I lost and I found it

A year back one of my senior (I should say old senior who is expert at managing things) gave me about 6 GB of Automotive presentations, ebooks and management books too. He also gave his lectures that he used to share with college students which he usually does as a part of social service.

I had for a long time in my system and one fine day I arranged them based on subjects in 10 folders. Next day I lost where I saved them. I thought I deleted them unknowingly as I was seriously clearing data from my laptop. I really felt very bad for losing them. I found it very difficult to collect information without it especially on automotive subjects. And today I found them. eeeeee :) Cloud computing where are you???????

Values of life is not in degree certificates

A wonderful article from The Hindu. Author : Sriram Balasubramian.

I strongly believe this article is a fact. I am also to an extent victim of the Indian Education System of studying books without understanding, mom forcing to study English though I never knew why I was forced. But after my college and in my professional life, I got chance to meet and see some best people who really made me realise the value of life.

There is one instance I remember during my 12th std school. My good friend asked to memorise all Thirukural (poetry in Tamil) so that I could answer my board exam and get additional marks if we could quote the same words. I told her that, what it says are principles in life that has to be followed in life. I will remember them for lifetime and I need waste time in memorizing the actual words. (And hidden fact is that, Language marks are counted for admission in Engineering or medical colleges during my school days!!!)

I am happy I also had some brain!!!! I am proud of it!!

Dropping out has always fascinated me. Dropping out of college is always something that has intrigued me a lot. The reason being that quite a few of them who actually drop out go on to become not just world beaters but path-breaking innovators who actually improve humanity as a whole. While my intention is not to encourage people to drop out, I feel that this actually works for a certain section. Here's why:

Education is defined as a process in which we gain knowledge, values and skills set that can aid our future lives. In today's educational systems, we are told that these three core competencies are imbued in us, unfortunately that is not always the case. The fact is, in quite a few cases, we are stuck in the illusion that we have obtained these under the garb of a degree certificate. A degree certificate is largely (not always, there are exceptions) a reflection of our memorising ability, our ability to study local author books to pass the exam somehow and also of knowledge which eventually gets diluted once we enter the working world.

In essence, our educational experience fits the person who is comfortable with adapting himself to a structured system. The structured system is efficient in its own ways but it suits only certain types of people. On the other hand, the person who has dropped out, ironically, attains all the three competencies with his experience with the practical world.

First, the dropout experiences downright humiliation from society. Our society would decry and despise him for his inability to cope with the Engineering/Medicine demands. He then goes through a stage where he is mentally cornered and he decides to pursue the unknown. He starts to explore himself more since he has the time to do so and doesn't have much of a choice.

Once in the exploration process, he decides to explore the unknown in his area of interest. He is not confined by the structures set by either society or the system; thus the exploration covers a much wider area of study since that individual never takes anything for granted.

For example, if I was an engineering student, I would forgo some chapters in my syllabus since these would not be covered for the “exam.” On the other hand, the dropout would try to explore the practical implications of this subject and explore the unknown within this subject by reading on his own. As such, this allows him to study beyond the realms of structural education which narrows down our intelligence to a streamlined path. This immense exploration enhances that individual's knowledge in a much wider perspective, a perspective that would enhance his skills set also.

Skills set is a very crucial aspect of education. In fact, the focus on education should be on the skills set more than the academic jargon. Once an individual starts to explore and settles in one specific area (owing to his own exploration and not what the system pushes him into), then that individual will look for skill sets that can help him out. Additional courses can help him gain this practical knowledge that can directly help his area of interest.

When the dropout ventures out to earn his skills set, he comes across the wrath of social prejudice at a very early age. The impact of social inequality and social prejudice sets into that person very early on. As such, the dropout understands the need for finding ways to enhance the fundamentals of long-term success. Most of the dropouts generally look for role models and they realise that the values system is the base for any success at any stage in life. The fundamental importance of values, which the educational structure often overlooks, is imbibed by the dropouts at an early stage. The practical hardships of surviving without anything also make them yearn for more sustainable success mantras. As such, life corners them to imbibe values within since their survival is at stake.

My reference here is to people who want to succeed but they are not able to do well in the structured and rigid education system we have. In no way do I encourage people dropping out, if given an option it should be avoided. However, if someone is forced to drop out (or feels that's the way out), then the world is equally at his feet. It offers him enough possibilities to gain knowledge, attain skills set and enhance their value systems.

Just because you drop out doesn't mean the world ends, it is just the beginning of a whole new exciting world!

(The writer's email ID is: rams7777@msn.com)

Best of 2011

My Bday

I had the best surprise for this Bday. All my school mates together in chorus singing me a Bday song at 12 noon through phone. Wow!!! That is the best thing that happened in 2011. My college roomies also gave a wonderful ‘blast’ at Gurgaon.

Trip to Manali and Agra

My mom, dad, sister and brother in law were here for a trip. We started early to rothang pass and the road was even skidding. Wow that was the best experience. I made them play in ice. I made them have an experience of para-gliding. Wow!!!! Wow!!!! Wow!!!! The best trip of my lifetime.

My best friend wedding

It is a beautiful love story. Arranged marriage though. He was not interested in marriage at all. But his mom forced him to her house. I still remember his words, “When I saw her, I could not refuse”. The best one is that she wanted him to write a poetry and the William Shakesphere searched in internet and sent to us for grammar correction. Ha ha J

Well there were other school friends wedding though but I could not attend.

I was very happy to see many happy faces.

Trip to Rishikesh for rafting

We were about 21 college guys having a get-together. We enjoyed to be best. The pics at facebook talk louder than anything else.

Pushing my swift hard

The pleasure of driving in beautiful road 2 lane road in Tamil Nadu. I travelled 400 kms just to take my dad home for new year early J.

My colleague words

He joined my team beginning 2011 and he introduced me to his friends one day as “Mentor”. Ha ha. J That was the first time I realised that I should teach him.

He made me refer books.!!!! Later during end of the year, he said in a meeting that, “Naresh sir is responsible for whatever I am today” Wow!!! I never expected these words from him. (I think the truth is he is best. He was sincere in learning. He had the urge to learn, work. Any kind of work )

I consider it as an achievement in life. Also there are other people who have told me, “Sir give us orders, we are there at your command” ha ha J I felt too good though it was for fun part.

I am happy that I could team up with people

The urge for money

There were many of my friends who has a BMW and one with posted with a Lexus. I could not resist the urge going abroad, especially after visiting Japan. I was mesmerised with the perfection and the quality of living of the developed world. The easiest way is study there and get a job.

It made me sick. To come out of the madness, it was very hard. It was very hard to convince myself that job is same everywhere. One should compromise few things if we want something. I was completely convinced that I was not the guy for taking up "research" for rest of my life and fooling myself. I will take the research on what I like :)

I found very difficult to convince that I should do what I like and prepare every step for a long run. It is one life and I rule it not the environment or the money.

The professional life

I had the bad time. I was seriously angry on my boss, the systems we followed and some rules which I could not accept. I grew lazy and I stopped working. It made me feel low at working place too. In professional world problems are not like 10th std Maths question paper where you try to solve by yourself, we can work in groups and solve them. The only thing you should have is the willingness to work together.

2011 was a big year in my life. It made me think to take me to right path.