On My Mind ...

 Anguish is the only word to describe what I feel right now. Today, April 20, 2021, was spent in the midst of sunshine and great weather here in Princeton, NJ. But across the globe in India, the news was tragic.  I heard about two former team members who each lost a parent overnight to COVID. A close associate's father-in-law is fighting for his life. News reports are full of hospitals stretched beyond their capacities and dead bodies piling up. While that would be terrible news in itself, what makes it exponentially worse is that most of the deaths were easily avoidable.  We are not in the early part of 2020 when covid was an unknown enemy. With proper, simple care, we know how to save Covid patients. Most patients simply need 2-3 days of high-flow oxygen to give their bodies the chance to recover. Simply oxygen and a bed.  We had 1 year to prepare. The government only sanctioned 200 oxygen generators for some unfathomable reason. Of those 200 odd sanctioned,  ...

If you can keep your head when all about you     Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,     But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,     Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,     And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;     If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster     And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken     Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,     And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings     And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose,...

Kehte Hain ..  "Hum apni jaan ke dushman ko apni Jaan kehte hain, Mahobbat ki isi mitti ko hindustan kehte hein. Jo ye deewar ka suraakh hai, saazish  ka hissa hai,  Magar hum isko apne ghar ka roshan-daan kehte hain.  Hai khwaish do niwalo ki, humein bartan ki haajat kya,  Fakeer apni hatheli ko hi dastar-khan kehte hain. Mere andar se ek ek kar ke sab kuchch ho gayaa rukhsat,  Ek cheez baaki hai, jisse imaan kehte hain.   Jo duniya mein sunai de, use kehte hein khamoshi, Jo ankhon mein dikhai de, use tufan kehte hain." -Dr. Rahat Indori

I t’s 2008 all over again .  The Trump administration is going to announce massive bailouts to large enterprises that are ‘hurting’. They claim these companies were not at fault as they were hit by the Covid crisis. Prime examples are airlines, who went from record revenues and profits to near 0 revenues immediately due to the virus. This argument seems logical, at first. However, what they fail to take into account is the bad financial practices at the airlines all this while. Businesses are supposed to manage risk and plan for rainy days.  Some may argue that this was completely unexpected.  No, it wasn’t.  Anyone with any knowledge of global risks would list a pandemic as a virtual certainty and near the top of global risks. Why did airlines not take this risk into account? After all, they are the original global business and literally connect the world. They would be expected to be the most impacted by a global event more than anyone....

    Courtesy :    Ed Hawkins , National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading.     https://showyourstripes.info/

To the new overlords, who think they'll be here forever; Just like all the overlords who came before them: "Agar hain khilaaf, hone do,  j aan thodi hai.  Ye sab dhuaan hai,  aasman thodi hai. Lagegi aag to aayenge ghar kai zad me,                       Yahan pe makaan sirf humara thodi hai.                             Main jaanta hoon ke dushman bhi kam nahi, Lekin humari tarah hatheli pe jaan thodi hai. Humare muhn se jo nikale wahi sadaakat hai, Humare muhn me  zuban  tumhari  thodi hai. Jo aaj saahibe masnad hain, kal nahin honge, Kiraaydaar hain, jaati makaan thodi hai. Sabhi ka khoon shaamil hai yahan ki mitti me, Kisi ke baap ka hindustan thodi hai." - Dr Rahat Indori

Climate change in a global issue. Conventional wisdom says these issues require global coordination and commitment and leadership from governments. While all of that is true, the converse is also true. Individual responsibility and change of consumption habits can have a a tremendous impact. Think about it, the governments will deliberate and then create policy that is meant to change consumption patterns. They might give better tax breaks for good behavior (solar subsidies etc.) and tax bad habits. However, I didn’t think I needed to wait around for government to incentivize me to do better. It was time to do better on my own accord. Also, waiting around for government seems stupid in this age of complete meltdown of government. So I started to make some small changes to my lifestyle. Things that were doable, in bite sized chunks. Some require a lot of change and can be hard but some are really small and yet meaningful. Here’s stuff I’ve done that might help others in the...

I am deeply disappointed today. My disappointment is further exacerbated by the fact that I am not feeling any shock. Today's unanimous verdict, is a historic injustice and further nurtures the poisonous tree planted by the Hindutva forces as it grows and encroaches over every institution of this once secular country. The supreme court itself makes the claim that the demolition of the mosque in 1992 was illegal It also agrees that the mosque was descracated in 1949 by Hindus placing idols in the inner sanctum. It also agrees that there has been continuous prayer in the mosque since its establishment in 1528 and that no conclusive proof exists of a demolition of a temple to create the mosque. Then, it goes on to award the site to Hindus. If the site belongs to the Hindus, then would the hon'ble court have asked for the demolition of the mosque in case it still stood? How can the title be transferred to the vandals? Today is another large step in remaking India as the ...

    Photo Credit: newsbugz.com W ith the election fervor up all around in India, I thought it would be a good time to put down a non-tribal view of the NDA government and its achievements. This is an opinion piece, and not a piece of investigative journalism. However, I've made all attempts to stick to facts. Here's my read on the past 5 years: Hits :  Structural Reforms:  Undoubtedly the single biggest credit that can be given to the NDA government is its willingness to tackle large problems areas and undertake structural reforms that have been pending for quite some time. Chief among the wins would be: Introduction of GST Bankruptcy laws Direct fund transfer Foreign Diplomacy Clearly, our engagement with the world has improved. It has tangible benefits. The response to our response to Pulwama was largely supportive for the first time in a long while. This would not be the case a few years ago. Clearly, the focus on this area has enhance...

Who's minding  your AI? I think it's beyond question that the single biggest buzzword cutting across the tech landscape today is AI. From the tech giants in Silicon valley and beyond,  to 1-person startups on the other side of the world, everyone is investing in AI and trying to deliver software that's smarter and more intuitive. The cloud has enabled the compute necessary for the work. The algorithms now come in nice packages just waiting to be deployed. Every single day, I see proof of concepts doing incredible things with just a few lines of code. Object recognition and tracking now seems almost easy. Route optimization, why I'll have some of that.  Of course, when I call AI a buzzword, I do it a disservice. It's not a flash-in-the-pan annual marketing gimmick that will be forgotten next year. In fact, over the last 10 years, I would say, the cloud and AI have been the 2 paradigm shifting events in the technology landscape and they are very real . ...

Note to federal workers: Sick of all this yet? Like the idea of being dependent on the whims of politics? Then step up? There's 800,000 of you not getting paid this time? Theres' 3 million of you. Use your strength. Organize. Threaten to Quit. En-masse. What do you think when the clock starts ticking on losing all of you forever? Who wants to take on the task of replacing 800,000 people? How long will that disruption last? No politician can take on that threat. Take the power back. While you're at it, might be a good idea to demand changes that solves the problem long term. Some suggestions: Legislation passed immediately to the following effect: Loss of 1 year pay for every elected government official for every week of government shutdown. If the amount crosses the expected pay for the official for their entire term, the rest is a fine they get to pay in the future.  Disqualification from the ability to stand for re-election if more than 2 shutdowns ...

I've spent a significant amount of time trying to hire in India lately and here are my personal observations, maybe my sample set is poor or maybe there is a wider problem: Almost all resumes and associated candidates I come across seem hell bent on defining themselves as narrowly as possible. I get an avalanche of technical jargon that’s supposed to impress me with the candidate's knowledge and not much else. Ignoring for a moment that even this supposed knowledge is usually heavily embellished, there is almost no emphasis on their wider selves. Who is the person behind all the technology speak? What drives you? What motivates you? What is the special attribute that will make you an asset when the technology landscape inevitably changes? What makes you interesting? Are you trustworthy? Do you have emotional intelligence? Do you know how to lead? What are your goals? What is the culture you're comfortably with? What are your values? Almost no one is even prepared to h...