Mindframes
Generation "gap?"
The blog by Saumya on nourish-n-cherish got me thinking. Instead of expressing my thoughts as a mozha-neelam comment, I thought I will blog about it. It is a topic that has been in my mind for a while. The questions are simple and is centered around the current generation of people in comparison with our previous generation. By previous generation, I mean people who were born in 1940s-1950s. Are we, as a community more social and friendly? Are we more selfless in our deeds than them? Are we smarter? Are we flexible and adjusting?
Call me old fashioned. But, in my opinion, our previous generation (I will restrict this to Indians) seem genuinely friendlier and sociable than the current generation. While I can't miss the touch of hypocrisy and sarcasm sprayed all over in the previous generation, there is a special sense of caring, that is unequaled. I have seen numerous examples of cases where a relative of some kind would be taken care of through their college till they get to work. As I grew up, I've never found anyone considering the act of cooking for others to be a chore. Even when an uninvited guest shows up, people used to go crazy about cooking them good food...
My question is not whether the current generation will or will not do what the older generation did? But, I don't see that as commonly as I used to, before. There could obviously be more reasons... Is it because we are more independent (esp., financially)? Is it because, our importance to just our family has grown exponentially? Is it because, we are wrapped up in a more competitive and expensive world where everyone needs to work to take care of their own family that there is no time for "others"? We do adore Darwin's theory and tout ourselves as being smarter than the previous generation. Does it mean that, smartness is inversely proportional to being sociable? Is it because, the community has overgrown from being limited to villages or townships to global? Should there be a dilution factor applied as the community size increases? Or, is it just being rational? Can I say that, courteousness superseded rationality in our previous generation... Is it just that the more closer we get to rationality, certain "random acts of kindness" disappeared? All said and done, everyone likes to be treated with kindness and be considered special, at least by a few... If rationality or being smart is what stands in the way, I don't know if it is a good idea to be rational.... Oops, I have gotten into an infinite loop in analyzing rationality now...;)
Eternal discussions...
Time to time, when I talk to my parents or relatives in India, one topic that surfaces is the criticism about the US institutions, not to mention the zillion others about the US way of life, divorce rates, etc., Every time the Indian stock market goes up, people go gungho on how India will outperform every other country in the world. At the same time, when the market went down, the entire blame rested in the hands of US financial institutes. This is one of those arguments where my patriotic self is torn between rationality and the usual emotional counterpart. Half way into the discussion, I often get confused as to which side I am on. Is it about nationality or market dynamics? Recently, when the SIFY scandal broke out, I was in one of those "I told you so" moment. I do repent for the millions who have lost their money and millions more, who are yet to lose. But, as Greenspan puts it, the Indian market is flooded with irrational exuberance.
Consider the Indian IT market. Most of the big companies are service companies which cash in money for every resource they have. It is almost a direct mapping. So, on one hand, the company executives started seeing a surge of money. With corruption being a norm and getting away from corruption being very easy, it would be an anomaly to find corporate executives who don't make use of the "system". We all know how the food chain feeds itself in the political system, one that is supposed to overlook any mishaps. In my opinion, SIFY scandal just surfaced the tip of the iceberg and there will be a lot more to come. Is it because incompetency breeds incompetency?
During the past 10 years, the number of colleges in Tamilnadu alone has grown from about 50 to a whopping 500+. I went to a reasonably good engineering college. But, let me tell you, the quality of teaching was very mediocre, the exceptions being a couple of professors. The quality of engineers produced were again very mediocre (including me..:)). Now, I see the overwhelming number of colleges and guess who is teaching, the same mediocre people who left from colleges like ours. Not to point fingers or ridicule anyone, but, the students who are now lecturers and professors were below mediocre, in my scale. And, they've been teaching for over a decade now. The more I hear from people, the quality of engineers produced is definitely bad. But, the overriding question is, does it matter? And, that too to land up in an IT services job? A big NO. For the mundane work that most IT companies sign up for, the qualification that someone is an engineer is all it takes.
When I passed out engineering, getting into MNCs or big IT companies was nothing but a dream. It was plain difficult. Now, except for a handful of companies, who still go to elite institutes for their recruitment, the need for quantity has definitely killed quality. So, if we have an enormous collection of low quality workers riding one on top of another, how do you think it will evolve over a period of time. Coupled with the web of corruption, the situation will serve as a perfect recipe for disaster... I think, Indian system is it's own worst enemy... Only time will tell, what the consequences are going to be...If you ask me, it is nothing close to rosy is all I would say...
Powerless...
I've reading a lot of news lately. Though I resent the fact that many people are killed in various fights and militant wars throughout the world, I find a strange curiosity to get the updates. I don't know why.
As people contend about what the futuristic world holds in terms of technology and what not, I couldn't stop thinking about the fate of innocent people. As militants get their covers under the civilian population, I see that innocent lives are starting to look "disposable". It has almost become a norm. Though, on one hand, it looks completely ridiculous, I don't know what solution stays with the countries that have to defend it's territories and people at large. Consider the terrorist incidents back in India. If one has to make a choice of getting rid of terrorists, is it worthwhile trying to protect a handful of innocent people? Doesn't it look very subjective? I do realize that, if I had any of my close friend, family or relatives anywhere close to where such incidents happen, I may have a different take on the subject. But, for a government, it looks like the choices are running out. Will such trend go towards a power shift of the so called "protectors"...Is it the real solution to curbing down the terrorists? I don't know. But, with growing list of terrorist organizations, I think, more and more innocent people are going to be terribly affected.
Another thing that bothers me is that I am getting totally confused with the responsibilities of organizations like UN. What is their real charter? Is it to just issue statements condemning organizations or countries? I think, as organizations like UN look biased and powerless, more and more countries will start doing things on their own. Why am I concerned with all of this? Honestly, I am not, well, may be a little. I realize that I don't have the faintest clue whatsoever on the realities surrounding people who go through such painful tragedies, and unless I do, my curiosity or concerns about the topic only stays in the confinement of a blog which is mostly based on what the media projects. And, thanks to technology, I am overwhelmed with more and more information that reaffirms how utterly powerless I am...
Happy New Year !
As every year goes by, there is a part of me that scoffs on what the big deal is? Another part of me convinces that, new years are a great time to reflect on the past. It is like a water break in running. Especially given the shut downs that we've been having, it gave me extra time to think about what I did last year. Even less reason not to brood over the past.
Well, if I were to summarize on what I did last year (apart from the usual) in a nutshell is that, I did a lot of running. I ran about 1600 miles over the year, racing 4 half-marathons, 2 full maratons and the relay. I did improve with every event, which kind of fed back to itself making me run even more. Not sure if this trend can continue for long, especially, the coming year. But, I am happy with how it went last year. Shoba and I had a wonderful 3 week vacation, or should I say, hibernation... The start-up I worked for got acquired by Cisco. Not that it matters much to me except till next year. I was just running out of stuff to list...If it is less than 3 items, the word list sounded meaningless to me? Oh, and then, I did bungee jumping during our visit to New Zealand. I know I've bored most of you with these facts. But, I am going to repeat it again. My major revelation during our trip to NZ was that, they don't have any native mammals in the entire country. What it means is that, you can walk all over NZ evergreen forests and you will never see any other animal other than sheeps/deers/stoats and possums... No bears/tigers/lions...Interesting, isn't it?
As most people, I do have my list of stuff (aka resolutions) to do for the new year. One of them is to start blogging actively (atleast 1 every week). Blogging, in a way, keeps me tuned to information... As a disclaimer, this has nothing to do with me being part of Cisco... Believe me...:)
Anyway, to start with, I was going to blog something about economy. My inspiration came from an interview in NPR (Forum with Paul Saffo). As I started typing the blog, I went back to listen to the audio archive. As I figured, I wouldn't do any justice whatsoever to the content than the content itself. To give a sneak preview, it is about where we are heading, in terms of economic trends and how factors like global warming, internet revolution, etc., influence it. It was one of the most interesting talk I've heard in a long time. Savor it when you find time. I am sure most of you will love it...
Link to Audio Archive of the interviewHappy New Year to you all !
