Lazy Programmer

They say a lazy programmer is a good programmer. Because such programmers use their minds to minimize their work that to just do rigorous hard work. Most of the software problems can be solved by either of two methods. One is to try a lot of permutations and combinations. The other is to first sit down and analyse the different possible solutions and then go for the most optimal one. Each has it's own positive and negative traits. The good and lazy programmers know exactly what to choose or rather what combinations to choose depending on the time and technical constraints.

Lazy programmers really hate to do repetitive stuff. So here's what they will do. Whenever there is a problem, try to find already existing solutions to that problem and solve it. If the solutions do not exist, they break the problem into many smaller problems and try to find if solutions exist for the smaller ones. Lazy programming does not mean not doing work but it means doing smart work and concentrating on stuff which will enable them to learn something new rather than repeat the same work which they already know. This helps them to concentrate on finding solutions to newer problems than going into a monotonous loop of doing that which is already done.

One example can be provided with STL in C++. Suppose we have a task of maintaining a dynamic list of entries of the employees in an organization and processing that list. A programmer who does not know about STL will start writing his own logic, probably linked list implementation. After he spends time in that, he will have to test and debug the errors from that. Still it might contain bugs. A lazy smart programmer will use STL, probably vectors or linked lists. He saves his time of implementation of linked lists by using existing code. And there will be no major bugs in it since it is provided by the ANSI standard and already tested. So he saves additional time. Now he can concentrate on processing that list and complete his work in a fraction of a time than the first programmer. This helps him to finish his work on time with good quality and provides him time to perform the tasks he enjoys.

So be a programmer but be lazy and be smart.

Best friends

Last weekend as some of my friends will have known I had spent time introspecting upon the concept of best friends. The only way to get more information was to ask some friends what best friends means to them. Now you may ask why best friends when we have friends. Well, seems like one best friend is more precious than a 100 friends put together.

Now I will just put a gist of the points that seem to validate this statement.

1)Being there:
Most important thing I found was that best friends are there for each other. By being there I mean physically, mentally, emotionally or all put together. If one wants to share his life whether good or bad, best friends are always available. There is no wait for some time or wait till tomorrow. Best friends seem to have an instinct not to encroach on each other's time but at the same time they seem to know to be there for each other whenever the need for it arises. And that is what makes best friends, always ready to provide a shoulder to lean on to, always ready to listen.

2)In touch:
Best friends are always in touch with each other. Many a times best friends communicate with each other on a daily basis. As I mentioned sharing life seems a priority for them. But then I also found out that best friends might not be constantly in touch whenever boundaries like long physical distances are present. But they seem to make up for it through other means of communication and really make it count whenever they communicate.

3)Have fun:
Best friends have a lot of fun together. There is no disappointment most of the time. As I mentioned best friends seem to have an instinct on what time is favorable for them. Imagine wanting to go to a movie or a picnic and being sure that you best friend will always be ready to go with you anywhere. A best friend sees no better way to spend time than with his friend. That is so very cool :)

4)No boundaries:
This is something I think about. I heard best friends have no boundaries. By boundaries I mean age, gender, religion, etc. While many best friends share a lot of their characteristics and interests, it is also that such things are not necessary and a lot many people are best friends because they be there for each other. Even when their ideas and views differ their hearts do not.

I'm sorry if I left out some points but right now I can recall the above ones. Thanks to friend Heena for kind of encouraging me to write this post about best friends.

I love tea breaks

By tea break, I mean the break that we generally have in offices. It's been almost four and a half years (and three companies) since I started working as a professional. And of the things that I remember about those companies, the first thing that comes to my mind are the tea breaks.

The first company had a hectic schedule of 12 hours per day for 6 days a week, so tea breaks were inevitable. What made it special was that we had to make our own tea using the tea bags and the tea would turn out pathetic thanks to our culinary skills :P So we would end up going to the roadside tapri (roadside tea stall in Mumbai style slang) :) Several times we even managed to take our Japanese bosses to that tapri to have adrak wali chai, at their expense of course :D

The second company was a little different. Tea would be brought twice a day on to our desks :)
But even here we would go and enjoy tea breaks in the canteen in the adjacent building.

The third company (which I am currently working in) has an excellent shelter for tea breaks in an open space which I really enjoy (even though the tea sucks) :) Sharing time with some of my closest friends surely makes going to office a less heavy burden.

Best thing about tea breaks is the bonding that it creates among the co-workers. I have met some of the most wonderful people during my work and I have known a lot about them especially during tea breaks. Whether there is some bug irritating the hell out of you or a cracking joke that cheers your heart, everything has been experienced in tea breaks.

So here's to all you tea break lovers, CHEERS to a cup of tea :)

Fair and Lovely: Once More + Height Craziness

Man, this topic has become a emo-trigger for me :P Recently, there was the Pantaloons Femina Miss India. The next day on the front page of the newspaper two stores were printed. On the left was the news about the Pantaloons Femina Miss India winners and on the right side was the news about how Dark taunts to wife puts man in jail.

In the story, the man would taunt his wife repeatedly about her dark complexion which depressed her so much that she contemplated suicide. This once again showed how biased we tend to be with regards to skin color. And it is ourselves we have to blame. Always it is the affection towards the fair skin. The positive point was that the court ruled the case in favor of the woman and came down heavily on our disgusting views on fair skin.

Seems like we always like things in people which are just gifts given by God. Already mentioned fairness. Another thing I am sick and tired of hearing is the height factor. Every time there is talk about how a person should have good height. I mean what the hell :( , if a person could choose his color or height do you think he would want to be dark or short. No, but that is how the world sees a person, and it is downright irritating. Rather than taking the pain of understanding what a person has become by his own abilities, we choose the easier path of judging a person by the talents that have been handed over naturally to the person. Either it is fairness or height or something else. Where's the justice in that?

I guess things won't change and people will continue to be eggheads. Can't change that. I tend to have hope that there are at least some people who think differently. Who know what it truly means to get discriminated against and who do not discriminate. Sadly, I haven't found anyone who has this superior sense of being a thoughtful human being.

HUMSAFAR AUR TANHAI by C R D

C R D has written a beautiful poem about loneliness.
http://crissdude.blogspot.com/2008/03/humsafar-aur-tanhai.html


HUMSAFAR AUR TANHAI by C R D

हमसफ़र हमें अपनी राह पर हाथों मे हाथ लेकर चलता है,
तन्हाई हमें अपनी राह खुद बनाना सिखाती है।

हमसफ़र सोच से सोच मिल लेता है,
तन्हाई हमें खुद सोचने को मजबूर करती है।

हमसफ़र की बाहों में सपने सच होते नज़र आते हैं,
तन्हाई के घेरे में हम सपने देखते ज़रूर हैं,
लेकिन हम यह भी जान लेते हैं कि वो शायद कभी सच नहीं होंगे।

हमसफ़र ज़िंदगी के हर कदम पर साथ देने की कसमें खाता हैं,
लेकिन कसमें तोडी भी जा सकती हैं।
तन्हाई कोई वादा नहीं करती,
लेकिन सबके छोड़ देने पर वही साथ देती है।

हमसफ़र साथ छोड़ता है तो हम सब कुछ खो देते हैं,
पर तन्हाई हमें छोड़ देते वक्त वह सब कुछ दे देती है,
जिनकी हम तमन्ना करते थे।

तो क्या तन्हाई ही हमारा सच्चा हमसफ़र है?

Humsafar Humein Apni Raah Par Haathon Mein Haath Lekar Chalta Hai
Tanhai Humein Apni Raah Khud Banaana Sikhati Hai

Humsafar Soch Se Soch Mila Leta Hai
Tanhai Humein Khud Sochne Ko Majboor Karti Hai

Humsafar Ke Baahon Mein Sapne Sach Hote Nazar Aate Hain
Tanhai Ke Ghere Mein Hum Sapne Dekhte Zaroor Hain,
Lekin Hum Yeh Bhi Jaan Lete Hain Ki Woh Shayad Kabhi Sach Nahin Honge

Humsafar Zindagi Ke Har Kadam Par Saath Dene Ki Kasmein Khaata Hai
Lekin Kasmein Todi Bhi Jaa Sakti Hain
Tanhai Koi Vaada Nahin Karti
Lekin Sabke Chhod Dene Par Wahi Saath Deti Hai

Humsafar Saath Chhodta Hai Toh Hum Sab Kuch Kho Dete Hain
Par Tanhai Humein Chhod Dete Waqt Woh Sab Kuch De Deti Hai
Jinki Hum Tamanna Karte The

Toh Kya Tanhai Hi Hamara Sacha Humsafar Hai?

The Temptation to drink

Warning: This post might be thought of as a way of self-promotion and I guess it is.

Well, I made a trip to Goa last week and as we know drinks are freely available in this part of the country. As surprising as many people may find, I have not drunk even a glass of beer. Why, some people may ask, when I do not have any restrictions to hold back. Some reasons are:

• Addiction
• Loosing senses (misbehaving, drunken driving, etc)
• Health problems (liver can get seriously damaged. Also other body parts if you fall somewhere)
• Lack of strength (emotional, mental, physical)

Well, the reasons to why I avoid drinking are manifold but the most influencing reason for me to avoid them is the perception that drinks are for weak people. People who cannot fight their emotional, mental or physical battles turn to some form of intoxication to escape, if only for a moment, from the realities of life. Rather we should face the moments of truth in life because they are the things that make us stronger.

I try to introspect what is the reason we get tempted. The major reason I think people use alcohol is to try to find solutions to their emotional problems. Something keeps on bothering us in our mind, there is pain in the heart. There seems to be no solution on the horizon. So people drink expecting the drinks to pour over their heart and make things clearer for them. It's a destructive practice as drinking only amplified the emotional state to an extent it makes the mind numb. Any form of intoxication seems to free the mind from stress for a brief period of time. It's like handing control of your mind to a small kid as the drinking gradually increases peg by peg.

I'm not preaching for other people to stop drinking (People never listen to me anyway). It's their choice and they are free to do so. In fact, I too have tasted alcohol a few times, never liked it though. For me drinking goes against my values and if at anytime I go against my values, I guess I will start drinking.

I have just touched on one of the reasons that make me feel strongly against drinking. As I mentioned there are several more reasons I dislike about drinking. Hope to introspect on them in the future.

Till then Cheers!!! (the non-alcoholic type).

Feeling down? Don't bring others down

It happens to all of us, doesn't it. Some days we are happily walking down life's road, watching to the roses bloom on both sides of the road. And then there are days, we are dragging ourselves on the same road, rocky this time and thorns to avoid on both sides. Well, it's the same road, the same flowers but our view of it had changed this time. Because we stumbled over a few rocks, we now see the road as rocky and because a few thorns pricked us, we forget the flowers.

The worst part is that when most of us feel low, we tend to (whether knowingly or unknowingly), try to bring people, especially our friends and close ones down as well. Just imagine having a bad day at office, then coming home. Getting a nice greeting from family and friends and just exploding in their faces. I've been guilty of doing that and believe me, that's not a nice way of meeting some one close to you. Because it ends up passing your bad mood onto that person especially if he/she is close to you. Most of the times, family and really cool friends will understand that you are having a really bad day and will be most comfortable listening as you blast about how you day was bad. But then it takes one nasty word, a few hasty sentences that can really put strains on a person's mood.

The best thing is to keep a control when we feel down. Sure, it is not easy to not get upset when you just missed your 7:48 local and you are jammed up in the train. But then again it is easy. When we feel low, we continuously think about it. We should realize that if we can do anything to change our situation we should. But if not, then there is no use of thinking about it and worse passing it on to our loved ones.

So the next time you come home and feel like banging a cricket bat on your boss's head, remember to postpone that till you reach office the next day and the friend in front of you is willing to take it but does not deserve it.