Y DO WE UNDER-RATE OURSELVES ??

Recently, CEO of Tejas Networks (by now, quite a successful Indian startup in the field of optical networking), Mr Sanjay Nayak was in ST to give a keynote address on entrepreneurship during ST's recently concluded Techweek-2011. Apart from the speech of a typical entrepreneur (that talks abt self-motivation, risk taking capability, passion etc), he spoke abt the changing status of Indian Centers of MNCs i.e Indian Development Centers are no longer just "low cost centers" (as we hv been made to believe till now), but now, they are second to none when it comes to doing "quality R&D work". Essentially, it is not only dollar based R&D but also value based R&D that Indian centers are turning into.

Surely, this post has got nothing to do with whether or not Corporate or Shining India represents an inclusive growth for the entire country, the topic is beyond even my wildest imaginations while writing this article, however, this article is more abt us having a very low opinion of ourselves and a sense of pessimism when it comes to our abilities, and this is especially true of Indian centers of MNCs. This was also reflected in one of the questions that was asked of Mr Nayak after his inspiring talk: "Indians hv a mentality to compromise on something or the other and thus not deliver a perfect solution (even when they can), how did Tejas overcome that?" I believe that perhaps the best (a bit harsh though, i agree but nevertheless THE BEST) answer to that would be: People seem not to realize that their opinion of their surroundings is also a confession of their character. Also, one of the statements I heard from HR of the current company is: "Indian engineers have a big attitude problem. A 50 yr engg abroad wouldnt mind trying his hand at coding, but not so in India."

Surely, I hv no intent of comparing engineering talents of India and abroad; I would personally avoid ne comparsions b/w 2 individuals (as a recent gtalk status of one of my friends very aptly suggests: Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid). Also, I believe that perfection can only be achieved when one moves beyond all comparisons. However, all I feel is this: its high time we shun away such negative thoughts and pessimistic ideas, remembering the famous quote of Swami Vivekananda: "Anything that makes you weak physically, intellectually, and spiritually, reject as poison; there is no life in it; it cannot be true".

Changing Times !!

I recently got a chance to leave office on time ( :D :D) and see the lovely evening/sunset of Noida. Also, while sauntering in the park of my colony, I saw kids playing cricket (wait cricket fans, this post is not abt my lack of interest in the game / ongoing WC :P :P ) and was taken back to my childhood when we would play the same game, and just when the thought crossed my mind that "certain things never change (every such kid wants to be the next Tendulkar !!)", I realized that few things have indeed changed a lot.

The normal playground for kids of today is within the boundaries of colony, which is hardly (1/10)th the size of "our" typical playground, perhaps due to crunch of open space everywhere, especially inside residential colonies. Most of the space in such colonies is dedicated to construction work. Also, the boundaries of such "grounds" are no more the boundaries of the park (else every shot would be a boundary !!), but some arbit car (distinguished only by colour by kids eg, green color car or the red one) or a building which is mostly referred to as (almost) being owned by one of the players (eg, meri building / teri building etc :P :P). Further, the heights of buildings and their "encroachment" on the lawns ensure that the kids have to think twice b4 throwing a ball high up in the air, else it might land in someone's home :D :D. Almost similar changes could be seen in other sports like football etc.

I was recently studying the book: "You are Born to Blossom" by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, wherein he describes almost every aspect of an ideal education system. He also talks about the vision of Shri Rabindra Nath Tagore abt education and its realization (The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence, from "A Poet's School"). I was left wondering, with so much crunch for open space, is the vision of Sri Rabindra Nath Tagore even practical now, who dreamt of imparting education to kids in close vicinity of Mother Nature. Are today's "centers of education" even slightly heading in that direction? Amidst all the bombardments in classes with all the technical stuffs and minute details, are we providing a kid with an opportunity/platform to express Self, which in my opinion, shud be the sole aim of education? I guess sometimes, we tend to forget that its inherent in a kid to be happy and "cheerfully irresponsible", I find kids enjoying much more than adults on hilly slopes, rivers or beaches and other natural places !!

Reflecting a bit more on this change in times, I started thinking of various other changes that have come in and around us in the last couple of yrs; and apart from the obvious and much publicized changes in Nature (i mean, global warming, pollution even in villages and hills, etc [shud not be very difficult for my friends to guess y this thought came first :P :P]), the next thing that came to my mind (may be, due to the video I saw a few days back), was the work-life balance thing. I can only describe the video as "one nice Masterpiece" and as the presenter Mr Nigel Marsh rightly says towards the end, "its time that success of an individual not be measured by the amount of money one has when one dies, but by how meaningfully one lived the best years of one's life" is indeed an idea worth spreading.