The End of an Epic Story

Just 2 days back, I was finally able to finish the epic miniseries 'America : The Story of US' which I was following from a long time. The series had 12 episodes explaining the whole story of the strongest nation in the world - USA. The story takes the viewer from the early settlements in Jamestown to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in New York. Over the whole series, a lot of praise has been showered over the country and how it conquered the world through their hard work and tenacity. The documentary shows how the small 13 colonies started and gave birth to one of the biggest nations on earth.

As per our last discussion, the America was on the verge of American Civil War due to the indifference's in the North and South over slavery. On April 12, 1861 the war finally started between the newly formed Confederate States of America and the Union. This war changed the facade of USA forever. Abraham Lincoln was the president at that time and the led the Union's army. Lincoln paid more emphasis to technology from the beginning and his investments in telegraph, railroads, increased industrial production and supply lines proved too advanced for the formidable army of South. In the end, South surrendered on May 10, 1865 after four years of bloody war.

The next episode 'Heartland' explores the further development of the hinterlands of the continent. The trans-continental railroad also known as the Pacific Railroad was started just before the American Civil War and is considered one of the greatest technological feats of that time. The railroad united the whole nation and made travel across coast to coast possible in a short duration. During this period, lots of people migrated to the plains of Oklahoma and Nebraska in search of land. These plains provided them with free land, but also the hardships of this tough region. As the settlers came, the native population was driven out and the local flora and fauna was destroyed to a large extent. The wild buffalo's once roamed these great plains in millions, but they were hunted ruthlessly for money. Slowly the cattle's replaced wild buffalo's as the main beast of the land and the cowboy became the national icon.

The next episode pondered over the growth of cities in US. Andrew Carnegi started an empire of steel, with his new technological innovations in steel making and made him one of the richest people on earth. This cheaper steel made possible the development of skyscrapers and other US national developments. America grew rapidly during this period and the life of people all across America improved. NewYork becomes the city of skyscrapers, with the most number of skyscraper among any city in the world. Meanwhile,the Statue of Liberty is gifted to USA at the 100 years of US Independence (October 28, 1886). This was placed at the New York harbor as the gateway to United States. Since then, this colossal statue of copper which has now oxidized to green color has become an American symbol.

The boom age of America begins with the start of 20th century; the discovery of oil makes America one of the largest producers of oil and also one of the richest. All over the America, people are investing in oil exploration and nowhere is this on a bigger scale than Texas. During the same time, automobiles become famous in America, but their high costs keeps them just in the reach of rich. But Henry Ford changed the whole industry with his innovative assembly line methodology to develop cheap cars at a much larger scale. In a few years, America became the biggest producer of automobiles in the world. In the same time, massive projects are being undertaken throughout the America to develop and modernize the continent especially in the Western part. But with great power usually comes great issues also; the increased money of Americans leads them to alcohol and the problem increases to such an extent that the government passes an amendment in Constitution for prohibition of sale of Alcohol in US. But, somethings cannot be controlled. The prohibition gives birth to a black market for sale and distribution of Alcohol and further gives birth to organized crime.

But as they say the only thing constant in the world is change itself. Boom is changed to bust when Stock market crashes in 1930's leading to vast unemployment and shrinking of economy. In addition to it, the dust bowl causes severe damage to North American Great Plains. This was the period when massive dust storms appear over the American continent and affect the land severely. The Federal government tries to spur recovery by investments in major projects like Hoover Dam, Lincoln Tunnel etc. which provide employment to many people.

The major change to American economy comes when the terror of World War II strikes America. America was having a neutral status in the war until Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and awakens this sleeping giant. The entry of America in the war shakes the whole country. Industries are revived again and production skyrockets. America shocks the world with her technological prowess and industrial might. New weapons are developed at a scale never imagine before. It was this war which led to development of Nuclear Weapons through the Manhattan project. The first two nuclear bombs were used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The destruction through these two led to Japan's surrender and World War II ended finally in 1945. 

The end of war led to a new era of development in the country with America becoming a superpower. The greatest generation returns from the war and a baby boom occurs. This is a time when huge strides are made in space and technology. Soviet Union and USA move into a space race over who will be able to send a man first on moon. America wins this war by its Apollo 11 mission which took Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to moon. This era experiences lot of hot issues like Cuban Missile crisis, Vietnam War and Communism. But with the division of Soviet Union inn 1989, cold war ended and a stability again resumed in the world. 

The last episode of the series depicts America in 21st century. How far it has arrived from its humble beginnings with the independence of 13 colonies from Britain. The world has moved also with it and this new era brings with it new threats and new opportunities. The 9/11 attacks on New York rumbles the whole country and the country one's again unites against the external threat of terrorism. America attacks Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. The journey of America keeps on going towards the future, even though the story comes to an end.

Moser Baer: A Perfect Example of a Company's Inability to Forsee the Change

Moser Baer is one of the biggest success stories of Indian manufacturing industry. Just a few years back, I used to feel proud, whenever I used to see its story in print media and online. It was a perfect example of the spirit of entrepreneurship, how a company started from scratch became the second largest manufacturer of optical disks in the world. In this age, where even the term manufacturing reminds us of China, it used to shine as one of the few flames of the Indian manufacturing story. The company was started by Deepak Puri, with international collaboration to make storage devices. The company started with floppy disks, but got into mainstream near 2000, when seeing future growth in optical disks, they invested huge amounts into capacity addition. Soon, Moser Baer started exporting all varieties of optical disks throughout the world through its manufacturing plant in NCR.

The only real competitors for it was some Taiwanese companies like Ritek, who seeing the growth of Moser Baer, started shifting their manufacturing to China. The move to China was going to lower the cost of disks drastically, thus reducing the profit margins of company. In response to it, Ratul Puri son of Deepak Puri, took a bold decision to increase capacity to 3 billion disks a year and thus forcing the prices down. But, what they forget was to see the ongoing change in the storage industry. The biggest factor in technological industry is the continuous change; the prices of flash devices fell and the world moved on to pen drives and thumb drives from CD’s and DVDs. The additional capacity increase brought a major debt on the company, while the decreasing demand eroded margins further.

Now, the company is in shambles. One of the major investors, Warburg Pincus has sold his stake at a huge loss. The current CEO, Ratul Puri knows this and has shifted his focus to solar power. He knows that his company is still a leader in micro-coating of surfaces, and has the potential to move ahead in this sphere due to increasing demand. But, again China factor has come into play. Due to government subsidies and a favorable business environment, China is now the world leader in solar panel manufacturing and produces a quarter of the world production. The lower prices and high volumes of Chinese players are one of the most difficult challenges for Puri. Further, the failure of Moser Baer is shadowing the moves of Moser Baer Projects; it is becoming more and more difficult to raise capital for the capital intensive solar panels manufacturing projects. His current investors applaud his project execution skills, while the previous investors are not happy with the current scenario of company. The share price has plummeted to 5 Rs from the high of 340 in 2007.

Had Puri and the board of Moser Baer predicted the future properly, they would have invested more in other storage media application. But rather than diversifying into multiple areas, they put all their eggs in a single basket. Only the future knows, what will happen to Moser Baer, but for meanwhile I am keeping my fingers crossed and wishing Puri a good luck.

Some Chits and Bits

This weekend had been great. After a long time, found some leisure for myself. It all started when my manager asked me for a report at 10:30 pm on Thursday; I was tired and was in no mood to work. But, management doesn't gives a damn to this. I had to generate the defect report. I finished my work around 2:30 a.m and informed my supervisor that I would be working from home the next day. He also agreed readily. After that, I thought of sleeping, but the sleep was now miles away. So, I started surfing the web. I never knew, what led to what and when I saw the clock again, it was 4 a.m. So, I closed my laptop hastily and went to sleep. This was the beginning of a fabulous weekend.

I watched the movie 'The Road' on Friday night, it was a post-apocalyptic story of father and a son, trying to survive on the harsh planet  by all means possible. Even though I have watched a lot of movies on the same genre, I liked this one particularly for the common theme observed all across the movie, the parts of movie, were strewn very skillfully. Moreover, near the end where the father knows that he will die in some time, but still he pushes to teach his son, so that he can survive here, after he is gone. The relationship between a father and a son has been portrayed very beautifully. The ending was a little unpredictable for me, as I thought something interesting will happen to the boy after his father's death, but all that happens that  he meets another veteran survival family who adopts him. But, still I enjoyed the movie.

Both these nights, I have slept late and enjoyed the sleep by waking up post noon. Today, I read few chapters of 'Glimpses of World History' where the topic was about Napoleon and the events happening all over the world around that time. I found Napoleon to be a strong, powerful personality who thundered whole of the Europe through his continuous conquests. I also watched the 5th episode of 'America : The story of US'. The episode told the tale of American Civil War and how the North was able to defeat the South with the cunning use of better logistics, faster communication and a stronger industry even though the South had a military superiority. The credit of this major win goes to the cunning mind of 'Abraham Lincoln' who knew that a better logistical and communication system will give the military a edge over the others.

And here I am finally pouring some thoughts here for storage, so that they are not lost in the deluge of the infinite others I will get as my age progresses ahead. Here, they will be permanent; atleast till Google doesn't shuts the Blogger down as it did with the beloved 'Google Reader' and still its motto is 'Don't Be Evil'. What a Joke!!!

Story of America: Division

The fourth episode of the documentary focuses on the rapid pace of development with which America is growing in 19 century and how this new developments have made it one of the richest nations of the world. The southern states of US provide one of the best climate for cotton; the same cotton which is having huge demand in the factories all over the world especially the British mills. By 1840, US was producing almost 60% of the world's cotton. This new magical export made the southern states very rich.

But cotton farming requires huge manpower. To fulfill this gap, slaves were brought mainly from Africa and were sold to rich landowners like cattles. This issue of slavery brought tension between the Northern and Southern states. While the northern states, looking for an egalitarian society wanted slavery to be abolished; the Southern's states were in its favour due to its major contribution in its economy. This led to rise in tensions between the both. The election of Abraham Lincoln marks an important step in the whole scenario, as he is faced with a dilemma. Any path Lincoln will take has the potential to change the future of America forever.

Cotton Production in 18th and 19th Century

                             

Measures To Control Growing Traffic and Pollution

The significance of petrol in today's society can be judged by the fact that it is known as 'black gold/liquid gold'. Most of the vehicles that we use today for transit or freight run on the vast energy of sun stored in this liquid. Petrol has changed our lives forever through the automobile revolution, and now it is silently changing our lives again through the pollution it leaves behind.

This pollution through vehicles forms one of the most biggest chunks in the pollution we face today. Increasing the prices of petrol is an effective way to counter our over-dependence on petrol and thus countering the increase in traffic and pollution. The increase in prices will directly effect the consumption of it by people due to the monetary causes involved. This will also lead to decrease in the wastage of fuel and will encourage people to use other alternatives in the market. This will further revolutionize the industries through both the sides; the automobile industry will innovate further to increase the efficiency of the vehicles in order to balance the drop in demand while there would be an increased focus to find other green alternatives for transportation.

In addition to this there are lot of other measures available to contain these growing menaces. Development of expansive and affordable mass transit systems in the major cities is a bright option which will allow many people to use one public vehicle. Thus, reducing the traffic drastically in the areas, providing people an alternative option at cheap prices and saving tons of harmful emissions. The metros and 'BRTS' are already being used in some of the major cities of the world. Another radical idea being implemented in many major European cities is to tax the core areas of the cities for some fixed key hours. This will encourage people to use the public transport and will further reduce the traffic and pollution. Many cities like London and Stockholm are using this system already with good results.

In the end, I can conclude that, there are many ways which can be followed to control the increasing pollution and traffic in our world today. But the simplicity and the prospect of no extra investment makes the idea of increasing the petrol prices makes it the best option available in these troubled times when the global economy is going through one of its biggest recessions ever. 

The Odyssey Till Now [Part-1]

I will start this from the last thoughts that I still remember. My father was in Indian Air Force, so I got the opportunity to live a different kind of life and to explore lots of places. My journey started on 1990 in 'Pathankot', a small city on the banks of River Chakki. I was born in a Military Hospital through a Cesarean. I do not remember anything of that place, but have heard a lot about it. As per the accounts of my siblings, the Air Force Station there was a very secluded place and was not known to many people. I sometimes feel lucky that I was born in Punjab, my native state. I have heard that we had a private garden there and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables used to grow there. I have forgotten the names of those now, even though I was told about them many times.

After around 18 months of my birth, my dad got transferred to 'Bagdogra', a small town in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. The transfer took us from the comforts of our native area to an entirely new place 1800 km away. I can only imagine the pain, it would have been to shift everything to such a small town, with two small children and an annoying newborn. But my parents did it, not just once but many times, during their life. I don't know how they managed so much with such little resources in their hands. I on the other side, got frustrated with two suitcases when travelling alone from Chennai to Bangalore.

I still have some memories of Bagdogra, each one getting more faded with time. I remember my time at kindergarten there, how I used to pull the young saplings from school and run straight to home and plant those in my private garden.I remember Holi I played there, and how my sister used to save me from other bullies in the neighborhood; the military hospital which I visited so often much that staff used to worry if I didn't visited for a long time. I still have a blurred picture of our home there, with the first room containing TV; where my brother in teens then used to study and a big veranda with the kitchen and other room attached to it.I feel so nostalgic, when I recollect memories of spending the evening with my siblings there; watching 'He-Man' and having snacks; sitting on my father's scooter and playing on it with my friends, fighting with my sister for ordinary things. There are many stories of Bagdogra still to be told like the day when a python came in our kitchen, but I will keep them for some other day.

Then, suddenly when I was getting accustomed to the place and the collage in my mind started coming alive, my dad got transferred again to Delhi. This time my family was a little happy that at-least we are going nearer to our native. But relocating was again a problem that too with so much of stuff. I still remember a scene of railway station, where the train is about to depart from the station and my dad and his colleagues are trying to  fit our gigantic CRT Videocon TV in the compartment, without any luck. I am unable to remember what happened next, but I remember watching cartoons on it in Delhi. Delhi, was not as crowded in those days like it is today. I have still flashbacks, when I used to go with my dad to bring fresh milk in the evening and used to be amazed after seeing the high storied apartments of Dwarka being constructed. 

How can I forget the days, when we used to live in Palam and dad used to drop 'Didi' and me to school when the streets of Delhi were filled with knee deep water after a heavy lash of rain. We lived in rented homes for an year or two there,after which we got the government allotted quarters. These were nicely built homes and quarters. I think the area was called 'Basant Nagar', but I am not sure. I stayed in Delhi, only till 6th standard, after which we were informed that we have to pack the bags again and get transferred to 'Bikaner' - a historic city in the royal state of Rajasthan.

I stayed in 'Bikaner' till 2007 and completed the rest of my schooling there. I still remember the first day in Bikaner when we reached home in an auto-rickshaw. The whole city was looking so dull and dusty. That was my first experience of a desert. Everything was completely different - flora, fauna, buildings, even people looked different. It was like we have suddenly shifted to a barren land. The weather there was very hot and it took us few days to get accustomed. I got enrolled in the Air Force School, while my sister went to college to do B.Sc-B.Ed. If I look back now, I seem to like those days so much; that innocence of childhood was different. The way I used to perceive the world has changed completely. I miss the summer vacations, when the first thing I used to do after waking up was to switch TV and watch the cartoons. I miss that tasty food that my mother used to cook.

While I was in 12th standard, my father got transferred to 'Naliya' in Gujarat. But my mom and me stayed there in Bikaner only due to my board exams. After completing my studies, I was in dilemma of what to do with my life. Then, suddenly my dad got transferred to Ludhiana. Meanwhile, I also got enrolled in LPU for B.Tech in Computer Science.In the end only we realize that life moves on, nothing is permanent. The most fascinating thing about life, is that when we look back we always realize that those moments were better; somehow that time flew faster and we missed something. In all of this chaos, we miss the present.

That's why they say:

The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
But Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

Technology: The Game Changer

Communicating with others is one of the basic human traits. In today's 21st century, technology has brought radical changes in the way, we used to interact with each other.

In earlier times, the main medium of communication was face to face and letters in case if it is not possible. But with the growth of human world, Letters and other written form of communication started becoming less effective due to the delay involved. Technology overcame this barrier with the inventions of Telephone and Internet. These two inventions brought the delay in communication to a fraction of seconds. These changes have shrunk the size of world.

These changes have changed the way not just the way we communicate, but also the way we form relationships with others. With the rise in popularity of social networks, people have got an online platform where anyone can find other people from anywhere across the world. This has opened up a lot of opportunities for people to interact with anyone, anywhere and anytime. Today, if anyone wants to make a friend with similar interests, they are just a click away. The video chat has allowed people today, to interact with each other again in a face to face manner. Today, people form relationships online and  even marry online.

These changes clearly depict the way we are changing and communicating in this globalized world. The technology has brought down the barriers and  increased our social circle to a global level by providing us the 3 As: Anywhere, Anytime and Affordability.

Big Bang Theory Returns

Finally watching the Big Bang theory again after a very long gap. I am going to start the sixth season today. Wooo!!!

Story of America: Westward; Revolution

Continuing the journey of discovering how the America came in its current state from the wilderness of 400 years ago, I saw the next two episodes of the documentary America the Story of Us. The second episode showed the ongoing war between the independent colonies of US and the British empire at its full extent.  It depicted how George Washington lead his army to win the impossible battle. On one side were the amateur militia of America while the other side had the professional army of the strongest empire of the world at the time, equipped with the modern weapons. But there was one difference, unlike the British troops, Americans were fighting for the independence.

The Declaration of Independence crafted by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by congress on July 4, 1776 was filled with rhetoric like "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". This motivated the people and was one of the most important events in the revolution. The new kind of warfare tactics developed by Washington and his sub-generals also struck the British by awe.

The next episode 'Westward' describes the journey of people from East end of America to the West and thus exploration of the whole mainland of America. This phase describes the early problems faced by the people in their exploration, but the continuation of this race due to the indomitable will of humans. It describes how the civilization discovers the uninhabited lands and the tracks used by the explorers then have now become national highways. The California Gold Rush in 1848 drew ambitious people who had dreams to become rich and the will to follow their hearts from all over the world.

The episode also mentions the expansion of US by narrating Louisiana purchase in 1803, in which US bought the territory of Louisiana from the French and which more than doubled the area of the young nation of America. The Texas revolution further increased the territory of America by adding Texas.  The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave the United States the Rio Grande boundary for Texas, and gave the U.S. ownership of California, and a large area comprising New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado. 

The documentary is not that much detailed but provides an overview of the main events in the American story of civilization. The documentary is filled with well known American people giving their views on the events of history. But sometimes it feels like a rhetoric to make the American people proud about themselves. The overall viewpoint about America is too much positive till now, no negative side of America is being discussed and  the documentary feels totally biased.

Story of America: Rebels

Today, I saw the first episode of the famous documentary America:The Story of US. It is a 12 part documentary showing how America became the most powerful nation from one of the most remote places in world. The first episode titled rebels tells how America was first settled by open and courageous people from Europe who came there to start a new life. The success of these people motivated others of their kind to come and join.

The documentary shows how Tobacco crops made the migrated people rich and made America the land of opportunity for the people who had dreams and the courage to follow them. But the increasing wealth of America also attracted Britain who quickly created 13 colonies there and imposed taxes.A third of all British shipping is made in America. But the natives were not happy with this new and biased law and governance of Britain and decided to revolt. In Philadelphia  First Continental Congress met on September 5, 1774 which included 56 delegates from 12 colonies. The delegates included John Adams, George Washington, Patrick Henry and many more.

The revolt started in Boston after a small fight between the guards and mob, but the news spreads quickly due to the revolution in postal delivery system by postmaster Benjamin Franklin. The newspapers spread the news of revolt quickly around the 3 colonies.After the tea taxes by British, people threw the tonnes of cargo in sea. British respond by closing down the Boston harbor; hundreds lost their jobs. The American rebels started forming the local militia by training them and then attacked the British army which came on the news of rebellion to suppress it and to take the arms and ammunition of rebels. When the smoke cleared, a third of the army was down or wounded.

Too Much of Focus??

It is an old saying that ‘Focus is the key to Success’. But my recent observations of my life have led me to ponder over the viability of this scenario every time. Focus means concentrating all your resources on a single point. Focus can provide one the energy required to complete the work quickly. The example of using a lens’s focus to burn a paper through sunlight has become a cliche  but it is true even now. But, real life is not just a single task, it is a tangled web of intermingled responsibilities, opportunities, dreams , aspirations and some bitter facts. I feel focusing too much on something leaves you unguarded on the other fronts. The real question is ‘Is it worth it?’. Now I am getting confused here due to a dilemma.

One side of my brain says that focus is very important to achieve your goals. This group believes that concentrating all of resources on your primary goal is very important and will lead one on the path of success. But meanwhile the other half is pulling me back, stating that even after achieving the goal, there would be no success because when you would be focusing on the goal, you would have lost the battles on other front. Focusing too  much can make you isolated from your social circle.

The first half replies back that everything can be achieved back. Life is a kind of mesh topology, with multiple nodes(current situation) interlinked to each other through multiple paths(choices we make). The end result is that the complexity of this mesh gives us the ability to have multiple options every time. As Aragon says in LOTR, “There is always hope”. Even if we don’t succeed in one thing, another opportunity springs up. But it won’t be the same as before. But isn’t this argument ambiguous. Why to focus on the opportunity if we always have the chance for next.

I don’t know the end to this argument. But I can only decide that it is always better to be in balance(Is it?? Maybe next time). So, we can conclude that it is good to be focused on a topic. Yet, it is better to un-focus for some time and enjoy. This will increase our concentration and motivation for the task. The Success lies in finding the way back to focus.