My tribute to my Chittappa – ​​ என் சித்தப்பாவுக்கு என் சமர்ப்பணம்

 P Swaminathan 

நான் என்னுடைய சித்தப்பா பி சுவாமிநாதனை (என் அப்பாவின் தம்பி) கிட்டத்தட்ட 10 நாட்களுக்கு முன்பு சென்னையில் இழந்தேன். என்ன நடந்தது என்பதை உணர கிட்டத்தட்ட ஒரு வாரம் ஆனது

I lost my Chitappa, P Swaminathan (my dad’s younger brother) almost 10 days ago in Chennai, India. It took me almost a week to realize what just happened. Rest in peace My dear uncle.

Appa in tamil means dad, Chitappa you were no less than a dad to me. You have been such a positive influence on me I will miss you. We will all miss you. May you rest in peace and shine the light on all of us from above. 

Growing up as a child I fondly remember the innumerable trips to Chennai Royapettah house. I knew you were at that time teaching at the school of architecture, in Anna university. I would always be in awe when so many students from the school of architecture would visit you to take your guidance. 

I remember fondly your love of architecture. Your handwriting in both English and Tamil can pass for a font of its own. Growing up,   I was always fond of your stationery collection and you always let me take a few things from that like a Steadler eraser or sketch pen etc.In the many family trips we would do, I will cherish how the three brothers would sometimes wear the same color T-Shirt. There was always fun and laughter included in the trips. 

I know you came from a tough background having lost your dad at such a young age. You really set the example high for us kids by showing what can be done with passion and education.  You became the Dean at School of Architecture in Anna University which is no easy feat. 

The love you had for Chitti, your kids and grandkids is a true example of how one should live life. You were always there for our family when there was a true need. For my dad, mom you were always a key advisor, a true and trusted friend and a lovely brother.

When my wife, Arati and my kids visited you many times in Chennai after my dad passed away we always came back feeling we met our dad. You made us laugh, advised my kids on ways of life. I always remember all my life that you have wished me every birthday of mine. 

I cherish the last few calls with you when you would always take the time to talk to us. When my dad , Your elder brother passed away) you had written a hand written tribute which i read many many times. Here are the last few lines in that write up 

You said and I quote“ When I met you last time you raised your eyes may be to tell me , I am going to go soon to be with god . May your soul rest in peace in that gods presence” .Loosely translated from Tamil. 

I never knew a day would come in a few years when it’s your turn and I write a small tribute to you . May you rest in peace Chittappa. I will miss you, we will all miss you. 

Till we meet again.

Lot of Love 

Vibhu Srinivasan

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Honesty And Truth – A Lesson from Life

Here is a small story from this week. A lesson that I will remember for a while.

We had an electrical issue at home and many of the switches. These are GFE switches. So we have a few of these around the kitchen. When one resets we lose power in all of them. Well, the story is really not about these switches. It’s one about truth and honesty. After trying a few times, I figured it’s time for my call for help.

Scene 1: The Complaining handyman

So I called in one of the handymen who happens to be of Indian origin ( Not sure if this data is really related). He kept hanging the phone on me. And After waiting for two days, I told him I will go with something else, he got upset and put back the blame on me, instead of telling me upfront that he is not interested as he has other things to do. So I had to bid goodbye to him and resorted to Scene 2

Scene 2: The expensive Local Electric company, Beacon Plumbing. They were extremely responsive to the call. They told me that the visit just to check with be so many dollars, then there is the hourly fee for the electrician. I got a prompt appt for two days.  However, I got a call that evening saying they have a free appt that evening. So Late in the night, i got an electrician home. He checked, opened up the entire kitchen switches, an hour or so later he told me he is not able to pinpoint the problem. The initial cost itself for the service was quite low.

After an hour it was clear he was tired as well as he had no clue. Or did he know the problem could be fixed but wanted to get a lot more out of me?

He told me that the only way to fix this is to run a new wiring two lines from the switchboard, and this would cost me an insane amount of dollars I got sticker shock. But then the next thing he said caught my attention. He said you have to pay 50 percent upfront ( I am talking lots of dollars), and if I don’t pay at the same time I may lose their schedule 

With that, I decided to just pay for that one hour fee, and their default fee. So when he left I was staring at a bill that did not resolve my problem and a large

Total time spent – 2 hours

Total Amount Spent – $$, The proposal to fix was a lot more.

Frustrated with this experience I called up a dear friend who saves my life every time I have called him.

Scene 3:

I got this friend at 1 in the afternoon. He said he will try to recommend a handyman. In 15 minutes he got a name of a Handyman who spoke only Spanish, but had a translator with him. In an hour or so they showed up. and to my surprise showed me that in one Switch there was an internal loose contact and less than 15 minutes I got the supply back.

What a wonderful person his handyman was. I am surprised when our new president called them Bad Hombres. I saw honesty, truth and credible work. After the work was done he gave me an amount which I felt was worth paying.

 

Personal Lesson Learnt: 

Always trust your close friends, don’t trust these big companies. In this case, the electrical company clearly had a bigger agenda of making $$$ from me. Bad choice

When a simple person shows up, does what you ask them to do within minutes without any  know that there is still truth and honesty in the world. I know now for any next project what not to do.

End of  Story

Farewell to my strength – My Dad

Here is a farewell to my wonderful dad, our strength

P. Srinivasan

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 6 1941 to April 15th 2015

YOU HAVE BEEN THE SHINING LIGHT FOR OUR FAMILY

I am sad to say that we lost our wonderful dad on  April 15th   . He leaves us to a better place after a month long fight with health at the hospital.

What he leaves behind is a great family that he can be proud of. Born in a small Village in TamillNadu, and brought up in Tamil Nadu, Daddy did his Civil engineering,  and his post graduate . He was a teacher at Sri Ramakrishna Mission for 10 + years. During this time he has educated hundreds of kids and led a simple life.

Married to Lakhsmi my mom for 45 years now. He told the story of how he met mom and what a great and loving couple I have seen in them.

After a lot of struggle he decided to take the risk and moved to Mumbai when he was 40 and joined Associated Cement company. He never looked back and retired at a very senior level at ACC.

He was highly regarded by his peers and very well respected . I grew up listening to sales stories of cement , RCC etc.

My brother and I have always been taught by him to face life with courage. He has been there for me and my brother at every turn we took. holding hands and showing use the way. I guess for him we never grew up. HE taught me the importance of taking risks and the best role model dad we could have asked for.

I have many memories of him from the first flight he took us on, to the time I got into trouble for taking a road trip to me getting business guidance when i started the company in India.

My wife, Arati and his grand kids have learnt what an ideal grandpa should be like. A trust worthy , caring person who always was there for us from the airport when we fly, to the exams we took.

We are so glad to have spent a lot of quality time with him, travelled around , spoke to him a lot over the last three years when we stayed in India for three and half years.

You are my star, you are my hero . We will surely live up to the high expectations you had of us to lead a credible life, educate the poor, help others and be the model dad to our kids the way you were to us.

I am so happy that you lived you life to its full till just a month and half ago, drove around the city.

May your SAIRAM take you in his golden chariot as you wished to a place where you are peaceful.

Will miss dearly dad. You are our hero.

Vibhu

 

Here is my brother Anand’s Farewell to my dad

Over the years I have come to know my dad as a person who deeply loved his family, was dedicated to his profession as a structural engineer, loved to  work for social causes and was a man of deep faith. He started his early career as a lecturer in civil engineering and continued to pursue his masters in  structural engineering. Since my grandfather passed away quite early, my dad is a self-made professional. He moved later in his career to ACC  where he reached senior management position in sales/marketing and then customer services. He won many awards at regional and pan-India level during his service in ACC. Post retirement, he was offered a special position in headquarters  due to his expertise in customer service management. One of notable accomplishments during this period,  was his involvement is  rehabilitation work post the Gujarat earthquake, where he lead the  CSR initiative for building cost effective houses for the villages which were impacted by the earthquake. I can remember the innumerable trips he made during this period to Gujarat in spite of having gone through two Bypass surgeries.

Post his service at ACC, he was actively involvement with Sri Sathya Sai College of Arts and Sciences at Whitefield and Sri Sathya Sai Residential School at Muddinahalli. He undertook projects on structural engineering in Whitefield campus, water purification  for hostel and college canteen at Whitefield/muddinahalli and sewage treatment at Muddinahalli. He has supported and guided many youth from economically challenged families for college education and coached then in personal capacity without seeking monitory gains.

He has been a role model for our family and we shall fondly remember him and try our best to carry forward the service activities in the field of education and general welfare of economically challanged families.

2013- A Year With Bitter Sweet Memories – Welcome 2014

We are a a day away from 2013 ending. I am sitting here on  a cold Seattle evening, typing this away. First I want to get basics out of the way

WISH YOU ALL A WONDERFUL AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014

It is true that we moved back to Seattle. It is also true that I am still fully associated the company I founded and work with in India SolutionsIQ Consulting. I am really proud of the team that we have in India, who are some of the best professionals that I have been associated with . I do travel often to India now to spend time with the team. I teach less in India these days, but there is no plan to close anything. We are a growing high energy company and there is still lots to do in India .

The move back from India has been bitter sweet as we have family and close friends and colleagues we had built over the years in India.  At the same time our network of Friends and family in Seattle have shown us so much love as we move back in this city. We have partied quite a bit, kids are happy back here. I really want to take the time to thank my family, and friends both in India and in Seattle who are a big part of what i am today. I got the chance to spend time with my dad and mom this year and feel that I still not much has changed . I remain a kid for them only much bigger and older.

Another big part of the year was crossing the number 40 in age bar, and crossing 90 on weight bar. You tend to really reflect back on life and wonder what you really want to do with the rest of the life in front of me. I wonder sometimes what if i did not move to Milwaukee or what if I did not join, Spider, or what if  I joined the mother ship Microsoft that many do in Seattle. But I am ever so delighted that i am doing what I am passionate about, build a business,work with sharp teams and have fun. My wife has been like a rock supporting me all along the way with the decisions and helping me do what i am passionate about. Without her this much may not have been possible.

I do have a lot planned on the business front that I hope to do in 2014 . Scale, Stability and More fun are what I can think of when i think of work.I am confident that with all the hard work we are putting in the company we are building will do well . when you work with good people, generally there is a lot less to worry about.

This year to me was really about Atul Chitnis, a  person you meet only once in a lifetime, a great human, family person, technologist and much more. To me he was just Atul the neighbor next door.

Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there’s a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!

This year to me was really about losing Atul  I am not sure if I have recovered from this yet. Atul Gopal Chitnis was  my brother in law, friend, a mentor for life. He was not only a role model for me growing up, but has been a big part of my life since 1990. Yes more than 20 years.  We lost Atul this year after a year long battle he had with colon cancer. He fought like anything else he did so many years. I am so glad he got to do what he wanted the last few months of his life. He spent time with the family. He was a people person. I think he had a checklist of people he wanted to meet before he died, and he did make sure he met every one of them. I am thankful to all who shared their wonderful life with him. From the medical staff who attended on him to all his friends and family, I am sure his thought has crossed us more than once since that sad day in June this year. But what makes me delighted is that i got to spend such a wonderful time with him. All the arguments and discussions with him always left you thinking.. There is not a day when i do not think or ask the question -“What would Atul have done or said” esp when it comes to things on the internet and technology. I do not have the guts to delete his skype profile form my list. Just hoping some day i may still hear a “Ping” from him.

I know for the world  he is technology person but for me he is just Toolz. The one I could tell anything and knowing well I will lose the argument anyway.

I can write pages about him , have thousands of reasons to thank him, but I will end with a simple thanks – Thanks Atul for becoming our neighbor in 1989 and helping me meet my wife Arati”. If she had not come on that summer vacation to your house, I would not be where I am today, wife , two kids and so many rich memories to thank for.This is to you Atul, I know you are out there wishing us all a very happy new year .

Just before Christmas we lost my wifes uncle. Jaya Kaka. This is part of what Arati my wife had to say about” Jaya Kaka – Nobody can replace you. May your soul rest in peace. You have left behind a legacy of proud family members along with your message of duty and protection. You taught us what the word “Family” means. Thank you for holding us all together.” I got to spend a good chunk of time in India with him. I really feel good that I did get to spend time a person who was such an important pillar in Arati’s life

As life goes – It is a bit bitter and sweet all the time. I look forward to coming year 2014 for brighter and bigger things for me, my family and company. I am blessed to be surrounded with the best bunch of family and friends.  I also wish all my  family and friends a Happy and prosperous New Year 2014.

Cheers

Vibhu

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Thanks to all of you who made my 40th Birthday memorable

It was one of those days of my life this week when i turned 40. The best part of this was all the friends and family who made this so much memorable for me and also reminding me in a very lovely manner that I am getting old.

Many of my friends, took the time to spend the evening with me at wonderful evening party well orchestrated and planned by my wife, Arati. She did plan this really well. Generally I am good at snooping around and finding things out, but this time I was completely taken by surprise.

My engineering room mate Gautam, landed here on Sunday morning to spend the day here from Pune. Atul my brother in law opened up the beautiful lawns at this house to allow me to spend evening with friends and family.

My parents started the day by coming home and spending the morning with me. Evening went with all the friends and family. I am blessed to know that I am cared for.

To all the friends , Colleagues from work, folks on facebook, my brother, my cousin sis who always calls me one day before to wish, my beautiful wife who planned this out, my kids who kept this secret from me. my parents who are always there for me, thanks you one and all. . I am ready for the next round of 40 years now.

HP Solution Center Team – Please read this

The solution center team in HP ( I know there is one in Bangalore) needs to get this act together.

 

In software there is a term called “Loose Coupling“. Your product HP Solution Center completely defies this rule.

Problem Statement:

Solution Center does not support multiple printers. FIX THIS.

I have HP F4488 inkjet home, HP K09-a-z and a laser jet in office. I cannot use the same solution center . I have to uninstall and reinstall solution center for it to recognize a different printer.

A user should be able to use multiple printers for scanning using HP solution center by simply choosing a printer within Solution Center.

Current Implementation

Sucks

Proposed Solution

A software like solution center should not be tightly coupled to the driver or default setting etc. Instead of hard wiring the code and make them so dependent, is loose coupling using interfaces  also called as Contract first design ( this is an age old concept)

Why should the solution center product care which printer is there.

In this day and age I am even surprised software teams cant think of something as basic as this 

If you make this change I would love to hear from you at VIBHU_S AT YAHOO.COM

 

 

A really good tutorial for Cucumber based development

If you are looking for a interesting and quick read for Cucumber – a frenquently used tool in Agile teams, here is a great online book.

http://cuke4ninja.com/toc.html. More coming soon

A Tribute To My Teacher

I  think its time I write this due credit to my Sanskrit Teacher.

Today I am a good speaker. Can talk in front of 1000 , no problem. Speak often at conferences. Did you know I was not always like that. I think I owe it to two people. First is my dad who himself is a speaker. So that may be a gene effect. But I really owe it K T Sundarasampatkumarachar, my 8th standard Sanskrit teacher.

In 8 th grade, when I studied at National High School, Bangalore, ( which by the way is a fantastic school), we used to have these inter school debates in science. I was chosen from my school to participate against many competing schools in Bangalore. There were other kids too from my school.

Competition day came, and I went to Vidya Vartaka, another sought out school at that time. I remember even now my name being called, and I got this weird feeling in my tummy. Went of the stage and all I said was good morning all or something to that effect. After that i had a complete brain freeze.

I could not take the tension of 200 kids and teachers from other schools watching at me. After a few minutes, I was told to come back as I could not speak a word. I think I did say thanks in the end.  Not sure how I felt that day, But i am assuming I must have not felt that great.

What i remember clearly is the next day. KTS who was a Sanskrit pundit and a very strict teacher ( my class teacher) had heard about this fiasco. The entire class would freeze at this stern look. I remember him calling me that day at the steps and asking me to come and meet him.

The conversation with him did not go that well. I remember him shouting at me for what I had done. I  had actually done a lot of preparation for this competition. I remember even now telling him that I will never again be able to speak on a stage as get scared looking at other teachers and kids faces.

Next day when I came to school, I was in for a surprise. I was told there was a special presentation and this was by me on the same topic that i had failed to deliver. KTS had asked me to go do well. He also gave a tip , look at someone you are comfortable with.

I did not know what he had done that day. He had invited our principal, all teachers and made them in the first row. He also had invited all 10th and 9th grade kids whom I would rather not look in the face.

I remember KTS patting me on the back ( He had this pundit ji brahmin cut and would also be in a dhoti and kurta) and saying look at someone I am comfortable at. There I went on the stage and was more scared than ever as all my teachers were sitting in the first few rows staring at me.

I said hello and starting looking for my familiar face. All I saw that day was the smiling but stern face of KT Sundarasampath Kumarachar sitting somewhere in the back.

I don’t remember how I started and finished in style in 20 minutes . I remember his  nod and smile even now and lots of clapping in the end.

Thank you sir, Without what you did that day, I would not be what I am today. I got selected as a keynote speaker recently at a conference again and I really want to thank the man, who made it all possible.

Teachers are really great. They do things with no return favors just like Parents I guess. KTS is no more today, but i am sure he will read or hear what I am feeling today

To you sir, Many Thanks.

Download Mediachitter for IPhone

A good friend of mine has released http://www.mediachitter.com/ .

 a mobile voice blogging and messaging service that lets you exchange Rich Voice Topics with family and friends.

Key Feature Highlights:
* Share voice messages. Play back received messages like visual voicemail.
* Share a photo with a voice tag. Play back audio comments as you view the photo with an embedded voice tag.
* Check in a location and share it with a photo and a voice tag. Play back audio comments as you view the map and photo.
* Share a web link with voice tag. Play back audio comments as the web link gets previewed in a browser.
* Or, just share text messages without any audio.
* Play back received topics with quick access to voice messages or view topic contents as a detailed slide show.
* Exchange topics only among approved friends.
* Share a topic with one or multiple users.
* Create circles of friends for easy group messaging.
* All topic exchanges stay private to topic participants.
* Your friends don’t need to be online when you send voice messages.

3 Months Free Trial:
It is free to download and you can enjoy full-featured experience free for 3 months – no credit card or contract required to sign up! It is available for iPhone 3G and later, IPod touch 2nd generation and later, and iPad. You can find more information about the app on the website http://www.mediachitter.com/ .
Please click http://www.mediachitter.com/appstore/ to download the app from Apple’s app store.

I hope you get a chance to try the service with your family and friends. Appreciate if you can download and spread the word