The Maths Notebook

We are all set to curtain off the turbulent 2011 with a new zeal and hope for a soothing year ahead, but amidst all these turbulence we forget the small nitty gritty things about our life which sometimes we get to know from our youngers. It's new year eve, where I am sitting thinking to write something to welcome 2012, in my balcony. Children playing in the street and their noise on one hand disturbing me to think something potential, on the other hand amusing me to see how energetic and hopeful about the day ahead. Probably they don't know the harsh reality of the world or I am highly pessimist about tomorrow. whatever...

Rinku my neighbor's son is also there enjoying his winter vacation full on now a days. This boy suddenly remind me a small happening when I visited his home for some work. That day in morning his mother was bargaining with scrap collector on the price for old books and newspapers. I had some work with Rinku's father. I completed that and was coming out when I noticed Rinku arranging his notebooks in two piles. I just tempted to ask him why we was doing so, because all those books were to be given to scrap collector finally. When I asked him he told me in one pile there were his previous year math notebooks and in other pile the scrap books to be given to scrap collector.

Meanwhile his mother came in and told me Rinku never let his old math notebooks sell. It was a different experience for me to see a child loves his maths notebooks so much. I asked him to let me see his previous years notebooks. He brought all which had collected till then. I saw that dog-eared notebooks with pale yellowish pages, embellished with pencil, somewhere with pen too. I asked him why we collect those old notebooks, what could those be use of ? He told me that those notebooks comprises the maths formulae which his teachers made him write down, which is useful for him in new classes too. He doesn't need to rewrite all those again. I pass him a smile and return back to my home.

That day I learnt a very beautiful lesson about life. Over the years we have learnt lessons from our teachers, our elders, our colleagues but it's really amazing to learn from a child. A child with all his thoughts are so contagious. We elders reside more towards probability and predictability unlike a child who never believes in all these things. Rinku never thought about the number of formulae, would be useful to him in future, which would decide whether that notebook being sold or not. He just put it aside because in his sense it's useful and that's enough.

We like the fresh smell of new book, but we should always remember the dog-eared pages comprises the real stuff. In the end I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. May we have a prosperous and cheerful 2012.

Cheers !! 

Jal, Jameen aur Japan

Basically the meaning of the title of the post is 'water, land and Japan'. Actually the title represents the kind of crisis occurred in Japan few days back in the form of Tsunami (Water) and earth-quack (Land) and after that the form of Japan. First of all I would like to pay my homage to the people who unfortunately been a prey of this catastrophe. May their soul remain in peace.

Well in recent time there have been lots of happenings such as Egypt freedom, Libya crisis and now this natural calamity. We know Japan not only because of America's nuclear attack at the time of world war-II but Japan is the kind of country which teaches us lots of important things which sometimes we lack. Sometimes I am so astonish that how this low populated country abled to manage itself after world war-II destruction. Just few million people stand up with in 6-7 years on their feet and challenged world as the third largest economy of the world. This time the total population of Japan is just 127 million far lower than other countries. These facts certainly astonish anyone. When I read about this, I came to know that there was a study to know what propelled Japan growth so fast and results were really amazing.

What study told is that the working philosophy of Japan and other countries is far different. It's this philosophy that stimulate the growth so fast. This philosophy includes-

1. Zero Defect Japanese believes in zero defect policy in their product which raised the bar of reliability of their products up. We have so many examples in our day to day life too, such as in electronics media Sony has still no competitor if we talk about Indian market.

2. Just In Time This is a management term I read somewhere which Japanese follow in their work. JIT policy restricts them to procrastinate the work. They understand the value of time so as the preparation of their product.

3. Kaizen This is another management term which means 'continue process management'. This policy tends them to work continuously for betterment of the product, to improve the employee management for increasing the work efficiency.

4. Total Quality Management In businesses, this term is frequently used and thus Japanese work on this strictly. This philosophy says to work continuously to improve the quality of the product. This is complete customer satisfaction philosophy of working.

Besides these few policies points Japanese has a vast lexicon of management skills which certainly useful for a user who wants to learn how to work exactly and efficiently, such as Japanese has a value of their employee even at the age of physically non working. There is a Life time employment philosophy which cares their employees at every age.
One most important and personally I feel great, policy is that Japanese don't have hierarchies at their workspaces. That means the status of a fourth grade employee is equal to a first class employee. Which makes them continuously focus on their work rather than their position. If in any case it's there then it's not that rigid that in other countries of world is.

So these are few points I feel to share with you about this mammoth economy, about which we just talk but in actual sense it's something to be felt. Every country has its own work philosophy but it becomes interesting when you have a deep thought and study over that philosophy by others that's what Japanese has.

I salute the spirit !!

In my concluding notes I'll pray to almighty for Japan and its people.

Cheers !!

Understand your itch

Great ideas come up from your itch.

It's well said that you have to scratch your own itch self. But what this itch actually is ? Is it natural or due to any itch powder, you have to understand before scratching it. I am surrounded by some geeks who have tremendous ideas. They know very well how to work and what to work. I must say they don't have the word 'compromise' in their dictionaries. I have learnt this nice sentence from them 'Scratch your own itch'. It's rightly said and I think most of the startups are also based on the same theory.

I have a problem, I want to get it solve, in-spite of wandering here and there keeping problem on palm let me solve it and that's what scratching own itch means. We are living in a fast and furious world and that's the biggest problem around. You don't have any other option instead of being fast and furious. Neither others have time to time to take a look at your problems nor you should have to show them. It's not about surviving because if it were how can freelancing be so successful. We don't have all the fingers of equal length in our hands so as we are. We all have our own thinking, own way of working and interpreting the problem. Suppose what happens if your thumb pretends like your little finger or your middle finger as your index finger. The situation seems little terrible.

To have an itch is a nice thing but to understand the nature of that itch is most important. You are living in a community surrounded by some extra-ordinary geeks. You are living there not because you want to but because your parents work there. The geek environment is their need. You see your friends coming up with some fabulous ideas with full of adventure and innovation, but you can't think like those, because you are different. You are baffled, because you are not praised by anyone like your friends are praised. Now you start continuously thinking. You want an idea to come into your mind which you can say is your itch, and finally you get an idea which some how is a skewed form of an existing one and you say it your itch. You start working on it, enter into market but you realize your mistake when you are kicked out of there.

I think this is not a natural itch, this seems like you are powdered by someone and you interpret it as your own itch. You were actually prey of your own. You tried to be someone that you are not. That is how I feel sometimes when people start doing what they are not meant for. I think compromise can a well suited word for them. They 'compromised' with them. An itch never generates on the body of those who compromise in fact they tend to scratch others itch. So better be what you are and try to understand the nature of your itch.

You seems like itchy ... just share it :-)


Cheers !!