Happy International Women's Day everyone! Today, I want to share an experience that made me realize the importance of treating women equally and with respect every single day, not just on this special occasion.
During a daily meeting with my team, I wished our product manager a happy Women's Day and joked about how we should have a day to celebrate men too. Her response left me speechless. She expressed her sadness that a day like this even exists, and that it's necessary to have a special day to acknowledge the value of women.
Her words really struck a chord with me. It's true that women still face inequality and discrimination in many parts of the world, and it's important that we work towards a future where everyone is treated fairly and equally regardless of their gender, race, or ethnicity.
So let's use this Women's Day as a reminder to continue our efforts towards gender equality and to appreciate and support the women in our lives every day. Happy International Women's Day to all the amazing women out there!
, a little poem highlighting the tagline and our tagline - #vasudheva kudumbakam
You are my brother, Let's be together
The Color of our skins doesn’t tear us apart
You are my sister, Let’s be together
Our Faith doesn’t drag us apart
Vasudheva Kudumbakam (the Universe is One) Vasudheva Kudumbakam (the Universe is One) Vasudheva Kudumbakam
There are Hundred Reasons to be at war Just 1 reason for being together Love is still the force Of humanity It doesn’t change with ethnicity
Color of the blood and count of the bones We’re more alike than we are different We hurt when we bleed, both you and me The love that we share is the only reality
Vasudheva Kudumbakam (the Universe is One) Vasudheva Kudumbakam
It’s by our birth that they set our faith And by our birth is set our nationality Yet we’re all the same when we leave this world All souls of love have the same identity Why rest in peace when we all can Live in peace right now in this world Lets help the world to be together Save each other and grow together
Vasudheva Kudumbakam (the Universe is One) Vasudheva Kudumbakam
There may be boundaries which divide us all the way but lets love each other, one Universe, one family
Vasudheva Kudumbakam (the Universe is One) Vasudheva Kudumbakam (the Universe is One) Vasudheva Kudumbakam
I have always been vocal about my doubts about the ability of a cryptocurrency-based unregulated economy. Since one mistake could bring down a company, it is undoubtedly not wrong to support niche technologies as they emerge. History has not been very kind to CXOs and company founders who were unwilling to embrace change, so I would argue that any effort made in such developments can have a positive effect or teach us a valuable lesson.
Blockchain is undoubtedly a technology of the future, but 80% of the issues we are currently attempting to solve could be resolved using a centralised database, whereas a distributed database requires additional space and bandwidth to replicate it across all nodes that require it to verify authenticity. However, cryptocurrency goes further than that. These digital assets are susceptible to volatility. If you have the money to purchase enormous mining equipment and mine as many cryptocurrencies as you want, if you are a founder with the resources to market a joke (DogeCoin), or if you are an exchange with the resources to sell your cryptocurrency at a higher profit margin and have the freedom to accumulate wealth as you please.
People have compared cryptocurrency to a variety of physical assets, but all of these assets either have value for the customer (such as gold, real estate, etc.) or are governed by the federal government. The rest would just result in inflation based on speculative assumptions about which no one is aware of the facts.
The next inline is Metaverse. It is possible to assume that you are playing in a virtual avatar at times, but I don't believe I would choose to communicate with my team or family members through an avatar over a real-time video. Despite the fact that we are far apart, I could still see them and their faces. My interest would largely shift away from 3D avatars and toward near-eye displays based on 3D holograms. In video games, things are different because I play as the character that I control, but in real life, I prefer to be myself when I'm interacting with my team, my family, or my friends.
Everyone goes through various stages in
their lives. I had a warm and lovely childhood, good food, a comfortable place
to sleep, a separate study room, and a loving family. Who will believe that I
will face difficulties as I grow older? My father would go to great lengths to
ensure that I did well in school. In order to stay on track, he was very strict
about my studies, friends, playtime, and so on. He was always expecting
me to win. That was my requirement as a child. Every report card signing day is
the scariest day until that point. I was frequently compared to other children.
I was punished for failing to obtain the first. I was punished for not
receiving the first rank, and if I did receive the first rank, I was punished
for not receiving full marks. This is not something new for an Indian or Asian
family. As a result of how most of us were raised, we are generally
appreciative of our parents for providing us with the extra care that we now
associate with success.
Unfortunately, our minds are not that straightforward.
It's a labyrinth. You will not be able to race on a daily basis. I can't take
the failure any longer. When I find myself in a position of comparison, I
frequently encounter anxiety. I am always on the lookout for acceptance and
approval. The long-term battle with my mind began when I realized I was
becoming anxious in every situation I was unfamiliar with. This was not what I
expected, but as you know, it was due to my parents' desire to make me the best
and give me a better future, for which I cannot blame them.
I realised how heinous it was when the
relationship I was in ended and they blamed it on my mental state.
Unfortunately, nothing was wrong except the circumstances, and when they blamed
me, I decided to fight back. Then came the medication and counselling phase.
The majority of the counsellors I met in India see this as an opportunity to
make money. They gave me moronic work assignments, which I noticed were not
helping me.
However, everything began to return to its
former glory. My family understood my predicament and unconditionally supported
me. My wife, who is a huge supporter of my journey, and my children, who keep
me occupied, as well as some good counsellors, books, and medication, kept me
going. Is it still challenging for me? Yes, I am. I become depressed when I
lose hope, have anxiety and panic attacks (twice), and exhibit symptoms of OCD.
I'm confident that with self-love, support, and care to keep me going, I'll
overcome the obstacles and achieve my goals.
You, too, may be going through a difficult
period. You may be unsure whether what you are experiencing is a psychiatric
condition or simply a feeling. Do not disregard. Pay attention to your
thoughts. Consider whether you require assistance. Talk to your loved ones. If
you don't have any friends to share it with, that's fine. I am one of those
people who has few friends and does not share my difficulties and pain with
them. Read up on CBT techniques and thought patterns. If you have any of these
thoughts, talk to someone you care about. Consult a psychiatrist or
psychologist. If you still want to talk to somebody else? Please contact me at dhanus@dhaneshnair.com. I
am confident that I can assist you.
It is been a while, a long while since I started pestering people around. Knowingly and unknowingly this has been happening for past 37 years and tomorrow it is will 38 years complete. I was thinking about the world I am living in. How volatile it is. 3 months back I was more in a consistent working environment. Things have gone wrong in a really little time. Well, I am not really bothered about the inconsistensies that was brought in for me by these turn of events, but I am bothered about my achievements at this phase of life. In another year, I will exit thirties club and enter into forties and my list on what I have achieved so far that I am proud of, remains empty.Apart from seeking sympathy from the near ones, I have utilized my anxiety as a reason for being lazy. I have stopped myself from taking risk quoting the commitments to my family.
One day I was driving my bike and saw an old man, probably a worker, who was walking through the path way. I was thinking, what change would have he made to this world? Nothing! He just work hard through the days, some random chores to earn his daily bread. How pathetic would be that life? But in an seconds, thoughts blowed me back with millions of questions. He is an indispensible piece of this world. May be he build a wall or do some carpentry or may be he does nothing but sit on a place and beg. That person literally questioned my belief on people and reinforced that everyone has a role to play in the way this world functions.
They kept repeating that it is normal for me to think so wild on silly instances and I know what is normal for others is abnormal for me. Even then I am not sure what change I have brought in? I am not a fan of Robin Sharma but I like the title of his book, "who will cry when you die?". Like any other parent, I feel lucky in having two wonderful kids and ofcourse they are my most valuable possessions. All I dream is, when both of them look back at their father's life, they should say that they are proud about their father. Also if few others say that he influenced our lives, that is when I feel accomplished. For past 17 years I was in that run only to complain my inability to cope with stress and bad temper. I have still not reached anywhere atleast to claim that I reached my first step.
Fact is that I am tired of reading motivational dialogues and self help books. Unfortunately they no longer support my dreams. Once upon a time, it atleast created a fake aura of fullfillness but now, I know more than those writers. I understand that the practical challenge in implementing those meaningless advices. It is more difficult than have myself corrected by self affirmations. I think it is time to settle down on my dreams instead of fighting with it. Time to cry about the insecurities of middle class individuals, time to not to achieve anything which you once thought as dreams. While talking about insecurities, even today I feel that the nuts are meant to be brought from gulf and only rich can afford to buy it here. Always I look at the package, the price and leave it back at the aisle. In the meanwhile, I had absolutely no worries in spending 1.05 Lakhs for a brandnew phone. I keep diverting from the subject while I write. It may be about self doubts or the drama about emotional wellbeing. Before settling on my goals, I still have one year more and two years in another calculation. I am going to fight my last war and I am sure that you will see the outcome, whether I succeeded or failed.
Before starting the post, let me take you to a little while ago. I started buying smart watches ever since MI introduced their first band in India. MI with their super advert stating the use of military grade components to build the band, I was naturally attracted to adapt the technology. Then I upgraded to a few other watches including Jarvis, Huawei Sport which was completely running on then christened Android Wear.
Then I upgraded to a few other watches including Huawei Watch 2 which was completely running on then christened Android Wear. It was a nice watch but the challenge even then was the ecosystem mismatch. I had a note 5 which tracks my walk and Huawei App tracks the steps from the watch and there is often a mismatch. When you get into this ecosystem game, things get out of control and that is what Samsung and Apple are doing with you. If you buy an Apple Watch, you need an Apple Phone to get the whole value out of it.
Then was my purchase of Samsung Active Watch. This was a perfect one with many functionalities in built and it merges into my samsung ecosystem. Samsung Watch, Phone and TV. With a 1.1 inch display size, Super AMOLED Touchscreen, the watch was really gorgeous and perfect fit. Built specifically for workout tracking, it had several auto modes for workout, sleep stress tracker and a long lasting battery. With 0.75 GB RAM and 4 GB Memory it supports wireless charging and around 45 hours runtime. Watch was powered by a dual core 1.15 GHZ processor and Tizen OS and has in-built support for many apps and samsung pay. I bought a Bluetooth version since I felt, LTE was an overkill and I didnt need one.
Now everything is not rose and apples with the watch. It promised a 5 ATM, IP68 rating which means you can swim with it and it is dust proof. I used it to swim, especially to track the lap count because my main intention was to reduce weight. All went well until we made a recent trip to a resort from Mahindra. As usual I took the watch to swim and the watch stopped working. It was not charging at all and I ran out of warranty by then. That of course irked me a little. I stopped the aspiration of buying another one.
Once again the villain in my life was weight gain and again decided to buy a Huawei GT2. There were few things I was specific about like in built GPS and not tethered GPS with your phone. Ability to track my activity was specific. Once I received it, I was not happy with the custom OS which Huawei had for the watch. I also found an exactly similar watch in a different brand name which is owned by Huawei. It was Honor Magicwatch 2. There was absolutely no difference and in fact both use the same app. Issues started creeping up when the watch was with me while driving. It interfered with Android Auto and the call was routed to watch instead of the Android Auto. It was irritating. Another issue is with the inconsistency in step count, riding a bike will be detected as a cycle (this is an issue in Samsung also). Common people, we know our roads are bad but neither could someone ride a bicycle at 50 KMs per hour. Another issue is that it can play only songs copied to it and not control anything on the mobile phone. Apps are basic and not even close to Samsung Health which I had in Samsung Note 8. Last but not least, it is not compatible with the Samsung eco-system. So I almost stopped wearing it after one month of usage and got back to my trustworthy friend “Fossil”. For a beginner, this is a good watch to start with.
Next was my brother’s offer to choose a smart watch for me as a gift. As the Apple watch was ruled out due to its incompatibility, my options were only few. One is to get back to Samsung or to buy Fossil powered by now christened Android Wear, Wear OS. Wear OS is still struggling to match up with Tizen and I am left with Samsung Watch, Active 2 and Watch 3. After a thorough comparison, I went ahead to buy this watch. Samsung Watch 3 primarily because of three reasons.
One, that it is compatible with Samsung Health. Second would be its capability to measure Blood Pressure and ECG, though it is not approved in India and third and the compelling reason to buy is the product is the latest offering from Samsung Wearables. I always prefer buying the latest (not launch product after I purchased Motorola Droid 2 and few other devices) one which will make sure that the product remains relevant for a few years at least.
This is a 45 mm bluetooth version and I am still not convinced to buy the LTE one and is powered by 1 GB RAM, which is 0.5 GB less than the actual Watch. 45 mm again comes with a larger battery, Dual Core 1.15 GHZ Processor, Wireless Charging and Water and Dust resistance with a rating of 5 ATM and IP68.
Initial setup was a little tricky as there was Indian region. So please make sure that you select any region which has english language (language you can choose) and later when you sync with the Wear App, every setting will be configured properly.
One important aspect you need to remember is that BP and ECG monitors are not available by default in India. You need to find “Samsung Health Monitor” and install the APK to get it enabled and then it works almost perfectly. In the initial setup, it is advisable to have a BP Monitor Device to tune the settings to the right value. Watch also comes with a Stress Analyzer, Idle time detector, many exercising modes, automatic exercise detection and SPo2 (Oxygen level in the blood) meter which is very important in today's world. I am not sure how accurate the SpO2 meter is since I prefer using the sensor in my phone connecting it to my finger tip. The Samsung Health App integration is the best of its kind and the integration is top notch.
Difference between Active and Watch3 is its additional capability of measuring the health aspects, wide bezel and its classy look with its leather strap. There are few misses like floor count (Automatic detection of staircase usage), rugged feeling with sweat proof strap and less weight adds value to Active.
Few issues I find with the watch is that the battery is not optimal. It almost runs out by the second day mid and charging it daily is inevitable. Another issue is that the auto detection while riding a motorcycle is considered as the physical exercise even while driving it at a higher speed. Maybe because of the bumpy road but I prefer if there is an option for the user to choose if the auto detection value to be saved or not. Charger is magnetic but most times, it doesn’t stick (that oddly satisfying click sound) to the watch and we need to align it properly to continue charging. I read a news article that Samsung is adapting Wearos ditching Tizen which would be bad news for early adopters of Tizen (both my TV and Watch is powered by Tizen) and this watch, though not early adoption will have to bear the consequences. So far I loved the watch and will keep posted about its performance even in the future. So stay tuned and subscribe.
Recently I watched a movie out which three cops are framed and ruined due to some unforeseen events happened in their life. That made me think, where do I live? In a country where I cannot be myself, I cannot raise my voice, I cannot stand for my loved ones well being.
I wrote a post congratulating our honorable PM about his win in Assam and Puducherry while his own parties Kerala chapters incapability to educate the public about the falls of the then and now elected Government.
While having a casual discussion with my friend, he asked if I know what I am doing. He warned me that the police might be tracking such posts and if I am framed for something, dont even call him :-) Neither would he pick the phone. He made that statement for intended pun and he knows I will never call him if I am really in such trouble. Or may be none of my friends.. not in these near 39 years.
Watching the movie, made me think the gravity of such discussion. If I talk against a politician in this country, talk against a corrupt bureaucrat, I can be framed. Recently, under a facebook post from a stupid celebrity whom I never have any intention to follow, I saw a comment ridiculing some of my beliefs and in the next comment, the guy who claims to be an atheist seems to be proud of his Dad's rich religious connections. Well, as usual I corrected this guy and immediately he threw a reply as 'Veshya Nair nu Kuru Potti' (Prostitute Nair had his blister broke) and he is genuinely concerned about my 'Nair' surname (Why I named both Son's Nair is for a future post). Well, the comments then of course was beyond my cheapest standards that I didn't want to discuss, but the point here is 'he was threatening the beliefs I had while equally proud about his heritage his Dad had acquired from an religious outfit whose Guru said 'Never say Caste or Religion'. Think about it? Every conversation we have is ending with Politics, Religion, Beliefs and contacts.
My middle class ironies will never end as long as I don't care about money or I am born and lived without any money. I lost hope that we will ever be those people who once lived in harmony. We are in front of opportunist politicians, rich and affluent, lordship who utilize the poor for their games. This will be there for ever, until we find a solution for growing cancer of corruption, caste and religion!
