagar Alias Jacky director by BIG B fame Amal Neerad was an utter failure. It lacked good script and action,camera were just avge ,compared to the mind blowing shots in BIG B.

Bhramaram : Yes. Lalettan was good(still far from his best) in this, the movie as a whole disappointed me. I expected much more quality from Blessy. Kazcha,Thanmathra and Palunku were far better from Blessy.

2 Harihar Nagar – It really did very well in box office, but except for 3-4 comedy scenes, this was no way comparable to the original In Harihar Nagar. Jagadish and Mukesh were just shadows on their original performance in the prequel! Hope the 3^rd part will be better than 2^nd one!

I really hope 2010 will be another great year for malluwood. Drona (Mammotty), Alexander (Mohanlal).... All the best!

Three Idiots Review

2010-01-10T18:09:00.003+05:30

3-Idiots Review.

Yea...Blogs are already full with 3-Idiots review and Aamir-Chetan Bhagat fights, still, I thought I will give my own version

As all says, Its really nice movie , worth watching twice J I am not that comfortable with Hindi, so missed some of the scenes! Still enjoyed a lot! J

1^st of all, a special token of Appreciation to Aamir Khan for picking only the right movies unlike most actors. Just looking back..All of his movies were special in a way or other..Lagaan,Dil Chahta Hai, Mangal Pandey, Fanaa, Tare Zameen Par,Ghajini,..its a long list! If all actors become more selective in doing movies, then industry wouldn’t suffer this much loss.

Now, coming back to 3 Idiots, following are certain points which I noted.

1) I 1) I haven’t read FivePointSomeone and have no idea how much this movie is based on the book! But still, they could have given credits to C.Bhagat at the beginning titles.

2) 2) The movie has several scenes/scripts which I have seen in many forward mails/websites. Some of there are ... A shot where a guy is taking photo of some girls with their face fully covered...Aamir’s doubt ‘why didn’t they use pencil’.... ‘how induction motor starts scene...drrrr..drrr..’...

3) 3) Aamir’s view of education system – I totally agree with that and we all know he is right!!

4) 4) Cinematography : especially towards end of the move. Ladakh or some place? Nice scenic beauty and it was captured very well..

5) 5) Songs were average only..Behti Hawa.. is an exception.

6) 6)My fav scenes: Giving electric shock, Aamir and Boman Irani, both taking out and giving the office key...Aamirs lecture on education system...”My 3000$ watch!!!” ..etc...

VVOverall a nice experience. It’s already biggest grosser ever for bollywood with over 200cr grossed beating Ghajini! (Word is that, in its 10 day run, 3 Idiots crossed entire worldwide gross for Ghajini!)

Aamir is the most bankable actor now in bollywood! J

2009 An analysis!

2009-12-31T23:03:00.006+05:30

Just few more minutes for the year 2009 to end...Thought I will do a quick recap of what happened in 2009 which remain in my memory and which will decide my 2010.

I remember Jan 1st very well. Bought lot of shares (esp. Reliance companies) with the money got as loan from the company. People say new year day is bad for investing, but things proved to be very good for me.. Stocks doubles in few months :)

Till march 23 rd was busy days with Infosys training. The extended training was a relaxed one and I really got to enjoy most facilities of mysore campus during this period. From may 20th onwards,

we all were anxiously waiting for posting locations. And it came by 26th or so.. Me and my best friend Tarun got separate locations :( (mangalore and trivandum 16hour journey!).. We had lot of plans to be executed in our mind of which none really worked out, and this 16hour distance proved to be the major reason!

May 29th, I joined Mangalore office. There was not much job in the initial few weeks, tried to learn some stuffs , but nothing much was learned !! Everyday we were eagerly waiting for a project call, and I have tried all sort of ways to get myself into a billable project.

Lot of things happened in these period, and I even lost faith in my favorite company Infosys. Is it because Infy is doing things which I don't understand or because I see things differently.. I don't know, but the kind of love and passion which I had for this IT giant was no more there by September.

I decided to leave the company and ended up with an offer from another MNC, but later decided to stick on with Infy for some more time (Once a senior manager of mine gave me a advice.."cijo, you are very sharp and brilliant. The only thing you need to change is.. to have some more patience....etc etc") .. I still don't have that kind of patience, because I believe time is precious than anything else.

And finally on October 12th, I was assigned to a client project! Yup.. At last...After waiting for months..... A project! That too in .NET!! I was thrilled like anything , but i never knew this will change my life drastically.

The project life was hectic. 75% time was spent at office. As days passed, my health started deteriorating. Somehow the project was over and I was moved to another project. Nobody ever asked me whether I am interested in this new work , but simply assigned me to it. This is one thing I would like to change in corporates. (more on that in another blog entry).. Had to work even in night shifts for 3 weeks in the new project.

At the end of each day, I do a look back and asks myself. "What have you learned today which will help you in achieving your dreams." My mind answers "null" 99% of days.

I realized the painful truth. Infosys is not the right company for me or I am not the right kind of resource for Infosys. Either way , there is only one solution. Leave the company :) This time I was pretty serious. The only question to be answered was What after this ?.

Though out my life, I was never short of options. Only problem I ever faced was , choosing between options. This time also, plenty of options lie ahead of me. A job as lecturer in engineering college topped the list. Doing MBA was the next in the stack. and so on....

Life is all about making the right choices, considering all the trade-offs. I don't know whether I am the best in making right choice, but I made a choice in my mind.

I don't know if this is the best choice. or is this going to be another bad choice like choosing Infosys from among many offers I had. I will have no one to blame but myself, you take a stick from one end, the other end follows you automatically..

In the past 365 days, I have made a lot of new friends and this alone is enough for me never to forget 2009.

The only thing which I will miss will be the time spend together with my friends.

Anoop,Alex,Jason,Sagish- room mates and

Jerry,Praveen,Lijo,Megin,Arun,Paul, Nidhi,Rini,Dency,Divya......... and a lot other names......

I have made another great friend also, she is not a classmate, not a neighbor, not even someone related to IT field! But we became great friends! (more on that later)

As 2009 is about to be over, I am still working on ways to make my choice happen.

One of my fav teacher-Eldo P Alias

2009-09-28T09:12:00.001+05:30

One of my fav teacher. Eldo P Alias

Yesterday was the marriage of Eldo P Alias, my teacher at engineering college. Was thinking about writing about one of my all-time favourite teachers, but this is the best time to do that!!

I forgot to give him a wedding gift , so here goes my wedding gift!

He taught us a wide range of topics, starting with 8085 microprocessors,then advanced microprocessors,operating systems, linux kernel.......

“A guy with sense” describes him the best! He may not be the best in technical knowledge, he may not be the most lavish in awarding marks, and he may not have a degree from IIT, but I respect him for his ability to understand the students. He put himself in the shoes of the students often and thats what makes him my favourite! We had several instances during our college life where he has helped us a lot. Our college tour , tops the list!! (I dont wanna detail it here!)

He mingled with the students as if we were his friends. Ain’t this the thing which makes a teacher the best???

Some of the things i remember about him!!

Just before an internal exam, we people ask him like “whether this Question is important? Will this come for tomorows exam?” etc... he smiles and replies “varaanum chance undu..varathirikkanum chance undu” (There is a chance that it might come, but at the same time it may not come also!!)

I think he gave us some hints about q-paper only when he thought we deserved it! (i am not sure about this point)

He never grew mustache till we reached final year! There were all sort of rumours when he started growing one!! (reltd to GirlFriend/Marriage etc!)

He was quite famous for his PJ’s (chalus!!)... Sorry i am not able to recollect any now!

He dresses smart, and looks handsome. And unlike any typical guy, he was very careful while driving (used to see him in his Yamaha Libero most days! ).

He is not a teacher who comes and gives you ‘n’ advices about career and all... but he regularly talked about the imp. Of having good communication skills etc in securing a good job. He regularly attended Infosys training programs (TTT-train the trainer!)

Never gets upset and has good self control. (When Mr.Brainy interferes him with hi-tech doubts while he is taking class, he calmly replies “Mr.Brainy.. “thokkiil kayari vedi veykkale!!””)

I still remember the days when u asked me not to sit with Mr.Brainy, when we were a nuissance in the class!

The list will go on....!

I invite my classmates to share you thoughts here!!

“Happy Married Life” Dear Sir!!

(M y poor rhetoric skills might have under-stated him! Sorry about that!)

Jack Welch- The Legendary CEO!

2009-03-29T11:19:00.001+05:30

Finished Reading the book. "Jack Welch and the GE "...

Jack Welch and the GE way is a book written on the management decisions made by Jack Welch as the CEO of the GE. Jack Welch is considered to be the most respected CEO and is often used as a yardstick to compare other CEO’s across the globe. When Jack took over as CEO in 1981, he saw a company in trouble, unlike most of his peers. His decisions, at first sounded crazy to many others, but time has proved them wrong. Let me share with you some points which attracted me greatly.

Jack always appreciated the difference between leading and managing. He wanted his ‘leaders’ to embrace change, not fear them. He urged them to face reality and act decisively. When people saw a company in its comfort zone, jack realized that the world is becoming more and more competitive and foreign powers like Japan is eating away America’s market share.

Jack wanted to build a market leading company. His principle was ‘be at no: 1 or no: 2... Or quit! ‘ . He shut down some traditional businesses of GE which create some rage among his own colleagues. (GE utensils, consumer electronics was sold off) But in fact what he did was following a simple principle of economics. What business a company should do is not based on the absolute advantage it has on it, but based on the comparative advantage it has! Manufacturing Jet Engines, Electric bulbs obviously had comparative advantage over utensils, etc. In making a market leading company, he was following the approach of fix-close or sell. Jack implemented the idea of restructuring the company, which included inevitable lay-offs. During Jacks tenure his company’s employee strength got reduced by 1/3^rd.! People often described jack as ‘neutron bomb’ which kills people leaving the buildings intact!

Another major culture jack successfully cultivated in GE was ‘learning from others’. Jack considered borrowing ideas from others as a legitimate act of plagiarism. Jack Welch successfully got rid of the bureaucracy that was prevailing in GE and other American business. He was always unhappy to see 6-7 signatures on business documents. He wanted GE to be lean and agile like a small company, tearing down the boundary between management and workers.

Jack always insisted on creating a work atmosphere where workers feel free to speak out. He took the ‘boss’ element out of the company. He believed that the person who is out there in the grounds, doing the actually work might know more than the person sitting in AC room issuing orders. Jack created something called ‘work-out’ in GE, which are sessions in which the boss was to answer suggestion/question from his employee face to face. He was so particular in making these work-out sessions as informal as possible. These sessions have become an integral part of GE then.

Jack’s thought on stretch.

“Stretch is a concept that would have produced smirks, if not laughter, in the GE of 3 or 4 years ago; because it essentially means using dreams to set business targets – with no real idea of how to get there. If you do know how to get there- it’s not a stretch target. We certainly didn’t have a clue how we were going to get to 10 inventory turns when we set that target. But we’re getting there, and as soon as we become sure we can do it, its time for another stretch”

On another occasion, Welch said “We have found that by reaching for what appears to be impossible, we often actually do the impossible, and even when we don’t quite make it, we inevitably win up doing much better than we would have done. “

It was during the reign of Jack, that GE acquired NBC, the leading media firm. People always doubted this bold decision of Jack, commenting ‘what business does the bulb maker has in a media company!’ But time has proved that Jack was not irrational. Jack Welch had a special favor to GE Capital, the financial services arm of GE. The rule’ no1 or no2 or quit’ didn’t quite apply to GE capital. The decision proved quite right, until recently. (Hope all knows why!!(Hint: US financial crisis))

Making quick decisions was another big quality we can see in Jack. I don’t remember the exact scenario, but it something like… when other media companies were still thinking; jack had already made a deal with international Olympic committee for exclusive rights for the next 2 Olympics…..(not sure about this)

Quality

When Jack Welch embraces any idea, he does so with his own brand of fiery commitment, and his customary all-consuming passion. Injecting Quality into GE was no exception. Though he welcomed ideas of Motorola, he had his own way of implementing it. “Make quality the job of everyone” was his idea.

On Ethics and Integrity

“I can’t guarantee anyone in this room that you’re not a thief. That you haven’t stolen something; or robbed somebody this morning. All I know is that if I knew that, you wouldn’t be on the payroll.”

“My whole job is people, I can’t design an engine. I have to bet on people. I’m not like Andy Grove at Intel. He know how to make a chip”

“Numbers aren’t the vision; numbers are the product. We always say that if you had 3 measurements to live by, they’d be employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and cash flow……If you’ve got high customer satisfaction; you’re going to get a share. If you’ve got employee satisfaction, you’ve got productivity. And if you’ve got cash, you know its all working.”

Inflation Control Strategies. How effective they are?

2008-10-31T20:30:00.003+05:30

Inflation in India and across the globe have more than doubled since the beginning of the year 2008. (India witnessed a sharp rise in inflation from 3-6% a year ago to around 12% this year. )

What comes to our mind when we see a rise in inflation data is the 'typical' remedy action by the central bank- Strict monetary regulation by an increase in bank lending rates.

RBI does this everytime inflation skyrockets,with the hope of bringing it down.

But how effective are these stepS?

I always beleive in the principle that 'do not treat for the disease..instead treat for the cause'

With this in mind, let me throw some light into the causes of inflation.

Inflation is defined as the general rise in prices of goods and services. It can also be thought of

as the decrease in purchasing power of money.

The most commmon types of inflation are cost-push and demand-pull inflations.

Demand pull inflation occurs when the demand of a product exceeds its supply leading to rise in prices.

Cost push inflation occurs when cost of production increases leading to rise in retail prices..

If we analyze the 2 types of inflation, it is clear that if we can increase the production or decrease cost of production, inflation can be brought down.

But, does the RBI policy of decreasing money availability lead to any of the above??

RBI is trying to absorb money available for spending by increasing the interest rates. The purpose of doing this,as claimed by RBI, is to reduce the demand of goods and thereby leading to drop in prices.

What if we,instead of reducing demand, increase the supply of goods?? Wouldn't that solve the problem of inflation better?? It doesn't lead to unemployement also, as increasing production obviously increases employement..

In current scenario, if inflation is getting higher and suppose that if industries decide to increase the supply of goods to fight inflation, they will find it difficult as the interest rates are high!!!

So if RBI can reduce the rate of interest to basic industries, and agro products then we can bring down the production cost and can produce a lot more, leading to drop in inflation. History has shown that all major economic recession in world was accompanied by rise in food prices. (even the current financial meltown also) If govt. could increase the money suppy to basic industry like base metals, agiculture products. in times of inflation, we could control inflation much better!!

Cijo Thomas

Indian Youth's Laziness!!

2008-10-28T20:17:00.001+05:30

Its been sometime since my course is over... And today I just thought a bit about what did i really do in these free time??

I have been asking this question to a lot of people, who have finished their courses and are either waiting for joining dates or a job.

The most common reply is 'oh! nothing really.. just sitting idle...'

Other typical reply is 'as usual, tv, food, sleeping..'

I just dont know what happened to our youth. One of the key advantage India has over other BRIC nations is its 'dynamic' and 'vibrant' youth. (the percentage of workable people in India is growing where as China is witnessing a drop in these workable population)

Recently I happened to see a post by some graduate engineers who recently passed out and are waiting for the date of joining from a leading Software exporter. The youngsters are really frustrated with the delay in getting joining dates and they are telling like ' this company is wasting the youth by killing their time'..

I was shocked to read this!! People are sitting idle at home and are blaming the company for destroying their time! Why dont these souls do something on their own and make best use of their time? People joining in software firms can learn a lot of technologies in these time..

When asked about this the typical reply goes like this ' we cant be sure which technology the company will be putting us in.So there is no point in learning anything coz we may be put in some other fields.!!! '

People are more focused on things that are beyond their control. What harm can it cause if we learn another programming language??

If this kind of laziness spreads through the brains of the so called 'dynamic and vibrant' youth of India, we will have to wait another 100 years before becoming a Global SuperPower.

See these quotes please..

ANNIE DILLARD:How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

“Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't
own it, but you can use it. You can't keep
it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it
you can never get it back.”

Great Failures!!

2008-10-23T21:51:00.000+05:30

Bill Gates founder and chairman of Microsoft, has literally changed the work culture of the world in the 21st century, by simplifying the way computer is being used. He was the world's richest man for more than one decade. However, in the 1970's before starting out, he was a Harvard University dropout. The most ironic part is that, he started a software company (that was soon to become Microsoft) by purchasing the software technology from "someone" for only $US50 back then.

Abraham Lincoln received no more than 5 years of formal education throughout his lifetime. When he grew up, he joined politics and had 12 major failures before he was elected the 16th President of the United States of America .

Isaac Newton was the greatest English mathematician of his generation. His work on optics and gravitation made him one of the greatest scientists the world has even known. Many thought that Isaac was born a genius, but he wasn't! When he was young, he did very poorly in grade school, so poor that his teachers became clueless in improving his grades.

Ludwig van Beethoven, a German composer of classical music, is widely regarded as one of history's supreme composers. His reputation has inspired ? and in many cases intimidated ? composers, musicians and audiences who were to come after him. Before the start of his career, Beethoven's music teacher once said of him "as a composer, he is hopeless". And during his career, he lost his hearing yet he managed to produce great music ? a deaf man composing music, ironic isn't!

Thomas Edison who developed many devices that greatly influenced life in the 20th century. Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 U.S patents to his name. When he was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. When he set out on his own, he tried more than 9,000 experiments before he created the first successful light bulb.

The Woolworth Company was a retail company that was one of the original five-and-ten- cent stores. The first Woolworth's store was founded in 1878 by Frank Winfield Woolworth and soon grew to become one of the largest retail chains in the world in the 20th century. Before starting his own business, Woolworth got a job in a dry goods store when he was 21. But his employer would not let him serve any customer because he concluded that Frank "didn't have enough common sense to serve the customers".

By acclamation, Michael Jordon is the greatest basketball player of all time. A phenomenal athlete with a unique combination of grace, speed, power, artistry, improvisational ability and an unquenchable competitive desire. Jordan single-handedly redefined the NBA superstar. Before joining NBA, Jordan was just an ordinary person, so ordinary that was he was removed from the high school basketball team because of his "lack of skill".

Walter Disney was American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor and animator. One of the most well-known motion picture producers in the world, Disney founded a production company. The corporation, now known as The Walt Disney Company, makes average revenue of US $30 billion annually. Disney started his own business from his home garage and his very first cartoon production went bankrupt. During his first press conference, a newspaper editor ridiculed Walt Disney because he had no good ideas in film production.

Winston Churchill failed the 6th grade. However, that never stopped him to work harder! He strived and eventually became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Churchill is generally regarded as one of the most important leaders in Britain and world history. In a poll conducted by the BBC in 2002 to identify the "100 Greatest Britons", participants voted Churchill as the most important of all.

Steven Spielberg is an American film director. He has won 3 Academy Awards and ranks among the most successful filmmakers in history. Most of all, Steven was recognized as the financially most successful motion picture director of all time. During his childhood, Spielberg dropped out of junior high school. He was persuaded to come back and was placed in a learning-disabled class. He only lasted a month and then dropped out of school forever.

Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist widely regarded as the most important scientist of the 20th century. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905 and "for his services to Theoretical Physics". However, when Einstein was young, his parents thought he was mentally retarded. His grades in school were so poor that a teacher asked him to quit, saying, "Einstein, you will never amount to anything!"

In 1947, one year into her contract, Marilyn Monroe was dropped by 20th Century-Fox because her producer thought she was unattractive and could not act. That didn't deter her at all! She kept on going and eventually she was recognized by the public as the 20th century's most famous movie star, sex symbol and pop icon.

John Grisham's first novel was rejected by sixteen agents and twelve publishing houses. He went on writing and writing until he became best known as a novelist and author for his works of modern legal drama. The media has coined him as one of the best novel authors even alive in the 21st century.

Henry Ford's first two automobile companies failed. That did not stop him from incorporating Ford Motor Company and being the first to apply assembly line manufacturing to the production of affordable automobiles in the world. He not only revolutionized industrial production in the United States and Europe , but also had such influence over the 20th century economy and society. His combination of mass production, high wages and low prices to consumers has initiated a management school known as "Fordism". He became one of the three most famous and richest men in the world during his time.

Soichiro Honda was turned down by Toyota Motor Corporation during a job interview as "engineer" after World War Two. He continued to be jobless until his neighbours starting buying his "home-made scooters". Subsequently, he set out on his own to start his own company. Honda. Today, the Company has grown to become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer and one of the most profitable automakers - beating giant automaker such as GM and Chrysler. With a global network of 437 subsidiaries, Honda develops, manufactures and markets a wide variety of products ranging from small general-purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars.

Akio Morita, founder of giant electric household products, Sony Corporation, first product was an electric rice cooker, only sold 100 cookers (because it burned rice rather than cooking). Today, Sony generates US$66 billion in revenue and ranked as the world's 6th largest electronic and electrical company.

2008-10-23T21:30:00.002+05:30

Indian Agriculture... Can we be on TOP?

Agriculture in India is one of the most prominent sectors in its economy. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounted for 18.6% of the GDP in 2005 and employed 60% of the country's population. It accounts for 8.56 % of India’s exports. About 43 % of India's geographical area is used for agricultural activity. Despite a steady decline of its share in the GDP, agriculture is still the largest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic development of India.
The monsoons play a critical role in the Indian sub-continent's agriculture in determining whether the harvest will be bountiful, average, or poor in any given year. The entire rainfall in the sub-continent is concentrated in the few monsoon months.

Agriculture In India

One of the most prominent sectors in its economy.
Accounted for 18.6% of the GDP in 2005 (includes alied sectors like logging,forestry and fishing)
Employed 60% of the country's population
About 43 % of India's geographical area is used for agricultural activity
The monsoons play a critical role in the Indian sub-continent's agriculture

Read the following paragraph.!! Be Proud!!

India is the largest producer in the world of milk, cashew nuts, coconuts, tea, ginger, turmeric and black pepper. It also has the world's largest cattle population (193 million). India ranks second worldwide in farm output. It is the second largest producer of wheat, sugar, groundnut and inland fish. It is the third largest producer of tobacco and rice. India accounts for 10 per cent of the world fruit production with first rank in the production of banana and sapota.

Now.. read the following... and ...... no!! no more proud!! i feel shame!!

International comparisons reveal that the average yield in India is generally 30% to 50% of the highest average yield in the world
China ranks first worldwide in farm output. Just under half of China's labor force is engaged in agriculture, even though only about 15.4% of the land is suitable for cultivation.
According to the United Nations World Food Program , in 2003 China fed 20% of the world's population with only 7% of the world's arable land

Just look at the following table and find your self where our India stands!

Country Cultivated Area Total Agri Products in millions of USD

India 15,00000km2 158424
China 13,00000km2 298928
Japan 50,000km2 78576

Recently I happened to read a supplement with Gulf News. The following extract from it, made me cry!!

While the country(refering to NetherLands) comprises only .008% of the world's land area, it is the world's third largest agricultural exporter!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the case of Netherlands

But Why?? Why??? India has all the resources but still we lag in terms of total output.
The low productivity results from following:

Illiteracy, general socio-economic backwardness, reforms and inadequate or inefficient finance and marketing services for farm produce.
The average size of land holdings is very small (less than 20,000 m²) and are subject to fragmentation, due to land ceiling acts and in some cases, family disputes. Such small holdings are often over-manned, resulting in disguised unemployment and low productivity of labour.
Adoption of modern agricultural practices and use of technology is inadequate, hampered by ignorance of such practices, high costs and impracticality in the case of small land holdings.
Irrigation facilities are inadequate, as revealed by the fact that only 53.6% of the land was irrigated in 2000–01,which result in farmers still being dependent on rainfall, specifically the Monsoon season. A good monsoon results in a robust growth for the economy as a whole, while a poor monsoon leads to a sluggish growth.

In India we have the so called CORPORATE GIANTS in all fields!
Look at petroleum; we have Reliance, Indianoil which are Fortune 500 companies!
Loot at banking; we have SBI(again fortune 500), ICICI...
Look at IT services.... we have TCS,Infosys.. (fortune 2000)

What about agriculture? There are no major players!! not even single one!
Some popular names include REI agro,Lakshmi Overseas,Amul, which are into food processing, and some names like TATA Chemicals,GSFC which makes fertilizers.. But none of them are Giants!! We cant even call them Large! None has a market cap of above 5,000cr!

We have now some movements taking place in agri sector.. Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries is going farming with a huge investment.. They are planning about 15,000 acres of land in N.India.. Also Telecom Giant Bharthi is also looking at farming!

What are they actually upto?? are they really into uplifting Indian Agriculture?? or are they eyeing the huge real estate potential? The thousands of acres of land being acquired now at virtually "PULLU VILA" (cheapest price) will be huge GoldMine after few years considering the real estate value! (another Unitech?? )

Recently when Bush commented that growing population and reduction in poverty in India and China the reason for world food crisis, we people had nothing great to boast, except some protests done for political gains!

(well, Bush has no right to blame India! coz he announced subsidy to farmers who use their corn to produce oil!! which led to reduction in corn available for food industry!)

When any new industy is discovered, a group of countries with potential for that indusrty is awaken. Industrial revoultion in europe, Oil industry in Gulf, Electronics in japan, manufacturing outsourcing in china.........................................

India has plenty of land.. Labour available cheap. In current situation, raising finance wont be a big deal. Overflowing rivers in north india.. We are blessed with sea on 3 sides to facilitate the exports... We have everything we want !! but....

.......... Despite having all the potentials of becoming world's biggest exporter of food, India is not tapping its resources!!!

swantham,

Cijo Thomas

(oppu)

My Engineering College Life......

2008-10-22T21:39:00.000+05:30

MAR ATHANASIOUS COLLEGE OF ENGG. Kothamangalam-- The great place where I did my engineering. The place where i have transformed from a boy who couldn't stand on stage and speak....to a real engineer..... making presentations infront of huge crowds.... I think my blog wont make any sense unless i write my college life here.... the place where i enjoyed a lot.... cried a lot..... worried a lot....and learned a lot.....

I dont remember the exact day on which i joined mace.. but it was in september..

I went with my mum on the welcome day. After the meeting.. we were taken to the CSE Dept by our group tutor Linda miss.

I remember noticing 2-3 faces. One was rosmy. i didnt know her name.. then i noted Rini.. (she was my class mate in nirmala).. and then MANU.. coz his parents and my mum talked.. and finally njanum manu-m relatives aayi! ALIYANs!

The first day at college. I took position in 1st or 2nd bench.. it was Vysakh whom i met first! we talked a bit and then what.. some seniors came and picked me! i was wearing full sleeves and shoes! enne avar onnu fire cheythu.. "nee enna kalyaanathinu povaanoda ______"

Njanum vittu koduthilla! "ivan aaru " enna mattil njanum thirichu mooppichu! avar poi!

Oru VIJAYITHANTE bhavathil njan classil chennu irunnu!

1st day poi angine! Ellam "Subham"

Next day or day after it.. i was sitting in some other bench.

2 seniors came and enquired for a guy who sat in 1st bench on 1st day!

Amme ! athu njan aanallo!!

Enne avar pidichu!

Pinne pooram allarno!! _&!($*^$* ( $!^*

$&!*$&

$(&$)

Njan oru peace talk enna mattil oru chettante kayyil kayari angu pidichittu 'HI" paranju!

Perum chodhichu!

Ente amoooo!!

Pinne )()!@()($) bahalam aarnu!

Appol athaa EEE - le oru sir kadannu vannu!

Sirne kandappol avar oooooodiiiiii..

Eveningil aa chettane pinnem kandu.. He was bit tensed whether i have complainted to sir..

He talked to me for a while.. and invited me to a DRINK party too! ( ofcourse, i turned down that invitation!)

EE raging kazhinjappol njan poi irunnathu Tarun te aduthaa! Annu thudangiyatha Tarun ayittula friendship! my first friend in MACE!

My friends count increased each day....darshan..manu....no female members so far...

1st year tour was to munnar. I found it difficult to take attendance during tour, as i didnt knew any girls names!

S3-S6 was a usual college life.... If i start to write about all the incidents, then it will take a whole day!

Tours, classile alambundaakkal..

there was a common thing which happened 1st week of every sem!

ME and MANU buys new notebooks and sits in front bench. with the intention of being 'padikkunna kutty'..

1 week work out aayi!! 2nd week onwards njangal veendum pazhaya 'alambu' payyanz!!

Things improved as I moved to S6.. This time i spent a reasonable amount of time for my studies. This is the sem when i felt like..the class was a family.... .. i was very committed to my class,, and was willing to do anything... i mean anything for the class!!

S7 was the most eventful semester. We enjoyed a 3 day trip for the first time in college life!! This is the time when i and elizabeth became close friends.. I prayed that my college life should never end... Saturdays and Sundays were most boring without class:( :( :( I understood the meaning of the word 'loneliness' while in s7... i had this on all holidays...

This sem i took my studies very serious.. thanks to a dear friend of mine...:) |Combine studies started showing results... and I learned the importance of time and hardworking when i studied with this dear friend of mine....

S8 was a more like a smooth continuation of S7 but many bad incidents occured for me.. My professional life was booming with seminars, paper presentations... but my personal life took a beating.. I kept on failing continuously to hide my feelings.... I dont know how I managed to finish the S8.... friendship...missings..... love... studies... oh..my brain was always full with something and i was always worried..

As in S7, I give 1st priority to studies and I think i topped in sessionals in class. and did very well for my universities as well.. :) .. I did hell lot of work with my dear friend in last 2-3 semesters to bring my aggregate to 72 from around 69

S8 ended... I dont know..how much i cried..lying alone.. in my room.... oh .....God only knows how much pain...

The friendship with my dear one continued...though lot of misshaps occured...:)

I know i cant go back to my campus life ever... Have to accept the fact.. its over..... i will miss u all very much dear friends!!

During 4 years of engg.. college life, I learned a lot of thing.. I have changed a lot... I am no more afraid of anything.. I have a vision now... And the strength to reach there......

Now my next few years will be in Infosys... My MACE life has given me the foundation stones...for a tough life at Infosys..!:) ( dont know why...i like to lead a tough and busy life these days!!)

Swantham...

Cijo
(oppu)

Political Stupidity!!

2008-07-20T23:25:00.000+05:30

Well, the title could have been simply Political Acts which would obviously means stupidity!

Recently I happen to see a opposition party agitation in kerala where the party people were showing a comparative chart, comparing prices of goods when their party ruled and current. The list was like "Rice- Rs 10 then.. Rs 20 now... ..........etc etc "
And they were putting slogans saying usual 'Down with the govt' and all.

Well, haven't these people heard of inflation and global inflation data?? Price of a cup of tea was just 1or 2 paisa 50 years back, DOES that mean the government then was the best one??
Inflation in India is around 5-6 % average for past few years and this year it soured to 10+ levels and people started protesting!

If we take inflation data of any country in the world, India is far better!! Inflation in most middle east countries like UAE, Bahrain in around 15-20%!! US inflation also doubled! So is the case with china, and other emerging countries.

How can India be isolated from a Global Inflation Trouble? We too enjoyed good growth when the whole world was growing and we naturally will be affected by global climate!

Inflation is quite natural in any growing economy and it cannot be called a -ve aspect. Its actually an inevitable 'sign' of Growth. It seems like the political parties want our inflation to be zero!! They seemed to have forgotten the 8% average GDP growth we enjoying now.

All they care about is simple protesting whatever the govt do just to throw off the government!

Well, it reminds me of one famous real life quote from the legendary film maker Kamal Hasan.
When asked about entering politics, he gently replied "Am I that good in acting????"
In another occasion he replied "Sorry, I can't act the whole day!"

I.T Recession & DOJ!!

2008-07-19T20:36:00.002+05:30

Its July now in the year 2008 and most engineering graduates in India who are placed in IT companies are waiting desperately to get the date of joining (DOJ). Orkut scraps, chats , everything contains the word "DOJ"..!

After the tech-bubble of 2001, again this year IT firms are delaying the DOJ. I thought of putting some information regarding the same here!

Why the recession ?? Everyone might have read in newspapers regarding US Subprime Crisis and all. Most people avoid such news because very few have understood the Subprime and other terms!!

U can of course Google it and find out but I will try to put it as simple as possible and explain why all have to wait so long for DOJ!

In simple terms , Subprime loans are loans given to people who do not have a a good loan repayment history & has low income/job . Naturally Subprime loans are riskier and so banks asks for mortgage. (in local language- 'panayam' ) and houses were kept as mortgage mostly.

In US large no: of subprime loans were given last few years. But as interest rates increased monthly installement has also increased and many people didn't pay the installements. At the end banks were forced to foreclosure the loan. ('Japthi cheythu') As more and more people failed to repay, more and more properties were foreclosured. This was accompanied with a sudden fall in real estate and home prices. So banks couldn't get back the money which people owed them, as prices at which homes were sold were much below its estimated prices. Naturally banks suffered from heavy losses. The exact amount of losses is alarming and is estimated to be around 350Billion US Dollar. (1billion us dollar= 4200 crore indian rupees)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big companies like CITIGROUP, Merryl Lynch,Barclays etc suffered huge losses. and this is exactly what we hear as US Financial Crisis or Subprime Crisis!!!

Now how this is related to IT recession??

IT companies in India are mainly service providers. And majority of revenue for them comes from banking & finance sector (BFSI) . BFS companies either delayed or canceled their expansion works and IT budgets, leading to slowdown in IT companies here.

There is another main reason which affected profit of all Indain IT companies. Its nothing but the appreciating Rupee. From 48ruppes per dollar to almost 38rs per dollar will affect the profit of IT companies by a good extent.

I hope now all understood why the looooooong wait for DOJ!!

US Subprime issue leading to slowdown in IT spending coupled with a appreciated rupee is the cause!!

So we can either simple sit down @ home waiting for DOJ to come, or do something useful !!

Some informations to see how worse the matter is -->http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7096845.stm

Quality of Enggineering College Graduates

2008-07-19T19:21:00.000+05:30

Let me speak something about the quality of Engineering graduates in kerala.. (I have just passed out from a leading institute in Kerala )

I was under the assumption that the learning-by-heart technique will work only till 12th! But now, I can say without any doubt that, by simple ' learning by heart technique ' one can get good scores!

All subjects are pure theory based. Thats fine becoz a good theoretical foundation is necessary. But with mere theory no one can become a true engineer. The exam methodology is testing your ability to memorize things rather than checking your knowledge and applicability. 5 modules per subject,6 subjects per semester, 8 semesters like this will make a graduate who can be put to little use in real industry.

The only thing which tests the real talent of students are academic projects. But unfortunately, we have 100's of institutes offering so called 'project guidance' to students where most students "buy" projects from them present before the teachers and even worse, teachers don't even have the ability to find plagiarism.

IT industries have realized this and are offering rigorous training to all freshers before being put to any useful work. Most company's claim that they spend lakhs of rupees to train a individual. I was wondering, if our educational system can be modified slightly, in accordance with industrial needs, companies could save millions of ruppes and hell lot of time. The IT training industry is the biggest gainers of this defective system with a size of Rs5,000-6,000 crores.

Even a simple change in syllabus or teaching methodology or testing methodology can make remarkable changes in quality of around 4 lakhs engineers passing out from various engg. colleges across the country.

We should focus more on Knowledge rather than Information. Why don't our system be changed to produce 'TRUE ENGINEERS" who are employable. Hope initiatives like CampusConnect launched by Infosys will see good result.

Christian Priests - Irony

2008-07-19T10:49:00.000+05:30

Got inspired to write this blog entry after reading about the 8 course dinner served at G-8 meeting @ Hokkeido in Japan, where they met to discuss how to handle world food crisis!!

The same kind of irony is found everywhere, particularly in preaching by christian priests. As per bible "those who have 2 dress, give 1 to the needy....." and the priests who preaches bible are the kind of people living luxurious than many of the average people. They keep on preaching about leading simple life and uses the luxury cars and other luxuries in life!!

I think our Mahatma Gandhi better followed Bible better than the christian missionaries! Mahatma says " Never demand anything from a person unless you yourself can show it by example." He lead by example and our priests doing just the opposite!! Coming in luxury cars to speak about leading simple life..

Remember during church festivals how many lakhs are spend for crackers, lighting and decoration, band sets etc... Seems like priest and other 'religious' people are blind to the poor people begging for a days bread while they march with the band set and all!!

This is worse than the G-8 meeting where country delegates discussed on solving world food crisis while enjoying a delicious 8 course dinner!!