Ethics maketh Civil Society

The Over-debated Autonomous vehicle Ethics issue

In 2019 There were extensive ethical debates over the hypothetical ethical dilemma with autonomous vehicles and if the Autonomous car should kill the elderly pedestrian or the child playing on the street. No real conclusions were drawn!

Onward Forward Backward its 2020

Covid19 Patients in the West are expecting #passportpriviledge when there is one ventilator and a foreign national and a citizen are in the queue. I've heard that such decisions are being taken every minute by emergency physicians at US hospitals!

Historically the Victors were quick to label the Vanquished as "Racist and  Supremacists". However it is exactly in times like these that the underbelly of modern fake egalitarian society stands exposed.

Occidental Hypocrisy

The Occident is quick to write judgemental  essays about NRC CAA and other affairs de Orient.  But the Occident's own insidious  truth stands exposed for the world to see. Pecking hierarchies and food chains stand defined and are now public medical protocol

Wither Hippocratic Oath!

It's the wild wild west and it's each man to himself and the Lord for us all! It's also the time the first gen, second gen and third gen immigrants begin to differentiate.

#UglyInside

An Intelligent Chatbot to Automate the HR Interview and its Evaluation

To my utter surprise, my paper submitted to cPGCon18 (April 5-6 2018) has not yet been published! So I have taken it on myself to publish this here.

In the meanwhile Microsoft(May 31, 2018) seems to have Published a patent on a very related topic, and so has Facebook (Nov 1, 2018). What a co-incidence.

Paper Link

Presentation Link

Lessons learnt?

1. Avoid using Windows10, Skydrive, Hotmail, Azure etc
2. Switch to Ubuntu/Linux
3. Patent new ideas ASAP
4. Keep material close to chest till published
5. Avoid publishing in 3rd rate journals. Publish on own site instead.

The Question that remains to be answered is : 

"Have I arrived or have they?"

Regards

~Milind K Thombre

Startup Founder(Giri)

Q. Do you regret being a startup founder?

A. Yes and No! I tried my hand at a self-funded startup between 2004–2006 full time.

Background

At the time I had worked in the US for 4 years from 1996–97 before moving back in 2001. I found a job in India. The pay was much lower than what I used to make in USA. There was also extreme boredom in the job, though I used to still travel to the US on the job (short term). I thought I should do something in Data Mining (cutting edge technology at the time) and started out bravely quitting my job while trying to build a Software Product in the Telecom (fraud) space.

Mistakes

1. Talent: While I had 7–8 years of IT experience, I took plenty of missteps in the nascent product development space and learnt from each of them. The first was relying on Fresh Graduates to do the high end technical work. Though very few did make the grade, most fared poorly and stuff was often behind schedule or needed my intervention/coding to complete . Clearly the promise of easy money riding the IT bandwagon fuelled by reservation had created fresh grads who cared little about technology and wanted to get out of college quick and “Make hay while the sun shines”. A large change had taken place in the quality of education since 1995. It has gotten even worse since!
2. Funding: I did have a couple of unreasonable funding offers and decided that I would rather do without such vulture capitalists. I burned my own cash for the two years.
3. Management Team: I had none. Partnerships usually are doomed, so this was not a mistake, but often times I wished I had 48 hours in the day or could context switch more often.
4. Choice of Product + Client: Telecom fraud was a complex problem at the time and even though I did manage to get the National Carrier interested in using Data Mining for Fraud Detection, we ended up doing piecemeal work for them instead and lost focus quickly. They tended to constantly have other pressing problems before them. Also there were no more than 4–5 companies in this space, so there was no other option but to hang on to our late paying, non-decision making, tender floating client. A good, well-paying first client is a MUST for any startup to succeed financially and otherwise.

Regrets:

1. Not pursuing a Masters Degree/PhD at the time.
2. Wasted time. Left me unhappy as I was not aligned with what I had to do day in and day out.
3. Not being able to do much hands on techie work, instead getting drawn into BD/Admin etc work, hence sacrificing my own technical career to some extent.

Take Aways:

1. Left with survival skills which were extremely useful in the real world, but most employers considered useless as “experience”
2. Most important: Discovered what I really wanted to do (learn and create) and not do (entrepreneurship, chasing money+power) in life.
3. Check marked “Running a startup” from my bucket list of things to do before I die

Panchatantra ~The Book of Wisdom {On Security}

Watch "The Plot to Assassinate PM Modi" here: (Republic World)

https://youtu.be/npEOYczOKbk


"The Panchatantra" is a Timeless Ancient Hindu Sanskrit Text that embodies Wisdom, and the Art of Living in the true sense of the world. Its sheer brilliance has impressed many a learned Westerner as it has a majority of Indians. Interestingly, it was perhaps the FIRST book to be ever printed by the Germans (1480 AD) who invented printing technology. There are a multitude of translations of this ancient Sanskrit work in almost every language of the world!

I present to you one of the English Translations by Arthur W Ryder pondering on the news of the day

Panchatantra Verbatim

In houses where no snakes are found.
One sleeps; or where the snakes are bound:
But perfect rest is hard to win
With serpents bobbing out and in.

The mere negative foundation of security requires a considerable exercise of intelligence, since the world swarms with rascals, and no sensible man can imagine them capable of reformation.

Caress a rascal as you will.
He was and is a rascal still:
All salve- and sweating-treatments fail
To take the kink from doggy's tail.

Yet roguery can be defeated; for by its nature it is stupid.

Since scamp and sneak and snake
So often undertake
A plan that does not thrive,
The world wags on, alive.

Having made provision for security, in the realization that

A man to thrive
Must keep alive!

Credits

Credits for English translation: Arthur W. Ryder

Full text of the English translation of the Panchatantra:

https://archive.org/details/Panchatantra_Arthur_W_Ryder

#UrbanNaxals
#ModiAssassinationPlot

Bharat Mata Ki Jai! Jai Hind! 

~Milind Thombre

Pokhran II (Operation Shakti) - Parmanu Movie Review

Parmanu Movie Review

Parmanu is true stunner of a movie starring John Abraham amongst others! The plot revolves around the planning for the hugely successful 11th May 1998 nuclear tests, also known as Operation Shakti. 

In reality, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee his principle secretary and a handful of people, including APJ Abdul Kalam, Scientific Advisor to PMO and head DRDO. (who was later elected  President of India)  Dr R Chidambaram of IAC, Dr Anil Kakodkar-BARC, and few other prominent scientists of the time knew about the tests. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokhran-II

In the Movie Plot, the small but extremely effective team works diligently donning Archaeological Survey of India ID's initially and Military uniforms later, dodging spies on the ground, CIA operatives and ISI agents roaming freely in and around the Pokhran Fort. And most importantly the extremely powerful eyes in the sky of the CIA, Lacrosse satellites navigating  above the Pokhran range on a daily basis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacrosse_(satellite)

The plot shows how the scientists working diligently, and Army personnel providing logistics, and others in the intelligence as well as establishment dodge many a difficulty and plan immaculately to bring about the conception of a new Nuclear State: India! There are many moments in the plot where the plan is almost abandoned. Utmost secrecy is required to be maintained, even the family members of the participants are kept in the dark, leading to many a hiccup in the personal lives of the participants.

The "White" House"

The movie ends with the N-Bombs going off in unison. 3 of the bomb shafts (code named the White House, Taj Mahal and Kumbhakaran) are highlighted in the movie. The Thermonuclear device (fusion device)  is placed in the shaft codenamed the "White House" and after a suspense-filled wait, the device is set off to a massive explosion that nearly destroys the test range completely! This moment is a golden moment in the History of Modern India!

The coded wire to the Principal Secretary from the site after the massive blast says "The White House has collapsed!" Indeed, this massive explosion did end the nuclear apartheid of the "White Boys Frat-House Club" of nations as India forced itself forward to Superpower status.

I have already written about my rather personal experience about the tests in another post: http://thombrem.blogspot.com/2018/05/parmanu-movie.html  At the time (1998), I used to work as a software engineer at GE Aircraft Engines, where I threw a largish office party to celebrate , much to the chagrin of the management. In fact I also remember some Indians (pussies) who went about saying they were in principle opposed to nuclear weapons, this would lead to an arms race, mutually assured destruction(MAD). I was asked the reason for the party, rather sternly by the General Manager after he learnt of the "Indian party" in the cafeteria. So I told him "1/2 of the party is for India's nuclear explosions and the other 1/2 of the party is to celebrate my 25th Birthday, take your pick". The GM did attend, and so did every American on the floor, many congratulated India on the success. However, notably, a very small percentage Indians kept on ranting about violation of Gandhian Principles and did NOT attend. I told them later that they are unworthy friends to any human being (Indian and American alike) as they are dishonest to the core, for they secretly felt happy on the inside, but are too scared to stand up for what they feel inside and which is indeed right. Not to mention the complete lack of Patriotism in this small minority! I also asked our Americans friends a pertinent question: "If a person cannot be loyal to the country they are born and raised in, their own motherland, do you expect this bunch of people to be loyal to the USA after they get citizenship?" I'm sure this provoked thought!

Some patriotic Americans drank 1/2 a glass of coke only and told me that  this was to symbolically celebrate my 25th birthday but they refused to drink the whole coke as the other 1/2 was for the successful tests! I salute their Patriotism just as they do mine!

Bharat Mata Ki.....Jai!

And now a vote of thanks is due to John Abraham, who in real life is Jewish (a great community whose undying friendship with India is legendary), and true blue Indian to the core, for his stellar performance in Parmanu! Every Motherland loving Indian should (and hopefully will) have tears of happiness in his eyes at the end! I did! And I hope you do too!

Thank you Atal Bihari Vajpayee!

Bharat Mata ki Jai!

Jai Hind!
Milind K Thombre
(Comments Welcome)

Parmanu (Movie)

Parmanu, The Movie, starring John Abhram is on my "Surely watch" list for many reasons. 

I lived and worked in Cincinnati at the time of the tests.The Pokhran test took place on 11th May 1998(They missed the deadline by one day or it would have been on my 25th birthday ;) ) 

I also threw a large office party at GE Aircraft Engines at the time to celebrate, much to the chagrin of a few and to the good wishes for India of many! The news of Pokhran tests spread like wildfire amongst the Indian American community. 

Another incident I recall happened at an Indian friends office in Detroit (Ford). My Indian friend was chatting with his white American boss the morning after and congratulating India for the feat, the boss was also agreeing to most of the things he was saying when a Pakistani working in the same office interrupted them and said "This sucks, Arms Race, South Asia in crisis etc". 

So my friend turned to him and retorted "Hey you! Don't interrupt when two superpowers are discussing important things!"😂😂😂

Salute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, APJ, Indian Army, BARC and others who made this possible!

A Plethora of Ideas about the Future of Work in India

Hello folks,

Today's blog is a Fictional Satire set in the Indian context of the Future of Work, especially to answer the currently hypothetical but futuristically real question :

"What will happen to jobs after near or total Automation?"

I present to you solutions by different political and entrepreneur groups:

1. Congress: Let us all Spin the Charkha! Bapuji told us long time ago, he was a true visionary who saw this day was coming a century ago! Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai! Also, in the background we will play Gandhiji's favourite bhajan while we spin the charkha and do a kadi ninda of all the technologists who made us see this day! On second thoughts, lets not "play" the bhajan, let us sing and clap our hands, that way we will not have to use any of this Evil Technology.

All our past leaders have always opposed technology for this very reason! We strongly condemn this wave of automation technology in particular and technology in general which has cost us our jobs and unemployment is now at 100%. This country is now doomed under the present leadership of XYZ. Down with XYZ and Long Live Our Dynasty, oops we meant Party!

2. BJP (Tech Entrepreneurs): What If we put a generator on each and every charkha and feed the electricity back to the grid? We would solve the employment problem and the electricity generation problem in one stroke! We'll pay 1 Rupee per hour of work on the charkha, hard work will be rewarded and harder work will be rewarded harder!

Also, since this will become commoditized service and there will be growing demand for such charkhas by unemployed folks the supply of workers will keep rising and as the demand of electricity will remain constant rates are projected to eventually fall to 10 paise/hour. Cheap and clean power to the people!

3. Software Services Moguls: Let's put out an advertisement for 300,000 jobs tomorrow! Lets Buy land in Hinjewadi, set up a Charkha Centre with 300,000 charkhas! We will pocket the 1 Rupee/Hour given by the electricity company and payout 35 paise/Hour rate per employee for their highly valued and passionately provided services! And rates are projected to fall eventually, so let us have a clearly defined Exit Policy as well (Oops! For non performers we meant) Let us also start an industry body called CHARKHACOM to lobby (bully) the government agencies to agree to our demands. After all we are generating much needed employment for the youth of this country and we deserve our share of the pie (pound of flesh). Let us also start an open to all forum where some of our senior leaders mentor youth on Entrepreneurship and Leadership in Technology(????)!

"Technology" is the solution to our problems and India will become the next Technology Superpower within exactly 25 years! ~Official Release by CHARKHACOM!

Now for the list of demands:

1. We will need a fully automated train from Hinjewadi to the city.
2. Tax sops!
3. Padma Bhushan Awards for Our beloved Industry Pioneers!
4. etc. (we'll make this up as we go along)

4. Rashtrawadi:
Did someone just say LAND? Saathiyon Rath Nikalo, Hinjewadi me nayi___________ aayi hai!!!

5. Left Front:
Bhookh Hartal! (Actually, at this point they steal a line from a BJP PM) "Na hum khud khayenge na hum kisi ko khaane denge!"

Hamari mange puri karo, warna kursi khali karo! Down with Automation! Down with Technology! (Sound of charkhas crashing and burning in the background and a sight of hands waving red flags....manually)

Jo humse takrayega, woh mitti me mil jayega (veiled warning to dissenting non-union employees and contractors who report to work)

6. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
( In a squeaky voice) Sab mile hue hai jee! Mere paas sab saboot hai! Bijli ka bill maine hi kam karwaya hai! Muze vote de do mai ek ek ko theek karke rakh doonga!

7. Parents of (now unemployed) Youth:
We told you to choose Medicine instead of Engineering, but you did not heed our advice!

Thanks for laughing readers! As for for those who cried after reading this sordid view of the future in this country, my vote goes to you!

~Milind K. Thombre
(An Idle Man In a Workers Paradise)

The Future of Work

Sea of Managers

Readers every day in India these days we hear about Layoffs, especially in the IT/ITES and software fields. People seem to place the blame on external factors when this happens. Sometimes it is true and politics is at play, but quite often it is not.

What has brought about this nemesis? On an average, Entrepreneurs insist that the blame lies with the employee. Sometimes they claim the issue is about political factors(Donald Trump's anti-outsourcing policies etc). Again, this is a tendency to pin blame elsewhere when the finger should be pointing inwards! The entrepreneur refuses to invest in the employees training and development, instead, giving him/her more non-technical "responsibilities".

The gullible employee on the other hand feels this is a "way to the top" and begins to take on more "responsibility"(non technical work). Sometimes the managers give the coders such a hard time while they are coding/doing technical work that the coders revolt and try to become managers themselves. Suddenly we have more and more (and more) managers and fewer coders left in the fray. This becomes a dangerous irrational situation and the entrepreneur is forced to "take a tough decision". {Actually, the average entrepreneur does not really care until the customer tells him that his people are not technical enough for the project}

Donald Trump and the Offshoring S(c/h)am

Average Entrepreneurs try to deflect the blame from themselves by saying US anti-outsourcing policy has resulted in this mess. Do Indian workers really need to worry if outsourcing stops? Many competent ones can in fact get a H-1 and move to greener pastures for many times their Indian salary which the entrepreneur paid them. Donald Trump is a blessing in disguise for many such competent techies! It is the Entrepreneur himself who is in trouble now, not techies, and for once the shoe is on the other foot!

Automation

The other real reason jobs are disappearing is because of automation not politics! Automation continues its onward wealth creating march as more and more jobs disappear. Thousands of people working in call centers will be replaced with  single scaleable chatbot that will run on cloud and answer questions for users who were anyways fed up with fake foreign accents. This is just a canonical example and many jobs and industries are going to be disrupted by automation in the next few years. 

Examples of potentially obsolete jobs are taxi drivers, even low end IT jobs, Massively online open classrooms are already disrupting conventional education to some extent or supplementing it. Russia has now built the first AI battle tank, even the future of war is going to change.

Lets ban Automation! some will say. We are losing our jobs! To them I have this to say: "Even if you close your eyes and sit in one place the world continues to move forward!"

There are several issues that Government is going to need to address like taxation on automation, Universal basic income etc.

Advice to Youngsters

What then is the advice I have for budding coders?

1. Improve your technical competence continuously
2. Continue to build great software regardless of what people around you are saying. Managers may go about saying "You are just a coder", but please know that they are faking it themselves
3. Learn to say "NO" when you are given non-technical work to do("Responsibilities").
4. Teach other like minded coders and learn from them, continuously
5. Continue to invest in your own education.
6. Understand that the goal of any business that employs you is creation of wealth for its investors and not guaranteeing you a job.
7. God helps those who help themselves

8. Understand that "the few will always rule the many" and try to become the few!
9. Believe that all you really need to succeed is food, shelter, a laptop and a broadband plan, not employment/career etc.

Towards a better nation

Readers, today’s blog is about several things that are wrong with the current crop of youth in our country and perhaps many parts of the world at large. It addresses misplaced expectations,  freebies, socialism and reservation.

Culture of Entitlement

To begin with today India’s affirmative action programs are designed to benefit certain castes.  Since this practise has continued well past the initially stipulated ten year horizon, the beneficiaries have begun to look at reservation as a “Right” and not a “Benefit”.  In my opinion every Citizen’s Charter of “Rights” must be associated with a corresponding call for Duty.  This seems like common sense, but then one may ask, why were Rights granted by prior Governments without demands being placed on Duties? The root cause of this is Poor Leadership at the core of Government. Promises and Lies made by such leaders in the past have resulted in a dangerous culture of wrongfully placed Entitlement.  

Several laws like the ineffective Food Security bill, and many other rights (which were perhaps never intended to be fulfilled) were introduced by weak leaders in the past. Youth today may and can ask questions like:

I am born in this country, where is my food? (Who moved my Cheese)

Socialist policies of the past have set a dangerous precedent and several people are forgetting that the poor farmer toils day and night for an entire season before his crop is harvested. He invests in fertiliser, relies on the vagaries of the monsoon and then gets a paltry minimum supported price for his crop. Do sweat to make your own bread!

I have just graduated, where is my world class job?

The entrepreneur has to literally move the world in winning business in a globally competitive environment, he risks losing his capital, his reputation and ruining his family life before making you a job offer.  So remind me again, why do you think you are entitled to a job? Even if you do not have skills/education/knowledge or experience and a bad attitude? Again these are not attributes of ALL youth but large sections of them. We need to remind them that:

The World Does not owe you a thing! Work for your bread butter and Jam, or else you will soon run out of other people's money!

The Bitter Fruits of Laziness

So one may ask, what is the result of setting falsely high expectations? Poor leaders do this as they somehow want to stay popular, even without showing an iota of performance as leaders. Youth who are led on this path will lack feedback from these poor leaders. In the absence of this feedback, they will develop a misplaced sense of entitlement. But the globalised world can be a cruel place for such youth and they will be in for a rude shock once they step out of the country or deal with Global players. Such an awakening to harsh reality can have several adverse effects on a young mind.

I want to clarify that what I have said is true “At all levels” certainly not at entry levels alone. The equation that :

Graduation= Job = Success is completely untrue in a globalised economy.

Competence =Job or

competence and perseverance = Success are more apt equations now.

So let us all work hard and smart towards turning young lives around for the better! And let this serve as some Enlightenment!

Regards
Milind Thombre
(Comments welcome)

Knowledge To The Rescue

Folks today's  post is about affirmative action (Reservation) in India and worldwide as well and some facts and my thoughts around it. This post examines the effects this policy has had on the Indian population in particular and globally in general. We will try to address this issue with data and algorithms and not passion as there is a great deal of distortion of this issue and there is a lot of baggage that many people bring to the table when this issue is discussed. I believe looking at data is the best way to make an informed decision and solve this important Social Engineering problem.

Background

At the stroke of the midnight hour as India awoke to light and freedom certain communities were considered backward and a young India decided to do something for her children. Dr. Ambedkar, a visionary leader of this community introduced the policy of reservation in Education to ameliorate these children of India. Being a visionary he naturally saw what the long term effects of this policy would be and warned that if this welfare policy was continued for more than 10 years the people would behave like parasites, Also he was strictly for reservation in education alone, not jobs promotions and such. These were introduced subsequently by weak and undeserving leaders who wanted to somehow keep winning elections by enticing the greed in the masses in exchange for votes.

Affirmative Action, The Broken Greedy Algorithm

Many still argue that Affirmative Action is a good thing. And even if it comes at the cost of the Forward Classes(Castes) it is worth it as it ensures Social Justice. I am not going to counter this argument with emotion but with facts and Algorithms. This is a classic case of a Greedy Algorithm that breaks down in the long term. A greedy algorithm assumes that what is right locally (reservation) would hold true globally(Social Justice) and that this algorithm of doling out engineering/medical seats would indeed uplift the masses long term. This does not happen for simple reasons rooted in Human Psychology. 

Imagine that you are a young couple if I told you: "Don't worry about your kids, they will have Food Security and a Right to a great Education, all of them I guarantee will become Doctors if they so wish". 

Q. How many children would you want to have?

A. As many as possible.

Now Imagine if I told you, " Your kids will need to be extremely bright to even get a decent education, you may need to pay your entire life savings as donation to get a seat in a Medical College and even after getting educated your kids may not get jobs. 

Q. How many children would you want to have?

A. 1 at most.

What is happening is a Silent genocide of the classes. The babies are not being born at all and the population of the classes is on the decline. Whereas the exact opposite is happening to  the masses. However resources (wealth) being limited, the inheritance algorithm is creating poorer and poorer masses and richer and richer Classes! The fact that there are fewer classes and that they are rich is leading the greedy leaders to use this as an excuse to increase the quota, which unfortunately is having the exact opposite effect.

I hope they see the light soon!

Psychology: Top and Bottom

The laws of nature say that if somebody is on the top somebody else will be at the bottom. This is true of society as well. The probability of one being on the top of the whole world is 1/6 billion and the denominator keeps rising, so we are all below someone or something. We need to learn some basic human psychology here. The people who consider themselves at the bottom, well that is all of us at varying levels, need to cultivate Humility in my opinion. Humility evokes Sympathy from those on top and makes them want to help us. However if we cultivate Arrogance, it evokes more arrogance and Aggression from the person in power, and we all know where that leads.

Fight or Flight

The classes are faced with great adversity at present in India and Adversity evokes the classic response. Fight or Flight (Immigration). How do we fight this system if we are an embattled minority in a large Democracy?

Flight is an easy solution, you can immigrate to a new country and thrive there.

However some of us remain here and decide to fight the system. Personally, I use knowledge to fight as I believe the Pen is Mightier than the Sword. And so I wrote this post. I hope to have provoked some thought!

Regards
Milind Thombre

(Comments Welcome)

A comparative study between the Indian IT industry and Bollywood

Folks, we have been influenced by movies since time immemorial and Bollywood is the chief culprit. This shows up in our day to day lives and we often subconsciously mimic Bollywood without knowing it. This is a study of similarities and differences between these two faking industries. I am sure there are parallels in other industries as well! Several Software Professionals have a holier than thou attitude towards Bollywood, so this is an attempt to make them see the light of day... 

Similarities:

1. There are "Roles" to be played
2. There are "Actors" and "Actresses"
3. There are heroes (developers) and Villains (Project Managers)
4. Both industries pretend to make finished "Products" 
5. There is a lot of rinse and repeat till you get the perfect "Shot" (Re-takes Vs Iterations/rebuilds etc)
6. The "Actresses" career is more or less over once she gets married! (ditto in the s/w industry)
7. Both Pretend to do Philanthropy ( CSR and doling out stuff)
8. There are Award Ceremonies!
9. The awards are Fixed!
10. There are lots of "Extras" everywhere.
11. In several cases you can sleep your way to the top
12. There are lay-offs once the project is complete
13. There is a lot of Copy and Paste! 
14. There are plenty of Scandals (Sexual and Financial)

Differences:

1. Bollywood makes some good finished products whereas the IT industry is still mostly about services!
2. Bollywood is Honest about layoffs.
3. Bollywood pays its Actors well
4. The Hero is treated with some semblance of respect in Bollywood
5. The press is crazy about Bollywood.

I hope you had a good Laugh!

Do you know any more Similarities and Differences? Do comment.

Regards

Milind Thombre

May the Force be with you!

Folks there are innumerable examples of how our forces have saved  lives, both Indian and other nationalities, when natural or man made disasters strike. This post is written with the deepest sense of gratitude to our men and women in Uniform. This post also acknowledges the work of several people who volunteer selflessly without the cover of a uniform such as but not limited to the Rashtriya Swayam Sevaks the various Gurudwaras, Ramdev Baba and many more I am sure I don't even know about.

Himalayan Disaster

When a Magnitude 7.9 on the Richter Scale (exponential scale) earthquake struck last weekend, Nepal was devastated. Buildings fell and became masses of suffocating rubble. Over 3200 people were no more, countless others were missing and injured. The survivors had severe stress levels from not knowing where their loved ones were. Aftershocks continued to instil fear in the hearts of the surviving. Mount Everest was also struck with several landslides claiming lives of climbers, and other tourists. Nepal as always been like a brother to India and it truly hurt all Indians that this small Hindu nation should suffer such destruction.

The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force were called to the rescue. Thousands of Indian tourists and anybody else who wanted to be rescued were flown out on massive aircrafts and choppers to safety. The operation was Aptly called "Maitri" or friendship. NDRF (National Disaster Relief Force)  medics and paramedics were put on the ground. Emergency operation theaters were set up in makeshift tents. An Indian Army expedition whose initial mission was to clean up Mt Everest (Safai) survived the quake. Instead of coming back to safety they pressed on looking for survivors. This is nothing short of heroic. The Gorkhas in the Indian Army (of Nepal) were given leave and plane rides to visit family back home.

The acknowledgement will be incomplete without a note about RSS and Ramdev Baba. Both vehemently hated by Indian Media (Presstitutes).

My parents who used to trek the Himalayas often several years ago have had a couple of near death experiences (Amarnath Yatra and Kailash-Manas Yatra). On all such occasions they have had the good fortune of being rescued by the Forces and fed by the Langars  when they were on the verge of collapse.

Even BSNL pitched in with Local call rates to Nepal. (Note that Idea and Vodafone were busy making IIN Ads and IIN jokes respectively at this time)

Hats Off!

When Saudis started their bombing campaign in Yemen. Indian forces were the only ones (Operation "Rahat") who went in to rescue its citizens. The US citizens in Yemen were told to call out to the Indian Forces if they wanted rescuing. Naturally, India's left leaning and pseudo secular media did not cover this. (Indian Muslims being rescued by the Indian Army). Retired Army General V. K. Singh personally walked through the villages in Yemen, unarmed and on foot calling out Indians to rescue them.

Genocide

For all the people in the world, including several Indians I know who portray a negative image of our forces.(esp because of the Kashmir issue) I want to remind you that this is the only Force standing between you and the receiving end of Genocide.

That's all for now folks, have a great day! (Comments welcome)

~ Milind Thombre

A Brilliant Idea

Dad routinely comes up with brilliant ideas from his armchair. (He had a stroke 13 years ago)

While recently talking to him we were discussing how the OPEC cartel has been instrumental in impoverishing the oil consuming nations (India and China) while enriching themselves (Mid-East ,Russia and USA). We spoke at length and here are some gems of wisdom from the master. 

1. Learn to value what you have

2. Learn not to want what other people have

3. Learn to negotiate for what you need and want while giving other people what they need and want.

So what does India really "HAVE"? 

1. Food (Agriculture)

2. Cotton (Clothing raw material)

3. Wealth: Gold (Many thousand tonnes of it stored for over centuries).

4. Prime Real Estate: Warm climate and great natural reserves.

5. Democracy and demographics (great number of brain cells)

And what does India need ?

1. OIL

Dad came up with the following solution:

Form an Organization of Agriculture Producing and Exporting Countries (OAPEC) to negotiate a barter with the OPEC. After all food, clothing and water ARE more essential commodities than OIL. Yet the rest of the world makes you believe otherwise. 

Thanks Dad for your piece of wisdom, Hope those in Power are listening!

Comments Welcome

Dr. Kishor Thombre and Milind Thombre

Degrees for All!

The Roots of Education are bitter but the fruit is sweet! (~Anon)

Good Day! Todays blog is about the sorry state of the Professional Education System in India. Specifically, Engineering Colleges and I am sure there are parallels in other streams as well. I believe this is the Nadir and that only better times can lie ahead!

National Waste

The Indian Education system was originally designed to develop great Engineers in ALL fields (Civil, Chemical, Electronics&Telecom, Mechanical, Computer Engineering etc) in order to supply the demands of an emerging Indian Industry. To date degrees are awarded in all these widely dispersed engineering disciplines so that companies in these disciplines can flourish and create value and great products/services for end customers .

However in came the Software Industry. The demand (bubble) for Computer Engineers (Programmers) was so great that people from other unrelated disciplines who had the aptitude were also absorbed by this rapidly growing industry. The salaries were typically a multiple of 3 or 4 over other industries. These salaries were high partly because this software was being developed for foreign clients who could pay in US Dollars. Indian Money was on tap! The curse of Easy Money successfully murdered a generation of Great Engineers in various disciplines as they queued up to join these offshore sweat shops. (Read Indian IT industry) Not only did they say bye bye to their original field of deep study, but also a vast majority decided that a Bachelors was "good enough" and that the "money was good" so why study further? Another half generation has followed with the "Me too Phenomenon". Observing the success of their predecessors, they "Followed in their footsteps"

However change was in the air! A nasty recession was a wake up call for many of us. Large and Dramatic change makes you take a step back and think and I think this is beginning to happen (at last!).

Collage of Colleges

The bubble also created an artificial demand for engineers( or someone with a chit of paper that says "Degree") The Govt was adamant about reservation and social justice(Quota). In came Private Engineering Colleges increasing the number of seats in general. You might think this is a good thing. But alas, many of these colleges could not keep up the standards of education for long. Also, since there was a great demand in the Software industry anyways the attitude of the students now became "Give me the degree, I already have a job waiting for me!". Please note that many of these Engg Colleges are wholly owned Subsidiaries of Indian Politicians. Setting up colleges was easy as a song, build buildings with large rooms, install fans and tubelights, have ill equipped labs, appoint Staff (often poached from Govt Colleges on promise of greater salary) Apply to the AICTE for accredition (and other paperwork) which moved swiftly since the college was often a wholly owned subsidiary of the Politician.

The Problem

Now we are faced with

• Lower demand for Low quality engineers from the West
• Lower salaries as there is excess supply of these "Engineers"
• Lack of Trust in the quality of the Indian Education System's Degree amongst Western Customers

The Solution

How do we solve this complex problem? My favourite method is Hacking the system. Boycott several of these colleges that give out useless pieces of paper at the end of 4 years. Go back to the Guru-Shishya Parampara. Exploit Coursera, MIT open Courseware, Youtube etc.and actually LEARN something in 4-6 years!

For the industry the solution is simple, Hire people who can do the work, not people with useless Degrees. Also, if you must insist on formal education, please hire Masters or PhD degree holders since

Now BE=the new BCom!

Thats all for now folks! Happy Thinking!

Regards
~Milind Thombre

Victims of Democracy

Democracy 

Democracy is the most proven and accepted method of government, yet is it the absolute best? I beg to differ. For "Democracy is the Government of the majority, for the majority and by the majority". For more on how our affirmative action programme works (or doesnt for some of us) visit my post

http://thombrem.blogspot.in/2013/10/tyranny-of-majority.html

Land

Any form of modern development requires the use of land. Be it construction of Dams, Roads,Nuclear or other power stations Educational Institutes etc. This is the major stumbling block in any large infrastructure project and is often the cause of large delays and litigation.

Why should it be so? The land is acquired by the Government at a pittance of its real value from farmers or land owners. This is a rule the lawmakers have created in order to be the mediators in land transactions and benefit without being the real owners. (touts) Foreign investment is welcomed in India but foreign companies have no clue how to go about land acquisition, in come the local law makers who play touts in the transaction often pocketing large sums of money from the buyers and passing on a meagre amount to the original inhabitants. India passed a historic "Whoever tills the land owns the land" law after independence. This law itself caused many large farmers to lose many million acres of land to their landless labourers not a long time ago. This largesse was at great cost to the original owners and a big benefit to the labourers who were (registered voters) in large numbers. Again the clever lawmakers transferred assets from A to B pocketing votes in the process for a long time to come.

Reform 

Reform is a must to these archaic land laws! For example:

1. Land must be transferred from farmer directly to the project executioner/Foreign firm without Government being a mediator. The farmer may request Govt mediation if he/she so desires or feels pressured. There must be a reserve price either ways.

2. Land use must be audited. Typically factories and industries acquire much more land than they ever require. Partly because land acquisition is a pain and is best done once and for all.

3. The victims of development(farmers) must be made partners in the project and recieve preference shares in the project undertaken, not "Watchmen" jobs

4. In case the height of Dams is to be raised (this immerses thousands of acres of land in the backwater) the families who are displaced must be given benefits received by Nomadic Tribes, in addition to the compensation they recieve as shareholders in the project. Also, the height must be raised in phases each subsequent phase must proceed if and only if the families displaced by the earlier operation are satisfactorily compensated.

Fair play

Unless we learn to play fair and not become successful at the cost of other people's misfortune, development will cease to be a good word in this (or any)country. And The Jungle Rule of Law(makers) will continue forever. For now we may turn our backs and say "This does not affect me". But ignore this now and sooner or later the government will be at your door asking for the keys.

Thanks for reading!

Milind Thombre

Losing the Plot

Brain Drain

In the 70’s and 80’s and 90’s India made no significant investment in electronics (namely microchip manufacturing) technology. They made a half hearted attempt forming a company called Semiconductor Complex India which died out in the early 90’s. For a nation to be successful with technology it requires a sustained investment in constantly improving and challenging technical programs. The government simply refuses to see value in making these investments in technology in India.  At the same time the Govt saw value in privatising Engineering Education, a move that created a generation of several hundred thousand engineers. These folks naturally had no jobs as there was no significant Electronics industry in India. For want of jobs and a livelihood in India these bright minds went abroad (mainly in USA) seeking greener pastures. They went on to create great companies and products (e.g. Pentium) for their employers there. The government of India was indeed jealous of this success and went about (frustratedly) talking about “Brain Drain”.  But did not realise that Brain Drain was better than “Brains down the Drain”

Body shops

Some of these early successful folks wanted to return home after a stint and went on to form some “Offshore Services” firms in India. Euphemism for Body Shopping firms those days. Due to the exchange rates of the rupee and dollar as well as the wage disparity between India (land of supply) and USA (land of demand), they reaped huge profits. However, Success breeds greater Ambition and the early movers now want to create technology from the ground up. This will simply no happen in my opinion. As i said earlier, the United States is not about to give up its core technical assets as well as knowledge easily. This remains top notch Electronics and Telecom as well as core Internet technologies, of which India is merely a consumer.

   

Example in Failure

In 2009, a close friend and I decided that we would build a Social Networking Platform for Doctors in India and worldwide. We successfully built upon the idea and deployed it. However, we realised that the keys to our success were with the United States. From the start our platform was targeted first by Chinese and later American spammers. Our users quickly lost interest in the site and moved to other greener pastures like Facebook. Security is a key technology for the internet platform and the US again controls major Key distribution facilities.

What the Indian Engineers are destined for is a lifetime of following and servitude. The core technology is destined to be controlled by the US and other western Powers that be. During the Kargil war, Indian fighter jets initially dropped iron (unguided) bombs on the peaks occupied by the Pakistanis, a strategy which was completely non-effective. Thanks to last minute Israeli technical help, and a few dedicated and ingenious Indian engineers the Mirage fighter jets were fitted with laser guided bomb pods. These guided bombs made all the difference in the war and saved many thousand Indian soldiers.

Greedy algorithms

The government of India continues to work with the greedy Algorithms that it pursues. (Greedy algorithms assume that what is right locally will be right Globally) There seems to be no comprehensive strategy and (Knapsack problem) the country is left at the mercy of these babbling leaders and babus.  Manufacturing, Electronics and technology, Automation and Robotics, Life Sciences are not on the GoI radar. Instead we are focussed on a patent pending “Inclusive Growth” algorithm which is hithero unproven to this world!  I feel we have to learn to accept that if someone is on top, it logically follows that someone else will be at the bottom! The entire Indian Pyramid needs to move upwards a mile if everyone needs Roti Kapda and makaan (food clothing and shelter). Otherwise the government is simply taxing the rich, and doling the poor for votes. There can be no real progress if we stick to these losing Socialist Algorithms.

Boss’s Day out, Whistle Blowers Party

Its “that” time of the year in India and some of us (Still!) have bosses to deal with at the end of the day. Personally I have never had a smooth relationship with most of my (mostly Indian) bosses in my 19 year work history. I find myself at the receiving end most of the time of the year.  So i decided to document just what is it about THEM that bothers ME......for a change. Lets start with The boss’s

Algorithms of the trade

Take credit  

In one of my past jobs a boss would routinely ask me to do his presentations, documents, budget sheets, customer development plans and so on. He would insist that he needs to review these. He would then detach these, make necessary ‘changes’ like editing the author name ;) and send it along to the CEO/Client etc.  What struck me was that he would not keep me in CC/Bcc while he shamelessly touted the work as his own. On one occasion a customer actually noticed and asked me if i had written the proposal! The customer then proceeded to forward the proposal to me and lo and behold, it was my work verbatim but without any credit given to me by the boss in question! I worked for this guy for many years before we had a showdown one day (finally!). It was an end to a long suffering. On another occasion I was hurriedly invited to a Presentation that was given by a sales guy to the CEO and again, Lo and behold it was something i was asked to create 2 weeks prior. Needless to say the Sales guys name appeared on the Powerpoint.  On this occasion the CEO asked me if i agreed with the presentation. To which i said “I agree with  95% of it” The CEO then proceeded to ask me what 5% do i not agree with and yours truly blew the whistle on the author name field. On this occasion the salesperson (mind you he called himself the Customer Relationship Owner) simply vanished from the company after the 2 week notice. Not before angrily calling me up to lecture me on (his definition of ) Teamwork J

Morale: You win some you lose some.

Shoot the messenger

Another trick up a bosses sleeve was to outsource the firing of unwanted people, for whatsoever reason to me.  The blood was on my hands. It’s not that i regret firing several of these folks. However the folks rarely saw the hand behind the hand and would blurt out bad stuff about me in their exit interviews. I like to call this the shoot the messenger Phenomenon. Needless to say my bosses were aware of this phenomenon and though I was too, I was mostly in no position to retaliate. 

At the same time this boss would insist on doing the final round of interviews for senior folks especially even my reportees. I would wonder why initially. But the logic was simple. People often even “Reward the messenger” of good news and look up to him as a Messiah. So if the final go ahead for a hire (formality) was done by the boss the candidate would see him as the figure of authority and look up to him during their tenure in the company.

Blame

      This is an "Extremely" huge topic and i will post one incident only as “Blame” can become a separate blog by itself. Taking it on the chin without falling apart is the hallmark of a good mid-manager and yours truly has been there done that!. On one occasion a manager would routinely call me at the end of an appraisal cycle and tell me in a booming voice (with his cabin door wide open) “This year the appraisals have not been done well!” The fact of the matter was that though I would do the appraisals as diligently as possible, this guy would go into the normalization meetings without even knowing all the folks names on the teams. During my last year in this company I decided to give him back a taste of his own medicine and told him in a booming voice in the hallway that “Though the appraisals were done well this year the normalization was substandard” Needless to say, I left soon after, Phew!

Explaining Existence 

I have wondered how some of my bosses explained their TIME and EXISTENCE to Their bosses! Wonder no more. They Explain their time as being spent on YOUR development! LOL!

Lastly if many of the bosses reportees figure out all  his algorithms then.........

ITS RE-ORG TIME!!!!!!!!

I have several more Algos that i can think of

Do you have a "Bossy Algorithm" to share? Do comment... Lets give power back to the real knowledge workers!

Regards

Milind Thombre

Full of Shit

Folks, This is about the Devyani Khobragade incident and my views on this Diplomatic episode

Class

Folks in my obsevation the very lowest and the very highest classes behave in a completely similar fashion. They have scant respect for the law of the land, Other people's rights and a devil-may-care attitude. Take for example the case of the IFS officer who paid lower than min wage and purportedly exploited a poor (Catholic) "Maid in Manhattan" by making her work 19 hours/day and paying her INR 30,000/month and got an inappropriate visa for her. Apparently she also is very moneyed and influential (daughter of a Retd. IAS officer)  in India and owns land in 3 Indian States. Being rich is not a crime, however denying other people their rights certainly is.  Respect for the Law has become something you should expect from the Middle Classes (AAM Admi) only. Sangeeta Richard (maid) whose husband works in the US consulate in India also does not seem to be the "innocent and exploited" maid she claims to be. The facts are rarely ever black and white. While the entire Indian Govt. and masses erupted in a "How dare they"! The indian thinking middle class is merely watching the Tamasha that ensues. Meanwhile people from the absolutely lowest classes went about breaking things at Pizza Huts and McDonalds in Mumbai. They are ready to commit crimes for people who dont give a rats ass for their welfare.This is a battle between the lowest and the highest classes and has promise to be a well evened out fight. Meanwhile IMHO Devyani's career as a Diplomat is as good as finished. Its time to join Politics, or better still Bollywood!

  

Full of Shit

In terms of misuse of Authority the Indian Babus of the IAS/IFS  are probably unparalleled in the world. Devyani pulled all the strings she could to rein Sangeeta Richard in. However Sangeeta did exactly the same, pulling strings in the US consulate to screw the hand that fed her. In comes Preet Bharara, why should he be left out in the list of authority abusers? He and possibly Kerry knew about the whole incident from the start. A visa fraud is hardly a crime which requires a Cavity Search, but Preet Bharara thinks otherwise. I hope he found what he was looking for! The message from the USA is very clear: "How dare you break even the pettiest of US laws while on our soil?" Especially when concerned with a Catholic US embassy drivers wife? This has class war written all over it! If the US wants to get a hold of ALL visa fraudsters, they should consider cavity searching several Indian and American Software Moguls alike! Meanwhile the US which prides itself in controlling its borders with a strict visa regime and did not bat an eyelid while granting visas to Sangeeta Richard's family. Breaking their own law. Is this not a case of Visa Fraud as well? I hope they search their (Ass) "Souls" themselves. 

"Race" to the Bottom

Racism is a popular topic in Indian circles in the USA. In fact there is a complete denial that it exists amongst many NRIs (Not Really Indian) and a vitriolic protest that it does amongst many NRI's (Never Relinquished India). The Indian Classes and the Indian Masses treat the white Americans in peculiar ways. Worshipping and Hating them alternately. Foreign tourists are generally soft targets for fraudsters and rapists (Atithi Devo Bhava). However, note that Indias saving grace is its middle class which treats Tourists indifferently not wanting their dollars or enamoured by the colour of their skin. The incident also makes me wonder if the Americans would have dared to perform cavity searches on a Chinese Diplomat or a Russian! I leave you to think where our spineless Foreign Ministry has led the enitre Indian Nation as well as our Race.

While Diplomats and foreign officers of these truly "great" countries continue to play "Dabba Eye Spies" the middle Classes continue to watch this Saga with complete Disgust.

Thats all for now folks!

Regards

Milind Thombre

(A Concerned Friend of USA, and a concerned citizen of India)

Comments Welcome!

Tyranny of the Majority

Folks today i will express my views about socio-political  issues in India. I want to begin with an ancient prayer of India before we begin our search for knowledge and truth:

Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya |
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya |
Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Meaning:
1: Om, Lead us from Unreality (of Transitory Existence) to the Reality (of Self),
2: Lead us from the Darkness (of Ignorance) to the Light (of Spiritual Knowledge),
3: Lead us from the Fear of Death to the Knowledge of Immortality.
4: Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

In my opinion Character is the single most important thing to pursue as a civilization. Capability without character is not worthy of appreciation, in fact this should be actively demoted. Otherwise you are likely to be led at a very fast pace in the wrong direction!

Politicians and business leaders today rely on metrics to decide what to say to a group of people. What will bring most applause, what will touch a raw nerve, what will infuriate. A politician who does this is not a leader but a mere prostitute. Someone who does what other people want of him/her. Someone with no Character.

A true leader expresses his/her own opinions and stands by them, and people begin to follow him/her. Or they can shape the opinion of the people in new ways for the better. We are yet to see such a leader emerge from the present political systems of India! What are the direct consequences of the current crop of leaders on the public? Many feel that this does not affect them much or there is nothing they can do about this. I urge you to think and ponder on some of these issues.

A flawed affirmative action policy can affect the educational outcomes of your children, nay this has already begun. (The curtailing of the Special School like Jyana Prabodhini School is a case in point)

A bad training program will leave you with half baked skills in the job market.

More importantly a bad education will leave you with a poor set of values and weak moral character.
Bad foreign policy will lead to unnecessary wars.
Bad governance/law and order will lead to anarchy. (india is fast becoming the rape capital of the world)
Flawed welfare schemes will make people want everything for free and make them behave like parasites.

Please stop and think! If the current crop of leaders is allowed to continue unabated it will lead to decay and eventual death of our once-great civilization.

It is rewarding to spread hatred amongst our diverse communities once the elections arrive. e.g. Brahmin-bashing is a popular sport in Indian politics. Brahmins form an extremely small but highly thought-progressive group in India. Historically Brahmins were one of the poorest communities and made a living in the knowledge industry by teaching, researching diverse issues and begging for food.(Om Bhawati Bhikshanna Deyi) The Brahmin bashing politicians will tell you that it was the Brahmins who oppressed other communities since they were at the top of the social order. It is indeed true that Indian civilization, for the longest time revered learning and knowledge, bastions of the Brahmins. But did the Brahmins indeed opress other people? Nothing can be farther from the truth!

Let us sit back and ask some logical questions... Would a person with no means of livelihood be in a position of power to "oppress" someone else? Or would someone who is an autocratic ruler do so? Would someone with wealth oppress someone who is poor or would it be the other way around ?

"But, I keep hearing these stories again and again" one might argue.  to them I say...A lie repeated 100 times does not become the truth. Only someone who is an enemy of our great civilization will spread such stories. In the past such stories were planted by Christian Missionaries to spread disillusion with Hinduism.

 To the lousy politicians of India I have this to say: Do not underestimate the intelligence of the people of India. Their intelligence is your true enemy!

You can fool some people some times
You can fool some people all the time
But you cannot fool all the people all the time.

Thats all for now folks! Have a thought provoked week ahead!

Regards
Milind Thombre
(Comments Welcome)

Another Programming Puzzle

There is a unisex bathroom with a capacity of 3 people. Either men or women can use it, but not both at the same time. Write a simple program that enforces these constraints.

Milind Thombre