Nice Guys don't always come in last

Sometimes in the early 70's, as a kid, we had very little money and so very little entertainment or activities. The days we looked most forward to was when my Moms cousins would come visit us, They were young kids, in their early 20s and would sometimes take us out for a Coke or a movie or just get some toffees.

One of them was Leo uncle. He was doing his graduation at UDCT, a chemical engineering college at Matunga. It was a very prestigious institute and it must have been very difficult to get in. As kids who were under 10, we had no idea how smart he was. Just knew how nice he was.

One fine day, I got to know that he had been selected to do his Masters at a US University. Once again had no idea how difficult it must have been, especially since he had to get a full scholarship. When the big day arrived, he was leaving from our house. They were nice enough to allow me to be part of the entourage that would drop him at the airport. And we were going by taxi, one that Leo uncle's dad owned. Around Marine Drive, it was realized that something had been forgotten and so we went back to Colaba, and then once again proceeded. It was my first visit to the airport and just seeing those planes taking off was fascinating.

Last week Leo uncle was back in Mumbai and visited our office. He had greyed. And retired. But nothing else had changed. He was just as nice. And just as modest. Notwithstanding the fact that he has 22 patents, he said nice things about almost everything. You can read about some of what he has achieved.

http://www.baxter.com/about_baxter/scientific_excellence/distinguished/index.html
http://www.chroniccareindia.org/leo_martis.htm

There was however 1 very interesting take away. He said that in everything you do, you need to have an end purpose in mind. Else you'll never get where you want to go. He used an example about gossiping. Think about what you want to achieve? Give information? Incite the person ? Get him to hate the other person? In most cases, our purpose would be none of them. And we'd probably end up not gossiping.

In research, which was his field it becomes even more important. If the end goal and timeline is not defined, you end up doing very little for very long. I thought about how true this is even to what we do. And how often we go on for ever, unable or more likely unwilling to let go.

I guess Kenny Rogers summarized it well in his classic, "The Gambler".
"... know when to hold it, know when to fold it, know when to walk away and know when to run."

What I found most interesting was Leo uncle's current lifestyle. Now that he's finally retired, he's decided to do all the things he never did earlier because he was too busy working. Play. Sing. And Dance. And so now he does all 3. He plays Golf. Takes Piano Lessons. And also takes Ballroom Dance Lessons. And follows his philosophy of end goal. He competes and has specific goals for each of them.

Here's to Leo uncle, one of the nicest human beings I've had the privilege of knowing.

p.s.: I requested Freia to preview the piece and her reaction was "What's the end goal of this blog". I didn't have any, but if I must have one, its saying a small Thank You for being a Big Inspiration.

Freia raises a toast. Cheers !

Last night my cousin Rohwin got married to his childhood sweetheart, Shirin. And my daughter Freia, raised the toast. I thought it was short, sweet and funny. Is that just what a doting and hence biased father thinks or was it really good ? Read on to find out.

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. Since we have a lady toastmaster today, let's have the ladies standing, so I request all you beautiful women to kindly stand including you Shirin & Ashvini, so the gentlemen can have a seat for a change.

Today, I’m going to tell you a story. A story of a Bollywood film. One that’s so different that Hollywood is going to copy, oops get inspired by it. A film that is in the making as we speak. And each of you Ladies and Gentlemen are an integral part of this film. Welcome to KG to Shaadi.

Like all good films, let me introduce the characters. The Martis’ and the Kundukulams. Both extremely loving and kind families, who have 2 children each and bring them up in the Maximum City, Mumbai.

The Martis’ parents are both bankers. Peddy uncle, is the extremely popular father. He pampers his kids, is famous for his huge collection of water bottles, but more so for his huge heart. He retired from the Bankers Bank, the Reserve Bank of India. Agnes aunty, who works for Syndicate Bank, cooks up fantastic traditional meals. They have 2 kids, Rodney and Rohwin.

Rodney, an engineer by profession works with Search giant Google, and is married to the pretty and petite Poorvi. And a twist in the tale. Poorvi works for Google’s competitor and rival, Microsoft. Whilst the Martis’ live happily on the banks of the Mithi River, the high tech couple live in the hi-tech city of Cyderabad.

Mr. Paul Kundululam has an equally wonderful family. His wife Ally who is not amongst us today, is the person responsible for bringing up her 2 children Shirin and Shebin as role models and guiding and inspiring them. I’m sure her blessings and good wishes are with the couple today.

Mr. Paul runs an extremely successful upholstery business. His son Shebin has done a BE in Information Technology. He currently works with Prosares solutions in Mumbai and loves playing computer games, when he’s not working. Not sure if this is only at work or also after work.

And now for the hero and heroine. Cut to age 5. Both are students of OLGC. Boy sees Girl. Sees nothing. Girl sees boy. Says Hi. Boy ignores. You see, there were other boys around. Girl complaints. Boy apologizes. Good start. Girl decides, He’s the one. Boy decides, I’ll be a bachelor forever.

Now since I was given just 5 minutes, I’ll have to fast forward to the present. Well a few months back. The Kindergarten couple, as we shall now refer to them have used the Social media to its fullest. Facebook, G-Talk, E-mail, SMS. Smart kids. Use free stuff, at work whilst your parents and boss are so happy at how hard you work.

And so it was a fitting finale, that Rohwin popped the question or rather sent the question on chat “Will you”. That’s when Shirin decided that enough was enough and replied, “Will you what ?” Pick up the damn phone. And so he did. And she agreed. And decided that it was but natural that the engagement announcement also be shared with the world. On Facebook. And then the wedding website was created. Where they shared the story of their lives. And gave me the material to make this Bollywood love story.

And I believe that Shirin who loves writing is planning on writing a Bollywood film some day. I hope my story will get me an assistants job.

And for those who are wondering as to what Rohwin and Shirin did when they were not wooing each other, Rohwin is an IT Engineer working for TCS India’s largest IT company whilst Shirin is a Chartered Accountant who was working for ICICI, India’s largest Financial Institution. I can see a Part 2, where the Indian Giants TCS and ICICI take on the Global Giants Google and Microsoft.

Until then Shirin is joining Rohwin at his assignment as they fly off to the US, to continue their love story. Now, I am not one who can give any advice to the couple. But just a wish on behalf of each of you, Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me, in wishing Shirin and Rohwin Bon Voyage, as they set out on the greatest journey of their lives.

You’ve been together right since kindergarten days and have now decided to go from sharing crayons to SMS's, to emails, and finally your lives. May you find happiness and love and have a long and successful married life and one day share walking sticks.

Ladies and Gentlemen let’s raise our glasses to the health, wealth and happiness of this lovely couple.

Cheers!"

Together Forever

Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary. Today I complete 17 years of being married. To one of the most wonderful persons, who has tolerated all of my short comings, most of the time with a Smile.

We've had mostly great times with a few rough patches strewn along the way. And I guess it was the rough patches that made the good times even better.Its said that most marriages are strong because of 2 people. My sense is that they are strong because of 1 of the 2 persons. In our case it is without question, Ivy. Thank You. 

However, a plain Thank You cannot be enough for 17 years of putting up with me. Whilst I may never be able to be the Ideal Partner, going forward I'll try and be less of a pain and more of a help.

So here's my list of 10 things I'll do this year. That way I can give you a new list every year.

1. More time with you. Less with the TV.

2. Dinner, just the 2 of us, once a month.

3. Family day out, once a month.

4. Do my share of looking at the kids studies.

5. Do my share of housework.

6. Exercise. And get you to join me.

7. Eat Healthy. And get you to join me.

8. Take a vacation. To somewhere we haven't been before.

9. Doing the stuff you hate to do.

10. Completing 1 - 9, with a Smile.

 

Here's looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you. And don't stop Smiling. It lights up my life.

Gaps and Maps - IT Education

Over a 1,000,000 engineering graduates. Less than 10,000 employable. Is it a case of too much or too little.

There are several theoreticians and analysts with a zillion reasons and cures. At a ground level, we do realize that the biggest gap is "Skill sets". Most of these graduates have done 4 years of studies. Most of which is irrelevant to the real world requirements.

I studied Marathi for 8 years at school. And did very well, getting marks in the 80's and sometimes even 90's. I live in Maharashtra. And yet, I don't speak Marathi very well. Seems like a huge wasted opportunity of not a few months but 8 years. The engineers issue is similar. They study a lot. But at the end of the day, how much of it can be practically used.

I got an interesting insight when my daughter who joined an IB school just 4 months ago, took Spanish as one of her subjects. In just 4 months, she speaks better Spanish, than I do Marathi. And the simplicity of the teaching is mind boggling. Its the concept of "Learning by Doing". Weekly assignments that ensure that the only way you can complete it is by understanding and doing. One example is an assignment to introduce your family. And so,  the parents, the siblings the home all have to be introduced by the student and filmed. Nothing fancy. Just a cell phone. All the students then present the same in Class, in Spanish. And answer questions of the teacher and other students. In Spanish. And so on.

Another interesting thought that comes to mind is the use of the word "Professional". We all refer to ourselves as "IT Professional". Let us take a minute to examine the word "Professional". Who are the others who refer to themselves as Professionals:
- Doctors
- CA's
- Lawyers

And what do all of them have in column. An extensive internship, with a extremely tough examination before they can be termed "Lawyers" and practice. A similar system will add great value to the Indian IT system. The toughness of the exam ahead ensures that the candidates put in hard work to learn and understand whilst working on the job. It also ensure a steady supply of interns which is the backbone of most professions.

The examinations can be computer based but simulated skill tests ensuring that the baggage of our current examination systems don't get carried forward making this yet another exam.