Its that time of the year again
பச்சை பட்டாடையில் மஞ்சள் முத்துக்கள்
பவழ கொடியினிலே மல்லிகை மொட்டுக்கள்
தென்னாடன் குலமகள் பார்க்க
தென்றலது வீசி வர
இளம்குளிர் காலம் வந்ததம்மா!
இனிய சுகம் தந்ததம்மா!
மாய உலகில் மயங்கும் மான்கள்
மூடு பனியில் முகிழும் மலர்கள்
தீபங்கள் அலங்கரிக்க
தூபங்கள் கமழ்ந்திட
சில்லென்ற குளிர் காற்று வந்ததம்மா!
சிந்தையில் மகிழ்வு தந்ததம்மா!
This is a nice link about the history of Windows. The earliest I can remember using is Windows 3.1 in third grade... And minesweeper was my favorite game in the world! The feeling after beating the "computer" in guessing the mines was euphoric! I'm one of the few millions in the world who would NOT have studied computers if there was no graphical user interface. I still prefer clicking my way through to actually typing the commands, though the command-typing-green-lines-on-a-serious-looking-black-screen is cooler. Geeks may deride my admission but that is how it is! And I know that there are millions of others who are glad for the simple-to-use GUI. And all said and done, Windows with its GUI paved way for faster integration of computers into the lives of common man all through the world (I'm not talking about geeks who would've been happy typing commands into command line window with or without GUI) and made computers less fearful. The growth of Windows in all areas of computing(UI, power, performance, etc) has been impressive. And, I'm glad about Windows 7. :)
What is the earliest Windows that you have used?
A friend of mine sent this message through mail. Reading it, I could easily identify myself and my family with that of the author. I'm sure every Indian can relate to parts of this speech. Read on...
A friend remarked to me that what defines America is its veneration of entrepreneurship. The French, he added, most admired style and elegance. What defines India? That was the challenge my American friend posed.
Before I could speak a word, he admonished me, “Don’t give me the clichéd answer that anything one says about India is true and the opposite is equally true, that India is too complex and heterogeneous for a simple answer.”
It was obvious to me that like any self respecting American, and a Harvard MBA to boot, he wanted a concrete answer. I told him that like any self respecting Indian I needed time to formulate my concrete views — a few weeks I told him. Unusual for an American, he agreed to meet me later on this point. As luck would have it I received an invitation to speak to a diverse audience in Washington DC, as part of the many farewell parties in my honour as I was packing my bags to return to India for good. I spoke on the topic: What Does It Mean To Be An Indian?
Here’s the gist of my speech.
It is always a difficult task to distil from the collective experience of a humungous civilization that single defining aspect of life that constitutes the character of India. I can only try ever so humbly. In trying to piece together my several thoughts on this subject, I was helped by a few incidents of a more recent vintage. These incidents perhaps highlight what it means to be an Indian.
When I saw Ms Susan Boyle winning the hearts of the world with her talent and simple upbringing in the show Britain’s Got Talent, I asked myself whether a similar show in the Indian context might reveal to me what was perhaps hidden in the multiple images that India conjures in any mind. Sure enough I happened to receive an email forward by someone named Mary that stunned me. Here was a group of labourers performing a sensational dance relating to Lord Krishna in the wildly popular show India’s Got Talent. They called themselves The Prince Dance Group and had a physically challenged guy too. The amazing choreography, the use of traditional mythology, the perfect sense of timing and above all, the self confidence to perform before an urban audience — it was truly breathtaking.
The judges were among the best known talents in India: film director Shekhar Kapoor, actress Kiron Kher, and actress Sonali Bendre. As the act came to a close I could see tears in the eyes of the judges. Though there were not many close-ups of the audience I suspect there was hardly a dry eye in the crowd. Even as the dance came to a close I could hear shouts of “BHARATR MATA KI JAI!”
As the dance came to an end Kapoor actually wept and declared, “I have seen performers in the US,UK and Russia but believe me I have never seen anything like this . I am really proud to be an Indian.”The other judges just about managed to control their tears. Kher was ecstatic –“Fantastic, Fantastic!” she shouted .
I really cried for more than one reason.. Not only did I find the talent stunning, I had found the answer to the question I had been asked to answer — What Does It Mean To Be An Indian?
Here was a bunch of Oriya labourers — I have spent a decade in Orissa and am more than familiar with the extensive and degrading poverty there. These labourers live under inhuman conditions and as far as we urbanites can see they may have no hope of ever living a civilized life, even generations from now. Yet these guys had shown that one defining Indian characteristic ….Endurance… a quality that makes us not just put up with great odds but strive with the confidence that one day we will win — that every night is followed by the dawn, that all is never lost, that no matter how the international community jeers at our corruption, our idiotic politicians, our inept bureaucracy, our moribund education system, our abysmal health system, our crumbling infrastructure, our humungous population, we will come up triumphant.
Of course we realize that these are lofty sentiments and unless they are translated into concrete action we will remain as a nation thriving on pious platitudes. Believe me, young India has clearly told the older, fading generation, “We have seen and tasted progress. We will go ahead no matter what. Not all our vile politicians or bumbling bureaucrats or corrupt policeman or judges can hold us down. We will rise despite you guys.” Indians have endured much over thousands of years but have now decided that if you can’t beat them just dexterously move around them.
The evidence of a young India on the move is now seen in the far corners of the country as youngsters from small towns and remote villages display uncanny talent and ambition. I recall seeing a TV journalist asking a young boy in a remote village in Bihar about his role model. “Bill Gates” was the answer coming from a smiling cherubic face, even though it seemed to me that he had not eaten a fulsome meal all his life! He had endured hunger for years and his family had endured hunger for maybe generations but that did not prevent this youngster from aspiring to be the world’s richest man sometime in the future. The extraordinary confidence in that boy’s body language told me that he was aiming for the stars and at worst he may make it to the moon.
My own family is a saga in the endurance that characterizes India. My grandfather was a laborer in a harbor in a small town in south India. He and his large family of 5 sons and a daughter endured a marginal existence. My father joined a private sector company during British rule in India. When the world went to war in 1939 my father lost his job. He told me much later that my mother had, at one stage, only one saree, the traditional Indian women’s wear. She would wash this lone saree at night and cover herself with a towel and quickly wear the saree at break of dawn. The family endured near poverty and yet I am an MBA from an ivy league Indian business school, and a modestly successful guy. My niece was ranked among the highest in GMAT scores in the world. She is a Harvard alumnus and works for the most admired consulting firm in the world at Wall Street. Her siblings are all highly qualified professionals, who in their early years endured a humble middle class existence but are now in the topmost income brackets in the USA — a far cry from their laborer great grand father.
At this point of time I look at India as a genie that has come out of the bottle. The British denuded India over 200 years. Thereafter a rapacious polity and a repressive bureaucracy kept the lid tightly closed. But now a long suppressed people have decided to endure such atrocities no more. India’s time has come.
BHARAT MATA KI JAI.’
As I took my seat there were not a few wet eyes in the room. My eyes were wet too. If you believe in what I have said please forward this to your friends.
PS: What does being an Indian mean to you?
Mornings in my home were for studies or getting ready for school/work. My mom was never great on TV time, especially in the mornings. The rare occasions when she puts on the TV in the mornings is to listen to Thenkachi Ko.Swaminathan's Indha Naal Iniya Naal on Sun TV. With her, I got into the habit of listening to his short stories. His manner of lacing a short story with a moral made my granny comment "Manushan nachunu solraar!" Unlike some others, who are the vazha vazhaa kozha kozhaa types. Really sad that another doyen of Tamildom has passed away :( I'm sure this is yet another change from the C that I know of and morning TV programmes are never going to be the same anymore! RIP!
Lots of research has gone into the spending habits of people by generation. Being part of the Gen-Y crowd, I show more than the normal interest in knowing how things are going for us, Gen Y-ers. Recently, I came across an interview(part 1, part 2) that discussed some pertinent stuff about our spending habits. It was an interesting read and I can identify most, if not all, of what was said.
But there was one thing that stuck out in this interview. She said the GenY might have to be split into two:under and over 20. True, I can see the difference between some of my friends/cousins who grew up with facebook, used cellphones when in grade school and use myspace as an active substitute for social activities. They think that googling/binging for some information is a natural thing to do and cannot comprehend it if we talk of looking up things in the papers/library. Worse, they think email is so damn uncool and the craze of forwards that held us by sway when I was a teen is the funniest thing ever! Damn! Nothing to make you feel old than that!
It is also funny how I used to think that we were the most tech savvy generation growing up with the Internet and getting to be the unencumbered generation that had the resources to try out all the fancy gadgets out there. But talking to the younger GenYers, I realize that their lives are more enmeshed in technology than ours(older GenYers) was at their age. One of my friends couldn't live without checking Facebook when he was in his village and he is only 17!! He said that it was the worst few weeks of his life because he felt he wasn't doing something that he did everyday! And Facebook didn't even exist when I was 17! And, they couldn't comprehend the joys that we had when we were kids playing in the rain and mud and dirt! An afternoon in the swing with a book and rose milk in hand or spent playing badminton/cricket all day is something they just can't relate to!
It would be interesting to see how our generation would turn out as the years go and if this subtle difference in our teen years would have a big impact in our spending habits, our approach to things in life, etc. This is a unique position to be in, for this setting cannot be recreated by any lab, not even on a smaller scale. Would we still be the same generation despite these subtle differences or would there be a big disparity in our attitudes and thoughts due to changes in our teen years? Ah! Now lets follow the 'Wait and Watch' policy!
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