@ the speed of Thought

“To function in the digital age, we should develop a new digital infrastructure. It should be like the human nervous system. Organizations need to have that same kind of nervous system--the ability to run smoothly and efficiently, to respond quickly to emergencies and opportunities, to quickly get valuable information to the people who need it, the ability to quickly make decisions.”
This is an extract from the book “Business @the speed of Thought” written by Mr. Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft and one of the great pioneers of this century. In this book he has envisaged a world where digital tools will be used to reinvent the way we work and where information flow will be as fast as thought in a human being. With the proven might of internet and the concept of digital money, we are very well able to appreciate his vision and foresightedness.

Gone are the days when slow and steady used to win the race. And if you are so impressed by the rabbit-tortoise tale, let’s sign a bet and we’ll have a race again. Believe me, the rabbit will not be a fool to sleep this time. In fact he won’t even think of the tortoise being somewhere in the race. He will run even faster to beat his own previously set record. So, this is the new story my friend. Even those who are at the top are busy competing with themselves and setting better and finer records. They are expeditious and obsessed with “Speed” like Mr. Gates.

The theory was very pleasing to my mind and I got completely overwhelmed. I do not know whether I exhibited a keen discernment to the theory or not but I too started fantasizing speed. How cool would it be if according to Einstein’s theory of relativity we could convert ourselves to energy, travel at the speed of light and then again convert ourselves to the same mass? In practically no time, we could travel anywhere on this earth. But wait a minute… Speed of thought is a higher metric than the speed of light. We can reach the planets millions of light-year away in a matter of second with the speed of thought. And it’s not just this definition of speed that we are talking of. Speed is an evaluation parameter associated with most of the events around us. It has always been an ardent desire of the human race to defy time and one of the proposed solutions is “Speed” – the effective utilization of each unit of it. The world is not just about achieving something; it’s about achieving something fast. It’s not just about getting things done; it’s about getting things done fast. And look, we have started realizing our desires come true. We can do so many things at the click of a mouse.

After so blissfully attaining this enlightenment, I started having problem with so many things around me which were slow, dull and dumb and which in my honest opinion did not deserve to be where they were. I mean, how could I travel eight kilometers from my home to Microsoft campus in a “Vikram” which looked to me like an excellent museum quality material? And how could it take a train 40 hours (best case) to make me reach my hometown which is good enough time for Britney Spears to last a marriage. And how could downloading with a BSNL connection be so slow? And how could trains be so late and traffic is so busy? Don’t they have any respect for time? Can’t they just “speed up” to meet the standards?

On Thursday, Feb 14, 2008, when roses and cards were abounding all around with no one for me to give one to, when couples were flaunting their mutual bliss in dimly-lit restaurants, when love-birds were holding hands and showing affection in parks and by the lake-side on the eve of “Valentine Day” … I received a mail which was a reply to my progress report to my senior team lead. It read “The target end date was 5th Feb. It’s slipped by almost 7 days. Moving Forward, I would like to see upfront notification if there is any slippage in task” ….. And I felt like replying …..Come on! You got to be kidding me. How can you be so serious? It’s just 7 days. I didn’t use to finish my projects till one night before my demo in college days and never did it happen that I was asked for one single explanation. And it’s not that I was sleeping all this time or playing soccer or watching movies like I used to do at IIIT, my beloved college. I just couldn’t “speed-up”. Oh …. Stop! Did I mention “speed”?

This too is “RACISM”.

Today accidently enough while checking out India’s score against SriLanka, I tuned in to one of the news channels which was staging a debate on “Regionalism Vs Nationalism” in the aftermath of a sickening statement by a morally retarded politician and followed violence against a particular community (termed “North Indians” this time ). Kudos! I said. One more good reason to divide the country when we are all shouting this widely spelled term called “Globalization” at the peak of our voices. And why do we feel attacked and assaulted when someone calls us “Racist”? (The recent Harbhajan - Symonds episode)…. We are “Racists”! …. And we are proud to be so … It’s just that we are not ready to accept but it has been our legacy.

I do not know the precise definition of “Racism” but basically it’s “discrimination or prejudice based on race”. Recently, I was introduced by one of my friends to a group of his friends with a rather unintentional teasing remark in the end that “he is a Bihari”. Well! Of course I am … but I was not able to appreciate this comment at that point of time. It’s absolutely not that I do not feel pride in my roots. It’s also not that I want to skip out of an image of a common “Bihari” and turn sophisticated. It’s just that I expect someone to use this term with a degree of respect which to my utter dismay I have never been able to realize in practical experiences. And let’s face it! “Bihari” is an abuse which is widely used by a bunch of arrogant and irrational people living in some of these metros for taxi-drivers and hawkers who according to them have dirtied their land and should be kicked out for a better and healthier social living. And did I say just a bunch of supercilious people? Well there are a few intellectuals as well who have very well turned on national debates in the past. Khuswant Singh, the well known author who had resigned his Rajya Sabha seat after “Operation Blue-Star” is definitely not a clown. His comment that people from Bihar and UP are spoiling Punjab had been a cause of discussion in parliament. And there are numerous such instances to quote. Mohammad Azharuddin, the ex-Indian captain once reacted saying “Biharis are thieves” on getting his cap stolen by a fan while playing a cricket match in Jamshedpur. Ironically, he himself ended up betraying his country in match-fixing episodes turning out to be a traitor. And I definitely need not mention what keeps on happening in Assam and Maharashtra.

I have had experiences of my encounter with this highly opinionated class of people. All they think is Biharis are rough, rude and ill-mannered people who drive taxis or own foot-path shops in Delhi and Mumbai with the exception of a few who crack civil services or become politicians. And that’s what they think about Bihar as well. And all the time I hear these people showing disrespect to the terms “Bihari” and “Bihar”, my heart yearns in pain and I feel like attacked personally. Am I not polished and understated like them? Yes I am …. Can’t I speak good English? Forget it … I have seen lots of them exhibiting their sickening sense of the language at public places in these metros just because they have to show off ( the good old aphorism ..”All that is English is rich and civilized”), Am I not educated? Well! I am a software engineer with Microsoft... Do I need to mention more? At all these occasions I feel like racially abused the same way an average Indian feels when ill-treated on a foreign land. In fact, what Bihar is on the map of India, is India on the world-map. How does it feel like to an average Indian when Mr. L.K. Advani or bollywood actor Bipasha Basu is ill-treated in US and when Punjabis in Canada are abused and insulted, the Canadian government recently banning the use of “Kaur” as surname being an example? And do you know why we are insulted? We, as Indians are insulted for the same reason you insult a Bihari in India - for grabbing away jobs, for driving cabs and for owning shops and dhabas. India and Indians have a rich culture. Agree! Remember Manoj Kumar singing that song in the movie “Purab aur Paschim”, ”Zero diya mere Bharat ne, Duniya Ko Tab Ginti Aayi “……. you feel Proud to listen to the song.. Isn’t it? So the next time you feel like abusing “Bihar” and “Biharis” , better take into account these facts:

· Three major religions of this world have flourished in Bihar namely Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Patna is the birthplace of Guru-Govind Singhji … ( Khushwant Singh should better know this) . Buddha had got his enlightenment in BodhGaya, Buddhism being the fourth largest religion in the world. Mahavira, the founder of Jainism was born in Vaishali , Bihar.
· Modern Bihar has originated from the kingdom of ‘Magdha’ where the Guptas and Mauryas ruled during the “Golden age of ancient Indian History”. Famous mathematicians like Aryabhatta and “Bhaskara”( who invented numerology and “Zero”) studied and researched in Patliputra in the dying years of Gupta Empire.
· “Nalanda University” situated in Bihar is the oldest university of the world where students from the whole of Central and East Asia came to study some 1600 years ago. Chinese travelers “Fa-Hien” and “Huen-Tsang” who came to study here have left the only scripted proof of the “Maurya Dynasty”.
· Undivided Bihar (comprising of Jharkhad) had most of the mineral resources this country has. So all those arrogant fools who think Biharis are eating away their resources in Mumbai and Delhi should better study some economics that how they are benefiting from the resources Bihar is providing to the country. But why would they? I know many of them who eat biryani in a five star hotel without knowing that rice is grown in the farms.
· Do you know that the first president of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad was from Bihar? And that the nationalist movements in India started with the “Champaran Movement” in Bihar. And that Bihar has been the center of these nationalist movements ever since (JP’s Movement)? And that it’s a land of great Hindi poets like Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and Nagarjun? Well better do not know because every time you make a racist remark against “Bihar”, you are abusing these great people.

It’s true that the recent politics in the state and the land disputes have left people jobless and deprived, violence due to caste disputes has resulted into a degraded civic sense but that is mostly due to illiteracy and poverty. And I can give lot of statistics to prove that Delhi tops in the count of rapists and women assaulters. So, the so called civilized people, please stop acting like you are the only ones whoe deserve to live in these big cities,, and next time you shout “racism” on getting your ass kicked in US or Canada, think how ill-behaved you are to the people back home. Stop abusing “Poor and illiterates” ……. This too is “RACISM”.