Of Technology and Profession

I still remember the last day in office. ZS Associates, Magarpatta, the corner table. With 3 monitors extended out, my Sennheiser laying besides for my ear-bug music and a raised table as per my liking. Sort of emotional day, leaving my people and comfort zone. Never had I thought that my notion of technology and embedded systems would be completely razed, and re-built from the footing in my (ongoing) duration at my college. The city is as beautiful as it could get, along with the puny campus of my university.

Well I came here to learn about embedded systems with my limited knowledge of the same. "Just initialize and run 'things' it in a tight loop" is what I can conceive (in layman's terms). Entering undergrad without any knowledge of computer programming and beyond, I was already struggling (read suffering) amidst the avid programmers, some carrying with the dream of making a mark in the field. The world of networking seemed to be magic to me; compilers were nightmare. I found solace in building devices using my slaves (read micro-controllers) that continued to amaze me. Only to realize that it's all prehistoric now.

I encountered people doing embedded systems in the ECE dept. (of course). But then, a prof. from CS into hard core embedded (ok, that's encouraging for a CS ugrad). Oh, ISR's director too is into it. Wait, HCI? ML too? And even penetrating into the Physics dept!!! Whoa, what are they doing in embedded systems?

Turns out, it's much larger than what this fish out of the pond knows. It's the ocean of systems engineering, consuming all the existing fields of technology with it's wave of "I need this to solve that". Creating new marks in the unfazed sands of future innovations. Even more, it's not only about devices. Not limited to languages or algorithms. Even resources matter little, while concepts matter more. Simple solutions to fundamental problems, dating back to the days of the Computing Dinosaurs (read IBM 360). Complex solutions to really critical problems of safety, reliability and privacy. Classical Physics, Human Computer Interaction, Human Psychology, Business Administration to name a few are things that are integral part of systems engineering.

It was enlightening to know about the way world is gearing towards making systems a global phenomenon. It's no longer a subset to specialize in the field of computer science or computer engineering, it is the field of systems engineering.

Of Crescent Moon

This was a time years ago when I was walking back home after a long day in office and noticed the enchanting beauty of the peeking moon. I could not remember the last time I found it so beautiful. The words that unraveled in my head soon went adrift in a Facebook post, until it came back to me yesterday...


Have you seen a crescent moon lately?

Dimmed by the city lights,
obscured by the high risers,
diminished by materialism.

The same human race now ignorant of its gleaming beauty,
the soothing reflection, an enchanting vista.

So, have you seen a crescent moon lately?
                                                             - Abhijit Hota

 

Interim Snow

This one snowy night while walking back to my room from college, I felt the mild sparkles of the flakes by the dull street lights to be unusually calming. Walking through the snow laden velvety alley, feelings transmuted into words...

Mint snow flakes wandering in the breeze,

skim through the skin.

Soft as cotton, glitter of crystal.

Cushioning my path as I make my way...

But nay.

You will melt away,

you will betray.

By the break of dawn or the warmth of day,

before I say; unless I pray

you will not stay.

Nowhere, by the end of May.

Although they say,

these as heyday.

Although I may

fare well midway,

My longing will outweigh

the yielding flay

of further halfway.

And hope someday

I see you sway

in the air. At the gateway

will cherish with a delighted heart.

The soothing season.
                                             - Abhijit Hota

 

That anguishing moment...

It happens, sometimes, that we wake up in the morning and inexplicably get perturbed by an anxious, worrisome thought. One feels reluctant to get out of the comforting bed, the much needed sensation of the time. It maybe an aftermath of a dreaded dream or because of the frequent and ineluctable trials of life.

Been there experienced that, many-a-times. But this one day, I tried expressing this moment in words. And this is it...

Look, as I lie on my bed, desiccated, feckless;

as the conflagrant Sun, almost at the apex, disseminates its powers to this world;

ricocheting, some piercing through my optics, the only part of me that's wide awake, sensate.

What's Love Got To Do With B-Wood Movies???

I AM BACK, I AM BACK…. Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to index the saucy dance and produce half-hearted latkas and thumkas that KJo was able to pull off with such a (feminine) grace. Just that, it’s been a long time since I last posted on my blog. But as you know, the routine, time-worned life is so taxing and contains your free will K

Well, this one is something about what’s the discussed extensively in the Koffee show. The films. Yes, I have been a posting a lot of critical (seemingly harsh) opinions pertaining to the same on the social media. And being critical, I myself have been critiqued and reprimanded boldly (wrongly, many-a-times). But what goes unnoticed is that there are a lot of commendable productions that have hit the screens in recent times, which I have relished and praised. This, however, cannot enfeeble the fact that a myriad are, simply put, garbage material. And because of numerous reasons.

What pains me the most is that the fact that the base of almost all Hindi movie is a banal hetero love story, and the entire 120 minutes are wasted revolving around their over-convoluted, tortuous, however chimerical, daily routines. A real time simulacrum to this would be going to the same restaurant forever, with the same dishes being served. Where nothing but the ambiance and the pretty waiters’ new. Isn’t that revolting? Well, thus I say, so are most of the bollywood movies. Appeasing aberrations are always welcomed in life, but it does not seem to be the case here. Same old clichéd thing being thrown at us, almost like a rusty hacksaw being rubbed with the toothed edge against our imagination. Even worse, chances are that the foundation, scenes (or in nauseating cases, the entire dialogue set) are derived from some random/well known Hollywood, or maybe even movies from the same fraternity. I need not bother give examples to assert this. It feels like being cheated to pay for a movie which is not entirely original, whose essence one can absorb by watching the original one movie. These questions are virtuously reasonable. Having said that, I would definitely mention movies like Highway, Hasee toh Phasee, Gangs of Wasseypur, even low budget movies like Total Siyappa which have struck a different chord in the dilapidated B-town presentations, and save the day.

I am not trying to patronize, but take a look at THEIR movies. The Hollywood rather produces the stinking piles once in a blue moon’s time. Even their primary agenda is to stage and elicit love, but with a twist or in a multi-faceted manner. Recently, I watched the movie “The Book Thief”. Though based on a novel (a third of work already done there), the portrayal is something one may have never experienced. A variety of emotions, ranging from brotherly love, parental love, calf-love, apprehension, elation etc are so meticulously and fluently stitched together to produce an artistic master-piece to be adored by all. Others, like the movie “The Help”, are based on such trivial topics. Such a simple, yet affective movie recreating first-hand accounts of injustice during the apartheid reign.

To conclude, many may object to my opinions. I have personally faced strong opposition by people who take my impressions to heart, considering it as the penultimate judgment (maybe). Well, love me or hate me, I stick to my stance. It is debatable as to who is to blame more, the creators to make such films mostly out of greed or ignorance, or the audience for willingly paying for it (and the overpriced snacks) without giving it a thought. Though I believe there is great potential in the current and upcoming lot to revive the untended state of Hindi Cinema and bring it up to the mark, it needs to be channelized in an effective manner. After all, it’s one of the biggest film industry in this world J

Realizations, 5 Feet Under

The heading should have precisely been Realizations, 5 feet under water. Well, yes, it literally means so. Let me shoot straight to the core - the thought came to me while swimming underwater in our community swimming pool in this gorgeous township.

If you have swam before, you must have had a complete dip into the water at times. But have you ever experienced pensiveness down there? Just keep your eyes, ears and mind open and let the eternal thought process flow seamlessly through you while u are disconnected completely from the delusional world by the holier state of matter.

What do you see underwater? Tranquility. What do you hear under water? Serenity. This (I think) could be the most proximate emotion to statelessness that I have ever met, and highly susceptible to drowning too if prolonged (bad one, I know).

Well I did have an epiphany once. And what else could it be about, but the dreaded feeling of Fear (confused with apprehension a lot of time by a lot of people). No sir, apprehension is just another euphemistic term, it’s FEAR. And I had been burdened by this devil for a long time.

Let me tell you a story. Back in the new year’s eve of 1999, little Me was just 9 years. He went with his parents to enjoy the new year to a blooming resort in the famous city of Puri. One fine morning at the resort, he and his elder sister went into the resort’s pool. The boy was carried away to see so many people enjoying a nice swim, and took a dunk into the water himself. Little did he know that he drifted slowly to the deeper side of the pool, and when he could not hold his breath any longer, tried to come out.

He was panicking, and struggling for life, for air, for someone to get him the hell out of there. And his struggle for the surface rather countered his efforts.

Miraculously, a divine hand grabbed him and pulled him out only just in time to gasp in any state of matter, and luckily, it was the life giving air. 

He was saved by his sis that day. But never dared enter into water again (Hydrophobia?).

But later, under immense pressure of his awesome parents, he was compelled to learn the 2 most essential skills in life, Driving and Swimming. He was able to learn driving almost on his own in a matter of days after his 10^th in 2006, but tried hard to stay away from the pool. Later in 2009, after repetitive threats from his tangible Gods, he landed up taking membership at Kalinga Swimming Pool, BBSR in the summers along with his cousin brother.

          Kalinga Stadium Swimming Pool in Bhubaneswar

The horror was alive but time was finite and no options out. It was probably the most terrifying days of his life, the initial days of learning swimming. But with constant instigation, harsh aggravation and nurtured motivation, he was finally able to survive a lap in the Olympic standard isled arena. And swimming was no more a challenge for him.

Those were the days, and there’s today, I never forget to enjoy a quick dive into the pool whenever possible. However, the fear in me isn’t dead yet, oh no. It gives me chills till date to be in there. It’s like a 1/X function, never reaching 0 until infinity. Every time I go under water, I conquer a fraction of it, trying to overcome the emotion, step by step, closing the gap inch by inch, in a hope to befriend the deep.

But this devil friend of mine has helped me realize the constant fear that we live in our day-to-day lives. As soon as am off the blue, the residual terror makes me vulnerable to intense revelations, and I see the bigger horror picture that most of us overlook. The fear of life, the fear of love, fear of being lonely, fear of being deserted, disheartened, fear of performing let alone improving, fear of results, fear of conviction, the society, wealth, inability, incapability, incompatibility, incomprehensibility, unemployability, unreliability, deniability, vulnerability … X, Y & Z. And above all, fear of the future. And this makes me want to go back under, which surprisingly seems to be a better situation than this. Evasiveness? I thought so. I could only run, but how can I escape? So I realized, for me and for all, for now and forever, for here, there any everywhere – it’s time to rise [Mahindra], shine [Honda], and make the move my friend, make the move [Fiat].

Though that was a bad closure (apparently), it was never meant to be one. You see, fear has no conclusion, it is endlessly learnt, and incubated, but suppressible. Now that’s a closure. BTW, as I had said before, apprehension and fear, both the same to me. Read the second line of the previous paragraph replacing fear with apprehension, you will get what I mean…

A letter from a responsible Father to his son’s head master...

Here is a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the head master of the school in which his son was studying,


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He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero: that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader…

Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend. It will take time, I know a long time, but teach, if you can, that a dollar earned is of more value then five of found.

Teach him, to learn to lose…And also to enjoy winning. Steer him away from envy, if you can, teach in the secret of quiet laughter.

Teach him, if you can the wonder of books…But also given quiet time wonder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on the green hillside.

In a school teach him, it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat…

Teach him to have faith in his own idea, even if anyone else tell him they are wrong…

Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with tough.

Teach him to listen to all men…But teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth, and take only the good one that comes through.

Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he is sad. Teach him there is no shame in tear.

Teach them to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidder but never to put a prize tag on his heart and soul.

Teach him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes the fine steel.

Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself because then he will always have some sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order, but see what can you do… He is such a fine little fellow, my son!


Dad

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Now, this letter is very close to me as I had heard it while I was in my 9th class via one of my English teachers and had liked it very much. Its just today that incidentally, I got to read it after a long time. And I do feel the gravity of a responsible and affectionate father through Mr. Lincoln’s lines.

This letter is divided into many paragraphs, almost 12 of them in its body. Each expressing a different aspect of life. Each with a compelling power to think and to ponder upon. Each pregnant with meanings. Lines which reflect most of your own lives’. Ill try to explain what I conceived of them.

In the first two paragraphs, Mr.Lincoln speaks about his son to be taught to believe in truth and goodness. As he is a child, new to this world, innocent and truthful, he should be made aware of the fact that evil, atrocity, corruption and other unjust activities do exist in this world. People are there who carry out unjust activities on a selfish note. But he should have faith that even if evil exist in this world, there are angelic people too and this balance between the two kinds is the Law of this world. Indirectly somewhere, he tries to refer to the inner evil and the temptation towards bending down to it, which is prevenient in human blood (metaphorically speaking). But however overwhelming and attractive it may look, truth, goodness and honesty always prevails it. It may take a long time before he learns and experiences it himself. In this context, I must say, that I myself took a very long time to learn this, probably at the age of around 16 – 18 and I do believe that its better the earlier.

The 3^rd paragraph refers to “take as it is and learn from it” characteristic. He says that one should cherish and rejoice his success, but keeping in mind not to hurt others morale or be selfish in actions. He also says not be disheartened in the case of failure, but to learn from it and to respect the fair success of the competitors. You may ask a question here that “ What if the other person won on grounds of unfair means, through unjust recommendations, through bribery ??? “. You can find a reference in the 5^th paragraph, conveying that it is honourable to fail, than to win by cheating.

Mr. Lincoln also says that bookish knowledge does not complete our education. We also have to learn and appreciate Nature and its teachings and offerings to us. And its true, for example, modern aircrafts are being based on the principle on which birds are able to fly, underwater vessels are being closely related to aquatic animals’ movements. Nature has so much to offer to us and we should be greatful to It.

The next few paragraphs speak about the way he should behave in the society. The lines speak clearly for themselves and are very clear in their conveyance. The main part here is that one should be open to only the truth and should not believe in baseless rumours blindly however convincing they may seem to be. And even then, one should embrace the good part or the brighter side of it and disregard the rest. This is one of the key factors leading to sustained  happiness. It somewhere linked to the precautions taken following the first two paragraphs.

The line “Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he is sad. Teach him there is no shame in tear.” is my favourite lines. It’s so easy to read and admire it, but it is much more difficult to practice it in real life. Don’t believe me? try it for yourself. How deeply grave a person becomes when he is sad, and how desperately a person tries to hold back his tears when he feels like to shed them away. It is because of the prevalent norm in the society and the feeling of embarrassment that has led to such consequences. But have you ever wondered, how relaxed you feel when you let your emotions out, when you speak away what’s on your mind, when you get even a spark of happiness in your sad times??? I have felt the soothing effect. These attributes are build up within the individual and is very difficult to impart. Maybe that’s why, Even Mr. Lincoln wonders whether the school can teach that stuff to his son.

The next lines are self-explanatory and refer to the characteristics of a good human being. Only thing, that he has used heavy and complex predicates.

He also speaks about the importance of making people learn and understand in a balanced way, i.e. one should be “gentle in teaching but not liberal” in the approach. This is valid to all fields of teachings and learnings. It has been carried out since the ancient times. A student should be fairly rewarded for good work but should also be punished equally for a blunder or indiscipline according to me. Also, a liberal attitude towards a ward often results into a spoilt youth. And if you look around you, probably could find some examples. Also, austere and demanding behaviour towards them may lead to a lot of complications in the child’s behaviour including display of rigidness.

Finally, Mr. Lincoln couldn’t hold his emotions any longer and finally confesses that its a big task for both the headmaster and for his son to go through it. He knows it will be a difficult path for his son to follow, but he has no other option. And like any other parent, has faith in his child. And signs the letter as a “father “ (Dad) rather than Abraham Lincoln, President of United States. A thing to be noted.

It is the beauty and sincerity of the words that one needs to imbibe from this letter, rather than praising it for its sublimate characteristic. He has displayed the true will and the rightful responsibility of a caring and affectionate father towards his son.

The term education may have been used by one many a times. But very few people know its core meaning. Most of the time, it is misperceived as studies or knowledge or any other tangible means that assures a settled life. If you would ask any school student, Why they go to school, almost all would say to study. Maybe, even the parents send their children for the same reason. Ask yourself, or imagine yourself as a school student, the same question, probably the answer remains the same. How rarely do u find a student realizing the value and importance of education. Blame the society, blame the competition, but ultimately, its about you and you only who is responsible how you mature yourself. However big and heavy the books become as time passes in schools, let them advance the courses, the education still remains incomplete without the aspects of teachings brought about in the given letter.

Thus, what I feel, is  that Mr. Lincoln has described in his letter, a complete and ideal model of a complete, comprehensive and fruitful education.
 

He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.  ~ Clarence Budington Kelland on his father