Employment in India (in the early 2000) - A call for a strong manufacturing sector and entrepreneurship!

This is a short blog concentrating on the employment figures of INDIA which has a foreseeable growth potential in the 21st century. It is apparent to feel that the role of governance is such a cornerstone in the making of a nation's history. At the time of writing this blog, its saddening to see the lost potential of this nation stuck in the hands of controversial politicians, flimsy laws and gullible populace.

In the first half of the first decade, 60 Million jobs were added. But despite strong economic growth, its quite astonishing to see no new jobs added between 2005 and 2012.

If at all, there is a chance to keep the momentum before the steam runs out, it is very essential to target the manufacturing sector. The role is not to burden urbanization. The rural parts and the villages are also vital and dominant. It is very essential to strategically bring development through job creation in these areas such that cities do not get overwhelmed. At last if all the people in the village think that cities are the place to make money, then this sort of development is unsustainable.

That's one part of the story. India is also producing graduates at an alarming rate faster than they can find jobs. What's also needed is more of entrepreneurs opening companies, creating jobs.

Finally, it's time to use the demography to advantage for the betterment of the nation and its people. Though that responsibility for progress is more in the hands of the government, people too can bring a difference.

As the saying goes "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it's the only thing that ever has" -- Margarate Meade

Watch the following video for more insights:

Self Ambiguity: Being grateful or Being the change?

This is going to be a real short post. For this, I am just taking one video that my friend posted on social media as a reference.

What's your take after watching this?
Being grateful for having money to comfort ourselves is normal but to bring a change to such a problem here is quite a trick. The boy knows to speak English pretty well (except knowing that the Americans speak English too), but the situation which has forced him to have a pessimistic view of life ahead is sad and can be changed.

In what way can we bring this change?

The joy in spontaneity!

How often have you fretted when something did not go as planned? Perhaps you pined for a well planned weekend travel and suddenly it goes for a toss leaving you clueless about the uncertainty. I was in a similar situation but yet had a memorable experience which I want to reminisce through this blog. The initial parts are just my experiences and the revelations are concluded later.

I need not tell you how fabulous the feeling of seeing the clock tick past 16:00 hours on a Friday is. However, I wasn’t really looking forward to the weekend and was a bit petulant about the road trip to Slovenia which did not go my way. I somehow have a mindset for circumstances and I get queasy when they do not go as planned. Nevertheless, ‘Things could be worked out spontaneously’ I said to myself. Suddenly, I got a call from my friend Gokul to watch “The Dark Knight Rises”. Though it extended to the late hours of the night, my answer was a certain YES!

After the movie, I was asked by Gokul’s friends if I had an interest in skydiving the next day. Gokul was acrophobic and hence showed no interest in the offer. Hearing about the departure at 07:00 in the morning, I told them not count me in. After all, who would want to get up so early on a Saturday? More importantly, how can I decide on the fly and say yes? But this Saturday appeared significant for a reason. I had orbited the SUN for the 26^th time – in other words, it was my 26^th birthday! An early morning call from my beloved parents woke me up at 06:45. Lying on my bed, clueless, I instantly decided to fantasize my whim and put a check mark on the most awaited activity on my bucket list. It was at this moment, I decided to skydive.

Already a bit late for the departure, I called my friend Abhi who was kind enough to accommodate this change. He gladly suggested me to take the next connection along with others who had delayed his operations. Thank God! I still have a chance of making it I thought. For most part of the day, I ended up catching everything just in the nick of time. I bumped into my good old friend Shesh whom I hadn’t met for 2 years and guess what? He also had come to skydive – A small world indeed! I was keen about not wasting too much time on the camp and that my turn would come soon. And so was Shesh, who had optimistically vouched his return by 11:00. After a painful wait and just before our enthusiasm plummeted, we got our turn at 18:00 hours.

We were fully geared up for the dive from 4000 meters and the adrenaline levels were high enough to surpass the butterfly effect in our stomach. We boarded the aircraft and after 5 minutes, we assumed that it was time to jump. But to our surprise, it wasn’t even 1000 meters - the first quarter of the ascent.  We were reminded for every 1000 meters and slowly reached the 4000 meter mark. The tandem master did some final checks and prepared us for the jump. The doors of the aircraft opened, we were on the edge and seconds away from THE JUMP that could not be undone. I remembered that all through the way, I was making fun of this saying “If you do not succeed in your first attempt, then skydiving is not for you”. And soon I found myself in the moment of truth validating the statement for its verity. The experience has been recorded in the video below.

Satisfied with the spontaneous decision of skydiving, I fell back on my habit of static planning and thought of spending a quiet Sunday in Stuttgart. But my friend Shesh had already arranged a party with his friends and me in Heilbronn. I had a very splendid time and met Shreyas, Veda, Puneet, Gopal among others, celebrated my birthday by cutting a cake, spent a night filled with laughter and then woke up with a mild hangover. A nice topping to this weekend was a good game of cricket and the fabulous delicacies that whet my appetite.

May be I deviated here in cherishing those memories, but my point is really about the lesson learnt in retrospect. It’s the same position on my bed, before and after the weekend, where I was clueless. Clueless on a Saturday morning wondering what to do for the weekend and clueless on a Sunday night thinking about unexpected outcome of spontaneous events. Had I not decided to watch the movie, skydive or join the party, had I just repented over the inconceivable road trip and had I not decided to act spontaneously? I am not sure of what I would have missed. Of course I missed my home, parents and friends, but in their absence I found some set of events which fulfilled me to the core.

A thing well planned and executed is good, but, in the midst of anomalies, often it does help when we adapt quickly as there seems to be a ‘joy in spontaneity’.

Just in Time. Really !!

There are numerous events in life which we would have managed just in the nick of time. This is one such true life anecdotal incident which I want to reminisce through this blog.

The final year of Engineering is a blissful period especially when one has secured a job and is about to wrap up studies. It was at this juncture when four optimistic youngsters ventured into a research level project. Though it was a pride to brand it as a project in collaboration with the elite IISc (Indian Institute of Science), the project had its own twists and turns. Let us not get into its technicality but head straight to the day before submission.

I still remember rambling around the corridor of my college campus for we had to follow-up on a few important formalities before the next day. Amongst those, the tasks were to:

• Get the project reports printed from the printing press
• Get the reports signed by Head of Department (HOD), Principal and the advisor at IIsc

First was the marathon to the press to get the report which happened scarily close to the time the HOD was about to leave for the day. 'The HOD has just left the office' was the outcry over the phone from one of our vigilant source. Thankfully, the huge infrastructure of the college had a long walk from the staff room to the staff parking area through the Principals' office in the lobby. Every bit of this buffer time helped us in finding the HOD just as he strolled through the front foyer. There was no mark of hesitation in signing the reports 'the HOD is eager to reach home soon' was our surmise. Indirectly, the on time delivery of our Bachelors degree was in the hands of this printing press. But nonetheless, phew! 'Just in Time' we thought. Next was an insane attempt to get the Principals' signature without even bothering to make an appointment. Despite an annoyed look from his secretary, we barged into the room to get his signature. Voila!! Another 'Just in Time' event. In the midst of our recuperation, the premonition of missing the other signature invaded us. Miraculously we ended up getting all the signatures 'Just in Time'. What fun does it make when everything happened 'Just in Time'?

The fun lies in the answer to this question: 

For our project, we worked on an optical networking protocol. Based on your reading thus far, can you guess the name?

Yes you are right if you guessed 'Just in Time'. 'Just in Time' also known as JIT was indeed the protocol we worked on. A memorable happenstance. This blog post goes in dedication to my wonderful project mates Roopesh - AKA Professor, Rutwick - AKA Toothpick and Sagar - AKA Sucre and also to my ever inspiring friends - Viju, Ajit, Vikas, Sameer and BT.

Limitless Automation

The quest for automation has been the prime reason for technological advancements. Engineers, and perhaps in an indirect manner, even scientists seem to be intent on making the common man lazier. Being an engineer, I find this pursuit towards advancement quite exhilarating, interesting and challenging but I find myself in a fix when a new invention is presented to humanity. A part of my mind rebels and thinks like a Luddite (don't worry if you are not aware of this term for now). The thought of blogging about this topic ahead of my Amsterdam trip adventure arose when I was working on an interesting algorithm. It became more intense when I watched the employed factory workers in the movie "Schindlers' List" last weekend. No, this is not about the eventual fate of those workers. In this blog, I want to briefly take you through history and then explain my dilemma. This blog (though most of it is under the grasp of a layman) might be of more interest to my tech savvy friends.

The dilemma which I am referring to is 'our over indulgence with machines'. While often I feel that it is good, there are also several instances when I wonder whether it is potentially damaging to us. This topic is debatable. Let us see what happened in the recent past and what's happening now. This dilemma can be compared to the interesting "Luddite Fallacy" of the labour workers. The Luddite movement began during the Industrial Revolution in the earlier years of the 19th century. They protested against excessive use of machines which gave rise to unemployment on a massive scale. Many  workers became redundant as machines did most of their work in a faster and efficient manner. I cannot be sure when it comes to sympathising them. Looking at the current advancements, we may now conclude that they were insane. But may be, during those days, their ideology was a self-proclaimed truth. Okay! Too anachronous? Let us examine the current scenario just to try and understand the reason for their fallacy.

What happened since then is that we saw the advent of marvellous machines and skilled labour which, no doubt, has led us to where we are now. But, now there is a sudden shift in paradigm. One might argue that there is still strong employment potential because we still need people to operate such machines given the fact that machines are dumb. But what we might not readily be aware is the second level of intelligence we are trying to add through "Machine learning" and other intelligent algorithms that makes human intervention and supervision unnecessary. Okay! earlier machines took away work from manual labourers and now algorithms are snatching jobs from skilled labourers. Again, one may ask "Aren't we progressing after all? Further, has that not spawned a huge job market for algorithm developers?” To that my answer is definitely YES but, I also ask for how long and at what cost? Imagine an algorithm developer now being replaced by a powerful machine which synthesizes algorithms for any problem with sheer efficiency and accuracy. Meaning - we advance intelligence to such an extent that algorithms are generated automatically for a given problem (and I bet you that it is not a distant future). Can you envision the fate of algorithm developers then? I mean I am just imagining a day when there is so much of automation that there is no need of any workers apart from machines. Otherwise, you can recursively keep trying to ask questions to please yourself till you hit that bottommost case at which a machine replaces your skill.

So this is the 21st century Luddite Fallacy that I have now. The topic is open for discussion. With conviction, can you tell me if it is good to be inordinately machine dependent? Or is it bad?

Some reflection helped me conclude by giving myself the following answer:
We live in an age of Limitless Automation. So long as we stay updated, we can bring continuous improvement in human condition thereby evolving mankind to a new level. In this pursuit we should ensure that we do not neglect the very home (nature) that we live in. I hope we are intelligent enough in keeping machines one step behind.

Hopefully I did not confuse you whilst recounting my dilemma. Nevertheless, few insights from you will be appreciated.

A window through which I see Life !!

We often find ourselves many a times standing in front of the mirror and trying to figure out the answer for the most precarious question on earth "What is life and why are we here ?? !!". Well this requires a lifetime of an experience to answer. But out of the experiences I have had till date, I would certainly like to tell you my perspective about the fascinating life and death.

Universe they say started with the Big Bang and ever since then, it became an instant hit with humanity. Life kicked off on earth, millions of species thrived and man has categorically been the dominant most creature on this very planet. To most people life on earth may seem a coincidence or a stroke of luck, but however to me, life here seems a like a purpose and I believe strongly in some magical force behind such a wonder. The sun, the earth going round it, the gravity, the mountains, the water, the species and most importantly the human mind - Come on this is too much of a coincidence to think of.

There is one thing which I presume happens to everyone during their term here.
Illustration with a help of an example:
There was a boy in school, he never probably enjoyed home works and impositions. Was thinking about how those elder to him were free from home works and all the mess. Then came college life where he had so much freedom for many things (example no more uniforms and hair/nail cut etc). There was a feeling that his too much independence was coming at a cost of something. At this age he wanted a little guidance from his dear teachers but as he was presumed to be independent, never got a piece of advice from his elders. He was free to fly. He seemed to be dissatisfied even though he was freed from onerous home work. Somehow college got over and then came in monstrous graduation tension. Here life completely and invariably involved him in a rat race and then most of his time was spent in preparation for internals and exams. This time, he was worried about getting a sound job and settling. Now that he has a job, free from home works, uniforms, internals, exams etc, he constantly pining about blissful school and college days. All done for this one intention and when he's here having a job, he gets nostalgic about old days. My one question is that why dint he thoroughly enjoy home works and other activities which he hated then ? :) Well to a degree I have enjoyed life pretty well. Just an example I am giving here. One thing worth considering is that if we are satisfied and happy with the present, it would do us a world of good. There might be a time in future when we might miss the days we slogged or struggled :) so why not live life with that zeal? Just reflect on this. 

Intention behind this lengthy prose was just to signify that every situation in life has something in it from which we can learn. We just need to wholeheartedly give a positive thought and move on. Fine tuning and breakpoints here and there are necessary for us to ensure we are on the right track. We are here to live in the present :) because it is in the present in which we are happy. The cumulative effect of our present is what makes our future and being happy in future is not a hypothesis if you are wholeheartedly living your present .

Our journey begins with a drop of sperm and ends with a fistful of ash and in between is our so called LIFE which even though fleeting has a lot to offer. It is here where we struggle to be happy, rich, famous and what not. This universe is a mirror and is always with those who believe that they can. I always believe in dreaming big, climbing the Mount Everest, owning a plot in the palm island, sky diving etc etc.
Philosophically speaking, LIFE seems a joke as nothing is permanent. Well that sounds pessimistic sometimes. Philosophy takes life to a different level and says that the birth cycle is an endless loop which encounters a break when one realizes the SELF. I find certain aspects of philosophy interesting as it has something from which anyone can learn and imbibe. There is no hard and fast rule that philosophy always is about trusting the unseen. It is more than that and is a way of life.

And now a small view on death:
Death for a living thing is a definite event with a probability of 1.
Just imagine not dying at all? Well with a decrepit body during old age I think death is a boon and a means of relief and revival. I feel that we should not worry about death so much as it is not in our hand. Death complements Life very well. A lot of leadership experts talk about the kind of feelings that one gets when lying on his deathbed. If we make the best of what Life offers and use our full potential, I am sure that we will smile and the world will cry when we leave.

Life is very uncertain one may feel but that's most fascinating thing about it. One year before, there was no certainty which could tell me what will be happening to me now. But that element of uncertainty is what I appreciate. It keeps one ticking and hoping for a lot good to happen before we kick the bucket. As Steve Jobs rightly mentions, we cannot connect the dots looking forward. All we can do for now is hope and plan for a better tomorrow. This uncertainty is coming at a shear price which is making our life eventful and the enigma if revealed, then Life would not be as challenging as it is now.

Always remember one thing, Life is precious and we are here for some purpose. To succeed, its is first necessary to believe in our SELF. It is not mandatory that all our efforts are paid off instantly. Sometimes it is fun to goof up a few things. As long as we keep trying, it should not matter if success takes time to evince.