My God - the world has changed!!

It wasn't long ago that I was at a workplace where we believed that we are working on the latest technology to achieve the business direction. All of us were of the opinion that J2EE, abstraction, layered architecture based on distributed & vertical computing architecture principles, object model segregated from physical model/persistence, business process flow and orchestration, etc that we were working on is the latest cool thing!! 

In a way, this perception and belief was right given that we were ahead of the curve and the competition, while applying and making it relevant to the industry. 

The reality - OH MY GOD!! - the entire industry in which I was part of is actually "missing a beat" of the revolution that is happening out here. Having dwelled on how information technology has undergone "r-evolution" in the past 2-3 years, I ought to say that the "event in Aug" and the "resulting break" is in hindsight a "blessing in disguise". It has made me realize the sea-change that is undergoing in the software landscape; the "blast of changes" that will be unfurled by very nimble companies in the years to come riding on the wave of "cloud computing". 

Short-lived will be the days of vertical computing architecture; the business model will have to undergo a drastic change to have c------r c------city with a horizontal computing architecture - it has been pioneered by Google, achieved by Amazon and others for their respective industries to reap huge business revenue along the way. An architecture which taps on creating businesses being efficient not just in computing power but also in all aspects of the business - delivery, travel, offices, etc. 

All these changes were happening and I/we was/were quite oblivious to it. It is a "radical paradigm shift" which will catch quite a few businesses and companies fleet-footed - some have/will identify and overcome it; most will go down-under. Guess what - I would have remained in the world that we came from with the head buried like an Ostrich. Glad that I was provided this break by the "event" :-) !! - to ponder, think, read, introspect and work on the thought streams.

My God - the world has changed!!

What an interesting month and half it has been !!

The global financial market tumbled and went into a tailspin; the experienced "maverick" Presidential aspirant in the US elections blew his campaign after making a wrong "call" on the US economy; the "rookie" Presidential aspirant who wants to bring "CHANGE" raced across the winning line with a brutal majority on the electoral votes and the best ever finishing by a Democrat for an entire generation; Singapore hosted the "first ever F1 GP nite" race - the street circuit was spectacular advertisement for the Singapore skyline, workmanship and ability to deliver; the race itself was almost boring except for the Massa pit-stop incident; a poetic justice was delivered in the last F1 race of this season where Hamilton was crowned as the driver champion with a 1 point margin (by the same margin that he lost the title last year at the same Brazilian Sau Paulo circuit) - this race was nail biting with the race decided in the last 30 sec; in the last lap at the last turn with 800m to go; with India launching its "Chandrayaan-1" - it's first satellite to the moon; and India pulverizing the Aussie comprehensively with a 2-0 victory with a new captain M.S.Dhoni.

This brings me to the topic - "interesting month and a half" - the above was just a gist of main events across the globe which we all read, viewed, heard about. From my perspective, there were "2 leaders" who were crowned "leader" in the official sense; but they had begun their journey couple of years back - one is known to all in cricket mad nation of mine; the second one is known across the world; one from the rusty town of Ranchi in Jamshedpur; the second one from the streets of Chicago; yes we are speaking about Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Barrack Hussien Obama. 

People might wonder what is common in these two people - half the world away and in different walks of life. It is in this dichotomy lies the similarity. They have defined "leadership" in the truest style - they are very focussed on what they want to achieve; very respectful of their opponents & seniors but not deferential; they visualize their victories and organize their tactics to match their strategy and grand vision; and most importantly they remain calm and composed under all circumstances; be it a grand victory or under extreme pressure & negativity. Reams of articles have been printed about these two persons - read, watch BBC, CNN, NY Times, etc, Cricinfo.com, Indiatimes, etc. In short, they are the next generation leaders; leaders worth following, emulating and imbibing qualities. In the years to come, "Kaal-Time" will record their achievements in the annals of history; this is just the beginning.

Atleast, that is what I am setting out to do consciously - learn from the qualities of these two leaders.

Long time . . No blog posting

Hello there, it has been quite some time since the last posting. I am busy "enjoying the break" - and relaxation includes doing mundane things and the joy of doing having done it - reading books, doing spring cleaning, washing and waxing the car, apart from spending long hours with my family & playing with my two sons - aged 6&1/2 years and ~10 months and some "little" amount of time on my new toy - iPhone 3G. 

Of the books that I have been reading, the interesting one that I would like to share is "The Google Story" - a very good book for those who want to bring back the intensity of unwavering focus back into their life. This book, an unauthorized/unofficial bio of the company, gives an insight into the 10 year old youngster  (i mean Google), its founders and various milestones along its journey of what is now a US$100+ Billion Market Cap with an annual revenue expected to be in the surplus of US$20B for this year. 

Of the movies that I watched, "WallE"  the kids movie is fun to watch - the first 40 odd minutes of the movie goes without a dialogue and funny enough one doesn't feel the lack of dialogue. And with my son around, there were thousands of questions that had to be answered; much to the irritation of an adult who happened to be in the movie theatre screening a kids movie (with no dialogues) and expecting silence from kids wanting to understand. God bless his "common sense".

 And today is the start of the Singapore F1 Race weekend - the first ever night race. I am not able to watch the race at the circuit due to the rule of not allowing kids below 7 years. This disallows the biggest F1 fan in the household from watching his fave team - Renault. So that leaves us to watch it live on TV. But we did enjoy going around the island to different malls and locations where the F1 cars were located - Renault@Mariott, Mc-laren@Mobile pertol pump on East Coast, etc and of-course the 30 min ride on the real-life-size F1 simulator having the Singapore circuit. Whew!! it seems easier on TV rather than in real life.   

And thru this one month, my second one started standing up, and walking by holding onto support (such as tables, bed,etc) and teething. Guess he will become a cook someday - has an excellent aptitude for all types of food - spicy hot or sweet - wants to try all food that we have and finds his food very bland!! He enjoys waking up father and elder brother in the morning - he thinks it is very funny !! More so when he starts singing. Anyways, it is good to be able to spend time playing with him with no urgency to get ready. God does like providing surprises. 

In a nutshell, it has been an wonderful one month since the "event" on 25th Aug. More on this subject later. And on iPhone 3G. Ciao. 

ANEW BEGINNING, a NEW DAWN - Shubh-Arambham

WOW :-) !! It is a NEW DAWN , a new (re)beginning, un-frettered,  un-cluttered; albeit that the journey of the last 13 years that culminated on 25th Aug 2008 (although abruptly) has been an wonderful learning experience. Like the wise sayings go - "the journey is equally important as the destination" -  this journey has provided invaluable lessons on all aspects of life and work and I am sure the learning will continue in the future, but for now it has provided a bedrock foundation for the future. 

Shubh - "good [luck]" ; Arambham - "beginning, start" (in Sanskrit) - a new beginning, a "good start" - so goes the the blog's title !! 

Life provides many twists and turns and I guess I am at one of the crucial junctions of life - and the events of last Monday (in retrospect) has been God send in that sense. It is making me introspect on what I want to do in life and whatever decision I arrive at in the coming days, weeks, months, I am sure about one thing - this is a NEW BEGINNING, a NEW DAWN - Shubh-Arambham

It all started 13 years back -  a fresh collegiate, giving his final semester examination (B.E. in Comp Science) and about to graduate; with a dream of doing something different and willing to risk it. And risk did he to give up existing job offers from some of the largest MNC's of India to land up across the Pacific Ocean,  join a relatively small company as their first "college fresher" & undergo repeated rejection of employment pass application & appeals until it was approved after the submission of the certificates - degree & rank (in India, these certs becomes available a good 6-8 months after the last semester examination results are published) . More of it will be chronicled later on in the series of blogs.

So, now LIFE has provided the same chance again - I am "relishing" looking at the prospects & opportunities that are out there and beckoning me :-) !! 

And right now, I am taking a well-deserved break with my family - my wonderful wife and my two lovable sons. Happy Holidays!!