Back in Action

It has been 6 months that I haven't written on this blog.  Now I am back again, and I think I will keep writing about my passion and dreams here now onwards.

Blogger has provided new cool designs in the Templates section and I tried one of the simpler designs on this blog today.  Just to remember how this blog looked like earlier I kept a snapshot of the older design which you can see with this post.  Now the blog is in my favorite font Georgia thanks to Blogger team for making layout and design so easy.

This was a hectic weekend for me.  Spent two days taking interviews for my company in Kolkata and landed back to Nagpur at night.

One important take away for me in this trip was the opportunity, to get to know, three dynamic personalities in our company.  It seldom happens while work that you get chance to discuss about work and ideas in a leisurely way.  This trip gave me the opportunity to discuss my wild #Java ideas with the Java man in company who was passionate enough to join me.  Next I got to know how things work in the new company and found that some ground rules remain same.

As always, interviewing Java candidates was sometimes thought provoking and sometime hilarious.  I must mention one candidate who gave me idea of deep cloning in a way even I have not thought.  It was a eureka moment and a moment of joy for me.

I think this is enough for the first post after so many days, will come back with more news and ideas soon.

with regards
Tushar

Career Advancement Seeker - Microsoft Career Factor - Tushar Joshi, Nagpur

 

Crickly.com shows the list of all public videos found having text "Microsoft Career Factor".  These are the entries for Microsoft Career Factor, the latest reality show announced by Microsoft.

The application for this reality show was having a clause of publishing a video on some social media site and sending the URL link with the application, hence it was evident that the applications done by people will show up eventually in search for videos tagged with Microsoft Career Factor.

Tomorrow is the last day of sending application for this reality show after Microsoft extended the last date from 10 November 2010 to 15 November 2010, and the search today is showing only 14 entries which in my opinion a small number of entries for a global program.

The possibility of some people sending the video link as private link doesn't hold good as the complete reality show concept is based on showing the world what you are up to.  The application rules also clearly stated that the video shall be published in public domain.  This makes me conclude that a global reality show organized by Microsoft has got 14 unique entries and 9 entries will be selected.

I will keep watch on the announcements to see who got the chance to become a part of Microsoft Career Factor, the reality show.

All the best for all the applicants, including me :)

with regards

Tushar Joshi, Nagpur

Microsoft Career Factor - An Online Reality Show

I have applied for the story arc "The Career Advancement Seeker" in the coming online reality show - Microsoft Career Factor.

My participation in Career Factor will showcase a learner eager to learn new technologies to help grow business and opportunities in the world. This program will help me learn new technology and become expert in our offerings with a specific deadline and target. Working in a planned learning environment with top mentors and training material received from the source of the technology will be motivating factor for me to achieve the targets.

People watching me learning the Microsoft offerings will be motivated through my personal experiences and blog posts.

If I got selected, there will be a personal goal set for me and, working with the Career Factor team, I will map out a plan that will enable me to reach that goal. That plan will include, but is not limited to, completing Microsoft training courses (either online or in-person), speaking with experts and mentors, attending conferences, and taking certification exams. It will be expected from me to complete those activities as needed and work towards my goal during the show, although the goal does not have to be completed in the allotted time frame.

The attached video is my introductory video submitted to Microsoft to show whether I am comfortable in front of a video camera and my speaking skills.  This show as being conducted online will emphasise usage of social media to its maximum.

with regards
Tushar Joshi, Nagpur

The 7 Habits for Managers: Managing Yourself, Leading Others, Unleashing Potential

Just finished listening to the The 7 Habits for Managers: Managing Yourself, Leading Others, Unleashing Potential audio CD.  It was fantastic and a motivating experience.  The audio CD format will provide me the facility to listen again and again and keep thinking on the concepts in my mind often.

with regards

Tushar Joshi, Nagpur

Healthy Snacks

We have our snacks time between 15:00 and 17:00.  Most co-workers are found in the pantry or at some tea stall nearby the office in this time, according to their convenience.  Usually the developers will take their snacks when they have reached a logical break in their thought process while writing code.  Some teams have a fixed time set for these snacks.

I found out a healthy alternative to try in this snack period.  There is a shop at Mate Square at a distance of 2 minutes on a bike.  It is in the same building where there is Pizza Time shop known to many.

Royal Fruit and Juice is the name and this name tells it all.  This is a shop where they serve Fruit Juices and Shakes.  I tried their Pineapple Juice and it was awesome.

They have a disk called Fruit Salad.  This dish was tempting and quite economical.

Just the visual of different colors of fruits and the delicious taste brought a smile on my face.

I prefer a glass of fresh pineapple juice to some carbonated cold drink like Cola or Sprite.  I am Happy that I have found a healthier alternative for my snacks and I will recommend this to all to try.

With regards

Tushar

Family venture

The Hotel Pride near our house has a gymnasium and a swimming pool. They provide annual family memberships for Gym and the swimming pool. We got our membership on 1st March 2008. The situation in Infospectrum changed exactly same time and I started spending most of my day time and even night time for some days in office. This made us put off our Gym and Swimming plans on hold for 15 days.


Today was the day when we first entered the Gym and did workout. Radha was playing around when I was walking on the treadmill and Seema was cycling. Radha was confused first but she got accustomed to the environment quickly. The experience was good and we felt that the decision to join this Gym was good.

The credit goes to Anna and Aai. They consistently insisted on we getting this membership. Look Ma we have started our exercise.

with regards
Tushar

(Image courtesy Si Brindley)

Blogging makes me happy

Blogging fills my heart with power. I get power through expression. Blogging provides me platform to say something, to say anything I want to say. This has become a way for letting many of my dreams and projects out in the world.


Finding innovative ways of blogging is a good hobby and keeps your brain working. Many a times in my day I keep noting things I liked and say to myself I must blog this. All the pages I blog may get washed away in the tide of time but it is not the blog which makes me happy, it is the process of writing, the motivation for expression which fills happiness in me.

The journey is pleasant than the destination. The blog writing experience is the real happiness. The blog post we get after that creative action is a bonus achievement. Sometimes received comments are bonus on bonus.

with regards
Tushar Joshi, Nagpur

(Image courtesy Melanie)

GTD Fever

Earlier it was Seven Habits and now it is GTD. I am inspired by Seven Habits of Highly Effective People written by Stephen Covey and now a days Getting Things Done theory presented by David Allen is also making me do some additional lists in my day work. The theories put forward by Stephen and David do not contradict and can be practiced together and this makes me doubly strong.



Do I really need Stephen or David to tell me this to get organized in my life? In a true sense no, but then I may take years to gather the techniques by my own. In this case I am using their theory as a proved and time tested theory given by experts and which hold better credibility than my own methods.




So the experiment with self is ON. I can not assume any theory as the final theory in life but there mst be some temporary fixed way of organizing the life at an instance of time. I am planning the current time with these two theories.

Tushar Joshi, Nagpur

Its not the information but the planning and scheduling that matters

Some months back I used to think that given proper information things can be done easily.  I always felt that we should get as much information as we could to get the things done right. 

Recently I chose to change my mind when I came to know that information is easily available all over the world, and more in the IT context world wide web, and you get any thing you need just in some clicks.  Now the real things that matters is how you plan to assimilate the information and act on the things to produce deliverables.

Tushar Joshi, Nagpur

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Belly Club

Recently I joined this club. I was slightly conscious, afraid of my appearance and was dyeing to get out of this belly proportions. When I saw all around me most of the men my age have the same proportions of belly. Wow I said to me, this belly club seems a big club and I welcomed myself to this club of men having healthy :) belly.

I still have the same feelings about cutting down my belly and I also instruct myself each morning that I must exercise to do something about this thing.

The fact of life is I now have it. I have knowingly or un-knowingly joined the club and should accept it. So I have accepted. It changes your perspective of looking towards life. It changes your dressing habits. It changes you.

May be some day I will get out of this club then that will be the time to write another blog post about the experiences I may have gathered in this club.

Regards

Tushar Joshi, Nagpur

No Looking Back

You keep a way to fall back and you will always try to fall back. When you keep no way to return back to the secured place you only remain with the option to fight the situation ahead or die.

This way lead to success in either options. If you remain no more it is better than living as a defeated warrior, and if you win you live a pridefull life.

Puppy feeling

I was about to leave for home when I saw a small puppy running towards me. Puppy was very lovely and looking vulnerable and lonely. I can very well read this from the innocent eyes.

Puppy was asking through meaningfull eyes to pick me and take me home. It was obvious that the winter was not good for that little one.

I still couldnt do much for the sweet little one. I felt very helpless and cruel to part with the puppy while moving away from the office premises. God bless you was the only emotion I had for that little being.

regards

Tushar Joshi, Nagpur

Nagpur Birds

Nagpur Birds is a pleasant site for all bird watchers and lovers. It is maintained by Dr. Tarique Sani and Swati Sani. This is what they say about their site

If you are a bird lover this website will change your views about Nagpur... You will find here the complete checklist of birds for the region within 30 mins drive from the city and loads of photographs to prove it.

An annotated checklist of birds is available for download in PDF format for your records. There is also a brief checklist, which can be used to record your field trips when in Nagpur

regards

Tushar, Nagpur

How to become interesting?

First Reaction
When you are delivering a workshop or lecture to students and they are not listening to you. I mean they are talking with each other slowly, some noises coming from middle and the end of the hall. The first reaction you have is anger. Next you can also feel pity thinking they are not worthy of what is being delivered.

Alternate Thinking
One second thought on this topic can be is my material really interesting and relevant to them? It might happen that they are in a different mindset and need to be neutralized first. Recently while conducting one lecture in a camp I found that the students are restless. Continuing the regular material has become useless. I took a different path. I asked them whether they are searching for something which has been lost amongst them. They replied NO. Then I inquired about the session, whether it was bore and uninteresting, and I received silence in answer. That was quite clear an answer. This was a signal for me to prepare more. Study more so I can make my lectures and workshops more interesting.

Conclusion and Lesson
I concluded at the end that my lecture was not effective. I need to make my lectures effective if I want to convey some message through the session. This way their time as well as my time is saved.

Regards
Tushar

Freedom of Speech

One of the Bloggers Gaurav Sabnis, received a "notarized" legal notice email for his writing blogs about a Jam Magazine News.

This seems a ridiculous effort on the part of the IIPM Institute to threat a blogger to refrain from his rights to speak freely. In response to this, the news spread in mails and I also received the news through mails and I felt strongly to support Gaurav.

Some Ex-IIPM student also posted a report of his feelings and about IIPM in his blog after reading Gaurav's blog.

It is shame that Gaurav has to resign from IBM due to the threats and consequences of his blog post. I admire Gaurav for his persistence and his willingness to stand by his blogs and prove that the freedom of speech *must* be respected.

Jose Castillo says:
So now this thing is ripping through the blogs at a mile a minute, IIMP is
the number one search on Technorati , there is a wikipedia entry about them and
there appears to be no end in sight. The entire web community is hopping mad
that IIPM thinks it can crush the free speech that they love.
Is there a
lesson here… if you are a major entity and you are accused of doing something,
don’t pick on the bloggers, especially if the accusations are true.
Think
about it… how honest are you.

Yeah! IIPM has become top search term on Technorati.

Regards

Tushar

And they say be productive

First of all they have put me into body of a man. On top of that they poured adrenalin, scripts, prejudices, madness, and perceptions to drive emotions.

They also took care that the body and mind should fairly get attracted to women around. May be the women be of any shape or size, only her being a women is all that works, then there is fame, appreciation, power to lure you all the time.

As a dressing they have not forgotten to keep some misunderstanding, some ego and some jealousy in the body so it can get distracted easily.

And they say now be productive.

Myths becoming truths

Story of the farmer
I have heard the story of a farmer who when asked by several thieves about carrying a dog when he actually was carrying a goat. Finally farmer got convinced that there is some ghost in the goat and the goat is either appearing him as a goat and actually it is not, or it is appearing as a dog to others due to some haunting ghost. And the farmer ran away leaving a goat for the thieves for the dinner.

Repetitive projection of lie as truth makes it look like truth
Yes, it does happen in our day to day life. When we see a young man, without any outstanding skills, wooing a beautiful girl by silly stunts; and ultimately the girl falling in love with him. Our young minds see this fact happening again and again in movies and serials and finally it is registered in the sub conscious that the life works this way only.

We see heroes and heroines getting success overnight and the efforts required for that achievement is never shown as there is no time for it and no need for a movie director. What happen is a message getting registered in minds that success is a luck factor and not a effort factor. That only some people can have the thing who are lucky as it is obtained over-night. The fact that, one has to work hard for years, make small achievements and then one can achieve great success can be read in biographies and auto-biographies only.

This is why I no longer watch serials on TV. Writing and reading is much better activity making me fresh and which gives me opportunity to think over what I read.

I couldn't touch the ball even once

Many have lost their possessions and lives in the heavy rain flooding in Mumbai. Still people are struggling to cope up with the forces of Nature.

I couldn't touch the ball even once
I remember the story of a football player who looked sad when his football team won the tournament. When asked he answered sadly that even though the team has won he couldn't even touch the ball, in the play, and now feels that he has done nothing for the winning of the team.

So friends like all other times this time also people will come forward and help others. People will donate money and give time for the needful people. Somehow we will win the battle of humankind with the forces of nature. But we should not have to repent later that even though the battle is won, I couldn't even touch the ball. This is our time to do something. An article written, a good word spoken, one concerning letter to a friend, some donation to the NGO, any thing what ever comes to your mind is going to work.

This is the time to show our friends that we are their true friends. This is the time to keep hope in ourselves and to understand that the most crucial help we can offer is our time and the actual presence in the affected areas, as a volunteer. I feel elated for the friends who can actually be there and help friends to cope up with the situation. This time also there will be loss, a huge loss of money and time. At least we can save relationships, we can strengthen relationships, friendships, and by showing that yes we are there we are present to be with them.

Even though I donated some money to the funds and called friends on mobile and land lines, still I feel my feet haven't touched the ball. Who ever can do this and doing it right now are people who have got chance to prove their human nature, their true inner character.

I have seen many people sitting in the balcony and saying nothing is going to happen and no help is given by the government and at the same time some one in the road below the balcony is clearing the debris and helping a man to find his belongings, without ever thinking of the governments' role in the situation. We can be at the balcony or at the road. I will choose road and every sensible person in this situation will choose the road. This is what I feel.

Tushar

Why some people are beautiful?

Many a times in my childhood I used to think why some people are beautiful and many are not so beautiful or even ugly? That question always used to crop up as soon as I saw some beautiful girl or some ugly person.

What is beauty?
Simple may it seem, but the question is difficult to answer. Now when I am a big boy, having seen many people so called beautiful and not so beautiful. What I have gathered is we have got an organ of perception and we try to get the feeling of all the things with our own perspective. If all people will have red noses then the people with non red noses will get labeled as ugly people.

Everything around us is beautiful
This is what I have summed up the answer as beauty is a relative term, what it appears now, when I am a matured person. When I feel someone is ugly, I get alarmed and re-think on my own opinion and I always end up liking that person no matter how ugly earlier I have felt to look at that person.

Remembrances of a movie
I always remember the movie "Mein Sundar Hoon" starring comedy master Mehmood. I always tell myself looking at mirror, that boss, you are very beautiful and I also tell some one each day that you are beautiful honestly. I am never wrong when saying you are beautiful to other person. Again as the term beautiful is very relative and the happiness getting spread by telling you are beautiful is worth spreading.

Tushar
(You are unique. Like everybody else in the planet - cherished line)

Who am I?

When I think of my existence in this world going away from myself, I see a city, a nation, a continent, a planet left behind. Then a galaxy, then a set of galaxy may be, towards an assumed infinite Universe. That time when I look back my size with comparison to these entities I suddenly feel I am nothing. Suddenly all my mundane problems leave me for some time and I am happy as a child. It feels good, real good.

The same is the case with books. Once I thought that I will real all books in this world. In a math class when I tried to calculate my reading speed and then figured out the scope of my desire I found it will take many reincarnations to do such a ambitious activity. Suddenly all my pressure was gone. I no longer feel insecure about so many books around and the fact that I have read very few.

Now I have a plan to choose what ever book comes to me and read it as I know no matter how many of them I read it will always be less. So now I read for pleasure of reading. I think the correct way I got atlast.

Tushar