Fun, cheer, long working hours and generous salaries - welcome to the world of IT. Many educated youngsters in India have made IT their life's goal. This is not a surprise, given the fact that IT is one of the few careers in India that guarantee both material comfort and financial security.
For college hires joining IT companies, it is an exciting journey full of learning, at least for the first few years. Apart from technical learning, they also get accustomed to corporate culture and business etiquette of six sigma companies. These leanings together with fun filled events, travel to foreign countries, generous salaries do make life seem a bed of roses.
Hierarchy chains in IT companies vary from company to company. As the size and capacity of a company increases, so do the number of designations above the level of manager. New designations keep getting added to the hierarchy from manager to CEO. As the levels in the hierarchy pyramid increase, so does the competition to reach these levels. No longer are hard work and efficiency the only parameters governing growth. Many other factors play a crucial role, these factors vary from company to company.
Good attitude and aptitude are a must for youngsters to gain entry in to India's major IT companies. In an ideal world, these two will result in efficient work, would bring good results, which in turn will secure career growth. But the available count of designations is always less than the number of people eligible for the same. Under such situations it is more a question of making supervisors aware of your extra-ordinary contribution to the organisation. Whether you really contribute or not is of no concern. The image or brand that you create for yourself matters more in securing a progressive career.
Valuing relationships at workplace, fostering youngsters, integrity, honesty, gentlemanly behaviour are traits that look good only in books titled as "Bhagavad Gita" and "My experiments with Truth". Inside the corridors of global corporates, these traits stand no chance of success when compared to self advertising and influencing higher up people. These traits together have been given a fancy identity under the name of corporate culture.The reasons for promotions and games that Indians play to secure these are so extensive and complex. A simple analysis of this is beyond human efforts.
The question whether corporate culture has a place for truth and integrity has no straight answer. The answer is yes, provided if a person is smart enough to twist truth and integrity to fit the corporate culture. But even then, good values like truth and honesty have to be twisted and compromised to fit the complex maze of corporate culture. Sans compromises to human values, success is out of reach.
Having said all this, let us now proceed to see the effects of this corporate culture outside the workplace. A person who excels at this art is sure to find success at workplace. Now, can these traits claim him success in the roles of a dutiful son, a loving partner, a selfless parent and an honest citizen? It takes only plain simple common sense to understand that selflessness, love, duty and honesty do not figure amonng the mandatory traits for success in the corporate world. Thus corporates are churning out highly competent employees who do not understand how to build a simple and satisfactory family.
The person who earns beyond his needs has neither the time nor the means to lead a peaceful and happy life. But he keeps working for money and growth, as these he belives, will lead him to happiness. He seldom stops to think if what he believes is true.
Employees of MNC corporates jump in to the rat race for success. But their definition of success excludes a peaceful, happy life. This simple truth can be understood if man stops to contemplate on the quality of his life. In the words of the Buddha, "destination does matter, but the journey is all that matters when we reach our destination." If life's destination is happiness, what is the use of living a life that does not permit relishing this happiness?
Let us stop, contemplate and restart our journey; understanding fully the quality of life we aim for, the journey we undertake to achieve this.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Education in India - Does it promise progress?
"Education is the path to progress" so believes mankind. Illiteracy is believed to be a curse to our nation. The reasoning behind this is illiterates lack awareness. Awareness is the key to make use of available resources to uplift oneself, make best use of one's abilities and to protect oneself from exploitation.
True awareness is the wisdom to understand one's priorities, define success as per one's priorities and pursue it with minimal exploitation of others, but by making best use of one's abilities without bringing harm to the society.
Education in modern India does not bring about this awareness. Subjects taught at school are necessary for the material progress of mankind. But these subjects do not contribute to the mental and psychological development of mankind.
A well educated person can rise his family's standard of living and make his family more presentable to the eyes of the world. But within the family and in workplace, lack of self respect, bias, attitude problems still persist unchanged.
Personality and attitude of individuals need nourishment and a conducive environment for growth from childhood. Along with academic subjects, practical lessons in teamwork and co-existence need to be integrated into school syllabus. Working efficiently has proved advantages over inefficient hard work. Sincerity and dedication provide better results in the long run when compared to corruption and bias. Healthy competition is a must, but team work has better results than individuals in a blind competition against each other.
These can be imbibed into a child's personality by changing the primary education system. The beginning years of education has to be more interactive between students and teachers. A child must be given an environment where he can learn that securing top grades will bring him honour, but contributing to the overall performance of his class by sharing his knowledge with fellow classmates will improve his understanding and earn him the trust of his classmates. Exposure to sports and arts at an early age are a must. Rather than having strict schedules at primary schools, allowing children to learn at their own pace with individual attention to every child is the best way to start educating a child.
Changes to the primary education system to ensure all round development of children will lead to a cascade effect, affecting all levels of education. This will finally lead to character development and academic development happening synchronously. Chances for this kind of a change happening in the near future is still remote in India. But the emerging alternate education systems are a glimpse of hope in the right direction. May it revolutionise education in India and lead to a better future for our children and for the country as a whole.
True awareness is the wisdom to understand one's priorities, define success as per one's priorities and pursue it with minimal exploitation of others, but by making best use of one's abilities without bringing harm to the society.
Education in modern India does not bring about this awareness. Subjects taught at school are necessary for the material progress of mankind. But these subjects do not contribute to the mental and psychological development of mankind.
A well educated person can rise his family's standard of living and make his family more presentable to the eyes of the world. But within the family and in workplace, lack of self respect, bias, attitude problems still persist unchanged.
Personality and attitude of individuals need nourishment and a conducive environment for growth from childhood. Along with academic subjects, practical lessons in teamwork and co-existence need to be integrated into school syllabus. Working efficiently has proved advantages over inefficient hard work. Sincerity and dedication provide better results in the long run when compared to corruption and bias. Healthy competition is a must, but team work has better results than individuals in a blind competition against each other.
These can be imbibed into a child's personality by changing the primary education system. The beginning years of education has to be more interactive between students and teachers. A child must be given an environment where he can learn that securing top grades will bring him honour, but contributing to the overall performance of his class by sharing his knowledge with fellow classmates will improve his understanding and earn him the trust of his classmates. Exposure to sports and arts at an early age are a must. Rather than having strict schedules at primary schools, allowing children to learn at their own pace with individual attention to every child is the best way to start educating a child.
Changes to the primary education system to ensure all round development of children will lead to a cascade effect, affecting all levels of education. This will finally lead to character development and academic development happening synchronously. Chances for this kind of a change happening in the near future is still remote in India. But the emerging alternate education systems are a glimpse of hope in the right direction. May it revolutionise education in India and lead to a better future for our children and for the country as a whole.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Is election voting through SMS possible?
This is about the latest column of India: Today & Tomorrow, titled ‘To make India democratic & politics de-criminalised allow election voting through SMS’ and written by Arindam Chaudhuri. Scratching your head, eh? Well, you can’t imagine my expression, after I went through it once. I sat there laughing out aloud. I was simply wondering how on earth such a man with such an incredible brain located within his head could think along such similar lines as I do! What is more astonishing – this is a topic that I had recently abandoned on grounds that I found my thoughts not to be full proof and practical. But, what beats them all is I find Prof. Chaudhuri having the stomach of letting it out of the bag even when the same loopholes are present in the analysis that troubled me.
A glass of water, please – I’m panting! Let me now point out the common origin of the idea. I, too, similarly as Prof. Chaudhuri writes, struck upon it influenced by the SMS voting process in the numerous talent hunt shows. I felt that it might be used to combat the adulteration of public opinion by “rigging”, use of “muscle power”, etc. Now to the application and applicability. At first, I would like to quote Prof. Chaudhuri’s proposals:
“… it struck me why shouldn’t we make our election process also SMS based. After all no one is allowed to vote without a Voter’s I-Card. All we need to do is to have another line out there where in voter’s can write their mobile numbers. And once that is computerized in a very basic process and fed into an electronic voting system, every Indian can sit at home and cast their votes – and a much larger proportion probably will – and in turn start changing the political landscape in India!! If they send from a different number it will be invalid and so will it be if they send it more than once. Those who don’t have a mobile number can go and vote normally – of course electronically – so that they can’t vote again from their mobiles …”
Same old scribbling, very, very coincidentally! So, I will now jot down the shortcomings that disappointed me:
I. The poorest people in the remotest areas, who cannot yet afford cellular communication, are the worst victims of rigging and exuberance of muscle power. What about them?
II. ID cards should not bear mobile numbers, because they are ever so temporary and the practice can pose a considerable threat to the protection of the secret identity of the voter. Plus, any other person can just grab the mobile of a particular voter and complete the formality, depriving the real voter of his discretion.
III. How can we ensure that a voter may not end up voting multiple times? I mean, he or she might at first vote normally and return to use the mobile or vice versa.
But you know what, I’m so thankful to Prof. Chaudhuri that he wrote about this. After the initial reaction, when I recollected myself, once again I did I explore the possibility, out of sheer belief that something just has to come out of this concept, something fit to be put into practice, just because even a person of Prof. Chaudhuri’s calibre is contemplating it! And this time round, the prospect seems better. Despite the fact that I couldn’t make both ends meet towards the first rat’s gnaw (because it’s totally an economic problem), there has been considerable progress on the technical and strategic side that may almost nullify the other two concerns. What I have to suggest is as follows:
Instead of coining mobile numbers on the Voter’s ID card, we can have two alternatives. Each time the Election Commission updates the voters’ list, new Voters’ ID cards bearing unique registration numbers may be issued with a scratch bar on it, which hides a secret code. What the voter will have to do is to obtain the code, send the code along with the registration number to a particular number in order to receive a password code. Else better still, if the voter can set up his or her own password code and feed it to the database. The second alternative, if issuing new cards at each update is inconvenient, presents before the Election Commission a choice to supply scratch cards a la mobile prepaid cards, which can be used in the same way as stated above. If more than one entry of code for a single registration number is made, it will be rendered invalid. Now, during the election season, all the voter has to do is to type in the registration number, password code and the choice of candidate and send it. Even here, more than one entry will be ignored. And if this service is made free, as Prof. Chaudhuri would like to be done, it will mean that even if you are not a cell holder, you can always use your neighbour’s mobile – vote and then definitely delete the SMS from the outbox – because here the registration number and password stands for your identity, not the mobile number. This puts to sleep the second tear in the net.
As for the last one, it can be taken care of by installing computers in all polling booths, all connected together on a network to a central database server. Each voter who comes along before going to the ballot will have to enter his or her registration number. Then it can be easily detected whether a particular voter is voting for more than once, either through mobile or the traditional way. In this way, we certainly can even do without the embarrassing ink stains on our fingers.
And now it seems to me that it might be possible to apply the same technique with some modification towards a structure for e-voting. It will be all the easier this way. All one would require is an online registered voter profile.
Well, what do you think? Any suggestion is always welcome.
A glass of water, please – I’m panting! Let me now point out the common origin of the idea. I, too, similarly as Prof. Chaudhuri writes, struck upon it influenced by the SMS voting process in the numerous talent hunt shows. I felt that it might be used to combat the adulteration of public opinion by “rigging”, use of “muscle power”, etc. Now to the application and applicability. At first, I would like to quote Prof. Chaudhuri’s proposals:
“… it struck me why shouldn’t we make our election process also SMS based. After all no one is allowed to vote without a Voter’s I-Card. All we need to do is to have another line out there where in voter’s can write their mobile numbers. And once that is computerized in a very basic process and fed into an electronic voting system, every Indian can sit at home and cast their votes – and a much larger proportion probably will – and in turn start changing the political landscape in India!! If they send from a different number it will be invalid and so will it be if they send it more than once. Those who don’t have a mobile number can go and vote normally – of course electronically – so that they can’t vote again from their mobiles …”
Same old scribbling, very, very coincidentally! So, I will now jot down the shortcomings that disappointed me:
I. The poorest people in the remotest areas, who cannot yet afford cellular communication, are the worst victims of rigging and exuberance of muscle power. What about them?
II. ID cards should not bear mobile numbers, because they are ever so temporary and the practice can pose a considerable threat to the protection of the secret identity of the voter. Plus, any other person can just grab the mobile of a particular voter and complete the formality, depriving the real voter of his discretion.
III. How can we ensure that a voter may not end up voting multiple times? I mean, he or she might at first vote normally and return to use the mobile or vice versa.
But you know what, I’m so thankful to Prof. Chaudhuri that he wrote about this. After the initial reaction, when I recollected myself, once again I did I explore the possibility, out of sheer belief that something just has to come out of this concept, something fit to be put into practice, just because even a person of Prof. Chaudhuri’s calibre is contemplating it! And this time round, the prospect seems better. Despite the fact that I couldn’t make both ends meet towards the first rat’s gnaw (because it’s totally an economic problem), there has been considerable progress on the technical and strategic side that may almost nullify the other two concerns. What I have to suggest is as follows:
Instead of coining mobile numbers on the Voter’s ID card, we can have two alternatives. Each time the Election Commission updates the voters’ list, new Voters’ ID cards bearing unique registration numbers may be issued with a scratch bar on it, which hides a secret code. What the voter will have to do is to obtain the code, send the code along with the registration number to a particular number in order to receive a password code. Else better still, if the voter can set up his or her own password code and feed it to the database. The second alternative, if issuing new cards at each update is inconvenient, presents before the Election Commission a choice to supply scratch cards a la mobile prepaid cards, which can be used in the same way as stated above. If more than one entry of code for a single registration number is made, it will be rendered invalid. Now, during the election season, all the voter has to do is to type in the registration number, password code and the choice of candidate and send it. Even here, more than one entry will be ignored. And if this service is made free, as Prof. Chaudhuri would like to be done, it will mean that even if you are not a cell holder, you can always use your neighbour’s mobile – vote and then definitely delete the SMS from the outbox – because here the registration number and password stands for your identity, not the mobile number. This puts to sleep the second tear in the net.
As for the last one, it can be taken care of by installing computers in all polling booths, all connected together on a network to a central database server. Each voter who comes along before going to the ballot will have to enter his or her registration number. Then it can be easily detected whether a particular voter is voting for more than once, either through mobile or the traditional way. In this way, we certainly can even do without the embarrassing ink stains on our fingers.
And now it seems to me that it might be possible to apply the same technique with some modification towards a structure for e-voting. It will be all the easier this way. All one would require is an online registered voter profile.
Well, what do you think? Any suggestion is always welcome.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Child Labour - Part 2
Early morning walk by the sea shore is a great way to start the day. Cool breeze, warm sunshine, sound of waves rushing to embrace the shore, aroma of roasted peanuts and corn welcome early morning walkers and joggers to the seashore. Peaceful mornings as this are the perfect time to exercise by the beach. As I sit down on a stone bench to rest my tired feet, another pair of small legs run up to me. Looking up, I see the thin and cheerful face of a young kid, waiting eagerly to take my order for a glass of tea. I watch his thin legs as he rushes around to collect orders, under the watchful eye of his employer. It hit me hard that thus toils this little labourer from dawn to dusk, earning three meals per day in return for all his sweat and slog. (Chk this link for the real life story: http://www.unicef.org/india/child_protection_1735.htm)
Sipping hot tea, I sit there pondering over this child's fate. Three girls run up to me with baskets of peanuts, tugging at my dress and asking me to buy peanuts from them. They compete with each other in lowering the price and raising their voice to woo customers. Childhood lost in toiling hard to feed their tiny stomach. I sit back, scanning the beach that I see everyday. But, for the first time today my mind becomes aware of the fate of children selling newspapers and magazines, girls in paavadai with baskets of peanuts, small boys selling flowers, kids in bajji shops and tea stalls rushing to serve their customers,... All I see are child labourers, working from dawn to dusk.
Child domestic labour, though visible every where in India, thrives as ever and is ignored by the educated mass. Children from economically lower strata of the society end up working as domestic helps with or without their consent. When a child turns 10, he/she is seen as a potential bread winner for it's poor family. Such children are either sold off to work as full time helps in small scale commercial establishments and houses or willingly give up school to work part time to help their poor family.
Many of these children end up working part time as domestic helps and helping with house work or tending to their siblings for the rest of the day. These facts are not new to us, but are something that we are trained to accept and ignore. Society does not see child labour as a crime, unless forced to do so. We, as a part of this society, do the same that everyone else does. The kind hearted people among us show our helpful nature by buying wares from these kids, hoping that it would be of help to them. Little do we realise that this money reaches the kid's employers, and is not of any use to the kid. It also sends out the information to their employers that employing children would improve their business.
If the kind hearted people among us can buy food for these kids, it would be a better way to help than buying their wares, which really helps their employer and not them. For those of us whose blood boils to see kids forced to work, there are helpline numbers and organisations that would welcome our calls. They can do more to break these kids free from their employers and send them back to their families. For those of us who would like to do more than this, many are the ways we can help in the rehabilitation of these kids, from providing them psychological support to funding their education.
Ways aplenty to help these kids, what lacks is the will to help them. Let us not be mere spectators. A small help can save the life of a kid. What then stops us from throwing away our blindness and doing small things now and then to brighten the life of a kid?
-- Sri Saranya.
Sipping hot tea, I sit there pondering over this child's fate. Three girls run up to me with baskets of peanuts, tugging at my dress and asking me to buy peanuts from them. They compete with each other in lowering the price and raising their voice to woo customers. Childhood lost in toiling hard to feed their tiny stomach. I sit back, scanning the beach that I see everyday. But, for the first time today my mind becomes aware of the fate of children selling newspapers and magazines, girls in paavadai with baskets of peanuts, small boys selling flowers, kids in bajji shops and tea stalls rushing to serve their customers,... All I see are child labourers, working from dawn to dusk.
Child domestic labour, though visible every where in India, thrives as ever and is ignored by the educated mass. Children from economically lower strata of the society end up working as domestic helps with or without their consent. When a child turns 10, he/she is seen as a potential bread winner for it's poor family. Such children are either sold off to work as full time helps in small scale commercial establishments and houses or willingly give up school to work part time to help their poor family.
Many of these children end up working part time as domestic helps and helping with house work or tending to their siblings for the rest of the day. These facts are not new to us, but are something that we are trained to accept and ignore. Society does not see child labour as a crime, unless forced to do so. We, as a part of this society, do the same that everyone else does. The kind hearted people among us show our helpful nature by buying wares from these kids, hoping that it would be of help to them. Little do we realise that this money reaches the kid's employers, and is not of any use to the kid. It also sends out the information to their employers that employing children would improve their business.
If the kind hearted people among us can buy food for these kids, it would be a better way to help than buying their wares, which really helps their employer and not them. For those of us whose blood boils to see kids forced to work, there are helpline numbers and organisations that would welcome our calls. They can do more to break these kids free from their employers and send them back to their families. For those of us who would like to do more than this, many are the ways we can help in the rehabilitation of these kids, from providing them psychological support to funding their education.
Ways aplenty to help these kids, what lacks is the will to help them. Let us not be mere spectators. A small help can save the life of a kid. What then stops us from throwing away our blindness and doing small things now and then to brighten the life of a kid?
-- Sri Saranya.
Friday, August 31, 2007
State and Democracy
None of the political movements or revolutions has succeeded in eliminating the State, or in the least, diminishing the overpowering inevitability of its necessity. Karl Marx would have been disappointed to death if he had lived to see the rise and fall of one of the most promising revolutions ever: the Bolshevik Revolution. In his theories, he had formulated the dissolution of this institution. On the contrary, the Communist revolutions have always glorified the power of the State. The spirit of democracy says that the aim of any State should be its gradual disappearance into the hands of a self-responsible people. But in reality, there have been no substantial efforts to make the people self-responsible. And the basic reason for this, as it stands in front of me, is that the taste of power tends to corrupt one and all. But to the mind of a theorist, only a question appeals; is it really possible to push forward towards a State-less nation? As far as now, I do believe, yes. And for that, I strongly feel that we should initiate some process of attaining a ‘party less’ democratic system. “But, how?”, remains the query. Please do post your ideas. Well, as things stand in India, the State is endeavouring quite hard for its own vanquishment, but into private hands!
Nationalism vaporizing
Today I am compelled to state that there is really no nationalist party in India, neither in dogma nor in policy. The Indian National Congress is bloody pacifist, Bharatiya Janata Party ticks around ‘Hindutva’, the Communist Parties are outwardly too dogmatic and would shed more tears if there is an attack on a ‘hapless’ country by NATO than they would when there’s any shattering explosion at home, and the less I say of the rest the better it will be – they are either too sectarian or regional in character. Why it seems that harbouring nationalistic feelings is a taboo – it is often taunted in the common public! This is a basic shortcoming in our education and upbringing, and all because we don’t have a State that can afford to be uncompromisingly nationalistic in its policies. This is still not a country where you can have the right to kill a person who disrespects the Mother!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO YOU ALL
But how much do I wish we may have been happier! 60 yrs have passed we have attained freedom - political freedom. 60 yrs have passed the State just seems to have changed hands from the British to our political jobbers, not to us. 60 yrs have passed we haven't had the oppurtunity and guts and conditions to participate in the development of We, The Nation. 60 yrs have passed we have been denied the real spirit of independence and democracy - economic freedom, without which political freedom is almost of no use. 60 yrs have the State which promised to annihilate itself into the hands of the people, who constitutionally hold the sovereignty, but is hell bent on its disappearance into private hands.
But how much do I wish we may have been happier! 60 yrs have passed we have attained freedom - political freedom. 60 yrs have passed the State just seems to have changed hands from the British to our political jobbers, not to us. 60 yrs have passed we haven't had the oppurtunity and guts and conditions to participate in the development of We, The Nation. 60 yrs have passed we have been denied the real spirit of independence and democracy - economic freedom, without which political freedom is almost of no use. 60 yrs have the State which promised to annihilate itself into the hands of the people, who constitutionally hold the sovereignty, but is hell bent on its disappearance into private hands.
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