Names

Names are hard. I always have a tough time naming things. What will happen if I have to name living beings?! How fun would it be to have a nameless dog!

I am also having a tough time naming sections of my college magazine these days. Any suggestions for a non-technical, non-news section having 'fun' and editorial articles?

Anyway, I finally changed the name of my blog. I was planning to do it for quite some time along with changing the design. I updated the design in an hour and the name in months. Tweaking templates is so much easier than naming.

I changed the name because "Knowing, Doing and Happening" just wasn't doing it for me anymore. So, after some soul and drafts searching, I decided to name it "Random Plans". It makes things more clear about the way I (t)roll. Also updated is the sub-heading and 'About Me' page.

Psst- For people who have added me in the Blogger blogrolls, please spare a few seconds and update the name by removing and adding my blog. Blogger has this weird thing where it doesn't update names automatically.

Idol

I heard it this morning. On the commute to college, a friend asks me, "So Steve Jobs has resigned?" Before I went all Yeah Right, he told me that he read it in his Facebook News Feed at 7 am today. I asked him if he read any article and he denied but said that there was a link posted. I refused to believe some troll's Facebook status; but within a second it did strike me. He was on medical leave after all. He was planning to retire in the coming years. Did he really resign?

Within the next second, for some reason, my heart started to sink.

As soon I reached the campus, I rushed to the lab and opened up Engadget - "Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple".

As another friend described, the sadness is physical. There is this uneasiness since morning that I haven't been able to overcome yet. So many things running through mind.

First, about the man himself. It sounds dramatic, but this guy is a part of shaping who I am and want to be. There is so much about engineering, design, entrepreneurship, communication and much more that I learnt just by observing this guy. He almost defines the word Respect for me.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with someone I met two months ago in Mumbai. He asked, "Who is your idol?" Dismissing it as concept on which 12-year-olds write essays, I said diplomatically, "No one." I actually never thought about this notion. He insisted, "Guys who discuss stuff like we are discussing, always have an idol." Listening to this, I had my answer in a second- "Steve Jobs".

This explains the uneasiness.

Then, there are concerns about Apple. I love Apple products. The kind of thought and vision they bring to the market is something extraordinary. Of course they are doing business, but the game they play and the goals they set, are very different from any other tech company out there. And Steve Jobs was Apple.

When you turn all geeky and progress to the computing industry while gathering knowledge about it, there are these faces you start to identify and associate with companies. Google brings an image of Sergey Brin and Schmidt to my mind, and in the recent times, Larry Page. Facebook brings up Mark Zuckerberg. Apple, obviously, brought up Steve Job's image. Now, its just weird. I am trying to put in some image from here; maybe Forstall or Schiller(thanks to Job's thoughtfully designed keynotes), but Apple just seems faceless now. It's like the solidness has gone.

Also, I noticed him when he said this at the iPad 2 launch:

We think we have the right architecture not just in silicon, but in the organization to build these kinds of products.

Who knew he was subtly sowing the idea of his retirement at the end of the keynote. Classic Steve Jobs.

I read this piece after this news, and its striking to see how much John Gruber gets me sometimes (or perhaps vice-versa):

Jobs’s greatest creation isn’t any Apple product. It is Apple itself. 

Today’s announcement is just one more step, albeit a big and sad one, in a long-planned orderly transition — a transition that no one wanted but which could not, alas, be avoided. And as ever, he’s doing it his way.

The next iPhone gets announced next month. While it would be great to see him on stage, I hope he's in the audience at least. Watching what he created.

Young Adult in India

I am a young adult in this country. What do I do?

I have my life. I have my to-do lists. My engineering coursework. But I also read newspapers, check Facebook and try to be aware of humanity beyond my personal motives.

There is something going on in my country. People are protesting. Against what, is debatable. But I do know a few things.

I know when I have to stand in lines so that other people who pay a 'premium'don't have to; I know when big corporates buy government licenses at 'subsidized' prices; I know when careers get destroyed when someone is unable to pay backdoor 'donations'; I know when roads outside my house don't get repaired in 10 years but patches of it being polished when a MP's nephew is married; I know when farmers and researchers suicide due to funding 'issues'; I know when land -that is bought by a serviceman's life savings- is snatched by a property dealer demanding high 'security' to pay to authorities; I know when only 'some' funds reach schools and the education of bright stars of the country is suffered; I know when a sports event that is supposed to be my country's pride gets so 'messy' that reports can fill you with disgust; I know when my family asks me not carry enough money for a challan when I drive, but enough to 'get out' of the situation.

I am a young adult and I love my country. What do I do?

They say I should join a protest that is claiming to get some things in order. They say that things have gone so bad that some strict policy-level decisions are the only way out. They say that I should support one man who had the balls to give his 100% to a cause that is claimed against corruption. They say that I should support the protest which is trying handle this menace by empowering a new body specifically for this purpose. They say the body will be as transparent as possible and will question anyone who needs to be.

But then others say that this protest is unconstitutional. That adding another layer of bureaucracy is not an answer. That this constitutional body upon which we are trusting can also stab our backs. Is there any trust or faith left in this country? How did we get here?

I am a young adult in this country. What do I do?

They say I have been given a power to vote. They say that instead of questioning the people I put in power, I should question why did I put them in power. I ask, who should I vote?

On one side there is a dynasty full of scams whose 'charismatic' ancestors have put this country in an emergency before. They have a future descendant ready who is himself confused and cannot hide his shame behind the political misdoings of his party. On the other side there is a leaderless group of non-secular, conservative old men(and some loud women) who themselves have plenty of scams in store, some of which get sprouted from time to time. My country feels screwed to not have a good alternative.

I am a young adult in this country. What do I do?

They say maybe I should wait. A third alternative will arise. Someone who will be responsible. Who knows that the answer is in the fundamentals along with some rigid policies on the top. Someones who understands that this country has become a nation of cheaters. Someone who knows that tax evasion and corruption have become a way of life and this needs to be changed.

But how long will I wait? I am certain that it's not some Baba who's trying to close the economy and thinks that homosexuality is a disease. When will this third option arise? People are continuing to get busy with their personal lives and treating their country for granted. Courage continues to die for personal 'growth'.

Meanwhile, careers continue to get destroyed, education continues to get hampered, farmers continue to suicide, illegal buildings continue to get constructed, science continues to get roadblocked, rules continue to get broken.

I am not impatient. But it is enough now.

I am a young adult in this country. What do I do?

I have no idea and I am scared.

Summer of '11

Semester#3 is here now. From tomorrow starts another semester of sleepless nights, endless assignments and loads of work. But somewhere down, I know I am waiting for it. Plus there are quite some things to look forward- our first tech fest, return of the half marathon, SR elections, some courses I have been waiting for, robotics workshops, some family events etc. The semester hasn't even started and I know how busy I am going to be. Work, fun, repeat.

If not something else, one thing I learned this summer was the speed of time. It was neither too fast, nor too slow. I am not complaining that my summer flew away so fast and I am not saying that it bored me to death. I have been extremely lazy and extremely productive. So below is a approximate timeline of how I spent the Summer of '11:

YES+: For the first six days of the summer, I attended an Art of Living workshop in my college aimed at young adults. It was fun and I learnt a thing or two. Didn't followup much though.

Rishikesh: After YES+ ended, we stayed that night at college and left for Rishikesh the next morning at 6. It was legendary. We jumped into any water body in sight and I ended up bathing 9 times in 4 days (my Mom still refuses to believe this). I did rafting for 4 hours, floated aimlessly in the Ganga, separated from my raft by almost a kilometer and jumped from a rock two storeys high into the water. 4 times. We also trekked, did rappelling  and climbed a ton of rocks and slopes. Not to forget the sleep deprivation, endless talks, shouting eeeeee... like crazy and sleeping on the grass under millions of star. Of course, I fell ill. But it was the Best. Trip. Ever. Except for a nickname I got after some small mammal. I don't like it.

Mumbai: After I returned from Rishikesh in the night, I left for Mumbai the next afternoon. As one may guess, I did a lot of convincing for this can't-sit-at-home schedule. And Mumbai was not for 4 days, it was 6 weeks. I went to Mumbai with two of my classmates for community work. You see, IIIT-Delhi requires you to do 80-100 hours of Community Work in 4 years of your BTech. We were planning the trip for a while and worked at an NGO called Parivartan. I'll write more about my Mumbai trip in some later blog posts because there were so many experiences that I can't fit in a paragraph. All I can say is that the whole trip was overwhelming and I learnt a lot. Much more than I had expected and I'll have to say, I had a lot of expectations. It was also a lot of fun. All the work, the managing stuff on your own, the new city, the freedom, the vada pavs, the people, the children. I know it sounds very cliché, but yes, it was life-changing.

Travelling: This summer, I traveled a lot too. Rishikesh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Amritsar. I can pack bags now. I also now have a long travelling wish list.

Movies: I watched a lot of movies too. 9 to be precise. And these are just the ones in theater. I wanted to do 10, but there just weren't any more good movies.

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger Tides
• The Hangover Part II
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Pyaar Ka Punchnama
• Avatar (Finally, that too in IMAX 3D!)
• X-Men: The Last Stand
• Shaitan
• Delhi Belly
• Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

30 Days of lazying around: As I mentioned, I had planned for a different, productive last 30 days of my summer after my busy two months. But alas, I spent most of those 30 days just lazying around or hanging out. Which I do not regret because of some flaws in my planning. First, instead of setting new and different goals for 30 days, I set up a long list of regular goals. Second, I again planned much more things than I could have handled. Hence #Fail. But I don't care much, as I enjoyed the last 30 days lazying around and getting up in the afternoon after the hectic time in Mumbai. I did however manage to get a few tasks done in these 30 days, which I am happy about.

So, this is how the Summer of '11 went for me. It was pretty jam-packed yet relaxing. Ah, how much do I love three months of holidays. Also, I did not post about this but around 20 days back, my blog completed its first year. I did not have a separate post about it because, well, I did not blog that much in the last one year to celebrate or something. Nevertheless, expect a series of blog posts on Mumbai 2011 in the coming weeks.