Zen to Done!

Yesterday I came across this website: Zen Habits. One of the main features of this very good website is description of a new personal time/work management system called ZTD. This system is based loosely on the very famous GTD.

I was quite surprised to find that the system, which I follow for my work, is very similar to one described here. I too had read the GTD book some six months back after I found that my projects were becoming unbearably unfollowable and my follow-up had started lagging behind. However, GTD in its true form seemed too complex for my work, and I had tried to extract out the gist and implement it.

Some features of my system are:

1. As also suggested by ZTD, I keep a simple notepad in my pocket all the time, which serves as my inbox for tasks, observation chart, brainstorming tool etc. Now I feel handicapped without it.
2. There are daily time bound tasks, when I want to visit a particular class, carry out some monitoring process, talk to a particular student or teacher. I just can’t change the time for these events.
3. Then there are several planning type tasks for upcoming events, as we try to do each event in slightly or at times, in a major way different from last year. These I try to fit in my time bound school tasks. These are based more on “Next Action” as described by GTD.
4. There are several projects going on in the school, eg. for the upcoming events, Excel Clubs, On-the-job continuous teachers’ training, Class 11 Tutorial classes etc. Then CRS Modules, Reading projects and so on. I have undertaken MIS project too now. These projects usually either again fill in school time or take up after school time.
5. As also described in ZTD, I try to figure out major tasks for the week as well as for the day.
6. I have a daily review of all observations and planning for next day. This takes anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes.
7. I have weekly reviews, where I thoroughly check the progress of my projects. This takes 30 min.

I am still slightly uncertain about my long term goals. I need to start certain monthly/ yearly long term goal reviews too. In very long term, maybe I want to evolve a system which other schools can replicate. Though of course, school is very different from a manufacturing firm, in the sense that each child is unique. A school can be compared with a customized design and manufacturing shop maybe.

Post Monsoon Inspection of some reservoirs around Bhopal :)

Halali Reservoir, on the evening of 13th. Since most rains are concentrated in the east of Bhopal, so not much water here.

Didn’t get anything quite like this, seen in Feb 2006. (Of course, it had rained quite heavily in 2005 season.)

Kolar reservoir on 14th morning. Though water is around 10 feet less than its standard storage level, but the beautiful colours more than made up for it.

Most water is in the Tawa reservoir, being mostly muddy has it has been flowing in in the last few days from surrounding areas continuously. Till 3 days back, its gates were open, but alas day before yesterday, they had been closed.

Engineering good software

I have done C++ coding before in my DDP, but that involved more of thinking various geometry related algorithms and mathematics and then coding them to see the results. I have absolutely no experience in software engineering and design as such. Now that I am slowly re-implementing the school MIS to make it more robust and very encompassing, I am finding that if I dive into C# without having a proper plan, it proves to be very messy at the end of the module and often several bugs remain. Overall, the module turns out to be non robust. In order to address these issues, I have laid down a workflow checklist for myself and any team that I incorporate in future course.

1. Clearly define the aim(s) of the module. It should be very clear (in writing) the motivation what is expected to be accomplished by the given module.
2. Plan out the general workflow (for the user) of the module.
3. Plan out User Interaction for the module.
4. Plan how to implement the given module.
5. Plan out Class Hierarchy.
6. Very clearly plan out what classes (along with member variables and functions)will be required. Make it in writing too.
7. Plan out validation rules. Think carefully and plan out what validation rules will be required.
8. Plan out what forms (windows) will be required.
9. Design the UI of these forms
10. Plan what reports and their will be required out of the module.
11. Implement class structure with all the validation rules in place.
12. Implement the forms with all the validation rules in place.
13. Implement reporting solution.
14. Plan out all regular/weird test cases and test the module.
15. Update doc for the code.
16. Write doc for the user.
17. Give training to the user.
18. See if any errors are coming up during regular/daily usage. Correct them and re-install.

As I said, I am no software engineer, though I slowly plan to read some books and get some ideas. Till then, this rough checklist ought to do the job. If any expert reading this has any suggestions, I would much appreciate and feel thankful if you could either mention them here in comments or offline to me.

Building modern day Vincis?

Sometimes, you come across such inspiring, creative people that it becomes hard to imagine how can a person accomplish so much is so little time.

Creativity is a function of many factors. One of the most important ones is general peace of mind. In India, I feel this factor is usually missing. Any entrepreneur has to undertake an almost torturous pathway of dealing with highly corrupt government departments and has to bear with very poor infrastructure. So that peace of mind which is a prerequisite of any creative undertaking is destroyed, when that entrepreneur thinks constantly of ways of dealing with and if possible, by-passing this system.

For artists working on their own though, this factor might not be missing. Sometimes I think why can’t I find such highly talented and also at the same time, accomplished people in India. This becomes even more relevant for me, as I am in the business of finding and nurturing talent.

In my perspective, the most important reason is that we are still very very orthodox in our educational system. Even a child quite talented and interested in painting, music or other arts usually has to study Science or Commerce subjects in her higher secondary classes. I have examples in my own school. Inspite of my long counseling sessions, some students just refused to take arts for 11th class, and they are struggling with Physics and Chemistry these days. For them, understanding the difference between vector and scalar quantities is a Herculean task; on the other hand, I am sure they already have highly developed aesthetic sense, with good grasp and understanding of finer nuances of the languages.

I am still not sure what to do about this. I get many ideas at times, but implementing them would take time. And I am an individual. What is required is a more system wide change, where students are given more freedom to take up subjects and courses. Evaluation should be more spread out, instead of concentrating on a few exams, but that has got a very strong implementation issue of honesty of evaluator. Thinking of ways to overcome such issues would require a lot of creative effort, platforms for the same will have to be made. I usually discuss these issues with my friends, whenever I meet them and try to extract some ideas out of them. Developing a system which instills creativity and high motivation amongst children is the utmost aim of my life. I think I think I know the road which will take me there, but still am unable to find a proper exit from the present one.

Hotel Rwanda

I can only say this: what a movie! It has got superb acting, class direction, a sensitive theme and above all, for the viewer, gripping intensity. Wikipedia says that it is the “Schindler’s List” for Rwanda and I agree.

Only once or twice in a year, does one get to see such a class act and yesterday was the lucky day for me.

One statement by a character (who seemed like a steward at the hotel, named Dube) has really stuck with me, “How can somebody be so cruel?” Yesterday night after the movie, lying in the bed, I really thought hard, but was just unable to comprehend. Some people can be really cruel, greedy or dishonest. What motivates them to be so? I guess, that would be a huge psychological study and am sure there would be experts working on this, just as I write. But as a layman, my analysis would be that there is nothing special. Just as maybe, thinking about development of children motivates me or music motivates Johny Cash (?), killing Tutsi people must be motivating for the Hutu gang.  It is a matter of convention that what I do or Johny Cash did is/was accepted in the society and what the Hutu gang did in 1994 is not.

Speaking of villainy, another character motivated solely by suffering of others, whom I really adore for his passion is:

Ladakh with Tsomoriri trip: Day 6

We had a long, solid view on the Tsomoriri in the morning and started our journey to Manali. (Btw, the pic on left is not the Tsomoriri, but the small lake I mentioned before.)

 

We drove along the famous salt water lake, Tsokar. We could see salt depositions many kilometers before Tsokar; at places we could not see the road though.

 

 

  Tsokar also seemed to have receded quite a bit. Getting near the lake was quite tricky because of the marshes.

 

 

 

We caught up with the Leh-Manali highway and yes, I admit it: there were some of the most spectacular landscapes on the way, specially the areas around Moore plains and the Baralacha La.

 

We had the taste of the “adventurous” Leh Manali highway, when our car got stuck in one the high make-shift bridges made by the army, over a very swift stream. We managed to create atleast 3 km long traffic jam on both sides.

   

Situation got so scary and confusing, that I didn’t even take a snap! With the help of atleast 50 truck drivers and some army jawans, we repaired that bridge with help of some GI sheets lying nearby and only then were able to move forward. 

 

We didn’t halt at Sarchu, as is the norm, but moved forward and decided to stay at Jispa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Ladakh with Tsomoriri trip: Day 5

As I had mentioned before, Leh is becoming green, as is quite evident by these pictures. I took these pictures, near Leh on the Manali road. We started our trip to Tsomoriri on Day 5 morning. I had seen some pictures of the famous lake on the Internet, but never could have imagined how beautiful and surreal it looked. Even the journey provided some of the most spectacular views. Now I’d better shut up and let the pics do the talking.

 

 

 

Small lake on the right is not the Tsmoriri, but Thag Sang Karu, as shown in the road map I had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ten lane superhighway to Tsomoriri…

 

 

 

Lo and behold! The Tsomoriri.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had seen this pic on Wikipedia. Since then, I have been mesmerized with and wanted to see Tsomoriri. At last, I was able to take the same shot, but not as colourful.

Speaking of  colours, we were able to catch the festival at local monastry. Costumes were interesting, the dance and music were not.

They went on and on repeatedly for quite some time, when we got fed up and went back to the lake.

In the meantime, Tsomoriri’s water had changed its colour. We could see shades of green too now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun, shadows of clouds and the mountain behind us, created cool effects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Locals are  fearing that the water level in the lake is receding year by year!I don’t know what can be done about it. If this is truly the case, it is really, really sad!

Ladakh with Tsomoriri trip: Day 4

Now that S’s eye had started improving and the doc had given us the “clean chit” to continue with our trip, we crossed the highest motorable pass, Khardung La today and moved further to Nubra valley. it was snowing at the La. It became even heavier while  our return.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Nubra valley has the most colourful mountains I have ever seen. Shades of blue, brown, gray, red, green and millions of other colours seemed painted and streaks flew across the Karakoram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               

 

 

 

 

 

 

it had vast expanses of flat areas, almost like Moore’s but quite rocky.

 

 

 

 

Can you spot the road, in the picture on the left?

 

 

 

 

And, there were sand dunes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our plan of staying the night had to be put off, as we had gone a day short.

 

 

 

Ladakh with Tsomoriri trip: Day 3

Today, that we had to go to the hospital, we dropped our prior plan of going for an excursion to Nubra valley and thought of further exploring regions around Leh, such as Thiksey, Shey etc. The day proved to be quite an eye-opener, as I  described in my last post.
People of Leh are trying hard to get some greenery in their cold desert. One can see stark boundaries at places.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ladakh with Tsomoriri trip: Day 2

   Early morning, we left our ultra sh**ty Shamba-la Hotel, and headed for Pangong Tso. We passed the third highest motorable pass, Chang La, drinking the awesome “complementary” Masala Chai, courtesy the Indian Army (Thank you guys!)

The landscaping was awesome, all along the way.

In this picture on the right, can you spot the road?

 

 

 

 

Pangong Tso, one the largest HALs. Alas, it was quite overcast, not the best day for photography.    

Plug for Jimmy (I promised and I owe him): Quite an awesome guy, driver, Sumo Grande owner. You want to move around Ladakh, you want to move with Jimmy (or Zimmet, I think, his real Buddhist name). I can give you his contact, if you are interested.

Pangong did not prove to be very lucky for bro. There is a small Himalayan bee, which when comes in contact with human eye, lays eggs in it. This time, it found S’s eye as its nest. We immediately turned back to Leh, which was a good 5 hours away. On the way, in a military first aid camp on Chang La, the doctor told us that the situation is serious, and we should hurry to Leh. Jimmy increased his speed, but along the way infection spread to S’s ear too and it started paining a lot. Hearing this, Jimmy really stepped on it, and made it to Leh in almost record time.

Now hear this: Eye doc’s time was till 6. We reached his clinic after 6:15. He had almost locked the door, on his way out. Seeing the emergency, he opened up, spent an hour with S and managed to get most of the eggs out, using various eye scraping tools, water syringes etc. At the end of this active session, he flatly refused to accept any fee, citing that he works in the govt hospital during the day and that salary was enough for him.

As if this was not enough, the next day, he called us for a re-inspection in his office in the Leh Hospital.  He also wanted us to consult an ENT specialist for the pain in the ear.

When we reached hospital the next day, S’s pain had increased tremendously again. We were shocked to see that whole hospital was on strike, asking for 6th pay commission salaries. Obviously chamber of Dr. Angchuk was locked. Jimmy was with us. He told us not to worry and after some searching and enquiries, he was able to determine that doctor was sitting in Suptd’s office. We went there. As soon as doc saw us, he immediately asked us what was S’s situation. Hearing that it is not good, he asked us to reach his room. By the time we reached there, already 4 nurses had started preparations for a minor procedure. Doc later told us that some small eggs had been left the evening before and now they had grown. Doc and his nurses worked again actively, and this time were able to give the eye a very good clean-up, as the instruments in the hospital were much better than in his clinic. Now the doc was satisfied that there are no more eggs left.

When we reminded him that he had asked us to consult an ENT doc too, he asked us to wait and disappeared. Within no time, he was back with his ENT friend and both of them again conducted a thorough examination of S. Again these specialists took no fees. They were on strike!

I was flabbergasted. In any of the cities down south, such attention is not paid even in good private hospitals, if we ignore the extremely expensive ones like Max, leave aside Government hospitals. The service provided by on strike docs and nurses were stupendous and I bow to them.

At that moment, I felt, (very selfishly) it is good that Leh remains cut off from rest of India for major part of the year. Here, people still know the meaning of service and humanity.