Sunday, November 25, 2018

2040 - What will be new ?


A few weeks ago when I was in Vegas, an Australian gentleman came to our table and wanted to know more about our product CyberGlass. My pitch was that it would help reduce the number of engineers required to manage clients by 2x initially and by 10x in around 3 years. His first reaction was, "That's impossible". He went on to explain that 80% of the work that the techs did was not technical, but guiding and correcting users and hence advanced technology would not help. While this was true, we had actually taken this into consideration.

 
And my point to him was that human error was due to non-intuitive and poor design and not due to any lack of ability in the human users. And over time, adjusting human expectations as well as modifying the interfaces would achieve the improved efficiencies.


And this took us into yet another extremely interesting discussion. What can we expect in the next 20 or 30 years. And we stumbled upon an amazing fact, Less than 3 decades ago, which of us would have imagined that more than 50% of the world's population would be holding a small piece of equipment more powerful than the most powerful computer which would be able to do almost anything we could dream of. From making voice-calls to video-calls to chatting to ordering goods and services to browsing the Internet to taking on-line courses to listening music to watching movies to ...


And the realization of this was, a decade is a long time. And just as none of us could ever have imagined the smart phone the only thing I'm certain of is that I have no idea of what will happen. However, it seems like someone actually has an idea of what 2040 will be like.



I have a feeling that whatever our most aggressive expectation is, it will be beaten. And all of us will be pleasantly surprised.


This conversation also let me to have a look at the impact smartphones have had on our lives. And as expected, several articles and papers on the subject had been written. Here are 3 that I liked.


How Smartphones Revolutionized Society in Less than a Decade  
http://www.govtech.com/products/How-Smartphones-Revolutionized-Society-in-Less-than-a-Decade.html

The impact of smartphones and mobile devices on human health and life
By Leonid Miakotko
https://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/waoe/miakotkol.pdf

Impact of Smartphone's on Society
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236669025_Impact_of_Smartphone's_on_Society

However the most interesting article on the subject was contrarian.

12 ways your smartphone is making your life worse
https://www.businessinsider.com/12-ways-your-smartphone-is-making-your-life-worse-2018-6

Sunday, November 18, 2018

An Ayurvedic Massage

My friend Salil did a massage treatment a couple of months ago and then went to Kerala for a 2 week massage therapy.


I've never had a massage and had heard quite a bit about it. My curiosity was piqued and so decided to get one. I picked Kairali Ayurvedic Centre in Chembur, Mumbai, mainly because Salil has done his 7 day therapy there and was quite happy with it.

Since I wanted just 1 massage, I picked the one that did the most good, the "Abhyangam".

"A full body massage therapy with medicated oil to rejuvenate and stimulate your senses.The person undergoing this treatment is seated on the Droni (a wooden bed specially made for the therapy). Two masseurs stand on either side of the person applying herbal oil on the head and massaging gently. The therapy is continued on the neck, ears, shoulders, chest and back. The person then lies on the back and the massage is continued from shoulder to toes. During the course of the therapy the person lies on his right side, left side, stomach, and again on his back , and finally in the sitting position. Abhyangam has been found very effective for removing stress and strain, improving eyesight, immunity, longevity, sound sleep, rheumatism, vitality and provides with a glowing skin. This massage also improves the immunity, rejuvenates and maintains the physique.

https://www.kairalicenters.com/ayurvedic-therapies.aspx?id=1#abhyangam

It was a unique experience. After changing into a loin cloth, I was asked to lie down on a wooden bed. 2 masseurs poured warm oil and simultaneously massaged all parts of the body from the head to the toe. During the process, I did not feel great. Or awful. It seemed exactly as it was - someone rubbing oil and a slight pain when the rubbing was hard. At the end of almost 45 minutes, it was over.

They then led me to a small cupboard structure and closed it with my head popping out. That was the steam bath. The steam was meant to open your pores, so that the oil would be absorbed by the skin. This seemed to work, as after I stepped out after 5 minutes, my skin wasn't dripping with oil.


I dressed and went to the lobby. I was given a glass of warm water and some herbal tea. Thanking the masseurs who probably sweated way more than I did, I went home, took a shower and went to work. I didn't exactly feel rejuvenated, but there was no negative either. Am not sure if I didn't get it or its an acquired taste, or is only effective for some.


Nevertheless it was an interesting experience and I would strongly recommend trying it at least once to anyone who hasn't. Check the Kairali website for a wide variety of Ayurvedic treatments and massages.

https://www.kairalicenters.com/default.aspx

Sunday, November 11, 2018

A long drive

Earlier today Ivy and I drove from Mumbai to Kalaburagi. It was a long drive that we expected to take around 12 - 14 hrs.

We started from our Mumbai home in Powai around 5.30. Ivy and I were to share the driving. I hadn't driven a car in India for over 5 years. And hence told Ivy, I wanted to go first. Early morning, empty roads, I could afford a few mistakes and stops and starts and ... My biggest challenge was the stick drive. Having driven an Automatic and on the wrong side of the road in the US over the last 5 years, I was not very confident and a little nervous. However after around 10 minutes, my confidence came back and I was feeling good about it.


Mumbai traffic was light since it was Sunday early morning. Our intention was to try and cross Pune city before 8 so we could beat the Pune city traffic, which makes Mumbai traffic seem like a highway. Our first stop for fuel was at the rest stop on the Mumbai - Pune expressway. While I was fueling, Ivy got us a cup of coffee. What stuck me was the size. It was less than 1/5th of the US coffee size. But quality beat quantity. It was super flavorful.

Ivy offered to take over. But I refused. I was in the drivers seat and told her she could takeover at the next stop. We decided to have breakfast after passing Pune. We entered Pune city around 7.30 and were out of it by 8.30. We got some traffic, but missed all of the famous Pune traffic jams.


We were now on the Pune-Solapur highway. Time for breakfast. I wanted to stop at a traditional Maharashtrian place for Misal Pav. At the same time, we did not want to wander off. We were on the lookout for our ideal place and the ones we saw were either closed or did not seem ideal. We finally settled for Vithal Kamats. A traditional South Indian place. I still wanted to have a local breakfast and so instead of the typical Masala Dosa, I ordered a Maharashtrian speciality, Misal Pav. And it was awesome. The best Misal Pav, I've eaten.


After breakfast, Ivy once again wanted to take over. I had started enjoying my new found skill of driving in India. And once again jumped in the drivers seat. And off we were. The roads were beautiful. There was minimal traffic and we were cruising. We finally halted for lunch just after Solapur around 1. This was once again a Vithal Kamat, but not as nice as the first stop. We shared a Thali and a PuranPoli variation.


The final leg of our journey had good roads, but were single lane. And so it was a little slow. We made it to Kalaburagi by around 3.45. We got lucky and got to our Kalaburagi home in just over 10 hrs. And the first thing we did was have Ivy's awesome homemade Chai. Interestingly enough I wasn't tired and was once again left in awe and thoroughly impressed by the progress that we had made in terms of infrastructure.

Sunday, November 4, 2018

Indian Railways & IRCTC - Beyond Awesome

Ever since Ivy was transferred to Gulbarga (now renamed as Kalaburagi), both of us have made a total of more than 20 train trips to and from Kalaburagi in the last 3 months.

I've been completely blown away by all aspects of the travel. From the booking of the tickets to the journey itself. The Indian Railways is one of the worlds largest employer with over 1.5 million employees. And they somehow manage to choreograph the complete operations with a high degree of efficiency.



It starts with the booking of tickets. IRCTC, a subsidiary company is responsible for this aspect. Their website is one of the most technologically advanced websites that I've come across. And this is true even when you compare it to some of the world's leading airline websites. Its not great looking and its UI is not the most intuitive. Nevertheless the features and functionality make up for all of that.

A simple example is their Captcha. The Captcha is an Ad. And you need to fill in the name of the brand. Simple. And brilliant. The advertisers must be thrilled. Wonder why others have not yet used this. And they have Tatkal, which is a premium service for people who want last minute tickets. Once again, this provides emergency travelers a cost-effective option at a reasonable premium. Win-Win for the traveller and for the Railways.



The actual journey is equally impressive. Of the 20 + trips, 100% of the journeys have started on time. And 100% of the journeys have ended within 30 minutes of the scheduled time. Considering that the journey is over 12 hours and there a myriad of technical issues, this is Super Impressive.

The journey in AC starts with an attendant providing a pillow, 2 bed-sheets and a blanket. Once again, its always been clean.

And then the food. The IRCTC has their catering service. Simple, functional meals. And extremely reasonably priced. And you also have the option of other vendors. Who offer local favorites. This time, reasonably priced and Tasty too.


I'm not at all suggesting that IRCTC and the Railways is perfect. Like all good things, there are several areas where improvements are possible. And am sure that the Amazing Teams at the Railways and IRCTC are evaluating and will introduce those which are practical and commercially viable.

What we need to take into account is the challenges and constraints faced by the Indian Railways and the IRCTC and how inspite of that they manage to turn in an extremely credible and impressive performance. Day after Day after Day.

(1 crore = 10 million)

The next time you are in India and have an opportunity, do travel on a long distance train.

And before leaving, enjoy a video on the Indian Railways
A SHORT HISTORY OF INDIAN RAILWAYS (HINDI)



And read:
Timeline: 165 years of history on Indian Railways
By Joe Baker
https://www.railway-technology.com/features/timeline-165-years-history-indian-railways/