I joined a new company last month. A company that markets a medical device that helps profoundly deaf people hear again. It is a cochlear implant, which to put it very roughly, replaces a non working part of our inner ear. This device gives very good results esp for little kids between the age of one to ten.
One day I had to attend the switch-on of one such kid. The switch-on is a process in which the external and internal parts of the device are connected (usually three weeks after the surgery) and it is 'switched on'. This means that the person will start hearing, again, from the implanted ear.
So, there I was, delivering all the accessories that come with the package. And here is this cute round faced kid, with bright shiny eyes, looking at all the goodies and trying to muster enough courage to handle them. So, naturally I handed them to him to keep on his desk.He turned bashful and ran to his mom, peeping from behind her at all the packages.
Soon all the packages were checked against the delivery note. We moved on to the programming room. Since this is the first time the child was going to hear from his damaged ear, we have to map the speech processor of the device to prevent scaring him with too much sensory input.
Usually its done by connecting the processor to a computer and different sounds are passed to the implant. The subject is then asked to mention which sound he / she hears. This way we are able to measure the personal lower and upper level of audible sound.
Everytime he heard a sound, he would raise his hand and it would be like an inner light would turn his face on. He seemed so happy on hearing, that he would keep raising hands for every sound we made, like a laugh or a word to some one else standing in the room.
When we had mapped and had our fun with the kid. I had to explain the function of each and every accessory. The audiologist, who was working on the case, did the explaining and everytime she spoke, this kid kept saying..." Mom, pay the uncle, I can hear!!"
First time in my sales career ever has a customer said to me, this works, please take the money. Have begged, grovelled, threatened even for payment, but this spontainiety in such a small kid, never.
Furkaan, May your life be long and may you always hear. I did not know you and had never met you before.. but you have made me happy in ways you cannot imagine.
Peace be to your family and may Allah always be merciful to you.
Vibhu
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Indian Democratic Policy!
Well a new day and a new morning. Woke up with sleep in my eyes and coffee in my thoughts. Remembered, mom is out so made my cuppa myself. Got it nice, hot and strong and settled to glance through the newspaper headlines before moving on to the important parts of life, the funnies and movies list.
On the first page itself, there was this huge SC order stating that "Poverty is no excuse for encroaching on Government Land" Our learned justices even made a pithy comment, " They will squat on the SC itself, move in to the counsel's home" This seemed interesting.
We Mumbaikars have a long long history with encroachments. Its become so, that we fail to find any legal buildings in many parts of this great city. Even the land where our society is built upon had been encroached. A long, strenuous fight for a decade, led to their magnanimously vacating 75% of land that was not theirs and keeping 25%. Our corporator acted as if this was a favor he was granting us. They also reserved the right to produce night soil right in front of our homes so that we could in essence be part of the big happy neighbourhood. People who could afford bikes, television and refrigerators, did not want to contribute Rs10 every month to build a public toilet for themselves.
So as you can imagine, how happy I was to read the SC order. Then came the catch phrase.. "Public Land". You cannot encroach on public land, but private land is a completely different issue. Then, the matter needs compassion for their poverty, their right to a decent living and need for a more convenient locality. Private landowners who sometimes have spent their lives trying to build a decent home in this exorbitantly expensive city, have to live with the fact, that someone is shitting on their millions worth of real estate. But not so the government. While all encroachments are bad and need a solution, why should the brunt of rehabilitation fall on the private landowners? Agreed some of them have excess land, but last time I checked being rich was not a crime. Trying to make profit of something that is legitimately yours to offer is called business, I think. Stronger laws should be able to prevent people from misappropriating government lands, be they Millionaires or Millionhairs, this way we can ensure that land which is ours stays ours, no matter what some politician, bureaucrat or local slum lord says.
But no, SC is not interested in applying the same laws across the board. Some or the other extenuating circumstance arise to ensure that government, which just by virtue of being elected gets more preference than the common man who is just the nation, an intangible commodity. The Govt is the payer of salaries, so obviously the master of the judges. This may not stop the judges from ruling against the Govt most of the time, but real politic would demand that they bend some of the time.
Another issue that always rankled is the oft beaten issue of affirmative action, called reservation. Envisaged by the father of our constitution as a fast track method to integrate repressed sections of our society with the mainstream, it has been flogged like a dead horse on steroids. Somehow a legislature meant to expire after 10 years, has been renewed for the last 50 years or so. Expanding in scope and damage, a shining example how even a good law can become devastating in the hands of politicians.
Case in point, Karnataka. Will be brief and concise.
Med School of two types, Aided and Unaided. Reservations of 50% in both. Aided conducts its own entrance exam, as does the unaided. If a reserve category student, fails to get a seat in the aided coll, where education is subsidised, then he is given a seat in the unaided coll. The disparity in fees which runs to hundreds of thousands of rupees will be paid direct by the government. So now the case is like, my friend who has gotten better marks in a more competitive group, will not get a seat and on top of that his tax money will actually pay for the education of someone who does not deserve the seat as much as he does. Double whammy or what?
But in a democracy, you have to live with this. You just cannot assume with great freedom comes great intelligence. Till the fact the reserved people understand that reservations are just removing the incentive to compete and make a mark for themselves, they are not going to improve either their lot or their society's lot. Our politician who actually cannot see further than the poll booth, continue to propagate the myth that reservation is the fast track to education. You do not need good primary and secondary education. It does not matter if you do not know basic biology or mathematics, we will make you doctors and engineers. But please do not treat us or build our homes, we are politicians, we have to have "phoren" treatment for our colds and coughs. International architects without affirmative action universities are going to build our illegal buildings. All you have to do is vote for me. I will take care of the rest.
Take care all, peace be to my backward friends
Vibhu
On the first page itself, there was this huge SC order stating that "Poverty is no excuse for encroaching on Government Land" Our learned justices even made a pithy comment, " They will squat on the SC itself, move in to the counsel's home" This seemed interesting.
We Mumbaikars have a long long history with encroachments. Its become so, that we fail to find any legal buildings in many parts of this great city. Even the land where our society is built upon had been encroached. A long, strenuous fight for a decade, led to their magnanimously vacating 75% of land that was not theirs and keeping 25%. Our corporator acted as if this was a favor he was granting us. They also reserved the right to produce night soil right in front of our homes so that we could in essence be part of the big happy neighbourhood. People who could afford bikes, television and refrigerators, did not want to contribute Rs10 every month to build a public toilet for themselves.
So as you can imagine, how happy I was to read the SC order. Then came the catch phrase.. "Public Land". You cannot encroach on public land, but private land is a completely different issue. Then, the matter needs compassion for their poverty, their right to a decent living and need for a more convenient locality. Private landowners who sometimes have spent their lives trying to build a decent home in this exorbitantly expensive city, have to live with the fact, that someone is shitting on their millions worth of real estate. But not so the government. While all encroachments are bad and need a solution, why should the brunt of rehabilitation fall on the private landowners? Agreed some of them have excess land, but last time I checked being rich was not a crime. Trying to make profit of something that is legitimately yours to offer is called business, I think. Stronger laws should be able to prevent people from misappropriating government lands, be they Millionaires or Millionhairs, this way we can ensure that land which is ours stays ours, no matter what some politician, bureaucrat or local slum lord says.
But no, SC is not interested in applying the same laws across the board. Some or the other extenuating circumstance arise to ensure that government, which just by virtue of being elected gets more preference than the common man who is just the nation, an intangible commodity. The Govt is the payer of salaries, so obviously the master of the judges. This may not stop the judges from ruling against the Govt most of the time, but real politic would demand that they bend some of the time.
Another issue that always rankled is the oft beaten issue of affirmative action, called reservation. Envisaged by the father of our constitution as a fast track method to integrate repressed sections of our society with the mainstream, it has been flogged like a dead horse on steroids. Somehow a legislature meant to expire after 10 years, has been renewed for the last 50 years or so. Expanding in scope and damage, a shining example how even a good law can become devastating in the hands of politicians.
Case in point, Karnataka. Will be brief and concise.
Med School of two types, Aided and Unaided. Reservations of 50% in both. Aided conducts its own entrance exam, as does the unaided. If a reserve category student, fails to get a seat in the aided coll, where education is subsidised, then he is given a seat in the unaided coll. The disparity in fees which runs to hundreds of thousands of rupees will be paid direct by the government. So now the case is like, my friend who has gotten better marks in a more competitive group, will not get a seat and on top of that his tax money will actually pay for the education of someone who does not deserve the seat as much as he does. Double whammy or what?
But in a democracy, you have to live with this. You just cannot assume with great freedom comes great intelligence. Till the fact the reserved people understand that reservations are just removing the incentive to compete and make a mark for themselves, they are not going to improve either their lot or their society's lot. Our politician who actually cannot see further than the poll booth, continue to propagate the myth that reservation is the fast track to education. You do not need good primary and secondary education. It does not matter if you do not know basic biology or mathematics, we will make you doctors and engineers. But please do not treat us or build our homes, we are politicians, we have to have "phoren" treatment for our colds and coughs. International architects without affirmative action universities are going to build our illegal buildings. All you have to do is vote for me. I will take care of the rest.
Take care all, peace be to my backward friends
Vibhu
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Friends, Colleagues and Ex-Bosses
Meaning to write in for a long time. Its been a time of flux in my life, changed jobs and all the other things that go with it.
This piece is dedicated to all the great people and the not so great people I worked with in my last job. It was a great place, peopled with a young group of hard workers, who made my stay with them memorable if not happy.
Let me start with my immediate cabin members, the list included NJ, DM, Shashi Pujari (he never had an acronym to his name, too bad), Lintu (if he had the time, inclination and the energy to commute from way beyond mumbai to arrive at the office, on time).
I got along famously with DM and Shashi, Lintu was like a great friend. Lint and I got along so well, that when together, the cabin was always so noisy that DM had a head ache. Shashi, was low on the totem pole so his problems do not get a mention over here. Never was a day when Lint and I did not have fun at the expense of DM, parodying his favorite songs, clicking funny photos on his mobile phone, even recording risque songs for his entertainment and embarassment. His love life (or lack thereof) always got adequate coverage in these sessions.
Dabbas and lunches were a grand affair, with we two cornering the lions share.
Then there were the others, Sanjay Testroom in-charge, pravin, vishal and our resident 'special' narender (ya the guy with the bald head down below). These were my friends in the service department. Hung out a lot with Vish and Narru. Pravin was the punctual guy leaving at dot 6 pm so never got much out of him. It always used to be me, vish and Narru at any get together.. with me and vish palnning to start Narrus family for him!
One of the very important person was our resident god father! Tall claims of making a temple at his home town, gypped fifty bucks out of me. Have not seen a brick of it yet! Been almost a year.
Then there was this sweet girl, Ms Pratibha Borade or PB, who always used to say that I remind her of her brother. Well shes getting married and all the best to her and her PAN, may they always be happy.
Arun, a great guy in the back office, always hassled by my demands of PLs, leaflets and what not. May you find peace and happiness bro. God speed.
There were others too, Abdul Bhai, Babu bhai, Guruji in the factory. Too bad could not say good bye, may you all forgive me.
Rakesh, Dheeraj and Santosh Ghadi, their lunch at 12.30 always saved my eternally hungry soul. Food for a brahman, may their karma be always very bright. They even had the courtesy to inform me in advance when they got non veg food.
Mamta, the receptionist, My village person, zeroxes, faxes and a smile with a booming voice.. hope you are doing good!
Raju the peon, owes me fifty bucks, have let it go. Got me water and coffee whenever I used to need it. Peace with you man.
Then there was our Sir, Mr Hemant Shah. A lot have I learnt from him. Ethics, hard work, openness to new ideas. Criticisms, jokes and all. He is the person who gave me the job in the first place. Gave me a lot of songs too. Discussed issues with me, when he could have relegated them to others in the office. I have always respected and admired him. May you always be happy and your dreams for Medica be ever bright and successful.
Sachin Shetye, hmm.. our technical manager. Hard working, smart and intelligent. Never spoke much, was kind of reserved. Believes Tendulkar should be rested or (horrors) resign on his own!
Santosh Chauhan.. well the accounts guy.. hopes he pays me my dues!!! Will write after the cheque's in. ;-)
NJ, never got along well with him. Dont know what went wrong, but then never cared enough, I guess. Is arrogant sometimes and does not always do what is best for the team. Has the smarts to make it, but needs to remember that other people are important too. My fault was that I could also not give it my best whenever I had him over me. Maybe I Need to work on my people skills. Believes Tendulkar is god of Indian Cricket.
To all at medica, had fun, have moved on. Will remember some of you, some will be lost in the sands of time.
Take care all, peace to you.
This piece is dedicated to all the great people and the not so great people I worked with in my last job. It was a great place, peopled with a young group of hard workers, who made my stay with them memorable if not happy.
Let me start with my immediate cabin members, the list included NJ, DM, Shashi Pujari (he never had an acronym to his name, too bad), Lintu (if he had the time, inclination and the energy to commute from way beyond mumbai to arrive at the office, on time).
I got along famously with DM and Shashi, Lintu was like a great friend. Lint and I got along so well, that when together, the cabin was always so noisy that DM had a head ache. Shashi, was low on the totem pole so his problems do not get a mention over here. Never was a day when Lint and I did not have fun at the expense of DM, parodying his favorite songs, clicking funny photos on his mobile phone, even recording risque songs for his entertainment and embarassment. His love life (or lack thereof) always got adequate coverage in these sessions.
Dabbas and lunches were a grand affair, with we two cornering the lions share.
Then there were the others, Sanjay Testroom in-charge, pravin, vishal and our resident 'special' narender (ya the guy with the bald head down below). These were my friends in the service department. Hung out a lot with Vish and Narru. Pravin was the punctual guy leaving at dot 6 pm so never got much out of him. It always used to be me, vish and Narru at any get together.. with me and vish palnning to start Narrus family for him!
One of the very important person was our resident god father! Tall claims of making a temple at his home town, gypped fifty bucks out of me. Have not seen a brick of it yet! Been almost a year.
Then there was this sweet girl, Ms Pratibha Borade or PB, who always used to say that I remind her of her brother. Well shes getting married and all the best to her and her PAN, may they always be happy.
Arun, a great guy in the back office, always hassled by my demands of PLs, leaflets and what not. May you find peace and happiness bro. God speed.
There were others too, Abdul Bhai, Babu bhai, Guruji in the factory. Too bad could not say good bye, may you all forgive me.
Rakesh, Dheeraj and Santosh Ghadi, their lunch at 12.30 always saved my eternally hungry soul. Food for a brahman, may their karma be always very bright. They even had the courtesy to inform me in advance when they got non veg food.
Mamta, the receptionist, My village person, zeroxes, faxes and a smile with a booming voice.. hope you are doing good!
Raju the peon, owes me fifty bucks, have let it go. Got me water and coffee whenever I used to need it. Peace with you man.
Then there was our Sir, Mr Hemant Shah. A lot have I learnt from him. Ethics, hard work, openness to new ideas. Criticisms, jokes and all. He is the person who gave me the job in the first place. Gave me a lot of songs too. Discussed issues with me, when he could have relegated them to others in the office. I have always respected and admired him. May you always be happy and your dreams for Medica be ever bright and successful.
Sachin Shetye, hmm.. our technical manager. Hard working, smart and intelligent. Never spoke much, was kind of reserved. Believes Tendulkar should be rested or (horrors) resign on his own!
Santosh Chauhan.. well the accounts guy.. hopes he pays me my dues!!! Will write after the cheque's in. ;-)
NJ, never got along well with him. Dont know what went wrong, but then never cared enough, I guess. Is arrogant sometimes and does not always do what is best for the team. Has the smarts to make it, but needs to remember that other people are important too. My fault was that I could also not give it my best whenever I had him over me. Maybe I Need to work on my people skills. Believes Tendulkar is god of Indian Cricket.
To all at medica, had fun, have moved on. Will remember some of you, some will be lost in the sands of time.
Take care all, peace to you.
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