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Good Bye, 2011. You will be missed.

// December 31st, 2011 // No Comments » // Fun, Miscellaneous, Personal

I usually don’t do these “looking back” posts at the end of year. But this year deserves to be an exception. I’ll be the first one to admit that my memory is very short but I don’t have to think really hard to come up with the highlights of my personal and professional life in 2011.

In fact, there are only 6 things that would qualify as highlights.

Here we go.

1. Became a Father

My son Vishruth Girish was born on Dec 8th 2011 at 8:28 PM. He weighed 7 lbs 4 oz. 19″ tall. I spent about 20 minutes trying to come up with words to explain how I felt when he was born. But I can’t. I’ll tell you this though. I’m 30 yrs old. And I don’t remember crying like that… like, ever in my life. I remember not letting go of my wife’s hand that I’d been holding all along while she was in labor. She was also crying (duh!) and telling me over and over again to hold him (apparently, I was being incoherent and wasn’t even listening when the doc was trying to hand him over to me).

Anyway, I don’t want to go on and on about how great being a father is (you won’t believe it, unless you are one too) and how awesome my son is (he really is). But this tweet does the job.

In addition to the joy, peace, excitement & gratitude, this lil’ dude also makes me anxious, paranoid, over-protective & vulnerable #newborn

— Girish Gangadharan (@appoosa) December 17, 2011

2. Founded the UXD initiative at work

I code for a living. So technically speaking, I’m just a developer. But I know a thing or two about building beautiful software (and consequently, great UX) because of the people I used to work with before I started working at my current company. They were some very talented folks who taught me that software is not just about writing awesome code. A well-built app is useless if the users struggle to, well, use it.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any Visual Designers or Information Architects or UX engineers here. So I took it upon myself to start a series of workshops hosted during lunch breaks, during which I can talk to our Business Analysts, Developers, Project Managers etc. about some fundamental principles of building meaningful, functional, aesthetically-pleasing & easy-to-use software.

I even managed to get a sub-domain registered (uxd.absg.com) and set up a website (the luckiest part was getting permission to NOT use SharePoint to host it). They even paid for the logo that Jared Christensen built for us.

In addition to the talks that I did once every 2 weeks, we’ve also had a couple of star speakers come and speak to show their support. Thank you, Mark Kraemer & Stephen Anderson.

Just to reiterate, I’m NOT a UX/UI guy. I’m just a developer that wanted to work on building applications that didn’t suck ass.

3. Started speaking at conferences & user groups

I wanted to try this whole “speaking thing” just to see if it was something that would interest me. I started off by giving a couple of talks at user groups locally before I got an opportunity to speak at Dallas Techfest. And later, at Tulsa Techfest. I must admit I had fun. Based on the audience turn out and feedback the organizers gave me, I didn’t suck too bad.

Based on my experience so far, I think I might continue doing that in 2012 if I get the opportunities (time permitting, of course, now that I’m a father and all).

4. Got on Twitter

I finally admitted defeat and got on Twitter because I saw first hand how a coworker and good friend, Michael Perry was using it to get help from Telerik when we both were working at the Dallas GiveCamp weekend in January (more on that in a bit). We were using Sitefinity CMS, which was terrible (throwing SQL errors to the UI via JavaScript alerts). Google wasn’t of much help since that specific version was released just the day before and obviously, it was half baked. I was amazed how quickly people responded to his questions.

And that’s when I realized that I could no longer ignore Twitter because no matter how stupid the concept of micro-blogging sounds and how much noise it generates, it obviously has its benefits. So 131 followers & 1188 tweets later, I can safely say that it helps me keep in touch with my friends and also make new friends. And thanks to some companies like Samsung and ATT that are active on this platform, I even got some issues resolved just by tweeting about them.

5. Gave back to the community

It was Michael Perry that introduced me to the Dallas GiveCamp project and I’m thankful to him for helping me find a great way to give back to the community. I attended both the sessions this year, spending almost entire weekends there to build websites for charities. In January, we built a site for Legal Hospice and in October, we did the same for Dallas Challenge.

6. India won the Cricket World Cup (ODI)

I was at my friend’s house staying up all night to watch the finals (India Vs Sri Lanka). I must admit though that sometimes I secretly feel that beating Australia in quarterfinals and Pakistan in semifinals may have tasted sweeter than winning the cup.

The last time India had won the world cup was in 1983. I was 2 yrs old then. I won’t say I never thought I’d see this day in my life time because India is (and has been) a pretty strong team over the last decade. I mean, we’d already won the inaugural world cup for Twenty20 in 2007. So I knew it was only a matter of time before we did it in the ODI version as well.

Anyways, as an Indian cricket fan, this was the best day of my life.

As you can see, this was a great year for me personally and I hope 2012 will be just as good if not better.

Bubbye, 2011. I’ll miss you.

Welcome, 2012. Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous new year, folks.

Hitler is informed of Anna Hazare’s plan to fast again

// August 18th, 2011 // No Comments » // Fun, Miscellaneous, Youtube

Priceless!

If you don’t know who Anna Hazare is, check out the following articles.

CNN – Indian activist tells protesters: ‘Your revolution has energized me’

BBC – India corruption: Anna Hazare to resume hunger strike

Now, get ready to watch the famous Hitler meme – the desi version.

Adam is officially out!

// January 6th, 2011 // No Comments » // Adam, Miscellaneous, WOW

NotionInk has demo’ed Adam at CES 2011. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. Before I get to the important part, I have a small story to share with you.

On December 9th last year, I got an email from NotionInk inviting me for the pre-order (Special privilege for the people that supported them from the beginning. He called it “6 hours heads up for family members”. Awww.)

But unfortunately for me, somebody had made a fraudulent charge using my credit card the previous day and I had to cancel my card immediately. And to make matters worse, citing payment gateway contract issues, they could accept only Visa and Amex. My other card was a Master card.

So by the time I got my replacement credit card in the mail, preorders were all sold out. They sold out in just a few hours, apparently.

I guess I’ll just have to wait for them to start taking the next batch of orders.

Now coming back to my original point, it’s time for all the doubters and haters to eat your words. Yes, I’m talking to you John Biggs, Engadget and all their croonies.

Here’s the proof you guys have been looking for - http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/05/notion-ink-adam-hands-on-preview-video/

Just look at Rohan, the CEO of NotionInk in the video below. He’s a kid for God’s sake. He should be encouraged. Not beaten up for lacking support from big investment firms.

Kiss me I’m Girish

// November 2nd, 2010 // 5 Comments » // Fun, LOL, Miscellaneous

Earlier today, Swapna found a shirt in CafePress.com that said “Kiss me I’m Girish”. (I swear to God I have nothing to do with this.)

Here’s a picture of the shirt.

Here’s the explanation for “Girish” on the shirt.

Mixed heritages are a main ingredient in the melting pot of America. You’ve got the skin and the attitude of both German and Irish folks. Show your pride.

Get it? German + Irish = Girish.

Wow.

P.S: If somebody wants to buy me this shirt, I’m not going to say I won’t accept it. That would be plain rude now, wouldn’t it?

Racism fail

// October 16th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Miscellaneous, Racism

I took this picture standing next to a bus stop in Breckenridge, Colorado on September 5th 2010.

Click on the image below for higher resolution.

Yes, it does say the *N* word on a public transportation bus.

I know, I know. There has to be some explanation. So far I haven’t seen any.

On a side note, my racist neighbor moved out last week.

Security at Common Wealth Games 2010, Delhi: Australian Journalist Exposed

// October 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // India, Miscellaneous, Youtube

I know I’ve been very critical of the Indian administration’s preparation for hosting the Common Wealth Games in the capital city of New Delhi. Dogs in the apartment beds, snakes in the building, roofs collapsing, leaking bathroom plumbing, over bridge collapsing etc.

Although some people say the media is exaggerating things to a certain extent, pictures and videos don’t lie. I mean, we all saw the collapsed bridge and the broken ceiling. I think the media was right in making a big deal out of this because otherwise nobody would’ve cared to fix them.

And while we all would have been proud of how India is progressing as a nation that can successfully host international games like this, the Indian and international athletes would have filmed all this crap with their personal cameras and exposed them to the world on how pathetic the living conditions are. Where will we hide our faces then?

We also saw the undercover investigation report from Mr. Duffey representing Channel 7 News in Australia. He claimed he walked into the Games Village with a suitcase full of bombs and detonators etc. and how the police didn’t stop him and how he could have blown up the entire stadium and all that.

Here’s a story from ABC channel in Australia that exposes the truth behind Mr. Duffey’s “investigation”. They explain how the whole thing was just a fake set up supported by clever editing and “acting” by the Channel 7 crew.

I still think Indian government could have handled things much better but this… this is just a SHAME.

Even Indians don’t care about fellow Indians

// March 23rd, 2009 // 2 Comments » // India, Miscellaneous

Unless you have been living under a rock somewhere, you must have heard about the new Tata Nano – a car from India’s largest Auto manufacturer that costs less than USD $2000. While the Indian media is going gaga over this tiny car which was designed to run on Indian roads where you’d be lucky if you get to your destination without a dent in your vehicle regardless of what you drive because of the traffic jams, lack of discipline and respect for laws, (forget getting there on time) they completely missed the point about the safety features that it woefully lacks. (Phew! That was a long sentence.)

Tata Nano

The basic model is less than 2 grand which means no power steering, no power windows, no radio, no air conditioning, NO SHIT. The counter argument for that is that, in India, you don’t have any of such features in a two-wheeler either and the idea is to target the middle class families that owns a two-wheeler to “upgrade” to this car. So of course, they are going to appreciate a vehicle similar to what they have right now, only difference being for a few thousand rupees more (a few hundred USD) the “upgraded” vehicle will have a roof on top and couple of more wheels….isn’t that right Mr. Ratan Tata?

And their plans seem to be ambitious. They plan to hit the US market by 2010. And Europe by 2011. I’ve been living in the US for the past 7 years and I just don’t see how people here would buy this car, for obvious reasons. It’s too small, probably won’t pass the stringent crash tests, max speed is 43 miles/hour, poor mileage and the list goes on.

But here’s the line that caught my attention.

About the pricing of the car, Tata said: “. . . obviously (Nano) would not be a Rs 1-lakh or a $2,500 car (in Europe), it will have all the airbags and all the safety features that would be demanded by the European customers.”

Read the full story here.

Can you believe it? The Indian model doesn’t even come with air bags. Apparently, they were so focused on building something with a budget in mind, they didn’t mind tossing out the basic safety feature. And the Indian government allowed it to be sold to Indian consumers. This just blows me away. The lack of respect for human lives in India is just incomprehensible. The Nov 26th Mumbai terrorist attack killed 183 people. And what did we do? Nothing. This apathy, this insensibility to suffering is just appalling and depressing. Nobody gives a shit.

This reminds me of an incident that happened a couple of years ago. One of my distant distant relatives came to the US for a business visit. He worked for Air India at that time. I don’t know if he still is employed with them. Anyways, he visited my sister’s family (she was in Richardson, TX back then) and was talking about the purpose of his visit when he mentioned that he was here to buy airplanes and jets from the US carriers. He mentioned how his company was getting a good deal since the planes that these people were buying were OUT OF COMMISSION in the US and the US carriers were just selling them away for whatever they can get for it, as the FAA wouldn’t allow them to operate them anymore.

Now take a minute to process that. Planes that have been found UNFIT to fly Americans in the United States, are being sold to the Indian carriers to fly Indians in their domestic market.

I could go on and on about several issues like this, like how only cops that are of higher ranks in India, carry hand guns and the lower level constables carry a simple lathi (bamboo stick). The lone terrorist in Mumbai attacks that was caught alive, killed the police officer who didn’t have a gun when he confronted him in the car that he and his friend were attempting to escape in. The police officer was fighting this terrorist with his bare hands and was holding the barrel of his AK 47 trying to point it away before the killer pulled the trigger and sprayed 16 bullets into the cop’s torso and he died on the spot. However he didn’t let go of the gun even when he dropped dead and that’s how the other cops were able to nab the terrorist.

Can you even imagine such a thing happening in the United States?

So many things like this. Construction workers don’t wear a metal helmet or any sort of protection gear, no shoes (just plain rubber slippers), including women and kids (who are not legally supposed to work anyways. But hey, Welcome to India!), electricians working on lamp posts on the street climb up with a rope tied around their ankles (I have seen this myself several times), patients lying on the floor in the government hospitals puking blood and dying for attention (quite literally)…i can keep going on and on. These are the sad stories of human beings in India, the working class. Don’t even get me started on the plight of animals. I’ll save it for another post.

I don’t understand how the rich keep getting richer in India and everybody says “oh…watch out…India is becoming a super power!”.

What’s the point of being called a super power if you can’t provide the basic facilities for your own citizens?

Just because we have millions of English speaking youngsters graduating every year out of colleges and every 3rd person owning a cell phone and a every middle class family owning a stupid shitty car, and winning Oscar awards (Love A. R. Rahman. He is a God, but he himself admitted it was not his best work), doesn’t mean we have made it, people.

If we don’t start respecting our own fellow Indians and take care of each other, we’ll never be a super power.

I have so much more to say….but what’s the point? Neither you nor I can make a difference. Corruption will always exist. People will always suffer. Rich will rise and fall and there will be another set of goons that replace them.

I cannot let things beyond my control, bother me. It is unhealthy and counterproductive.

I’m just going to do my best and see if I can be of any use to my society. May be sponsor a poor kid’s education or help set up somebody’s small business or pay for somebody’s medical expenses….I don’t know. I just don’t want to keep complaining. I want to be a part of the solution. But as a single man, there is only little I can do. And I guess I just have to live with that.

Obama promised change and change indeed has come to America.

India is waiting it’s turn…

Engaged!

// December 29th, 2008 // 18 Comments » // Miscellaneous, Personal, Swapna, WOW

Swapna showing off her ring

Dec 29th 2008 will go down in history as the day I got engaged to Swapna.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, I’ll nevertheless, say a few things about her. Alright… so here we go…

Although my parents did all the work and found her for me, I must admit that they didn’t do all that bad.

She is a software professional like me and works in Boston. Going by the experience that this�long distance relationship has provided us over the last 6 months (For those who don’t know, I live in Dallas, TX which is about 1759 miles from Boston as per Google maps), I can say this much – She is GREAT!

Swapna is a very sweet, loving, caring, understanding, kind, polite and lovable girl that grew up in the same city as I, back in India. We have that thing in common (in addition to a lot of other things)�and it makes things a lot easier. For example, music we listen to, movies we like,�eating habits, local�jokes and the references that go with them etc.

Putting the ring on her finger

In any case, I know it takes a lot of patience to deal with someone like me (I can hear you going “yeah…no shit!”) .� And I think she is ready, willing�and in fact happy to do that for the rest of our life together as a couple.

All said I think she is just beautiful inside out. And I hope I’ll be able to make her just as happy as she makes me and continue doing that for the rest of the journey.

Wish us luck!