Caught Off Guard : Covid Wave 2021

Today India crossed 4 lakhs infections in a day. If we just check some historic data, we will get to know that this is 4 times more than what India had at the peak of the last wave in Sep 2020. And if experts have to be believed, this time we haven't reached the peak yet. 

So when I look from here, 2020 doesn't seem to be the worst year. The worst is yet to come, for sure. Why I am saying so because India is way far from getting the whole country vaccinated. The data suggests that if we continue our vaccination drive at the same pace, only 30% of the population would be vaccinated by end of 2021. That means there would be another wave, cases would rise, and if correct measures are not taken, the death toll will go up again. So firstly, let us all accept that the virus is not going anywhere, at least till next year. It doesn't mind waiting for few months till we drop our guard so that it attacks again, with more force. And that's why, no matter how safe we feel, we need to wear masks and ensure social distancing, even after we get vaccinated.

Now let's talk about what the government is doing to repair the irreparable. Honestly, I don't know much, because I can't see any difference in the situation today and a week back. Unfortunately, people are still dying due to the lack of oxygen or hospital beds, or relevant medical aid. We, the people of India, may not deserve a lot of things due to our unruly behaviour - damaging public transport, littering on the streets, spitting everywhere, not following any rules, not paying taxes, or abusing the democratically elected Prime Minister of India - but we surely deserve to live. Yes, I am not asking for state-of-the-art healthcare system, I am just asking something enough for us to survive.

Today all the state governments and the center should put all their energy and resources into building a healthcare system that can survive this tsunami. India has to stop, doing anything and everything else, and focus only on saving lives. Taking down the tweets, or threatening the world newspapers of changing their headlines, is only going to hurt us more. As it is said, the actions should speak louder than words. We need to lift ourselves, we need to save our lives, and then we will be able to dictate our terms with the world. 

The Indian government's vaccine diplomacy and helping the world last year has got us some good fortune as the help has started pouring in from over 40 countries. We need as much as help possible to become 'aatmanirbhar' again. 

But I guess we haven't yet accepted the reality. We haven't accepted that it was our failure. By nature, it is very difficult to accept our mistakes or error. In a country like India, where every move of the Government, is discarded or criticized,  and people are just looking for reasons to abuse the Prime Minister, acceptance of a failure is strictly prohibited. It's ingrained in our culture, that we do not accept failure, come what may. So how do we expect anything different from our government?

I wish the Prime Minister in any of his next addresses or his Mann ki Baat expresses deep concern on the healthcare system and accepts that we were caught off guard. The government of India had not prepared for it. But we are now doing the best we can, to save every Indian citizen. I feel this much is a must. This is what he owes to the people of India. The thing is that this has impacted everyone, the majority of the population. That means it has affected all those people who voted this government to power, who supported this government through thick and thin. And this is not how they should be treated.

The government needs to retrospect what went wrong. If there was even an iota of intelligence in Oct 2020 on the new Indian variant of the virus, we should have taken that seriously. During March this year, even when the cases started rising, we should have regrouped to prepare for the battle. One can tolerate a few members of the government for not practicing what they preach, as long as the leaders are doing what they say. But flouting all the covid norms during the election rallies was not expected from the supreme leaders of the country. The messaging was completely wrong. People will do what they see their leaders doing, be it opposition or the government. I do not care about the opposition or whatever wrong they are doing for the country. I don't hope for anything from them. But I am hopeful from the government who I voted for, and I don't want them to blame the opposition just because they couldn't do their expected work even when they were in power.

All has not been lost, and will never be, but if the government is unable to heal those who have been hurt, this is going to leave deep scars for life.

We could have done better - Covid Wave 2021

We could have done better. We had the will, we had the courage, we had the opportunity, we had the support, we could have done better. We can't turn a blind eye to the current situation. This is a mess which we could have avoided. This is the price of complacency which all of us have to pay. We had seen what was happening to other nations, yet we did not take enough steps. 

It is a pity that we do not have enough beds for the patients in the national capital. It is disheartening to see the leader of the national capital asking for help with folded hands and complaining about his neighbors for not helping him. It is depressing to see that he has to tell the leader of the nation that his counterparts of the neighboring states will only help him if the leader asks them to help. Why there is such a big disconnect among the leader of the states? We talk about collaboration and self-organized teams in our corporate world, but we don't see any of these characteristics in the most important area of work. Forget collaboration, it seems we don't even speak to each other. Ideological differences will be there always, but eventually, everyone has to work towards nation-building. But no matter what, the urge of bringing the other person down is bigger than the urge of doing good for the nation. And I am not saying that it is a failure of one person or one party, it is a collective failure of the governments, the leaders, and the people.

Let's blame ourselves first. We were the ones who were frustrated sitting at our homes, suffering from the trauma of not partying over weekends. We were the ones who felt suffocated by wearing masks and the unwanted restrictions imposed on us. We were the ones who justified all of this by sharing pictures of the political rallies where our leaders were seen flouting the safety rules shamelessly. We were the ones who asked this question, "When they are not being asked, why should we be wearing a mask ?" My dear friend, the thing is, even if they contract the virus, they will be treated by the best, but unfortunately if we get it, we will be treated like the rest. Then we can't do much but blame them at the cost of our lives. So let's be wise enough to choose what we need to do, and what we need to ignore.

Let's blame the industrialists for taking control and making us a capitalist country. And not just everyone, let's blame only two who are close to the supreme leaders of the country. Let's post on social sites by using the network provided by the same industrialist. Let us send out messages to vandalize the towers by using the same towers to send out the messages. Let's be hypocritical enough to happily accept medical aid from them but not utter even a word of appreciation.

Let's blame the political parties who conducted huge rallies. Let's blame the election commission for scheduling the election. Let's blame the religious event to increase the numbers. But let's ignore the states where none of that happened still, they topped the charts.

So let's blame the states for doing nothing for their people or doing too little, too late. The states behaved irresponsibly as Health was the subject of the state. We have to blame the state leaders who kept abusing the center but did nothing to improve healthcare. 

Let's blame the center for everything. After all, even they cannot justify what has happened under their nose. No matter what, if a team loses the most important match of their lives, the captain has to take accountability. Someone has to tell the top two leaders of this nation that somewhere we have failed. Even if health was a state subject, the center could have taken effective steps under the Disaster Management Act to ensure coordination between the states. We are not the experts to tell what to do, but we can surely see that something has gone wrong.

If we want to keep failing, then we should keep blaming the opposition for not being supportive, we should keep blaming the state leaders for not seeing the writing on the wall and for not doing anything as per the will of the center. 

We cannot deny the fact that we became complacent. This was our time to shine all across the world. This was our time to showcase that we can conduct our most auspicious and one of the biggest religious events in the world, even during the pandemic. The center had the opportunity to build people's confidence in the system by a seamless execution of the event. Why couldn't we take stringent measures? We don't have the answers because we know that we could have done better.

We were the vaccine providers, we were helping everyone, we were the top achievers, then how did we end up losing everything? We surely missed some warnings, ignored some alerts, and let this happen to us. When we pin all our hopes on the captain of the ship, then it is he who has to take a fair share of the blame. 

So it's fair to blame the center, but at least be fair in blaming. We lose our argument the moment we blame it just for the sake of it. Why do we blame based on what suits our idealogy? Surprisingly, we are unable to appreciate a Mandir, but we find hundreds of reasons to ridicule it. We say let's build Hospitals instead of making a Mandir. The comparison is super flawed. One is science, the other is belief. The science is limited, but the belief is limitless. To sustain happily, we have to live with both. Why can't we say build a hospital with every Mandir? The problem is because it will not suit our narrative. We will keep shouting on top of our voice what we feel is right. And then the other side would defend showing the stats of how many AIIMS were built before and after and prove that they are right. Though it is undeniable and appreciable, the question is, are they enough? If the center has done so well, then why are we in this situation? 

Unfortunately for this sarkar, they have to manage one of the deadliest pandemics in the past 100 years. The task is huge and the expectations are high. Even the slightest of error can lead to a catastrophe. We can support this sarkar for years as miracles don't happen overnight, but it will be foolish to simply ignore the mistakes. 

I know, you know and every person knows this, that we had enough time to avoid this situation. We had enough opportunities to prepare ourselves for this impact. But we failed. So what can be done now? The best we can do is to support each and everyone who is trying to fix things. Whether it is our state governments or the center or the people suffering due to this, we have to send a message that we are together in this. We have to stop spreading hatred, we have to stop spreading fake messages, we have to be responsible enough in sharing a piece of news. We have to share our views and respect other's thoughts. We don't have to score against each other. It is not center vs opposition, neither you vs me, it is us vs the pandemic. We can fight each other again only if "each ' and the "other" survives.

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay positive!

Simplicity - is Essential.

Simplicity - the art of maximizing the amount of work not done - is essential. How many of us really understand the real meaning behind this Agile principle? There are many interpretations but the one which I like the most, is focused on Product Owners. 

I believe, POs have to play a role of an artist, a sculptor in fact. They need to visualize how the sculpture would look eventually and hence keep refining it. In our Product Refinement meetings, we often focus on 'adding' the details to the requirements, but miss out on 'refining' them first. 'Refine' as a word means to remove impurities or unwanted elements. I agree that by adding details we surely remove the ambiguity around the requirements, but we also need to ensure that the requirement isn't an 'unwanted element' for now. 

Therefore refining is an art where the PO needs to clearly separate the 'Must-Haves' from the 'Good-to-Haves', which we commonly refer to as the MoSCoW technique. These need to be put into two different buckets of what needs to be 'done' and what needs 'not done', right now. 

As a sculptor makes a wooden piece or a stone look beautiful by carefully carving out all the unnecessary details, a PO must learn the art of removing those unnecessary requirements which are not needed to build the minimal lovable product. Those requirements should be pushed into the 'not done' bucket, and hence knowing the art of maximizing the amount of work 'not done', becomes essential.

Honestly we can use this principle anywhere, especially during these COVID times, we can apply this to our eating habits. Lets try separating the stuff we eat into 'Must-Haves' and 'Good-to-Haves' and keep putting all the 'Good-to-Haves' into a 'not done' bucket.

I am sure this will not only help you develop a healthy eating habit, but also in reserving a stock which may not be 'essential' right now. Think about it and let me know your views.

Health check !

My friends often ask me how we can be prepared for responding well to changes, as emphasized in the Agile manifesto. Obviously, that requires a lot of homework in every possible area. One of those could be a health check. 

I am sure most of us would agree that in these difficult times, filled with stress and anxiety, we need to take extra care of our health. Any small issue could grow into a bigger problem, without us even realizing its existence. So what should we do ? Yoga, Pranayam or exercise ? Ya, answers could be many, but what matters is whether we are asking the right question. We may ask ourselves : -

• Am I free of pain ?
• Do I have high and sustained energy ?
• Do I rarely get sick ?
• Do I have low healthcare costs?
• Do I heal easily?
• Do I sleep soundly ?
• Is my immune system strong?
• Am I at my optimum weight ?

If we are able to say “Yes” to all these questions, then we certainly would call ourselves healthy and would be ready to respond to any change in the environment, affecting our health.

In a similar way, we need to keep our IT systems up and running i.e. healthy all the time. So I request you to go back to the first question and answer them with respect to your IT systems. Now If you are able to say “Yes” to all these questions, then you would certainly be prepared to respond to any big change coming your way. 

Ideally, at such times we only need to worry about creating the new planes, as such questions would ensure that the runway is functional, all the time.

The VUCA World

We often use the term 'VUCA', whenever we describe the attributes of today's world. During my training or discussions, I easily cite scenarios in product development which leads to 'Uncertainty', 'Complexity' or 'Ambiguity'. However, I sometimes struggle to give a relevant example for 'Volatility'. 

Though unfortunate, but this COVID-19 crisis perfectly showcases the volatile nature of this world. This was unexpected, we were caught off-guard and we even aren't sure of how long this will continue. Such are the times when we desperately try to work out a solution by experimenting, observing, quickly adapting as per the results, and that's what all governments have been doing.

For us in the IT world, we need to respond to this change fast, may be by changing the product strategy, investing more in R&D or hiring some additional talent. These steps might be expensive, but not taking one, might be more. We shall keep ourselves ready for the coming shift in consumer demand, once things return to normalcy. 

Looking at the positive side, I am hopeful that this would lead to a series of innovations and we would definitely have few good chapters in the Corona diaries, to be told to the future generation. Stay Home, Stay Safe, Keep Working.

The Dream Ride !

It's believed that the knowledge, experience and wisdom, which one gets by travelling and exploring the world, is far superior than the one acquired by reading books. I was always in agreement to this belief, but somehow I could never relate to it as I am not a travel freak, and so I left the realization of this belief to my future wants and desires.

So when my friend proposed an idea of travelling to Ladakh, covering a stretch of around 1800 kms from Srinagar to Manali, I thought this might be the time of it's realization. The divine beauty of the place, a re-connect to my roots, adventure of a bike ride and the pure greed of having beautiful photographs / potential FB profile pics, made me immediately surrender to this idea.

As soon as I got interested, it was easy to find some information through Facebook and zero down on a group which could realize this idea of ours. It was the Dream Riders group based out of Ahmedabad. The Facebook page of the group was filled with amazing pictures and YouTube had many adventurous and professional videos of the ride, with good reviews. This prompted me to contact them and fix a ride without a second thought. The instructions from the group were quite clear and useful, which built our confidence in the success of this mission :) 

The bike journey started in Srinagar, where we had already spent a day with all the fellow riders. Everyone started knowing each other but none had a clue of the intensity of fun and adventure, which was in store for coming days. From the serenity of Dal lake and the spirituality of Hazratbal, we zoomed our way through ups and downs of the valley, to reach our very first stop at Sonmarg. The evening was well spent with bonfire, amidst a lot of laughter, songs and guitar.

The next day seemed a bit challenging as we had to cover around 120 kms to reach Kargil via Zojila pass. Although it is not the toughest, but the bad and narrow road made it one of the scariest pass of the trip. With riders just starting to learn to ride through the mountains, the pass was a litmus test of our riding abilities.The first halt came when there was a road construction going on and we had to ride over the obstructions. The Dream Riders crew and other members immediately got down for supporting each other. With the director standing over the edge of the cliff to protect anyone from skidding and others pushing bricks under the tire to lift the bikes, it was a fantastic team effort by a team which was just a day old. 

The journey ahead led to added adrenaline rush as we reached the Kargil War Memorial at Drass. The Dream Riders group arranged a briefing by one of the officers. The peaks of Tololing, Batra Top, Tiger hill and many more, were right in front of my eyes when the officer was narrating the heart wrenching story of our brave hearts. Soon I could feel my throat getting choked with emotions. My hand just went up to salute those brave soldiers who laid down their lives for us. Yes I know, that every year we are at the peak of patriotism on 26th Jan or 15th Aug, but tats nothing as compared to the feeling which you get while standing in front of that Indian flag at the war memorial. I believe, every Indian should and must visit the Kargil War memorial to show their gratitude towards Indian Army.With a night's rest at Kargil, it was time to move towards Leh and cover over 200+ kms. Fortunately the roads were good and we enjoyed the ride across the desert.It was also a good stretch for frequent photo sessions.:) We reached Leh city in evening and took the next day off to explore the city and friendly Ladakhis.

On day 5 we headed for camping at Nubra valley which is 150 kms from Leh and it required us to venture on the world's highest motor-able road, the Khardungla pass, at a height of 18380 feet above sea level. The oxygen levels started dropping down as we progressed to the top. Although it wasn't a matter of grave concern, but we had to take necessary precautions.  

Reaching at Kardungla top was no less than a lifetime achievement for all the riders and everyone just wanted to bask in the glory of that out of the world feeling. It was mixed, full of emotions, happiness and not to forget, dizziness. We had to move quickly as it was not recommended to stay on top for long, due to low oxygen levels. After crossing that landmark, ride to Nubra was really smooth and enjoyable.

After Nubra, we covered another beautiful ride of Leh to Pangong Lake.The lake looks as real as we have seen it in photos or movies. At a single point of time different portions of lake would reflect different colors and you would be mesmerized with the tranquility of this wonder of nature. The night was lit up by the stars which were glowing to the maximum,as if they too wanted to impress us and show that they were no less than the Pangong lake. View of the galaxy was amazing and while looking at the horizon,I could feel the seven stars coming down slowly to fill a spoon of water from the lake. Just can't express it in words!!

With Nubra and Pangong conquered, it was time to move out of Leh and head towards Manali. Next stop was Pang. Now one should definitely research a bit about Pang before thinking of this trip.Pang has its own specialties, it is an useful halt on Manali Leh highway, the camps are on sharing basis with at least 10-12 members and it may not have all the basic amenities. Yes, with basic, I mean really basic. So everyone had to give a serious thought  about morning, before hogging on to the dinner delicacies.:)

Anyway, as expected, the night was full of masti, gaana-bajana and deep conversations. I felt the bonding within the group was at its peak at Pang.:) The morning started with the struggle to discover the right place at the right time to do the right thing. Most of our riders bravely sailed through this storm by getting up before the sunlight, while few lucky ones were benefited by the discovery of the golden bowl by one enthusiastic rider, who was later conferred with the degree of Columbus:). This para is more enjoyable to those who were part of the trip.

The journey to the next stop Keylong via the Changla pass was the toughest of the trip. The Changla pass is stretched over 70 kms with steep ups and downs, and we had to go down that 'Rocky Road', quite literally. The silencers of the bikes were just falling now and then and some or the other issue was popping up due to the extreme conditions. However, the best part was the support vehicle which was following us. We had to just wait for a maximum of 10 mins for the help to arrive, and then 2 mins for the bike to get started. The Dream Riders support staff was brilliant at their work. But whatever be the case, I would say that Changla was not at all (read in marathi) changla ! As soon as we reached the hotel, everyone just dozed off, obviously after taking the password of the hotel wi-fi:) 

The next was the last leg of the journey to Manali, the most beautiful one. Clouds over the Rohtang pass and the view of trees made the ride quite soothing to eyes.  While riding I was feeling happy about the rare fate I was about to achieve but it had a pinch of sadness too, as the trip was ending. It had given me loads of memories to cherish and friends to bond with, and it wasn't easy to leave them. But as time waits for none, it was soon time to say goodbye. With a heavy heart and a promise to meet again, the riders bid adieu to each other.

Its been two weeks, but the feeling hasn't sunk in yet and I thought of penning it down before it could. Its been most fun filled and thrilling two weeks of my life and I thank each one of my 55 group members who made it really memorable. Julley !

The Years Have Gone By !

The years have gone by and the times have changed,

I see people moving at a rapid pace...as if they are trying to win a race !

No one seem to be interested in knowing about me or knowing what I can do for them,

I am still looking for those who always felt that I was a noble soul and a real gem !

Have they disowned me completely ? Have they forgotten about their loved one ?

What is the point of living in a world which doesn't even acknowledge your existence,

and if I say something to make my presence felt  I am bowed down by the environmental resistance !

For them, I am one lonely man who is still stuck on to his past.

Who cannot believe that time waits for none and life always moves on, 

be it for an old man, a newly wed couple, a teenager or a baby...new born !

So whats my fault ? Only that I did not move ahead with time ? or I was left behind by people whom I trusted ?

I tried seeking opinion, looked for everyone's advice to take that leap of faith, but no one ever suggested !

And I know the reason..Coz with me would have come a huge burden of those who were finding it hard to cope,

I couldn't leave them behind like you, as I was their only hope !

But you wanted to watch each one of us fail by sitting at the other end of the rope !

Still  I do not mind, for me, I did what was right even if it meant isolation.

I may not be the talk of town now but I used to be it's youngest sensation  

I would live with those beautiful memories which would always take me down that lane,

where I used to be happy with my dear ones , without any fear, agony or pain !

Don't know how long I would survive and how long those memories would keep me engaged

as the years have gone by and the times have changed ! and the times have changed !!