The Mighty One

Mumbai Meri Jaan ... Really ?

2008-10-31T04:36:00.000-07:00

It took just 13 months of 2000-2001 to make Mumbai the Best-est places to be in for me.

Let me tell you an interesting background. I did my schooling from a remote place in MP, a place where the nearest town, Benaras was considered what L.A. is considered in Delhi. After completing my schooling, I wanted to move to Delhi for my further studies. As fate wanted it, My father got a transfer to Bombay and against my insistence I had to do my graduation from Bombay instead of Delhi.

I was so not cool about the whole thing. All my school pals were moving to Delhi. Aur main Bombay mein ek parinde ko bhi nahi jaanta tha (There was no one I knew in Bombay). At that time I also had a anti-Bombay attitude (the reason is unknown. maybe my belonging to North India.. Maybe because there is this undeclared and very famous rivalry in India - Delhi vs. Bombay and I have been to my relatives' in Delhi a couple of times. And I was in complete awe of Delhi at that time.) . Anyways, I somehow convinced my self by listening to 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' song (the Johny Walker one). And started trying to love the city.

After getting used to the the cultural and behavioural differences in the beginning (say 3-4 weeks) , I Didn't need much attempt though (to try to love Bombay). I felt as if this city deserved nothing but Love. I was starting to feel Mumbai'kar'. Till date I relate a lot to once my preparatory song - 'Mumbai Meri Jaan'.

"Ae dil hain mushkil, Jeena yahan,

zara haske, zara bachke,

Ye hai Bambai meri Jaan"

Twist in the Tale - My father was transferred back to Lucknow (U.P.) next year. And again, despite my strong insistence, this time that I want to continue my studies(I knew the truth :)) in bombay only, i was told that now, I can study in Delhi(which was my first choice.) I knew I was going to miss the city.

My heart said - BO0000000 hooo , subak subak..

I came to Delhi. Switch to 2008, I have been in Delhi for 8 years now. Often in tea-time chats whenever your liking for a city is discussed, I find myself the lone ranger declaring my love for Bombay. People raise eyebrows and discuss how uncomfortable It was for them to adjust to the Mumbaiyya lifestyle and how they ran from the city at first opportunity. I feel pity, for they could not see what I saw.

The fact that I take Mumbai as a very personal issue is the reason why I felt so terribly hurt and uneasy on the recent - "Raj - MNS's Hate Politics " . I feel I am directly related to this story. And though I am sure of my love for the city, Raj/MNS are saying on behalf of the city - "Thanks, but No thanks. the city never wanted you".

The following recent incidents disturbed me(I'm sure many others too) a lot -

1. The brutal beating of Bihar based individuals who came to write some Railways related entrance exam. One of the beaten ones was dead as a result.

2. A Bihar based youngster, in his angst against Raj Thakre hijacked a Bus and in retaliation the Police gave way to a Fake Encounter.

3. A UP based labor was abused and beaten to death in a local train upon retaliating when asked to vacate the window seat by a group of so-called true Marathis.

If people like Raj Thakrey are not stopped, Would Mumbai remain 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' for people like me?

Or even for the Mumbaikars ? - I don't think apart from handful of corrupt and insane nomads like Mr. Thackerey, any true Mumbai-walah is not ashamed of whatever has happened.

This post is intended at all those mumbaikars who say with pride - "Mumbai meri Jaan" ..

Ponder over these questions .. Analyse and act ..

Is Raj Thakrey right ?

Does Mumbai belongs to Maharashtra and not India?

If the answer is 'Yes'

What a Shame !

Are short-cuts always an ignorable option ?

2008-10-26T01:19:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer:Maybe the headline is misleading. I'm talking in terms of technology, And I'll try to present my POV on this highly debatable topic. I plan to collect input from others and expect their honest feedback with promises of answering whatever queries I am capable of answering.

We're taught since times we get our senses - "Avoid the easy way out", "Take the longer route, It'll make u tough", "There are no short-cuts in life" etc. etc .. ....

While most of it is true in context of the day-to-day life ... I somehow beg to differ with notion that "There are no short-cuts in life" (in context to Technology). I believe that usually their are numerous solutions to each of the situations in day-to-day IT problems. And the ease of taking each one of these routes differs considerably when compared to each other.

I am a java developer who's been involved in development projects for over four years now, and in my four year old journey as a coder, I've come across couple of characters who have been religiously following another (I won't use the word - 'old') school of thought - that says "Don't use one alien technology to learn another" which is good to hear and makes good sense too , but not always. I myself have stuck to this practice at many a times. However strict adherence to this logic is
(a) not always practical in professional work environments and
(b) not always beneficial also.

It's one thing to be using an IDE (containing auto-completion & syntax-checking) only after you've learned the syntax & the compilation& interpretation of the code. Quite another - to be discarding every new & outstanding technical solution, just because you are not aware of the building blocks of the new solution.

If quickstarting one particular technology can lead to normalizing the learning curve for ten different technologies, then what's the issue? One eligibility criteria here is that for you learning of the quickstarted technology shall not be more vital than the leanings of the other 10 technologies. The technological solutions that may fall in this category for a java developer could be - Appfuse, Maven, Dojo, DWR, Acegi etc. .

In the past, Ive got flak/taunts from my colleagues/seniors for relying too much on different third party technical tweaks/solutions for solving the problem in hand. I understand their concern.Maintainence issues are automatically increased with each inclusion of something new. but my point is - the amount of time I save by learning and using some third-party solution - I'm willing to input the same on the learning that I'll achieve in solving any possible maintenance/integration issues instead of spending the same time on 'Re-inventing the wheel'. Yes, it is re-invention of the wheel when something usable exists and you refuse to use it and it's As I've learnt -A Programmer's Sin.

Yes, one should not be a short-cut man. He'll be hollow then. Real knowledge is depth of understanding. However, my suggestion is to not get into the habit of learning everything in the same manner. Prioritize your learning and take them case by case depending on how much you need them. For someone developing a business solution based on a bunch of patterns 'Appfuse' may just provide a building block and it can be learnt as it comes in a leisure time focusing more on the dominant technologies that actually solve the problem. The same technology solution - Appfuse - for one of it's source contributors will be much more important aspect - and it'll be a start from the scratch learning for him.

I'll try to follow this up with a personal experience (w.r.t my experience while learning/working with Appfuse).

revert for a healthy discussion.

I'm the Man

2008-10-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

The eternal cliche' - "I have been thinking of writing a blog for quite some time now"

I 've lost count of the number of times I've found this statement in any blog's very first post. And I'm resuing it in my own.

Yes... I also have been thinking for a long duration on starting blogging ... soon ... The simplest reason for the delay (as if .. there was a fixed time) .. . could be sheer laziness ... or maybe .. inhibitions .. that how bad could I get.

I would be presenting my ideas on a variety of topics that interest/disinterest me along with others. The main purpose of my writing my own blog (and I believe this is the prime purpose of blogging) is - to give me a sense of satisfaction - "that I can express myself" .. that I can raise a voice and ... if I'm lucky ... and if I'm any good .... could maybe get heard too.. :).

the title of the blog .. "The mighty one" came to my mind .. this morning when I was watching a movie named "the motorcycle diaries" .. the actor (don't remember the name) says ... from now on... we live as per "the mighty one" . could not think of anything better. :(

I would try to be regularly blogging. and would try to respond to all comments posted... Maybe I'll have to hire someone for that :) ( ... assuming my entire fan following turn into my blog's followers also... ).

Dude .. don't be turned off ... I'm very modest.

And all i know is- that "I'm the Man."