Right First Time

So its a book, and quite an old publication too, somewhere in the 80s! I heard about this from Dad who read this book on quality control, several many years ago, I remember seeing it with him when i was in school i think! He had borrowed it from the library. He had told me that it was an excellent introduction to quality control and how it gets applied in the manufacturing world (his line of work too). 

Several years passed and i was in college and we did have subjects on statistics and probability and application of the normal distribution in many areas of work. And i was into these quality books too by then, inspired by dad again, and had read works of Edwards Deming (Out of the Crisis), Scherkenbach (The Deming Route to Quality), Phil Crosby (Quality is Free), Frank Price (Right Every Time) and a few others. The one by Frank Price was actually a sequel to the first book, Right First Time, which i was never able to get. The ones available for sale online were priced 4k and 5k (international editions, and way too pricey) and i could not find it in the British Library or other places too. 

Until now! I got the copy from the IIM-B library recently and of course I borrowed it! Its been a month (or more i think!) since i have it and just completed it now! The book, the style of writing and the concepts were very easily presented in such an entertaining way too, a testament to the expertise of the author to make an otherwise drab subject, as interesting as a novel! 

The book starts with the ill's that plague the companies in the industrial sector, faced with tons of quality issues, and rejections. It goes on to explain about how to measure process capability, measure it against tolerance limits (after much negotiations on the specifications based on the ultimate function), and find answers to the question "Can we make it ok?" in this stage. Subsequently, moving on to answer the question "Are we making it ok?", where it gets into sampling and measurements, and understanding drifts of averages and range, and setting control limits to the process. And finally trying to answer, "Can we make it better?",  a question towards continuous improvement and action. Here the concepts of t-tests and f-tests were introduced, as a way to compare between capabilities of different machines and to enable us to make a distinction of which one is better (using statistical significance). 

While the above made part-1 of the book (where there was a fair bit of math), part-2 dealt more with people and quality, as after all, the outcomes are indeed due to a large measure upto the people incorporating the practices of quality control. To this extent, it explained several concepts from behavioral science, especially covering the fallacies of Fred Taylor, and McGregor's theory X & Y. And moving into more recent studies of Heizberg and Maslow (Theory Z) and Lawler, towards breaking down the activities of work and the motivations (will) to make a good deal of it. 

Overall, the book is a managerial treatise on quality control, explained in a language that is ironic, and witty, and towards the end, dealing a lot with psychology and human behavior. It was a good read, and almost felt like a literary work towards the end, due to the inimitable language and the ease with which difficult concepts were introduced fairly simply. 

I am glad i could finally read this work, and appreciate what my dad must have appreciated so many years ago! And i told him i read it...you should have seen the glint in his eye :) 

Ciao!

The Ocean of Churn

 Hello hello,

Checking in to write a very brief review of a really nice book I happened to read recently! 

I don't write book reviews often (well i don't even update this blog too often!) but this time I thought about writing on this book because it was so well researched and narrated in a really nice manner. I couldn't believe history can be written in an interesting manner too! My school history classes were such a bore! Or maybe, I am now more mature to appreciate history :) Whatever the case, it was a welcome break. 

So this book is by Sanjeev Sanyal and its called The Ocean of Churn. Now I have read Sanyals earlier books, Land of the Seven Rivers and another short story book, so in a way i knew what to expect. A thorough work, with a bit of irony and humor, and a lot of interesting stories from history and how it has shaped our world, and India especially. 

This book does the same, and this time it is from India's maritime history and how it has shaped the subcontinent. There were so many interesting characters from history that were brought to the fore. Many forgotten, and many links unknown, and all those came together into this wonderful melange of narration from Sanyal. I could transport myself into those voyages taken up by so many from the past, and relive those times. It was really helpful that maps were provided in between as well, to show the important places where different events took place, across the entire coastline of India, Africa and Southeast Asia. 

The matrilineal lineage and its importance to several of the kingdoms of the south, the wars, the after-maths, the voyages, the different discoveries of trade routes, the rich history of India with its extraordinary progress in trade across countries in the Indian ocean, the violence and bloodshed of invaders, the coming of the Europeans, the contribution of India and many of its stalwarts, the grey shades of characters, and so many facets and connections. Indeed, if history were to be taught in this manner it would be so much richer. Our schools need to seriously think about making the past come to life in a more evocative manner! For from it, we realize how we landed here, what has shaped our thinking and our culture, and how it's being shaped further as well. 

I am so intrigued by this book, I think I would want to re-read it and the earlier ones as well! 

Just to relive and understand better, ourselves and the lands whence our ancestors tread, and the waters they sailed..!

Reflections..

 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Indeed these words could not have been more apt for the times we are living through today. The world has been swept by the pandemic, and here it has just turned in for the worse with the second wave being even more gruesome than the first. Not just the virus itself which seems to be mutating and coming up with new strains which are more infectious, but to combat it, our own preparedness has been under question. Surely no one might have guessed the deadly and sudden impact it would have and how all around us, there would chaos for medical and other support. But that’s the sad reality.

Was speaking to a friend the other day and we discussed about the Spanish flu that is so often cited as the last great pandemic. We imagined how lost the people might have been then, with no communication devices, volunteer groups, information availability and so on, adding to their woes. To that extent, we have  indeed come far, and with video calling and digitisation, we are atleast able to see our near and dear ones virtually, and do many of the activities that otherwise required us to visit a place, be it shopping, paying bills, entertainment (the indoor kind) and such. How much these count, is something we realise even more during such situations. This is not to discount the physical interactions and its many benefits, but surely helps just to get us through with daily chores and life.

The other spectrum is the number of people out there helping and sacrificing for the greater good, the frontline groups, volunteers, and so on, bringing out the best of human nature; while we also see on the other hand, some other aspects of humanity which are disgraceful. Indeed then, the best and worst of times..Many of the experiences has then made some of us wise or foolish, as you see it. Wise especially when you realise how fragile life can be and its many aspects, and foolish when we still pursue the more fleeting things. 

But hope is what man lives by - we plan our lives, what we would do and how we would do it and all of it, hoping for a better tomorrow. While despair knocks its icy hands on our doors, we are swept by it and yet not, because of hope. Some seek to look inwards to find solace, and some in other ways. In the end, human kind has triumphed through the ages, and while we do not know if we will triumph still, that hope is what keeps our kind going. 

Hope to see better days ahead.

Auguries of Innocence - revisited!

There was a discussion recently on how and why naivety and its many dimensions, is unacceptable. To be sure, while it is not to be encouraged, or accepted in its entirety, can't help but think back upon the poem by William Blake, on the Auguries of Innocence!

For as simple as 'ha! la, ta-da!' , the poem brings back to life the cruelties and barbarism against innocent creatures and how they do not augur well for human beings!

Auguries of Innocence
BY WILLIAM BLAKE

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
A Robin Red breast in a Cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage
A Dove house filld with Doves & Pigeons
Shudders Hell thr' all its regions
A dog starvd at his Masters Gate
Predicts the ruin of the State
A Horse misusd upon the Road
Calls to Heaven for Human blood
Each outcry of the hunted Hare
A fibre from the Brain does tear
A Skylark wounded in the wing
A Cherubim does cease to sing
The Game Cock clipd & armd for fight
Does the Rising Sun affright
Every Wolfs & Lions howl
Raises from Hell a Human Soul
The wild deer, wandring here & there
Keeps the Human Soul from Care
The Lamb misusd breeds Public Strife
And yet forgives the Butchers knife
The Bat that flits at close of Eve
Has left the Brain that wont Believe
The Owl that calls upon the Night
Speaks the Unbelievers fright
He who shall hurt the little Wren
Shall never be belovd by Men
He who the Ox to wrath has movd
Shall never be by Woman lovd
The wanton Boy that kills the Fly
Shall feel the Spiders enmity
He who torments the Chafers Sprite
Weaves a Bower in endless Night
The Catterpiller on the Leaf
Repeats to thee thy Mothers grief
Kill not the Moth nor Butterfly
For the Last Judgment draweth nigh
He who shall train the Horse to War
Shall never pass the Polar Bar
The Beggars Dog & Widows Cat
Feed them & thou wilt grow fat
The Gnat that sings his Summers Song
Poison gets from Slanders tongue
The poison of the Snake & Newt
Is the sweat of Envys Foot
The poison of the Honey Bee
Is the Artists Jealousy
The Princes Robes & Beggars Rags
Are Toadstools on the Misers Bags
A Truth thats told with bad intent
Beats all the Lies you can invent
It is right it should be so
Man was made for Joy & Woe
And when this we rightly know
Thro the World we safely go
Joy & Woe are woven fine
A Clothing for the soul divine
Under every grief & pine
Runs a joy with silken twine
The Babe is more than swadling Bands
Throughout all these Human Lands
Tools were made & Born were hands
Every Farmer Understands
Every Tear from Every Eye
Becomes a Babe in Eternity
This is caught by Females bright
And returnd to its own delight
The Bleat the Bark Bellow & Roar
Are Waves that Beat on Heavens Shore
The Babe that weeps the Rod beneath
Writes Revenge in realms of Death
The Beggars Rags fluttering in Air
Does to Rags the Heavens tear
The Soldier armd with Sword & Gun
Palsied strikes the Summers Sun
The poor Mans Farthing is worth more
Than all the Gold on Africs Shore
One Mite wrung from the Labrers hands
Shall buy & sell the Misers Lands
Or if protected from on high
Does that whole Nation sell & buy
He who mocks the Infants Faith
Shall be mockd in Age & Death
He who shall teach the Child to Doubt
The rotting Grave shall neer get out
He who respects the Infants faith
Triumphs over Hell & Death
The Childs Toys & the Old Mans Reasons
Are the Fruits of the Two seasons
The Questioner who sits so sly
Shall never know how to Reply
He who replies to words of Doubt
Doth put the Light of Knowledge out
The Strongest Poison ever known
Came from Caesars Laurel Crown
Nought can Deform the Human Race
Like to the Armours iron brace
When Gold & Gems adorn the Plow
To peaceful Arts shall Envy Bow
A Riddle or the Crickets Cry
Is to Doubt a fit Reply
The Emmets Inch & Eagles Mile
Make Lame Philosophy to smile
He who Doubts from what he sees
Will neer Believe do what you Please
If the Sun & Moon should Doubt
Theyd immediately Go out
To be in a Passion you Good may Do
But no Good if a Passion is in you
The Whore & Gambler by the State
Licencd build that Nations Fate
The Harlots cry from Street to Street
Shall weave Old Englands winding Sheet
The Winners Shout the Losers Curse
Dance before dead Englands Hearse
Every Night & every Morn
Some to Misery are Born
Every Morn and every Night
Some are Born to sweet delight
Some are Born to sweet delight
Some are Born to Endless Night
We are led to Believe a Lie
When we see not Thro the Eye
Which was Born in a Night to perish in a Night
When the Soul Slept in Beams of Light
God Appears & God is Light
To those poor Souls who dwell in Night
But does a Human Form Display
To those who Dwell in Realms of day.


A good poem to remember in these troubled times!

Black Box Thinking!

At the end of last year, as a new year gift from office, we had each been given a book to read! There were two choices infact, between 'Team of Teams' and 'Black Box Thinking'. I chose the latter, because it sounded interesting and had something to do with developing a growth mindset.

Happy to report, I completed reading it :) It did take me a while, I agree... still, better late than never!

Black Box Thinking is written by Matthew Syed and talks about the importance of having a different approach to failure and re-imagining the concept of failures. The book talks about the healthcare sector in the beginning and the various slip-up's that plague it, in terms of the unreported failures of doctors or nurses, and how those failures, are not really followed up thoroughly as they should be, and used as a learning to get better.

It is followed up by analyzing the aviation sector and how every mistake and every crash has been thoroughly investigated to make improvements in the industry, by using the feedback mechanism of the black box (which is in fact quite orange in color!). Surely, that was not always the case, but over time, the aviation industry has improved by leaps and bounds, so much so, that it has become one of the safest ways to travel. The power of marginal gains.

The book also goes on to talk about some areas where a novice or an experienced person, does not add any value by either's involvement in the system, like for example psychotherapists, due to the lack of follow-up and long lead times, making it a poor example of a system that takes in feedback to make improvements and changes to get better and more refined outcomes.

The later chapters delve into the criminal justice system on wrongful convictions, and the scared-straight program, on cognitive dissonance issues, and blame-games. It introduces the method of RCT (Randomized Control Trials) to test a hypothesis, to be certain our conclusions on an approach to a problem is really working or not, and make changes without feeling frustrated due to failures. It talks about the pit-falls due to narrative fallacy's, intellectual contortions, and many other such errors of judgment which impedes learning, and therefore prone to stagnate the system, than improve it.

The book talks about complex systems, with its multitude of variables and their interactions, which makes it difficult to analyze and predict system behavior, and therefore advocates a fail-fast approach, in which, an evolutionary approach to problem-solving is taken up. This is an incremental change, test, develop, approach through experimentation rather than a grand design. The Nozzle Paradox is introduced and so is the Dyson design approach.

It does not concede that designs are not useful, only that the way to make change faster and learn from failures, far outweighs the achievements we can get by grand designs. In that sense, it advocates to accept the failures in a learning method in a bottom-up approach with a failure-averse approach in a top-down approach and marrying the two in a unified measure. What it really then says, is not to underestimate the power of feedback-driven designs. It gives many examples of Dyson and NetFlix and other such companies, and I can think of even Sony when they started off, having this approach.

Surely we would think 'break-through innovation' might not happen in this way, but it does, through failures again and being resilient to see the changes through till the goal is met. Infact, it goes on to say that you need not worry that you might be going up the wrong way, because those who follow the approach will know it sooner than those who don't!

Overall, it introduces and advocates concepts such as marginal gains, fail-fast, RCT's, pre-mortem's, which can be introduced in organizations and many industries, to make improvements and drive innovation. I found it a good read and there are many concepts to explore further!

Love in the time of Corona!

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Its been a long long time since I got back to blogging, and apologies to my few, but dedicated followers for being patient about it (or did I do you all a favor?!😏). 

I did get many requests to restart my writing, as somewhere, somehow, some of you felt it interesting and related to it :) I thank you for it!

The world is living through a very different time, a time which is going to go down in history, due to its unprecedented nature and its sheer magnitude, affecting almost every country in the world. The covid pandemic has created almost a dystopic world, and a world where our imaginations and meanings of living, have gone through a sea change. 

The metamorphosis has been very quick, from being a busy outgoing world, into a more muted, careful world. Where our handshakes and open waves of laughter and smiles are now made from behind a mask or a screen. In fact, when I think about heterotopias, a world within a world, I wonder if this world was ever imagined, where things are seemingly as they were, and yet not as it was experienced so far. We have found new means of doing things, new means of interactions, new means of going about everyday life. A veiled world indeed. 

If VUCA as a concept was created to explain an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous world, the pandemic that you and I are living through, takes it to its limit. There have been numerous statistics, data, facts, explaining it, and I hear there is already a movie getting made and a book being written. I suspect there will be many more books and articles written on this subject and with numerous narratives talking of how things worked, or how they didn't, how fortunes were made, or lost, how the best of humankind came to the fore, as did its worst. In short, it is no less a time, than when stories come out of a war's end. But I am going ahead of myself! We are still in the thick of things, and a vaccine or a cure is still nowhere in sight. So fingers crossed, that we live through this time to experience the other, brighter side, once again!

In spite of the lockdowns and the various restrictions, our work at the office still continues with great gusto, which by the way, included critical R&D equipment transfers between countries (going through customs and transport and the like) installations, and delivering our planned R&D programs on time and with good quality. It indeed called for a different kind of working and coordination, but it was never considered the end! If project management has taught us something, it is that risks need to have a mitigation plan, and those plans can be plan A, B, C...till we exhaust all options! If we need to live through this time, every event and a situation needs to be worked through like a project, covering all aspects & mitigations! And yet there will remain that 'unknown' that will always crop up! Did someone say 'black swan'?!

But talking about the best and the worst, it also brings to my mind the innumerable times we become self-defeating in our outlook, finger-pointing, and the like. We forget that we can't even handle our own matters with consistency or clarity, but want the world around us to be predictable and certain. When it is precisely in these times that we need to be introspective and really work through the problems by standing together (in spite of the social distancing!) and seeking solutions to problems, than become a problem ourselves! Since Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote about love in the time of cholera, I am propagating love in the time of corona (sorry Marquez!). But indeed, what I do mean is to spread positivity, hope, courage and stand by the people who need it the most, and to do something, anything constructive, to get over this! It will never be right answers or wrong answers, only no answers, that will be our end.

Would close with just these words (our messaging through the workforce): Stay Safe, Keep Calm & Carry On. Maybe I would add, and spread the love!

Birds of a feather - 2 !

"Far from the madding crowd..."

I could repeatedly hear myself say these words as I drove down the quiet stretch just a few miles away from the city.  It is quite unbelievable how the most quiet get-away's can be found in the most crowded of places, if we know where to look!

It was a good change to catch up on birds again after a long time; though I must admit I have been constantly looking them up in my books and wherever I have traveled. But this time, there were a lot of "land" birds to check out, having seen quite a few "water" ones already.

The first exciting one was the bee-eater. It is a small bird which is quite colorful. There are twenty six varieties of these birds! Most of them have some amount of green in their plumage. They are called bee-eaters because they, well, like eating bees! They also eat other flying insects but honey bees make up their primary diet. Interestingly, before eating its meal, a bee-eater removes the stinger by repeatedly hitting and rubbing the insect on a hard surface. During this process, pressure is applied to the insect thereby extracting most of the venom. And the birds only catch prey that are "on the wing" and ignore flying insects once they land. Now that's principled living! 

They stay in colonies and live in a community of sorts; some species are known to have some of the most complex social structures. Another interesting aspect of these birds is that they do "dust-bathing" and "water-bathing" to keep down parasites!

The next bird was the green-pigeon, a very elegant bird which has a green plumage with a yellow collar! It was the first time I saw one, (and looked it up in my book now), so that was cool.

There were also a lot many red-whiskered bulbul's. Their cries very much resemble the words "pleased-to-meet-you", said very quickly and in a shrill tone!  It is more often heard than seen, but will often perch conspicuously especially in the mornings when they call from the tops of trees. Bulbul's feed on fruits and insects predominantly. An entire family was spotted in a brush nearby and I could see them from quite close. Their life span is about 11 years. [Courtesy Wiki!]

Many sun-birds were seen flitting about and now I finally know that not all small birds are sun-birds :P One interesting point to note, told by a veteran ornithologist (!) is that sun-birds are not only small and colorful but also have a curved beak. So finally I have one way to classify them!

Also spotted quite a few Munia's. They were flitting between bushes and were quite difficult to spot. They prefer open habitats and feed on seeds. The one I saw was a scaly-breasted Munia.

I saw an entire tree with lots of weaver bird nests ! And lots of weaver birds as well. They make some of the most complex of nests and it is done by the males of the species. They make home together in a colony apparently for protection. The males are brightly colored (for attractive reasons!). I think we saw a Baya Weaver, though I am not too sure since I was far away and could not really spot them clearly. They feed on seeds and are know to damage crops. Baddies in that sense!

Then there were the Indian Robins, brilliant black with a red rump; Tailor-birds were found in bushes and make a warbling noise. They are short little birds. Tailor-birds get their name from the way their nest is constructed. The edges of a large leaf are pierced and sewn together with plant fibre or spider's web to make a cradle in which the actual grass nest is built. Never saw a nest though.

Also spotted a Copper-smith barbet. They are called so since they make a noise like a copper smith striking metal. These live mostly on wild figs. It was one of the spectacular catches since they are quite difficult to spot. We saw two of them sitting close-by! One was constantly making a hole in a bark of a tree. Like other barbet's they chisel out a hole inside a tree and build their nest. I should know...some years ago, a normal pair of barbet's had made home in a tree outside, right opposite to my room! Right now that home is taken by parakeets :)

These were some of the new birds that were seen. 

The sights constantly reminded me that we were only a few miles away from the city, and so much of beauty awaited us. I guess it comes down to having a discerning eye and a bit of patience as well.

Now I am humming the famous song; Ahista...ahista..!

Birds of a feather..!

In my last blog I mentioned that once I recover my senses, I will write about the experience I had. Guess it has taken a year for that to happen, and I think I might just go senseless again, after this one!

But the raison d'etre for the predicament that beeches me this time, is intricately related to the one faced the last. That of putting in words an experience and appreciation for beauty. Shakespeare had said, "If music be the food of love, play on...", and I will rest my case for the last blog with that.

Looking at nature though, one realizes that all of the wonders that man creates, is just a speck of dust compared to what nature itself has to offer. After all, so many of the designs and art that we create or incorporate, are inspirations drawn from nature and nature's laws. Music too, for example, draws inspiration from the beauty of nature. Our feelings of looking at a sunset on the ocean, or a majestic waterfall or the flutter of wings (or eyelashes!) or just of the silence in a forest, is more accurately described through music, more closely than what words can, the experience that our senses witness.

In that context, how many times I would have seen birds and been to a zoo or other such places and just taken a look at them. But I think this time it was a whole different experience altogether. And it helps when you have a bird expert to explain all the different qualities about them! You tend to notice what was always there..

So it was really nice to look at a wide variety of birds and take "stock!" of what was on offer.

The first was the Egrets, part of the heron family, and a white bird that comes in various sizes (the great, intermediate, cattle, little and many others!) and I realized they are hard working fellows. Wiki says: The word "egret" comes from the French word "aigrette" that means both "silver heron" and "brush", referring to the long filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret's back during the breeding season.

I saw Cormorant's as well, but I did not appreciate it very much. It looked way too clever and I got negative vibes from it! Interestingly, the cormorant was the disguise used by Satan in John Milton's "Paradise Lost", a classic epic poem which I fondly remember for various reasons. The cormorant was known to be a traditional symbol of greed and greedy men. Perched atop the "Tree of Life" (apples anyone?!), Satan took the form of a cormorant as he spied on Adam and Eve during his first intrusion into Eden..!! No wonder I got negative vibes looking at it :)

Of course, that is only on a lighter note. It appears that some of this species were present even at the time of the dinosaurs and its structure has not changed very much. They come in various shapes and sizes as well. So they are really a pretty old and solid species which is awesome.

Then there were Heron's, birds characterized by their long legs. There was a Grey heron,  a Pond heron, a Purple heron and a Night heron. The last one is a red-eyed, yellow legged birdie which gives a feeling that it has either not slept at all or is high on something! The others were a variety of whites yellows and browns. And they have an interesting method of catching fish - by deception! Apparently, they put bits of grass or leaves in the water so that the fish come out enquiringly...and of-course, the heron is waiting in anticipation..you know what happens next!

Pelican's are majestic looking birds, with large pouch carrying throats. I saw a spot-billed pelican but I think there are lots of other ones in the world. They look really massive up close. I saw one which was feeding its young one. Wiki says that pelicans were considered as very compassionate birds in literature. In Europe, the pelican was thought to be particularly attentive to her young, to the point of providing her own blood by wounding her own breast when no other food was available. The legends of self-wounding and the provision of blood may have arisen because of the impression a pelican sometimes gives that it is stabbing itself with its bill. In reality, it often presses this onto its chest in order to fully empty the pouch.

This apart, I also saw a Stone Plower, a bird which looks just like the color of the rocks that it dwells on. Also saw a Painted Stork (not "stroke", "smock" or "sock"!!), which had a orange beak and pink-white-black colored feathers. The Stork and the Ibis apparently belong to the same family of birds. I am not sure how true it is, but it seems that when the juveniles in this species are threatened by bigger birds, they feign their death!

There was also a River Tern - yellow beaked and yellow tongued - which is a little nut of a bird which lays its eggs outside on the rocks. They are tough little fellows, as it seems they will peck away at any birds or even the eyes of the croc's which might want to eat their eggs. Even though I was at touching distance to it, it just sat there sternly..hmm Tern-is-Stern :)

There were others too, Open bill and a Spoon bill, both characterized by the peculiar shape of their bills, with the latter also having a little color on its bill tip! I also saw the Wagtail, characterized by their long tail feathers, and the common Mayna, which can be seen everywhere actually. There was also Darters, also called as snakebirds, which was sun-bathing! Similar to cormorats, they too get into water to get fish, so actually, they need to dry their wings..

I also saw a small blue Kingfisher too. It was beautiful. It was so near, and yet so far... :) There are many varieties of them it seems, but did not get to see any others. Then there were the sunbirds, coucal (which makes a screechly sound) and fruit bats, called so because they live off on fruits and berries. Also saw a Brahminy Kite, they have deep brown color wings and a white head.

All in all, I think the experience of seeing and knowing about these few birds tell me, just how un-aware we are of our surroundings. When we keep our eyes open and our ears attentive, we can see and listen to nature in all its magnificent splendor. It also seems that nature, literature, music and everything of art, does a fusion of sorts to play out a grand enigma, which while not to be deciphered thread-bare, can still be savored eternally..

Shakespeare had this to say: "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin..", which I think rings true. There appears no walls of differences in our awe and splendor for nature.

So when you see the wide-expanses of the sky and birds flying high above your head, realize how much is possible. We have much to learn..!

Yanni by your side...

Its been a very long time. More than 6 months have gone by and without a post...tch-tch.

Its better late than never though! And what can be a better time than now..Here I am listening to "True Nature" from one of the composers I admire the most. Yanni. I have listened to his compositions for more than 15 years now. And yet, I never tire of listening to his music as each time it is so refreshing and so peaceful. Oh..."Reflections of Passion" just started :)

The first time I saw him was on TV. I was in school then. It was some 17 years ago, when Yanni performed in front of the Taj Mahal. A symbol of love. And I fell in love with his music instantly! His uplifting, inspiring and ever so beautiful music. Since then I have been following and listening to all his albums and performances in so many wonderful places (at one time I thought he was going to cover all the 7 wonders of the world..he has mostly though).

I remember 17 years ago there were cassettes, and I was a proud owner of a "Walkman"! Heard of those things lately?!? Well, I listened to his albums on it for years ! I used to sleep with those headphones on and let the music come to an end..by then I would have fallen into a peaceful slumber..! So many days and so many nights, Yanni was by my side. That was also one of the names of his album! And I remember thinking once that I should put up a huge poster of his in my room..but out of sheer embarrassment, I never did!!

But it did inspire me some to try music and got me into learning about music. I took up Guitar lessons (Reynold's anyone?!) and performed a few times at school concerts. Also had a little band in Wipro and we performed, but just once in front of our Finnish clients :)

Time and tide took over and well, that was that.

Ah, "Dance with a Stranger" is on now..

And now guess what?!! Yanni is going to be performing. In India. In Bangalore. In Manyata Tech Park. Opposite to my office building. TOMORROW!!! It is as if he is coming just for me!!

And yea, I have my tickets booked and I am going!!!! Oh boy...I just can't wait!! It is going to be like..gee...I don't know. Something like meeting your childhood hero..!!

Once I recover my senses from his music I will surely write about the experience!!

But let me take a little time out now to write a little about music itself and especially the kind Yanni creates. Oh...what perfect time. "Tribute" just started...! The most soul-stirring of all music that I have ever heard till date. It just doesn't let you be you. It draws you out and puts you under this beautiful beautiful spotlight that is so enchanting..its like a drug! Everything just flashes by you in an instant. All your fears are put to rest. Everything just falls away and you remain in the midst of your feelings which are filtered out to its purest form. Its lovely. Shakespeare rightly said, " If music be the food of love, play on..." Sigh, I have no more words to describe it. I have lots of words to describe it and yet...all those fail me. And it always brings a little tear in my eyes.

I will write more about music later. Its time to listen to "Tribute" one last time before I sleep...tomorrow I shall hear it from its maker!

The curious case of company identity...

When I joined Motorola some years ago, it was one company. After a few years, Motorola got split up into two companies, Motorola Mobility, which became the handsets business and Motorola Solutions, which was primarily the networks and push-to-talk business. I became part of Motorola Solutions after that split.

A few years later, Motorola Mobility got bought over by Google. And a part of the Motorola Solutions business by Nokia-Siemens Networks (NSN). That brought an end to an 80 year old company called Motorola; though Motorola Solutions is still around carrying the legacy of Motorola, albeit only a small piece of the giant it once was. For many of the old-timers, it was a defining moment.

Well, I became part of the NSN group after that (A joint partnership between Nokia and Siemens). Later this year, Siemens pulled out of this partnership and we became Nokia Solutions and Networks (still retaining the name NSN!).

And now, just a few weeks ago, Microsoft has bought over Nokia itself. With it, another company, with almost a 150 year old history has come to an end. And I am sure that very many emotions were at play on the minds and hearts of those who had been associated with it.

So I was wondering for a while if we will soon be called MSN (though I had a sneaky feeling I had heard that name somewhere before!). But that was not the case and our company continues to function as NSN, a Nokia company.

But imagine I am introducing myself and I am asked where I worked. Earlier it was simple. I would simply say, “I work for Motorola”. After a few years, “I work for Motorola Solutions”. Now here comes the confusion. People unfamiliar with the Motorola brand would automatically associate it with mobile phones, and I would have to patiently explain the difference between the network world and the handset world. And then after a few years I said, “I work for NSN..it stands for Nokia-Siemens Networks, which recently acquired the networks divisions of Motorola Solutions”. So they would say, “Ah, so Motorola exists no more?”, and I would say, “It does, Motorola Solutions is still around..”. Confusion!

Thankfully, the name NSN qualified what world I worked in, but many would still continue saying I work in “Nokia” (the devices company), which wasn’t true!

From this year I have been saying, “I work for Nokia-Solutions and Networks”. And now when I say this, they would say, “But didn’t Nokia get bought over by Microsoft” (someone’s reading up the papers!)”. I would go on to explain that Nokia (the handsets company) is bought over. The Nokia legacy still lives on, albeit in a smaller form, as NSN.

By the way, all this was only what I have seen happening. I have not gone into the legacies of these companies, or the numerous companies that were an offshoot from them, in previous years! But, having seen some of the action, I have now developed this ability to roll-off words like mergers and acquisitions and consolidation in the telecom world etc, quite adroitly!

In any case, what is quite apparent is that many of the earlier so called “software-only” companies are getting into the mobile eco-system and mobile computing/devices business.

I am sure many others might have witnessed something similar elsewhere! Do share your thoughts.