aditya kumar's weblog

My article on Anil Kumble’s latest exploits, written specifically for Desicritics.org and crossposted here.

There are a couple reasons why Anil Kumble comes to my mind every time I walk around M.G.Road in Bangalore. First, there is this road intersection named after him right in the heart of the city. When I first came to know of it, I was amused to find something like it. Cricket administrations and associations have a habit of naming stands in the stadium on state cricketers who made it big but this is an altogether different way of showing gratitude.

Second, not very far away is Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium. The sixteen runs Kumble made here, in company with Javagal Srinath’s equally valiant thirty, that made India defeat Australia in the third league match of the Titan Cup back in 1996, cast a shadow on an innings that was perhaps one of the best, if not the best, of an illustrious career — Mark Taylor’s only century in One Day Cricket. I like to think that the unbeaten innings of 16 runs that Kumble made that very night was his greatest contribution with the bat to the shorter version of the game. In Delhi that night, how I wished I was at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The four towering flood light towers of the stadium are something that I envy to this day for they have been witness to such glory.

In Delhi’s Kotla, when Kumble got his 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan, his first reaction had been that India had won. It took a moment or two for the feeling to sink in, that he had got all 10. It must have been a typically modest Kumble, dealing with yet another achievement. But the Oval test, in many ways, has shown us a side of the man that we have never come across.

This is probably why I have a feeling that for Kumble, his only century at this level must rank higher than his 10 on 10. Think like a bowler and you would probably discard a possibility of taking 10 wickets in an innings. A feat like that, if it ever came one’s way, is served with a big slice of luck. Furthermore, one does not plan for miracles. But deep inside, you won’t discard easily the feeling of hitting the cherry all over the ground like a top order batsman and contemplate hitting a ton. And if you happen to be one of those in the pavilion who shoots the defining moments on an SLR, while the Sachins and the Dravids raise their bat, the wide open arms towards the sky and say a silent prayer — you probably have played the sequence in your head and tried to live the moment countless times.

Moments after Anil Kumble tucked the bat while coming down the track on the London Oval, it seemed like Kumble had not, for a change, come of age. Instead, the man had turned into a child, a 16 year old child who had somehow made it big finally. His helmet came off as if it were the biggest but the last obstacle to a celebration marking the realization of a personal dream that he had been secretly nurturing for years.

And that is why, after what was witnessed on 10th August 2007, “Anil Kumble Circle” — that intersection at Bangalore’s MG Road, will mean more than one thing to me. Not only will it indicate one of the busiest traffic intersections in Bangalore named after India’s greatest matchwinner, but it will also mark a life that has finally come full circle, for a man who has played the role of an unsung hero for most of his part in Indian cricket.

In the midst of a phase of life where everything apart from your profession takes a backseat, I am trying hard to balance out things here. Since “instinctive” writing is not my way, the only thoughts that inspire me to write something here occur to me while I am at work. One such observation here — about the people I come across while traversing across the four floors in my office. These are the people I meet in the lift (or elevator, as the Americans say):

1. They wait without patience at the lift lobby and as soon as the lift door opens, try to barge in — without realizing that there could be people in the lift who may want to come out. Not surprisingly, they keep colliding with people.

2. These people go together, mostly two in a group. They are so much into the discussion that once inside the lift they forget that they have to go somewhere and do not press any floor button. Minutes could go before wisdom dawns.

3. Then there are the over-cautious ones who always want to make sure if the lift is going in the direction they intend to go. Funny, when on the top floor, they ask the occupants — “Sure this is going down?”.

4. In contrast to the last type, these people enter the lift simply assuming that the lift is going in the direction they want it to go. Once inside they realise that they have reached the 4th floor instead of the 2nd.

5. The last kind, once in the lift, are usually deep into a thought process. Lift stops and they get out. It is later that they find out that its not where they wanted to be.

So what was it? The biggest break I have ever had since I started blogging?

My work has kept me off all the things I like to do whenever I have some time to spare. It reminds me of my “fresher” days when, on weekdays, I used to come home for 8-10 hours. I used to be busy. Now, apart from being busy, I am under stress. As it has dawned upon me, I have realized that there is a difference between being busy and being in stress.

A couple of times, these last few days, I did log-in to the dashboard of my blog. I reached out to write. I stared at the “Write Post” screen and it stared back at me. I had that time to jot in a few lines but somehow I lost the courage to overcome that small block that I had stumbled upon. I wanted to write, write something but I failed. You know, its one of those things that I have always told to people who want to start blogging– you can’t force yourself to write. Until it comes from within, you don’t want to write. Even if you try to, you can do it once, maybe twice but not forever. Then there is this problem of “who-reads-my-blog-anyway” mindset. It’s one of the most difficult things to deal with. Together, these reasons are collectively responsible for most of the blogs biting the dust.

Since it is seldom that I do personal rants here, it becomes all the more difficult for me to come over phases like these. I am more comfortable talking about socio-economic cycles prevailing in the society and that requires that I keep a tab on matters related. I fail here again, (lack of) time being the culprit.

My problem is that I take my reading, writing and traveling too seriously. It has been a part of me always and I think of these activities as my extension. It discomforts me and I feel guilty when I am not able to do justice to these.

I talk about it all the time, I know, but these days software writing has become such a mess that I wonder, at times, if I’d like to do it all my life. The few people I know, who are qualified enough to give an opinion on it, laugh at me. They find it funny that I still consider the possibility of being in software all my life. So I have a feeling that somewhere down the line, I’d find myself at crossroads. But I hope that I’d be able to take a cue from the experience of these guys who are so sure about shifting off from software now and who, by then, must’ve dealt with the same kind of situation(s) I’ll be dealing with, during my time.

So what I have been up to then? These days, I am converting my sleep hours to currency notes, subject to the discretion of my manager, of course. I am selling my sleep,thats what I have been up to. I know a lot of people are probably doing it too and they don’t have a problem with that. They say, in a way, I am living the American dream.

But I want to read. I want to write. I want to take a week off and go to the sea. I want to sleep.

Sometimes at work, I pause.

And I wonder, if this is the thing that excites me. If I like being here in the first place. Because if it does not then there is a problem.

Apart from one or two instances when I was really down, I have never doubted my decision to be a programmer. Unlike many others of my time, I was privileged enough to own a personal computer, an 80286, back in 1994, when I was 13. I could not do much on it, apart from dbase III plus, Lotus 123, Wordstar and Prince of Persia. But that machine’s contribution is something which I can never underestimate. It made me a programmer.

Yet, I think, I am 20 years late. Why? Because, I believe, the 1980s were the best times to be, for any computer programmer. There were no idiot project managers, no stupid team leads and most of all, no CMM Levels and Quality standards for code.

My statements are not based on any research (though how I wish they were) but it is pretty evident to me that Software engineering practices and theorizing it to an extent to what we have done already, has done more harm than good to the art of computer programming. And if you feel like showing any resistance to the claim that I have just made, you are either a project manager or aspire to be one. God bless you, if its the former. Good luck, if you happen to be the latter.

The 80s stood up for the programmer. It was the time when computer programmers were allowed to do what they wanted to. It was the time when the judgment of a programmer carried value. It was also a time when programmers spent most of their time, well, programming.

CMM was made to improve the quality of the processes that an organization followed. It’s a process of continuous refinement. Nothing wrong with that except that it comes with a lot of clutter. CMM adds cost because it adds bureaucracy. Nothing wrong with that either, except that it adds it at wrong places of the hierarchy.

CMM, and the likes, are a failed attempt to theorize Computer Science.

Then of course, it takes away much from the programmer. One of the things being the value of his judgment. No, please don’t blame it on the project manager. He is trained on CMM, after all. Ask him and he’ll tell you that CMM or whatever standard they follow, is God.

Software engineering, I’d like to think, is still in infancy. It is a relatively new science which is constantly in conflict with the art that programming is.

That is why, I think I am 20 years late. I am just a poor, ordinary programmer and I’d just like to code. Please?

On World Environment Day, I start up a series of articles that focus at the need of the hour — Conserve our home, this planet. Here’s the first.

5 ways we can help our planet

Its not much difficult, trust me. I am not claiming that this is all you will ever need to save the planet but if you want to make a difference this is the easiest way out. It does not take much. I know because I practice most of these.

1. Stop using plastic — at least try to avoid using it as much as possible. Take a cloth/jute bag to shopping. Say NO when the shopkeeper gives you a polythene bag. You could be met with a hard stare when you do that because most people ask for polythene. Stop using disposable spoons, plates etc which are commonly served in most office canteens.

2. Do Carpooling/Bikepooling — Many big global organizations encourage this by forming carpool “clubs”. When I goto work everyday, I see rows of cars stuck in traffic jams and more than 70% of these cars have the driver as the only occupant. If there were three people more in the car, that would reduce 3 similar cars from the crowd. You’ve got to adjust some timetables accordingly to make way for carpooling but most of the time, this is a concept that works.

3. Be careful with electricity — Not just because it gives you an electric shock but because its difficult to generate it. Use CFL bulbs, not the regular bulbs. Instead of the CRT monitors, use TFTs. TFTs take 1/3rd of the power CRTs take up. Turn the monitor off when not in use. Unplugged isn’t the flavor of the season anymore so switch off your appliances “from the plug” when not in use.

4. Use Public transport — Try to use it whenever you can. I say this despite having an idea of the state of public transport in most cities of the country. For distances less than a kilometer or two, walk!

5. Take care with the AC and similar appliances — Don’t keep the AC temperature too low. Keep it just a few degrees lower than the temperature outside. Similarly, don’t put hot food material inside the refrigerator. In both the cases, the appliance works overtime to maintain the inside temperature and that means much more power consumption than the usual.

As I said, you won’t have to go out of your way to accommodate the above mentioned points in your lifestyle. If you have something to add,, comments, as always, are welcome. Keep in mind though — time is running out. And fast.

I am yet to come across a single telephony/broadband internet company in India which does the basics right. For example, here is something that should not have taken more than 12 hours, but the problem is already 4 days old. Reason being, wrong information provided — repeatedly. My letter to the customer care department of the biggest GSM player in India, open for all.

Dear Telephone company,

When I first emailed you for the change of billing plan from my gmail address 3 days ago, I was asked to do so from my email address registered with you. When I emailed you from the email address that is registered with you (this yahoo.co.in email address), you have sent me another email, asking me to email you from my official email address.

I am surprised how long, lengthy and irritating the whole process is turning out to be — especially since I have repeatedly mentioned that I want to go for this with “immediate effect”. It is obvious to me how much seriously you have taken my request for urgency in this regard.

You could have told me to send the email from my official address the first time itself. It has already been 3 days I have been requesting for the change of plan and all you are telling me since then is to email from one account to another. I am frustrated because you have told me to send the email from my official address NOW — on a Saturday evening, a weekend, when I can’t access my official email account until the next working day, that is Monday.

Its a pity that something that should have been sorted out by a single email has taken such a long time and still going on. Yours is an example of how the purpose of the email of being quick and fast to accomplish tasks, is totally defeated and lost. Its sad, frustrating and I will make sure that this case is heard by the masses — the people.

Thank you and you will have your email from my official email account on Monday. However, this email will go public today itself.

Aditya Kumar