Tag: Technology

Lockdown blues

Today I was scrolling through the list of the available restaurants delivering in our area on Zomato. This was to order food for the security guards of my society. I noticed that the restaurant that was my favourite for the Sunday morning brunch for many years was missing from the list. Something broke inside me. I know now that they have closed down. Another one that was fairly recent but delivered awesome Italian food has also shut down. And many more I suppose have either packed up or are on the verge. My eyes got misty. Not because I am missing some of the best food (that of course I am) but also because I know that theses restaurants were the lifelines for those many young people who cook, clean and deliver. These restaurants were / are also the brainchildren of the young upwardly mobile entrepreneurs; otherwise who can expect the best Italian or Lebanese or any other type of cuisines from across the world, to be delivered right at your footsteps, at a reasonable price?

Where have all those people gone? The cooks, the waiters, the delivery boys/ girls?

The human toll of this lockdown is unprecedented and extremely scary. The fear of hunger and homelessness is worse than the fear of the disease.

Quickly and very quickly, the restaurants need to convert more into the delivery and takeaway centres. They need to put up the pictures and videos of hygienic conditions onto their websites and also collaborate with Swiggy, Zomato etc on this. They have to have a strategy in place to build the trust with their patrons once again. This trust will have a totally different format – a patron should be thoroughly convinced that the food they are buying is completely contactless. Technology is a great enabler. Lot of measures need to be taken fast by all the stakeholders to survive in this crisis which may take a pretty long time to end.

The real you

The internet has empowered everyone who have the access to it in unique ways. It has revolutionised the way people think, act and most importantly react. It has given a voice however feeble or strong to everyone. Earlier people used to learn in schools and colleges, families and from the people who also had learnt stuff in institutions. But now learning has become easily available to everyone. The wisdom though has not grown in the matching proportions. The mismatch between wisdom and knowledge has created pseudo intellectuals, who blindly believe and act as per the knowledge that is fed to them on social media and elsewhere. The relationships, friendships and the humans involved have taken the biggest hit.

The line between the real and the virtual has blurred. The social media have given a chance to everyone the freedom, to project themselves and also watch others doing the same. And this freedom has changed the dynamics of societies in different ways.

The mismatch between the projection on the social and the real life has forced people into isolation for different reasons:

1. The feeling of inadequacy in the individual when compared to how other people are living their lives.

2. The exaggerated perceptions about oneself due to how others response to their projected image online. Most of the responses are exaggerated.

3. The self perceived convenience of reaching an audience without stepping out of the comfort zone lead to a feeling of false security of not being immediately answerable to anyone.

All of the above form a film of invincibility that acts like an armour in the relentless pursuit of self promotion in a world that is precariously placed on the fence between the real and the virtual. This effort knows no boundaries for many who are completely dependent on the social media for creation and promotion of their identities. This has definite implications for their mental and emotional health.

Being normal

Conformity is a major building block of the giant superstructure of Normal. Normal keeps the engines of the human structures of society, culture and politics, oiled and running. Those who stick their necks out and decide to create their own path and walk or even better, sprint on it, are not ‘normal’. On the other hand, conformity is the way to go for the most because it ensures survival. The jagged edges of exceptional do not bruise their inner child, who is scared as it is. Fear ensures conformity and courage challenges it. Courage leads to extreme successes and failures and many times failures are the stepping stones for success and vice- versa. Success is like walking a rope above the ocean of conformity. This is so because, success thrives on exceptions and challenges. Success needs its own path. Do you still want to be normal?

Dealing with the lack of sleep

Not getting sleep is a common problem with lot of people. In my opinion, many times it is because mostly people do not value sleep and just expect it to happen as soon as they decide to sleep. In fact sleep is much more important than most of the things that you give your attention to. Insomnia if too regular, is treated as a disease and once a person gets into the pattern of popping pills to get the much coveted sleep, the cycle of other associated issues start.

The humans of twenty-first century are burdened with the power of brains and the brains are exhausted because of the acute pressure they feel from the information that the overworked eyes, ears and other sensory organs pump into them. Once upon a time people used to cook and eat their dinner while the sun used to go down and then the time for bedtime rituals used to take over. For children the stories narrated by their elders and for adults the warmth of relationships used to work wonders. People used to wake up with the first rays of the sun. Life was easy with the eyes, ears, brains and hearts- all content and ready for the day! Such routines were only disrupted by grief, loss etc. To deal with those setbacks, there used to be the shoulders of the kin to cry on and let out the steam.

Today’s humans are extremely sophisticated beings, straight out of the sci fi novels. Their entire effort goes into conquering the emotions and let the brain take over all the matters of heart. We are trying to conquer the universe and the universes beyond it. There is no respite for anyone. Poor over-worked brain! It has to handle all those complicated stuff that the TV and the computer feed into it along with the myriad emotions stuffed in unrecognisable baggages from our daily lives. In such a scenario, sleep becomes a victim of the brain’s wrath, which does not let it sneak anywhere close to the eyes. After all eyes are the one which strained themselves to get to the brain all that the world had to offer…

How to sleep becomes an issue. Try the following to get 7-8 hours of sleep everyday, which is absolutely essential to stay sane in the long run.

  1. Cherish sleep! Give it the importance that it deserves.
  2. Each day should be like the one that you love the most. Take a few moments off from everything in the morning and count your blessings and take a pledge to make it the best day in your life. Enrich it with the experiences that you can manage. Even a smile for everyone you meet can work wonders or just lending a helping hand to someone who needs it.
  3. Wake up at the same time everyday, come what may, even on the weekends. Fill your day with effort, humour, exercises and cooperation. Rest will follow.
  4. Do not sit for more than half an hour altogether. Walk around wherever you are. Do not sleep in the day time though a power nap of a few minutes can be a good idea. But it should not be longer than 5- 15 minutes.
  5. Sip tea at regular intervals without any additive (milk/sugar). You will get used to the tea leaves brewed well. Coffee is equally helpful but without additives. Your last cup should be sipped by 5 pm. Beyond that, it is better to walk around, do yoga etc to calm your mind.
  6. A rejuvenating bath is relaxing after sunset. An early light dinner is great, just avoid eating too much. Do not let food sit on your chest, i.e, avoid heavy food.
  7. Going down of the sun should be accompanied with the dimming the lights at home. Beautiful lamp shades and soothing music help. Try piano or sitar music to create the atmosphere.
  8. Keep the volumes low when you communicate with other family members. Switch off the television and share your own stories with your loved ones and listen to theirs. Play music and dance if you feel like. As it is you know that all TV channels are paid by the vested interests and the information is mostly propaganda. If at all you need to ‘know’, read the newspapers in the morning. Check your tablet/ phone for the news but in the morning, not through the day, unless your job needs you to do so. Believe me, for most, checking newsfeed is an addiction.
  9. The brain needs to feel secure and relaxed to get into the sleep mode. Calm it with just following your breath and music. Mentally you should get off work and mundane family matters slowly, irrespective of however important they might seem. Transfer your burdens onto the shoulders of tomorrow. Release yourself, Time is the beast of burden, not you!
  10. Keep the screens off at least one hour before your designated bedtime. Take only those calls that are really important. Focus on your well being not on the issues of the world. Basically let the micros of your own life take precedence over the macros of your perceived realities that have crowded into our homes and bedrooms because of technology.
  11. Last but not the least, focus on your breath when you get into the bed. Getting into meditative state helps in sleeping.

Outsourcing and Offshoring: Preventing cyber security threats is a Challenge for the Leadership

Outsourcing and Offshoring are the two solutions, for lot of issues that businesses face because these solutions ensure cheaper human resources, infrastructural conveniences, knowledge and skills and higher growth potential. But at the same time these solutions bring along with them; the apprehensions pertaining to – data protection and security, knowledge and information security; in a nutshell, cyber security. The threats can range from theft, loss or destruction of sensible information and intellectual property, unauthorised access to the network service, infection with malicious code, disclosure of someone’s personal data and identity theft etc. The reasons for such threats can be varied; for example, at offshore locations the cultural and legal environment is less able to protect foreign investors etc. Nonetheless, outsourcing and offshoring are the realities of today’s businesses, so it is essential for the decision makers concerned to do the due diligence in terms of risk assessment that should involve, a thorough analysis of the existing politico legal and cultural environment of the outsourcing partner/offshoring location is concerned. It is more important to think of a mechanism to prevent any threats in such a scenario, rather than treating the very business models of outsourcing and offshoring as potential threats because that would simply mean that we are trying to put the clock behind or reinvent the wheel. The three areas that can be covered to prevent any such cyber threat event are- technological safeguards through building effective encryption mechanism, authorisation schemes, digital signatures, passwords, firewalls etc.; legal, by putting in strong agreements with the other party; and last but not the least, a set of organisational rules, procedures, and having the right kind of people at the right places to ensure effective implementation of the projects. Business is always about risk but it is important for the stake holders to minimise risk by doing the home work properly because risks should not deter one from taking a well thought action.

(This post is from my blog http://www.deepshikhasingh.org, which unfortunately does not exist any more.. Fortunately I had some of the content covered in an ebook which is available on Amazon & iTunes as well.)