Interview 2: Jetti Ravi Kumar, LSP in-charge of the Wardhannapet

Jetti Ravi Kumar is Lok Satta party in-charge of the Wardhannapet Assembly constituency and vice-president for Warangal district.

I interviewed him in August 2011. Here is his profile:

http://lspleaders.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/jetti-ravi-wardhannapet-warangal-profile/

Here is his interview:

http://lspleaders.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/jetti-ravi-wardhannapet-warangal-interview/

I or We? The Middle Path!

One of my favorite books is “The Fountainhead” authored by Ayn Rand. It was a book written by her in the 1930s. It has reinforced my belief in individualism. I had read the book when I was 22, while I was still under the influence of communist thought.

However, I realized that in promoting individualism and in turn capitalism, she went too far. She rejects any form of altruism saying “where there's service, there is someone being served.”

This attitude of hers could be attributed to her early life spent in communist Russia. Every form of writing of Ayn Rand is a revolt against external interference upon an individual’s own interests, be it by society, family or any other group or institution. Conforming to a government and society that force individuals to live for the society while suppressing their own goals and interests had made her revolt against any form of external interference upon the individual. We can trace the origins of her theory of objectivism to her early revolt. She escaped from the oppressive society and fled to the US, the haven for individual freedom. She condemned the use of force as immoral and opposed all forms of collectivism and statism, instead supporting laissez-faire capitalism. She believed no-holds barred capitalism was the only social system that protected individual rights.

While I respect her insistence on fierce individualism, I do not support her promotion of self-centrism and selfishness. In my opinion, if an individual lives only for oneself, s/he would be equivalent to an animal. I distance myself equally from the two opposing poles of communist thought and the theory of objectivism. I am all for the cause of individual liberty, but at the same time I insist that an individual has a responsibility towards her/his fellow beings and the society at large.

I wish to elaborate on this further in a future post. Chanting of Ayn Rand's name by people like Ramgopal Varma and glorification of the ego-centric attitude rankles me. Though I believe India has a long way to go in terms of individual freedom, we don't really need to teach people to be self-centric.  Most people are already more selfish than necessary.  There is no harm to anyone or to the world at large if people are more altruistic than necessary.  However, if more and more of them turn ego-centric and are ready to go ruthlessly to any length for achieving their own goals irrespective of what damage it might cause to the rest of the world, then it will only trigger chaos in the society.

However, I admire Ayn Rand's take on the concepts of originality and secondhandedness, how the world is full of mediocre morons, and how zealously the society worships mediocrity.  More on this in a future post!!!

Seawards Ahoy!

The memory and joy of watching the sea from the shore for the first time had left an indelible impression on my mind.  My age then was 20 years.

I was born in a coastal district of Andhra Pradesh, one of the states of peninsular India.  The Bay of Bengal is hardly 150 km from the village where I spent the first seven years of my life.  However, my family being not one of those that toured or traveled much, I could not go near the sea during those years. And then our family left for Hyderabad when I was 7.  Hyderabad is situated on the Deccan Plateau.  Now, the distance from the sea to the place where I lived increased to 350 km.  The geography of the city narrowed my chances of watching the relentless march of waves on to the shore.

I did not miss the sea all those years.  It was when I started reading novels on sea faring men like Moby Dick that I began to long to go on the sea.  Reading the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, the 19th century Scottish writer, I grew up admiring daring sea pirates and even wicked characters like Long John Silver, and their escapades.  However, the tale of Robinson Crusoe who was marooned on a lonely island and who had to fight savage cannibals to survive did not fail to fill me with a sense of fear and awe of the oceans.

The sea held a lot of romance and mystic for me those times.  I read with great interest Thor Hayerdal's account of the Kon-Tiki expedition.  He led a motely group of a handful of men on a sailing expedition on a raft made of balsa, the lightest wood.  They started from the shores of Peru and sailed through the rough Caribbean waters to reach the Polynesian archipelago.  Ever since reading Thor’s recounting of the expedition, I dreamed of sailing on a self-made raft on the Caribbean waters, surviving solely on rain water and the marine life.

I have always been awed by the extent of intrigue the sea held.  The sea voyage is a metaphor for life.  Shipwreck is a sign that the inherent power of the sea cannot ever be mastered by mere mortals.

I became a huge fan of the movie series “Pirates of the Caribbean.”  I knew, by heart, all the dialogues of Captain Jack Sparrow.  I knew Jack’s little secret – of how he successfully got out of a marooned island.  It was simple – wade into the shallows and strap sea ............  I was no longer afraid of the sea!

When I was 20, my uncle’s family moved to a coastal village of Andhra Pradesh.  Finally, my chances of watching the sea grew manifold.  My dream of feeling the sea, hearing the drone, letting the waves touch my feet, swimming on the shallows, walking on the sands on the shore was soon going to become real.

I was as excited as I ever thought I would be on going close to the sea.  That day is one of the best days of my life so far!

Interview 1: Panchadi Rambabu, AP State Secretary of Yuva Satta

Panchadi Rambabu is the AP State Secretary of Yuva Satta (youth wing of Lok Satta Party) and its zonal in-charge for three districts – Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, and Vishakapatnam. 

I interviewed him in June 2011.

Here is his profile:

http://lspleaders.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/panchadi-rambabu-amudalavalasa-srikakulam-profile/

Here is his interview:

http://lspleaders.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/panchadi-rambabu-amudalavalasa-srikakulam-interview/

Effectively Utilizing Public Transport

Traffic is the cause of frustration for most of our metro city dwellers. It is the chief reason we try to get far from the maddening crowds once in a while. It is the primary reason for the shoots in our BP, smoke in our lungs, and holes in our ear drums!

One main reason for the hugely congested traffic is utilization of personal vehicles by employees to commute to their offices. We IBMers can become role models by effectively utilizing public transport and avoiding use of personal vehicles.

The advantages are:
 1. Public transport is cheaper
2. Less stressful
3. Less health risk because of noise and air pollution
4. Least risk of accident (God forbid!)
5. Petrol is an import by India and we as a nation spend hugely on oil imports. We can help reduce that!
6. We can read books, listen to music, or just chat and make friends with strangers in the bus

The government has introduced AC buses so that we can commute comfortably.

Let us IBMers do great service to ourselves, our beautiful cities, and our beloved country by availing public transport effectively!  ---------------------------------------------------------------One of my posts in IBM JAM held in February 2011, on the eve of IBM's centennial. 

Education Reforms & Inclusive Employment Policies

Most of us Indians, be they from any background, agree that our formal education system needs to be reformed. Many of us acknowledge the ill effects and disadvantages of the existing system.

1. The compulsion for rote learning and puking in the exams
2. Rigid course curriculum. No flexibility of choosing subjects once a student has opted for a particular stream.
3. Lack of exposure to real-time technologies and practices
4. No importance to soft skills
5. Only teaches how to earn a living and not how to live
6. Outdated methods of pedagogy

In spite of this widespread acknowledgment of the shortcomings, employers inexplicably insist on a certain threshold percentage to even consider a candidate fresh out of college. And some companies insist that the percentage of marks scored in X, +II, and graduation be uniform - no steep spikes or troughs! Some companies insist that there be no a gap of more than two years in education or employment.

Why do employers insist that the candidate's life be a straight line and that s/he should retain the same level of interest in our examination/marks system all through her/his education? How can the life of unfortunate/poor students follow such a straight line? Is it really possible for genuinely excellent minds to pass through the rigmarole of such dim-witted education system, without blinking an eye?

Is it because companies only look for mediocrity. We can proudly say that IBM is one company that gives more importance to experience and skills. What else can IBM do to be more inclusive in its employment policies? What can IBM do to ensure that our education system is reformed? With whom does IBM need to collaborate to achieve this end?

--------------------------------------------------------------One of my posts in IBM JAM held in February 2011, on the eve of IBM's centennial.    

Bridging the Skill Gap

In India, hundreds of thousands of graduates are coming out of professional colleges and universities. However, much to the lament of employers, only a minuscule percentage turn out to be employable. Corporates have to sieve through hundreds to find a handful of employable candidates equipped with the right skills.

This is the reason for the huge demand for the top educational institutes like IITs and the IIMs among the big corporates. India has only a handful of such world-class higher educational institutions.  Corporates offer huge packages as salaries to students of top-notch institutes.

It is a struggle for companies to find the right candidates to fill up their positions, both technical and managerial. For students of hundreds of obscure colleges, it is a hard struggle to find their first job. In their search for job, gullible students are falling prey to fraudulent consultancies and crash coaching centers and end up paying huge amounts of money as fee.

On the other hand, in second-tier cities and districts, the problem is of a different nature. Lack of proper communication skills is the main hurdle for the candidates there.

India has the best human resources potential and if corporates wish to tap it effectively, the issue of the skill gap needs to be addressed. Can the Big Blue (IBM) take the initiative of collaborating effectively with educational institutions and universities? The following reforms are needed in our higher education system:

1. What is practically relevant in real-time is taught to students and enough importance given to practice rather than theory.
2. Teaching the skills that are relevant to the industry, not some archaic theory.
3. Reform the examination system to do away the need for rote learning.
4. Make the courses more flexible. Allow students some options to choose the credits and subjects they are interested in, in a semester.
5. Introduce alternative/innovative teaching methods.
6. Effective use of e-learning
7. Teaching soft skills

If done effectively, this will be a win-win situation to students and corporates. For corporates, the increment in the number of industry-ready students coming out of colleges will result in huge savings in the form of reduced amounts spent on training candidates and headhunting.  For students, it would spare them the agony of spending money and time on crash courses offered by institutes of dubious nature.
Please share your ideas on how corporates can take the lead in bridging the skill-gap to the advantage of students and corporates in particular and the welfare of the country in general. --------------------------------------------------------------------------One of my posts in IBM JAM held in February 2011, on the eve of IBM's centennial.

Importance of Voting

India, as we know, is the largest democracy in the world. However, it was only after years of struggle that we achieved freedom from foreign occupation and became a democracy. Our freedom is the fruit of the sacrifices of generations of leaders and millions of ordinary men and women.

For people of many countries, even now democracy is a distant dream. The most populous nation on our north-east is still not one. We can see people of many countries still rising in revolt against dictatorships.

Now, because ours is a democracy, we Indians can elect our leaders. We can vote for the candidate who we think will work for us and will spend the funds for the development of our constituency, and will help make laws that will help our country progress. But are we utilizing this privilege that so people of so many nations are still dreaming for?

For many of us, especially the educated and economically well off, the day of voting is just another holiday. If on the same day, there is a cricket match being broadcast live, all of us will be hooked to the television.

As a result of the apathy of the so-called cream of the Indian society, the voting percentage does not cross 60. The politicians have become adept at garnering easy votes by dividing people across caste, religion, region and by promising mindless schemes and sops that prove costly to the exchequer. Unscrupulous politicians buy votes of the economically weaker voters. As a result, each candidate is spending Rs. 5-10 crores to win a state assembly election and multiple times of that for a parliament seat. There is now no place for honest leaders. Crooks and anti-social elements are able to find their way into the law-making houses.

Is it not a pathetic state?

We, the arm-chair intellectuals philosophize and sit at home on election days and the crooks loot our dear nation. Why can't we behave responsibly. Why can't we just go out and vote. We should remember that we have a responsibility towards voting because we understand better the capabilities of a leader and can see through their dishonesty better than our less educated and less privileged gullible brethren.

The worst affected people because of our apathy are the downtrodden lot. If crooked politicians make their way and continue to loot, they continue to wallow in poverty and ignorance. They continue to go hungry to bed every night and their children will continue to work as child laborers to earn daily bread. The status quo will be perpetuated while we enjoy our cricket match with a pack of popcorn!

The only solution to this is to go out and vote for the right leader in the elections and encourage all our friends, relatives, and acquaintances to do the same. This is the minimum that we can for our fellow, less privileged brethren.-------------------------------------------------------------One of my posts in IBM JAM held in February 2011, on the eve of IBM's centennial.