They say most of our worthy output is not after days or months or years of work but just in few minutes of sparks in our minds. I can sometimes get suddenly inspired to do something and do it right then and there. As a Tamil quote goes - always do good, right today, right now.
நன்றே செய்தல் வேண்டும், நன்றும் அன்றே செய்தல் வேண்டும், அன்றல்ல இன்றே செய்தல் வேண்டும்.
I may have got 'stimulated' probably in some interviews when people express doubts about how my MCA degree (after all, it is a 'master's) can help in a semiconductor industry. Well, it has helped for nearly 10 years, why should it not help going forward? In my opinion, Indian companies are where you can expect least 'innovation' because the environment is too bogged down with paraphernalia. Oh, 'he is a Telugu', 'she did MS in US', 'he worked in Wipro before' list is endless! I, for one, never believed in schooling and till date my opinion has not changed. I had attendance problems all the time, whether in school (yes, even school) or college or even in masters. I never believed that someone is going to 'teach' or 'guide' me. At the same time, when I attend any class/lecture, I LISTEN to what (s)he has to say. If I didnt like what I hear, I dont disturb others, who may be listening. Yes, there could be and have been always people who, without their knowledge, have given me a different perspective or atleast something to ponder about. It could be a talk on European investors or Tamil film making or even a cricket commentary. I never depended on others opinion about myself or even worse, crave for their appreciation. So do we, rather I, 'revise' our/my opinions? I intend to but I never had to (unfortunately). Rather my opinions (especially on people) have only gone worse.
Coming back to this article, I think people cannot be judged on 'paraphernalia' and my angst is that this is precisely what is (and probably was) happening in India. For instance, I had gone for an interview in Qualcomm, Bangalore and interviewers (apart from knowing very little) were surprised (shocked?) that I am not a Telugu. I had 'heard' and also 'verified' for myself about Telugu leanings of Qualcomm, Bangalore once I entered the reception in their premises. All second (sur)names on 'display' were ...palli, ...vada, ...mudi etc :( It is a joke that companies talk of 'diversity'. It is with this background that I wrote the article in 2-3 hours (9:00 pm to 11:00 pm IST, I guess). Frankly, I didnt expect it to get 'approved'. To an extent, I know if my 'output' is good enough and in 2004, when I submitted an article in ITC, I knew it will be approved. It infact did without a single correction suggested and infact appreciated by reviewers. Reg this article, since it was a 'quickie', obviously it had to be 'corrected'. I generally dont spell-check or grammar-check (I think my English is good enough), but it amused me that IEEE was stuck with title of my article. I had titled it - 'Misoverestimating' schooling and I was amused to see the review that English was probably not my 'natural' language. Of course, English is not my 'natural' language but I didnt expect IEEE to miss the pun or to be so 'politically correct'. Naturally with a 'wrong' title, it is natural for the essay to be reviewed with a bias. Anyway, I changed it to 'Limits of Schooling' and it has been approved.
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